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Book (series)FAO/Regional Commission for Fisheries. Report of the sixth meeting of the Working Group on Aquaculture. Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, 21-23 October 2014
FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Report No. 1094. Rome, FAO. 50 pp.
2015Also available in:
No results found.The sixth meeting of the Working Group on Aquaculture (WGA) of the Regional Commission for Fisheries (RECOFI) was held in Muscat, Oman, from 21 to 23 October 2014 and was attended by representatives from seven member countries. The WGA reviewed the outcome and recommendations of the sixth and seventh sessions of the Commission. The WGA noted the importance of the timely collection, submission and sharing of accurate aquaculture statistics and other relevant aquaculture information. A draft recom mendation on the minimum reporting of aquaculture data and information was discussed. The meeting agreed that RECOFI members would provide their comments at the next session of the Commission, when the recommendation will be presented for adoption. In the event the recommendation is adopted, it was agreed that the aquaculture data and information would be best submitted by the individual countries through specifically designed and dedicated templates accessible from the Regional Aquaculture Info rmation System (RAIS) website. The meeting discussed the RAIS following the presentation of the web analysis report, which indicated a steady interest in the information system particularly among the Arabic-speaking countries. Actions to further consolidate and expand the system were discussed, along with the need to improve the overall communication outputs at the national and regional levels. The WGA finalized its proposed programme of work for the next intersessional period, based also on the WGA programme adopted by the Commission at its seventh session. The main activities identified for the next work plan include: a training workshop on aquaculture risk analysis; a technical workshop on aquaculture recirculation technologies; a training workshop on aquaponics; hands-on training in marine hatchery technologies; and a technical meeting to share regional experiences in the use of GIS and spatial analysis in coastal zone management and marine aquaculture planning and development. In view of emerging aquatic animal health issues, the WGA further agreed that, during the implementation of the workshop on aquaculture risk analysis, the technical experts from the member countries would also discuss priority issues related to aquatic animal biosecurity and identify activities that required action. The WGA recognized that the Commission, based on its current level of financial contribution, might not have the required budget to implement a comprehensive aquaculture programme, and it recommended that some activities could be implemented with extrabudgetary funds. The WGA Alternate Focal Point of Oman was nominated as the new WGA Chairperson, while the WGA Focal Point of Bahrain was nominated as the new WGA Vice-Chairperson. -
MeetingRegional Implementation Plan for the African Soil Partnership 2016
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No results found.Land, or soil, is the main resource base for many people in Sub-Saharan Africa, and is especially important for the rural population. With an estimated population growth for SSA from the current 900 million to 1.4 billion in 2030, the region’s soils will experience increasing pressure as a natural resource to provide for the needs of its people. With an estimated 65% of arable lands, 30% of grazing land and 20% of forests already degraded in Africa, the region has the potential to position itsel f as champion in terms of increasing food production and security, achieving land restoration, and increasing agricultural resilience to climate change. Sustainable soil management is vital to achieving these goals and, for this reason, is one of the cornerstones of the Global Soil Partnership (GSP). The African Soil Partnership caters for the Sub-Saharan Africa which includes 45 African countries. The AfSP Implementation Plan is based on regional priorities in terms of the Pillar recommendation s in their respective Plans of Action. This document is the product of a collaborative effort, mostly via email, involving participants from the two sub-regional launch events, as well as later participants in digital soil mapping training, representatives from regional institutions involved as partners and, finally, national GSP focal points as nominated by the respective country representatives. The main challenges associated with sustainable soil management in SSA were identified as: Inade quate capacity, knowledge and experience to plan and implement SSM and optimally manage, mitigate and monitor the productive and degradation status of the soils; especially under intensive cultivation. Where regional and national SSM policies exist, financing is often not a priority and/or implementation can be ineffective due to a lack of political will or a lack of implementation capacity. In many countries, policies regulating soil use are lacking. Soil information/data at national level is often inadequate, outdated, not in digital format and not georeferenced. Data availability is further restricted by intellectual property often held by private institutions that are not willing to share data for national use, or data needs to be paid for prior to use. Lack of national or umbrella organizations leading the campaign to promote and create awareness of SSM. Weak linkages between researchers, farmers and extension services to optimize information exchange. Addressing these cha llenges and increasing SSM implementation encompasses various aspects that are crucial to its success. Under the five Pillars of the GSP, the various components of sustainable soil management can be addressed and managed to enable a holistic approach to improved soil management for long term soil protection while simultaneously providing for human livelihoods. In SSA, crop production often occurs on already underperforming and poor quality soils using poor management practices and low use of ext ernal inputs. Over time, this leads to further decreases in soil quality, degradation of soil resources and resultant declines in food production and quality. The region’s soils are especially vulnerable to degradation, especially in drier climates. During the launch workshop of the African Soil Partnership, most countries reported the occurrence of both chemical and physical soil degradation which leads to low soil productivity and yield gaps in many countries 4 which in turn leads to fo od imports. The development of SSM solutions should not only consider the implementation environment, site specific characteristics and the necessary enabling environment, but also the causes of improper soil management to date in order to develop cause-driven rather than symptom-driven solutions. This Implementation Plan sets out the road map for the next 5 years to achieve SSM over the longer term and includes a large number of outputs and activities which are considered priority in this first phase of establishing the AfSP. It is envisaged that funding for these activities will be secured by capitalizing on existing in-country initiatives and activities, as well as by actively sourcing additional external funding. Since the GSP is a voluntary initiative, it calls for the strong support of national governments, as well as national and regional entities involved in natural resource management to contribute to achieving the common goal of improved and sustainable soil management. Under Pillar 1 (Promote sustainable management of soil resources and improved global governance for soil protection and sustainable productivity) the implementation plan proposes that soil degradation and restoration hotspots, as well as soil potential for agriculture be mapped for major agro-ecological zones. This will enable the identification of priority areas for SSM implementation to be initiated under this plan. A SSM implementation monitoring system is further proposed to measure success of SS M initiatives and monitor the status of the soil resources. Under Pillar 2 (Encourage investment, technical cooperation, policy, education, awareness and extension in soil) it is proposed that SSM partner platforms be established to foster awareness and investment towards SSM implementation. To build soil science capacity, a regional tertiary soil science training exchange programme is proposed to increase the number of soil scientists trained at tertiary level. In addition, it is proposed that soil science education be included at secondary school level to educate learners from a young age about the importance of soil. The importance of soil extension services is highlighted, as well as the need for region-specific policy recommendations to support SSM development and implementation. Pillar 3 (Promote targeted soil research and development focusing on identified gaps, priorities, and synergies with related productive, environmental, and social development actions) focuses on soil rese arch for development. Under this Pillar it is proposed that an African Soil Research for Development Platform be established to bring soil research for development partners. Its main aim is to align efforts and resources towards improving the management of soil fertility and soil health, increasing productivity while protecting the soil resources and restoring productivity on degraded soils. This would include identifying soil-related research gaps and establishing regional research working grou ps to collaboratively address on these gaps. Under Pillar 4 (Enhance the quantity and quality of soil data and information: data collection [generation], analysis, validation, reporting, monitoring and integration with other disciplines) addresses the need for soil data and information to support decision making and monitoring. The implementation plan proposes that an inventory be developed of all soil and related data in the region and an African soil database be developed and maintained. Train ing in digital soil mapping is proposed to increase soil mapping capacity in an effort to produce new and updated maps for the region. Under Pillar 5 (Harmonisation of methods, measurements and indicators for the sustainable management and protection of soil resources) the implementation plan calls for the development of 5 a harmonization procedure for soil classification and soil description. In addition, it proposes that regional reference laboratories be identified and supported to en able soil analysis towards increasing national and regional soil data. Outcomes and activities are presented in separate log frames per Pillar, along with the associated budgets and time frames. Since the GSP is a voluntary initiative, it calls for the strong support of national governments, as well as national and regional entities involved in natural resource management to contribute to achieving the common goal of improved and sustainable soil management. The list of outputs may be considered optimistic, considering the 5-year timeline, but it is the view of the AfSP that these outputs are essential to moving forward towards achieving SSM in the region over the longer term. The aim of this implementation plan is therefore to solicit buy-in, support and active participation from additional partners to increase collaboration in soil management activities -
Brochure, flyer, fact-sheetCOFO23 Side event -Forest and Landscape Restoration regional initiatives: toward the regionalization of the Bonn Challenge 2016
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No results found.Several regional or sub regional initiatives are currently on going on in Forest and Landscape Restoration in Latin America, Africa, Asia Pacific and the Mediterranean. These regional initiatives contribute to the achievement of the Bonn Challenge which aims to restore 150 million hectares by 2020. Those regional or sub regional initiatives/dynamics emerged recently with the support of several key partners involved in the Global Partnership on Forest and Landscape Restoration such as FAO, IUCN, WRI or the Global Mechanism of the UNCCD. They help to implement national FLR efforts at the most relevant scale to develop: (i) collaboration between countries with the same ecosystems and/or FLR issues, (ii) knowledge sharing on good practices, monitoring tools and guidelines and (iii) pooling of both human and financial resources by building relevant alliances between technical and/or financial partners. This side event will allow the members of those regional initiatives to understand the diversity of the existing ongoing dynamics in the different regions and will help all partners involved in those regional dynamics to build on existing successful results in Latin America, Africa, Asia-Pacific or the Mediterranean.
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