B&SEF unit at the Paris International Agricultural Show

In view of the issues surrounding urbanization, the energy crisis and climate change, tropical forests are now a major element in national and global talks aimed at setting and justifying a new political agenda for their sustainable management.

However, while the role played by tropical forest species in environmental conservation is recognized, less is known about their contribution to the lives of local people and to economic development in the South.

In fact, tropical forests, which are primarily found in developing countries, provide all or part of the income of millions of people!
It is thus vital to involve local populations in managing tropical forests, to safeguard their continuity and promote their sustainable management.

For CIRAD, this recognition of the role of people, particularly those who are most vulnerable, in the protection and sustainable management of forest areas, and of the multiplicity of uses and interests surrounding their management, is a major issue.
This is why, to mark the International Year of Forests, CIRAD, a major global forest research player, is keen to present some of the research it has done over more than 50 years on the world's tropical forests and related issues.

CIRAD at SIA 2011

• A stand: No. 60 , Hall 3, Aisle C

Production : Vincent Bonneaud et Elsa Bru 
Pictures : Vincent Bonneaud

Visitors will see a lush, colourful stand. Behind a living wall, there will be an area showing CIRAD's forest research, centring on the following topics: biodiversity, climate, sustainable development, fuelwood, planted forests, tropical woods, and agriculture.

Visitors will be able to read posters hung on creepers, around showcases containing forest products (tropical woods, non-wood products, etc), discover animated features on plant growth, and play a game aimed at identifying trees from their leaves or fruit, using an educational software.

There will also be mini-workshops for visitors to do experiments.
Not forgetting tasting sessions: Brazil nuts, tamarind juice, tropical honey, etc; and an area for children to draw the tree of their choice with a view to building a veritable tropical forest, albeit made of paper!

• Round tables on 21 and 22 February, on whether we should pay for tropical forests (in French)

There will be two days of debate on this topic.
An international mechanism of payment for the global services rendered by tropical forests would be set up in the South, which would shift the current dividing line between "service forests" and "resource forests". Paid services would become the prime financial resource, and tropical forests would be treated as global public goods.

Four round tables, introduced by experts, will address the following issues:

• REDD (reduced deforestation) and payments for environmental services.
• Sustainable logging and management, certification.
• Forests and energy.
• Forest dynamics, climate change and adaptation.

To view the programme and register, see: http://tablesrondes-sia.cirad.fr/

- a CIRAD-INRA conference on new high-performance economic and environmental practices for the overseas regions, on Friday 25 February, from 2 to 4:30 pm, on the INRA stand (Hall 3, Aisle C, no. 54).

- a debate on the Terre d’Infos set (Hall 3), on whether overseas agriculture has a future, and if so, what is it?, at 2:30 pm on 22 February.