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Call for Action: Seeding the Future[Go back to About Vancouver and
Beijing...]
Greetings Falls Brook Centre, Canada and the Environment Liaison Centre International, Kenya are coordinating this CALL FOR ACTION: SEEDING THE FUTURE as part of the activities and actions leading up to the Women's Summit in Beijing in l995. The challenge will be to involve as many women as possible all over the world. It will be possible to work within urban as well as rural environments. Seeds can be grown in flowerpots or fields. Small plots of land, large hectares of hillsides or an overtrampled curbside can be restored. We would like you to send us your stories, photos, and locations of activity. We shall inventory all the places in the world where restoration or rebuilding is going on. We shall need as detailed a location guide as possible. For the seed inventory, please send local seed names, in local languages; their Latin names if possible. We want to connect with all groups who are saving/trading seeds. This CALL FOR ACTION addresses issues of Biodiversity, traditional food crops, food security, sustainable agriculture, and ecological restoration. Anyone can do it anywhere. Participating organizations and community groups will become involved because they want to. Many of us are already involved in these activities to some extent, and it will promote the rebuilding at the local level. Please let us know how you can participate in this campaign and whether you can take some sort of focal point responsibility for your locale/region? Best regards,
Jeane Arnold
CALL FOR ACTION: SEEDING THE FUTUREIn response to the "CALL FOR ACTION" leading to the Fourth World Conference on Women - Beijing l995, coming out of the Women and Sustainable Development Conference in Vancouver, May l994, we commit to the following actions: ACTION ONE Preamble: There is a need to increase understanding of and support for women's roles in achieving agricultural sustainability, food security and rural development and to rescue the remaining viable seed of the world's food supply. The need for diversity is never ending, therefore our efforts to preserve this diversity can never cease. Action: All participating organizations and individuals commit to search out and protect three native seed species (food) and to trade seeds with at least one other organization in their local area. Culminating with a huge seed COLLAGE in Beijing (either pictures of seeds or seeds themselves, made into a collage of the world's seeds). ACTION TWO Preamble: While devoting some time to policy-level discussions, we can also take individual/organizational responsibility for the natural world around us. Restoration and sustainable use of degraded ecosystems combined with protection of remaining natural areas should be seen as important aspects of sustainable development initiatives. Action: All participating organizations and individuals commit to rebuilding degraded ecological spaces, at least once per month to September l995 (and, of course beyond). These spaces can be large or small depending on the capacities of those involved. Culminating in a major ecological restoration project in Beijing or surrounding area near the Summit (this in full consultation with our sister colleagues in China). All participating organizations and individuals should inventory their seeds and map their restored spaces to enable a total global inventory by the Beijing Conference. Please indicate whether your organization is interested in this global campaign and what you are prepared to do. Please respond to: Jean Arnold
The Environmental Liaison Centre International [Go back to About Vancouver and
Beijing...]
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