deforestation News
-
Brazilian Monitoring and Law Enforcement Prevented over 59,500 sq. km of Amazon Deforestation
Brazil's efforts to better monitor forest clearings and enforce laws prevented the clearing of over 59,500 km2 of Amazon forest area from 2007 through 2011, according to a new study by Climate Policy Initiative (CPI), DETERring Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. Deforestation observed during this period totaled 41,500 km2 – 59% less than would have occurred in the absence of the policy ...
-
REDD Ink - So many words, so little progress
Halting deforestation could be the cheapest way to save the planet from climate change. But will the REDD agreement preserve forests or will it merely provide a fig ...
-
Agreement reached on measures to protect rainforests
Representatives of 50 countries conclude agreement on financing and a framework for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation ...
-
Deforestation may boost rainfall on West African cropland
The many negative effects of deforestation are well-known, but scientists have shown that farmers may derive one advantage from planting in deforested areas that are sandwiched between patches of forest. Converting rainforests into cropland increases rainfall in the new cropland by four to six times, but halves the amount of rain over the forest, says a modelling study by scientists from the ...
By SciDev.Net
-
Groundbreaking study finds the `hotspots` most responsible for deforestation
A new collaborative study by WRI and other researchers finds that much of the world’s deforestation is isolated in a handful of “hotspots,” not spread out over many nations and many locations. In fact, this study showed that over half the world’s deforestation (in this study only clear-cut are monitored) is happening in just two locations: 48% is occurring in Brazil, with another 13% concentrated ...
-
Global leadership on deforestation and climate change
Two high-level forums convene this week in Washington D.C. to deal with some of the most challenging forestry and climate change issues facing the international community. The World Bank is hosting the Global Forest Leaders Forum on Forests and Climate Change (co-chaired by WRI), part of a process to give voice to the world’s forests and the people who depend on them. Separately, UNDP, FAO and ...
-
Deforestation: forests and the planet`s biodiversity are disappearing
Deforestation is the permanent destruction of forests and woodlands. While the phenomenon is not new, the current scale and pace of destruction is alarming. Tropical forests are disappearing at a rate of about 13 million hectares per year (approximately the size of Greece). This magnitude of destruction has an impact not only at a local level, but also globally. Tropical forests are home to much ...
-
WWF: Climate deal must include strong deforestation target
Global leaders must support a clear and effective deforestation target at climate talks in Copenhagen in December, or they risk crippling the world’s ability to control climate change. As the XIIIth World Forestry Congress came to an end on Friday, WWF called for an ambitious and bold climate deal at COP 15 to give clear guidance and incentives for the forestry sector to do its part in stopping ...
-
At UN Climate Change Conference, group on cooperative action plan set up
The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali is off to an “encouraging start,” a senior UN official dealing with the issue has said, citing the decision by participating countries to establish a group that will determine the key elements of a long-term cooperative plan of action to address climate change. The group, which will be open to all 192 countries of the UN Framework Convention ...
-
Forest and donor countries stump up to reduce emissions
Forest and donor countries have kicked off an important joint process which could speed up action to reduce the 20 per cent of global carbon emissions linked to deforestation and forest degradation. Despite no formal agreement to achieve Reduced Emissions from forest Degradation and Deforestation (REDD) being reached at the United Nations conference on climate change last December, key nations ...
-
At UN conference, small island countries seek action on climate change
Small island States today called on industrialized countries to take a leadership role at the Bali Climate Change Conference and adopt targets to keep the world from warming past the point where catastrophic impacts would occur. “No island should be left behind,” said Angus Friday of Grenada, the Chairman of the Alliance of Small Island States. These vulnerable countries, he said, are already ...
-
Sumitomo Rubber Introduces Rubberway
In an ongoing move towards more sustainable sourcing practices, the company has introduced the environmental and social risk assessment tool, Rubberway. The global demand for natural rubber has necessitated a responsible approach to the procurement of its raw materials. With concerns such as deforestation stemming from farm expansion, as well as labour and human rights issues, SRI recognises the ...
-
Brazil says no to forest-saving plan by no signing the global anti - deforestation initiative
Brazil's environment minister says her country will not sign on to a global anti - deforestation initiative being unveiled at the U.N. climate summit. Despite its critical role in protecting the Amazon rainforest, Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira, speaking on the eve ofTuesday's climate summit, said Brazil was "not invited to be engaged in the preparation process" of the declaration. ...
-
AUS$3m to help reduce deforestation in Papua New Guinea
The Rudd Government will provide $3 million for joint activities with Papua New Guinea to help reduce greenhouse emissions from deforestation under the Papua New Guinea-Australia Forest Carbon Partnership. At the Australia-Papua New Guinea Ministerial Forum in Madang, Minister for Climate Change and Water, Penny Wong, and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Stephen Smith, said Australia would assist ...
-
Illegal gold mining`s wasteland
A decade of illegal gold mining has transformed large areas of virgin Peruvian rainforest into pocked, denuded, mercury-poisoned wastelands. Excavations to separate gold flecks from tons of earth have left holes big enough to swallow a half-dozen buses. Mercury, a neurotoxin used to bind the gold, pervades the local food chain, reaching humans through the fish they eat. The ruined lands scar ...
-
UN climate conference hears how EO satellites can combat climate change - ESA
The role of Earth Observation satellites in combating climate change is being highlighted at the United Nations climate change conference where thousands of delegates from more than 180 countries are gathered to begin negotiations of an international emissions-cutting agreement to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, whose first commitment period ends in 2012. The Protocol commits its signatories to ...
-
Ending deforestation, curbing HFC emissions among goals of business group as Cancun summit begins
As the 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference gets underway in Cancun, Mexico this week, the holy grail of a global, binding agreement on climate change has once again become the topic of discussion. But this year the business community business – which lately has seemed more committed to meaningful action on climate change – was the first to take substantial steps towards ...
-
Sony World Photography Awards Announce Winners
Tonight is the 2015 Sony World Photography Awards Gala Ceremony at the Hilton Park Lane, London where they will announce the winners. Supporting the celebration is an exhibition of the winners and shortlist, comprising of hundreds of photographs expertly curated inside the historic London landmark, Somerset House. On the run up to today’s gala I have been posting an image per day of my ...
-
Role of forests in combating global warming deserves priority at UN talks, Assembly told
The vital role of forests in reducing greenhouse gas emissions deserves priority at the United Nations talks aimed at reaching a new international agreement to combat global warming, the General Assembly was told today. Almost 20 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions – more than all the world’s cars, trucks, ships and planes combined – result from deforestation and degradation of forests, ...
-
Deforestation reduces rainfall in tropics, says study
Large-scale deforestation in tropical rainforests can dramatically reduce rainfall rates both locally and thousands of kilometres away, according to a study published in Nature yesterday (5 September). This could have a potentially devastating impact on communities living in or close to the Amazon and Congo rainforests. This drop occurs because deforestation reduces the natural recycling of ...
By SciDev.Net
Need help finding the right suppliers? Try XPRT Sourcing. Let the XPRTs do the work for you