World industry discusses the environment
Wildlife management in Chile
Coffee and charcoal
Termite soil boosts crop yields
New data centre in Peru
The first World Industry Conference on Environmental Management (WICEM), held in Versailles, France, between 14 and 16 November 1984, drew 514 participants from 71 countries representing various sectors: governments, industry. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs), parliamentarians, labour and the scientific community. The conference was sponsored by world industry and UNEP, in cooperation with the International Chamber of Commerce.
WICEM was about policies - how to foster closer cooperation between industry and governments in environmental management at both national and international levels.
The consensus was that there has been substantial progress in tackling the industrial pollution problems of the North, but that worrying "hot spots" of traditional forms of pollution remain.
There are also new emerging problems such as acid rain, hazardous waste disposal and accident control in industrial plants. These often prove more difficult to tackle than many of the problems successfully solved to date.
Industry made it clear at WICEM that it intends to play a more effective role in future environmental management, although there were divergencies of opinion about just what approach might be adopted.
In the South, meanwhile, problems such as tropical deforestation, soil erosion, desertification and ultra-rapid urbanization are still receiving inadequate attention, according to the WICEM declaration. The document warned that skills and resources needed to cope with these problems are in critically short supply.
HEAVY INDUSTRY IN THE USSR a meeting to discuss the environment
WICEM demonstrated that there is a tremendous array of expertise, technology and other resources available for environmentally sound development in the world's public and private sector industries, although the conference heard more about the private sector's activities and incentives than it did about the world's publicly owned industries.
The key to tapping industry's enthusiasm and ingenuity for environmental protection is to involve it in environmental management at the earliest possible moment. As its role in economic development is vital, it makes sense to invite industry in from the beginning.
The conference emphasized the importance of information and its transfer. Many delegates felt that industry could do more in this area, and in sharing with developing countries the resources at its disposal. One way to transfer information was to transfer people to provide expert training and advice.
While some government representatives from the developing world still hoped to find ready-made environmental standards to apply to industries in their own countries, a growing number recognized that such standards have to be carefully tailored to local environmental conditions. Delegates, particularly those from the governments and NGOs of developing countries, pointed out that much remains to he done to develop standards and to implement new legislation that is effectively enforced.
It was also recognized that, in an increasingly interdependent world, foreign investment is a key ingredient in the development process. However, foreign investment projects must be subjected to rigorous environmental impact assessment and must include in-plant safety control measures if they are to contribute to safe and sustainable development.
On follow-up mechanisms, there was a strong consensus against the formation of any new organization. The overwhelming majority of WICEM delegates would have liked to see the existing organizations carry on with their responsibilities and cooperate with industry in implementing the WICEM recommendations. To propagate the WICEM principles, there was strong feeling among those from developing countries that there should be regional industry conferences on environmental management so that each agenda could he narrowed to match regional concerns.
UNEP News
March 1985
The National Forestry Corporation of Chile (CONAF) reports excellent results in restoring the populations of certain key wildlife species. Since 1972, when it assumed responsibility for the administration of parks and nature reserves. CONAF has carried out exhaustive studies and developed important projects for the protection and conservation of wildlife. Wildlife management was given a high priority as a result of the decimation of chinchilla and other valuable species.
As a result of the creation of nature reserves and sanctuaries for the protection of chinchilla, vicuña, the black-necked swan and other species, the vicuña population has grown from 400 in 1970 to 14600 in 1983, while that of the guanaco has increased from 5300 in 1977 to 10670 in 1983.
CONAF has trained guards for its reserves and prepared studies on various wildlife species. It is now responsible for the protection and administration of all terrestrial forest wildlife in Chile.
SORTING COFFEE IN ETHIOPIA can the husks produce charcoal?
Turning unwanted coffee husks into useful charcoal is a conservationist's dream come true. Not only does it do away with the growing problem of husks but it is also playing an important role in conserving Kenya's environment.
The Kenya Planters' Cooperative Union (KPCU), a coffee growers' organization, set up a project three years ago to deal with an increasing mountain of coffee husks.
"Our problem then was that we wanted to get rid of accumulating husks, a by-product of coffee milling, which were becoming too expensive to transport, and we did not have enough space for them." said KPCU mills engineer Francis Kagwima. Union technicians conducted feasibility studies for seven years until 1979, when a British engineering firm designed a plant for turning the husks into charcoal briquettes: this began operation in Nairobi in 1981.
The KPCU plant is able to produce 200 tonnes of charcoal a month from 400 tonnes of husks, hut Kagwima said production had recently been reduced. "We want to sell off current stocks before we resume producing at full capacity." he said.
As an unexpected bonus, the project has also helped reduce Kenya's yearly consumption of about 21 million tonnes of wood fuel, which represents hundreds of thousands of trees. It takes about nine tonnes of wood to produce one tonne of ordinary charcoal, whereas KPCU produces one tonne of charcoal from two tonnes of husks.
Kagwima said the KPCU has exported 36000 tonnes of charcoal to the Near East and wits processing an order for 80000 tonnes for Saudi Arabia. A recent study showed that waste materials from cotton, rice, maize and other agricultural products could also produce charcoal briquettes, he said. 'With government assistance, we can produce most of the country's charcoal, thus substantially reducing the destruction of forests."
Reuter
Crops top-dressed with soil taken from termite mounds were found to treble their yields in trials conducted at the University of Agricultural Science in Hebbal, India. Soil was taken from termite mounds and spread on plots of fodder sorghum before planting. Analysis of the soil from termite mounds showed that it contained more calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium and phosphorus than adjacent untreated soil.
Far Eastern Agriculture
May-June 1984
The main aim of the newly created Data Centre in Peru is to make possible a continuing inventory of the country's natural resources. The Centre has been set up in cooperation with the Agrarian University in Lima and the International Programme of Nature Conservancy, a private, non-profit organization devoted to identifying and protecting areas of ecological significance.
By identifying very rare terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and geographical area; with endangered animal and plant species, it is possible to keep a continuing inventory of the natural areas most in need of protection.
This programme is accessible to anyone - research worker, administrator, or member of the public - involved in the protection of natural areas, the management of natural resources, and the evaluation of environmental impact.
How endangered are the world's tropical forests?
What can be done to save them?
FAO's answers are here, two widely quoted recent books on tropical forest resources
FAO - FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS
