A conference on the markets, regulations, history, business strategies and future prospects of special forest products was sponsored by the Northwest Special Forest Products Association and the Western Forestry and Conservation Association in the United States. The two-day meeting was attended by some 300 participants, including processors, field foresters, researchers, rural development professionals and others who discussed the growing industry of non-timber products (among others, floral greens, edible wild mushrooms, medicinals and berries).
The proceedings are available from the Western Forestry and Conservation Association, 4033 SW Canyon Road, Portland, OR 97221.Fax: +1-503-226-2515.
A training course in Spanish on non-wood forest products of tropical forests was organized by the Zentrastelle für Ernährung und Landwirtschaft (ZEL). The course dealt with the properties, production and marketing of resins, essential oils, medicinal plants, seeds, fruits and tannins. The comments and recommendations of the participants led to the planning of a second course to be held from 22 January to 23 February 1996 in Turrialba, Costa Rica (entitled "Planificación y gestión del uso múltiple e integral de los recursos forestales tropicales"). Another course is planned for 1997 on NWFPs in Southeast Asia and in Africa
For more information, please contact
Dr Erich Mies, DSE-ZEL, Forest Conservation and Management Section, Leipziger Str. 15, 04509 Zschortau, Germany.Fax: +49-34202 21289.This was organized by IIAP (Amazon Research Institute of Peru) and sponsored by the Pro tempore Secretariat of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty (ACT). The objective of the meeting was to discuss the status and the possible developments of small-scale agro-industries in the countries of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty. Participants from Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela and Suriname discussed policy and state development mechanisms, available resources, technology and training of target groups. The Round Table marked the end of the Phase I project: "Agroindustrial micro-enterprises as a factor in sustainable development in the Amazon region".
For more information, please contact
ACT Pro tempore Secretariat, Av. Prolongación Primavera 654, Surco, Lima, Peru.Fax: 511-449 8718;The meeting brought together a selected group of practitioners, researchers, social scientists and development professionals from Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka, along with a few key participants representing the donor community. The report of the meeting, which has been published, is organized in four thematic areas: biodiversity, safety and efficacy, socio-economic issues and health systems. The report also includes a section on research priorities highlighting future directions and a Code of Conduct for researchers engaged in medicinal plant research.
For copies of the report, please write to
Grace Domingo, IDRC, 17 Jorbagh, New Delhi 110003, India.This workshop was organized by the East-West Center and was attended by 15 participants from seven Asian countries. The objectives of the workshop were to provide the opportunity, both in terms of time and facilities, to write up the results of recent research work or field experience; to provide a forum for discussion and exchange of ideas on topic issues in community forest planning and management; and to improve English communication skills, both written and oral.
For more information, please contact Maureen De Coursey, Project Coordinator, East-West Center, Honolulu, Hawaii 96848, USA.Fax: +1-808-944-7272.
The conference was organized by the International Society of Tropical Foresters, Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and the Tropical Resources Institute. The focus of the conference was on innovative ways in which customary claims and knowledge are being used by groups of local people to manage and establish control of their natural resources.
The objective of the workshop was to formulate a proposal through the Pro tempore Secretariat and for consideration by the Countries Party to the Amazon Cooperation Treaty, containing the basic indicators for policies necessary to reduce deforestation and loss of biodiversity and promoting sustainable development in the Amazon basin. These criteria will help the eight countries to adopt a coordinated position before international fora, and will serve as a foundation for drafting regional projects addressing these issues.
For more information please contact ACT Pro tempore Secretariat,
Av. Prolongación Primavera 654, Surco, Lima, Peru.Fax:
+511-449 8718;
E-mail: 683-8344@mci mail.com
This workshop was organized by SPAACHE and the Fiji Forestry Department and WAINIMATE (Women's Association for Natural Medicine Therapy) and sponsored by the Government of New Zealand, GTZ/RFP, Canada Fund and the South Pacific Forest Development Programme. Thirty-one women from the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu took part. The aim of the workshop was to discuss progress since the August 1993 Regional Women and Traditional Medicine Workshop on conservation, documentation and promotion of traditional medicinal plants/trees and to encourage continued work in these areas; to examine the status of traditional medicine within national health programmes and to develop strategies to encourage the use of safe and effective traditional medicines; to practise documentation skills by assisting the University of South Pacific Chemistry Department with the compilation of information for WHO's Regional Traditional Medicine Handbook; to explore income generation potential from traditional medicines as a means of conserving biodiversity; and to identify future training and networking needs of traditional healers and promoters of traditional medicines in the South Pacific. (Source: Pacific Islands Forests and Trees, June 1995.)
The theme of the congress was "Bamboo, people and the environment". Over 600 people attended. In addition to the scientific activities at the conference, the event included a bamboo arts and crafts trade fair and a music festival. During the congress a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between INBAR and the International Bamboo Association (IBA) to promote sustainable development and improved R&D of bamboo. IBA has a membership of over 15 000 people in communities worldwide. The INBAR Workshop consisted of the following sessions: Bamboo cultivation and environment; The role of bamboo in development; Biodiversity and genetic conservation; Bamboo utilization and small enterprise; Bamboo housing. The Government of the Netherlands and IPGRI provided support for two sessions of the workshops.
For more information, please contact INBAR, 17 Jorbagh, New Delhi, 110003 India.
Organizada por CATIE y CCAB (Consejo Centroamericano de Bosques).
Para más información, contactar a
Rafael A. Ocampo Sánchez, CATIE, 7170 Turrialba, Costa Rica.Fax: +506-556 14 33; E-mail: [email protected]El curso tuvo el objetivo de explorar un amplia diversidad y opciones para incrementar el valor del bosque tropical y de esta manera contribuir a su protección y uso sostenible. Se incluyeron también visitas a proyectos que llevan a cabo formas innovativas de uso de los bosques naturales.
Para más información, contactar a
Felipe Matos, Universidad para la Paz, Apdo. 138-6100 Ciudad Colón, Costa Rica.Fax: +506- 249 1929/ 253 4227.Approximately 50 people participated in this conference, including representatives of rattan gatherers' organizations, rattan processors and industries, NGOs, donor agencies and officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. The conference is an annual project of the Upland NGO Assistance Committee (UNAC) and the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) Upland Marketing Program. This year's conference was additionally supported by Appropriate Technology International (ATI) and FAO. The theme of the conference was "Strengthening community resource management through NTFP enterprise development". Presentations covered an overview of NWFPs in Asia and the socio-economic aspects of NWFPs and community management of non-wood forest resources; a recent rattan subsector study for the Philippines done by ATI; rattan trading; small-scale rattan manufacturing; rattan plantation development; the potential of NWFPs in community forestry programmes; and the sustainability of the Philippines rattan industry. Recommendations were developed addressing preliminary treatment of rattan poles, grading and processing, marketing, enterprise management, replanting and regeneration, forest charges, annual allowable cut determination, forest protection, tenure rights and enhancing socio-economics benefits to rattan gatherers. Recommendations and edited papers presented at the conference will be published in a conference report.
For more information, please contact
P. Durst, FAO Regional Forestry Officer for Asia and the Pacific (RAP), Phra Atit Road, Bangkok, Thailand.Fax: +66 2 280 0445; E-mail: [email protected]Organized by GIFTS of Health at St Anne's College, University of Oxford.
For results of the meeting or more information, please contact
Gerard Bodeker, Chairman, GIFTS of Health, Dept of Dermatology, The Churchill, Headington, Oxford OX37LJ, UK.Fax: +44-1865 228260.Para más información contactar
José Flores Rodas, PRODEPAH, Apdo. 15070, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.Fax: +504- 39 4412.For more information, please contact
Dr G. Panggabean, c/o Puslitbang Biologi-LIPI, Jln Ir Juanda 18, Bogor 16002, Indonesia.Fax: +62 251 325854.Altogether 162 abstracts of papers were submitted for presentation at the congress. The scientific programme of the congress included key note, oral and poster presentations. Oral sessions were organized in the following sections: analytical/composition, chemistry/technology, sensory/biological, agricultural/botany and trade/industry. The proceedings of the congress have been published in three volumes.
For more information, please contact
Dr K.H.C. Baser, Anadolu University, Yunus Emre Campus, 26470 Eskisehir, Turkey.Fax: +90 222 3350127.For more information, please contact
BDCP Cameroon, PO Box 292, Yaoundé, Cameroon.Fax: +237 314125.An Integrated Coastal Management Course (with special emphasis on coral reefs) was held at Silliman University in Damaguete City, the Philippines. It was sponsored by the Coastal Resources Center at the University of Rhode Island. The course aimed to provide participants with technical skills to design and implement integrated management plans for coastal areas and environments.
For more information, please contact the
Training Coordinator, Coastal Resources Center, University of Rhode Island, Narrangasett Bay Campus, Narragansett, RI.Fax: +1-401- 7925436.This workshop was organized by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in collaboration with the Medicinal Plants Research Centre, Anadolu University and the Government of Turkey. Two other UNIDO international workshops on the essential oils industry have been held, the first in India and the second in the Philippines. The recommendation made at the second UNIDO workshop on the essential oils industry, in February 1991, requesting UNIDO to continue sponsoring workshops and symposia specifically related to agrotechnology, process technology, quality assessment, formulation and compounding of fragrances, has since been reinforced at a number of other UNIDO-sponsored workshops. This third workshop was a follow-up to the above recommendation and a continuation of the series on the oil industry, which is changing fast as a result of rapid developments in technology and analytical methods. It was particularly targeted at least developed countries since they have to accelerate exploitation of the industries that use renewable natural resources. The workshop covered a broader area including aroma chemicals and perfume blending. The technologies, analytical methods and international standard specifications for essential oils develop so rapidly that developing countries are unable to keep up with them because of lack of information. World production of essential oils is estimated at 45 000 tonnes per year, of which the developing countries and East European countries produce 65 percent. World market trends in this immense industry cause fluctuations, thus creating difficulties for developing countries to continue with viable essential oil industries. Several recommendations were made at the workshop, mainly addressed to UNIDO but of concern also to other institutions.
For more information, please contact
M. T. De Silva, Special Technical Adviser, Chemical Industry Branch, UNIDO, Vienna, Austria.Fax: +43 1 230 96 15; E-mail: [email protected]This symposium was jointly organized by the Department of Nature Conservation and the Forestry Industry Environmental Committee to mark the 25th anniversary of the Department of Nature Conservation of the University of Stellenbosch. In South Africa, multiple use of forests includes harvesting of ancillary products (mushrooms, ferns, honey and wildlife), recreational use of forests for which there is an increasing demand and, to a minor extent, forest grazing by domestic animals. The purpose of the symposium was to provide a forum for discussion on the potential, the social benefits, the economics, the environmental impacts and the research needs of multiple-use management of forest lands.
For more information, please contact
Berty van Hensbergen, Department of Nature Conservation, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch 7600, South Africa.Fax: +27-21-8083603; E-mail: [email protected]UNIDO and WHO jointly organized a four-day expert meeting on the promotion and development of industrial utilization of medicinal plants. The main objective of the meeting was to provide industry, governments and other interested parties in African countries with updated information as well as action-oriented recommendations on a systematic and integrated approach towards developing a medicinal plant-based industry in Africa and ensuring sustainable and environmentally friendly growth of the subsector. In addition, the meeting discussed the main issues to be submitted to the regional consultation to be held in 1996 on the promotion and utilization of medicinal plants in Africa. The recommendations of the meeting are expected to provide a basis for the preparation of a technical cooperation programme in support of a plant-based industry in African countries with emphasis on subregional, regional and interregional cooperation.
For more information, please contact
Fernando Angulo, Officer-in-charge, Industrial Cooperation and Consultations Services, Investment and Technology Promotion Division, UNIDO, PO Box 300, A-1400 Vienna, Austria.Fax: +43-1-237-288.The symposium was organized by the Chinese Society of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of Forest Products.
For more information, please contact
Prof. Ho Chin Ko, Chairman of CSCCEFP, Long Road, Nanjing 210037, People's Republic of China.Fax: +86-25-509445.This workshop was organized by Winrock International. Its objectives were to report and exchange information on the performance of Calliandra on a variety of sites and under different management conditions and to explore the potential of developing species within the genus for use in small-scale farming systems.
For further information, please contact
Mark H. Powell, NFTA, c/o Winrock International, Rt. 3, Box 376, Morrilton, AR 72110-9537, USA.