Le journal de l'IRD
n° 53 January-February-March 2010
Translator: Nicholas Flay
Abstracts for the international issue
Panoramic viewpoint on the tropical forest
Domestic tourism in Thailand
F
T
p. 3 News
Migrating birds not guilty
T
he epidemic outbreaks of low-pathogenic avian influenza are not correlated with the arrival of migratory birds from
countries of the South. That was recently
demonstrated by IRD researchers and their
colleagues from the Tour du Valat Research
Centre (Arles), the CNRS, Institut Pasteur
and the École des Hautes Études en Santé
Publique. It is a statistical-mathematical
model taking into account the dynamics of
the viruses and host populations (different
species of birds) which revealed this
absence of synchronization. That showed
the innocence of birds coming from countries of the South, which had been accused
of contaminating the North.
p. 12 Worlds
The olive oil industry
O
p. 4 Partners
Water + Sugar = Latex
Two publications by a joint University of Mahidol (Thailand) – IRD
research team shed light on the complex mechanisms brought into
play in the synthesis of natural rubber.
An international consortium is giving financial backing to these scientific investigations, for which the Michelin group is one of the
most vigorous advocates.
ver 300 delegates active in olive oil production
and marketing, from both sides of the Mediterranean, met to discuss the region’s industry. They covered topics on the olive-based heritage, growing
practices, water management and sustainable development of olive cultivation, the manufacture of olive
oil, the valorization of olive-derived products and
market prospects for the oil. The Institut de l’Olivier
(Tunisia) was the driving organizer behind this third conference, together with a dozen
Tunisian institutions and international organizations such as the European Commission, the
Centre International des Hautes Études Agronomiques of Montpellier and the IRD.
p. 13 World
Excerpt from an interview with Isabelle Guérin.
p. 5
Indian Ocean
– The regional aims of RUN Sea Science
Europe is counting on research to further
protection of the marine environment in
the Indian Ocean. In this perspective, the
European Union has since 2009 been
financing the RUN Sea Science project, led
by the IRD. The project is centred on an area
around Réunion Island, a region at the far
periphery of the EU. This regional-scale
cooperation scheme aims to support
research programmes and develop the scientific and technical capabilities of publicand private-sector players. There are considerable issues at stake: the marine
resources of this region of the world, which
extends from the Eastern edge of Africa to
the whole of the Indian Ocean, are some of
the richest? and most strongly coveted? by
fishing interests and other users of the sea.
The islands and their coasts are globally significant biodiversity hot spots, owing
hai tourists are touring their own country in ever
increasing numbers. As they travel, they appropriate
their national identity. This tendency is strongly encouraged, or even organized by the State. In a recent publication, ethnologist Olivier Evrard traces back the development of this particular tourist culture and the stages in
its mobilization to further the nation’s unity. As he says,
“The very idea of domestic tourism, the taste for discovering the country’s interior, its
inhabitants and their customs, was not a spontaneous one. In fact it was kindled in the
Thai aristocracy by a travelling sovereign, King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) at the end of
the XIXth Century.”
© Marion Chesnes
or several decades, the forest has been at
the centre of international debate on the
environment. Concepts about them change. In
the past they were considered as the “lungs of
the Earth”, then as a reservoir of biodiversity,
and currently they are central to climate-related
negotiations. But what exactly is a forest? There
is no straightforward answer, but a multitude of
points of view: an ecosystem dominated by trees
for some, the product of relations between societies and nature for others, a reserve of
timber for international trade or the very basis of ways of life of local populations. Yet
the choice of definition is essential, the foundation on which are built the political, economic and social relationships which determine what happens to the world’s forest
areas. The paradigm on which to lay a framework for the relationships, in particular in
the countries of the South, is that of a forest largely instituted and administered by the
public powers. This heritage-based representation of the forest, placed under the
supervision of public authorities, is found throughout history: in the name of protection of resources in wood, water or fauna, more recently biodiversity and now climate.
Along with this came a weakening of the domestic heritage of local populations, crop
farmers or pastoralists, whereas today global-scale forest heritages are emerging. Tropical forest or sites such as the Arganeraie in Morocco, an area with argan-trees, become
“world heritage” biosphere sites. However, the
areas they cover are receding and they are slipping away from the populations who use them
and carry out their day-to-day management. The
question of conflicts around the proprietorship
of the world’s forests is a major issue for the
human and social sciences. With the mounting
concern for the climate, it is more fundamental
than ever to know what is meant by “forest”.
“In the countries of the South …..the resort to borrowing
seems to have soared”
Sciences au Sud: Is there an excess debt crisis threatening the countries of the
South?
notably to their coral reef ecosystems, and
they are refuges for many threatened
species,.
– The Scattered Islands, between sky
and sea
The Isles Eparses, or Scattered Islands , are
nature reserves, set far in the open ocean,
remote from human habitation. Three
researchers, specialists in fisheries, birds
and coral reef fish, are exploring the flourishing living communities and seeking clues
for a better understanding of the ecosystem.
Isabelle Guérin: “Given the importance of the informal finance sector, you cannot really say categorically, because of a lack of indicators. But to be exact, the
coexistence of recently introduced contractual practices ?such as bank loans and microfinance? and the
many traditional forms of loan available, are multiplying the possible modes of repayment. When a debtor
in the North can only turn to established financial
organizations, his counterpart of the South mixes the
sources of loans.
In spite of an extremely high debt level, the multitude
of informal finance offers, and the infinite number of
means of repayment that it permits, can help avoid
the bursting of debt bubbles. For all that, this very high, chronic financial commitment
is hardly compatible with sustainable paths towards accumulation and reduction of
inequality. Debt naturally has a cost and in general the poorer people are the higher
that is.”
© IRD/ I. Guérin
Schéma de Lian Pin Koh
adapté par L. Corsini
p. 3 News
© IRD/ J.-P. Montoroi
T
he surge in demand for biofuels is
intensifying pressure on tropical
forests. As IRD researcher Patrice Levang
puts the problem, “This increasing pressure is threatening some of the Earth’s
most biodiversity rich forest ecosystems.
How can we limit the harm caused by
unbridled extension of large monospecific plantations? How can the biodiversity
within landscapes be preserved without
jeopardizing in any way the economic viability of plantations?”. Patrice Levang
with his colleagues from the Institute of
Terrestrial Ecosystems in Zurich (Switzerland) and the Centre for International
Forestry Research (Indonesia), he proposes a solution called “multi-use landscapes”. The research team has devised
this concept by blending two types of
spatial management.
The first strategy aims to separate zones
of intensive cultivation from nature
reserve areas. The second brings these
two functions together in the same space
in an approach similar to the agroforest
model.
The Ebola virus may not be as dangerous as we thought.” This is the observation
of Eric Leroy, director of research at the IRD and head of the Emerging Viral Diseases
Unit of the CIRMF in Gabon. This is so “especially in the case of transmission from animals to humans”. Since the first case, recorded in 1976, Ebola fever has occasionally
struck humans and great apes in central Africa. For all that, a large portion of the
Gabonese population could have become immunized to contact with the virus, without suffering any consequences. A wider ranging serological survey conducted all over
Gabon revealed that 15.3% of the country’s inhabitants carried antibodies against
infection. As Eric Leroy deduced, “These
people must have developed a form of
the disease that was either moderate,
which could be taken to be a benign
infection or an attack of malaria, even
without symptoms”. Only specific conditions, such as very high viral loads, in fact
lead to deadly epidemics.
p. 8-9 Research
© IRD/J. Borde
Landscape concept
for sustainable biofuels
© IRD/G .Michon
p. 2 News
“
© Hani Amir
n the aftermath of Haiti’s disastrous earthquake of 12 January,
the research system needs to be
reconstructed and emergency
post-seismic observations are necessary. The IRD is deploying its skills
and mobilizing its partners in the
country. The Institute is to coordinate the response of French
research organizations to the call
from Haitian academic authorities, in the framework of the AIRD
and at the request of the French
Ministry of Higher Education and
Research. In the shorter term, the
IRD teams have already embarked
on the emergency actions required to analyse the recent seismic events.
French geophysicists (from the IRD,
CNRS/Insu), specialists in earthquakes and their impacts, have
also set up operations in Chile, hit
on 27 February 2010 by a strong
earthquake, among the five most
severe ever recorded in human
history.
© IRD/M. Lardy
I
Ebola: less fatal than thought
© IRD/O. Evrard
The South-West Pacific is the stage for a
poorly synchronized ballet between tectonic plates – the Pacific and the Australian –
which meet in mid ocean. On the East side,
the Pacific plate slips under the Australian
one. On the North and West sides, the
© T.Galewski
When earth and sea go wild
Mobilization for Haiti
and Chile
© MAEE/ F. De la Mure
p. 1 News
p. 2 News
opposite occurs. The result of this unusual
case of reverse-polarity subduction is a
highly complex tectonic configuration,
composed of faults, active oceanic ridges
and microplates which variously collide,
approach one another, sliding towards
each other or moving apart along the
ocean trenches. These are highly dynamic
movements, with the Earth’s highest ever
recorded rates of convergence and divergence ever recorded on (around 10cm/year
convergence on average between the two
large plates and up to 25cm/year along the
North Tonga Trench for example). This
interaction between the two plates, as if at
poorly lubricated joints, triggers frequent
earthquakes. In 30 years more than 9,000
with magnitude greater than 5 on the
Richter scale have occurred. This represents
20% of all the world’s seismic activity.
© IRD/ P. Becquart
p. 1 News
Consult the articles in full on the IRD Internet site: http://www.ird.fr
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