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Annual report 2011
Annual report 2011
Working in
partnership
• 12 International partnerships
• 16 Events around the world
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12
Annual report 2011
International partnerships
The IRD has consolidated its position among the research and higher education establishments of the South, and has adapted its network of local structures in order to reinforce regional activities. Six regional offices(1) have been
created, managed by regional coordinators. These coordinators contribute to
the development of partnerships with supranational, European and/or international institutions present in the region. In addition, this development has
led to the inclusion of the French overseas territories into each respective
regional division, to better understand their geographic context and their
strategic position in terms of territorial influence.
Mediterranean
region
Despite the dramatic events at the start
of 2011 in the southern Mediterranean,
several agreements were signed with
local scientific partners, including
the Institut national d’agronomie in
Tunisia, and the Direction générale
de la recherche et du développement
technologique in Algeria. In addition,
the IRD and the CNRS have both
signed a joint agreement with a Syrian
research partner.
Water management / Morocco
Contact:
geostrategie@ird.fr
In addition to this bilateral dimension,
the IRD is continuing its work in the
Mediterranean assisting with major
projects, in particular the MISTRALS(2)
and CMRST(3) projects. As such, a
partnership has been created with several French research organisations (the
CNRS, Inra and Cemagref(4)) and two German funding associations, to promote
the development of shared platforms that will enable a measurement of
the impact of climate change and the exploitation of water resources in the
Mediterranean.
West and Central Africa
The IRD has developed numerous partnerships in these regions, with the aim
of combating desertification. The Institute has thus joined the programme led
by the Agence Panafricaine de la Grande Muraille Verte (APGMV) in order to
combat desertification in the Sahelian belt, which runs through 11 countries, all
signatories of the project: Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina-Faso, Niger, Nigeria,
Chad, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti. This will enable the funding of
operational programmes for agroforestry, land restoration and pastoralism, and
the creation of monitoring and management systems. In addition, the IRD has
renewed its partnership with the Sahara and Sahel Observatory, which works on
a global scale in the fight against desertification.
On the same topic, the IRD, APGMV and the
Brazilian Centre for Management and Strategic
Studies organised an international conference in
Niamey, “For sustainable development of drylands
in Africa” (ICID+19 in Africa), in collaboration
with the government in the Republic of Niger.
This conference led to the adoption of the
Niamey Declaration, delivered to the preparatory
Congo basin
committee of the United Nations ahead of the
Rio+20 sustainable development conference in
June 2012.
In Senegal, the African Institute for mathematical
sciences (AIMS-Senegal) is located on the IRD site
within the International research and teaching
centre in Mbour. AIMS is a Pan-African platform
dedicated to teaching and research, whose aim
is to train the continent's scientific elite and
prepare for the emergence of a new generation of
entrepreneurs in economic sectors with significant
added value.
Erosion/ Niger
(1) North Africa and the Middle East; West and Central Africa; East and Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean; South America, Central America and the Caribbean; South-East Asia; South Pacific.
(2) Mediterranean integrated studies at regional and local scale.
(3) Centre méditerranéen de recherche scientifique et technologique.
(4) Now IRSTEA.
Annual report 2011
Lastly, the IRD has signed agreements with the National Institute of Statistics
in Mali and the National parks agency in Gabon. It was in that country that
the President of the Institute participated in the first strategic orientation
committee for the SEAS-Gabon project. This satellite reception station has
notably enabled the monitoring of forests in the Congo basin, in liaison with
the Gabonese Spatial Study and Observation Agency and the Brazilian National
Institute for Space Research. The commissioning of a new technical platform for
the direct reception of satellite images, and the creation of a remote detection
skills centre for the sustainable management of forest ecosystems in Gabon and
in Central Africa, will encourage significant scientific progress in this immense
forest zone.
East Africa, Southern Africa
and the Indian Ocean
of land, marine and coastal
development, the management
of natural risks, epidemiological
surveillance and biodiversity and
climate change monitoring.
At the same time, in order to
reinforce cooperation in the
marine environment sector,
new agreements have been
signed with the French Southern
and Antarctic Lands and the
Association réunionnaise pour le
développement de l’aquaculture.
New collaborations have been established, notably with the
higher education and research ministry in the Republic of
Djibouti, and the South African National Research Foundation.
The IRD has also strengthened its activity with the United
Nations Environment Programme, which has its headquarters
in Nairobi.
Coastline / Réunion
The Niamey Declaration
SEAS-OI Antenna / Réunion
In South Africa, the IRD and the CNRS have inaugurated their
first joint operation in Africa (it is their second worldwide; the
first is in Santiago, Chile). The aim is to broaden the activities
of the two institutions and to give them a better regional
visibility.
In Réunion, the IRD is engaged in a satellite-enhanced
environmental monitoring project for the Indian Ocean (SEASOI), in partnership with the University of Réunion. Construction
has been completed of a reception station for high-density
satellite images. Applications will be developed in the fields
Agroforest / Ethiopia
Desertification is a global phenomenon with multiple causes and consequences, and it particularly
affects the African continent, highly vulnerable due to the lack of food safety, malnutrition and
anthropic pressures on natural resources. The tripartite conference held in Niamey served to evaluate
the situation in arid regions with a particular emphasis on Africa, aiming to encourage sustainable
development, the fight against soil erosion and desertification. Some 100 participants at the conference
adopted 22 recommendations aimed at political decision-makers ahead of the Rio+20 Summit in June
2012. These recommendations aim to strengthen governance and sustainable development in arid
zones, encourage international cooperation and improve scientific cooperation, the strengthening of
capacities, transfer of technologies and knowledge distribution.
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Annual report 2011
Monitoring flood levels / Brazil
Herbarium / Guiana
Latin america
and the Caribbean
Five framework agreements have been signed with Mexican scientific institutions:
The University of Morelos State, the Autonomous Metropolitan University, the
College of Mexico, the national assembly of the United Mexican States (through
its Study Centre for rural sustainable development and food sovereignty),
and the National Institute of Ecology. New links have been established with
Ecuador (Pontifica Universidad Católica del Ecuador), Colombia (Colciencias et
l’Université de Los Andes), Brazil (Conselho Nacional das Fundações Estaduais de
Amparo in Pesquisa and the Brazilian strategic studies and management centre)
and Peru. The Institute has also approached several networks and structures
operating at a regional level, such as the Comunidad de Práctica sobre el Enfoque
Ecosistémico en Salud Humana.
In order to improve knowledge, management and protection of marine
ecosystems in this region, the IRD has supported the regional extension of the
Jacques-Yves Cousteau Observatory in Mexico (monitoring the seas and coastal
Landslides in Bolivia
Following heavy rainfall at the start of 2011, Bolivia was faced with flooding and major landslides.
These caused a significant amount of damage to property and cut off the drinking water supply to
almost 300,000 inhabitants. According to IRD researchers, working in Bolivia as part of the PACIVUR(5)
programme, these events were largely due to climate and anthropic causes. Indeed, it was an instance
of La Niña that led to the increase in volume and frequency of rainfall, thus leading to flooding. Soaring
and poorly-regulated urbanisation has led to the construction of dwellings in at-risk zones, while
monitoring systems and evacuation plans are still very limited.
(5) Andean programme for training and research into vulnerability and risk in urban areas.
Contact:
geostrategie@ird.fr
Rice paddy / Vietnam
regions of Mexico, Costa Rica and other Central American countries), alongside
several French institutions (Université de Bretagne occidentale, the French
embassy in Costa Rica), Costa Rica (Costa Rica University and the National
University, the environment Ministry) and Central America (the French institute
of Central America). This was particularly seen in the institutional support given
to assist in the creation of the UNESCO-Cousteau Chair at the University of
Costa Rica.
The AFRODESC and EURESCL research programmes on persons of African
descent in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean were completed, and the
SANTALE programme for knowledge building in the field of organic chemistry
was launched.
In Peru, the HYBAM conference brought together the Latin-American community
working with large tropical river basins.
The institute hopes to position its French deep-sea sites, such as in Guiana, at the
heart of its international strategy. As a result, the IRD has founded the Guiana
international campus in Montabo (Cayenne), which includes two research
platforms: SEAS-Guyane, the satellite-enhanced Amazonian environmental
monitoring station, and the Herbier de Guyane (Guiana herbarium). The IRD has
also signed a framework agreement with the Federal University of Amapá and
University of the French West Indies and Guiana, aiming to create a community
of shared scientific, economic, cultural and social interests between France and
Brazil. In addition, a declaration of intent has been signed between the Brazilian
national council for support of research foundations (CONFAP), Guiana and the
IRD, in order to launch a support programme for scientific training between the
Northern States of Brazil and Guiana.
Annual report 2011
Asia
Vietnamese partnerships have been strengthened with the Vietnam National
University, the Foreign Trade University in Hanoi, and the Hô Chi Minh
City Institute for Development Studies. The Institute has also renewed its
collaboration with the Vietnamese Academy for Social Sciences and the regional
cooperation agreement with CIFOR(6).
In order to strengthen existing bonds with Laos and consolidate the Institute’s
activities in terms of research and training Laotian students, the IRD, which has
had a presence in the country for around ten years, has signed an agreement
with the National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute.
In Thailand, the IRD has been involved in the short-and long-term response to
the problems caused by the flooding experienced in the second half of 2011.
Pacific
The results of the Santo 2006 natural science expedition were delivered in
Vanuatu. Other major events included the regional SOPAC(7) conference in Fiji and
the signing of an agreement with the Australian National University in Canberra.
The IRD also became a member of the Circum Pacific Council, a regional nongovernmental organisation working in the fields of energy and mineral resources.
Several cooperation programmes are ongoing. The NetBiOME(8) project aims
to establish an action plan for the preservation and management of European
biodiversity, largely for French overseas territories. It brings together 11 partners
and associates 7 outermost regions of France (Guadeloupe, Martinique, Guiana,
Réunion), Spain (the Canary Islands) and Portugal (Madeira and the Azores),
as well as the vast majority of the overseas territories and dependencies of
the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and France (New Caledonia and French
Polynesia).
The “Coral” LABEX is examining coral reefs in the context of global change, with
multiple objectives: advancing research on these ecosystems to assist in their
sustainable management, presenting France as a leader in this domain, creating a
French centre of excellence dedicated to coral reefs, and creating an international
network of centres of excellence. Supported by the École pratique des hautes
études/Centre de recherches insulaires et observatoire de l’environnement
(CRIOBE), it benefits from funding of €650,000 over a period of 10 years. The
universities of Réunion, New Caledonia, French Polynesia, French West Indies and
Guiana, the Ifremer, the CNRS/INEE, and the École des hautes études en sciences
sociales are working alongside the IRD on this project.
In addition, the “Exploitation et gouvernance minière dans le Pacifique” symposium
took place in Nouméa. This project is the result of close collaboration between the
IRD and the Agronomic Institute of New Caledonia, the Secretariat of the Pacific
community, the national centre for nickel research and technology, the CIRAD, the
Coral association and the University of New Caledonia.
The IRD was involved with the doctoral students’ conference organised in Nouméa
by the University of New Caledonia and its associated partners, and contributed
to the launch of “Sismo-Net”, a seismographic warning network in New Caledonia.
(6) Center for International Forestry Research.
(7) South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission.
(8) Networking tropical and subtropical Biodiversity research in Outermost regions territories of Europe in support of sustainable development, www.netbiome.org.
Marine fauna / French Polynesia
Flora / New Caledonia
Marine fauna / French Polynesia
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Annual report 2011
The Mediterranean region
Events around
the world
Pacific
2 representations
115 staff
8 long-term missions
1 individual fellowship awarded
4 co-publications
• Initial bi-regional dialogue platform
for the Europe-Pacific international
cooperation network for sciences and
technology (PACE-Net) in Brisbane
New Caledonia and Vanuatu
• “Mines et gouvernance dans le
Pacifique” conference in New Caledonia
• Delivery of the Santo 2006 mission in
Vanuatu
• Launch of the New Caledonia and
Vanuatu seismological monitoring
network
• ERA-Net NetBIOME programme for
the preservation and management
of European biodiversity in Overseas
departments and territories
Latin America and the Caribbean
8 representations
200 staff
42 individual fellowships awarded
35 long-term missions
8 emerging Southern teams supported
216 co-publications
Latin America
• Conference on Hydrology and geodynamics in South-American river
catchment areas in Lima, Peru
• Conference on Amazonian Ichthyofauna
• Regional extension to the J.Y. Cousteau Observatory for Mexican seas
and coastlines
• Agreements signed in Mexico
• Conclusion of the AFRODESC-EURESCL programme in Mexico
• Launch in Mexico of the SANTALE programme, aiming to build
knowledge of natural substances
• Creation of the GREATICE LMI on Andean glaciers, and the EDIA LMI on
Amazonian Ichthyofauna
• International workshop focused on Lake Titicaca in Huatajata, Bolivia
• Conference on human genetics in La Paz, Bolivia
• Official launch of the ANR CESA programme on Chagas disease
• ECOCLIMASOL, an organisation created by an IRD researcher, wins the
First prize in competition in the KICKSTART Latin America competition
for technological innovation
• Agreements signed in the field of seismology in Ecuador and Colombia
• Conference on Amazonian archaeology in Ecuador
• Conference on parasites in developing countries, in Ecuador
Guiana
• Signature of an agreement to create a major Amazonian cooperation
area between Brazil and France
Martinique
• Ministerial visit to the Agro-environmental research centre
3 representations
61 staff
33 long-term missions
18 individual fellowships awarded
8 emerging Southern teams supported
69 co-publications
• Partnership agreements signed in
Tunisia, Algeria and Syria
• Symposium on Economic and
democratic transition in Tunisia with the
Association of Tunisian Economists
• International MISTRALS symposium on
the future of the Mediterranean basin,
Malta
• Seminar: “Appropriation des ressources
naturelles et patrimoniales, compétitions
et droits d’accès en méditerranée”,
Beirut, Lebanon
• Expert panel review commissioned by
the Egyptian Court of Appeal
• Launch of the second AIRD/Science
and Technology Development Fund for
projects Egypt
• Creation of the MediTer LMI on
Mediterranean lands and TREMA LMI
for remote sensing of water resources in
Morocco
Annual report 2011
West and Central Africa
6 representations
308 staff
37 long-term missions
67 individual fellowships awarded
15 emerging Southern teams supported
282 co-publications
• Partnerships to combat desertification, particularly with the pan-african
Agency for the Great Green Wall
• Agreements signed in Mali as part of the “Mobilités ouest-africaines” research
project, with the Institut national de la statistique, with Cirad as part of the
“Gestion durable de la biodiversité agricole au Mali” project, and with the
faculty of science and technology at Bamako University
• Convention signed with the Institut de recherche agronomique, Guinea
• Inauguration of the African Institute for mathematical sciences, Mbour,
Senegal
• International conference on sustainable development of arid zones in
Niamey, Niger
• Steering committee for SEAS-Gabonn
• Conclusion of RESSAC project on water resources in the Sahel
• Official IRD mission to Conakry, to investigate the possibility of
relaunching cooperation in Guinea
• Numerous workshops in Senegal on social science methodology,
concerning the restoration, conservation and promotion of plant
biodiversity in Africa, on mycorrhizae and inoculation technologies. As part
of the RIPIECSA programme, a workshop on writing scientific articles
• CORUS and AIRES-Sud workshops on plant protection in Ouagadougou,
Burkina Faso
• Final workshop in the RIPIECSA programme, Cotonou, Benin
• Creation of the international Masters in tropical biotechnology, Burkina Faso
• Presentation for the publication of “Les femmes à l’épreuve du VIH dans les
pays du Sud” book, Senegal and Burkina Faso
• Sixth African Conference on Population, organised by the Union for African
Population Studies, Burkina Faso
• Renewal of cooperation with Côte d’Ivoire after the post-electoral crisis
• “Solidarité pour l’eau dans les pays du bassin du Niger” forum in Mali
• Creation of LMI and LLIP on malaria in Benin, and LAMIVECT for vectorborne illnesses in Burkina Faso.
Asia
East Africa, Southern Africa
and the Indian Ocean
4 representations
42 staff
16 long-term missions
14 individual fellowships awarded
7 emerging Southern teams supported
81 co-publications
Africa
• Launch of shared IRD/CNRS representation in South Africa
• Launch of ERAFRICA network in South Africa
Madagascar
• Conference on mycorrhizal symbioses in Madagascar
• CORUS and AIRES-Sud conference on agronomy and
ecosystems in Madagascar
• Delivery workshops for the QUALISANN and Sud Expert
Plantes projects in Madagascar
• Regional workshop on gemstones in Madagascar
• Book presentation “Parcours de recherche à Madagascar
- L’IRD-ORSTOM et ses partenaires”
Réunion
• Launch of the SEAS-OI platform in Réunion
4 representations
73 staff
20 long-term missions
16 individual fellowships awarded
6 emerging Southern teams supported
116 co-publications
• Agreements signed in Thailand, Vietnam
and Laos
• Creation of the RICE LMI on the
functional genomics of rice in Vietnam,
and preparatory meeting of the LUSES
LMI in Thailand
• ACGRID-III seminar in Vietnam on
emerging information technologies
• Regional SEDID conference on the
socio-ecological dimensions of infectious
diseases in Thailand
• International conference on inactivity in
the Mekong region
• Awards for work towards education in
Vietnam. Myriam de Loenzin
(UMR LEPED) and Patrick Gubry
(UMR Développement et sociétés)
• Workshops for the SELTAR Regional Pilot
Project - Soils, Waters, Coastal Zones
and Societies facing Risks in Southern
and Southeast Asia
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