GFIS has launched an upgraded gateway to improve forest information sharing

From IUFRO News. Published on 2010-09-08.

New and improved features will be giving users around the world an opportunity to share and access data more easily.

Shell REDD project slammed by Indigenous Environmental Network and Friends of the Earth Nigeria

By Chris Lang from REDD-Monitor. Published on 2010-09-08.

In August 2010, the Rimba Raya conservation project in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia hit the headlines. “Indonesia project boosts global forest CO2 market,” Reuters reported. But there’s a catch. Two companies that are responsible for vast greenhouse gas emissions are involved in the project: Shell and Gazprom. Yesterday, Friends of the Earth Nigeria and the Indigenous Environmental [...]

REDD in the Mekong Region

By Chris Lang from REDD-Monitor. Published on 2010-09-07.

Last month I was invited to speak at a workshop titled, “Food, Livelihoods and Climate Change in the Mekong Region“. I was asked to give an introduction to REDD and an overview of some of the REDD projects and actors in the Mekong Region. The workshop was organised by Focus on the Global South together [...]

A better way

From IUCN - News. Published on 2010-09-07.

Representatives from Shell, an influential leader in the oil and gas industry, recently met with senior staff and experts from the IUCN network to discuss the implications of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the largest marine oil spill in US history, and the measures being taken to avoid future catastrophes.

Quantifying the Impacts of the Quality of Governance on Deforestation

From UN-REDD news. Published on 2010-09-07.

Source: Science Direct (subscription) --The quality of governance is known to have effects on deforestation, together with other social and economic factors. However, assessing the impact of governance quality is a challenging task due to the complex and diverse mechanisms of deforestation as well as limited data availability

Is Carbon Protection the Same as Biodiversity Protection?

From UN-REDD news. Published on 2010-09-07.

Source: Mongabay --Commentary by Amy Hinsley of Fauna and Flora International (FFI)

IUFRO Seeks New Executive Director

From IUFRO News. Published on 2010-09-06.

Current Executive Director Peter Mayer has been appointed Director of the Austrian BFW. Now IUFRO is seeking to fill the position based on secondment or a specific donor grant as of 1 November 2010.

REDD in the news: 30 August – 5 September 2010

By REDD-Monitor from REDD-Monitor. Published on 2010-09-06.

A round up of the week’s news on REDD, in chronological order with short extracts (click on the title for the full article). REDD-Monitor’s news page (REDD in the news) is updated regularly. Quantifying the impacts of the quality of governance on deforestation By Chisa Umemiya, Ewald Rametsteiner and Florian Kraxner, Environmental Science and Policy, 3 August [...]

The future of water in the face of climate change

From IUCN - News. Published on 2010-09-06.

There needs to be significant investment to solve the growing water crisis that threatens water supplies and water quality for both people and nature, says IUCN. Climate change makes the search for practical solutions for water management increasingly urgent. The call for increased funding comes as more than 2500 decision makers and leaders from the global water community are meeting in Stockholm, Sweden from 5 to 11 September, for World Water Week, where the theme of this year’s conference is “Responding to Global Changes – Prevention, Wise Use and Abatement”.

Mise à l’honneur du parc solaire

From IUCN - News. Published on 2010-09-03.

Le Prix Solaire suisse 2010 distingue l’intégration d’une installation photovoltaïque réalisée par Romande Energie sur le nouveau bâtiment de l’Union Internationale pour la Conservation de la Nature, l’UICN, exemplaire en termes d’efficience énergétique.

80% of Tropical Agricultural Expansion Between 1980-2000 Came at Expense of Forests

From UN-REDD news. Published on 2010-09-03.

Source: Mongabay --More than 80 percent of agricultural expansion in the tropics between 1980 and 2000 came at the expense of forests, reports research published last week in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Money Alone Can’t Save the Forests

From UN-REDD news. Published on 2010-09-03.

Source: CIFOR's Blog -- Because of this haste to implement, he explained, countries may neglect to “build on and learn from previous efforts” and fail to create the conditions – such as secure land tenure and strengthened local capacity

Via Campesina rejects REDD and carbon trading

By Chris Lang from REDD-Monitor. Published on 2010-09-02.

Vía Campesina is an international movement of peasants, small- and medium-sized producers, landless, rural women, indigenous people, rural youth and agricultural workers. It is a coalition of around 150 organisations, with an estimated 300 million members. Vía Campesina recently put out a statement about COP-16 in Cancún. The statement rejects REDD, geoengineering (including biochar and genetically [...]

African freshwater species threatened - livelihoods at stake

From IUCN - News. Published on 2010-09-02.

Twenty-one per cent of freshwater species in continental Africa are threatened with extinction, putting the livelihoods of millions of people at risk. With so much to lose, inland waters must be managed not just for their supply of freshwater but also to sustain the abundant life within.

Carbon Project Market Leads with REDD Methodology

From UN-REDD news. Published on 2010-09-02.

Source: Carbon Positive -- The landmark approval of a carbon accounting methodology to underpin REDD projects in Asia shows the project-based voluntary carbon market leading the way in the development of mechanisms to halt the destruction of climate-critical tropical forests.