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The Partnership Creating an Evergreen Agriculture
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On Tuesday morning, the panel discussed the EverGreen Agriculture concept, which works to regenerate land and improve food security through a science-based and community-led process of intensified farming that integrates trees into crop and livestock production systems.
Sharing experiences on addressing drought in the Sahel, a panelist mentioned: participatory forest policies; village-level natural resource management vision and projects; and rehabilitation plans and projects. Defining re-greening as “increased agricultural productivity and resilience through better management of soils, water and vegetation,” he discussed successes in implementing rainfall capture technologies, and the correlation between tree ownership and increasing tree intensity in the region.
Among lessons learned from the Sahel, a panelist stressed the importance of: empowering communities to determine their development priorities; tenure and tree ownership by farmers; village and inter-village institutions; and mainstreaming sustainable land management (SLM) into rural development policies.
One speaker called for reframing areas defined as wastelands as potential land, and eliminating the perception that trees compete with crops. For scaling up and allowing for successful farmer-managed natural regeneration, the speakers agreed on the need for enabling environments, access to markets, diversifying and “densifying” existing systems, and multi-stakeholder cooperation. |
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Sustainable Wood Energy Production: Innovative Approaches to Combat Land Degradation and Strengthen the Resilience of Rural People
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On Tuesday afternoon, this panel addressed the status of wood energy in Africa and the trends and challenges of wood energy in drylands, with case studies presented from Cameroon and Madagascar. One panelist highlighted that trends demonstrate growing demand for wood fuel and underscored challenges including the lack of reliable baseline data.
Another speaker discussed a local-community centered and voluntary project in Madagascar, involving planting coppicing tree species, primarily Eucalyptus, to provide stock for wood fuel production. A panelist highlighted government policies to manage wood fuel production in northern Cameroon.
One panelist emphasized matching species to particular sites, while saying that efficient conversion technologies are critical in order to prevent deforestation. Another panelist stressed assessing the benefits of afforestation for degraded lands, noting that it may not be beneficial in all areas. She highlighted that land rights and local community involvement is crucial.
A speaker called for assessing the use of native species for wood production, underscoring that while Eucalyptus is beneficial in some cases, it is a non-native species and can pose problems in areas of water scarcity. One panelist said governments routinely ignore biomass as an economic driver and noted the under-pricing of wood energy, which makes it challenging for other energy sources to compete. |
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A SADC Operational Platform to Enhance Synergies between the Biodiversity, Land Management and Climate Change Pursuits of the Three Rio Conventions
EBA: Synergies in Implementation of the Rio Conventions
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On Tuesday afternoon, this panel addressed synergies between the UNCCD, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) on adaptation, in particular EBA.
A panelist from the UNFCCC Secretariat noted the catalyzing effect of the Nairobi Work Programme (NWP) and highlighted that it will be relaunched at COP 19 taking place in November 2013, in Warsaw, Poland. She identified entry points for collaboration between the Rio Conventions, including through the Joint Liaison Group, and development of National Adaptations Plans (NAPs) under the UNFCCC.
A panelist from the CBD Secretariat discussed EBA in the context of the CBD. She said that the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group (AHEG) on Biodiversity and Climate Change found that EBA can generate multiple benefits. She underscored the Hyderabad Call for a Concerted Effort on Ecosystem Restoration, which was endorsed by the Rio Conventions.
One panelist from the UNCCD Secretariat said the basis of synergies for the Rio Conventions includes the natural processes that link biodiversity loss and climate change to desertification. He identified the need for: increased coordination of the NFPs of the Rio Conventions at the national level; integration of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) schemes; and better sharing of knowledge and best practices. |
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Valuing the Biodiversity of Dry and Sub-Humid Lands
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Daily web coverage (click on the following links to see our daily web pages)
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Seventh Rio Conventions Pavilion (RCP)
