Forestry

FORESTS As Life Support is the theme of World Environment Day this Sunday. But as Indonesian government officials and environmentalists alike celebrate the vital role the nation's forests play in sustaining biodiversity and maintaining a stable global climate, they remain deeply divided about the effectiveness of official preservation measures.

Dear colleagues,

Kees Stigter and Mohan Reddy Vishwavaram make a fair point in their article "A Plea for a REDD++ approach". Having said that it seems we, the environmentally conscious community-of-practice are either suffering from mass amnesia, or are determined to remain on the fringe of global development/environmental discourse or we are simply talking past one another.

Simon Kasagana knows his meager livelihood depends on the forest, but like many others eking out a living in the vast Congo basin, he has little choice but to destroy it.