0 Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA)

The Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA) research programme aims to deliver high-quality, cutting-edge research that will improve our understanding of the way ecosystems function, the services they provide and their relationship with the political economy and sustainable growth.

The research will provide the evidence and tools to enable decision-makers to manage ecosystems sustainably and in a way that contributes to poverty reduction.

ESPA is a seven year, £40.5 million interdisciplinary research programme funded by the Department for International Development (DFID), the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), as part of the UK’s Living with Environmental Change partnership.  

The ESPA programme will issue a series of competitive calls for proposals. In addition to the main ESPA call in 2010 for consortium projects, there will be additional opportunities in 2011 and 2013 for smaller projects designed to complement ESPA’s initial research investments. The ESPA Directorate will issue a series of calls for proposals covering activities including capacity building, research into use, knowledge synthesis and evaluation.

ESPA’s goal is to ensure that, in developing countries, ecosystems are being sustainably managed in a way that contributes to poverty reduction as well as inclusive and sustainable growth.

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0 Rufford Small Grants for Nature Conservation (RSGs)

The Rufford Small Grants Foundation seeks to fund people whose work makes a pragmatic, substantial and long-lasting contribution to nature conservation. Such work often includes other elements such as sustainable development, public education and environmental campaigning. Rufford Small Grants are designed to provide accessible and flexible funding for those who want to bring about change. Conservationists from any country working anywhere in the developing world are welcome to apply. Projects in the First World will not normally be considered for funding. Applicants are not restricted to qualified scientists, but must be able to compile a written report to describe and quantify the success of their work with appropriate references. Undergraduate and school level expeditions are not eligible. More information about the Rufford Small Grants Foundation and previous Award and Grant recipients may be found on the Foundation’s website at www.ruffordsmallgrants.org

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0 EcoSummit 2012 - Ecological Sustainability

Restoring the Planet’s Ecosystem Services

Ecosystems such as streams, rivers, inland and coastal wetlands, grasslands, and forests provide numerous services that fundamentally support human health and well-being. This international conference will explore innovative science-based strategies that are socially and culturally acceptable to create, manage, and restore these ecosystems, ensuring that society has access to all these ecosystem services. Our aim is to provide a high-profile platform for dialogue among researchers, planners and decision-makers to develop a better understanding of the complex nature of ecological systems and the means to protect and enhance their services.

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0 Cheap Roses Cost The Earth

Valentine's Day Roses Bought in UK Could 'Bleed Lake Naivasha Dry,' Warns Ecologist

ScienceDaily (Feb. 11, 2011) — A University of Leicester ecologist who has spent over 30 years researching wetland conservation at Lake Naivasha in Kenya has warned that the country is being "bled dry" by the UK's demand for fresh flowers. He called on UK supermarkets to show more concern about the health of the natural environment that the flowers come from.

Dr David Harper, of the Department of Biology, University of Leicester, has been working at Lake Naivasha as part of ongoing research and projects on the ecosystem of lakes in Kenya.

Dr Harper said UK supermarkets should do more than simply selling "Fair Trade" roses. They should look beyond the farm gate at the sustainability of the natural resource that feeds the flowers -- Lake Naivasha.

He said: "A notable few of the farmers sending roses to Europe are showing concern and an eagerness to pioneer a sustainable way forward: the best flower farms have achieved Fair Trade status, which brings money back into the workforce for social welfare improvements. Two farms have even seconded senior managers to help Kenya's water management agency at Naivasha."

He warned that increased UK supermarket promotions of flowers over Valentine's Day, and subsequently on Mother's Day, without showing concern about where or how environmentally sustainable roses can be grown, will just increase the export of water -- the scarcest natural resource in Kenya.

"There are just a few good farms but many more that don't care how much damage they do to the lake. Seventy percent of the roses sold in European supermarkets come from Kenya and the majority of those are from Naivasha, many thus coming without any ecological certification. This has to change for the future of the industry as well as the lake and the country," said Dr Harper.

Switzerland is the only country in Europe that cares about selling environmentally sustainable Kenyan roses, says Dr Harper, because the Swiss Coop -- its largest supermarket -- recycles some of its profits to fund sustainability projects at the lake.

He said: "Over the past 20 years, Lake Naivasha has been seriously degraded by over-abstraction of water. The blame has invariably been put onto flower farmers, who use irrigation to grow the roses that adorn the vases in our homes -- especially on Valentine's Day and Mother's Day.

"The ecology of the lake has deteriorated due to lack of government enforcement of the laws that regulate water abstraction, prevent over-fishing or stop clearance of wetland vegetation."

"The European supermarket leader on sustainability issues -- the Swiss Coop -- is now putting money from its profits into a feasibility study for a project, led by me and Dr Caroline Upton, a Social Scientist from the Geography Department and our PhD student, Mr Ed Morrison, which will address key issues of sustainability of the whole lake basin with key local partner organisations. These include the Kenya management agency responsible for water abstraction, local conservation groups with whom we has worked for years and an innovative new NGO, making educational films teaching people, including flower farm workers, about water and sustainability."

Dr Harper would love to see UK supermarkets following the Swiss Coop's initiative, as the German-Austrian supermarket REWE is considering doing.

"The Kenyan Government, whom I have advised through the Prime Minister's Office, has launched "Imarisha Naivasha," a campaign to bring all parties together to change damaging behaviours and enforce laws. People who live and work around the lake are showing concern and eagerness to be taught a sustainable way forward. The few farms have led the way with innovations like hydroponics for growing flowers in minimal water and wetland systems for wastewater treatment.

"But what are UK supermarkets doing?" I see nothing positive, just plenty of platitudes. The Swiss Coop is the only supermarket to look beyond the farm gate, accepting that there cannot be sustainable roses from a failing lake system, no matter how many with Fair Trade status are grown. The Swiss Coop can see that sustainable roses must come from a sustainable lake ecosystem and not just a well-run farm. It's a pity that British supermarkets are so short sighted that they cannot see this too."

Dr Harper called for UK supermarkets to accept more responsibility by promoting sustainable management policies that reach beyond the farms and help to conserve the ecosystem which will allow flowers (and profits) to flourish beside a healthy, restored lake. If the flowers they sell could show a 'water ecological footprint' customers might be able to choose more discerningly, as they presently are seeking to do with food miles.

See also.....Cheap Roses Costs The Earth

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided byUniversity of Leicester. Science Daily.

0 Re-Greening Africa in the Footsteps of Wangari Maathai

Re-Greening Africa in the Footsteps of Wangari Maathai
By Isaiah Esipisu

Nobel Laureate Professor Wangari Maathai campaigned to save the Mabira Forest Reserve.  Credit:Isaiah Esipisu/IPS

NAIROBI, Sep 28 , 2011 (IPS) - Africa needs to remain focused and continue following the late Professor Wangari Maathai’s initiatives for environmental sustainability in order to address climate change across the continent, environmentalists say.

Maathai, the first African woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, in 2004, was founder of the Green Belt Movement , which aimed to reforest Kenya, stop soil erosion and provide firewood for families by paying poor women to plant trees. She passed away on Sep. 25.

"In the current era of climate change, the professor has left behind adaptation actions that we must implement in order to save the poorest of the poor that solely depend on the environment and natural resources," said Gaster Kawuubye Kiyingi, the national project manager for Tree Talk Plus , a network of organisations engaged in the development and sustainability of the forestry sector in Uganda.

Kiyingi said some of these adaptations include campaigning for forest-based enterprises and the sustained use and planting of more trees.

Since its inception in 1997 the Green Belt Movement has directly planted over 30 million trees in Africa and assisted nearly 900,000 women to establish nurseries and plant trees to reverse the effects of deforestation.

The United Nations estimated that by the time of Maathai’s death over 11 billion trees had been planted, especially in Africa, by different organisations through her campaign.

Kiyingi said Africa needs to stay focused on the late professor’s initiatives for environmental sustainability because it is key to attaining the Millennium Development Goals – eight time-bound goals tackling poverty and its various dimensions that the U.N. member states agreed to in 2000.

"There is an urgent need for Africa to address issues relating to environmental laws and governance, law enforcement and trade in natural resources. They are a ‘cancer’ eating at the very core of our leadership, and it is what Maathai (fought against)," he told IPS.

According to Jan Vandenabeele, the executive director of Better Globe Forestry Limited, a Kenyan afforestation company, there remains a need for civil society and social organisations to join hands to plant more trees and harvest them sustainably. But, he said, Kenya may be close to achieving Maathai’s dream.

"In Kenya the new constitution is very clear that every piece of arable land should have at least 10 percent of forest cover. If this is implemented, then we will be living the dream of the late Professor Maathai," said Vendenabeele.

He added that for Africa to realise the dream of a green continent there needs to be more investment in environmental research.

Dr. Maxwell Kinyanjui of the Woodlands Trust 2000, a Kenyan-based organisation that provides afforestation and allied services to those involved in the tree industry, said that in order to address the issue of deforestation in Africa, leaders and related organisations must begin by addressing energy sources.

"Charcoal production is one of the major causes of deforestation in Africa. But until farmers invest in sustainable charcoal production, people will continue cutting down trees that were not originally planted for the sake of charcoal production," he said.

Land grabbing is another problem that continues to affect forests in Africa. Maathai had always been steadfast in protecting natural resources, not only in Kenya, but also in other African countries. In Uganda she campaigned to save the Mabira Forest Reserve.

"I remember Professor Maathai for her efforts to protect Karura Forest on the outskirts of Nairobi city. The forest land had already been (claimed) by individuals linked to the former political regime between 1998 and 2002. But she protested until all the people who had been allocated land by the then government left," said Paul Barasa, a former senior corporate affairs officer at the Kenya Forestry Research Institute.

Maathai, a professor of veterinary anatomy, also prevented former Kenyan former President Daniel arap Moi from erecting a 62-storey building on a recreational park.

Now Uhuru Park is the largest public park in Kenya. It is adjacent to the city and is usually bursting with activity. Couples row boats on the lake, hundreds of children play on the grass while their parents relax under trees. Thanks to Maathai’s campaigning it is one of the most serene areas in Nairobi.

Kiyingi says more needs to be done to save the trees and forests of Africa.

"Each African country needs to have proper policies that can protect tree cover from illegal logging and encroachments. But the sad thing is that the very leaders who are supposed to protect the forests are the same people who grab forest land, or conspire with grabbers," said Kiyingi.

Kiyingi said that there are currently several tree planting initiatives in Uganda, most of which are linked to Maathai’s Green Belt Movement.

"Such efforts must be sustained at all costs because the environment is our livelihood," he said.

Maathai’s idea of providing incentives for people to plant trees needs to be replicated in order to realise the dream of a green Africa.

"The idea of undertaking tree planting as an income-generating activity will be sufficient motivation for tree planting across Africa and as a result, there seems to be a ray of hope in re-greening Africa."   (END)

Credit: Isaiah Esipisu/IPS 
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