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10 December 2013 Suriname
To maintain access to markets in Europe and the USA the timber sector of Suriname needs to verify the legality of its forest products. Participants of the regional seminar ‘Emerging legality requirements in the timber sector of Suriname’ (28-29 November 2013 in Paramaribo) found that the forest sector of Suriname is in a good position to adequately address these legality requirements, because of Suriname’s commitment to sustainable forest management and because it has a good forest control system.
28 November 2013 Colombia
TBI Colombia’s methodologies on participative research and project formulation within intercultural contexts are now being implemented among rural communities in the Caribbean region. This is an example of how the lessons we have derived from research in tropical forests can be extended to other ecosystems and, particularly, to areas where communities rebuilding their livelihoods amidst the aftermath of civil conflicts (i.e. under a post-conflict setting).
19 November 2013 Colombia
When considering climate change from a local perspective many questions arise. Is climate change recognized as a problem by communities? What are the impacts associated to this phenomenon? And most importantly, what tools do local communities have in order to adapt to climate change? The resulting documents developed by TBI Colombia in the frame of the project If the climate changes, you should change too address these questions and give indications of how to link traditional knowledge to climate change adaptation.
19 November 2013 DR Congo
City dwellers’ investment in rural areas could be an opportunity for the development of these areas, but at the same time is a threat to development as it drastically reduces customary forests for local communities. Therefore, community forestry is at risk: if nothing is done to stop this trend, in the near future there will be no forests for local people and, therefore no community forestry. This is the main message of TBI DR Congo at the 7th forum on forest governance in Africa, held in Kinshasa, DR Congo from 29 to 30 September 2013 and organized by The IDLgroup in collaboration with TBI DR Congo.
18 November 2013 Viet Nam
To promote discussion of the Vietnamese rubber sector’s rapid development, TBI Viet Nam organized the “Forestland conversion to rubber plantation: opportunities and challenges” workshop in Hanoi on 27 September. In attendance were Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) officials from concerned provinces, lead national forestry policy officials, and rubber industry representatives – including the head of the Viet Nam Rubber Association.
18 November 2013 DR Congo
Community forestry can be an opportunity to improve the socioeconomic conditions of local communities and ensure sustainable forest management, if it is based on the principles of good governance, according to Professor Alphonse Maindo, director of Tropenbos International DR Congo program. This was his end message in the presentation "Governance of community forests”, presented during the workshop on community forestry held in Kisangani, 1-2 October, 2013.