Burkina Faso Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge
(Centre Burkinabè de Recherche sur les Pratiques et Savoirs Paysans)
Dr Biasga E. Dialla, Director (Correspondent)
INNS, B.P. 5154, Ouagadougou 02
Burkina Faso
Tel.: +226-360 746.
Fax: +226-315 003.
E-mail: emile_dialla@yahoo.fr

Dr Biasga E. Dialla reports that the Institute INNS which houses the Burkina Faso Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge (BURCIK) is currently going through an evaluation which will take from October to December 2000. During that time, Dr Dialla will be not only head of BURCIK, and chairman of the Socio-economic Department of INNS, but also acting director of the entire institute INNS. In January 2001, Dr Dialla will take up extra activities again, such as writing a book review for this Monitor of Mazzucato, Valentina and David Niemeijer (2000) Rethinking soil and water conservation in a changing society. A case study in eastern Burkina Faso. Wageningen: Tropical Resource Management Papers No. 32.

Kenya

KENRIK

Kenya Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge
Dr Patrick Maundu, Head
Mr Samuel Mwangi, Correspondent
National Museums of Kenya
P.O. Box 40658
Nairobi
Kenya
Tel.: +254-2-742 131.
Fax: +254-2-741 424.
http://www.museums.or.ke

Mr Samuel Mwangi of the Kenya Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge (KENRIK) reports that the centre held a workshop in August at the National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi. The workshop was attended by 126 persons, including staff of KENRIK and representatives of local universities, non-governmental organizations, research institutions, donor agencies, community-based organizations, farmers and herbalists. On the first day, the Kenya Society of Ethno-ecology (KSE) was launched. Some 60 people immediately registered as members. The main purpose of the new society will be to coordinate ethno-ecological activities in Kenya with a view to achieving the sustainable use of natural resources, including plant and animal resources. In addition, the society will help KENRIK at the National Museums to build an IK information resource. This resource will be available for use by researchers, society members and the general public. For the time being, the KSE will be housed at the KENRIK offices. The head of KENRIK, Dr Patrick Maundu, has been elected coordinator for the first three years.

The workshop attendees resolved to help the society achieve its stated objectives, which are mainly concerned with networking among the stakeholders and giving support to the groups involved at various levels, from grassroots to international. A number of resolutions were passed during the workshop. For example, the KSE has resolved:

• to provide opportunities for seminars and workshops that will help to educate the member groups and the public;
• to assist the members by channelling proposals to relevant donors;
• to lobby for legislation that would benefit the stakeholders in indigenous or local knowledge (IK);
• to act as a clearinghouse for all news, information and developments at local, national, regional and international levels;
• to develop and provide tools and capacity for networking and consultation and for representing and protecting the interests of all relevant groups.

The workshop was followed by a one-day seminar at the KENRIK offices given by Mr Paul Quek of the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) in Malaysia, who presented a paper on IK documentation. The paper raised important issues with regard to IK: the role of information and communication technology in IK, the documentation of indigenous and traditional knowledge, intellectual property rights as regards sharing knowledge and the benefits that accrue from it, the IK journal, and general access to knowledge. The seminar was attended by the staff of KENRIK and representatives of several NGOs and community-based organizations. Readers wishing to obtain more information on this subject are asked to contact KENRIK.

Nigeria

ARCIK

African Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge
Professor D. Olu Ajakaiye, Director
Professor S.O. Titilola, Coordinator
Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER)
P.M.B. 5, U.I. Post Office
Ibadan
Nigeria
Tel. :+234-2-810 2904.
Fax: +234-02810 1194.
E-mail: arcik@niser.org.ng

Professor S. Tunji Titilola would like to announce that the African Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge (ARCIK) is planning to host a two-day network meeting of directors and coordinators of Africa's IK Centres at ARCIK, Ibadan. The objectives of the proposed network meeting are as follows:

• to share experience with each other and coordinate efforts in networking, documentation and training at the regional level;
• to explore possibilities of providing effective linkages among centres in order to sustain the product of our efforts in the area of indigenous knowledge (IK)
• to discuss how to meet the technical and training demand of participants in IK in Africa;
• to establish programmes that will investigate and further strengthen and develop IK-related technologies relevant to resource-poor farmers generally and women farmers in particular;
• to increase IK input into development planning activities for the region;
• to strengthen the training demand of each centre in the region;
• to develop a continent-wide programme of training to raise practitioner's skills.

The meeting is tentatively scheduled for the first quarter of 2001 and ARCIK is, through this medium, soliciting for funds helping to enable the realization of this important network meeting. Tentative budget will be sent to interested organization(s).

Please send all correspondences to: arcik@niser.org.ng

CIKPREM

Centre for Indigenous Knowledge on Population Resource and Environmental Management
Professor D.S. Obikeze, Director
Department of Sociology / Anthropology
University of Nigeria, Nsukka
Enugu Sate
Nigeria
Tel.: +234-42-770 172; 042-771911/78
Fax: +234-42-255 026
E-mail: epseelon@aol.com (Prof. Obikeze)

Professor Obikeze, Director of the Centre for Indigenous Knowledge on Population Resource and Environmental Management (CIKPREM) asks readers to please note that it takes approximately three months before letters and other information sent by surface mail reach the centre. Therefore he asks that all urgent communication be done by e-mail rather than through the regular post. He regrets any inconveniences this may cause.

CARIKS

Centre for Advanced Studies on Indigenous Knowledge Systems
Dr Jan Brouwer, Director
Mrs S.L. Meenu, Correspondent
P.O. Box 1, Saraswathipuram
Mysore - 570 009, India
Tel.: +91-821-542 467.
Fax: +91-821-542 459.
E-mail: cariks@bgl.vsnl.net.in
http://iias.leidenuniv.nl/host/ccrss/cariks/htm

The Centre for Advanced Studies on Indigenous Knowledge Systems (CARIKS) has started to organize and host a series of seminars on Saturday. The first series deals with Indigenous knowledge, anthropology and industry'. Thus far, four seminars have been conducted. They were presided over by the Chairman of CARIKS, Dr B.L. Amla, while Professor P.K. Misra agreed to act as discussant. Each Saturday seminar was attended by 12 participants from various disciplines, and by industrialists and artists as well. CARIKS director Dr Jan Brouwer presented a paper to each of the meetings:

1. 'Modes of thinking: conflicts behind practices in various domains of industry'
   (19 February 2000)
2. 'Conflict between modern and indigenous concepts in the small enterprise workplace'
   (1 April 2000)
3. 'Indigenous knowledge and economic success in Japan, India and Germany: a proposal'
   (20 May 2000)
4. 'Indigenous knowledge, anthropology and the emerging simulation state in Europe and India'
   (1 July 2000)

The papers presented in the Saturday Seminar Series No. 2 and 3 have been published as one article in Social Anthropology Vol. 8 No. 2. Part of the Saturday Seminar Series No. 4 paper will be published by the CIIL, Mysore. The interdisciplinary series will be continued later this year with different speakers.

Currently, CARIKS is supervising four PhD projects. Land systems in the Kannada language territory (South India): continuity and transformations at the time of British colonization is a study which will increase our knowledge and understanding of agricultural organisation of lands that are facing major impacts of globalisation today. The project is carried out by Mr Alex Cisilin (CNRS, Paris) who conducted fieldwork from 20 August to 20 October 1999. The second project is carried out by Mr Gotz Hoeppe, University of Berlin (Germany), who started doing fieldwork on 14 October 1999. His project is entitled Discourses on nature and landscape in two fishing communities of Kerala. The fishermen's maritime landscape knowledge is crucial to the eco-balance in the coastal region. Environmental knowledge is also the central topic in the PhD project carried out by Mr Ajay Gandhi, McGill University, Montreal (Canada). Mr Gandhi has only recently commenced. His study is entitled Environmental knowledge as discourse in India. The fourth research is being conducted by Mrs Aya Ikegame, University of Kyoto (Japan) and is entitled Social changes by the Maharaja palace construction in Mysore. Mrs Ikegame focuses on the balance between indigenous and modern expressions of the social in architecture.

On an institutional level, CARIKS is happy to announce that the eminent anthropologist, Professor P.K. Misra has agreed to join the Academic Body as a member. Professor Misra has more than 30 years personal fieldwork experience among nomadic and tribal peoples of India and among Indians outside India, and is author of various books and many scientific articles.

The Vice-Chancellor of the North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong , Professor Mrinal Miri, has kindly agreed to become member of CARIKS Advisory Board. Professor Miri studied philosophy at Cambridge and is actively engaged in interdisciplinary research and development programmes.

One of the members of the CARIKS Academic Body, Professor V.K. Natraj has been appointed Director of the Madras Institute of Development Studies(MIDS) at Chennai.

CARIKS has started intensive collaboration with the Centre for Co-operative Research in Social Science (CCRSS) in Pune as well as with the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL) in Mysore, and initiated networking with Dr K.K. Misra of the University of Hyderabad, and with Dr C.N. Rajgopalan, Centre for Folklore Studies at Trichur.

Over the past year, CARIKS director Dr Jan Brouwer has published the following articles and papers:

Brouwer, Jan (2000a) 'Practices are not without concepts. Reflections on the use of indigenous knowledge in artisanal and agricultural projects in India', Journal of Social Sciences 4(1) (Special issue): 1-9.

(2000b) 'Trees for timber and trees for the forest: aspects of indigenous knowledge of wood and stone in Karnataka, India', 345-360 in: K. Seeland and Fr. Schmithusen (eds) Man in the forest. Local knowledge and sustainable management of forests and natural resources in tribal communities in India. New Delhi: D.K. Printworld.

(2000c) 'Artisans' indigenous knowledge: its relevance for development', pp. 23-42 in: R.K. Bhattacharya and S.B. Chakrabarti (eds) Indian artisans. Social institutions and cultural values. Calcutta: Anthropological Survey of India.

(2000d) 'Conflict between modern and indigenous concepts in the small enterprise workplace. A proposal', Social Anthropology 8(2): 181-201.

CIKIB

Centre for Indigenous Knowledge on Indian Bioresources
Dr S.K. Jain, Director (Correspondent)
Dr Ved Prakash, Assistant Director
C-58, Sector H, Aliganj Lucknow - 226 024 India
Tel.: +91-522-224 556.

Dr S.K. Jain reports that the Centre for Indigenous Knowledge on Indian Bioresources (CIKIB) completed the project on Ethnobotanical working plan of Suguja in Central India in April 2000. The research scholar is now writing his doctoral thesis. The Indian Council for Forestry Research and Education based in Dehradun has asked CIKIB to make a comparative study of 50-60 important forestry species and to document the indigenous knowledge related to these trees and plants among other major tribal or ethnic groups in India. The council allocated funds for this project and work on it has recently started.

The scientists affiliated with CIKIB are also busy comparing indigenous knowledge (IK) in India with IK in some other regions in the world, notably Africa.

As readers will know (see IK&DM 7(2)), Dr Jain was named Distinguished Economic Botanist in 1999 by the Society for Economic Botany in the United States. This fact and his biodata were published in a recent issue of Economic Botany; Dr Jain's award lecture will be published in a later issue.

In May 2000, Dr Jain and assistant director Ved Prakash delivered three lectures each in a training course on Ethnobotany in a Women's Post Graduate College in Bhopal, Central India. The two directors are planning to participate in a seminar on Ethnobotany of Gharwal and Central India at the headquarters of the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education in Dehradun.

CIKIHR

Centre for Indigenous Knowledge of Indian Herbal Resources
Dr N.C. Shah, Coordinator and correspondent
MS - 78; Sector D, Aliganj
Lucknow- 226 024 India
Tel. / fax: +91-522-326 489.
E-mail: ncshah@1w1.vsnl.net.in

The Centre for Indigenous Knowledge of Indian Herbal Resources (CIKIHR) is pleased to report that the work of compiling information under the title A compendium to the plant based health system projects (1992-1999) is nearing completion. The work was sponsored by the Science and Society Division of the Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi. The compendium documents the ways that herbs are used for the indigenous treatment of ailments and diseases in four regions of India (Western, Southern, Eastern and Northern).

The first part of the compendium is organized by geographic area and describes, among other things, which herbs are prevalent in each area and which herbs are collected or cultivated for which purposes.

The second part is organized by ailment or disease. The indigenous herbs used for treatment either singly or in combination are listed and discussed under such headings as Digestive System, Respiratory System, Skin and Skeletal System, Musculo-Skeletal System, Genito-Urinary System, etc. Jaundice, diabetes, arthritis, and high blood pressure are just a few of the specific ailments dealt with. The entries describe the health problems and for each remedy indicate the part of the plant used, give its botanical and local names, and describe the method of administration.

The compendium offers interesting extra information about the unique way that knowledge of herbal remedies is disseminated among the indigenous women practitioners: that is, through songs. Here is the English translation of one such song.

O lady friend, herbs are of different hues and colours.
Lahsun (garlic) treats rheumatism, the rusha (Malabar nut) removes asthma and bronchitis.
'Pitta and dosa' are removed by anwla (Embelic myrobolan), bariyara (country mallow) drives away all diseases.
The dysentery and diarrhoea, boils and abscesses.
For diabetes methi (fenugreek) is ambrosia. 
All above diseases removed by jamun (jamun), bel (Indian bael), vidhara (elephant creeper).
Tulsi (holy basil) is queen of herbs, no one knows its complete secrets.
Over all, it is a panacea and a regular repository material.
Trifala (belleric myrobolan, chebulic myrobolan fruits), trikuta (dry ginger, black pepper, long pepper), jira (cumin), ajawain (bishopsweed), haldi (turmeric), kali mirch, bakaeen (Persian lilac).
Neem (Indian lilac), babul (Indian gum Arabic tree), bar (banyan), peepal (sacred fig), pakar (pakar fig) relieve us from all the diseases and pains.
Keep your home and family bonded together and do not delay in helping the miserable.
See every one happy daily and our life will be meaningful.

Other interesting herbal uses will be communicated in the next report.

Indonesia

INRIK

Indonesian Resource Center for Indigenous Knowledge
Profesor Kusnaka Adimihardja, M.A. Director (Correspondent)
Padjadjaran University
Room K-3, JI. Dipatiukur 35
Bandung 40132, West Java
Indonesia
Tel. / fax: +62-22-250 8592.
E-mail: inrik@melsa.net.id
http://www.melsa.net.id/~inrik

The Indonesian Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge (INRIK), in collaboration with the Centre for Rural Planning Studies, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, has held a regional symposium under the title Rural small and medium-scale industries in the globalisation era. It took place in Skudai, Johore, Malaysia, on 11-13 September 2000. (See the July 2000 issue of this journal.) The symposium was from an ASEAN regional perspective. Its purpose was to identify, discuss and develop strategic approaches and frameworks for rural development in which small and medium-scale industries play a role. Speakers and participants came from government and non-government organizations, the academic world and industry. They represented three countries: Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam and Indonesia. On the third day, all participants visited several small industries in Johore.

In July and August, in collaboration with the Padjajaran University's community service institute (LPMC), INRIK held the first two training courses in participatory research and rural appraisal (PRA) for lecturers at University Padjajaran who will be taking part in the LPMC Project. The next PRA training is taking place in October for the benefit of NGOs in Bandung.

On 17 July 2000 INRIK hosted a discussion about intellectual property rights and set up the Working Group on Intellectual Property Rights, which will examine issues involving the arts and indigenous knowledge in Indonesia.

As a member of JKTI - Jaringan Kearifan Tradisional Indonesia (The Traditional Wisdom Cooperation Network), INRIK will participate in a national conference to discuss trade-related intellectual property rights (TRIPS), the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the impact that these will have on the sustainable development process and biodiversity conservation in Indonesia. The conference is taking place on 6-19 October 2000 in Kampung Wisata Insan Krida, Desa Tonjong Km. 36, Parung-Bogor, West Java. The three main themes for discussion will be:

• the socialization of TRIPS and WTO for sustainable development and biodiversity conservation in Indonesia;
• Indonesian government policy that will anticipate a WTO agreement on TRIPS, and autonomous policy for the area;
• the probably negative impact that TRIPS-WTO will have on community-based intellectual property rights.

Sri Lanka

SLARCIK

Sri Lanka Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge
Dr D.M.S.K. Ranasinghe, Director
Department of Forestry & Environmental Science
University of Sri Jayewardenepura
Nugegoda
Sri Lanka
Tel.: +94-1-854 685.
Fax: +94-1-437 879.
E-mail: hemanthi@lgo.lk

A new director has been appointed to the Sri Lanka Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge (SLARCIK). It is Dr D.M.S.H.K. Ranasinghe, who succeeded Professor Ulluwishewa. Dr Ranasinghe has conducted research on forestry. He has published an article in this Monitor in 1995, 'Traditional tree crop practices in Sri Lanka' (IK&DM 3(3): 7-9).

The Netherlands

CIRAN

Centre for International Research and Advisory Networks
Mr G.W. von Liebenstein, Director
Nuffic-CIRAN
P.O. Box 29777
2502 LT The Hague
The Netherlands
Tel.: +31-70-4260 321.
Fax: +31-70-4260 329.
E-mail: ciran@nuffic.nl
ikdm@nuffic.nl
http://www.nuffic.nl/ciran/index.html

It is encouraging to see how the demand for information on indigenous knowledge keeps growing, stimulated by the growing interest of development professionals and scientists in how indigenous knowledge systems can be put to use in the development and scientific enterprise. The Internet is a great medium for disseminating this information, which is why Nuffic-CIRAN has redefined its policy concerning the services and products it offers to the international development community. This Monitor is at the heart of the Indigenous Knowledge Information System which has a strong presence on the Internet. The various products of Nuffic-CIRAN in the area of IK information management are now part of this integrated 'linking knowledge worldwide' system that offers fast and easy access to IK data, and creates new opportunities for linking IK resources to each other. We informed readers of these developments in the first issue of this year, and the details can be found on the inside front cover of each issue under 'Focus'.

Nuffic-CIRAN, in cooperation with its partners in North and South, is continuously working to improve the quality and content of the information offered. Yet, although there is a worldwide need for IK information as well as an overwhelmingly rich variety of IK systems and practices around the world, this information, curiously enough, is not directly available. The problem is how to secure the information. New methods are required. Fortunately, we are witnessing new initiatives for the capture and use of IK, as in Uganda, where policy-makers, development workers and scientists have embarked on a national strategy regarding IK.

One of the activities Nuffic-CIRAN has been involved in is the selection of best practices on indigenous knowledge. This activity was a joint venture with UNESCO through its MOST programme (Management Of Social Transformation). A first result was the publication of the 'Best Practices on Indigenous Knowledge' database (http://www.unesco.org/most/bpikreg.htm/). The database is a useful tool for policy-makers and members of the development community who are looking for concrete examples of how to incorporate IK into their development efforts. We are therefore happy to announce that the UNESCO-MOST programme has decided to continue with this joint project, which is why we are now inviting readers to submit information for inclusion in the Best Practices database. (See also Calls)

Another UNESCO-CIRAN joint venture is a project known as Indigenous knowledge and water interactions. It is sponsored by UNESCO's Participation Programme and its aim is to identify and describe 15 best practices in the area of natural resource management - in particular, indigenous practices for managing water resources.

Nuffic-CIRAN has been contracted by UNESCO's Information and Informatics Division to develop a way to incorporate indigenous knowledge into the day-to-day practice of multi-purpose communication telecentres . A pilot project has been started with the Nakaseke Telecentre in Uganda, where guidelines will be developed for the various aspects of dealing with indigenous knowledge. These include how to record and store IK in publicly accessible databases, and will address such technical issues as intellectual property and the verification and validation of knowledge. To launch the pilot project, a workshop will be held on 23-25 October 2000 at Nakaseke Telecentre. The workshop will also explore the telecentre's potential for operating as a community-based indigenous knowledge resource centre. The role of such centres is to document IK information (case studies and best practices) in print and through audiovisual devices, and to contribute to the content of the debate on the potential contribution that IK can make to the work of development professionals and scientists. As readers might know, the establishment of many such centres was one of the recommendations of the second Global Knowledge for Development Conference, which was held in Kuala Lumpur in March 2000. For more information on this conference and its outcomes, see the website http://www.globalknowledge.org.my/index_main.html.

LEAD

Leiden Ethnosystems And Development Programme
Professor L. Jan Slikkerveer, Director
Ms Diana Bosch, MA, Correspondent
Institute of Cultural and Social Studies, Leiden University
P.O. Box 9555
2300 RB Leiden
The Netherlands
Tel.:+31-71-527 3403/3469.
Fax:+31-71-527 3619.
E-mail: bosch@fsw.leidenuniv.nl

In early June 2000, the Leiden Ethnosystems And Development Programme (LEAD) was visited by Associate Professor Benito Tan and Associate Professor Dr Peter Ng of the Department of Biological Sciences and the Raffles Museum at the National University of Singapore, who are particularly interested in LEAD's advanced medical ethnobotanical research in Southeast Asia.

Towards the end of June, LEAD's Director, Professor Dr L.J. Slikkerveer, carried out a mission to Indonesia in order to further assess the possibilities for further collaboration with Universitas Padjadjaran in Bandung in the fields of primary health care and community health research and technology in Indonesia. In addition, Professor Slikkerveer presented a seminar on New trends in ethnobotanical study in Indonesia and the traditional resource rights debate. He also paid a visit to Universitas Brawijaya.

On 3 October, Professor Slikkerveer conducted a seminar in Heraklion, Crete, on Changing doctor-patient relationships in a global context, which had been organized by Assistant Professor Dr Ch. Lionis of the Department of Social Medicine and Family Health of the University of Crete, Heraklion.

In early September 2000, Mrs Dr Soehartinah K. Antono, MPH, of the Universitas Padjadjaran in Bandung, Indonesia, joined the LEAD programme as a Visiting Research Fellow. She will follow a three-month course of training at the Department of Radiology of the Leiden University Medical Centre. In addition, she is collaborating with Ms L.J. Bosch, MA, of LEAD on the utilization of advanced medical preventive and diagnostic techniques, such as computer tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, for complementary primary health care development in Indonesia.

Mr Wai'l E. Abdalla, M.Sc., who joined the LEAD programme as Visiting Research Fellow on 1 January 2000, is working on the theoretical orientation of his PhD research proposal entitled 'Medicinal plants knowledge and use among the Nubians along the river Nile - An ethnobotanical study in Northern Sudan'. He plans to study, document and analyse the medicinal plants and related indigenous knowledge of this famous ethnic group. The aim is to improve resource conservation and health care, and as such, to contribute to the theory and practice of ethnobotanical knowledge systems.

Venezuela

VERSIK

Venezuelan Secretariat for the Promotion of Indigenous - Local - Knowledge for Sustainable Development
Dr Consuelo Quiroz, General Coordinator
Centre for Tropical Alternative Agriculture and Sustainable Development (CATADI)
University of The Andes, Núcleo 'Rafael Rangel'
Apartado Postal # 22
Trujillo 3102, Estado Trujillo
Venezuela
Tel. / fax: +58-72-360 467.
Mobile tel.: +58-166-72 1152.
E-mail: consuelo@cantv.net

General coordinator Dr Consuelo Quiroz of VERSIK would like to inform readers that the foundation FUNDATADI, where the secretariat is located, keeps carrying out the three projects started last year. They are one on 'Education and local development', one about 'Biodiversity conservation in home gardens (conucos)', and one on 'Local knowledge about traditional food plants' (these projects have been described in details in previous issues). Postgraduate students interested to do their thesis in any of these projects are encouraged to inquire after the possibilities. Fluency in Spanish is required. For more informaiotn, please contact Dr Quiroz.

From 31 May to 2 June 2000, Dr Quiroz attended to the International Local Development Week organized by the Deputy Office of Barcelona, Spain and the International Labor Office (ILO). It was a week full of celebrations, presentations and thought-provoking discussions. Readers interested in the papers presented at this event may contact Dr Quiroz by e-mail. She will then send the papers (written in Spanish) by e-mail.

United States of America

CIKARD

Dr Huang is a professor of anthropology with a socio-cultural emphasis. His primary research interest is the comparative study of change and development in rural societies in Greater China. He has done research on the following subjects: land reform and economic development; changing beliefs and practices related to diet, nutrition, and healthcare; and environment, indigenous knowledge and sustainability in agriculture. Dr Huang has carried out fieldwork in Taiwan (1973-74 and 1991-92), Hong Kong (1980), and the Chinese provinces of Fujian (1984-85 and 1997), Shandong (1987-91), Guizhou (1995), and Manchuria (1998-2000). He is author of two monographs: Agricultural degradation: Changing community systems in rural Taiwan (1980, University Press of America), and The spiral road: Change in a Chinese village through the eyes of a Communist Party leader (1989, and 1998, second edition, Westview Press). He has also co-edited two conference volumes: Ethnicity in Taiwan: Social, historical, and cultural perspectives (1994, Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica), and Imagining China: Regional division and national unity (published by the Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica, Spring 1999).

CIKARD also has a new graduate assistant. Ms Pernell Plath worked with CIKARD as an undergraduate and has now returned to Iowa State and CIKARD. She is pursuing an MA in anthropology. Ms Plath's main interest is small-scale agricultural systems. She has done agricultural work in the U.S., Mexico, India and Spain. She plans to conduct research on local food systems for her thesis.

CIKARD has a new website! Though not entirely complete, it is steadily being improved. Come visit us at http://www.iastate.edu/~anthr_info/cikard/ The CIKARD website was recently honoured with a 'Links2Go' Award. Our website has been designated a key resource for information on environmental issues. CIKARD is pleased to provide a valuable link in the information stream.