Biodiversity

The UK-based International Institute for Environment and Development has issued a warning that tropical countries participating in REDD+ schemes, whereby they get compensated for protecting their forests to limit emissions of greenhouse gases from deforestation, could fail to reap social and environmental benefits.

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.

BOGOR, Indonesia (25 August, 2011)_Traditional means of conservation have entailed the annexation of land where human activities are strictly controlled or curtailed: so-called “fortress conservation”.

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.