bioSUSTAINABILITY scoping workshop
(16th-17th September 2004, Phnom Penh, Cambodia)
Contact: Dr. Alison Holt,
bioSUSTAINABILITY Project Co-ordinator
Participants
A scoping workshop was held in Phnom Penh 16th-17th September 2004,
funded by an APN seed grant, to focus a proposal, “Biodiversity
measures in different biomes: challenge for the next decade”.
At the meeting it was decided that the proposal would focus on one
biome, the tropical forest in the Indochina region. National borders
(and hence policies and science approaches) cut across the natural
boundaries of this forest ecosystem, and there are diverse demands
of different elements of those nation’s societies on biodiversity.
Attempts to address such issues in the region so far have only focussed
on the freshwater system (the Mekong River Commission).
APN proposal "Measuring biodiversity change in the Indochina
region: implications for policy and sustainability"
Proposal summary
There are a variety of policy instruments ranging from international
conventions, protected areas, to local-based payments for the sustainable
use and protection of tropical forest biomes. However, the effectiveness
of these policies is ambiguous and needs to be evaluated using an
agreed set of biodiversity change measures that encompass biological
and economic aspects as well as the social, cultural and spiritual
aspects of biodiversity. This will be explored through a three-day
workshop to be held in Siem Reap, Cambodia, January 2006, where
policy-makers, stakeholders and both natural and social scientists
from the region will work together to define a suite of measures
appropriate for the management of trans-boundary biodiversity in
tropical forests. A follow-up three-day workshop will be held in
Parkse, Lao PDR, September 2006, aiming to assess the effectiveness
of policy instruments operating from international to local scales,
using the agreed suite of measures. It will also identify elements
of those instruments that perform best in this respect, along with
those factors that mitigate against successful policy and likely
impacts on society. This workshop will involve an extended representation
of policy makers and the major stakeholders in the forest biome
(e.g. timber producers and conservation agencies) than the first
and involve participants from funding organisations for further
project development.
Once this approach has been validated for the tropical forest biome,
it is intended to apply it to all biomes in the region over the
next decade.
Summary of outputs
• To set up a web site for the project;
• To develop an agreed set of biodiversity change measures
for tropical forests (first workshop) and recommend them to agencies
within each country, a scientific synthesis paper (co-ordinated
by bioSUSTAINABILITY);
• Communication of science-based recommendations to the community
responsible for formulating policy in the form of a two-page policy
brief, translated into the language of each region, and sent to
government agencies and development agencies. Use this to create
media interest in the region;
• To evaluate the effectiveness of current biodiversity policy
instruments;
• To make recommendations about best practice when formulating
new policy and implementing effective biodiversity management;
• To establish a network of biodiversity and policy scientists
within the region with the aim of sharing information and developing
long term collaborative activities at all levels within the region.
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