Regional Work Plans For

"Based on a workshop on Regional Approaches to Parks and Protected Areas in North America, held at Tijuana, Mexico, March 1999"--p. xv.

Planning Canadian Regions was the first book to integrate the history, contemporary practice, and emergent issues of regional planning in Canada. This much-anticipated second edition brings the discussion up to date, applying the same thorough analysis to illuminate the rapid changes now shaping our regional landscapes and their planning. Special attention is paid to the regional planning dimensions of climate change adaptation and environmental sustainability, the development inequities faced in peripheral resource regions, the special role of Indigenous peoples in regional planning, and the distinctive planning needs of metropolitan regions across the country. This book challenges planners, educators, and policy makers to engage with the latest thinking and strive for best practices in twenty-first century regional planning.

The Regional Action Plan for strengthening family farming in South Asia has been elaborated through a participatory and multi-stakeholder approach in the framework of the UN Decade of Family Farming and in close collaboration with SAARC Agriculture Center, the Asia Farmer Association for Sustainable Rural Development and the International Cooperative Alliance – Asia Pacific. Consultations with farmers’ organizations, cooperatives and other relevant stakeholders at country level first helped identifying and prioritizing key interventions for the region along the seven pillars of the Global Action Plan. These initial inputs then contributed to the overall drafting of the contextualized pillars led by recognized experts from the region. The draft pillars were presented during a first regional virtual consultation on UN Decade of Family Farming: Formulating Strategies and Action Plan to Strengthen Smallholder Family Farmers in South Asia held on the 5–6 November 2020. A follow up regional consultation meeting on review and finalization of the Regional Action Plan for strengthening family farming in South Asia was then organized on 29 July 2021. The objective was to present, discuss and validate the draft Regional Action Plan for strengthening family farming in South Asia. This Regional Action Plan aims at facilitating and accelerating the process of developing national action plans through inclusive multi-stakeholder processes, not only putting family farmers at the centre but recognizing them as critical partners.

Planning Canadian Regions is the first book to consolidate the history, evolution, current practice, and future prospects for regional planning in Canada. As planners grapple with challenges wrought by globalization, the evolution of massive new city-regions, and the pressures of sustainable and community development, a deeper understanding of Canada's approaches is invaluable. Hodge and Robinson identify the conceptual and historical foundations of regional planning and propose a new planning paradigm that emphasizes regional governance and greater inclusiveness and integration of physical planning with planning for economic sustainability and natural ecosystems.

The countries of Latin America and the Caribbean are immersed in the difficult task of recovering our agrifood systems hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this complex situation, tropical race 4 of the Musaceae fusarium wilt is undoubtedly the greatest challenge facing the banana and plantain agribusiness in our region. However, this context also constitutes an opportunity to encourage the development and introduction of innovations that strengthen biosecurity at different levels, the best crop and soil management practices and alternatives for the recovery of the affected countries. It is also necessary to comprehensively address the strengthening of the institutional framework related to pest management, the co-responsibility of the private sector, public-private collaboration and the involvement of society as a whole. With this document, FAO strengthens its commitment to continue supporting governments and contributing to agricultural sustainability, while increasing the resilience of the sector and livelihoods in the region.

Degradation of forests can have severe negative local impacts and far-reaching consequences, including soil erosion, loss of biodiversity, greenhouse gas emissions, dust storms, diminished livelihood opportunities and reduced yields of forest products and services. Reversing the adverse conditions requires urgent and scaled-up action, through scientific and holistic landscape-level restoration approaches, balancing both socio-economic and environmental goals and the diverse needs of various sectors and stakeholders in the landscape. The forest and landscape restoration (FLR) approach has gained momentum in recent years. The concept is based on the recognition that trees and forests comprise critical components of rural landscapes and that diversification at landscape levels can enhance ecological and socio-economic resilience while accommodating different site conditions and land management goals. Given the increasing challenge of mitigating and adapting to climate change and vast expanses of degraded landscapes with decreased capacity to provide essential forest products and services, we are seeing increased political interest and commitment to enhance forest cover and functions, and to FLR, at both international and national levels. With this background, the Food and Agriculture Organization Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (FAO RAP) initiated an effort to develop a strategy and action plan for forest and landscape restoration in the region.