The big event of the next month is the Sixth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CoP6) - where, amongst a myriad other things, the Global Taxonomy Initiative (GTI) Programme of Work (PoW) is up for approval by Parties. We urge you to approach your national CoP6 delegation with the strong recommendation that your country (1) supports and approves the draft PoW recommended by SBSTTA6; (2) requests sufficient funding for implementation of the PoW from the CBD's financial mechanism; and (3) seeks support for the position of the GTI Programme Officer from within the CBD Secretariat core budget. African countries in particular are encouraged to examine and support the recommendations made by the 23 African countries represented at the Africa Regional GTI meeting, 2001 (the Kirstenbosch declaration). If you would like further information or would like to find out where you can get a copy of the Kirstenbosch Declaration, please contact TecSec.

Less than four months to go to the 3rd Global Taxonomy Workshop (3GTW) - if you have not yet registered we would encourage you to do so as soon as possible, as places are filling up fast!
All best wishes
Nick

New Developments

AWARDS FOR DOCTORAL RESEARCH AND DISSERTATION TENABLE IN AFRICAN UNIVERSITIES
A Call for Ph.D. Research and Dissertation Proposals. Application MSc Advanced Methods in Taxonomy and Biodiversity: Natural History Museum UK. One year interdisciplinary course. Contact: Ms Amoret Brandt, Tel: +44 (0) 20 7942 5036, Fax: +44 (0) 20 7942 5229, email: a.brandt@nhm.ac.uk Course information: www.nhm.ac.uk/science/

Biodiversity Conservation - MSc and Postgraduate Diploma Programmes by Distance Learning, Imperial College. Contact: Paul Smith Email: epadmin@ic.ac.uk, web: www.wye.ac.uk/EP

The BSPP has set up a fund to help members, including from developing countries, who wish to travel to the International Congress of Plant Pathology (ICPP) in Christchurch, New Zealand in February 2003. See the BSPP website (www.bspp.org.uk).

ANNOUNCEMENT OF START/PACOM GLOBAL CHANGE FELLOWSHIP Deadline 30 April 2002. Contact: Amy Freise Fax: 202-457-5859, Email: afreise@agu.org or Prof. Eric O Odada Fax: 254-2-449539
Email: pass@uonbi.ac.ke or eodada@uonbi.ac.ke

Call for Workshop Participant's Nominations: Intellectual Property Management Training Program
Strategic World Initiative for Technology Transfer (swiftt) are seeking nominations from Africa with current or future responsibilities in IP management in agriculture, biotechnology, technology transfer and breeding, for a training program in IP management. Contact: Dr Anatole F Krattiger Tel: +1-607-254 6100, Fax:+1-212-208 6822, Email: afk3@cornell.edu Web: http://www.swiftt.cornell.edu/

Calendar of Events

March 2002
National Level Preparatory Workshops for CBD CoP 6: Vietnam, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Contact: IUCN Regional Biodiversity Programme, 53, Horton Place, Colombo 7, Sri Lanka. Tel: 00-94-74-710 439, Fax: 00-94-1-682 470, Email: iucn-rbp@sltnet.lk Web: http://www.rbp-iucn.lk/

18-21 March 2002
Regional meetings to share experiences in the implementation of the CBD and prepare for CoP6 (8-26 April 2002). Africa (Nairobi), Asia and the Pacific (Bangkok) and Latin America and the Caribbean (Jamaica). Contact: secretariat@biodiv.org; See "Latest Notifications" on www.biodiv.org/

18-22 March 2002
V Congreso Argentino de Entomologia 2002 in Buenos Aires. Contact: vcae@bg.fcen.uba.ar and http://biolo.bg.fcen.uba.ar/vcae.htm

20th March 2002
Earth Day 2002: http://www.earthsite.org/

25-29 March 2002
Short-course on diagnosis and management of thrips. Plant Health Research Institute (INISAV), Havana City, Cuba. Contact: Luis L. Vázquez: Tel: (537) 226788, 296189, Fax: (537) 240535. Email: lvazquez@inisav.cu

26-28 March 2002
SAFRINET / EAFRINET / WAFRINET / NAFRINET: African Renai-'Science' - a shared vision for life & environmental sciences in Africa. An exploratory conference and workshop to discuss selected scientific topics and African participation in IUBS & SCOPE global programmes. Contact: Prof. Snowy Baijnath, Department of Botany; School of Life & Environmental Science; University of Durban-Westville; Private Bag X54001; Durban 4000, South Africa. Tel: +27 031 2044464; Fax: +27 031 2044364; E-mail: snowy@pixie.udw.ac.za

8-26 April, 2002
CoP 6 of the Convention on Biological Diversity, The Hague, The Netherlands. http://www.biodiv.org

10-11 April 2002
Regional Symposium on Environment and Natural Resources, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Jointly organised by Faculty of Science and Technology (FST) UKM and Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI) UKM. Contacts: Prof. Dr. Mohamad Osman mbopar@pkrisc.cc.ukm.my ; Ms. Rohazaini Hassan pp1fst@pkrisc.cc.ukm.my ; Ms. Muzzneena Ahmad Mustapha muzz@pkrisc.cc.ukm.my

6 - 10 May 2002
High Mountain Summit Conference for Africa. Participants and speakers from Central, West and North Africa sought. Contact: Dr Monika G Wehrle, UNEP, Tel: (254 2) 624279, Fax: (254 2) 623928, E-mail: Monika.Wehrle@unep.org

13-17 May 2002
Short Term Training in Research Management of Herbarium & Arboreta, Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, India. Contact: Dr. Sas. Biswas, Tel: 0091-135-750648, 757021-28, Fax: 0091-135-756865, 751826, E-mail: biswassas@icfre.org or biswassas1@rediffmail.com Web: http://www.icfre.org

22 May 2002
World Biodiversity Day; http://www.biodiv.org

22-26 May 2002
Plant Diseases Biocontrol Meeting, Kusadasi, Turkey. Contact: Dr Yigal Elad, Telephone: 972 3 968 3580, Fax: 972 3 968 3688; email: Yigal Elad elady@netvision.net.il

26 May - 2 June 2002
Field trip to Domitila Field Station near Granada, remnants of the Pacific dry forest of Nicaragua. Contact: Jean-Michel Maes, Museo Entomológico, Nicaragua, Tel: 505 311 6586/779 4363, email: jmmaes@ibw.com.ni

JUNE 2002
EAFRINET: An International Symposium "The role of research in nation building" Asmara, Eritrea. Contact: - Azieb Ogbaghebriel Email: Abdulkadir M. Dawod: dawod@caas.uoa.edu.er

2-9 June 2002
Field trip to Rainforest - Bartola Field Station on Rio San Juan at the border of Costa Rica. Contact: Jean-Michel Maes, Museo Entomológico, Nicaragua, Tel: 505 311 6586/779 4363, email: jmmaes@ibw.com.ni

9-16 June 2002
Field trip to Coastal Rainforest at Greenfields Field Station. Contact: Jean-Michel Maes, Museo Entomológico, Nicaragua, Tel: 505 311 6586/779 4363, email: jmmaes@ibw.com.ni

24-28 June 2002
First Latin-American Short-Course on Biological Control of Weeds, Montelimar, Nicaragua. Organised by: University of Florida & Universidad Nacional Agraria de Nicaragua. Contact: J. Medal. University of Florida. E-mail: medal@gnv.ifas.ufl.edu Fax: (352) 392-0190

24 - 28 June 2002
Workshop on Integrated Pest Management in sustainable agriculture. Curso-taller manejo integrado de plagas en la agricultura sostenible. Organised by the Instituto de Investigaciones de Sanidad Vegetal (INISAV), Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba. Contact: Luis L. Vazquez. E-mail: lvazquez@inisav.cu Fax: (537)2029366

8-12 July 2002
The Third BioNET-INTERNATIONAL Global Taxonomy Workshop (3GTW), Pretoria, South Africa. Contact: Kruger & Associates, Tel 028 316-2905, Fax 028 316-4658, Email: kruger@krugerassociates.com. For further information: www.bionet-intl.org. Theme: 'Towards Sustainable Development: Partnerships for demand-driven taxonomic capacity building'.

17 -19 July 2002
The XXIX Congress of the Colombian Society of Entomology, Monteria, (Córdoba), Colombia. Contact: Eduardo Florez eflorez@ciencias.unal.edu.co

22 - 26 July 2002
5th International Conference of Hymenopterists (ICH), Beijing, China. Timed to complement the IUSSI Congress, Sapporo, Japan, July 28-Aug 3, 2002. Contact: Dr. Chaodong Zhu sea@panda.ioz.ac.cn. Web: http://www.ioz.ac.cn/zcd

26 August - 4 September 2002
World Summit on Sustainable Development (Rio + 10).http://www.johannesburgsummit.org; www.earthsummit2002.org

8 - 13 September 2002
The Second International Conference on Sustainable Agriculture for Food, Energy and Industry (ISACFEI). Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. Contact: Dr. Fan Zengxing Tel and Fax: + 86-10-82593128 Email: ISAConfe@hotmail.com / lidj@ns.ibcas.ac.cn Web: http://www.ISAConfe.org

29 September - 4 October 2002
5th International Congress of Dipterology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. Contact: Sally Brown. Tel: +61 7 3201 2808, Fax +61 7 3201 2809, Email sally.brown@uq.net.au Web: http://www.uq.net.au/conferenceconnections/

18 - 22 October 2002
TDWG (Taxonomic Database Working Group) Annual Meeting, Campinas, Brasil. Contact: Stan Blum: sblum@CALACADEMY.ORG

21 - 25 October 2002.
Short-course on Entomological Diagnosis for IPM. Plant Health Research Institute (INISAV), Havana City, Cuba. Contact: Luis L. Vázquez: Tel: (537) 226788, 296189, Fax: (537) 240535. Email: lvazquez@inisav.cu

13 - 15 November 2002
International Symposium: Plant Species-Level Systematics: Patterns, Processes And New Applications, Leiden, The Netherlands. Organized by National Herbarium of the Netherlands, International Association of Plant Taxonomists, and The Linnean Society of London. http://www.nationaalherbarium.nl/symposium2002/home.htm

Publications

Volume III "Mexican Arthropod biodiversity, taxonomy and biogeography a synthesis of our understanding" edited by the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, sponsored by CONABIO (Jorge Llorente and J.J. Morrone) has been published. To date, there are more than 50,000 arthropod species listed for Mexico. Each chapter focuses on different taxa or thematic areas of biodiversity in Mexico, each volume has38 chapters, 690 pages. Contact: Jorge Llorente, Email: jlb@hp.fciencias.unam.mx Juan José Morrone, Email: jjm@hp.fciencias.unam.mx

Cassava - Biology, Production and Utilization Ed/Authors: R.J. Hillocks, J.M. Thresh and A.C. Bellotti. Price:￡75.00 (US$140) Hbk. ISBN:0 85199 524 1 published by CABI Publishing. Email: orders@cabi.org

World Ant Database
The first complete database of the world's 11,000 known ant species. Contact: http://enn.com/news/wire stories/2002/03/03082002/reu_46593.asp

LOOPS

ESTABLISHED LOOPS
CARINET http://carinet.ecoport.org
Contact Details for NECI: Dr Ron Barrow, carinet@trinidad.net

SAFRINET http://safrinet.ecoport.org
Contact Details for NECI: Dr Connal Eardley: vrehcde@plant5.agric.za
The African networks of BioNET-INTERNATIONAL are supporting the Convention on Biological Diversity's International Pollinator Initiative (IPI) through the African Pollinators Initiative (API), an African network for the IPI. Coordinated from SAFRINET, we are using BioNET-INTERNATIONAL'S network structure in sub-Saharan Africa to implement the API. We have three sub-regions, EAFRINET (co-ordinated by Wanja Kinuthia eafrinet@africaonline.co.ke), WAFRINET (co-ordinated by Peter Kwapong pkwapong@yahoo.com) and SAFRINET (co-ordinated by Connal Eardley vrehcde@plant5.agric.za). API held its first workshop during 18-22 February 2002 in Nairobi, Kenya. It was a great success and the result will form the basis for an API action plan. API is an inclusive network and all persons interested in pollinators and/or pollination in Africa are welcome to join.

We have not yet managed to involve any North Africans and would like persons interested in pollinators and/or pollination from North Africa, that would like to be part of API, to make themselves known. Further, we look forward to the establishment of a North African API network at the forthcoming NAFRINET Formulation Workshop.

PACINET
Contact TecSec: Bionet@bionet.intl.org

EAFRINET http://eafrinet.ecoport.org
Contact Details for NECI: Dr Wanja Kinuthia: eafrinet@africaonline.co.ke
BOZONET (Botanical and Zoological Taxonomic Network) and EAFRINET have teamed up to take forward the 10 year GEF-supported BOZONET project through the Project Development "B" phase. Contact the PDFB Coordinator Stella Simiyu: simiyu@insightkenya.com

An Ethiopian Task Force, led by the EAFRINET-Ethiopia Coordinator Dr Fassil Kebebew (fassilkeb@hotmail.com), is developing both strategy and project documents for capacity building of small-bodied organisms in Ethiopia; the Nematology component has been developed with Tesfamariam Mekete, Plant Protection Research Center, Ambo (mekete@hotmail.com / www.geocities.com/tesfish_2000) .

WAFRINET
Contact Details for NECI: Dr Braima James: b.james@cgiar.org

ASEANET http://202.190.32.5/aseanet/
Contact Details for NECI: Dr Jusoh Mamat: jusoh@mardi.my; Dr Soetikno Sastroutomo: soetikno@searc.exch.cabi.org
ASEANET-UMS MSc Programme in Taxonomy and Biodiversity
University Malaysia Sabah (UMS), is to set up a MSc programme in Taxonomy and Biodiversity with funding to support candidates from member countries. Nominations by 30th March 2002. Contact: Course administrator 088 320104, ext. 2398, fax 088 320291, Email: pejtbcu@ums.edu.my, Web: http://www.ums.edu.my/ibtb
Training Course on Diversity and Biology of Ants in Tropical Rainforest to be organised at UPM from 23rd September to 5th October 2002.

EuroLOOP
Contact Details for NECI: Dr S. Ulenberg ulenberg@science.uva.nl

LOOPS UNDER DEVELOPMENT

ANDINONET
Contact Details for interim NECI: Dr José Clavijo: clamiche@telcel.net.ve

EASIANET
Contact Details for NECI: Dr Da-Wei Huang, Director, Zoology Institute, CAS: huangdw@panda.ioz.ac.cn

SACNET
Contact TecSec: bionet@bionet-intl.org

NEURASIANET
Contact Details for interim NECI: Dr Valery Neronov: mab.ru@relcom.ru

NAFRINET
Contact Details for interim NECI: Prof Mohammed Rejdali: m_rejdali@hotmail.com; m.rejdali@iav.ac.ma

NAmeriLOOP
Contact details for interim NECI: Dr Bobbie Faul-Zeitler: faulzeitler@nscalliance.org

MesoAmeriNET
Interim contact: Alvaro Herrera: alherrer@inbio.ac.cr

FORUM

APRIL 2002 BULLETIN

Information to include in next month's Bulletin by Friday 12 APRIL please. Contributions to: BioNET-INTERNATIONAL, Bakeham Lane, Egham, Surrey, TW20 9TY, UK; Fax: +44 1491 829082/100
E-mail: bionet@bionet-intl.org

Last Word

All suggestions as to how we can improve our website, to: bionet@bionet-intl.org. Also, all feedback on this Bulletin, on its format, its content, its distribution, its timing, etc is most welcome. Is it useful, do you still want to receive it, are there others who might like to see a copy? We will gladly add new names to the mailing list if you supply them. Finally, please keep your contributions coming - but please keep them short! TecSec may choose to use longer articles in the quarterly BioNET-INTERNATIONAL Newsletter. Guidelines for contributors to the Bulletin and BioNET- INTERNATIONAL NEWS are available from TecSec.

This Bulletin is available in English, Spanish and French. Contact: TecSec web: www.bionet-intl.org/html/whatsnew/updates/bulletin.htm