CoForTips Congo basin forests: tipping points for biodiversity conservation and resilience. Final Report (La modélisation des changements d’utilisation des terres dans les pays d’Afrique Centrale 2000-2030)

L'utilisation des terres est un facteur crucial pour le développement économique et l'environnement. Ainsi une terre dédiée à l’agriculture permettra une production régulière qui sera bénéfique pour satisfaire les besoins alimentaires des populations alentour et potentiellement, pour l’économie dans son ensemble. Par contre, les terres agricoles ont un contenu carbone bien inférieur à une terre forestière et sont généralement pauvres en biodiversité. Les terres peuvent être utilisées de différentes manières afin de répondre à différents objectifs et il peut être potentiellement difficile de satisfaire tous ces objectifs à la fois, donnant lieu à des choix difficiles lors de la conception des politiques. Les pays membres de la Commission des forêts d'Afrique centrale (COMIFAC) ont identifié l’initiative pour la réduction des émissions issues de la déforestation et de la dégradation forestière et l'amélioration des stocks de carbone (REDD+) comme un enjeu majeur dans la dernière revision du Plan de Convergence pour la Gestion Durable des Forêts, aux côtés de la conservation et de l’utilisation durable de la diversité biologique et de la réduction des impacts du changement climatique. Cette étude a pour objectif d’identifier les zones soumises aux pressions de conversion les plus fortes dans le futur et les conséquences en termes de production agricole, d’émissions de gaz à effet de serre (GES) et de risque de perte de biodiversité, avec pour but d’accompagner les institutions impliquées dans la REDD+ ainsi que dans la planification des Stratégies Nationales et Plans d’Action pour la Biodiversité dans les pays de la COMIFAC

Modelling Land Use Changes in the Republic of Congo 2000-2030 . A report by the REDD-PAC project.

This study is intended to assist institutions involved in REDD+ and the planning of National Strategies and Action plans for Biodiversity in the Republic of Congo by attempting to identify the areas under the greatest conversion pressures in the future and the consequences in terms of agricultural production, greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity loss.Cette étude essaye d’identifier les zones soumises aux pressions de conversion les plus fortes dans le futur et les conséquences en termes de production agricole, d’émissions de gaz à effet de serre et de risque de perte de biodiversité. L’objectif du projet REDD-PAC est d’accompagner les institutions impliquées dans la REDD+ ainsi que dans la planification de la Stratégie Nationale et du Plan d’Action pour la Biodiversité en République du Congo

Applying the HCVF toolkit to assess the conservation value of Gunung Singai, Sarawak, East Malaysia

The HCVF Toolkit for Malaysia was primarily developed to help forest managers comply with Principle 9 in both the Forest Stewardship Council and the Malaysian Criteria and Indicators for Forest Management Certification. These are standard adopted by the National Steering Committee for certification of natural forests in Malaysia. Here, we use it to assess the conservation value of Gunung Singai, an isolated mountain massif in western Sarawak. Based on Criteria HCV 1.2 (Threatened and Endangered Species), HCV1.3 (Endemism), HCV4.1 (Watershed Protection), HCV4.2 (Erosion Control), HCV5 (Basic Needs of Local Communities) and HCV6 (Cultural Identity of Local Communities) Gunung Singai is found to have high ecological and cultural values and warrant management and conservation

A co-designed mHealth programme to support healthy lifestyles in Māori and Pasifika peoples in New Zealand (OL@-OR@):A cluster-randomised controlled trial

© 2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license Background: The OL@-OR@ mobile health programme was co-designed with Māori and Pasifika communities in New Zealand, to support healthy lifestyle behaviours. We aimed to determine whether use of the programme improved adherence to health-related guidelines among Māori and Pasifika communities in New Zealand compared with a control group on a waiting list for the programme. Methods: The OL@-OR@ trial was a 12-week, two-arm, cluster-randomised controlled trial. A cluster was defined as any distinct location or setting in New Zealand where people with shared interests or contexts congregated, such as churches, sports clubs, and community groups. Members of a cluster were eligible to participate if they were aged 18 years or older, had regular access to a mobile device or computer, and had regular internet access. Clusters of Māori and of Pasifika (separately) were randomly assigned (1:1) to either the intervention or control condition. The intervention group received the OL@-OR@ mHealth programme (smartphone app and website). The control group received a control version of the app that only collected baseline and outcome data. The primary outcome was self-reported adherence to health-related guidelines, which were measured with a composite health behaviour score (of physical activity, smoking, alcohol intake, and fruit and vegetable intake) at 12 weeks. The secondary outcomes were self-reported adherence to health-related behaviour guidelines at 4 weeks; self-reported bodyweight at 12 weeks; and holistic health and wellbeing status at 12 weeks, in all enrolled individuals in eligible clusters; and user engagement with the app, in individuals allocated to the intervention. Adverse events were not collected. This study is registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, ACTRN12617001484336. Findings: Between Jan 24 and Aug 14, 2018, we enrolled 337 Māori participants from 19 clusters and 389 Pasifika participants from 18 clusters (n=726 participants) in the intervention group and 320 Māori participants from 15 clusters and 405 Pasifika participants from 17 clusters (n=725 participants) in the control group. Of these participants, 227 (67%) Māori participants and 347 (89%) Pasifika participants (n=574 participants) in the intervention group and 281 (88%) Māori participants and 369 (91%) Pasifika participants (n=650 participants) in the control group completed the 12-week follow-up and were included in the final analysis. Relative to baseline, adherence to health-related behaviour guidelines increased at 12 weeks in both groups (315 [43%] of 726 participants at baseline to 329 [57%] of 574 participants in the intervention group; 331 [46%] of 725 participants to 369 [57%] of 650 participants in the control group); however, there was no significant difference between intervention and control groups in adherence at 12 weeks (odds ratio [OR] 1·13; 95% CI 0·84–1·52; p=0·42). Furthermore, the proportion of participants adhering to guidelines on physical activity (351 [61%] of 574 intervention group participants vs 407 [63%] of 650 control group participants; OR 1·03, 95% CI 0·73–1·45; p=0·88), smoking (434 [76%] participants vs 501 [77%] participants; 1·12, 0·67–1·87; p=0·66), alcohol consumption (518 [90%] participants vs 596 [92%] participants; 0·73, 0·37–1·44; p=0·36), and fruit and vegetable intake (194 [34%] participants vs 196 [30%] participants; 1·08, 0·79–1·49; p=0·64) did not differ between groups. We found no significant differences between the intervention and control groups in any secondary outcome. 147 (26%) intervention group participants engaged with the OL@-OR@ programme (ie, set at least one behaviour change goal online). Interpretation: The OL@-OR@ mobile health programme did not improve adherence to health-related behaviour guidelines amongst Māori and Pasifika individuals. Funding: Healthier Lives He Oranga Hauora National Science Challenge

Using models to inform policies to meet multiple objectives. Sustainable development, climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation in Central Africa

Land-use change models can help in developing a holistic understanding of the range of potential impacts of different land-use related policy options, and so strengthen the development and implementation of policies to meet a range of objectives; including sustainable development, climate change mitigation, food security and biodiversity conservation. Member countries of the Central Africa Forest Commission (COMIFAC) have committed to sustainable management of the region’s forests, including under the COMIFAC “Convergence Plan”, and to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Achieving these objectives is dependent on the development, and implementation, of new and existing national policies and approaches. Projections from land-use modelling identify potential trade-offs and synergies in the achievement of the SDGs under different macro-economic and land-use policy related scenarios. In particular they highlight the importance of effective protected areas and forest concessions for the conservation of Great Apes and other threatened species, and show that maintaining these areas has negligible impact on agricultural production in the region. As development continues in the region, further increasing the extent of protected areas could play a role in greatly reducing the number of species losing a large proportion of their habitat. However, protected area expansion needs to be well planned to avoid adverse impacts on particular species and societal challenges such as food security

Application of isothermal titration calorimetry in evaluation of protein–nanoparticle interactions

Nanoparticles (NPs) offer a number of advantages over small organic molecules for controlling protein behaviour inside the cell. Protein binding to the surface of NPs depends on their surface characteristics, composition and method of preparation (Mandal et al. in J Hazard Mater 248–249:238–245, 2013). It is important to understand the binding affinities, stoichiometries and thermodynamical parameters of NP–protein interactions in order to see which interaction will have toxic and hazardous consequences and thus to prevent it. On the other side, because proteins are on the brink of stability, they may experience interactions with some types of NPs that are strong enough to cause denaturation or significantly change their conformations with concomitant loss of their biological function. Structural changes in the protein may cause exposure of new antigenic sites, “cryptic” peptide epitopes, potentially triggering an immune response which can promote autoimmune disease (Treuel et al. in ACS Nano 8(1):503–513, 2014). Mechanistic details of protein structural changes at NP surface have still remained elusive. Understanding the formation and persistence of the protein corona is critical issue; however, there are no many analytical methods which could provide detailed information about the NP–protein interaction characteristics and about protein structural changes caused by interactions with nanoparticles. The article reviews recent studies in NP–protein interactions research and application of isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) in this research. The study of protein structural changes upon adsorption on nanoparticle surface and application of ITC in these studies is emphasized. The data illustrate that ITC is a versatile tool for evaluation of interactions between NPs and proteins. When coupled with other analytical methods, it is important analytical tool for monitoring conformational changes in proteins