About Task Force

This page is additionally available in the following languages:

• English

Established by the IUFRO Board in August 2005 for a term of 5 years.

Forests are the most extensive vegetation type on earth and harbor most of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity.  Forests affect the lives of people everywhere, especially those who are poor and dependent, or semi-subsistent, on forests for food, wood and non-wood forest products, and ecological services that they provide.  Large forest areas are the traditional homes of local and indigenous communities.  They manage their forests independently, or sometimes in collaboration with government agencies.  The increasing emphasis being placed on sustainable forest management, which includes ecological, social, cultural, spiritual, and economic sustainability, should encourage greater collaboration among government agencies, forest managers, local and indigenous communities, and the scientific community in the definition of forest management objectives and forest management practices that meet diverse criteria for sustainability. With greater public interest and involvement in forest management decision-making, there is a growing need for decision-makers and managers to consider all relevant knowledge about forest ecosystems and the impact of forest management options in the development of forest policies and operational practices.

Traditional forest-related knowledge (TFRK) [1] is recognized and respected by the international community. Indigenous peoples throughout countries all over the world have continued their historical and cultural management of forests, and these practices are widely recognized as a form of sustainable forest management in the international arena.  For instance, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) encourages State parties to:

"Protect and encourage customary use of biological resources in accordance with traditional cultural practices that are compatible with conservation or sustainable use requirements." [2] (CBD Article 10c).

Likewise, CBD Article 8(j) emphasizes:

"the need to respect, preserve and maintain knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities embodying traditional lifestyles for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity and [promotion of] their wider application with the approval and involvement of such knowledge, innovations and practices and encourage the equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilization of such knowledge, innovations and practices."

TFRK also is also explicitly considered in CBD's expanded programme of work on forest biological diversity. The TFRK issue is also an important element of discussions within the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). WIPO’s Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore, the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights all consider TFRK.

Similarly, the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (1994) requires parties to:

"…protect, integrate, enhance and validate traditional and local knowledge, know-how and practices" and that "…owners of that knowledge will directly benefit on an equitable basis and on mutually agreed terms" (CCD, Article 18[a]).

The IPF/IFF [3] proposals for action include numerous references to TFRK, related to the use of TFRK for sustainable forest management; development of intellectual property rights for TFRK and promotion of equitable benefit-sharing; technology transfer and capacity-building; and promotion of participation of people who possess TFRK in the planning, development and implementation of national forest policies and programs.

At the present time, there is a need for a systematic global effort to explore and strengthen the linkages between TFRK and formal (i.e., western scientific) forest-related knowledge (SFRK) systems, and to develop effective synergies between TFRK and SFRK in forest management applications. The Task Force will review and synthesize experiences and examples of how the two different knowledge communities work at various geographic and temporal scales, seek to identify significant knowledge gaps, and to promote research and collaboration based on trust and mutual respect to address these gaps.

___________________
Footnotes:

[1] Traditional forest-related knowledge: "a cumulative body of knowledge, practice and belief, handed down through generations by cultural transmission and evolving by adaptive processes, about the relationship between living beings (including humans) with one another and with their forest environment".  Definition from the UNFF4 Report of the Secretary-General on Traditional forest-related knowledge (United Nations doc. E/CN.18/2004/7 (2004), adapted from Berkes et al. (Ecological Applications 10(5): 1251-1262.
[2] The CBD Secretariat notes that this implies that governments should ensure that national legislation and policy account for and recognize, among others, indigenous legal systems, corresponding systems of governance and administration, land and water rights and control over sacred and cultural (Traditional Knowledge and Biological Diversity UNEP/CBD/TKBD/1/2 (1997).
[3] Intergovernmental Panel on Forests/ Intergovernmental Forum on Forests

Terms of Reference

The primary aim of the Task Force on Traditional Forest Knowledge is to increase understanding of the inter-relationships between traditional and formal (scientific) forest-related knowledge and catalyze potential synergistic application(s) to sustainable forest management.

In developing this Task Force, we recognize the importance of facets of this topic that relate to issues such as intellectual and cultural property rights and interests, land and access rights, and benefit-sharing. The Task Force will strive to clarify and increase understanding of the importance and relevance of these issues through its activities, and will conduct its work in a way that respects these concerns and principles, in particular in its handling of information related to traditional knowledge that is not already in the public domain and/or protected by appropriate means.

Prepare a State-of-Knowledge report.

The report will attempt to provide a broad overview and synthesis of current knowledge and experience on:

• Context and history of the relationship between western scientific forest knowledge and TFK with respect to forest management.
• Development of good practices for including both traditional knowledge and western science in forestry education, research and forest management activities. This may be based on studies of how this has been done successfully, or how and why attempts have failed;
• Develop and facilitate a protocol for the exchange of information between traditional and western scientific forest knowledge in forest management;
• Addressing indigenous priorities for scientific study and other considerations in relation to forest resource management.
• Methodologies (e.g., decision support tools) that include and facilitate the appropriate study, documentation, and use of TFK by scientists, forest managers and policy makers;
• Application of traditional forest-related knowledge to forest ecosystem assessments and management;
• Experiences related to resolution of conflicts regarding TFK in relation to forest science and forest management, and evaluate lessons learned from case studies on ways effective collaboration, particularly related to the documentation and acknowledgement of information shared by elders and other holders and users of TFK;

Organize regional meetings and workshops to explore the above topics and to encourage/facilitate improved dialogue and information exchange among and between forest scientists and holders/users of traditional forest-related knowledge;

Promote contacts and collaboration between IUFRO and other organizations on scientific, technical, cultural and spiritual issues related to traditional forest-related knowledge.

Prepare publications and other information products for use by the President and Board, as well as the scientific community, traditional communities, the holders and users of traditional forest-related knowledge, and relevant local, national and international organizations.

Liaise with IUFRO’s Special Programme for Developing Countries in development of Task Force meetings and of training programs, data sharing, technology transfer and the enhancement of research capability in the developing countries in relation to the focal topics of the Task Force. In particular, increased participation of scientists and holders of traditional knowledge from Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Asia and the Pacific Islands will be sought.

Report to the IUFRO Management Committee and Board twice a year until 2010.

Propose to the IUFRO Board: (a) ways of disseminating the information obtained in order to furnish an informed and equitable basis for decision-making in research planning, forest management and environmental policy that considers different intellectual and cultural traditions, and (b) follow-up activities that may be taken up by existing or new IUFRO units within the Divisional Structure or through IUFRO Special Projects and Programmes.

Task Force Membership & Organization

The Task Force consists of a core group that includes a balanced representation of forest scientists, holders/users of traditional forest knowledge, and other experts from different regions of the world. The Task Force is developing larger regional networks of contributing members representing the forest science community as well as individuals and organizations that represent and/or promote the interests of holders and users of traditional forest-related knowledge.

Task Force members and network members/organizations will be invited to contribute to the State-of-Knowledge report,  jointly organize and participate in regional meetings, to provide reviews of material prepared on behalf of the Task Force and, on occasion, to represent the Task Force at meetings. In developing both the core group and group of contributing members, emphasis will be placed on broad representation of both traditional and scientific streams of forest knowledge, as well as geographic, cultural, and gender diversity.

The members of the Task Force’s core group are listed below. The Task Force welcomes the participation of a broader group of contributing members who may wish to be involved in supporting and otherwise becoming involved in the preparation of the State-of-Knowledge Report and the regional workshops.

Coordinator:

John Parrotta. USDA Forest Service, Washington DC, USA: jparrotta(at)fs.fed.us


Core group members:

Mauro Agnoletti. Università di Firenze, Florence, ITALY: mauro.agnoletti(at)unifi.it

Casiano Aguirre Escalante. Universidad Nacional Agraria de la Selva, Tingo Maria, PERU: aviriri@yahoo.com

Vladimir Bocharnikov. Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, RUSSIA: Vladimir.Bocharnikov@vvsu.ru

Manuel Guariguata, CIFOR, Bogor, INDONESIA: m.guariguata(at)cgiar.org

Elisabeth Johann. Österreichischer Forstverein, Arbeitsgruppe Forestgeschichte, Vienna, AUSTRIA: elis.johann(at)utanet.at

Cheryl Kitchener. Indigenous Outcomes Pty Ltd., The Junction, NSW, AUSTRALIA: cki23701(at)bigpond.net.au

Andrei P. Laletin. Friends of the Siberian Forest. Krasnoyarsk, RUSSIA: sibforest(at)akadem.ru

Jesús García Latorre, International Environmental Affairs, Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management, Vienna, AUSTRIA. jesus.garcia-latorre(at)lebensministerium.at

Alfred Oteng-Yeboah. CSIR, Accra, Ghana: otengyeboah(at)yahoo.co.uk

P.S. Ramakrishnan. Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi INDIA: psr(at)mail.jnu.ac.in

Ronald Trosper. University of British Columbia, Faculty of Forestry, Vancouver,     BC, CANADA: Ronald.Trosper(at)ubc.ca

Youn Yeo-Chang. Seoul National University, Seoul, KOREA: youn(at)snu.ac.kr

For more information please contact John Parrotta (jparrotta(at)fs.fed.us).

Annex 1

State-of-Knowledge Report

The State-of-Knowledge Report on traditional forest knowledge will build upon the outcomes of the series of regional conferences which the Task Force is organizing. This multi-authored book, expected to be ready for publication in early 2010, will include a series of regional overviews and global syntheses (see attached book outline below).

All chapter will be based on existing literature and case studies derived from published sources and from our regional conferences. For each regional section, a coordinating lead author has been selected who will coordinate the preparation of one or more chapters by contributing authors who have relevant knowledge and expertise on specific regional issues and/or country-level traditional forest knowledge experience. A similar approach will be taken for special topic chapters to be included in the Report.

Coordinating Lead Authors (topics/chapters of primary responsibility):

John Parrotta, USDA Forest Service, Research & Development, Arlington VA, USA (Overall project coordinator and Editor; Traditional forest knowledge in international forest policy processes; traditional forest knowledge and climate change)

Chee Yoke Ling, Legal Advisor, China Representative, Third World Network, Beijing, P.R. CHINA  (TFK, intellectual property rights and benefit sharing)

Suzanne Adele Feary, Planning and Aboriginal Heritage, Department of Environment and Climate Change, Queanbeyan NSW, AUSTRALIA (Western Pacific regional chapter)

Christian Gamborg, Center for Forests, Landscape and Planning, Copenhagen, DENMARK (Ethics and TFK research methodologies chapter)

Jesús García Latorre, International Environmental Affairs , Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management, Vienna, AUSTRIA (Europe regional chapter)

Manuel Guariguata, Center for International Forestry Research, Bogor, INDONESIA.  (Latin America regional chapters)

Elisabeth Johann, Österreichischer Forstverein, Vienna, Austria (Europe regional chapter)

Andrei P. Laletin, Chairman, Friends of the Siberian Forests, Krasnoyarsk, RUSSIA (Russia and former Soviet Union regional chapter; TFK in international policy processes)

Alfred Oteng-Yeboah, Emeritus Professor, Department of Botany, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana (Africa regional chapter)

P.S. Ramakrishnan, INSA Honorary Senior Scientist , School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, INDIA (Asia regional chapters)

Ronald Trosper, Professor of Aboriginal Forestry, Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, CANADA (North America regional chapter)

Youn Yeo-Chang, Department of Forest Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, KOREA (Asia regional chapters)

Focal topics for each of the regional chapters will include:

• Context and history of the relationship between formal forest knowledge/’scientific’ forestry and traditional forest knowledge with respect to forest management, including community participatory approaches.
  
  
• Experiences related to resolution of conflicts between formal science and traditional knowledge and traditional management practices, and evaluation of lessons learned from case studies on ways to foster mutually beneficial collaboration and exchange of knowledge.
  
  
• Local and indigenous community priorities for scientific study in relation to forest resource management.
  
  
• Best practices for including both traditional knowledge and western science in forestry education, research, resource assessments, and forest management activities, based on studies of how this has been done successfully, or how and why attempts have failed;

Work has already begun on most of the regional chapters by coordinating lead authors working on a voluntary basis, notably in Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia, and Russia. This will continue through 2008, largely through electronic communication among authors.

Schedule:

2008:
Preparation of full drafts of all chapters in Parts I, II, and III (excluding final synthesis chapter) by coordinating convening lead authors, with convening lead  authors and contributing authors.

2009:  
mid-January: workshop for coordinating convening lead authors – proposed to be held in Australia;

February-May:  revision of chapter drafts & preparation of global synthesis and recommendations

June-October: peer-review of final chapter drafts.

November:  2nd workshop for coordinating convening lead authors to discuss final publication issues (venue to be determined)

2010:  
January: submission of final manuscript for publication.

June to August: publication and presentation at IUFRO World Congress in Seoul, Korea.

Outline of State of Knowledge Report on Traditional Forest Knowledge

Part I
__________

Introduction Purpose and audience. Overview of Task Force’s goals and objectives, including a focus on ethical issues and principles. Overview of the principal questions being addressed in the book. Focus on ecological and cultural diversity; effects of cultural, social, economic, and environmental (i.e., climate) change on TFK and its relation to scientific forest knowledge and forest management.

Overview of TFK-related issues and programs in major regional and international organizations and policy forums    
   
Traditional forest knowledge, intellectual property rights and benefit sharing


Part II
__________

Regional Overviews.
                       
North America (US & Canada)  
           
Latin America – 3 chapters (Mesoamerica/Caribbean; Amazonia; Southern Cone (Subtropical/temperate)

Europe (excluding Russia and Ukraine)  
         
Russian & Central Asia  
            
Asia – 3 chapters (China, Korea, & Japan; SE Asia; Indian subcontinent & Himalayas)      
Africa – 1 or more chapters.

Western Pacific (Australia, New Zealand, PNG, et al.) 


Part III
__________

Climate change and traditional forest knowledge: impacts and adaptation

Ethics and research methodologies                
Analysis of ethical issues and best practices for scientific study of TFK and exchange of information between holders and users of traditional and scientific forest knowledge related to forest management;

Synthesis and recommendations [1 or more chapters]    
Cross-regional syntheses related to major topics addressed covered in regional chapters.

Glossary of key terms used in the report

Index

Regional Conferences

A series of up to 7 regional meetings to be held between 2006 and 2009 that will serve as platforms for dialogue between the forest science community and the holders and users of traditional forest-related knowledge. The organization of each conference will be coordinated by Task Force members from the region, in collaboration with appropriate partners such as governmental and non-governmental organizations representing the interests of indigenous peoples, forest research institutes, universities, and others.

These conferences have taken place or will be held in the following broad regions:

• Europe (Florence, Italy – June 2006);
• North America (Green Bay, WI, USA – June 2007);
• Asia (Kunming, China – December 2007);
• Africa (Accra, Ghana – October 2008);
• Australia and Pacific Islands (New Zealand, early 2009 – proposed);
• Latin America and the Caribbean (proposed)
  

Ultimately the total number of regional conferences to be organized will depend on the initiative (and fund-raising) abilities of the Task Force Coordinator and members. If resources are limited, the total number of proposed workshops will be reduced, and their geographical coverage expanded to ensure that, collectively, we will have global coverage through this series of events.

Specific topics to be covered in each meeting may vary depending on the regional priorities and needs, but may include, as a start, an exploration of current experiences related to many of the topics to be included in the State-of-Knowledge report, such as:

• Application of traditional forest-related knowledge to forest ecosystem assessments and management;
  
  
• Local and indigenous community priorities for scientific study (research) in relation to forest resource management;
  
  
• Analysis of case studies on successful integration of traditional and (formal) scientific knowledge in forest management activities or programs at the local or regional level;
  
  
• Experiences related to resolution of conflicts regarding TFK in relation to forest science and forest management, and evaluations of lessons learned from case studies on ways effective collaboration, particularly related to the documentation and acknowledgement of information shared by elders and other holders and users of TFK;
  
  
• Development of good practices for including both traditional knowledge and western science in forestry education, research and forest management activities. This may be based on experiences of how this has been done successfully, or how and why attempts have failed;
  
  
• Development of best practices the exchange of information between traditional and western scientific forest knowledge in forest management.
  

Organization and structure of conferences.  

• Task Force members from the regions of interest will have primary responsible for organization of workshops, in collaboration (as appropriate) with partner organizations.

• Within the broad boundaries established by the Terms of Reference of the Task Force, the specific structure and style of the conferences may vary, depending on the priorities and preferences of the organizers and participants. The conferences should not be too large – maximum of 100 participants, and 50% should be from local/indigenous communities.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Send comments to John Parrotta (Coordinator)