The COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, is the ideal venue to showcase two transformative land regeneration approaches developed in Africa: agroforestry and regenerative grazing management. These two approaches come together in silvopastoral systems - livestock grazing and browsing in tree-dotted grasslands - which have been ranked among the most effective carbon drawdown tools at our disposal.
An international online gathering of forest gardening and food forest practitioners and academic researchers
exploring the current state and future prospects for these sustainable land-use systems. With over 60 presenters, Q & A sessions, poster presentations, virtual exhibitors, and additions materials to download, all this material is is now freely available to all
First external review of the IPBES nexus assessment (first draft of the chapters) now live!
With reference to notification EM/2022/46 (14 November 2022), I am pleased to announce the start of the first external review of the thematic assessment of the interlinkages among biodiversity, water, food and health (nexus assessment), which is open from 9 January to 19 February 2023 (6 weeks).
The first external review, which focuses on the first draft of the chapters of the assessment, is one of the most important phases in the IPBES assessment process and is addressed to interested and qualified experts (referred to as “the expert reviewers”). The widest possible participation and most diverse engagement of interested and qualified experts, including scientists, decision makers, practitioners and other knowledge holders from all relevant disciplines and backgrounds, is vital to ensure the scientific quality, credibility and policy relevance of the assessment. Interested and qualified experts are invited to comment on text according to their knowledge and experience. The names of all expert reviewers will be acknowledged in the reports.
If you would like to participate as an expert reviewer in this external review, please follow these steps:
Register as a user of the IPBES website (https://ipbes.net/user/register) if you have not already done so;
Register to review the draft assessment at https://ipbes.net/registration/nexus/fod;
Once registered, you will receive an email providing confidential access to the draft chapters and glossary of the assessment;
Comments must be submitted in English using the Excel comment template available on the same webpage as the chapters;
The secretariat has a new system for submitting comments electronically; when you are ready to submit your comments, please upload your completed Excel template no later than 19 February 2023 at https://ipbes.net/user/login?destination=add-review-file?d=40463 (you must be logged in to upload your template);
If you encounter any technical issues uploading your comments template, please contact ipbes.registration@ipbes.net
Two online dialogues with stakeholders, including practitioners, in the context of the first external review of the assessment, are scheduled during the review period:
9 February 2023: 9-11 a.m. CET
9 February 2023: 6-8 p.m. CET
National focal points are welcome to attend the dialogues. Please note that you need to register as a reviewer to participate in the dialogues (step 2 above). The dialogue registration link will be made available by email after a successful registration as a reviewer. Please contact the technical support unit on capacity-building for technical questions regarding the online dialogues (tsu.capacitybuilding@ipbes.net).
I thank you for your continued support to IPBES.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Anne Larigauderie | Executive Secretary
Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)
In the context of its work on a legislative proposal for a new EU framework for forest monitoring and strategic plans, the EU is seeking to gather the views of all relevant stakeholders on how to assess the state of forests, how to monitor forests and how to develop strategic visions. This will also include more detailed information in view of conducting a thorough impact assessment and developing the proposal.
EC call: https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/13396-EU-forests-new-EU-Framework-for-Forest-Monitoring-and-Strategic-Plans/F_en
As a respons to the action EEB, CEEweb and many more NGOs of Europe provided a support document to the consultation: https://docs.google.com/document/d/14AMcrVnCyAZ1NIrh8WuqN6kTnFq3yfD39TGLGFYJzNI/edit
REFOREST (Agroforestry at the forefront of farming sustainability in multifunctional landscapes in Europe), a Horizon Europe project funded under EU’s Land, ocean and water for climate Action, aims to promote agroforestry as a land use type allowing food production while maintaining ecological sustainability.The principles underlying REFOREST are those of innovation, knowledge exchange and creating novel solutions to empower farmers in Europe and associated countries to deliver on multiple objectives: food production, carbon capture, and biodiversity development.Bringing together 14 partners from 10 European countries with multidisciplinary expertise, REFOREST has the fundamental aim to use existing knowledge of temperate agroforestry systems to co-create solutions to key barriers that hinder wider adoption of this land use type by farmers in the EU and associated countries. The strategic objective is to enhance agroforestry and the sustainability of food production by internalising the value of carbon and biodiversity in farming business models. The project will use an open science approach to represent the real-world ecological, economic and social potential and limitations of agroforestry within decision-making, verification, and financial support tools.
IPBES announced a call for expert on its new methodological assessment on the impact and dependence of business on biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people: https://ipbes.net/business-impact
The process is aming ategorizing how businesses depend on, and impact, biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people and identifying criteria and indicators for measuring that dependence and impact, taking into consideration how such metrics can be integrated into other aspects of sustainability. Which sound exactly as Agromix project is visoning the way to agricultural transofrmative change.
The call is looking for experts to participate in the process: https://ipbes.net/notification/nomination/business-and-biodiversity-assessment-experts
And fellows (early carrier stage experts): https://ipbes.net/notification/nomination/business-and-biodiversity-assessment-fellows
A former Transformative change study was made by CEEweb experts through Eklips mechanism to IPBES "Moving Towards Transformative Change for Biodiversity: Harnessing the Potential of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework" https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344537441_Moving_Towards_Transformative_Change[…]e_Potential_of_the_Post-2020_Global_Biodiversity_Framework
As the main objective of the 50th Session of the Committee on World Food Security, FAO providing platform to discuss the potential policy responses to the global food crisis with a full-day ministerial segment.
The main already existing document to be discussed:
The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2022 (https://www.fao.org/publications/sofi/2022/en/)
Policy Recommendations on Promoting Youth Engagement and Employment in Agriculture and Food Systems for Food Security and Nutrition (https://www.fao.org/cfs/workingspace/workstreams/youth-workstream/en/)
CFS Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems (https://www.fao.org/cfs/policy-products/rai/en/).
As the first day most important messages highlighted gender equality, youth engagement and fair territorial investment is crucial to reach the Sustainable Development Goals (sdgs.un.org) and ensure food sovereignty all around the world.
After its establishment in 2008 by the DG Agri, the European Network for Rural Development (ENRD) reformulating as a new body supporting the Common Agricultural Policy under the name "European common agricultural policy network" joining tis functions to the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) network, just has been adopted by the EC and already provided its launching event in Brussels.
The main aim of the renewed body is "networking of national networks, organisations, and administrations in the field of agriculture and rural development at Union level.
The tasks of the body:
- provide new framework for civil dialogue groups
- including the thematic work,
- and ensure appropriate monitoring and assessment.
The required members of the network: national managing authorities and paying agencies, national CAP networks, organisations active in the field of agriculture and rural development at Union level, organisations representing regional or local authorities active in agriculture and rural development at Union level, LEADER local action groups, farm advisory services, innovation support services linked to EIP operational groups’ projects and research institutes active in innovation activities linked to EIP operational groups’ projects.
Announcement: https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/13387-Agricultural-policy-European-common-agricultural-policy-network-governance-_en
Forest pathways for green recovery and building inclusive, resilient and sustainable economies are the main targets identified by FAO
As of the 2022 report by FAO on the state of the world forests, identify the following main ways on how forests and trees can contribute to green recovery and a transition to sustainable economies:
- Halting deforestation and maintaining forest ecosystem services would benefit climate, biodiversity, health and long-term food security
- Forest and landscape restoration and agroforestry help diversify livelihoods and landscapes and increase land productivity
- Increasing sustainable forest use, and building green value chains, would help meet future demand for materials and support sustainable economies
The report highlights: "Globally, ecosystems at risk of deforestation or degradation contain at least 260 Gt of irrecoverable, or difficult-to-recover carbon, particularly in peatlands, mangroves, old-growth forests and marshes. Unless additional action is taken, an estimated 289 million ha of forests would be deforested between
2016 and 2050 in the tropics alone, resulting in the emission of 169 GtCO2e.
The latest data confirm that agricultural expansion is driving almost 90 percent of global deforestation. This land-use change responds to multiple underlying drivers, including poverty and unsustainable production practices and consumption patterns.
Therefore, more efficient, productive and sustainable agrifood systems are key for meeting future needs for food while reducing demand for agricultural land, maintaining forests and securing the multiple benefits that forests provide to farming systems, but productivity increasing must be sustainabe, while synergies and trade-offs need to be addressed, where multistakeholder engagement is crucial point.
Of the 2.2 billion ha of degraded land identified as potentially (biophysically) available for restoration worldwide, 1.5 billion ha may be best suited for mosaic restoration combining forests and trees with agriculture. A further 1 billion ha of croplands on previous forestlands affected by land-use change would benefit from strategic additions of trees to increase agricultural productivity and the provision of ecosystem services. Agroforestry systems tend to be more resilient than conventional agriculture to environmental shocks
and the effects of climate change. Depending on the system and local conditions, agroforestry can achieve
50–80 percent of the biodiversity of natural forests; increase food security and nutrition by serving as a safety net; and increase crop productivity.
Although numerous studies have demonstrated the higher productivity of agroforestry systems, many farmers
perceive them as less productive and thus financially risky. On average, agroforestry sees profitable returns after 3–8 years; for annual cropping systems, this period is normally 1–2 years. The greater uptake of agroforestry requires incentives and strategic investments to achieve restoration and improved production objectives.
Video report: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWtslaGVf_U
Brief report: https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/cb9363en
Full digital report: https://www.fao.org/3/cb9360en/online/cb9360en.html
The event aims to present a best-practice of Horizon projects communication.
The 4 projects INTERLACE (https://interlace-project.eu/), CONEXUS (https://www.conexusnbs.com/), REGREEN (https://www.regreen-project.eu/) and CLEARING HOUSE (https://clearinghouseproject.eu/) will provide common and specific ways of communicating sustainability in cities.
"Urbanisation leads to societal challenges as social deprivation, climate change, deteriorating health and increasing pressure on urban nature. Urban ecosystems can contribute to lessen these challenges, through implementing nature-based solutions."
"Sustaining Cities, Naturally: Urban ecosystem restoration" https://www.eventbrite.fi/e/sustaining-cities-naturally-urban-ecosystem-restoration-tickets-377396331587
