There is a new wave of entrepreneurs aiming to get rich by
saving the rainforests. Richard Lofthouse reports
Ever wanted to get rich by doing absolutely nothing? In a bizarre way that’s what a bunch of new entrepreneurs and large corporations are trying to do. The formula is ridiculously simple: buy up or lease a tract of rainforest, prop up a deckchair and watch it grow. Put a financial price on its mere existence and sell a range of ‘products’ – called ecosystem services – to polluters. If trees could hear, they’d be setting up trade unions.
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Parties have submitted their views on further LULUCF treatment!
Die ersten Länder haben ihre Stellungnahmen zur zukünftigen Behandlung des LULUCF Sektors abgegeben!
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The World bank's strategy on forests and climate change
Gerhard Dieterle (World Bank Forest Advisor), Civil society event at the World bank spring meetings 2009, 24 April
By 2050 it is believed that 75% of fiber will be grown in fast growing plantations.
There are opportunities in this for developing countries, however the revenues must stay in the countries to be beneficial.
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House panel approves climate change bill
Reporting by Tom Doggett and Richard Cowan, Source: Copyright 2009, Reuters, Date: May 21, 2009
Original URL
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REDD carbon trading - the next bluff of finance markets?LONDON/NUSA DUA, Indonesia (Reuters) - It could save the rainforests of Borneo, slow climate change and the international community backs it. But a plan to pay tropical countries not to chop down trees risks being discredited by opportunists even before it starts.
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Huge drop in Amazon Forest Fires in 2008New NASA research shows a sharp decline in the amount of smoke over the Amazon during the 2008 burning season, coinciding with a drop in deforestation reported last week by Carlos Minc, Brazil's Environment Minister.
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July 15, 2009: The UK has released its Low Carbon Transition Plan. The Plan plots out how the UK will meet the cut in emissions set out in the budget of 34% on 1990 levels by 2020.
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Ecological produced palm oil - nobody want's to buy...KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- European consumer groups and nongovernmental organizations have said they want environmentally friendly palm oil. Malaysian producers of palm oil that have made the switch are discovering that it is still a hard sell.
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Ökologisch produziertes Palmöl kauft niemand...Margarine, Kosmetika, Putzmittel, Eis und eine Beimischung in Biotreibstoff: Palmöl ist vielfältig einsetzbar und mittlerweile fixer Bestandteil im Alltag. Obwohl die Preise für Palmöl im vergangenen Jahr gefallen waren, läuft das Geschäft mit Palmöl. Weltweit werden jährlich mehr als 43 Millionen Tonnen Palmöl produziert.
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Brazil still against REDD - but not against fighting deforestation...While committed to stopping deforestation, Brazil sees a carbon trading scheme as the wrong way to proceed. On climate change mitigation, it wants commitments to reflect historic emissions.A scheme that would allow developed nations to gain carbon credits by supporting forest conservation is on the agenda of the UN conference in Copenhagen this December, but the home country of the Amazon, the world’s largest forest, now turns its thumb down.
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Seeing Through the Haze:How NGOs Work the ForestsAs they do every year, Greenpeace and nongovernmental organizations like “Eyes on the Forest,” which is supported by the WWF and other western environmental groups, have squarely blamed the plantation industry for the seasonal fires in Sumatra.
This generates sympathy for the anti-forestry campaign NGOs have been waging in Indonesia for many years, which pits economic development against the environment.
But this perspective is simplistic and wrong.
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The other black [green] goldIn Brazil’s Amazon basin, farmers have long sought out a special form of fertiliser – a locally sourced compost-like substance prized for its amazing qualities of reviving poor or exhausted soils. They buy it in sacks or dig it out of the earth from patches that are sometimes as much as 6ft deep. Spread on fields, it retains its fertile qualities for long periods.
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Brazil - Land Use Change - From and to ForestsIn Brazil, Paying Farmers to Let the Trees Stand
QUERENCIA, Brazil — José Marcolini, a farmer here, has a permit from the Brazilian government to raze 12,500 acres of rain forest this year to create highly profitable new soy fields.
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Kehrt der Regenwald im Amazonas zurück?Kehrt der Amazonas-Regenwald zurück? Neue Studien deuten darauf hin, dass nachwachsende Vegetationen den Dschungel zumindest teilweise ersetzen können. Kritiker befürchten jedoch, der Raubbau werde verharmlost - denn auch die Sekundärwälder werden oft wieder abgefackelt.
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Global forest destruction seen overestimated?RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - The amount of carbon emissions caused by world forest destruction is likely far less than the 20 percent figure being widely used before global climate talks in December, said the head of the Brazilian institute that measures Amazon deforestation.
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You might risk your life when taking care of land tenure rights in the Amazon region...Father Henri de Roziers has worked to help the poor and landless in the Amazon for more than 30 years.
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First developing countries proposals for LULUCF in BangkokAfter nearly two years of developed countries discussing different options for rule changes for this sector, and not getting much farther than more clearly articulating the options that suit each country best, G77 and China said enough is enough and drew a line in the sand:
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Palm Project Accused of Environmental DestructionKAMPALA, Nov 3 (IPS) - It is a public-private partnership intended to reduce Uganda's dependence on imported vegetable oil while creating sustainable jobs and income for several thousand people. Its critics say it's destroying forests with no regard for environmental regulations.
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Illegal logging responsible for loss of 10 million hectares in IndonesiaLush tropical rainforest once covered almost all of Indonesia's 17,000 islands between the Indian and Pacific oceans. And just half a century ago, 80 per cent remained. But since then, rampant logging and burning has destroyed nearly half that cover, and made the country the world's third largest emitter of greenhouses gases after the US and China.
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CO2 from forest destruction overestimated?
The carbon dioxide emissions caused by the destruction of tropical forests have been significantly overestimated, according to a new study. The work could undermine attempts to pay poor countries to protect forests as a cost-effective way to tackle global warming.
The loss of forests in countries such as Brazil and Indonesia is widely assumed to account for about 20% of all carbon dioxide produced by human activity – more than the world's transport system. The 20% figure was published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2007 and was widely quoted after being highlighted by the Stern review on the economics of the problem. It is repeatedly used by Prince Charles and others as an incentive to push efforts to include forests in carbon trading.
Curbing emissions from deforestation is one of the main issues being discussed at a UN climate meeting in Barcelona this week, before crucial talks in Copenhagen next month.
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RAPP, REDD and indigenous peopleCarbon offset schemes like REDD have been a big part of the Copenhagen negotiations so far, but in practice they can go horribly wrong, reports Angela Dewan
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TREES are one of the most efficient systems of carbon capture and storage on the planet. They breathe in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen, locking the carbon into their roots, trunk, branches, twigs and leaves and the soil. They are so good at this that about 20% of the greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere can be attributed to deforestation. In the run-up to the climate talks in Copenhagen in December, bright minds around the world are negotiating a formal scheme for reducing the loss of trees as a way of lowering the world’s carbon emissions.
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Forests hold poverty solutionHA NOI — The forestry sector's biggest difficulty is to balance the relationship between hunger elimination and poverty reduction and its development, a conference heard yesterday in Ha Noi.
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It is possible that the environmental challenge in Africa that will have the biggest impact on the rest of the world is the degradation of the Congo Basin rainforest. According to Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai, in her 2009 book
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Issue date: Saturday, 30 January 2010 Keeping more forest or biodiversity with many empty stomachs does not make any senseGöttingeli Nepalese Society, popularly known as GöNeS, proudly started to introduce the well-known Nepalese academician in Germany who has already set a standard in their respective field.
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Central-East European Regional Office – EFICEEC launchedThe development of EFI Regional Offices continues. The latest office to open its doors is the Central-East European Regional Office – EFICEEC in Vienna, Austria.
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Wieso die EU Agrarpolitik die Entwaldung von Regenwäldern forciert oder anders gefragt: wieso bekämpft die EU illegale Holzschlägerungen, nicht aber Entwaldung?
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UNFCCC in Bonn: Emissions Reductions or Market Mechanisms? Bonn, Germany - As the UNFCCC climate talks got under way in Bonn, the two working groups began meetings: the ad hoc working group on long-term co-operative action (AWG-LCA) began with responses to the draft text and ad hoc working group on the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP) began to discuss emission
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Industrial Farming Slows Climate Change?
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Forestry Land Use - A Chorus of Rusty CogsThere aren’t many beards in evidence at Citola’s offices, but we hope you’ll know what we mean when we say we’ve been doing a lot of beard-stroking when it comes to the issue of the UN climate change talks.
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All is not sheepshape on the farmThe sheep industry is fighting for its life as farmers turn to dairying and forestry for better returns. How has it got to this and what can be done?
As much as anyone, John Gregan has worked hard to engineer a revival of sheep farming.
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Scientists warn that Malaysia is converting tropical forests to rubberwood plantations The Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC) has condemned Malaysia's booming practice of converting tropical forests into rubberwood plantations, arguing that the conversion threatens Malaysia's biodiversity, endangered species, and releases significant greenhouse gas emissions.
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UNFCCC Publishes Meeting Report on Guidance for Forest Emissions and Removals
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Degraded Land, Sustainable Palm Oil, and Indonesia’s FutureA new policy to develop oil palm on degraded land could protect Indonesia’s forests. But what does “degraded” really mean?
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Liberia to Choose between Logging and future Climate RevenueTrucks loaded with undressed timber are on the move again around Buchanan in Grand Bassa county, south-east Liberia.
The dust recalls the not-so-distant time when the timber trade was synonymous with war.
Liberia's rainforests are being primed as a lucrative and legal industry. Electronic tags allow consumers to trace the end-product right back to the stump. Photograph: Glenna Gordon/AFP/Getty Images
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United Nations urged to adopt EDF’s proposals to improve carbon accounting in forestryLeading up to next week’s round of international climate change negotiations in Bonn, Germany, a coalition that includes Environmental Defense Fund today presented to the United Nations its proposals to properly account for land management activities that add or remove carbon in the atmosphere.
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Ranchers and Drug Barons Threaten Rain ForestEL MIRADOR, Guatemala — Great sweeps of Guatemalan rain forest, once the cradle of one of the world’s great civilizations, are being razed to clear land for cattle-ranching drug barons.
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Australia mulls foreign-linked carbon offset schemeThe Australian government is proposing to allow foresters and farmers to create carbon offset credits for international sale into foreign emissions trading markets. Prime Minister Julia Gillard launched the policy on the weekend, part of campaigning ahead of a federal election on August 21.
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Uganda: Forest cover fast dying out as tobacco industry boomsKampala (Uganda) - Uganda’s tobacco industry is spawning an environmental disaster, as farmers turn to fruit trees for wood fuel to cure the tobacco leaves.
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Forest definition hinders REDD progress in IndonesiaA report published by the World Agroforestry Centre (CGIAR) has announced that one third of Indonesia’s greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation actually come from areas which are not officially designated as “forest”. This has led to concern over the success of the UN’s Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) project if carbon output is not being measured throughout the entire country.
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Portugal's Forests Losing Ability to Capture CarbonGERÊS, Portugal, Aug 31, 2010 (IPS) - Environmentalists are alarmed: fires have destroyed close to 100,000 hectares of forest in Portugal this summer, releasing one million tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Worst of all, the forests are losing their ability to absorb carbon.
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Shell funding of forest protection scheme could result in 'largest land grab of all time'Oil giant's investment in Indonesian REDD conservation project is a crude attempt to increase profit and gloss over its expanding oil drilling operations, say campaigners
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The Fight Over Palm Oil Funding
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Large Land Deals Threaten Farmers, World Bank SaysSept. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Foreign purchases of agricultural land from Mozambique to Cambodia pose “significant risks” to the livelihoods of farmers in countries with “weak land governance,” the World Bank said in a report.
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CDM forestry rules need reformThe CDM’s forest carbon rules surrounding eligibility of both land and activity type need to be reformed if the forest sector is going to make its contribution to the climate change mitigation effort, argues Dr Promode Kant of India’s Institute of Green Economy:
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B.C. draft carbon offset rules draw criticism from environmentalist
Proposed rules for forest carbon offset projects are receiving criticism as a new draft protocol is opened up for public review.
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Forests or famine the choice for Papua New Guineans, says economist
An Australian academic says feeding themselves will become very difficult for the majority of Papua New Guineans if more forests aren’t cleared for farmland.
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Coffee Forest vs. Village Carbon ForestAre thousands of citizens of Masurai Subdistrict, Merangin District guilty if they independently utilize area of HPH (forest concession) which has been abandoned since 15 years ago as public coffee plantations? Regulation and legislation ensure cultivation and utilization of forest areas by th
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LULUCF in 2011 - Guest Commentary in Point Carbon
--the following appeared as a guest commentary in Carbon Market Europe, Thomson Reuters Point Carbon on February 25, 2011--
Closing the deal on forest accounting
By Chris Henschel, national manager of boreal conservation, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society
Mark it on your calendar: the UN climate change conference in South Africa this December will deliver an agreement on the accountability of industrialised countries for their emissions from forest management and other land uses (LULUCF).
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Indonesia’s Moratorium: An Opportunity for Forests and Industry
A highly anticipated two-year moratorium on new forest conversion permits could bring fundamental improvements to forest and land management in Indonesia.
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Rethink growth with forest capital
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‘PLUP fiction’ improves land use planning in Lao PDR
BOGOR, Indonesia (11 May, 2011)_A CIFOR-led project is yielding innovative tools that help rural people improve their livelihoods and protect their natural resources.
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Eco ministry says its satellite tech use is optimalMUMBAI: According to the Union environment ministry, there are 6.5 million hectares of plantations outside the recorded forest area, which primarily includes native plant species mixed with others.
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Government approves carbon accreditation schemeIn a UK first the British government has approved a carbon accreditation scheme set up to recognise business' efforts to capture and store carbon.
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Simmering tension over forest give-awayKAMPALA, 7 September 2011 (IRIN) - A plan to replace a large swathe of protected rainforest in Uganda with sugarcane could lead to further civil unrest in a year when nine people have been killed during strikes and protests against the rising cost of living.
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Too Much Focus on Forest Conservation, Too Little on FoodProper attention needs to be given to livelihood improvement. Forest protection is an important objective, yet local livelihoods, particularly food security of local people, needs to be taken into account.
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Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) Calls for Facts Not Fiction about Forest Protection
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Biodiesels pollute more than crude oil, leaked data show
Greenhouse gas emissions from biofuels such as palm oil, soybean and rapeseed are higher than those for fossil fuels when the effects of Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC) are counted, according to leaked EU data seen by EurActiv.
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Spain Needs $466 Million in Carbon Credits to Meet Kyoto Limit
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One couldn't believe these figures:
"The link between deforestation and climate change is well known and estimated to cause between 25-30 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions - and excessive demand for wood is one of the main causes of forest destruction ."
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African land grabs hinder sustainable development01 February 2012 (NATURE.com)- A scramble to buy African land is threatening the continent’s sustainable development, according to reports launched today at the Royal Society in London.
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New web tool to improve accuracy of global land cover mapsAn interactive web tool has been developed to improve the accuracy and extent of global land use and forest cover information. The new 'Geo-Wiki' uses Google Earth and information provided by a global network of volunteers to fill in 'data gaps' and to verify existing land cover information.
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UPDATE 1-EU seeks tighter CO2 grip on farms, forests -draftBRUSSELS, Feb 24 (Reuters) - The EU forestry and farming sectors will have to monitor and report from 2013 changes to land use that could affect greenhouse gas emissions, as part of the bloc's measures to curb climate change, under a draft law seen by Reuters.
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The global land rush: what the evidence reveals about scale and geography
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Museveni angry over NGO report on land grabbing Oxfam and Uganda Land Alliance face deregistration
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When, where and how wood is used impact carbon emissions from logging
A new study from the University of California, Davis, provides a deeper understanding of the complex global impacts of deforestation on greenhouse gas emissions.
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Sustainable land use for the 21st century It is estimated that the human footprint has affected 83% of the global terrestrial
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India’s forest area in doubtTo judge from India’s official surveys, the protection of its forests is a success. Somehow, this resource-hungry country of 1.2 billion people is managing to preserve its rich forests almost intact in the face of growing demands for timber and agricultural land.
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California's forest protocol outpaces EU's LULUCF plans
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Forests or Agriculture: not necessarily an ‘all or nothing’ trade-off BOGOR, Indonesia (16 October, 2012)_Making informed decisions on how to reduce carbon emissions from forestry and agriculture requires some solid knowledge about potential tradeoffs between development and conservation objectives: what you manage to win through avoided deforestation or reduced c
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Understanding carbon loss and potential interventions in Manica Understanding how land use and its changes affect forest cover and carbon stocks is fundamental to developing
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“Come out of the forest” to save the treesForestry experts have called for a new approach to managing land and tackling climate change – challenging the ongoing debate that forests have to be sacrificed for the sake of rural development and food security.
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Will more trees cause more rain?JOHANNESBURG, 8 February 2013 (IRIN) - It is commonly believed that destroying trees will influence the climate of a region. But scientific evidence to support that deforestation and afforestation influence local climate - affecting temperature and rainfall - has only just started emerging.
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