Welcome to the latest People & Plants Newsletter. We have several developments to report, including a splendid selection of links to sites of related interest, which many users will find very valuable, both for their own research and as a way of keeping up-to-date with issues affecting people and plants throughout the world.

Links

This is provided by our Kew connection, and it will be updated regularly, evolving into a veritable library of information.
A trial version of Kew's Economic Botany Links is now available on the web. This has been compiled with the help of People & Plants staff, and is intended as a selective guide to information-rich websites of use to ethnobotanists. It also includes comprehensive guides to ethnobotanical education and bibliographic resources. Comments, and suggestions of further sites, are welcome, and should be sent to Mark Nesbitt at the Centre for Economic Botany, Kew. Once testing is complete, the availability of these pages will be more widely announced.

New People & Plants Publications

Three of our manuals are now published in Spanish by Editorial Nordan (Uruguay) as their series Pueblos y Plantas: Martin: Etnobotánica: manual de métodos
Cronk & Fuller: Plantas Invasoras: la amenaza a los ecosistemas naturales
Tuxill & Nabhan: Plantas, comunidades y áreas protegidas: una guía para el manejo in situ
Soon to be followed by:
Cunningham: Etnobotánica aplicada: pueblos, uso y conservación de plantas silvestres

Meanwhile, the next three English manuals are in press at Earthscan:
Campbell & Luckert (ed.): Uncovering the Hidden Harvest: valuation methods for woodland and forest resources
(publication estimated December 2001)
Laird (ed.): Biodiversity and Traditional Knowledge: equitable partnerships in practice
(publication estimated early 2002)
Shanley et al. (ed.): Tapping the Green Market: management and certification of non-timber forest products
(publication estimated early 2002)

Working Papers

Soon to appear in the Working Paper series is an account of ethnobotanical work in Sabah, North Borneo:
Projek Etnobotani Kinabalu: the making of a Dusun ethnoflora
Gary Martin, Agnes Lee Agama, John H. Beaman and Jamili Nais
Mount Kinabalu is remarkable for its floristic richness and high level of endemism, and Kinabalu Park is a World Natural Heritage Site. Local collectors made more than 9,000 collections over a period of six years, adding significantly to our knowledge of this important area.

Two other Working Papers in the pipeline are:
Applied Ethnobotany in the Hindu Kush and other Himalayan Regions
Yildiz Thomas and Pei Sheng Ji
An economic evaluation of medicinal tree cultivation: Prunus africana in Cameroon
A B Cunningham, E Ayuk, S Franzel, B Duguma and C Asanga

Videos

A reminder that two new videos have been produced:
People, plants & practice: plant conservation through ethnobotanical training
Medicinal plants in the hidden land of Dolpo: working with Himalayan healers at Shey Phoksundo National Park, Nepal

These are available through the Natural History Book Service (NHBS):
The Natural History Book Service Ltd
2-3 Wills Road
Totnes
Devon TQ9 5XN
UK
Tel: +44(0)1803 865913 - Fax: +44(0)1803 865280
NHBS email sales
NHBS website

New Courses at Makerere

We are most grateful to Prof. Remigius Bukenya-Ziraba for the following information about new courses in Ethnobotany and Conservation Biology at Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.

Bachelor of Science degree course in Ethnobotany
The overall objective of this programme is to produce trained people who will put ethnobotany on a sound scientific base for the sustainable use and management of plant resources for posterity. The programme is a bridge between modern science and indigenous knowledge, and fosters the development of ethnobotany as a multidiscipline (with botanical, chemical, pharmacological, sociological, economic, etc. components).
For further information contact:
Prof. Remigius Bukenya-Ziraba
Department of Botany
Makerere University
P.O. BOX 7062
Kampala, UGANDA
Tel: 256-41-540 765
Fax: 256-41-531 061

B.Sc. in Conservation Biology
This programme will start in October 2001, and is coordinated jointly by the Faculties of Science, and Forestry and Nature Conservation.
The objectives are to train a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary-based cadre of Conservation Biologists to effect sustained utilization and conservation of biological resources and their habitats, based on sound natural resource management policies. Students will be trained in the skills of scientific evaluation of habitats, biological resource assessment, monitoring and impacts of resource use. This will enhance awareness and impart skills for more intensive ex situ conservation of biological resources. Another aim is to promote revenue generation through sustainable tourism, recreation, training, trade and employment in Uganda.
Core courses: Taxonomy of Flora and Fauna, Ecology, Physiology, Conservation Economics, Parasitology, Genetics for Conservation, Soil Ecology, Land use Planning, Sociology, Communication Skills, Biostatistics, Biodiversity Conservation, Community Conservation, Conservation Policy and Legislation, Ethics and Conservation, Research Methods, Basic Computer and Information Technology Skills, Consumptive Utilisation of Wildlife, Resource Valuation and Bio-trade, Protected Area Systems and Management, Biotechnology and Conservation, Environmental Planning, Monitoring & Auditing, Research Project, Internship.
Electives: Ecological Restoration, Herbarium and Botanical Garden Management, Captive Wildlife Management, Wild Animal Handling and Health Care, Computer Applications, Biometry, Eco-business and Accounting, Tourism Development and Management, Production Ecology and Bioenergetics, Risk Assessment and Management.
For further details, contact the Academic Registrar (Admissions) or Dean of Faculty of Science or Dean of Faculty of Forestry & Nature Conservation.
Tel: 256 - 41 - 532752, OR Tel: 256 - 41 - 532401
or by email

Good Wood Update

For the 2nd year running, 'Good Wood' carvings are featured in the WWF Gift Catalogue, thereby promoting our project work and creating the vital demand for good wood carvings. This sends the right messages to carvers, and gives consumers an ethical choice of buying carvings that are not made from endangered hardwoods.

Nepal Workshop

Community Approaches to Conservation of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in Nepal: A National Workshop in Applied Ethnobotany.
This workshop is scheduled for 9-12th October at the Institute of Forestry Pokhara, Nepal. It has been organized by the WWF Nepal Program of the People and Plants Project, the Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation/DPR and the Institute of Forestry, Pokhara.
Objectives:
(1) to learn about and review project accomplishments in community-based approaches to the conservation and management of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in Nepal.
(2) to learn about useful conceptual and methodological lessons in that field
(3) to identify difficulties, gaps and opportunities for future work.
This National Workshop is the first of a series of four workshops which will take place in Nepal during the present phase of the People and Plants Initiative.
The themes of the other workshops are likely to be:
Amchi's Knowledge and Guidelines for Conservation of Medicinal Plants in Nepal
Ethics and Benefit Sharing - The case of Himalayan Medicinal Plants in Nepal
Economic and Political incentives for the Sustainable Use of Himalayan Medicinal Plants
We are very grateful to the Institute of Forestry of Pokhara for hosting this first National Workshop. This Institute has a commitment to educate young foresters grounded in subjects of major importance for livelihood and conservation in Nepal. Meanwhile, the Group for Development of Curriculum in Applied Ethnobotany in Nepal has been formed, following an earlier initiative of WWF-Nepal People and Plants Project.
For further information, contact:
Yildiz Aumeeruddy-Thomas

This newsletter, which reflects some of the activities of People and Plants, was compiled by:
Martin Walters
People & Plants Editor and Web-manager

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