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APN Newsletter Vol.7, No.4 October 2001
It is now typhoon season in Japan. Kobe has been hit by two major typhoons since August. Because of rising ocean surface temperature near the Japanese Archipelago, the typhoons sustained strong power and thus caused economic and social damage. With regard to APN recent activities, it was my great pleasure to be able to participate at the Amsterdam Open Science Conference, and that the APN contributed to giving an opportunity for young scientists from the Asia-Pacific region to join such an exciting and historical scientific gathering (further details of this award programme are given on here of this newsletter). The APN/GLOBEC-SPACC workshop on the causes and consequences of climate-induced changes in pelagic fish productivity in East Asia was held in Kobe from 25 to 27 August. The deadline for the APN Call for Proposal 2001 process was 26 September. We are now busy preparing the peer review process. In addition, the APN-UNU/IAS Joint Workshop on the Asia-Pacific Environmental Innovation Strategy (APEIS) Project and the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) was attended by APN project investigators and collaborators, as well as the APN Secretariat. The workshop was a great success. A message from the meeting to the 7th APN Scientific Planning Group and Inter-Governmental Meeting will be given and consequently reviewed for further APN involvement in these projects. The Vegetation Recovery Workshop in Western Australia is now under preparation, and the Training Course on Regional Ecosystem Monitoring Technology kicked-off in Kobe this September. With the aforementioned events in mind, I am pleased to report on current APN progress and look forward to your continued assistance and cooperation in APN activities. -Ryutaro Yatsu Back to the contents of APN Newsletters Oct 2001 MAILING LIST NEW APN LIAISON OFFICERS APN/GLOBEC-SPACC WORKSHOP ON THE CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF
CLIMATE-INDUCED CHANGES IN PELAGIC FISH PRODUCTIVITY IN EAST ASIA JOINT WORKSHOP ON ASIA-PACIFIC ENVIRONMENTAL STRATEGY PROJECT
(APEIS) AND MILLENNIUM ECOSYSTEM ASESSMENT (MA) INTERNATIONAL HUMAN DIMENSIONS WORKSHOP Ms. Maarit Thiem, IHDP, Walter- Back to the contents of APN Newsletters Oct 2001 'YOUTH ENVIRONMENT SUMMIT' The Youth Environment Summit (YES 2000) took place at Lincoln University in Canterbury, New Zealand from 19 to 24 November 2000. The event was sponsored by Meridian Energy (main sponsor); BP New Zealand Ltd; Rotary International; Rotary Club of Lincoln; The British Council; Wickliffe Press; Lincoln University; and the APN. 'YES 2000' represented the sixth version of Lincoln University's successful 'EnviroSchool' series, which has run biennially since its inception in 1990. But whereas the previous five EnviroSchools were 'New Zealand only' events (attended by a total of 582 high school students), it was decided to extend this millennial version to the whole Asia Pacific region, a move made possible by the high input of the Rotary Club of Lincoln, providing a link to Rotary Clubs throughout New Zealand and the Asia Pacific region. Thus adding a whole new cross-cultural dimension to the Youth Environment Summit. YES 2000 was attended by 67 senior high school students (ages 16 to 17). This included 47 New Zealand students, and 20 Asia Pacific students from 15 countries. PROGRAMME For the Asia-Pacific participants, their attendance at YES 2000 was part of a wider commitment. Rotary International imposed a requirement on each of the 20 students that they should initiate and report back on a local environmental project in their home area. This extension of their involvement continues (as at August 2001). SUMMARY This article was edited by the APN Secretariat based on the YES 2000 report kindly compiled by Associate Professor Graeme D. Buchan, Reader in Environmental Physics and Environmental Education at Lincoln University, New Zealand.
CARBON STOCKS OF FOREST ECOSYSTEMS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA Rodel D. Lasco* 1. Introduction In the last few years, research on C stocks and dynamics in forest ecosystems in Southeast Asia has intensified and new data has been generated. This article summarizes the available information on C stocks of tropical forestlands in the region in response to deforestation and conversion to other land uses.
2. Impact of Deforestation on Carbon Budgets In Indonesia, various reports show that above-ground C density in grasslands and shifting cultivation areas is typically less than 40 MgC/ha (Table 1). While in the Philippines, grassland and croplands contain only 3.1 to 13.1 MgC/ha. These are vastly lower than the C density in the natural forests that they replace. Natural tropical forests in Indonesia are estimated to contain 65-390 MgC/ha. In the Philippines and Thailand, natural forests could have 86-201 MgC/ha and 72-182 MgC/ha, respectively. Similarly, Malaysian forests harbor 100-216 MgC/ha in above ground biomass. Table1. Above ground biomass density of grasslands and annual crops in Indonesia and the Philippines(frrom various source as cited by Lasco 2001)
3. Conversion to Tree Plantations and Perennials Crops Various tree and agricultural plantations in the Philippines and Indonesia have C stocks that are 7-51% lower than natural forests (Table 2). Similarly, agro forestry and plantation farms in Indonesia had
C stocks that are 4-66% lower than an undisturbed forest (Table
3). In a lowland peneplain area of the country, rubber and oil
palm plantations were estimated to contain 36-46% of the C of the
natural forest. Agro forestry systems have been widely promoted as an alternative technology to slash-and-burn farming. They involve planting of trees and perennials in conjunction with agricultural crops. A Leucaena leucocephala fallow field in Cebu, Philippines has a mean C density of 16 MgC/ha/yr during its 6-year cycle (Table 5). This is very low compared to natural forests in the country. Likewise, a coconut-based multi-storey system in Mount Makiling has a C density in AGB of 39 MgC/ha (Zamora, 1999), which is only about 15% of the C of adjacent natural forests. Table 2 Above-ground C densities of tree and agricultural plantation in the Philippines and Indonesia
Table 3. Time averaged C stocks for lowland peneplain in Indonesia(above ground biomass and top 30 cm soil)
Table4. C density of tree plantations in Mindanao, Philippines
Table5. Carbon density and MAI of Leucaena leucocephala fallow fields in Cebu, Philippines(from Lasco and Suson, 1999)
4. Conclusions
Literature Cited *Article compiled by Professor Rodel D. Lasco, Environmental
Forestry Programme, University of the Philippines at Los Banos,
College, 4031 Laguna, Philippines.
Secondary tropical forest in the Philippines Back to the contents of APN Newsletters Oct 2001
PELANGI
Sustainable development is a development of today that doesn't compromise the ability of the future generation to undertake theirs. The World Bank suggested a redefinition of sustainable development as a development that keeps the production capitals intact to allow the same opportunity for future generations to undertake theirs. These capitals are defined as human capital, social capital, natural resources and the environment, and physical (man-made) capital. The clearer role of natural resources and the environment on sustaining development has given prominence to the environmental movement. From being portrayed as a harmless environmental "club", the environmental movement has emerged as a technical and political movement as well. Environmental advocacy in Indonesia started in the mid 1980s, championed mainly by two influential NGOs, the Indonesian Environmental Forum (Wahana Lingkungan Hidup Indonesia, WALHI) and the Secretariat for Forest Conservation Network (Sekretariat Kerjasama Pelestarian Hutan Indonesia, SKEPHI). Later on, WALHI emerged to become more influential politically. In the early 1990s, leading up to the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, the link between the environment and development was made clear and the term sustainable development was enforced. The pressure from within Indonesia and from the preparation towards the Earth Summit to enhance the movement's technical capability also increased. Although it had operated informally since 1990, Pelangi was established formally in 1992 to serve the environmental movement in Indonesia with strong technical and analytical capability and to provide sound information. Most of the co-founders of Pelangi were at some point affiliated with WALHI. Since then, Pelangi has carved its niche in the issues of environmental institutions, setting a new trend in both non-governmental and academic communities. Climate change is one of the main issues that Pelangi observes and analyzes. Pelangi's involvement in climate change negotiation goes back to the Second World Conference on Climate Change in 1991, which led to the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a Framework Convention on Climate Change leading up to the signing of the convention at the 1992 Rio Summit, all the way to the Conferences of the Parties. Most recently, from the 1997 Third Conference of the Parties in Kyoto that produced the Kyoto Protocol, Pelangi serves as a member and Technical Advisor to the Indonesian Negotiating Delegation. Domestically, Pelangi is an active member of the Interministerial National Committee on Climate Change since its inception. Pelangi conducted the first country study on climate change, assessing the socio-economic impacts of climate change in Indonesia. The result of this study was published by the Asian Development Bank and was a key basis for a National Response Strategy. Most recently, Pelangi's involvement in the climate change debate includes assisting the Indonesian Government to formulate a National Action Plan, undertaking capacity building for developing country negotiators and non-governmental activists, hosting regional and global meetings on climate change for developing countries, assessing the potential for the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in Indonesia, including the forestry sector, and assisting the government in setting up a National CDM Clearinghouse. CDM is a mechanism under the Kyoto Protocol through which the industrialized countries can offset their emissions by investing in emissions-reduction projects in developing countries. In other environmental institutional issues, Pelangi was involved in the establishment of the Indonesian Biodiversity Foundation and the Indonesian Ecolabel Institute. Pelangi is also involved in urban and rural transportation issues, air pollution, clean production, and forestry. Pelangi sits on the Board of the Indonesian Clean Production Roundtable, the Expert Panel of the Asia-Pacific Chapter of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, and houses the secretariat of the Asia-Pacific Sustainable Transport Network. *Agus Sari is President Director of Pelangi. Contact information:
Pelangi. Jalan Danau Tondano A4, Pejompongan, Jakarta 10210, Indonesia.
Back to the contents of APN Newsletters Oct 2001
Isao Koike: Ocean Research Institute, the University of Tokyo IGBP, in collaboration with IHDP and WCRP held their premier
Open Science Conference (OSC) "Challenges of a Changing Earth"
in Amsterdam, the Netherlands (10-13 July 2001). IGBP and its Core
Projects have now been in the implementation phase for a decade,
and the time is now right for the first IGBP-wide open science conference
to highlight not only the increasingly integrated research across
the IGBP community, but also the growing links to the global environmental
change (GEC) partner programmes IHDP and WCRP. We believe that this
conference is the most important scientific meeting on global change
this year. The conference discussed major accomplishments and syntheses
of the last decade of global change research, highlighting comprehensive
research carried out by the IGBP in collaboration with IHDP and
WCRP. The conference also explored the future of earth system science
and how best to make scientifically based contributions to governance
for global "sustainability management". As the links to APN policy, a mission for the Open Science Conference was to increase awareness in the broad scientific, policy and resource management communities of the latest scientific understanding of GEC, including its implications for humanity's aspirations for improved well-being and the quest for global sustainability. The OSC presented the latest scientific understanding of global environmental change at three levels. (1) integrated level of the IGBP core projects and the IGBP as a whole; (2) cross-cutting research involving the WCRP and IHDP, as well as regional research co-ordinated by APN, IAI, START and other groups; and (3) the individual level of the research projects which contribute to IGBP/IHDP/WCRP networks and provide the broad, substantive base on which the integrating activities of the three programmes are built. The OSC saw participation of the global change scientific community, both specialists in disciplinary areas of global change research and the broader community such as policy makers and private sectors. The committee estimated participation of at least 1500 scientists and policymakers from over 50 countries around the world, including 300 students. At the planning stage, the committee needed a special effort to attract and support scientists from developing countries, Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. It was hoped that such a broad international representation would mirror the diversity of science policies and perceptions and respond proactively to the concerns of the science-policy dialog and need for information. In addition, many aspects of the meeting would be relevant for the policy and resource management sectors, as well as for segments of the private sector that are becoming increasingly interested in global environmental change. The plenary presentations together with the more focused parallel and poster sessions presented new and exciting "state-of-the-science" understanding of the Earth System and its changing dynamics in a problem-solving mode. The IGBP proposed that funding be available from other resources
to cover approximately 2/3 of that number from developing countries
(~300). With this in mind, a small conference award programme was
established to facilitate attendance at this conference by promising
scientists from developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
The direct rationale of the award with respect to APN priority was
that this award facilitated improved individual and institutional
linkages between young scholars in developing countries throughout
the Asia-Pacific region and the global change research community
in general. Furthermore this qualitative investment in capacity
building would result in a greater number of quality research proposals
from these countries in future years and reflected at national,
regional and international forums. One of the big challenges ahead for IGBP is to facilitate the next generation of global change scientists. Global change research is about increasing scientific understanding as well as broadening the human capacity to deal with implementing Earth System Science, disciplinarily as well as geographically comprehensive. Especially, we believe that the active involvement of young scientists from developing countries into IGBP programmes is crucial for the next decade of the IGBP evolution. Therefore, as I wrote above, participation of scientists from developing countries, especially young scientists, was one of the primary concerns of the committee from the initial stage of its planning. Increase in public concern about global environmental change in those regions is certainly strong motivation for their participation, but the financial support from many international and national agencies including APN materialized the above promise, funding some 250 scientists to attend the conference. On behalf of the organizing committee, I really appreciate APN support to the conference. The conference composed of daily overview talks in the form of
plenary sessions, followed by more detailed topics in parallel and
poster sessions. Many of the titles in the plenary session focused
on the integration of at least two major projects of the IGBP, WCRP
and IHDP, such as Air Quality in the 21st century, Land-Ocean Interactions:
Regional and Global Linkages, and Towards Global Sustainability.
Parallel sessions in the afternoon were slightly more disciplinary
oriented, but still integrated aspects of global environmental sciences,
such as Global Change and Fire, Tradeoffs between Food Production
and Environment, Vulnerability of Water Resources to Environmental
Change. Details of conference presentations from both plenary and
parallel sessions (slides and texts) are now available on line by
the effort of the IGBP office in Stockholm, and can During the Conference, an evening session comprised of panel discussions was organized to focus on the issue of global change science in developing countries, entitled "The Scientific Divide and Capacity Building". Professor Thomas Rosswall, Director of the International Foundation for Science, introduced and led the session, and we had 7 panelists; Shem O. Wandiga, Chairman of Pan-African START Committee (PACOM), Kenya; Congbin Fu, Global Change System for Analysis Research and Training (START), Regional Centre for Temperate East Asia, China; Sharifah Mastura, Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN), University of Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia; Roberto Aduan, Inter-American Institute for Global Change (IAI), University of Brasilia, Brazil; Hartwig Kremer, Deputy Director of International Project Office of LOICZ, Netherlands; Peter Tyson, Chairman of START, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa; and Mohamed H. A. Hassan, Executive Director of Third World Academy of Sciences, Italy. Professor Rosswall pointed out the serious problem called the "scientific divide" referring that research & development spending by the 29 OECD countries in 1998 was greater than the economic output of the world's 61 poorest countries. Because of poor research environments, those educated and skilled individuals are leaving the country to emigrate and the brain drain is a serious issue, especially in Africa. From the remarks made by the panelists, I learned that the strategy and systems of scientific research in developed countries should be modified according to their culture and custom and the economic situation of local society to improve the research environments in those countries. My personal experience in Southeast Asia also supports the above caution. But, I also feel that there is a steady increase of scientists having sound knowledge of global environments, especially among the young generations in those countries. I like very much the simulative effect of OSC on the global change science in developing countries in the near future. At the end of this short APN supported project article, I would like to refer to the last part of "The Amsterdam Declaration on Global Change", which was prepared under the auspices of the four international global change research programmes, and formally endorsed by a strong majority of the conference participants to alert the world about the reality of global change and the urgent need for action. " A new system of global environmental science is required. This is beginning to evolve from complementary approaches of the international global change research programmes and needs strengthening and further development. It will draw strongly on the existing and expanding disciplinary base of global change science; integrate across disciplines, environment and development issues and national and social sciences; collaborate across national boundaries on the basis of shared and secure infrastructure; intensify efforts to enable the full involvement of developing country scientists; and employ the complementary strengths of nations and regions to build an efficient international system of global environmental science".
Back to the contents of APN Newsletters Oct 2001 OCEANIA 11-15 June 2001. SPREP Regional Climate Change Meeting. Nadi,
Fiji. 11 June-28 September 2001. Certificate in Climate Change Vulnerability
and Adaptation Assessment. University of the South Pacific, Fiji. 18-19 June 2001. 3rd START-Oceania Regional Committee Meeting.
Nadi, Fiji. 30 July-11 August 2001. Professional Certificate in Coastal
Zone Management. Adelaide, Australia. September 5-15. SPREP AGM & Rio+10 Meeting. Apia, Samoa. Compiled from report by APN Liaison Officer Ms. Leigh-Anne Buliruarua SOUTH ASIA In the 'Regional Workshop on Automobile Emissions', participants were drawn from the India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The workshop participants discussed about inventories of emission for 1990 as base level, technology for mitigation of emissions and available low cost options. More details of this workshop can be obtained from the APN Liaison Officer, Dr. C. Sharma. 2. Work has commenced on the APN funded project (2001-20) on the 'Study of Nutrient, Sediment and Carbon Fluxes to the Coastal Zone in South Asia, and their Relationship to Human Activities'. The participating institutions are NIO of Goa, NIO of Karachi, NORI of Chittagong, Hydrology and Meteorology Department of Kathmandu University, Open University of Sri Lanka and National Aquatic Research Agency of Sri Lanka. During the first year, it is expected to collect and assess data, undertake gap filling studies and synthesis of quantified fluxes. Arrangements are being made for the coordinating scientist from Sri Lanka to visit the research sites during this quarter. 3. The Scoping Workshop of APN funded 'Global Change Impact Assessment for Himalayan Mountain Region for Environment Management and Sustainable Development' is being organized and is to be held 2-5 October 2001 in Kathmandu, Nepal. 4. The data generated during the Indian Ocean Experiment (INDOEX) is available on the web site <www.npl-cgc.ernet.in> of INDOEX Data Centre housed at National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi. Compiled from report by APN Liaison Officer Dr. C. Sharma SOUTHEAST ASIA The Spatial Decision Support Systems is an interactive computer based systems that decision makers utilize data and models to solve unstructured problems" (Gorry & Morton, 1971) to "Any system that makes some contribution to decision making" (Sprague & Watson, 1986). During the workshop, the methodology and tools of spatial data analysis were applied to establish computer based decision support systems (DSS) for an integrated coastal area management. The spatial DSS refer to those systems based on the use of GIS (Geographic Information Systems) technology. The integration of those information technologies provides an important source of methods that are usefully incorporated in a decision-support system and make use of geographically referenced information. The participants were briefed on the meaning and role of decision analysis (DA). And the major tools and components for constructing a Spatial Decision Support Systems (SDSS) for coastal zone management during the workshop were covered; i.e. the GIS, data analysis and image processing, modeling and expert systems, simulation and optimization, Multi-criteria decision analysis and the user interface modules. 25 - 27 June 2001. The Second GIWA Methodology Workshop. Chulalongkorn
University, Bangkok, Thailand. Team members were guided through methodology by scoping the workshop into 5 major concerned according to GIWA classification; i.e. freshwater shortage, pollution, habitat and community modification unsustainable exploitation of fisheries and other living resources, and global change. The methodology utilises optional impact analysis and the causal chain analysis for these 5 concerns underlying with 22 key issues. In the optional impact analysis, a full analysis was conducted in order to measure environmental change by using GIWA methodology of identifying suites of indicators, units of measures, sources of information. During these steps sub-regional experts were allowed to select the indicators of their priority issue for their sub-region. The methodology of causal chain analysis is to understand the relationship of statements of causes of a problem by answering the question "why" and "what is the cause of". It will allow experts to be able to anticipate environmental and socio-economic problems in the system on where environmental pressures are increasing (but effects have yet to be manifested). The causal chain can be developed by the team without the need to undertake extensive data gathering and by using the local and thematic knowledge of the team members. A simple scoring system was classified based on judgment from experts together with a set of quantifiable indicators that may be applied where necessary. There was also agreement among team members on the weighted basis of the scoring system in order to avoid tendency of subjectivity or predisposition to regional culture and value systems. Sustained data archival will be done for 20 years. The meeting yielded results with all participants acquiring important information that would benefit their work for this GIWA project. All members were highly satisfied with the gathering and expressed their sincere thanks to the working committee. For more information and electronic reports of all sub-regions, please visit the following web sites; i.e. <www.giwa.net> and <www.grida.net/giwa.> Compiled from report by APN Liaison Officer Dr. Anond Snidvongs TEMPERATE EAST ASIA B) The 9th TEACOM Committee meeting was held in conjunction with the LUTEA open symposium on 2 July 2001 at the Mongolian Nature and Environment Consortium (MNEC), Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia through support of START International and in-kind support from MNEC. The meeting covered: The next TEACOM meeting will be C) The IGBP Global Change Open Science Conference: Challenges of a Changing Earth was held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 10-13 July 2001. Through financial support of APN and IGBP, 13 members of TEA RC attended this conference. Prof. Congbin Fu made a report on "how much can the Asia Monsoon be modified by Human-Induced Land-cover Change?" Other TEA RC participants produced posters on regional climate models, extreme value, satellite remote sensing, ecosystem, land use and land cover. This conference provided a chance for TEA RC to exchange information with scientists from other countries and gain a better understanding of global change. D) The International Conference on Human Yardstick and Natural
Process of Environmental Change was held 12-18 May in Xi'an. The
aim of this conference was to further the understanding of the feature
and essence in natural environmental changes, especially for those
natural environmental processes that have a negative influence but
can be controlled by human activities. The subject of the conference
was to expand background understanding, quaternary climate variation,
recent centuries environment changes, human influence and social
influence on the environment. Within 130 participants, 60 scientists
came from overseas including John Dodson, John E. Kutzbach, S. C.
Porter and J. Vendenberghe. More than 60 reports about geology,
soil, environment, climate and ecosystem of quaternary were made
at the conference. Based on the research of the first two years, the main foci of the project in the following three years are: natural evolution regulation of the monsoon environment system, the influence of global warming and regional human activities (mainly land use and water use) on aridification, trend prediction and effect evaluation theories and methods, organizing orderly human activities and scientific access to combat aridification. Compiled from report by APN Liaison Officer Ms. Yang Ying |
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