Tanzania, which once prided in being among the greenest countries on the continent faces major threats of looming desertification brought about by major acts of deforestation. Apparently, despite its reported massive gas reserves, Tanzania still relies heavily on charcoal as a major source of fuel...
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Re: "Manage forests for the future," Oct. 17. The editorial is spot-on in many respects. What it omits is that presentations to the Special Committee on Timber Supply did not support the unsustainable logging of old-growth reserve forests, of sensitive areas and of marginally economic forests at...
Since the launch of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) over a decade ago, concerted efforts have been made around the world to improve the contribution of different economic sectors to poverty eradication. In the Asia-Pacific region, the forestry sector is of great importance in this respect...
University of Canterbury researchers have made a breakthrough in treating export logs by heating them using high voltage electricity. Export logs are usually fumigated to rid the timber of pests, such as insects and fungi which could pose a biosecurity threat. “Methyl bromide has been the most...
UNEP-WCMC and UNEP FI have issued a new publication on voluntary and compliance regimes in relation to biodiversity offsets.
UN carbon credits could be worth just 50 euro cents by the end of the decade due to a huge oversupply of allowances, hitting investment in its Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), analysts Thomson Reuters Point Carbon warned yesterday.
A TRAFFIC document analysing and comparing the different requirements under various regulatory systems for legal importation of timber into the European Union (EU) has been launched today in India.
At a time when scientific evidence is mounting that burning trees for electricity will actually result in increased carbon emissions when compared to coal over the next 30 to 50 years, utilities in Europe are making a mad dash to convert coa
The U.N. has issued carbon credits to a reforestation project in Ethiopia, the second time tree planting has received emission reductions. The project in the village of Humbo, Ethiopia, which was approved by the U.N. almost three years ago, was last Friday awarded 73,000 carbon credits under the...
The Oddar Meanchey REDD+ project in Cambodia has achieved successful dual validation under the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) and Climate, Community and Biodiversity (CCB) standard. This is the first community-based mosaic REDD+ project in Asia achieve VCS registration and CCB Gold validation, and...
I remember when the park guards first came to our village. They called a meeting and said ‘get your things together and pack your bags, don’t make any new farms and we will see where you can be resettled’.
There is a growing realization that good practice Social Impact Assessment (SIA) is an issue of self-interest; it can strengthen social sustainability, reduce investor risks and transaction costs, inform adaptive management, and build stakeholder ownership when undertaken in a participatory way....
Developed countries have been uneven at best in defining Fast-Start Finance (FSF)
Paper and packaging group Sappi has issued over 400 of its staff members with Section 189 notices regarding its decision to mothball the PM4 paper machine at its KwaZulu-Natal-based Tugela mill, from January 1. Although expected to be substantially lower, Sappi pointed out on Friday that the...
A country needs assessment on REDD+ was commissioned by the UN-REDD Programme following a decision of its Policy Board that such an assessment be conducted to enable it to review its policies and align the Programme’s support with the priority needs of countries. In the process, the FCPF of the...
This is the fourth in a series of guest contributions focussed on sharing local experiences from around the world in developing and implementing safeguards in REDD+. The series features contributions from Central America, East Africa and Asia-Pacific. In this blog Luis Trevejo explores how...
Almost three years ago, the United States launched a major effort to help tropical forest nations dramatically reduce deforestation, one of the primary sources of climate pollution. This report assesses the progress made implementing this program and offers concrete recommendations for reform. By...
It's not as glamorous as cocaine or diamonds, but the illegal logging industry has become very attractive to criminal organisations over the past decade. A new report finds that up to 90 per cent of tropical deforestation can be attributed to organised crime, which controls up to 30 per cent of the...
Pastureland has been identified as the leading driver of deforestation in many parts of Latin America. But when considering alternative land uses – like the growing of soya beans and oil palm – it’s not necessarily an “either-or” question, says Pablo Pacheco, a scientist with the Center for...