deforestation News
-
Impact of protected forest areas: Improving assessment
Designating protected areas is a recognised way of avoiding deforestation and maintaining carbon sinks. But new research shows conventional methods for estimating avoided deforestation are flawed. The study proposes an improved method which may provide more accurate estimates for the effectiveness of protected area networks in reducing deforestation and help shape future conservation policy. ...
-
Commission-funded report blames Europe for global forest destruction
Europe leads the industrialised world in driving global deforestation, according to an independent report released today by the European Commission [1]. European consumption of goods led to a forest loss of at least nine million hectares between 1990 and 2008, an area the size of Ireland. Forests in the Amazon, South-East Asia and Africa were worst affected. Major industrialised economies, along ...
-
Forests finally emerging as climate issue
The representatives of more than 100 countries attending December's U.N. climate conference in Bali, Indonesia, finally focused on the important role tropical forests play in global warming. Forest clearcut in Indonesia Developed countries have pledged almost $300 million to help forest-rich developing countries prepare for their new roles and responsibilities in the post Kyoto international ...
-
EU keeps palm oil in the mix
BRUSSELS, 11 February 2019 – The European Commission has gone most of the way toward banning the use of unsustainable palm oil in EU transport, but it hasn’t quite closed the deal. Instead of acting on the RED II agreement and removing so-called high-ILUC-risk biofuels from the EU’s transport mix, it has left a door open. “Making an exception for feedstock produced by ...
-
General mills commits to 100 percent sustainable Palm Oil by 2015
General Mills said today it will "strive to source 100 percent of our palm oil from responsible and sustainable sources by 2015." In its Statement on Responsible Palm Oil Sourcing today on GeneralMills.com, the company said its objective is "to help ensure our purchases are not associated in any way with deforestation of the world's rainforests – and to further reinforce the development of ...
-
Mapping tool to support sustainable palm-oil farming
Two online mapping applications, designed to support sustainable production in Indonesia by helping to identify degraded lands that could be used to produce palm oil, were launched by the US-based World Resources Institute (WRI) last month (30 October). The Forest Cover Analyzer and Suitability Mapper aim to support government efforts to reduce deforestation in Indonesia. Through the ...
By SciDev.Net
-
Australia Invites Nations to Monitor Forests for Climate`s Sake
SYDNEY, Australia, July 23, 2007 (ENS) - Australia will establish a new global system to monitor changes in forest cover and forest carbon levels as part of its A$200 million Global Initiative on Forests and Climate, government officials announced today. Minister for Foreign Affairs Alexander Downer, and Environment and Water Resources Minister Malcolm Turnbull introduced the initiative at a ...
-
Commission still needs to do better on palm oil
Revised text to phase out biofuels feedstock driving deforestation reflects stakeholders’ concerns, but maintains loophole BRUSSELS, 13 March 2019 – With its newly adopted Delegated Regulation defining biofuel feedstocks associated with conversion of high-carbon-stock land, the European Commission has taken a few steps in the right direction on the issue of palm oil. But even though ...
-
The high price of planting palm oil forests
New data shows that massive amounts of carbon dioxide are being released from tropical Southeast Asian peatland after the conversion of natural swamp forest to oil palm or pulpwood tree plantations. The findings are in accordance with other recent reports on the growing negative environmental impacts of planting palm oil and pulpwood forests. Natural peatland accumulates huge stores of carbon ...
-
A conversation with Nirarta “Koni” Samadhi on Indonesia’s Forests
How can Indonesia—the world’s fourth-most populous country and an emerging economic powerhouse—reduce deforestation and promote sustainable development across its vast, rapidly changing landscape? That was a question recently posed by Nirarta “Koni” Samadhi, Deputy for the Indonesian President’s Delivery Unit on Development Monitoring and Oversight and Chair ...
-
Africa could reduce greenhouse gases, says UN
Although Africa contributes significantly to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from sources other than fossil fuels, it could be absorbing more carbon from the atmosphere than it puts back in, according to CarboAfrica, an international research project of 15 institutions from Africa and Europe that includes FAO. Studying wild fires in South Africa's Kruger Park, carbon dioxide flows in the ...
-
Status of world`s forests to be revealed in groundbreaking study
FAO has called upon countries to participate in preparing the next Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA), the most comprehensive data collection on the state of the world’s forests to date. Started over 60 years ago, the Global Forest Resources Assessment process provides information on how much forest exists, how it is being managed and how it is being lost. Global forest cover currently ...
-
Blue carbon stored in vegetated coastal systems could be underestimated
Vegetated coastal ecosystems, such as mangroves, marshes and seagrasses, are an important carbon sink and their destruction increases greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A new study estimates that 0.15-1.02 Pg (petagrams) of CO2 are being released annually from degradation of these valuable ecosystems, resulting in economic losses of US$6-42 billion (€4.68 to 32.81 billion) per year. It is ...
-
No Climate Benefit Gained by Planting Temperate Forests
SAN FRANCISCO, California, (ENS) - Planting forests in temperate regions such as the United States and Europe may not yield any benefit for the global climate, and may instead contribute to warming, according to a new study set for presentation Saturday at the American Geophysical Society annual meeting in San Francisco. By contrast, trees planted in tropical rainforests could indeed help to ...
-
Environmental & industry groups commend new US ban on illegal wood imports
The United States has taken the critical step of passing legislation banning the import, sale or trade of illegally-harvested wood and forest products. The new US benchmark measure will be key in addressing this far-reaching problem. The US Congress amended the US Lacey Act, a long-standing wildlife trafficking statute, to include trade in products made from illegally harvested wood. ...
-
Sustainable management of forests priority of next G8 Summit
Sustainable forest management will be a key issue for Japan’s G8 presidency this year, Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda announced today at a Climate Change Forum in Brasilia. “While promoting ‘sustainable forest management,’ we need to try to halt deforestation and forest degradation,” PM Fukuda said at the opening session of the GLOBE Brasilia Legislators Forum. “I intend to promote a ...
-
FAO to partner CBD on biodiversity
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) will work together on programmes that address climate change, food security and biodiversity loss. Two memoranda of understanding (MoU) signed last week (11 Oct) on the sidelines of the 11th Conference of Parties (COP 11) of the CBD in Hyderabad, India, aim to promote partnerships covering research, ...
By SciDev.Net
-
Envirosearch.org Re-Launch: Bing-based Search Engine Supporting International Tree-Planting Initiative
The Carbonfund.org Foundation is pleased to announce the re-launch of a new and improved Envirosearch.org, a free, Bing-powered search engine that enables anyone to help protect the environment simply through their everyday web searches. Envirosearch.org supports international conservation projects like reforestation efforts and wildlife preservation, which includes supporting tree-planting ...
-
High-yield crops have curbed agricultural land expansion, but care needed to avoid negative biodiversity effects
The widespread use of higher-yielding improved varieties of crops as part of the Green Revolution’ has averted the conversion of between 18 to 27 million hectares of forests, woodlands and pastures in the period 1965 to 2004, according to a recent study. However, its authors caution that the relationship between these crops and land use change is complex, and good governance is needed to ...
-
Building the foundation for REDD+: Recommendations for Durban on Forest Monitoring
Though forests play an essential role in international efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the development of systems to monitor deforestation and forest degradation has been slow. This is due to the demanding technical requirements and the large capacity gaps in many countries. Measuring and monitoring change on the ground and via satellite in a consistent way is no easy task. Countries ...
Need help finding the right suppliers? Try XPRT Sourcing. Let the XPRTs do the work for you