INTERNATIONAL PERNAMBUCO CONSERVATION INITIATIVE :

THE CONTRIBUTION FROM BOWMAKERS AND OTHER ASSOCIATED PROFESSIONS

Alerted to the problem of sustainability of their supply of raw material by the Confederation of Craftsmen and Users of Natural Resources (Comurnat) and wishing to maintain the present quality of their output available for future generations, bowmakers decided to implement an action plan, the International Pernambuco Conservation Initiative (I.P.C.I. or Pernambuco Initiative). The objectives are :

• To contribute to the preservation of Pau-Brazil through actions carried out in partnership with organizations involved in the conservation of this resource, notably by participating in programs aiming to conserve, rehabilitate or enrich areas which are suitable for the species ;

• To promote the sustainable use of Pernambouco ;

• To take action, where necessary, to attain the two main objectives indicated above.

As a result of discussions at the end of 1999 and beginning of 2000 between professional bowmakers and Comurnat, the I.P.C.I. is now1 represented in eighteen countries (Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Switzerland, the United States) ; it is the first time that members of craft professions have mobilized at international level to resolve the problems of both the supply of raw material and the conservation of their particular resource.

• Though it has existed for only one year, the Pernambuco Initiative has permitted :
  The organisation of a conference in Brazil on the conservation of C. echinata (Domingos Martins, Espírito Santo, March 2001) ;

• The signing, during that conference, of an agreement with Funbrasil (a Brazilian Foundation for the conservation of Pernambuco) whereby the I.P.C.I. funds the drilling of a well and contributes to the preservation of 100,000 young Pernambuco trees.