For further information
IRD website
France Diplomatie website
Institut Français website
CIRAD website
International Year of Forests: an exhibition on "Tropical Rainforests, the Future of the Earth", at the Palais de la Découverte
23/06/2011 - Press release
The Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD) and the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD) are organizing an exhibition from 28 June to 25 September 2011, on "Forêts tropicales humides, avenir de la planète" (Tropical Rainforests, the Future of the Earth), at the Palais de la Découverte in Paris. The exhibition is supported by the Institut français and the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (MAEE) as part of the International Year of Forests, and will be introducing the general public to the essential role played by tropical rainforests in Latin America, Africa and Asia.
Tropical rainforests, a threatened biodiversity hotspot
Tropical rainforests, a biodiversity hotspot with a wealth of resources, account for almost a third of the total forest worldwide and support hundreds of millions of people. However, they do not only provide wood, fruit, game and abundant land for crop and animal production... they also provide less visible services that are nevertheless essential to man's wellbeing, particularly through their effects on the climate, water cycle and soils. It is precisely because of the riches they offer that tropical rainforests are now under threat. Might it be possible to come up with sustainable management methods that reconcile logging and preservation of tropical rainforests? This question lies at the heart of the exhibition, which will transport visitors to the vast forests of central Africa, the Amazon and Southeast Asia.
Exhibition at the Palais de la Découverte from 28 June to 25 September 2011
The "Forêts tropicales humides, avenir de la planète" exhibition will be open to the public at the Palais de la Découverte from 28 June to 25 September 2011. It will provide an opportunity of discovering insects, plants and seeds from tropical forests, along with objects used by people living in these forests to hunt and gather food. Display panels and audiovisual documentaries will allow visitors to gain a better understanding of the environmental, economic and social issues associated with these ecosystems, which are essential to our planet.
An international tour
With the support of the Institut français and the MAEE, the exhibition will then be shown overseas. Presentations are already planned in Cameroon, the Central African Republic, China, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Senegal, Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Cuba, Malaysia and Brazil. Furthermore, the exhibition was previewed at the Summit of Heads of State and Government on the Three Rainforest Basins of the World in Brazzaville from 29 May to 3 June 2011.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
The IRD
The IRD is a French scientific and technological research organization that works internationally from its head office in Marseilles and two other centres in metropolitan France, in Montpellier and Bondy. Its research, training and innovation in partnership operations cover more than fifty countries in Africa, the Mediterranean, Asia, Latin America and the French overseas regions. Its projects, which are conducted jointly, centre on issues of vital importance for the South: tropical diseases and diseases of civilization, relations between health and environment, climate change, water resources, food security, tropical and Mediterranean ecosystems, natural risks, poverty, vulnerability and social inequality, migrations, the changing job market, etc.
The Agence inter-établissements de recherche pour le développement (AIRD), which is now part of the IRD, is a force for scientific mobilization that aims to federate French research organizations and universities to work with the South.
www.ird.fr,
www.aird.fr
CIRAD
CIRAD is a French research centre working with developing countries to tackle international agricultural and development issues. With those countries, it works to generate new knowledge, support agricultural development, and contribute to the debate on the main global agricultural issues. CIRAD's research centres on six shared priority lines of research implemented through numerous research platforms worldwide, including seven in the French overseas regions. It has a global network of partners and twelve regional offices, from which it conducts joint operations with more than 90 countries. CIRAD has a staff of 1800, including 800 researchers. It has an annual budget of 214 million euros, with two thirds provided by the French government.
The Palais de la Découverte
"Living science in the heart of Paris". The Palais de la Découverte, which opened in 1937 during the international exhibition "Arts et techniques dans la vie moderne" in the West wing of the Grand Palais, is a cultural and scientific centre intended to show its visitors "science as it happens". It is a real benchmark for making science accessible to the general public, and offers a wide range of cultural events centring on fundamental scientific issues. To this end, it regularly hosts temporary exhibitions and conferences and offers more than 60 talks every day by scientific mediators, along with children's workshops.
Since 1 January 2010, the Palais de la Découverte has been linked with the Cité des sciences et de l’industrie within a single umbrella establishment, Universcience, headed by Claudie Haigneré.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
- Category: Coming up