June 2006 – Florence, Italy

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• English

The European regional conference “Traditional Forest Knowledge and its Contribution to Sustainable Forest Management and Conservation of Cultural Heritage

Highlights of discussions

Europe region

• Detailed plan for regional overview chapter for State-of-Knowledge Report presented, including: proposed scope and objectives; authorship; notes on the European context regarding linkages between traditional  and scientific forest-related knowledge; detailed outline of the topics to be covered; and a questionnaire to be used as part of the research for the chapter (available from Elisabeth Johann or Jesus Garcia Latorre).
• Schedule of future regional events presented: (1) Vienna, 2007: with MCPFE-Liaison Unit (Warsaw) and Austrian Ministry of Agriculture – follow-up process of the Seminar on Forestry and our Cultural Heritage held in Sunne, Sweden in 2005; (2) Triestingtal, Austria, August 2006: local IUFRO-Govt. of Austria workshop on “Tar and other Saps

  South/Southeast Asia region

  • Presentation of overview of current issues related to the conservation, utilization and study of traditional forest knowledge in the region;
  • Discussion of existing networks of stakeholders – forest-dwelling communities, foresters, policy planners, development agencies, NGOs, and the scientific community that the task force will engage in developing its regional activities.
    

  Russia (CIS) region

  New task force network members and cooperators for regional conference organization and State-of-Knowledge report (regional chapter) identified in Ukraine, Georgia, European Russia, and Kyrgizstan); Discussion of challenges related to fund-raising for regional conference.

  North America region

  • Presentation of plan for North America regional conference “Sharing Indigenous Wisdom

    Australia/Pacific region

    • Progress is being made in development of contacts in the region, particularly among aboriginal communities and organizations in Australia. Challenges remain for securing financial support for a future regional conference, however.
      

    Financial support for task force conferences and publications
    Discussion of our collective efforts to secure adequate financial support for regional conferences, the State-of-Knowledge report, and global coordination of task force activities led to the following conclusions:

    • high priority should be given to obtaining core funding; i.e., donor support for development of the State-of-Knowledge report and base funding for regional coordination activities (periodic small group meetings) – this funding should be sought from appropriate donor organizations by the task force coordinator in collaboration with IUFRO headquarters in Vienna;
    • funding for regional conferences should be pursued by the task force focal points and their cooperators at the regional level – multiple-source support for these events from foundations, governments and other donors was viewed as more likely when the task force is working with local organizations and where these meetings are closely linked with ongoing initiatives and addressing key regional issues – this is consistent with the task force’s overall, decentralized, strategy for regional activities.
      

    Meeting participants

    John Parrotta (USA): Task Force coordinator
    Cheryl Kitchener (Australia): Australia/Pacific focal point.
    P.S. Ramakrishnan (India): South/Southeast Asia focal point.
    Vladimir Bocharnikov and Andrei Laletin (Russia): Russia (CIS) regional focal points.
    Elisabeth Johann (Austria) & Mauro Agnoletti (Italy): Europe focal points.
    Jesus Garcia Latorre (Austria/Spain)
    Ron Trosper (Canada): North America focal point.
    Sonia Tamez (USA)