THE FOREST SECTOR IN THE GREEN ECONOMY IN AFRICA
Aim and scope of Nature & Faune magazine: Nature & Faune is a peer-reviewed open access international bilingual (English and French) publication of the FAO Regional Office for Africa. Its aim is to disseminate information (scientific and technical knowledge) and promote the exchange of experiences on wildlife, protected area management and the sustainable use and conservation of natural resources in Africa. The ultimate goal is to contribute to enhancing natural resources management for food security in Africa. It is currently produced twice a year under the coordination of the Senior Forestry Officer at the FAO Regional Office for Africa.
The editorial board is particularly interested in manuscripts about experiences, lessons learned and challenges faced, as well as in innovative practices which can enhance the sustainable management of natural resources, especially activities in wildlife management, forestry, fisheries, land, water and nature conservation. Announcements of funding opportunities, research possibilities, meetings or other activities of interest are also welcomed for posting in the magazine.
Subject and deadlines for next issue:
The prevailing world economic order is regarded by many as a system in crisis, in which economic gains have come at the expense of depleted natural resources and the degradation of the environmental well being of our planet. Africans know all too well the detrimental impact of these prevailing patterns. As part of the efforts to reverse this situation, and in order to work toward the establishment of more environmentally sustainable production and manufacturing processes, the “Rio+20” agenda has adopted “ green economy” as a key theme in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication. Further, the United Nations General Assembly declared 2011 as the International Year of Forests (IYF 2011) to raise awareness on sustainable management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests . In this context, the African Forestry Wildlife Commission and the FAO have dedicated the December 2011 edition of Nature & Faune to examining how the forest sector has met and will continue to meet the needs of the green economy in Africa. The theme of the December 2011 edition of Nature & Faune is therefore “The forest sector in the green economy in Africa”.
UNEP defines a green economy as one that results in improved human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities . The Global Citizens Center, led by Kevin Danaher, defines green economy as a global aggregate of individual communities meeting the needs of its citizens through the responsible, local production and exchange of goods and services.
The theme selected for the next issue will incorporate a wide range of issues highlighting sustainable natural resources management related activities including:
• the issues surrounding small and medium enterprises, and how to be economically profitable and still in the vanguard of the sustainable green economy;
• multipurpose management of forests for products and services allowing for articles in carbon as a potentially important new economically viable commodity from forests;
• aspects of urban and peri-urban forestry, benefits of green spaces;
• how a 'green economic approach' can satisfy the huge demand of forest products for African cities, now a source of negative pressures on the forest resources;
• there will be room to explore how well the management tools are being applied and how best to remove barriers to application of prescribed rules and policy that aim for realization of sustainable forest management objectives.
Overall, the theme will embrace topics related to: forests and food, agroforestry, sustainable intensification of smallholder crop production, water management and conservation, institutional arrangements and legal frameworks for the forest sector in the green economy in Africa.
We are wrapping up celebration of IYF 2011 and heading to the Earth Summit in 2012 (Rio + 20), thus we need to track experiences in and articulate plans for the forest sector in the green economy in Africa.
Nature & Faune invites you to submit manuscript(s) on successes, problems and concerns related to the above theme. In order to facilitate contributions from potential authors, we have created guidelines for the preparation of manuscripts for Nature & Faune. Short and succinct papers are preferred. Please visit our website or send us an email to receive a copy of the 'Guidelines for Authors'.
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Website: http://www.fao.org/africa/publications/nature-and-faune-magazine/