In 2000, the Bangkok-based NGO TERRA published an anonymous article in its magazine Watershed. The article documented how Laos was losing its forests to large scale industrial logging, often carried out in breach of the country’s forestry laws.
Deforestation
There are 259 posts tagged Deforestation (this is page 4 of 18).
Oddar Meanchey, Cambodia: “No one seems to be learning any lessons”
For the past three years, Timothy Frewer of the University of Sydney has been carrying out his PhD research in Cambodia, looking at the Oddar Meanchey REDD project. REDD-Monitor has written a series of posts about Oddar Meanchey, questioning how the project can sell carbon credits while deforestation continues.
Papua New Guinea’s deforestation problem
In 2014, Papua New Guinea became the world’s largest exporter of tropical timber. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Eleven years ago, PNG formed the Coalition for Rainforest Nations and presented the idea of REDD to the UN climate meeting in Montreal.
Deforestation is increasing in the Mai Ndombe REDD project area. And the project still sells carbon credits
The Mai Ndombe REDD project in the Democratic Republic of Congo covers about 300,000 hectares of forest. Project documents claim that without the project, the forest would be logged, and that communities in the area benefit from the project. A new article by Jutta Kill in the World Rainforest Movement Bulletin questions both of these claims.
The Jari Amapá REDD project, Brazil: Greenwashing illegal logging, a pulp mill, and a 48-year-old land grab
The Jari Amapá REDD+ project covers an area of 65,980 hectares in the Jari Valley in the state of Amapá, Brazil. The project is run by three companies, one of which, Jari Florestal, has just had its Forest Stewardship Council certificate suspended after being caught in an illegal timber scheme.
Per Fredrik Pharo: The “hopes raised for the future of Indonesian peatland management” are “very encouraging”
Yesterday REDD-Monitor wrote about the fires this year in Indonesia and the lack of any response from Norway. The post featured a comment from Per Fredrik Pharo, Director of Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative that Indonesia’s peatland management was “very encouraging”.
“Very encouraging.” That’s how Per Fredrik Pharo, Director of Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative describes Indonesia’s peatland (mis)management
The fires in Indonesia this year are the greatest environmental disaster of the 21st century (so far). An area of about 2.5 million hectares of forest and peatland burned. Visibility was reduced to 30 metres in places. At least 19 people died. By the end of October, there were 500,000 cases of respiratory tract infections.
Who watches the watchmen? RSPO’s greenwashing and fraudulent reports exposed
A new report by the Environmental Investigation Agency and Grassroots exposes serious problems in the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil’s certification system. Auditing firms that are supposed to monitor palm oil companies’ operations are colluding with the companies to hide violations.
“The trees were burning all around us. We had to turn around because it was too hot to continue”
“Instead of thick jungle… The smoke is so thick. The trees were burning all around us. We had to turn around because it was too hot to continue. We stopped next to a huge swathe of land that was scorched black. The trees had been cut and stacked up in piles like a dozen funeral pyres.”
New forest legislation in the Democratic Republic of Congo puts credibility of REDD at stake
On 25 September 2015, the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo passed a new Ministerial Order (Arrêté 050) that creates a new category of artisanal logging concessions. The law was passed without public consultation, but will have severe impacts on local communities and forests in the country.
Can REDD save Indonesia’s peatlands from burning?
The Straits Times reports that the bill for this year’s fires in Indonesia could be as high as US$33 billion, citing preliminary estimates by President Joko Widodo’s administration.
Norway pays Brazil US$1 billion. But what for, exactly?
In 2008, Norway agreed to pay US$1 billion to Brazil’s Amazon Fund, if Brazil reduced deforestation in the Amazon. Norway has so far handed over US$900 million and will pay the final US$100 million before the end of this year.
Dennis Melka: Exporting deforestation from Sarawak to Peru
Under the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility Peru aims to preserve 54 million hectares of forest. Under a 2014 REDD agreement with Norway and Germany, Peru pledged to reduce net deforestation to zero by 2021. Yet deforestation continues.
Is it time to stop arguing about trading forest carbon?
In a recent paper published in the Journal of Sustainable Forestry, Doug Boucher of the Union of Concerned Scientists puts forward an interesting argument: REDD funding is likely to remain tiny compared to the amount of finance that drives deforestation.
Deforestation denial: FAO claims that forest loss has halved, while Global Forest Watch raises the alarm about “dramatic forest loss”
This week, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation released its Global Forest Resources Assessment 2015 at the World Forestry Congress in Durban, South Africa. The good news, at least according to FAO, is that deforestation is slowing down.