Meeting prep: UNU-IAS events on the Nagoya Protocol, GIAHS

The Convention on Biological Diversity and the Nagoya Protocol: Why Intellectual Property Still Matters
17 May 2013 (UNU-IAS, Yokohama, Japan)

This seminar by Kiyoshi Adachi from the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) will highlight recent work by UNCTAD on the policy space available for countries to use selected intellectual property tools in support of the international access and benefit-sharing system. Further information …

Experiences and Lessons of Dynamic Conservation and Sustainable Development  from Asian GIAHS Pilot Sites
28 May 2013 (UNU-IAS, Kanazawa, Japan)

Six pilot sites in China and two in Japan have been designated by FAO as Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) sites for dynamic conservation and adaptive management. In addition, more sites in China and Japan are under consideration for GIAHS designation, and an application is also planned for a Korean site. This workshop will bring together experts from China, Korea and Japan, as well as local residents, to share experiences and lessons learned regarding biodiversity conservation and rural development. Further information …

 

Meeting review: CBA7

Seventh Conference on Community-based Adaptation to Climate Change
18-25 April 2013 (Dhaka, Bangladesh)

The CBA7 conference, organized by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and the Bangladesh Centre for Advance Studies (BCAS), brought together over 250 international practitioners, scientists, government and non-government policy and decision makers. CBA focuses on innovative ways in which local communities deal with climate change impacts and integrate scientific and local knowledge in planning local adaptation strategies. This year, the event focused on the latest approaches for mainstreaming community-based adaptation into international, national and local planning and processes. Conference delegates and online participants learnt about ways that people around the world are adapting to climate change in both rural and urban settings, and how governments can embed adaptation in all policy arenas. During the meeting, government representatives from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, The Gambia and Zanzibar formed a network to support their efforts to factor climate change into national development planning. The network will enable policymakers and planners in countries at risk from climate change to share information and collaborate in ways that can strengthen their policies and plans by ensuring they consider how climate change could affect development, and is open to all countries.

Visit the conference’s website, including links to session recordings and presentations … Read the IIED media release of 25 April … Read a SciDev.Net article of 29 April …

 

This week in review … Many Strong Voices develops adaptation project integrating scientific and traditional knowledge

Many Strong Voices Develops Ecosystem-Based Adaptation Project
Climate Change Policy and Practice, May 2013

OSLO, NORWAY: Many Strong Voices (MSV) is developing a project on ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) to climate change, aiming to reduce vulnerability to climate change by supporting an EbA methodology that integrates scientific and local/traditional knowledge. Case studies will be carried out in communities in Belize and Seychelles. Work carried out to date includes field visits in both countries to meet with potential partners and assess local conditions. This project seeks to formalize a methodology that combines evidence-based, scientific data with community knowledge and experiences, and empower communities to make informed choices on how to reduce vulnerability to climate change. Read the article … Visit the MSV website …

 

This week in review … South Africa to launch national TK recording system

South Africa to Launch National Traditional Knowledge Recording System
IP Watch, 10 May 2013

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND: On 24 May, South Africa will be launching its National Recordal System aiming to catalogue its indigenous knowledge. The National Recordal System is an initiative of the South African Department of Science and Technology, with the ultimate goal of creating opportunities “for benefits to flow back to the communities.” The NRS includes the establishment of indigenous knowledge networks, provincial Indigenous Knowledge Systems Documentation Centers and an Information Communication Technology knowledge platform. It will be interactive, and benefit-sharing agreement forms will be accessible online. Read the article … Further information on the NRS …

 

This week in review … ECOSOC appoints new PFII members

Members of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues 2014-2016
PFII release, 6 May 2013

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK: The President of the Economic and Social Council announced the appointment of eight Members of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues for the term 2014-2016 who had been nominated by indigenous peoples’ organizations. Previously, the Council had elected seven members nominated by governments. One member remains to be elected by the Council from the Asia-Pacific region. Their term begins on 1 January 2014 and lasts until 31 December 2016. The appointed members nominated by indigenous organizations include: Mariam Wallet Aboubakrine; Dalee Sambo Dorough; Joan Carling; Raja Devasish Roy; Kara-Kys Arakchaa; Maria Eugenia Choque Quispe; Edward John; and Valmaine Toki. The government-nominated members include: Joseph Goko Mutangah; Gervais Nzoa; Mohammad Hassani Nejad Pirkouhi; Oliver Loode; Aisa Mukabenova; Alvaro Esteban Pop Ac; and Megan Davis. Read the PFII release … Read the ECOSOC release …

 

Meeting review: UNU-IAS public symposium on indicators of resilience in SEPLS

Public Symposium held on Indicators of Resilience in SEPLS
Satoyama Initiative release, 1 May 2013

YOKOHAMA, JAPAN: Held on 22 April 2013 at the UNU-IAS, and focusing on the resilience of the world’s socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes (SEPLS), this symposium featured speakers from Bioversity International and the UN Development Programme, two member organizations of the International Partnership for the Satoyama Initiative. In his opening remarks, Wataru Suzuki, Coordinator of the International Satoyama Initiative at UNU-IAS, provided some background on the long collaborative process that has led to the development and testing of a set of twenty indicators for resilience in SEPLS. Nadia Bergamini, Bioversity International, shared some of the results of the initial testing of the indicators and lessons learned; and emphasized their usefulness for establishing a common understanding at community-level of threats and solutions and for determining which strategies can be undertaken to strengthen resilience. Diana Salvemini, UNDP, presented the Community Development and Knowledge Management for the Satoyama Initiative Project, a collaborative effort under IPSI, which supported local community activities in ten countries to promote sustainable landscape-level management approaches, and is projected to support activities in ten additional countries. Read the release, including links to presentations … Download the UNU-IAS policy report Indicators of Resilience in Socio-ecological Production Landscapes (SEPLS) [pdf] …

 

This week in review … Southern African countries discuss capacity-building strategy for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage

Southern Africa: Towards a sub-regional capacity-building strategy for intangible cultural heritage
UNESCO release, 6 May 2013

PARIS, FRANCE: For the first time, Southern African countries met to create the professional and institutional environment required for the effective safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage in the sub-region. Held from 30 April o 2 May 2013 in Harare, Zimbabwe, a meeting of experts and officials from Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe addressed the basic components of a future capacity-building strategy in Southern Africa for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage at the sub-regional level. A number of UNESCO workshops and pilot projects on community-based inventorying in the sub-region since 2009 had laid the groundwork for the initiative. Read the UNESCO release …

 

This week in review … Indigenous groups in the Amazon report climate change impacts

Indigenous tribes say effects of climate change already felt in Amazon rainforest
Mongabay.com, 30 April 2013

CALIFORNIA, USA: Tribal groups in the Amazon rainforest are already being affected by shifts wrought by climate change, reports a paper published last week in the British journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. The paper, which is based on a collection of interviews conducted with indigenous leaders in the Brazilian Amazon, says that native populations are reporting shifts in precipitation patterns, humidity, river levels, temperature, and fire and agricultural cycles. These shifts, measured against celestial timing used by indigenous groups, are affecting traditional ways of life that date back thousands of years. “Indigenous groups who have lived in the Amazon for centuries, even millennia, are seeing signs that the climate is changing there,” said Steve Schwartzman, lead author of the study and director of tropical forest policy at Environmental Defense Fund. “Indigenous people are telling us rainfall and river levels have changed; the fires they’re dealing with are different now; and the climate systems they used to depend on for growing crops have become unpredictable.” In particular, indigenous interviewees mention concerns about drier conditions making it more difficult to control fires traditionally used for small-scale rotational agriculture. For generations, indigenous farmers set fires based on the position of stars in the sky – reflecting the time of year – with the expectation that the fires wouldn’t spread into humid forest areas. But drier conditions today mean that savanna fires can easily move into rainforests, damaging them and reducing their capacity to withstand drought and future burning. Read the article … Read the abstract of The natural and social history of the indigenous lands and protected areas corridor of the Xingu River basin, by Stephan Schwartzman et al …