Biodiveristy Edition – July 2006 Newsletter
Download it from www.iypf.org/news.htm#latest.

Hi everyone. Welcome to the July 2006 newsletter, with our focus on biodiversity & ecological sustainability. This follows on the heels of our June Environment & Sustainability theme, to coincide with World Environment Day. We felt like it was a ‘natural’ (pardon the pun) fit to flow these two in to each other … and from here to next month’s theme of Indigenous Issues. The indigenous focus reflects a shift from the natural world to the social and cultural. September will look at peace and conflict (very very important given recent events), October will look at Poverty, and November and December will tackle Consumption, Waste and HIV & AIDS. We look forward to enabling you to share about your activities, research, programs, events, experiences and opinions on these topics throughout the rest of 2006.

In our Biodiversity & Ecological Sustainability feature, there are articles looking at market mechanisms for preserving biodiversity; details of a project being initiated in Benin to link biodiversity conservation, job creation and preservation of culture; efforts to oppose genetic modified seeds due to their threat to farming, livelihoods and the environment; and an article about a possible new social institution movement in Australia to facilitate greater local engagement in sustainability issues. Quite diverse.

In other news, there is more follow up on fair trade and development with an exciting new initiative in the EU and an insightful discussion about the opportunity presented by ‘sustainable products’ for developing countries and their economic development. We are also very excited to feature an inspiring article by Sam Daley-Harris, Director of the Microcredit Summit Campaign, on the power of micro-credit to transform peoples lives and a call for us to determine the kind of world we want to leave behind.

We live in turbulent, sometimes violent, times. As young professionals wired in to the information flows of the world’s news services, we see more, hear more, have access to more than any generation before us. We can see the death and destruction, the suffering, the tragedy, beamed in to our living rooms or on to our computer screens. I don’t know about you, but sometimes it all seems like too much. Its easy to forget how much hope there is in the world, how many good and amazing things are happening out there – stuff that doesn’t sell advertising and doesn’t make it on to the wires.

Over the next month, I encourage you to tell these stories of hope and courage, whether they are your own or others. Draw on some of the stories here in this newsletter. Find others. Share them. We need these stories to nuture our own hopes and dreams, and to inspire others, so that we can continue to work hard for the future we want to see, to hand over to the future generations. A better world for current and future generations is what the IYPF is all about.

Cameron Neil
CEO, IYPF
cameronneil@iypf.org


In This Edition

IYPF News
- Board Column, Strategy Column, Seeking Implementation Team Members
Member Activities
- Environmental Success
- Bangladesh NGOs Join UNGAID
Partner Activities & Events
- YES Kenya 2006
- Young Professionals Alliance
- G8 Energy Plan Contested
IYPF Communities
- Globalisation, Fair Trade, and Sustainable Products
- Poverty and Micro Credit
Biodiversity & Ecological Sustainability
- Biodiversity Banks on the Market
- SEE-Change Centres
- Biomimicry
- Opposition to Terminator Seeds
- Biodiversity and Wealth Creation in Benin
Opportunities & Resources
What Is IYPF
How You Can Help


Download it from www.iypf.org/news.htm#latest.