Forestry scientists need to think big, act fast and communicate better if their work is to have an impact on global climate change negotiations, CIFOR Director General Frances Seymour said in a keynote address at an international forestry conference.
London, Aug. 16, 2010 (RISI) - I recently took part in a web meeting on the future of the financial industry's interest in forestry. It was surprising how sophisticated banks, insurance companies and analysts are becoming in evaluating forestry investments.
What do bone fragments, cow patties and banana peels have in common? They all help gardens grow. When processed into a charcoal-like substance called biochar instead of being burned directly for fuel, researchers say organic materials could offset as much as 12 percent of the world's greenhouse gases.
The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), a member of the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research (CGIAR), with funding from the Norwegian Government, has published a study on forest law enforcement and governance, and forest practices in Guyana.
Finance ministers must realise that mounting devastation of ecosystems harms economic development
It is all too easy to forget in the city-centred 21st century that human wellbeing is utterly dependent on the natural world. To state the obvious, we cannot survive without fresh water, food and fuel. And yet every day countless decisions are made whose ripple effects will degrade or destroy the vital goods and services that nature provides to people.
"The primary function of REDD+ is to realize green house gas emission reductions from forest ecosystems to avoid the worst effects of climate change. Apart from this substantial carbon sequestration and storage function, forest ecosystems harbor many important development benefits or ‘safeguards’ against disasters.
UN-REDD Programme Officer, Wahida Patwa-Shah and UN-REDD Natural Resources Officer, Linda Rosengren, look beyond carbon to flesh out the many ways forests provide benefits to society, and highlight steps the UN-REDD Programme is taking to ensure these benefits are safeguarded in national REDD+ strategies.
Deutsche Bank economist Pavan Sukhdev is heading up the groundbreaking TEEB (The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity) report and doing for nature what Sir Nicholas Stern did for climate change - valuing it
Tom Levitt: Why are we putting a value on nature, why don't we just close off and protect it?
