|
|
|
|
The monthly newsletter of the Poverty and Conservation Learning Group (PCLG)
November 2015
|
|
PCLG International and National Groups News
A PCLG meeting took place in Kigali, Rwanda, on 4-6 November. The meeting, titled ‘Linking conservation and poverty alleviation in Rwanda’, provided a space for Rwanda based conservation and development organisations to share their experiences in linking conservation (and particularly great ape conservation) and poverty alleviation. The meeting also explored the potential for establishing a network of organisations interested to improve the integration of great ape conservation and poverty alleviation in Rwanda. More information on this meeting, including a meeting report, will be available soon.
Uganda PCLG have a new series of dedicated web pages on the PCLG website. Here you can find all information on what the group does, who are its members, and all the material produced by the group over the years. We look forward to hearing what you think about these new pages! Please send your comments to alessandra.giuliani@iied.org
|
|
|
PCLG Members news
The November issue of the Darwin Initiative newsletter brings news from Darwin projects working on issues related to Traditional Knowledge. Traditional Knowledge is relevant to the Nagoya Protocol - a priority of the Darwin Initiative. This newsletter includes articles highlighting the intricate links between people and biodiversity and how traditional knowledge can be used to support both conservation and development.
|
|
Poverty and Conservation News Stories
More than 100 locally managed marine area (LMMA) practitioners from communities around Madagascar’s coast gathered with NGO partners and government officials on Madagascar’s remote northeast coast in October for a national forum. Read more.
The International Whaling Commission (IWC) have published the report from the 'IWC Expert Workshop on Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling (ASW),' which contains a series of recommendations to support the IWC's work. The Commission will discuss the recommendations at its next meeting in Slovenia in 2016. Read more.
In other news:
|
|
Featured story
Indonesia forest fires: South Sumatra and Kalimantan in Indonesia as well as Indonesian Papua and New Guinea are experiencing devastating forest and peatland fires that have led to an environmental and potential humanitarian disaster with the health, property and livelihoods of up to 75 million people in Indonesia and the surrounding region affected. The fires also threaten up to a third of the worlds endangered orangutans. As well as daily emissions often exceeding those of the USA.
Photo by Rini Sulaiman/ Norwegian Embassy for Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).
CIFOR have produced a number of blogs and reports on the fires and resultant haze, including fact files, Q&As and videos around the causes and consequences of the fires, which are annual events as fires are set to clear forest, often for oil palm plantations.
The fires are can be a symptom of unclear land tenure with overlapping land claims between central and local government and between companies and communities. Farmers in Sumatra have protested for greater land rights in the face of the fires.
George Monbiot in the Guardian asks why the worlds media have not given more coverage of the fires. While Rhett Butler in Mongabay argues that the fires give the Indonesian President Joko Widodo, an opportunity to lead on climate change. President Jokowi has pledged to ‘revitalise’ peatland ecosystems, including a potential moratorium on peatland development, in order to stop the fires.
|
|
Featured Publications
 Fauna & Flora International (FFI) is implementing a five-year project to increase knowledge and awareness of biodiversity and ecosystem services values in complex agricultural landscapes. As part of this project FFI has developed GRACE – Guidance for the Rapid Assessment of Cultural Ecosystem Services. GRACE has been developed to help decision makers to recognise and understand cultural ecosystem services and benefits, and to take these into account in their decisions about how to use and manage nature. It is a guide for those wanting to know what aspects of nature people value, how these contribute to their wellbeing, and how changes to ecosystems might affect the delivery of these services and wellbeing derived from them. GRACE is based on years of collective experience, incorporates ideas and practices from the field and literature, and has been written as a simple practical guide for field practitioners.
For further information on GRACE please contact Helen Anthem (helen.anthem@fauna-flora.org).
|
|
Other media
Blog: What if we banned trophy hunting in Africa? From the University of Washington, reflecting on recent research published in Conservation Biology.
Blog: Gemima Harvey discusses new research from CIFOR demonstrating how indigenous people often play an important role in preserving biodiversity.
Blog: Laurie Marker of the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) talks to Mongabay about linking conservation with local communities to reduce problems such as human wildlife conflict.
Blog: Community engagement for snow leopard conservation in northern Pakistan.
|
|
Forthcoming Events
Register for the ESPA (Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation Programme) 2015 Annual Science Conference, which will take place in London, UK, on 25th-26th of November 2015.
Register for the First Annual FLARE Network Conference, which will be held in Paris from 27th - 30th November 2015. The conference will advance cutting edge knowledge on forest-based livelihoods.
Register for the 2015 Global Landscapes Forum, to be held in Paris from the 5th-6th December 2015.
Register for Pathways Kenya 2016, ‘Integrating Human Dimensions into Fish and Wildlife Management’, to be held from the 10th – 13th of January 2016, at Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club, Nanyuki, Kenya.
The 10th International Conference on Community-Based Adaptation (CBA10) will take place in Dhaka, Bangladesh from 21st-28t April 2016. This year's theme is 'Enhancing urban community resilience'.
The thirteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 13) will take place in Cancun, Mexico, from 4th to 17th December 2016.
|
|
Other Opportunities
Funding & Awards
The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), is now inviting submissions of proposals for funding from sub-Saharan Africa for the Biodiversity Information for Development (BID) programme. Proposals are invited for three broad categories of grants, see the link for further details. Initial concept notes, must be submitted by 20th November 2015.
ARCOS’ Small Grants Programme aims to enhance collaborative sustainable solutions for biodiversity and people, focusing on critical landscapes and watersheds of the Albertine Rift, the Great Lakes Region of East and Central Africa and the African Mountains. The second round is open from 1st of October through 30th of November.
Applications for the 2016 Conservation Leadership Programme (CLP) Conservation Team Awards are now open. CLP aims to advance biodiversity conservation globally by building the leadership capabilities of early-career conservation professionals working in high-priority places. The programme offers awards, training and mentoring support. The application deadline for all award types is 7th December 2015.
The Tusk Conservation Awards highlight achievements of individuals working for conservation in Sub-Saharan Africa. The awards include The Prince William Award for Conservation in Africa; the Tusk Award for Conservation in Africa and the Tusk Wildlife Ranger Award. The deadline for nominations is 1st March 2016.
Training & Further Education
The Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Program offers short-term fellowships to African-born academics at universities in the USA and Canada to collaborate with African universities in research, curriculum co-development, and/or graduate student training. Project requests to host scholars are submitted online by African higher education institutions in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda. Scholars need to apply by 8th December 2015.
The French-language universities of Belgium award 130 scholarships and about 70 training grants each year in the ARES programme to applicants from developing countries. Subjects include aquaculture; tropical animal and plant resources; environmental management; management of natural hazards; and others. The eligible countries are Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cuba, Dem Rep Congo, Ecuador, Haïti, Indonesia, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Niger, Peru, Philippines, Rwanda, Senegal, and Vietnam. The deadline for applications is 10th February 2016.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
