| CIFOR
celebrated the fifth anniversary of its founding in May 1993. Today, the centre is
well established in its headquarters complex in Bogor, which was donated by the Indonesian
government and houses about 40 internationally recruited scientists and more than 70
national staff. |
|
A provocative new book, Economic
Models of Tropical Deforestation: A Review, attracted widespread interest for its
conclusions that call into question many of the results and methodologies of more than 150
economic models of deforestation. The authors caution that the findings should be viewed
with scepticism because of poor data quality and methodological weaknesses, and they urge
new approaches in future research of this kind. |
| CIFOR
helped set the global agenda for forestry research at an international
consultative meeting in Austria, where a panel of experts proposed initiatives to improve
coordination of forestry science and information. The meeting, known as ICRIS, was an
intersessional event of the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests (IFF) and was co-sponsored
by the governments Austria and Indonesia. |
|
CIFOR
underwent its first external programme and management review, as mandated by the
CGIAR. The eight-member review panel commended CIFOR for strong progress in all aspects of
its work, and noted that the centre has already achieved an enviable reputation as an
authoritative source of scientific information. |
| Indonesia’s
new Minister of Forestry and Estate Crops, Dr. Muslimin Nasution, joined CIFOR’s
Board of Trustees as the government’s representative. He visited CIFOR for a briefing
on key research issues in tropical forestry, and also addressed an international meeting
at CIFOR on "Forests and People," which emphasised the importance of local
participation in forest management. |
|
A CIFOR–supported
study on the dynamics of China’s bamboo sector was considered for the CGIAR
Chairman’s Award for Collaborative Research. The study, a collaboration with major
research institutions in China, contradicts the conventional view of bamboo as a poor
man’s timber, revealing instead its promise as a tool for rural development, income
generation and rehabilitation of degraded lands. |
| CIFOR
published A Review of Dipterocarps: Taxonomy, Ecology and Silviculture, a
definitive book on one of the best known and commercially important groups of tropical
trees. The book, which contains contributions by 13 internationally recognised
specialists, spans research results produced over the past 150 years. |
|
Building in part on a research
project in Madagascar, CIFOR formulated the concept for
a new programme initiative to be known as Adaptive Co-Management. It was endorsed
by the Board of Trustees at the year’s end and will combine existing CIFOR projects
to develop criteria and indicators and to improve the livelihoods of forest-dwelling
people. The work in Madagascar, which is related to broader research efforts to strengthen
community-based control of forests, offers a framework for developing more flexible plans
for managing natural resources by incorporating innovative tools such as participatory
mapping. |
| The
groundwork was laid for a wide range of research activities at Bulungan Research Forest
in East Kalimantan, which the government of Indonesia has designated as a site at
which to test practices that support sustainable forest management. A new director arrived
to head the project, and by the year’s end as many as 30 scientists and research
assistants were working in Bulungan at one time. CIFOR and several research partners
issued guidelines for reduced-impact logging experiments that were set to get underway
at the site. |
|
A
monograph published by CIFOR, Incomes from the Forest, offers important lessons for
conservationists, NGOs, development experts and others who view non-timber forest products
as a major instrument for improving the livelihood of rural people. Citing case studies,
the contributors describe relative strengths and weaknesses of various methods that have
been employed to promote NTFP development. The book shows that, despite common
assumptions, NTFP development does not necessarily guarantee conservation and economic
benefits. |
| A
public forum on "Forests for the Next Generation" was held in April at
the United Nations University in Tokyo in conjunction with a meeting of CIFOR’s Board
of Trustees. More than 200 people attended the forum, organized to convey to key audiences
in Japan the global value of Japan’s overseas development assistance to agricultural
research. The Government of Japan is CIFOR’s largest donor. |
|
In
collaboration with researchers in East, Central and Southern Africa, CIFOR began a
four-year project, sponsored by the European Commission, aimed at helping to preserve vast
miombo woodlands in the southern region of the continent. Nearly 40 million people
rely on them for food, fuel wood and other daily needs, and concerted efforts are underway
to develop a sustainable management plan for the woodlands. |
| CIFOR
achieved considerable media attention as a source of independent scientific
information when staff scientists were featured in dozens of press, radio and
television interviews around the world in relation to the economic crisis in Indonesia and
the forest fires in Southeast Asia that occurred in 1997 and 1998. CIFOR continues to post
regularly updated material about these situations on its Web site. |
|
New
findings from CIFOR research in several Latin America countries are forcing a revision
of basic ideas about secondary forests, which regenerate on native forests that have
been cleared. Studies showed that secondary forests can provide many of the products that
small-farmer households have traditionally acquired from primary forests, while also
providing environmental benefits. This suggests the need for incentives to increase the
value of secondary forests to farmers, thereby helping to counter the loss of primary
forest for agriculture and other uses. |
| Forestry
and biodiversity experts from 20 countries met in North Sumatra, Indonesia, in December at
the invitation of CIFOR and UNESCO to discuss ways of expanding the World Heritage
Convention as an instrument for conserving the biodiversity of tropical forests. The
group issued detailed recommendations and a proposed list of additional sites to be
considered for World Heritage designation. |
|
As part
of its strategy to become a "centre without walls," CIFOR established
regional offices in Belém, Brazil, and Harare, Zimbabwe. These and major CIFOR field
operations in Costa Rica, Cameroon, Gabon and other places strengthen CIFOR’s
collaboration with institutional partners around the world. |
| CIFOR’s
pioneering project to develop "criteria and indicators" (C&I) for
guiding sustainable management of forests ended its first four-year phase. A major
achievement was completion of a series of social science-based resource tools–
including a generic template, a CD-ROM and step-by-step manuals —that others can use
to develop customised C&I appropriate for various forest settings. |
|
As part
of an international response to the devastating forest fires that occur periodically in
Southeast Asia, CIFOR launched a project with the U.S. State Department and the
European Space Agency to acquire the kind of information needed to better understand the
causes of the fires and devise effective remedies. CIFOR scientists also contributed their
expertise to numerous discussions about the fires and to the development of initiatives to
address the problem. |
| All
publications produced by CIFOR since its inception were compiled for the first time in
complete text form on CD-ROM, which is available free of charge. This important new
resource includes a reference list of papers and articles by CIFOR staff and their
collaborators published in external journals and books. |
|
CIFOR
collaborated with the International Academy of the Environment in Geneva in a policy
dialogue to address some of the difficult issues associated with applying the
"Kyoto Principles" to forests. In related matters, CIFOR presented a paper
at a meeting of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change later in the year, and CIFOR
staff worked to develop a new research initiative that will look at trade in carbon
sequestration services and how it might work to benefit sustainable forestry. |