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Bonn forest conference balancing development and conservation
More than 300 forest experts from international organizations, NGOs, industry, government and the media from over 40 countries met in Bonn, Germany in May for the “International Conference on Rural Livelihoods, Forests and Biodiversity”.
Opened by Erich Stather, State Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the conference made an in-depth analysis of the role of forest research in reducing poverty and protecting biodiversity.
The outcomes will be presented to the 4th United Nations Forum on Forests in 2004 and provide scientists and researchers around the world with significant insights in to the future directions of forest research.
This research will have to find the right balance between conserving forests to protect their rich biodiversity with finding better ways to sustainably use forests for the world’s 400 million who depend in varying degrees on forest resources.
The keynote speech at the conference was made by Ian Johnson, Senior Vice President, The World Bank and Chairman of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). “The deliberations of the conference will guide a new generation of public policies that can better reconcile the needs of people with forest conservation,” Ian Johnson said, noting there is a need to move beyond the ideological divide between those supporting forest production and supporting forest protection. He said the two are not mutually exclusive, yet the issue had distracted donors, governments and major advocacy groups for years. Mr Johnson acknowledged that a workable solution is not simple and would require integrated approaches to protecting forests and livelihoods.
These sentiments were echoed by David Kaimowitz, the Director General of CIFOR, in his closing remarks on the conference’s final day. All forest stakeholders “have a lot to contribute, but they still live on their own planets and have a hard time finding common ground. Building bridges takes effort.”
“People working on poverty tend not to appreciate biological limits and global biodiversity concerns. Likewise, most biodiversity specialists do not fully understand or appreciate livelihood issues,” Kaimowitz said.
A feature of the conference was the panel discussion chaired by leading German TV environmental presenter, Ranga Yogeshwar. Focusing on the issue of reconciling development and conservation the panel included Achim Steiner – Director General of IUCN, Suniata Nerain – Director of India’s Center for Science and Environment, Claude Martin – Director General WWF, Juan Mayr – Colombia’s former Environment Minister and El Hadji Sene – FAO’s Director of Forests Resources. As with Mr Johnson’s conclusion, the panel agreed pro-conservation and pro-poor supporters need to find more common ground if forests are to remain a source of biodiversity and livelihood for the rural poor.
Other key speakers at the event included Henri Djombo – the Republic of Congo’s Forestry Minister, , Ulrich Popp – Director InWEnt (Capacity Building International - Germany), and Pekka Patosaari – Head of the UN Forum on Forests, and Dennis Garrity – Director General of the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF).
Almost fifty papers were presented during the week. Presentations centred around seven key themes: Forests as safety nets; non-timber forest products and rural livelihoods; the contribution of plantations and agroforestry to rural livelihoods; improving livelihoods and protecting biodiversity; forest certification and rural livelihoods; international dimensions of forestry and rural livelihoods; and community forestry and rural livelihoods.
Kaimowitz described the conference as an overwhelming success in bringing together disparate views on forest use and helping to develop a pro-poor policy agenda. Among some of the key conclusions of the conference highlighted by Kaimowitz were:
Kaimowitz concluded that to achieve these aims researchers need to provide better data and improve their skills in influencing decision makers.
“The rapid changes in forest tenure, markets, civil society and governance are creating both opportunities and threats. Forests research must be more forward-looking and reflect those changes,” Kaimowitz said.
Kaimowitz said it not all gloom and doom for the future of the world’s tropical forests, but that both north and south countries must work closer together in finding sustainable solutions.
“Despite the alarming rates of deforestation, participants at the conference believe there is still hope for the world’s forests and the hundreds of millions people who depend on them. But developed and developing nations must cooperate in implementing properly researched development and forest management strategies.
“But much of the impetus must come from the developed world. People living in wealthy nations still don’t realize that if we lose the rich biodiversity of the world’s tropical forests or if we allow the millions of people who depend on forests to sink further into poverty, at some stage in the future this will affect their daily lives,” Kaimowitz said, “For example, without sustainably managed forests, the developed world will suffer from increased global warming, the loss of a rich source of cures for diseases such as SARS and potentially high human and economic costs in assisting developing countries deal with conflict as poverty-stricken groups fight each other for dwindling forests resources.”
The “International Conference on Rural Livelihoods, Forests and Biodiversity” was jointly organized by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), InWEnt (Capacity Building International - Germany), the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), 'Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit' (GTZ) and the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF).