"Conservation and Sustainable Utilisation of Biodiversity in the Iwokrama Forest" by Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development (1998)

Objectives

The overall objective is the long-term conservation and sustained utilisation of tropical moist forests according to management systems that will assure enduring ecological, economic and social benefits.

The project addresses in its entirety the second of the Centre’s five sub-programmes, as defined in the Operational Plan 1998-2002, where it is referred to under the title Conservation and utilisation of Biodiversity. No other donor is directly involved with this sub-programme at present, other than DFID with its proposed support for the information management component.

The specific objective of the project is to assist and contribute to the development of a soundly based programme for the conservation and sustainable and equitable utilisation of biodiversity in the Iwokrama Forest, that will be widely used for demonstration purposes and replication elsewhere.

The approach of the project will be three-pronged:

1. One component will be concerned with securing the integrity of the 180,000 ha Wilderness Preserve, mainly through the preparation of management plans for the Preserve and for the public road corridor that passes through the Iwokrama Forest, but also through provision of support for surveillance and monitoring activities
2. Another component will carry forward and institutionalise the basic biological inventory work that has been progressing satisfactorily for several years, giving emphasis to the efficient data collection, storage and analysis and innovative information management;
3. The third will focus on bioprospecting - an activity concerned with the search for new forest products with market potential (such products differ from what are generally termed non-timber forest products in being either still undiscovered, or unknown outside forest communities: they may be plants or animals, or derivatives of these, or cultures of yeasts or bacteria).

Results:

A core Wilderness Preserve, possibly with international protected area status, and a road corridor managed according to plans developed consensually and implemented participatively, with the integrity of the Preserve assured through appropriate design backed by regular surveillance, outreach and monitoring.

A systematically undertaken and comprehensive inventory of biodiversity, serving as a basis for sustainable forest management, research and diversified economic utilisation, and offering opportunities for training, capacity building, employment, and for the dissemination of knowledge to the wider scientific community. Particular emphasis will be given to efficient data collection, storage and analysis and innovative information management and dissemination to maximise the accessibility and application of any data that is collected.

A systematic programme of bioprospecting, targeted at specific products, based on clear legal foundations, making best use of national and regional capacity (e.g. for assay and analysis), and operating through equitable business partnerships with local communities, the private sector and other stakeholders.