A global increase in the demand for wood products has been observed worldwide during the last decades. This trend is expected to continue in the future as a consequence of population growth. Additionally, the need for wood is augmented by the increasing substitution of fossil energy by wood biomass-based energy to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. This demand will not be satisfied by natural and naturally regenerated forests: they are threatened by high deforestation rates and forest degradation mainly in the tropics and the costs of wood mobilization in the temperate zones is a concern. Forest plantations (FP) are therefore expected to provide a large part of the global wood supply. Their ability to meet wood demand is limited by competing land uses. Higher stand yields must be obtained on soils that may not necessarily support such intensification especially as nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) exportations by biomass removal are generally not offset by fertilization. Therefore, FP sustainability is currently a major concern, particularly with regard to serious long-term N and P deficits. Innovative FP management schemes, and attractive to the stakeholders must be then deployed. The Intens&Fix project will deal with the ecological intensification of FP through the association of N2-fixing species (NFS) with the goal to increase stand production as, in particular, a result of better N and P availability in the soil. These systems hould combine positive environmental impacts while ensuring social-economical improvement of livelihood for smallholders or performances for commercial companies. The project will develop an experimental approach on various and complementary FP with associated NFS, both in France (Juglans sp. and Alnus cordata or herbaceous NFS in Languedoc, Populus sp + Robinia pseudoacacia. in North-Est of France) and in the Tropics (mixed-species plantations of Eucalyptus grandis and Acacia mangium in Brazil and Congo). An integrated biophysical model will be developed for the simulation of mixed species in FP. Outputs of virtual experiments performed with the biophysical model will feed a plantation-level model allowing to assess the economical feasibility and to test decision rules for the management of FP with NFS. Crossing models outputs and a survey of stakeholders’ innovation process concerning the use of NFS will entitle us to assess the potential development of these systems. The approach will be multidisciplinary and involve scientists working in ecophysiology, biogeochemistry, soil science, microbiology, silviculture, socio-economics, and modelling. This project will contribute to the production of innovative results i.e. refined methodological techniques for estimation of N transfer, documentation of mechanisms of competition/ facilitation for N and P bioavailability, model coupling water, N and C functioning adapted to mixed-species forests and practices (species, density…) to manage NFS in FP, and socio-economical assessment of these new management schemes. The results will be valorised through publications in high level scientific journals, as well as in R/D journals and participation to international conferences. More generally the involvement of a top resource partner in farm forestry and agroforestry, the participative approach deployed, and the strong partnership developed with producer organisations in France, Brazil and Congo will warrant a large and efficient dissemination of the Intens&Fix results. From an operational view point, the Intens&Fix project will provide tools of ecological intensification to significantly improve FP management with specific targets in eucalyptus plantations in Congo and Brazil (several millions ha), Very Short Rotation Coppices, and high value timber in agroforestry systems (potential of several millions ha in Europe).

Programs of payments for environmental services (PES) have become quite popular today, recognized worldwide as a possible tool to maintain endangered ecosystems, especially in developing countries since PES are also portrayed as tools for poverty reduction. In their establishment process, PES schemes fit within an institutional pathways, their design is influenced by a diversity of actors (State, international NGOs, civil organizations, farmers organizations, communities …), affecting their relative positioning to other policy responses to environmental management. As PES develop and cover wider area, their territorial interactions with the existing environmental, agricultural and rural development policy instruments become acute. The present project proposes to tackle these issues. We first propose to assess several PES schemes in situ according to the three performance criteria that are the effectiveness, efficiency and equity of the programs, comparing as far as possible sites “with” and “without” PES. Then we will analyze the possible articulations PES schemes might have with the other tools of the environmental policy. We will also reflect upon the legal dimension of PES programs in order to enrich the debate and fully analyse the potential for PES instruments to be normalised and employed by states, or to be softly regulated through supervised markets. All these elements, will allow us then to envisage in which institutional, legal, agro-ecological situations, various configurations of environmental policy mix might be the most reliable. To this end, the PESMIX project proposes an approach based on the comparison of PES schemes in two countries namely Mexico (emerging country) and Madagascar (least developed country which could be classified as “fragile State”). We believe the very distinct PES paysages – two large national public funded PES in Mexico vs a multitude of small scale private-led PES – associated with the different institutional pathways of these countries will help us identify the various formation of a PES policy mix.

MOUVE is is a research consortium integrated by INRA, CIRAD and Cemagref researchers in partnership with universities and research centres in Developing Countries. The purpose of the project is to produce knowledge to understand, model and summarize the necessary implantation and development conditions of Ecological Intensification (EI), and its possible implications in livestock farming systems at the local level. It aims at contributing to the scientific domain of "local development – livestock " interactions in relation with the ecological intensification and sustainable development. Livestock farming systems approaches, sociology of professions, landscape ecology and geography are the main scientific domains contributing to the pluridisciplinary of the project. From a methodological point of view, MOUVE will develop comparative analysis of 8 contrasting extensive livestock farming regions (2 in South America, 1 in African Sahel, 2 in Mediterranean basins, 3 in French mountains). The contrasts rely on i) landscape (rangeland or a mix with crops and forest); ii) livestock production stakes in relation to production or environment,; and iii) livestock dynamics (increasing or decreasing numbers, relocation). The project will treat simultaneously 1) what are the local stakeholders attempts in relation to livestock and sustainable development in times of ecological intensification. This will mobilize participatory methods, and will help to precise how EI is re- formulated at that local scale. 2 ) what are the characteristics of the "livestock – local development" interactions considering i) the diversity and complementarities of livestock farms, ii) the land use and the ecosystem services, iii) related people debates on what is a good farmer facing times of changes and uncertainties ; 3) the development conditions for livestock farming changes and collective initiatives that fits with EI, and the consequences on the ecosystems and farmers identities. 4) Scenarios methodologies will be utilised to integrate the knowledge with local actors’ one. Our final aim is to produce knowledge and development indicators at the local level to discuss the future of livestock and livestock farming within international arenas, such as FAO, LEAD (Livestock Environment and Development Group).

In tilapia, all-male populations are beneficial for farmers because males have a faster growth-rate than females and it avoids the constraints associated with reproduction. Considering that a male grows 1.6-fold more than a female after 7 months of culture and that tilapia annual production is 2.8 million tons (2nd World Fish production), there is a substantial economical gain for producers. All-males are commonly produced by androgen treatment to masculinise XX larvae. Search for alternatives based on more consumer and environment-friendly methods represents a major challenge for aquaculture. Both genetic or temperature sex control are good alternatives but require long progeny testings to sex & identify fish. Furthermore, selection of breeders (YY males & XX female) giving 95-100% males is necessary. A reliable and precocious sexing procedure would accelerate progeny testings, finding of particular genotypes and reduce production costs for farmers. It will also help scientists in developing temperature and genetic approaches for sex control. The Cirad-INTREPID Unit proposes in the SexTil (Sexing Tilapia) project to: 1) Construct an easy sexing kit for Nile tilapia to be used in laboratories by analysing precociously the expression of a Male-gene. 2) Develop a simpler sexing kit to be used by tilapia farmers consisting on the protein coding the Male-gene. 3) Validate these 2 types of kits on important Nile tilapia strains (Bouake; Manzala; GIFT ..) and on the other farmed tilapia species. 4) Perform a marketing exploration study to analyse the potential of these sexing kits worldwide, and thus help a French company (ie start-up) to commercialize the kits worldwide. Thus it will have considerable economical repercussions, reducing feeding costs, the necessary rearing space, labour and time requirements as well as promote environmentally-friendly sex control alternatives to hormones.