THE DRESDEN DECLARATION.

drawing by Priya at the Plum Tree

I wanted to open this post with imagery as it would be rather text heavy other wise. Priya is from India and at one stage studied at the Queensland College of Arts here in Brisbane. She first wrote last year to explain this....maybe I found her wonderful blog first ... I do forget ... I adore her graphic drawings often form nature and of course the seed pods stayed in my mind and I had to post them here.

from tumblr-  click here.

This photograph is by Priya as well as the above drawing ... she wrote and explained it was one of may photographs she had archived at a Tumblr site which was hacked and lost. I can imagine so many beautiful images like this have also disappeared... so I'm very sorry to hear that Priya! You can visit her other tumblr site here.

ON another note today Heather Pierce kindly sent an update on recent material published as the outcome of the Dresden conference 2 weeks ago... called the Dresden Declaration it is part of the work being done in preparation for the Rio + 20 conference next year in July.

Read this detailed Pdf here from the Dresden Delaration. (Full version).

Below is an excerpt.

We, the participants of the international conference "For life, for the future: Biosphere

reserves and climate change", held in Dresden on 27 and 28 June 2011, issue the

following declaration:

Climate change mitigation, adaptation to climate change and the conservation of biological

diversity are among today's key environmental challenges. Rising to these challenges requires

strong political commitment and decisive action worldwide. In many cases we already have the

knowledge and technology to change our development path. We now have to mobilise our

resources and creativity in order to further intensify action towards sustainable development -

including changes in our behaviour.

The International Coordinating Council of the UNESCO "Man and the Biosphere" (MAB)

Programme convened for the first time in 1971 and laid the foundations for a new type of

conservation area - biosphere reserves. It declared the harmonious development of man and

nature to be its key goal. The idea of biosphere reserves has met with growing approval

worldwide and over the past four decades has become a great success. Biosphere reserves

represent a global network of model regions in which sustainable forms of use and options for

adaptation to changing ecological, economic and social conditions can be tested, involving all

stakeholders.

The world network of over 560 biosphere reserves in more than 100 countries, established in the

framework of the UNESCO MAB Programme, adds the wealth of experience gathered over 40

years in and with model regions for sustainable development to climate change mitigation and

adaptation, and aims to make a substantial contribution to these processes as well as to the

conservation of biological diversity. We expect current global climate protection measures to

also satisfy the urgent necessities of biodiversity conservation and its sustainable use.

Since its establishment the MAB Programme has pursued innovative approaches in research,

monitoring, education and capacity building, management and in implementing model projects.

These approaches go far beyond nature conservation and are suitable as models for a

sustainable way of life. Biosphere reserves are thus an important element of safeguarding a

liveable earth for the future of generations to come.

UNESCO conference calls for better protection of biological diversity when mitigating climate change

On June 28 an international conference in Dresden concluded with an appeal to politicians to better use the comprehensive experience of biosphere reserves when planning and implementing measures of climate change mitigation and adaptation. The participants called for a closer link between measures addressing climate change, poverty alleviation and biological diversity, respectively.

Some 280 high-level experts from 80 countries discussed biosphere reserves and climate change during a two-day conference organized by UNESCO, the German Ministry for the Environment, the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation and the German Commission for UNESCO.  

The list of demands contained in the "Dresden Declaration" includes items such as strengthening the role of land use in carbon sequestration and developing new models of financing. 

Biosphere reserves are also called upon to "develop and expand partnerships with the private sector in order to identify, develop and promote local, national and international markets for sustainably produced goods and services and to advance a climate-friendly economy in the territories." In order to enable biosphere reserves to implement their duties and responsibilities, the conference participants claim sufficient financial and human resources in administrations.

Since 1971, the UNESCO programme "Man and the Biosphere" (MAB) explores sustainable forms of exploitation of the environment by humans. The central element of the MAB Programme is a global network of model regions for sustainable development: These "UNESCO biosphere reserves" work towards synergizing ecology, economy and social development. Currently there are 580 such sites in 114 countries. The intergovernmental governing board of the UNESCO MAB Programme has endorsed the Dresden Declaration. 

Short link to the "Dresden Declaration": http://bit.ly/jYYenM
___________________________________________________________________________________

IISD is pleased to announce the launch of Sustainable Development Policy & Practice
A Knowledgebase of International Activities Preparing for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio +20)
http://uncsd.iisd.org/ 




Click here to read an excellent Biodiversity update page - 8th July, 2011.


An article form April was I thought worth posting here for more information on Biosphere reserves.

UNESCO Biosphere Reserves: An international network for sustainable development learning

posted on: Monday, April 18th, 2011

by: Dr. Natarajan Ishwaran, Director, Division of Ecological and Earth Sciences, Secretary, Man and the Biosphere Programme, UNESCO

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) promotes collaboration for attaining three important global objectives: (i) conservation of biodiversity; (ii) sustainable use of its components; and (iii) equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the access and utilization of genetic resources and transfer of relevant technologies. The adoption in 2010, the International Year of Biodiversity, of a new protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) to promote international co-operation with regard to objective (iii), will open a new era for international co-operation on biodiversity policy and practice to demonstrate that conservation and use of biodiversity are necessary conditions for sustainable development.

The World Network of Biosphere Reserves, now counting 564 places in 109 countries, has been developed by the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme of UNESCO, which commemorates its 40th anniversary in 2011. The biosphere reserve concept originated in the 1970s within epistemic communities of ecosystem ecology and park management. Although its origin was within the milieu of conservation of natural areas, including genetic resources contained therein, the concept of biosphere reserve has evolved since then to fully embrace the notion of sustainable development. UNESCO’s adoption, in 1995, of the Seville Strategy and Statutory Framework for the World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR), established biosphere reserves as land/seascapes of resident human communities, a mosaic of land and resource uses and ecosystems and biodiversity of local, national and/or global significance. The Madrid Action Plan for Biosphere Reserves (2008-2013) now under implementation aims to make all biosphere reserves become learning places for sustainable development practice.

Nearly 20 years after its adoption in 1992, the CBD enjoys near universal membership of Nation States. Most countries now have biodiversity policies and strategies for implementing the Convention. However, as evidenced by the mixed results of the efforts of States to significantly minimize biodiversity loss by 2010, integration of the Convention’s objectives into sustainable development has not been an easy task.

A recent study (Persha et al, 2011)¹compared data sets from 84 sites in 6 countries from East Africa and South Asia to draw conclusions and lessons on conditions that promote joint improvements in biodiversity conservation and forest based livelihoods. This socio-ecological study demonstrated that reliable land tenure for forest communities is an important condition for generating concomitant benefits for both biodiversity and livelihoods.

During the international decade of biodiversity (2011-2020), integrating the three objectives of the CBD into land/seascape-level sustainable development practices would require similar comparative studies based on a global network of places. WNBR could well be such a network. Individual biosphere reserves strive to link conservation of biodiversity with socio-economic improvements for communities. Participatory and action research, monitoring, education, stakeholder dialogue and collaborative management tools and approaches are used for building those links between conservation and human wellbeing. Emerging financial arrangements such as reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) and reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries, and conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of carbon stocks (REDD+), as well as broader carbon and ecosystem services markets, are attracting the attention of biosphere reserve administrators as opportunities for their efforts to forge links between conservation of biodiversity, human wellbeing, and learning and knowledge construction for sustainable development.

The added value that WNBR offers for international collaboration on comparative studies for sustainable development may be self-evident, but its realization could be made much easier if country-level UN strategies and plans, under frameworks such as “One UN” and the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), provide incentives to Governments, NGOs, private sector and other stakeholders to use these sites as experimental areas. For example, the Rio+20 Conference due in 2012 will discuss, amongst others, institutional arrangements for sustainable development. Comparative studies in biosphere reserves with a variety of arrangements in given political and cultural contexts could generate significant lessons and insights into ways and means of attaining the three objectives of the CBD within the broader framework of regional sustainability. A post-2012 era of closer co-operation among bi- and multi-lateral development agencies and emerging private sector and civil society initiatives for using biosphere reserves as learning laboratories could generate information, knowledge and experience for simultaneously improving the prospects for biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation and adaptation and sustainable development.

¹Persha, L., Agrawal, A., & Chhatre, A. 2011. Social and ecological synergy: local rule making, forest livelihoods and biodiversity conservation. Science, 331, pp 1606-1608. 25 March 2011.

This event in Italy on Saturday just caught my eye too.

Event

Climate Change and Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture: State of Knowledge, Risks and Opportunities

This seminar will include presentations covering: animal genetic resources; plant genetic resources; aquatic genetic resources; forest genetic resources; micro-organism genetic resources; and invertebrate genetic resources. Additional discussions will include setting the policy scene, and agriculture biodiversity and climate change. It is organized by the Commission for Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (CGRFA) of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).  

date:16 July 2011  location:Roma (Lazio), Italy  contact:Eva Hain, CGRFA Secretariat  phone:+39 06 5705 4981  fax:+39 06 5705 5246  e-mail:Eva.Hain@fao.org www:http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/nr/documents/CGRFA/EN_DaftAgenda_CC_Final.pdf

sovereignty

Western Australian based Robyn from fragments treasures memory weblog sent a video fro me to watch this morning that had references to grave consequences for seeds called "What in the world are they spraying?" discussing Chem trails (chemical trails). I then visited civileats.com a website/blog to see if there was anything coming up there on this geo-engineering. 

Civil Eats "promotes critical thought about sustainable agriculture and food systems as part of building economically and socially just communities. In our efforts, we support the development of a dialog among local and national leaders about the American food system, and its effects abroad. Civil Eats  style of conversation is as diverse as its 40+ contributors."

What I did find were recent stories on Food Sovereignty ( the video connected to this very much) which is what I have posted on today. Thank you Robyn for sharing something important to find out more about... and for prompting me to consider 

sovereignty |ˈsäv(ə)rəntē|noun ( pl. -ties)supreme power or authority : how can we hope to wrest sovereignty away from the oligarchy and back to the people?• the authority of a state to govern itself or another state : national sovereignty.See note at jurisdiction .• a self-governing state.ORIGIN late Middle English : from Old French sovereinete, from soverain (see sovereign ). 

 

The more I read about the world's traded seeds the less control ordinary people may have now over the right to access the seed heritage of the land they live in .... this is indeed a serious issue in some parts of the world and is worth being vigilant about. There are places it has become illegal to save seeds. If you have not been aware of this shift in circumstance over the last decade or so then it might well seem impossible to believe.

With thoughts of     s o v e r e i g n i t y   in mind consider these stories below if you have time to read them... 

2009, Paraguay

from the Women Seed Forum in South Korea

Content: This booklet is the compilation of the pepers and experiences of the women peasants from peasant organizations members of La Via Campesina in the region. The booklet explained about the role of the women peasant in conserve the seed and in another hand we are loosing the native seed we have. This booklet also given example how women peasant save the seed and exchange the seed among the peasant.

Rome, 14th October, 2010
U.N. COMMITTEE ON WORLD FOOD SECURITY

Farmers' evaluation of the UN Committee on World Food Security

Farmers from the international peasant movement La Via Campesina participating in the the plenary session of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) of the UN in Rome (October 11-16) will present their evaluation of the discussion during a press conference tomorrow. - 15th of October – 10h30: Press Conference by La Via Campesina FAO, Via delle Terme di Caracalla)

READ MORE...

 

La Via Campesina Call to Action – Help Stop Terminator’s Return!

WEDNESDAY, 28 JULY 2010 17:01

(July 2010) Four years after the moratorium on Terminator technology was reaffirmed by the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), proposals to develop and commercialize ‘genetic-use restriction technologies’ (GURTs) are back on the agenda for policymakers and the biotechnology industry. Terminator is a threat to food sovereignty and agrobiodiversity: ending the moratorium on Terminator will increase control of seed by transnational corporations (TNCs) and restrictions on farmers’ rights to save and plant harvested seed. Additionally, pollen from genetically-modified (GM) crops with Terminator will contaminate non-GM and organic crops, and native plant species. GURTs (herein referred to as ‘Terminator’) are genetic engineering technologies that seek to control plant fertility. First-generation Terminator (also called ‘suicide seed’) was developedjointly by the US Department of Agriculture and Delta and Pine Land Company in the 1990s to protect the intellectual property of US agricultural biotechnology TNCs. GM crops produce sterile seeds to prevent farmers from replanting harvested seed with patented DNA. Due to international public outcry from farmers and civil society worldwide, Terminator has never been commercialized anywhere, and Brazil and India have national moratoriums prohibiting it. In 2000, the CBD recommended a de facto moratorium on field-testing and commercial sale of Terminator seeds. In 2006, pressure from La Via Campesina and its allies helped to strengthen this moratorium in Curitiba, Brazil. That year, US-based TNC Monsanto Company, the largest seed company in the world, acquired Delta and Pine Land, along with the intellectual property rights to Terminator. Since then industry, the US and European governments and ultra-rich philanthro-capitalists have ramped up rhetoric on the need for Terminator and other biotechnologies to adapt to the climate, energy and food crises. Various false solutions are being proposed to sell the lie that techno-fixes allow rich countries to continue consuming resources and emitting carbon dioxide, unabated: GM crops for cellulosic and second-generation agrofuels; geoengineering ‘climate ready’ GM crops and trees with increased albedo (reflectivity) and resistance to drought, heat and salt; monoculture plantation forests of GM trees to industrially produce biochar for carbon sequestration; and GM algae and marine microbes for carbon dioxide sequestration. Monsanto is proposing that monoculture plantations of its Roundup Ready soybeans qualify for carbon credits under so-called “no-till” agriculture. All of these false solutions create new markets for agricultural biotechnology and ‘extreme genetic engineering’. With financing by the US government and British Petroleum (BP), in May, Synthetic Genomics, the company founded J. Craig Venter (which helped to sequence the human genome)announced that it had created the first-ever synthetic, self-reproducing microbe with synthetic biology. Venter’s team claims that the microbe can be used to produce clean, green algal biofuels; however, what will happen if this microbe escapes into the wild and contaminates non-synthetic algae with its DNA? Similarly, what will happen when a GM maize variety engineered to have a high amount of stover (the stalks, husks, etc. of maize) for cellulosic agrofuels contaminates food maize varieties? The implications are frightening. Industry is now claiming that Terminator is needed to contain genetic contamination (transgene flow) of food crops and other natural life forms from genetically-engineered DNA in non-food crops; in essence, as a precautionary, environmental necessity. Venter recently told the New York Times that Terminator should be employed to contain transgenic contamination. Genetic contamination of non-GM and organic food crops from GM crops, which occurs through the spread of GM pollen by wind and bees, is gaining recognition as a growing ecological and economic problem. On June 21st the US Supreme Court ruled on Monsanto Co vs. Geertson Seed Farms, and recognized that transgenic contamination is “harmful and onerous to organic and conventional farmers,” and grounds for litigation against biotechnology TNCs. Thus a new generation of Terminator research is focused on biological containment to prevent engineered genetic traits (transgenes) from spreading to non-GM food plants and wild relatives. It is highly unlikely that the industry that created the problem of genetic pollution will solve it with more biotechnology. Given BP’s difficulty to contain the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, why would the US government entrust it to contain trangene flow from the world’s first synthetic life form? Yet that is what is taking place. Europe has funded the Transcontainer Project with billions of euros, and there are proposals from right-wing Brazilian politicians to overturn the country’s national ban on Terminator. While application and commercialization of Terminator technologies can’t promise fail-safe containment of transgenes, they can function to control farmers’ access to seeds and germplasm. Under the guise of environmental security for GM crops, industry will use the new generation of Terminator technologies to tighten its grasp on proprietary germplasm, and restrict the rights of farmers to re-plant harvested seeds. Further, the likely prospect of contamination of food crops by GM crops engineered with Terminator places the entire global food supply at imminent risk, and it therefore poses unacceptable threats to food and seed sovereignty and agro-biodiversity. TNCs are expanding and consolidating control over the world’s croplands, rangelands, peat bogs and last remaining forests, while simultaneously consolidating control of the genetic commons at cellular and molecular levels. Terminator technologies for synthetic biology, GM crops for agrofuels, geoengineering and all of the other false solutions to the energy, climate and food crises enclose vast genetic resources and agrobiodiversity, taking them out of the public realm and into the control of TNCs, especially the US Big Biotech giants Monsanto, Dupont and Arborgen.

READ FULL ARTICLE from above HERE!

GMOs: The socio – economic impacts of contamination

THURSDAY, 25 MARCH 2010 16:53

European coordination via campesina Public resistance - The long struggle against GMOS in Europe In spite of the repeated rejections of European farmers and consumers who have consistently iterated their opposition to the introduction of GMOs in European fields and markets, the EU is still pushing them against European Food Soveriegnty, and GMO crops and foods are in our fields and shops. The struggle against GMOs continues. It is clear that the push for GM technology in Europe is caused by the commitments made by the EU Commission to    biotechnology industries and their political representatives in order to introduce GM crops in Europe. GM seeds represent the last step in reducing the role of farmers from independent food producers to simple labourers, ignoring the these impacts...should send warning “The “domino effect” nature of many of of    bells ringing in European Institutions” value traditional knowledge, the role of farmers in biodiversity and environmental protection and locking farmers into a system based on seed, fertiliser, agrochemical and energy inputs entirely dependent on and controlled by transnational corporations and a logic of profit. The farmers of the European Coordination Via Campesina reject GM agriculture on all grounds, and most urgently for the threat it poses to the very model of agricultural and food production which is now urgently needed in order to protect the environment, biodiversity, European food sovereignty and rural livelihoods.

 CLICK ON HEADING TO READ MORE
Small Farmers’ Solutions to the biodiversity crisis

TUESDAY, 26 OCTOBER 2010 15:45

Press Release- La Via Campesina (Nagoya, 26 October 2010) Small farmer delegates from different parts of the world who are members of the international peasant movement La Via Campesina are attending the Convention of Biodiversity conference in Nagoya, Japan. They represent hundreds of millions of small farmers and family farmers in the world. Colleen Ross from the National Farmers Union of Canada following the process said “We are disappointed in many of the initiatives discussed in the working groups of the conference, such as “sustainable biofuels”. What we call “agrofuels” are actually not sustainable and do not constitute a renewable source of energy. It is really no solution to climate change, or of any benefit to farmers, indigenous people or local communities, but just a way for agribusiness to make more money”. Many small farmers in the Global South are facing exclusion and bankruptcy due to the expansion of agrofuel plantations. They loose their biodiversity due to monoculture plantations and they lose their land and territories. Hunger and poverty is everywhere in the rural areas. Worse, agroethanol and agrodiesel do not even solve the climate crisis, they actually increase it. History has shown that it is small farmers and indigenous people that have defended their territories and protected biodiversity through ecological farming. Therefore the Convention of Parties (COP) of the CBD should not just recognize the importance of sustainable family farming agriculture but actively support it. Such a support would be a major achievement of the CBD for the protection of biodiversity. In this COP10 - CBD La Via Campesina farmers demand : An end to the expansion of agroefuel plantations, and the reduction of consumption of agrofuel. There is no “sustainable biofuel”. Mandatory information on the origin of biological resources used for each commercialization of all products. A moratorium on Genetically Used Restriction Technologies such as “terminator” and transgenic seeds. No patents or breeding rights on living organisms, their parts and derivatives and the cancellation of all existing property rights on these. Access and use of biological resources and knowledge should be conditioned on the prior consent of indigenous and local communities. No market mechanisms on biodiversity and climate change solutions.

what is the biggest flower in the world?

Ok...its not about seeds...but I just found this at an interesting blog called Green Packs and thought... this is a curious question...




The biggest flower in the world is Rafflesia arnoldii a very rare flower that can be found in the rainforests of Indonesia. It has the world’s largest bloom, that can grow up to 3 feet across and may weigh up to 15 pounds, has no visible leaves, roots or stem.
Rafflesia arnoldii is actually a parasite that attaches to a host plant for water and nutrients and while in bloom emits an odor similar to rotten meat. This is how it attracts insects that pollinate the plant.

The dramatic Rafflesia flowers are the largest single flowers in the world; the leathery petals can reach over 90 centimetres across. The Rafflesia plant is itself not visible until the reproduction stage when flowers first bud through the woody vine and then open into the magnificent spectacle that is world-renowned today.
The flowers can take up to 10 months to develop from the first visible bud to the open bloom, which may last no more than a few days. Species of Rafflesia are known from peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Java, southern Thailand, Borneo and southern Philippines.
Read more: 

Interesting indeed!

Call out to bloggers who draw, paint, make, sew, cook, garden ....

we'd love you to 

join in with this great project....

if you are keen 

send us your

wonderful hand made 

postcard 

on the theme

"Homage to the the Seed" 

in the mail

and maybe you'll be

chosen to have 

Sophie's art card pack 

sent to you

wherever you are on this globe!

Help us draw attention 

to this global

story 

of huge importance

 in this the UN 

International Year of Biodiversity

* to read this properly click and it will open!