Forests can play a larger and more important role in reducing climate change emissions than previously thought, according to a suite of research released today. By stopping deforestation and allowing young secondary forests to grow back, the cumulative “forest sink” could grow by over 100 billion metric tons of carbon by 2100, about ten times the current rate of annual global fossil fuel emissions, according to a summary of the latest scientific research on forests and climate change.
RECENT ARTICLES
Does community-based forest management work in the tropics?
On paper, community-based forest management sounds like a good idea and it has garnered strong support internationally. But experts familiar with this conservation strategy have found that while CFM may be succeeding in meeting some of its goals, it fails to achieve others. By reviewing some of the scientific literature on CFM’s impacts, we have tried to tease apart its effectiveness.
Resolving conflict in the woods: What forest agency leaders can learn from Canada’s Great Bear Rainforest
Big transformations are coming to the world of forestry, a sector generally known for being conservative and slow to change.
Peru: land trafficking encourages violations of Indigenous Peoples’ rights
The community of Santa Clara de Uchunya, in Ucayali, Peru, is fighting back against both land trafficking and human rights abuses in the region.
Climat: les dirigeants indigènes réclament plus de moyens pour les forêts
Des dirigeants indigènes ont prévenu mardi à Londres que, faute de financement et de mesures supplémentaires pour protéger leurs forêts, la planète n’atteindrait pas les…
Indigenous groups warn Paris accord imperiled by deforestation
Indigenous leaders and forestry experts warned on Tuesday that without more funding and protection for forests and their peoples, the world will fail to meet the ambitious goals set by the Paris Agreement.
In Indonesia, land allocation policies and practices favor corporations over communities
In Indonesia, large portions of lands and forests have been allocated for industrial plantations and extractive businesses with little respect for the land rights of the Indigenous Peoples and local communities occupying or claiming these areas, despite a 2013 Constitutional Court Ruling stating that customary forests should be returned to their traditional owners.
Smart technology helps residents beat eviction
A software tool to help poor urban Cambodians facing eviction get secure land titles can also be used in rural areas where tens of thousands of people are snared in conflicts over land, according to the rights group that designed the technology.
International Facility to Finance Community Land and Forest Tenure
Land stakeholders have stepped up resource mobilization efforts to strengthen land rights and tenure governance globally, through the launch of the International Land and Forest Tenure Facility (the Tenure Facility) and preparations for the ‘Land 2030 Global Initiative’.
A land rights storm brewing in Barbuda?
Millions have learned of the existence of the small island of Barbuda (161 sq. km), through the havoc that Hurricane Irma wreaked on the island, destroying most buildings, roads, water, and power installations. What they may not know is that the less than 2,000 Barbudans collectively own their island; this ownership is under threat, which has been heightened by Hurricane Irma.
Stepping Forward to Lead on Indigenous Rights
When nine women farmers from the Kendeng community in Central Java encased their feet in cement blocks last year, many indigenous advocates understood how that felt. Dressed in their traditional clothing, these women protested outside the State Palace in Jakarta to block a proposed cement plant that would pollute the rivers flowing through their villages. Their livelihoods as farmers were under threat, as was their cultural heritage.
Q&A: Indigenous peoples in the driver’s seat for a sustainable future
Over half the world’s land is lived on and managed using customary and traditional systems. Yet indigenous peoples and local communities have formal, legal ownership of just 10 percent of land globally. Insecure land rights can often lead to protracted conflicts with governments and companies, climate change — when land is not protected from deforestation — and human rights abuses.
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