Berney, Jaques

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Conferences & Meetings 177Inaugurating the Seminar, Dr Monkombu S. Swami-nathan, Director-General, International Rice ResearchInstitute, Los Banos, Philippines, observed that the pest-repellant properties of Neem could be exploited to evolvean integrated strategy for pest control. The genetic resis-tance against pests in new crop varieties, though highlydesirable, tended to break down with time. The use ofNeem and other vegetable products could go a long waytowards prolonging the period of usefulness of improvedcrop varieties. He further observed that a great deal ofinterest has been generated in some advanced countries,such as West Germany and the USA, in the utilizationof Neem products in agriculture. Future research in thisfield should not only concentrate on evolving new usesof these products but also on agronomic aspects ofpropogation and growth of Neem plants. The fertilizercompanies and proposed National Fertilizer Develop-ment Centre should jointly evolve ways and means ofincreased use of Neem products in improving the effi-ciency of chemical fertilizers.Dr Swaminathan suggested the launching of an aug-mented research programme in India for conductinginterdisciplinary research on basic and applied aspects ofNeem, which has numerous uses in agriculture and phar-maceuticals. He also suggested that major strains ofNeem, found in India and abroad, should be significantlycatalogued, so that the more useful ones among themcould be propagated on a mass scale through socialforestry programmes.Dr H.K. Jain, Director of the Indian AgriculturalResearch Institute, which hosted the Seminar, pointedout that the Institute was first to discover, in the early1960s, the insect-repellent properties of Neem seed.During the locust invasion in India in July-August of1962, crops were protected by spraying Neem kernelsuspension on the plants. Further research has shownthat it is also effective against several other insect pests.Similarly, grain can be safeguarded against storage pestsby adding Neem leaves or kernels to the storage bins. DrJain also pointed out that the Institute has done pioneer-ing work on increasing the efficiency of fertilizer nitrogenwith the help of Neem cake*. Coating of urea prills withNeem cake improves their nitrogen fertilizer efficiency byfrom 15 to 20%. Field data are available for Rice (Oryzasativa) and Sugar-cane (Saccharum officinarum) whichindicate that coating of fertilizing prills of urea withNeem cake can be highly profitable. Dr Jain pointed outthat the main objective of this Seminar was to revive theinterest of research workers and concerned agencies inthe economic exploitation of the good properties of thistree, which grews abundantly in India and many othertropical countries.A number of papers were presented by participatingscientists ori the insect-repelling and -controlling proper-ties, and on the fertilizer use, of Neem cake and kernels.It was also brought out that Neem could be an excellentsource of renewable energy in the form of oil, whichcould also be used for medicinal purposes and formaking soap.The discussion emphasized the need for research to beintensified towards improving the formulation, shelf-life,and standardization, of Neem products, as well as to-wards evolving improved methods of their application.It was decided that the Indian Agricultural ResearchInstitute should bring out a Neem Newsletter for dissem-ination of knowledge about the useful aspects of the* 'Neem cake' is the residue left after extraction of oil fromNeem kernels.—Ed.Neem Tree. The seminar recommended the launching ofa massive programme for planting Neem Trees in India,with a goal of 'one Neem Tree for each Indian'; thiswould amount to an ultimate target of 700 million NeemTrees in India.**RAJENDRA PRASAD, Professor of AgronomyIndian Agricultural Research InstituteNew Delhi 110012, India.** And would surely have pleased the late Richard St BarbeBaker—see the account on pp. 170-1 of this issue.—Ed.FOURTH MEETING! OF THE CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIESTO THE CONVENTION ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN EN-DANGERED SPECIES OF WILD FAUNA AND FLORA(CITES), HELD IN GABORONE, BOTSWANA,FROM 19 TO 30 APRIL 1983Some 300 delegates from 59 out of the then 80 Parties(there are now 81) to the Convention on InternationalTrade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora(CITES), 3 observer States, and more than 70 organiza-tions, participated in this meeting, which was inau-gurated by His Excellency Dr Quett Ketumile JonnyMasire, President of the Republic of Botswana.In this year of the tenth anniversary of the Convention(it was signed in 1973 and entered into force in 1975), oneof the most significant results of the meeting was theevidence that CITES has reached maturity at an interna-tional level. The Meeting also revealed a more evidenttendency than formerly towards the recognition of thenecessity for many countries, in the developing world inparticular, to utilize their natural resources on a rationaland sustainable basis for the benefit of the resourcesthemselves and of their people. Such a tendency is in linewith the World Conservation Strategy, of which CITESis an important element.Although considerable progress has been realized inthe implementation of the Convention, there are stillsome loopholes—including the circumstance that suchcountries as Belgium, Mexico, and several African andeastern European states, are not yet Parties to the Con-vention. Among the decisions adopted to improve theimplementation of the Convention, the following shouldbe mentioned: several resolutions to harmonize the inter-pretation of CITES provisions, such as the period ofvalidity of export permits; the definition of the notion oftransit (which is not covered by the Convention and leadsto abuses); the interpretation of pre-Convention ac-quisition; the control of transit souvenirs; the control ofcaptive breeding operations; and a standardized verna-cular nomenclature for mammals.The lists of species covered by the Convention wereamended in Gaborone, pursuant to a ten-years' reviewof the appendixes and also to include new species. De-spite vigorous opposition from whaling countries, sevenspecies of whales were given the highest protectionrating. A similar status was afforded to severalSaharo-Sahelien species, such as the Addax (Addaxnasomaculatus) and species of Oryx, as well as to somevery rare Bolivian parrots and more than 30 species ofcacti from the United States and Mexico.For the first time since the resolution authorizing tradein ranching products was adopted at its previous meet-ing, the Conference of the Parties to the Conventionadopted a proposal of transfer from Appendix I (speciest The Third such meeting was reported in EnvironmentalConservation, Vol. 8, No. 3, p. 251, 1981, and the Second in ourVol. 6, No. 2, pp. 162-3, 1979.—Ed.https:/www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0376892900012431Downloaded from https:/www.cambridge.org/core. University of Basel Library, on 11 Jul 2017 at 12:41:46, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at178 Environmental Conservationfor which no commerce is authorized) to Appendix II(species for which the trade is controlled to avoid overex-ploitation) of a specific population; hence Zimbabwe,haying been able to prove that ranching can be a meansof improving the conservation of certain species, will nowbe authorized to export products of ranched Nile Cro-codiles (Crocodilus niloticus). On the other hand, theParties refused to downgrade the Leopard {Pantherapardus) populations of eastern and southern Africa inorder not to reopen the trade in furs of Leopards andother spotted cats. Recognizing, however, that the Leo-pard is no longer endangered in this region, the Partiesadopted a resolution which will permit the countriesconcerned to sell legally-obtained Leopard skins as per-sonal effects under very strict control measures, includinga quota system.On 30 April 1983, the Parties to the Convention wereconvened in an extraordinary meeting and adopted anamendment to the text of the Convention. This amend-ment, when it enters into force (i.e. after formal accep-tance by a statutory minimum 54 of the 80 States thatwere Parties to the convention at the date of adoption ofthe amendment), will allow regional economic integra-tion organizations to become Party to CITES — suchas, in particular, the European Economic Community.The next regular meeting of the Conference of theParties to CITES is scheduled to be held in Colombia in1985. Further information may be obtained from theCITES Secretariat at the address given below:JAQUES BERNEY, Assistant Secretary-GeneralCITES Secretariat, World Conservation CentreCH-1196 Gland, Switzerland.MEETING OF THE COMMITTEE OF EXPERTS FOR PRO-TECTED AREAS, HELD AT THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE,STRASBOURG, FRANCE, DURING 9-10 MAY 1983The Committee of Experts for Protected Areas met inStrasbourg on 9 and 10 May to examine the annualreports from the 19 protected areas which hold the Euro-pean Diploma. The reports make it clear that, despite theareas' official status as protected zones, some of them arethreatened by activities which might in the medium termjeopardize their ecological value. The Committee accor-dingly proposed ways of countering their deterioration.After studying experts' reports on three new applica-tions, the Committee of Experts recommended that theEuropean Committee for the Conservation of Natureand Natural Resources award a category C Diploma tothe Purbeck Heritage Coast in the United Kingdom andpostpone the application by the Berchtesgaden NationalPark in the Federal Republic of Germany.The Committee of Experts recognized the Europeansignificance of the following four new applications sub-mitted:- Scandola Nature Reserve, in Corsica, the most impor-tant of the French marine reserves;- Sasso Fratino Nature Reserve in Tuscany, the oldestof the Italian nature reserves;- Fair Isle, the most southerly of the Shetland Islands inthe United Kingdom, which is scheduled as a Site ofSpecial Scientific Interest (SSSI); and- Coto Doflana National Park, the celebrated Spanishwetland area.HAYO H. HOEKSTRA, HeadEuropean Information Centre for Nature ConservationCouncil of Europe, B.P. 431 R667006 Strasbourg Cedex, France.SEMINAR ON ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING IN THE CON-TEXT OF DEVELOPMENT INVESTMENT, HELD AT THE TUFTSUNIVERSITY EUROPEAN CENTER, TALLOIRES, FRANCE,DURING 15-19 MAY 1983Environmental assessment, previously either the angelor the stepchild of planning experts, has now earned asolid place, equal in partnership with economic and so-cial planning, in the complex arena of development assis-tance planning. At the above meeting in Talloires,France, the relationship between environmental assess-ment and the other tools of development planning wasdebated in a forum representing many of the key sectors— whether corporate or concerned with internationaldevelopment or environmental planning.While no consensus was sought, there was generalagreement that environmental assessment was essentialin the design of projects if they are to contribute tosustainable development. Only with meaningful integra-tion of environmental goals and the other traditionalsocial and economic goals that are sought by the con-cerned world community, can such development beachieved. But although the group agreed that environ-mental assessment should be integrated into the planningprocess, there was no agreement on whether environ-mental structures in governments should remain separateor also be integrated.The twenty-five participants from various parts of theworld proposed a number of themes which they wantedto pursue in future meetings. These involved defining thelevels of responsibility and decision-making authority,the length of time required for sound developmentprojects, information and training needs, and adequateongoing public participation.Proposals offered for follow-up included:1) The corporate sector can propogate environmentalconcerns at the regional and national level and within itsown sector;2) International lending institutions can focus on va-rious parts of the financial investment community, draw-ing attention to environmental implications of develop-ment projects—especially in regional lending institu-tions and national and private banks;3) The international technical consulting firms canintegrate social and cultural factors into their work-plansand throughout the project experience; and4) Nongovernmental organizations, especially localcommunity groups and environmental organizations,can work towards reaching a broad local population—to build better awareness and public input into the assess-ment process.The meeting was the first in a series of seminars dealingwith global resource management in the public and cor-porate sectors, sponsored by the Tufts University De-partment of Urban and Environmental Policy, the SierraClub International Earthcare Center, the Commission onEnvironmental Planning of the International Union forConservation of Nature and Natural Resources, and theWorld Resources Institute, in association with the BirdCompany Foundation and the Exxon Corporation,USA. The series is intended to help create a more effec-tive base for advance planning and coping with the en-vironmental impacts accompanying development initiat-ives than is currently available.J. GARY TAYLORc/o Tufts University, Talloires74290 Veyrier-du-Lac, France[For an Important Prospect, see bottom of page 184]https:/www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0376892900012431Downloaded from https:/www.cambridge.org/core. University of Basel Library, on 11 Jul 2017 at 12:41:46, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at

Fourth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), held in Gaborone, Botswana, from 19 to 30 April 1983

Fourth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), held in Gaborone, Botswana, from 19 to 30 April 1983

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