International programs

Conservation Breeding Specialist Group

Among CBSG activities of interest to ethnobotanists is a CAMP for non-timber forest products of wet and dry deciduous forests of central India held in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. /GJM

Myristica malabarica (Myristicaceae), a tree found in evergreen and Myristica swamps in southern India, is considered vulnerable because of low seed viability and germination rates.

The Conservation Breeding Specialist Group (CBSG) is an international conservation organization dedicated to protecting biodiversity. Its mission is to assist conservation of threatened animal and plant species through scientific management of small populations in wild habitats, with linkage to captive populations where needed. The Group offers advice and services to government and wildlife officials throughout the world. CBSG is part of IUCN, the World Conservation Union. The Group comprises over 600 professionals working in the fields of species recovery planning, research, education and related disciplines. CBSG has developed a number of processes and tools to carry out this work. For example, in their Population and Habitat Viability Assessment (PHVA) workshops, biologists and other professionals are brought together to assess the extinction risks for particular endangered species.

One of the tools which has been developed to assist in this process is VORTEX, a software package to model population viability. These workshops are held in the country in which the species is found, with the objective of formulating an action plan for species recovery and management.

Conservation Assessment Management Plans (CAMPs) differ from PHVAs in that they focus on animals or plants of a specific geographic region or taxonomic group. The CAMP process, as adapted to plant taxa, is currently being applied in a series of workshops on the medicinal plants of India. Two workshops, organized by the Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions (FRLHT, see PPH 3:12), have been facilitated by the India regional network of CBSG.

CBSG produces reports on each of the workshops that it conducts. The Group also publishes CBSG News, a quarterly publication that provides information on CBSG activities from around the world. To meet the demand for its services, CBSG has begun a training program, enabling scientists from around the world to learn the processes and tools that are used in conservation assessment workshops.

‘A Conservation Action and Management Plan (CAMP) workshop for 44 selected species of medicinal plants of southern India was held in Bangalore, India from 12 – 14 February 1996. The workshop was the second in a series which ultimately will assess approximately 300 priority species listed by the Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions (FRLHT), which hosted both CAMP I and CAMP II. In CAMP I, 36 species were assessed, using the revised IUCN Categories of Threat. Of these species, four were classified as “Data Deficient” and were then included in the list for CAMP II. The other 40 species were selected on the basis of two criteria, i.e. inclusion in the Indian Red Data Book for Plants and also their commercial demand. Some species were included because of threat to them perceived by some botanists.’

Molur, S. and S. Walker, editors. 1996. Report on Conservation Assessment and Management Plan (CAMP II) for Selected Species of Medicinal Plants of Southern India, 12 – 14 February. Peelamedu, Zoo Outreach Organization and Conservation Breeding Specialist Group.

CONTACT

Philip Miller, Program Officer, Conservation
Breeding Specialist Group, 12101 Johnny Cake
Ridge Road, Apple Valley,
Minnesota 55124-
8151, USA;
Tel. +1.612.4319325,
Fax +1.612.4322757,
E-mail office@cbsg.org
Website http://www.cbsg.org

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The Nature Conservancy

The TNC Website offers an interesting database entitled Selected Rare Plants of Latin America and the Caribbean, which provides information on the taxonomy, global conservation status and national distribution of nearly 2,000 species. These were selected from over 11,000 vascular plant taxa assessed by TNC botanists, and include many useful plants. Just select the ‘conservation science’ option from the TNC home page. /GJM

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) emerged in 1951 from a professional association of ecologists seeking to turn their knowledge of nature into positive action for conservation. Working initially in the United States to protect ecologically significant land, it has subsequently expanded to Latin America, the Caribbean and the Pacific.

The Conservancy’s mission is to preserve plants, animals, and natural communities that represent the diversity of life by protecting the land and water they need to survive. Protection and conservation are based on land purchase, building local constituencies, working with land managers, and developing biodiversity inventory programs.

These initiatives include the Heritage Programs in the United States and Conservation Data Centers elsewhere. The botany program of the Conservancy provides plant information on biodiversity conservation to TNC staff, government agencies and others. It maintains a database that aims to determine the conservation status of plants in the Western Hemisphere. The current emphasis is on vascular plant species of the United States and Canada and woody plant species of Latin America and the Caribbean.TNC has initiated several economic plant projects in Latin America. The purpose of these projects is to study the distribution and economic significance of wild sources of economic plants and their relatives in protected areas.

A field inventory of plant resources in Cerro Corá National Park, in northeast Paraguay, was completed in 1997. This was a collaborative project undertaken with the National University of Asunción and the Conservation Data Center (CDC) of Paraguay’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife. The project began with an ethnobotanical study in four indigenous and two campesino communities living near the Park. The purpose of the project was to assess the value of the Park for in situ conservation of species that are economically important to local communities. A workshop was conducted from 30 June to 4 July 1997 to present project results to members of the communities and park managers, and to develop a management plan and conservation strategy for the Park flora.

‘Thursday (3 July 1997)
AM: The first working group offered a summary. Using the Park’s zoning map, prepared by a consulting firm, as a framework and overlaying the vegetation map and localities of populations of crop wild relatives, rare plants, and endangered plant species discovered in this project, the group made suggestions for each management zone in the Park ... The second discussion group selected 6 plants for cultivation of 27 that had been suggested by the participants: Yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis), chosen as the most important crop by every local community; Arnica del campo (Viguiera linearifolia), the most desired medicinal plant, Trebol (Amburana cearensis), for its highly priced wood and its status as an endangered species; Yvyra pyta (Peltophorum dubium), a fast growing species popular for timber and firewood, Guavira mi (Campomanensia adamantium and C. pubescens), cerrado species producing fruit popular among local residents; and Rosa del campo (Gomphrena macrocephala), for its horticultural potential.’

Keel, S. n.d. Notes on the Workshop on Conservation and Management of the Flora of Cerro Corá National Park. Unpublished report on trip to Paraguay, 20 June - 7 July 1997.

CONTACT

Shirley Keel,
The Nature Conservancy, International Headquarters,
1815 North Lynn Street, Arlington, Virginia 22209, USA;
Tel. +1.703.841.2714, Fax +1.703.841.2722,
E-mail skeel@tnc.org
Website http://www.tnc.org/

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World Conservation Monitoring Centre

The WCMC Website offers the 1997 IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants as a searchable database. Upon being simultaneously launched in book form in Australia, South Africa, United Kingdom and the USA, this Red List attracted front page press coverage around the world. /GJM

The World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC) was established in 1988, and has charitable status. It is managed as a joint venture between IUCN, UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) and WWF. Its mission is to provide information on the status, security, management and utilization of the world’s biological diversity to support conservation and sustainable development. Within the organisation, the Threatened Plants Unit (TPU), working in collaboration with the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC), gathers, analyses and disseminates information on plants threatened at the national and global scale. The plant database holds taxonomic, distribution and conservation data on over 80,000 species. Recently the Unit has been focusing on wild relatives of crop plants, tropical timber species and plants growing in protected areas and botanic gardens. WCMC’s expertise also includes information management on protected areas, species and habitats of conservation concern and international conservation agreements and programmes. WCMC produces a wide range of publications, and is expanding its information services by using the Internet.

‘A total of 605 Tropical Montane Cloud Forest Sites in 41 countries have been identified to date … The highest concentration is found in Latin America, where 280 sites (46%) are found in only 12 countries, the majority in Venezuela, Mexico, Ecuador and Colombia. In Southeast Asia, 228 sites have been identified in 14 countries, principally in Indonesia and Malaysia and to a lesser extent in Sri Lanka, Philippines and Papua New Guinea. In Africa, 97 sites have been recorded in 21 countries, with many cloud forests on relatively isolated mountains which are scattered across the continent.

Details of the size of particular cloud forest sites have been difficult to obtain, except where the information has been supplied by local experts. In any case, the actual extent of cloud forest itself as distinct from the surrounding or adjoining forest type is very difficult to determine, even on the ground.

An initial assessment of the values of cloud forests shows that the majority of areas are exceptionally important habitats for endemic and other threatened species of flora and fauna, including many important tree species and plants such as tree ferns and orchids. Large numbers of bird species and mammals such as the spectacled bear Tremarctos ornatus and howler monkeys Alouatta spp. are dependent on cloud forest habitat for their survival. In addition, these forests have a high socio-economic value to local populations principally as a source of fuelwood, building materials and food amongst others, but also on a larger scale for watershed production and climate regulation.’

Aldrich, M., C. Billington, M. Edwards and R. Laidlaw. 1997. Tropical montane cloud forests: an urgent priority for conservation. WCMC Biodiversity Bulletin 2.

CONTACT

Harriet Gillett,
World Conservation Monitoring Centre,
219 Huntingdon Road, Cambridge CB3 0DL, UK;
Tel. +44.1223.277314, Fax +44.1223.277136,
E-mail info@wcmc.org.uk
Website http://www.wcmc.org.uk

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Pro-Natura International

From its base in Paris, Pro-Natura International promotes applied research in more than two dozen countries. Particularly innovative and well publicized are its collaborative efforts to discover novel secondary compounds in the tropical forest canopy in Africa and South America. /GJM

The mission of Pro-Natura International is to ‘save the tropical forests for the people with the people’. A non-profit organization, it functions as a network that exchanges hands-on experience between NGOs. Pro-Natura focuses on the needs of people who depend on tropical forests for their livelihood, providing advice on the design and management of grass-roots projects.

It is specialized in community-led sustainable development programs in the tropics. Pro-Natura sponsors projects in twenty-five countries that focus on agroforestry and non-timber forest products, sustainable logging and local timber processing, biodiversity prospecting and biomass energy. The services offered to NGOs include:

• technical and managerial advice on the design and running of projects;
• financial help for projects by finding sponsors
• help in finding experienced staff for projects;
• advice about international outlets for products from the projects;
• management consultancy for setting up co-operatives and local processing;
• organization of visits to other projects.

Priority is given to highly endangered zones and areas of high biodiversity and endemism. A database of NGOs, expertise, projects and sponsors is being built up to facilitate networking.

‘The Pro-Natura French Guyana mission of 1996, which took place during the last quarter of 1996 in collaboration with the Office National des Forêts, Opération Canopée and Silvolab, was an operation of a scientific nature intended to widen our knowledge of the forest canopy. The tree-top platform and its associated airship were used by a team of 33 researchers. A trial testing was made of Professor Francis Hallé’s thesis, according to which the secondary metabolites (natural molecules potentially usable in pharmaceutical and agricultural research) would be more varied and more abundant in the canopy than at lower and ground levels …

A new operation is due to take place in Gabon in the area of the Monts de Cristal, the summit of the African forests in matters of biodiversity.’

Anonymous.1998.Pro-Natura International Newsletter.Spring

CONTACT

Guy F. Reinaud, President,
Pro-Natura International,
51 rue d’Anjou, 75008 Paris, France;
Tel. +33.1.49241498, Fax +33.1.49241566,
E-mail pro10@calva.net
Website http://www.columbia.edu/~bpc1/pronatura/

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Tropenbos Foundation

The Tropenbos Foundation hosts the Coordinating Unit of the European Tropical Forest Research Network (ETFRN), with which it shares a Website. / GJM

The Tropenbos Foundation was founded in July 1988 to continue and expand the international Tropenbos Programme, set up by the Netherlands government in 1986. Its main objectives are to:(1) contribute effectively to the conservation and wise use of tropical rain forests by generating knowledge and developing methodologies; and (2) involve local research institutions and strengthen research capacity in tropical rain forest countries.

Based on the needs of policy makers and forest users, the Tropenbos Foundation formulates, coordinates and finances objective oriented research programs.In close cooperation with research institutions and governments, Tropenbos has established permanent research sites in Cameroon, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Guyana and Indonesia. Researchers address issues such as land-use planning, biodiversity conservation in protected areas, sustainable forest management, and criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management.

In addition to work at long-term research sites, special studies have been carried out in Ecuador and Gabon. Tropenbos develops research strategies for specific themes such as biological diversity, non-timber forest products and indigenous forest management. Extension and training components are important elements in the international and national Tropenbos Programmes.

Tropenbos provides information on its activities through the Tropenbos Newsletter, which is issued 3 times a year, and through its homepage on the Internet. The results of its research activities are published in the Tropenbos Series or as Tropenbos Documents. Country-specific results are disseminated in local Tropenbos Series or technical reports. The latest publication in the Tropenbos Series is Number 16, J.L.C.H. van Valkenburg’s Non-timber Forest Products of East Kalimantan. Potentials for Sustainable Forest Use, which was published in 1997. Number 14 of Tropenbos Documents is a 31-page booklet on the Tropenbos experience in developing methods for research on non-timber forest products, produced in 1998.

‘An agroforestry system could be created with a canopy of large (fruit) trees (100 ha -1) and a second layer of medium-sized, shade-tolerant fruit trees (100 ha -1). The core of 200 trees per hectare leaves ample space for additional plants. For the canopy a selection can be made of: illipe species (e.g. Shorea macrophylla, S. pinanga), Artocarpus integer, Durio zibethinus, various Mangifera species and Parkia speciosa. Suitable shade-tolerant fruit trees are: Baccaurea spp., Dimocarpus longan, Durio kutejensis, Lansium domesticum and Nephelium lappaceum. The balance of species will vary according to market possibilities and ecological and social constraints.The shade-tolerant fruit trees start producing after five years. After ten years the ‘canopy’ trees will have overtopped the small fruit trees, and cempedak and durian trees start producing. Finally, after twenty years, a first illipe harvest can be expected.The problem with this proposed man-made forest is of course whether people are willing to invest in such a long rotation system. The system reaches its highest production at a time when the person who has planted the trees will probably have died.’

van Valkenburg, J.L.C.H. 1997. Non-timber Forest Products of East Kalimantan. Potentials for Sustainable Forest Use. Tropenbos Series 16.

CONTACT

Joanna Boddens Hosang, Head of Communications Unit,
The Tropenbos Foundation,
PO Box 232, NL-6700 AE Wageningen, The Netherlands;
Tel. +31.317.426262, Fax +31.317.423024,
E-mail jbh@iac.agro.nl or tropenbos@iac.agro.nl
Website http://www.tropenbos.nl

To order books in the Tropenbos series:

Wim Backhuys, Backhuys Publishers - The Netherlands,
PO Box 321, 2300 AH, Leiden, The Nethelands;
Tel. +31.71.5170208, Fax +31.71.5171856,
E-mail backhuys@euronet.nl
Website http://come.to/backhuys

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Plant Resources of South EastAsia

Volume 11 of the PROSEA Handbook on useful plants of Southeast Asia was published in 1997. It contains a total of 78 papers that describe 91 major species and some 120 minor species of auxiliary plants used in agriculture and forestry. /GJM

PROSEA - Plant Resources of South East Asia - is an international program that collects and evaluates knowledge on the useful plants of the region. The project is committed to the conservation of biodiversity and rural development through sustainable land-use systems. PROSEA has four objectives: (1) to document and make available the existing wealth of information on the plant resources of Southeast Asia for education, extension work, research and industry; (2) to produce a computerized databank on the plant resources of Southeast Asia; and (3) to publish the results in the form of an illustrated, multi-volume handbook in English.

Volumes of the Handbook already produced include: Pulses; Edible Fruits and Nuts; Dye and Tannin-producing Plants; Forages; Timber Trees: Major Commercial Timbers; Timber Trees: Minor commercial Timbers; Timber Trees: Lesser-known Timbers; Rattans; Bamboos; Vegetables; Plants Yielding Non-seed Carbohydrates; Cereals; and Auxiliary Plants. Future volumes will focus on medicinal and poisonous plants (in three parts), spices, vegetable oils and fats, lower plants, stimulants, fibers, exudates, essential oils and ornamentals (in two parts). These books and the databank contain information on uses, distribution, botany, ecology, agronomy, diseases, harvesting, genetic resources, breeding and literature for the various species.PROSEA has a Network Office in Bogor, Indonesia that coordinates the efforts of six Country Offices in Southeast Asia, and a Publication Office in Wageningen, the Netherlands.

‘For centuries people of South-East Asia have been using vegetable dyes to colour food. The rich flora of this region presents many sources of pigments to choose from. The use of plant pigments for colouring food, especially for traditional meals, is still widespread in South-East Asia, although the number of plant pigments used is quite limited. It is common practice to extract pigments directly from fresh materials, for instance yellow from the tubers of Curcuma longa L., green from the leaves of Pandanus amaryllifolius Roxb., Dracaena angustifolia Roxb. and Sauropus androgynus (L.) Merr. ... Besides the colour, people often also appreciate the typical flavour and taste given to the food by the plant product.’

Lemmens, R.H.M.J. and N. Wulijarni-Soetjipto, editors. 1991. Dye and Tannin-producing Plants. Volume 3. Plant Resources of South-East Asia. Wageningen, Pudoc Scientific Publishers.

CONTACT

Junus Kartasubrata, Head, PROSEA Network Office Southeast Asia,
c/o Research and Development Centre for Biology (RDCB-LIPI),
Jalan Ir. H. Juand 22, PO Box 234, Bogor 16122, Indonesia;
Tel. +62.251.370934 or 322859, Fax +62.251.370934,
E-mail junus@indo.net.id

Jan S. Siemonsma, Head, Prosea Publication Office,
c/o Wageningen Agricultural University (WAU), Haarweg 333,
PO Box 341, 6700 AH Wageningen, The Netherlands;
Tel. +31.317.484587, Fax +31.317.482206,
E-mail elly.fokkema@pros.agro.wau.nl
Website http://www.bib.wau.nl/prosea/home.html

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