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The Secretariat has assisted member countries to diversify their agriculture, develop livestock, and introduce new technologies for sustainable rural development activities. Together with non-governmental partners, the Secretariat has published two books which set out the scientific and social aspects of problems in the management and sustainable use of communal rangelands in Africa. In the Caribbean, a study was made, with the support of Britain's ODA, of soil conservation and small-scale farming in the face of the continued loss of agricultural land on steep slopes by erosion.

The Secretariat works closely with regional organisations such as CARICOM and SADC on agricultural development programmes, and also supports training courses in managing rural credit and other aspects of rural development. As noted earlier, sustainable agriculture-led rural development is the primary focus of the Secretariat's work on poverty alleviation.

Member countries receive practical assistance to conserve and sustainably utilise their biological resources. Activities focus specifically on capacity-building through training, development of networks for exchange of information and expertise, and assistance with the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

A pilot project for monitoring biodiversity and its utilisation in SIDS has been launched. More than 50 scientists, teachers and NGO representatives have received training in fields such as mycology, plant tissue culture and herbarium curation. A syllabus for a 10-module multimedia training programme on biodiversity management was developed as a joint initiative with the Commonwealth of Learning in 1994. In collaboration with the International Centre for Underutilised Crops, the Commonwealth Science Council helped set up an Underutilised Tropical Fruit Network in Asia (UTFNANET) to improve propagation, production and management of tropical fruits. A similar network on Underutilised Crops for Southern and Eastern Africa is being developed, and one CSC project is helping to promote cassava as a crop which can improve the local and national economy as well as food security in Zimbabwe.

The Secretariat also supports the Iwokrama International Rain Forest Programme in Guyana, which is helping to improve methods for the conservation and sustainable use of the biological resources of the rain forest (also see Chapter 11).

See chapter 15

Member countries are assisted in several ways to manage and develop their fisheries. In the legal domain, the Secretariat offers technical assistance in maritime boundary delimitation. One of the many projects currently in place involves support to co-ordinate boundary delimitation requirements for members of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States. Several countries have also been helped to develop regulatory frameworks and negotiate investment and access agreements for fisheries. Surveys of marine fisheries and programmes for their sustainable development have been undertaken in several small states (e.g. Brunei and Papua New Guinea). In the latter, assistance is being provided to co-ordinate training and fisheries development programmes for women. Support for management training in the fisheries sector is being provided through a number of programmes for South Pacific SIDS and countries in South Asia. Technical assistance has helped to strengthen the South Pacific Forum Fisheries Agency. At a more general level, the Secretariat is implementing a programme, partly funded by CIDA, to review development assistance in the fisheries sector in a number of member countries. The objectives are to review the impact, effectiveness and limitations of international development assistance in the fisheries sector and to recommend ways in which any shortcomings may be overcome.

Almost two-thirds of the Secretariat's technical assistance is directed to small member states, the majority of whom are small island developing states (SIDS). Much of the assistance given to Commonwealth SIDS is relevant to areas covered by the 1994 Barbados Programme of Action. These include: sustainable management of natural resources (especially coastal and marine resources), biodiversity conservation, water resources management, energy, tourism, science and technology, education and human resource development, management and administration, and strengthening of regional institutions. The Secretariat is also developing a Vulnerability Index for small states and is in the process of updating the 1985 Commonwealth Report on the Vulnerability of Small States. The new report, which is expected to be completed by October 1997, will address all aspects of vulnerability (security, economic, social, environmental) and identify strategies to promote the sustainable development of small states in the context of the rapid globalisation of the world economy.

The Secretariat's work in this area focuses on improving capacities for managing and improving the quality of groundwater resources; water resources management in small islands and arid and semi-arid lands; and water supplies in urban and rural areas, including the introduction of low-cost, small-scale water treatment technology suitable for rural areas. To assist members with their preparations for the 1994 CSD's review of this chapter of Agenda 21, the Secretariat prepared a paper highlighting strategic policy issues relevant to the management of water resources in an integrated manner. Technical assistance to the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission has addressed these issues in relation to small island states in the South Pacific.

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Health and environmental concerns associated with hazardous wastes are of increasing concern to many member countries. A project has been initiated with the Royal Society of Chemistry of Britain to enhance the scientific capacities of developing member countries to manage and dispose of toxic waste; the project is being executed jointly with the UN Environment Programme. In the plastics sector, the Secretariat has helped member countries to find ways of putting plastics waste to good use through recycling. A Commonwealth Plastics Network, established in 1991 to exchange information in this area, has since evolved into a Global Plastics Network.

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Commonwealth governments have emphasised the need for enhanced transfer of resources to developing countries to assist their implementation of Agenda 21. Many of the Secretariat's activities in the areas of consensus building on economic issues, provision of economic policy advice, and private capital flows and investment funds, highlight the importance of increased financial flows to developing countries to supplement their own domestic resource mobilisation efforts.

The Secretariat has developed a programme focusing on the identification, transfer and development of environmentally sound technologies. This will assist decision-makers to make informed choices about alternative technology options in industrial development. The Commonwealth/Global Plastics Network mentioned earlier (see chapter 20) also facilitates the dissemination of information on cleaner production techniques in the plastics sector.

Several activities help member countries to use science and technology for better environmental management. In Eastern and Southern Africa, the Secretariat has assisted the development of programmes for the biological control of waterweeds by training scientists and helping to establish local colonies of the natural enemies (insects or bacteria) of such weeds. An integrated pest management programme also aims to promote the use of biological control techniques to combat infestation of whitefly, thrips, and the Diamondback moth in the Caribbean, as well as the pink mealybug in Grenada. In the energy sector, the Secretariat is assisting the introduction of photo-voltaic (PV) systems as a cheap and renewable source of energy in rural areas in Commonwealth Southern African countries. These projects include training for technicians in installing, repairing or upgrading local PV systems.

In order to improve natural resource management, workshops have been held for the African and Asian regions to impart training in the use of remote sensing and GIS. A project is also being developed to train technicians from SIDS in the use of these technologies in integrated coastal zone management. Through the Chemical Research and Environmental Needs project in the Asia-Pacific region, member countries have also been helped to improve local capacities to monitor chemical changes in the environment, in the context of efforts to control chemical pollution.

The Secretariat provides technical assistance and training to build capacities for more effective environmental management in developing member countries. The details are given under chapter 37.

The Secretariat helps to develop skills and strengthen institutional capacities in sectors where member countries have identified their greatest needs. Under the Langkawi Awards Scheme (which ended in June 1994), about 400 Commonwealth nationals benefited from training programmes and workshops on several subjects, including general environmental management, pollution control, environmental assessment, marine environmental protection and soil and water conservation. Training programmes have since focused on strengthening capacities to deal with environmental disasters and hazards (e.g. in meteorology in small islands vulnerable to hurricanes); the preparation of practical manuals and guidelines for pollution prevention and control; and workshops to increase awareness of emerging critical issues in environmental management. Short-term training attachments have also been supported in areas such as environmental conservation, fisheries management and marine geology. A new programme, developed over the last two years, related to the identification, transfer and development of environmentally-sound technologies, is helping decision-makers to take an informed, long-term view of technological and industrial development.

Technical assistance is provided to member countries in several areas. For instance, a public health adviser is helping St Lucia to review and restructure the operations of its Environmental Health Branch; an environmental economist/policy analyst is strengthening environmental and natural resource management at the Planning Institute of Jamaica; and advisers are assisting the management of a Central Environmental Laboratory, the improvement of environmental legislation, and the development of environmental guidelines for the oil palm industry in Mauritius, Brunei, and Papua New Guinea, respectively.

Assistance is also provided on a regional basis. For example, a long-term expert is helping the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP, based in Western Samoa) to implement a strategy for the protection of the marine environment in the South Pacific region; another has been assigned to the University of the West Indies Centre for Environment and Development to boost capacities for environmental management in Caribbean small island states; and workshops were held in all regions of the Commonwealth to enable senior planning officers to gain a better understanding of how environmental impact assessment (EIA) techniques can be used in the planning and monitoring of development projects. A Handbook on EIA has been prepared to complement these workshops.