This introductory paper raises general issues and poses questions that are pursued in the other papers. The initial premise of this paper is that impact cannot be discussed in isolation from the broader context of research and development and the overall priorities guiding the centres research, training, and networking activities.

This review paper evaluates the potential of remote sensing for assessing landscape and species diversity in mountainous terrain. Understanding the complex mechanism of biodiversity necessitate its spatial and temporal dynamics and synergetic adoption of measurement approaches with long-term plot inventories.

The papers presented here by the group covering the states of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) had detailed discussions on defining the livestock priorities, research requirements, and ways to achieve these with a focus on Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand. Discussions were conducted in three sequential phases. In the first phase, each country identified the priority agro-ecological zones (AEZs) and, within each, priority production systems in which livestock research was required. The results are presented in a tabular form.

This proceedings presents the results and conclusions of ILRI's role in livestock research and development in Asia. It provides a detailed testimony of the success of the consultation, and especially about ILRI's commitment to form integrated programmes for livestock and agricultural research with national partners and others.

Increasingly, geospatial web applications such as www.fixmystreet.com or www.seeclickfix.com are being integrated within citizen participation processes in spatial planning and the provision of communal services. Recently, several of these platforms have been launched in Latin America and other countries of the Global South.

In 2014 the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing took effect and is being implemented by countries. This is important for fair and equitable sharing of benefits derived from genetic resources. However, scientists are concerned about its effect on non-commercial research, which has scientific, societal and environmental benefits beyond commercial gains. Such research may be delayed by cumbersome procedures and hampered by poor understanding of its scientific purposes and research requirements.

The Center for International Forestry Research has developed and adapted various participatory tools for use with forest communities and other natural resource dependent groups. The tools have diverse applications: stakeholder identification, decision making, planning, conflict management, information collection, landscape assessment and other uses. The Guide to Participatory Tools for Forest Communities is intended for environment and development practitioners, researchers and local government officials.