Biodiversity

As 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.

2009 may prove to be an important turning point for tropical forests.

Lead by Brazil, which had the lowest extent of deforestation since at least the 1980s, global forest loss likely declined to its lowest level in more than a decade. Critical to the fall in deforestation was the global financial crisis, which dried up credit for forest-destroying activities and contributed to a crash in commodity prices, an underlying driver of deforestation.
 

Nature, Carbon and Climate Change in British Columbia
by Dr. Jim Pojar; Commissioned by the Working Group on Biodiversity, Forests and Climate, an alliance of ENGOs including ForestEthics

The UN has declared 2010 the International Year of Biodiversity, but the UN’s Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) remains the poor (and largely forgotten) sibling to the headline-grabbing climate-change convention (UNFCCC). Delegates to CBD talks in Nairobi this week and next are looking at schemes designed to change that, in part by embedding more biodiversity values in the global carbon market.

Finance ministers must realise that mounting devastation of ecosystems harms economic development

GRANTS PASS, Ore. – A federal appeals court Friday cleared the way for logging to resume in an old growth forest reserve at a national forest in Oregon to protect northern spotted owl habitat from being lost to wildfire.

Delegates from 69 countries met Tuesday in Nagoya, central Japan, on the sidelines of the ongoing U.N. biodiversity talks to discuss ways to help developing nations tackle issues of deforestation in a bid to counter greenhouse gas emissions.

A recent study commissioned by the National Alliance of Forestry Owners states that a new Environmental Protection Agency rule regulating greenhouse gas emissions will severely limit woody biomass renewable energy projects if implemented as scheduled in January.

In May, the EPA issued a final rule establishing the “Tailoring Rule” to regulate greenhouse gas emissions released into the atmosphere by defining when permits are required for new and existing industrial facilities. The rule is scheduled to go into effect Jan. 2, 2011.

With giant tortoises, elephants, and other fruit-eating animals disappearing from many of the world’s tropical woodlands, forests are suffering from the loss of a key function performed by these creatures: the dispersal of tree seeds. But a new experiment shows that introduced species may be able to fulfill this vital ecological role. by sharon levy

A report by the Times of India earlier this month that an Indian company, Vaitarna Holdings, controlled 1.82M acres of Guyanese forest deservedly captured media scrutiny here.

A new concept of saving forests from further deterioration while conserving them for biodiversity conservation and sustainable livelihood for local communities has been at work in Southern Leyte province since 2009, initiated by a German government organization GIZ.

A multifaceted project to preserve one of the last of Ethiopia's native forests has been underway for the past four years with the support of Germany's International Climate Initiative and NABU, the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union. The project focuses on reforestation, job creation in the region and the introduction of sustainable forest management practices. The area was officially named a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve earlier this year.

UNEP has published the fifth issue in the Policy Brief on Ecosystem Management series. This policy brief seeks to outline how forests can be a key part of a green economy that provides opportunities for innovative solutions to forest management. The provides an overview of the many values of forest assets before reviewing the complex issues that threaten forests globally and lastly looking at the emerging innovative market and policy solutions that can promote long-term sustainable forest management and contribute to a green economy.

Emerging international standards for Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) projects require a demonstrated biodiversity benefit and a biodiversity monitoring protocol.