Plants

The entry into force of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture marks the commitment of the world community to a freestanding convention directed at addressing both global needs for food security and internationally agreed objectives regarding the concepts of "access and benefit-sharing" found in the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Cycads were a dominant part of the earth’s flora during the age of the dinosaurs and many species were common even in more recent times. However, many of the 297 species and sub-species dealt with in this Action Plan are threatened by habitat destruction and plant collecting, and more than half the known species are now classified as threatened.

This small booklet is the pilot version of a longer book which will be published for use in schools throughout the Kamchatka Peninsula. Using the example of the dwarf Siberian pine, one of three species of pines with edible nuts found in Russia, the book seeks input from readers on the content and design of the future publication on wild harvested plants and their uses.

This publication contains four papers on different legal issues of interest to developing countries. The papers were researched and written by four Carl Duisberg Gesellscaft (CDG) Fellows who came to Germany from Bangladesh, Venezuela, Nigeria and China to study under the host leadership of the IUCN Environmental Law Centre.