Land degradation and desertification important focal points for ACIAR research

Today is World Day to Combat Desertification, a unique occasion to remind everybody that desertification can be effectively tackled, that solutions are possible, and that key tools to this aim lay in strengthened community participation and co-operation at all levels.

Desertification is the process of making or becoming a desert – a dry barren often sand-covered area of land, characteristically desolate, waterless and without vegetation. Desertification can also refer to the spread of existing deserts where large areas of once fertile and productive land are degraded to the point of ceasing farming. Increasing human pressures on the land can lead to desertification through such activities as over-cultivation, overgrazing, deforestation, and poor water management.

Australian support for agroforestry development in Viet Nam

The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research is working with ICRAF to test new agroforestry systems in Northwest Viet Nam, explains Nguyen Thi Thanh An.

The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) has a mission to bring Australian scientists to Viet Nam and engage in collaborative research to help smallholder farmers.

‘We focus on the Northwest, South-central Coast and part of the Mekong Delta’, said Ms Nguyen Thi Thanh An, ACIAR’s Country Manager for Viet Nam.


Vietnam. Source: Google Maps

Aussie on Board: our work with International Agricultural Research Centres

Professor Lindsay Falvey, ILRI Board of Trustees

Congratulations to Prof Lindsay Falvey FTSE for his appointment this year on the Board of Trustees of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI).

The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) encourages Australian scientists to use their skills for the benefit of partner countries while at the same time contributing to solutions for Australia’s own agricultural problems. Having Australian researchers participating in positions such as this goes a long way in helping to reach these goals.

Forestry research leader visits Australia

Gorothy Gibson,
Landscape and Biodiversity officer,
examines a teak plantation in PNG
(photo by Paul Jones)

ACIAR representatives are greeting the Director General of the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Dr Peter Holmgren, as he arrives in Australia’s capital this Sunday evening.

ACIAR’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr Nick Austin, and Forestry Program Manager, Mr Tony Bartlett, will be accompanying the delegation.

Dr Holmgren is in Canberra to open the Institute of Foresters of Australia’s national conference and is using the visit as an opportunity to meet colleagues in research and development agencies, policy makers and industry representatives.