It is one of the wild plant species, from whose seeds, oil is extracted by local communities for various purposes such as producing local soap and for cooking. It used to be un-popular among local communities because of the perception that the oil was inferior in quality to other locally found fat producing crops.

The good news is that oil from the species may be used as a substitute for palm oil to produce commercial products such as margarine and soaps. Research conducted by Unilever indicates that Allanblackia oil has a higher melting point and congeals easily at room temperature. Its special fatty acid composition (of roughly 60% stearic and 35% oleic acids) gives it unique physical and nutritional properties, and a great potential for use in manufacturing novel products.

The Allanblackia is a typical tropical rain forest belt tree species, most often found occurring in the same areas where cocoa thrives. Thus, Allanblackia is commonly found in the Western, Central, Eastern and Ashanti regions, and possibly in parts of the Brong-Ahafo.

In 2002, the Novella Initiative was born by four core partners namely Unilever, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV) and the World Agro-forestry Centre (ICRAF). The aim was to purposely improve the sustainable development of the Allanblackia plant through the implementation of the NOVELLA Africa Project in Ghana, Nigeria and Tanzania.

The main target and beneficiary groups of the project were the rural poor communities, who collected and sold Allanblackia seeds for processing into oil. Other beneficiaries at the local levels included small scale private sector companies, haulage contractors, nurserymen, input suppliers and millers. Thus right from its onset, the project identified various employment avenues for local people that were not too capital intensive and rather required diligence on one hand and a team work spirit on the other.

It had a national focus, which was to develop a new export commodity which will add further value to the country’s national resources, reduce poverty and ensure sustainable forest management.

The global aim of the NOVELLA Africa Project was to ensure that supply of edible oil or edible oil based products was from sustainable sources and that it would help conserve the tropical forests of Africa. The trust was to address concerns raised by international consumers about the likely environmental and socio-economic impacts of such a project.

The main concern for the environmentalists was that the project did not in any way alter the balance in nature, in view of the magnitude of the collection of seeds involved. Even though the seeds of Allanblackia are not suitable for human consumption, they form part of major stable foods of some animals in the wild, which in turn form a vital part of the bush meat chain.

Another unique Public Private Partnership was formed in Ghana to assist and facilitate the implementation of the project. Members were the IUCN, Unilever, the International Tree Seed Centre (ITSC), ICRAF, Forestry Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG), SNV and Novel Ghana.

The primary goal of this particular partnership was to ensure the success of the novelty project from seed collection by local communities through processing to marketing, by investigating and promoting aspects related to its social acceptability, environmental sustainability and financial viability. Its ultimate objective was to secure the commercial viability of the extraction and uses of the Allanblackia fruit.

Through the partnership, the “Allanblackia: Standard Setting and Sustainable Supply Chain Management Project,” was also initiated with the IUCN as the main implementer through its local partners in Ghana including the USAID funded Technoserve, FORIG and the Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA). Funding was provided by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) of Switzerland.

In an interview, the IUCN Co-ordinator for the project, Mr. Samuel Kofi Nyame, explained that “it was launched in March 2005 to compliment the efforts of the Novella Project.” He said the main goals of the project, which will officially end in June 2008, were to develop guidelines to direct activities in all parts of the Allanblackia supply chain, to ensure that the supply chain is managed in a sustainable way, and ascertain that local actors in Ghana have the capacity to actually take over the supply chain.

Asked if environmental concerns have been well catered for in the implementation process, Mr. Nyame, who is also a conservation expert said one activity being implemented under the project, is “Forest Landscape Restoration.” He stressed that “Allanblackia provides a unique opportunity to use a native tree species with environmental and economic benefits to restore degraded forest landscapes in Ghana.”

Mr. Nyame recalled that Ghana like many tropical countries, experienced a period of exotic species plantations resulting in negative consequences for local biodiversity and livelihoods. He was optimistic that the use of the Allanblackia tree in the “Forest Landscape Restoration Project will yield positive environmental and socio-economic results.

The thick and hard bark of the Allanblackia tree makes it relatively resistant against forest fires. The species is consequently valued by communities in the semi-deciduous forest landscapes for its capacity to reduce the risk of fires. Also, Allanblackia casts only a minimal shade with its narrow crown and is relatively difficult to eliminate as it sprouts easily. Smallholder involvement in Allanblackia planting can help enhance the integrity of forest landscapes even as incorporating the species into farming systems will contribute to improved landscape connectivity.

In spite of these advantages, Mr. Nyame was quick to point out that “the use of Allanblackia in forest landscape restoration while being beneficial may generate risks to biodiversity if not well managed.” He said such risks included the possibility of over-harvesting seed sources with negative impacts on the regeneration of the species, transforming Allanblackia into a plantation tree contrary to the objectives of the current project, and the possibility of habitat disturbance by seed collectors a phenomenon unfavourable for wildlife conservation.”

Mr. Nyame was equally certain that “these risks can be minimised by promoting legislation that favours the sustainable use of Allanblackia along with other natural resources, enhances livelihood security and forest governance, promotes wild animal species which are dependent on Allanblackia fruits and seeds like the brush-tailed porcupine, and ensuring that the use of Allanblackia does not eradicate the local gene pool of species on the landscape.”

But the real question is can the Allanblackia enhance the livelihood of communities? Mr. Nyame in answering said “the Allanblackia project is a careful blend of the resources, expertise and interests of public, private and community organisations to pursue a commercial and developmental agenda that is beneficial to all parties based on respect, trust, commitment and a strong orientation towards the future.”

With a hint of excitement in his voice, the IUCN official stated “already Allanblackia seeds are bringing additional income to rural poor communities. Poor families which were unable to meet certain basic needs currently feel relieved as they are able to provide some of such needs with revenue from the sale of Allanblackia seeds.”

More information can be found at http://www.allanblackia.info/

Contact

For more information on this project contact Samuel Kofi Nyame, IUCN Ghana at samuel.kofi.nyame@iucn.org

Asahi Shimbun, one of the largest newspapers in Japan, organized the high-level symposium in preparation for the G8 Leaders Summit in Hokkaido, Toyako and to celebrate their 130th anniversary. The conference attracted more than 700 participants and was structured to address the issues of climate change, biodiversity and water.

In his keynote speech on biodiversity, Mr. Winkler focused on the Kobe Call for Action and the recent interim findings of the Pavan Suvdhek report on the Economics of Ecosystem and Biodiversity (TEEB) and highlighted the major outcomes from CBD CoP9 and the expectations for CBD CoP10 in Nagoya in 2010. “Japanese people are still more knowledgeable on climate change than on biodiversity,” he commented. “However, I was delighted to discover that there is great interest to learn more about biodiversity issues in light of the CBD CoP10.”

With this symposium, Asahi Simbun tested what could well become a sequence of high-level environment conferences that have the objective of informing their readership on the pressing global environmental issues.

IUCN is invited to support Asahi Shimbun in the organization of subsequent events, which will reach out to millions of people and Japan has shown a strong interest to work with Countdown 2010 and IUCN to establish a Countdown 2010 national platform in Japan.

使命

本园致力提高大众对人与环境关系的认识，透过保育和教育，积极改善世界。

愿景

嘉道理农场暨植物园将协力缔造一个没有环境危机的世界。在这个爱护自然遗产、奉行永续生活的世界里，人人知足常乐，既彼此敬重，亦尊重大自然。

保育工作概述

我们在华南进行了一系列生物多样性保育项目：

· 在热带的海南地区，与海南林业局下的海南野生动植物自然保护中心合作，保护海南主要的森林生态系统。近年，更帮助管理鹦哥岭自然保护区、支持霸王岭国家级自然保护区的生境恢复与巡护，及为建设鹦哥岭及俄贤岭石灰岩森林为自然保护区进行资源调查。
· 在生态敏感的地区，跟当地居民合作，例如在海南鹦哥岭及香港林村，因为人为活动往往对这些区域的生物多样性造成很大的影响，希望藉此找到人类与野生动物互惠互利的措施。
· 透过本园网站及每年出版两期的《森林脉搏》，向华南及其它地区保育人士提供资讯、并邀请加入讨论。将于春季出版的第十四期《森林脉搏》得到世界自然保护联盟中国联络处参与编纂工作，回顾华南履行2010年生物多样性目标的进程。
· 针对一系列的生态议题向香港政府及非政府组织提供建议，把生物多样性的关注整合到政策及规划之中，并保护受危物种及生态系统。
· 资助研究生进行野外考察，以及保护区职工的试验实务管理，提升他们的保育能力。
· 参与评估区内物种的灭绝危机。

欲知详情或更多项目的相关信息，请登入本园网站www.kfbg.org。

Mission

We exist to increase the awareness of our relationship with the environment and bring about positive change in the world through conservation and education.

Vision

KFBG will help create a world without environmental crisis, in which conservation of the natural heritage and sustainable living enable people to live in contentment, with respect for each other and nature.

Examples of our conservation work

We undertake a wide range of biodiversity conservation initiatives in South China.
· In tropical Hainan, we have supported the Hainan Wildlife Conservation Centre of Hainan Forestry Department in its work to conserve the island’s key forest ecosystems. In recent years we have helped manage the remarkable Yinggeling Nature Reserve; supported restoration and patrolling of habitat for the Critically Endangered Hainan Gibbon at Bawangling National Nature Reserve; and conducted surveys justifying the establishment of reserves at both Yinggeling and, now, Exianling limestone forest.
· We work with local communities in sensitive areas, where human activities can have major impacts on biodiversity. We have worked, for example, with residents of Yinggeling in Hainan, and Lam Tsuen Valley in Hong Kong, to find practices that benefit both people and wildlife.
· We supply information and invite discussion among colleagues in South China and beyond, through our website and through our twice-yearly Living Forests magazine. Issue 14, co-edited with IUCN-China and due out in spring 2008, examines the progress toward the 2010 biodiversity target in South China.
· We advise government and non-government organisations in Hong Kong on a range of ecological issues, working to integrate biodiversity concerns into policy and planning, and safeguard vulnerable species and ecosystems.
· We support postgraduate students conducting field-based research, and reserve staff to pilot practical management innovations, to build capacity for conservation.
· We contribute to assessing the extinction risk of species in the region.

These projects and many more are described in the KFBG website www.kfbg.org.

The study’s objectives include assessing progress towards the conservation of “at least 10% of the world’s forest types” target by 2010 set by the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which also adopted a specific Programme of Work on Forest Biological Diversity.

This measure was introduced to reduce deforestation and forest degradation. Forests loss worldwide continues at an alarming rate and jeopardizes a great variety of species and habitat types as well as the ecosystem services forests provide to humankind.

The present study illustrates the major issues related to the forest protection target, such as the geographic distribution of the world’s remaining forest areas, difficulties related to the world’s forest types and WWF ecoregions, and an up-to-date global gap analysis for forest protected areas. The study is part of a larger project that aims to provide scientific analysis and policy advice on the feasibility, financing and targets for the establishment of a global network of forest protected areas.

The Global ecological forest classification and forest protected area gap analysis” study is a result of the joint efforts of a consortium comprising the United Nations Environmental Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Network and World Resources Institute (WRI) in cooperation with the Institute of Forest and Environmental Policy .

Download the pdf of the study