Mapping the landscape of NGOs working to protect forests

“The mapping was inspired by the observation that good philanthropy is similar to acupuncture – philanthropic grants may be small in size compared to the body politic, but when inserted in the right place they can have enormous impact," said Harriet Williams, lead author of the report. "The methodology that we’re developing is applicable to any complex environmental issue."

Madagascar bans rainforest timber exports following global outcry

Under mounting pressure over illegal logging of its national parks, Madagascar's transitional government on Wednesday reinstated a ban on rosewood logging and exports.

The decree (no. 2010-141), which prohibits all exports of rosewood and precious timber for two to five years, was announced during a council meeting held yesterday at Ambohitsorohitra Palace in Antananarivo, Madagascar's capital city. Madagascar's Minister of Environment has already proposed a plan to address the illegal timber trade, according to the Madagascar Tribune.

With the export ban in place, the fate of 10,000-15,000 metric tons of rosewood awaiting export remains uncertain. It is also unclear whether illegal loggers and traders will be prosecuted. Nevertheless, groups that have been protesting the resumption in exports of illegally logged timber cautiously welcomed the move.

Limit palm oil development to lands that store less than 40 tons of carbon/ha

A new study finds oil palm plantations store less carbon than previously believed, suggesting that palm oil produced through the conversion of tropical forests carries a substantial carbon debt.

The study, conducted at two sites in Sumatra and Kalimantan by scientists at the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), found that mature oil palm plantations store less than 40 tons of above-ground biomass on average over their 25-year lifespan. By comparison logged-over forests at the two sites stored 70-200 tons of carbon per hectare.

Big REDD, Investments in Reforestation

Until forty years ago, the Surui people spent their days roaming the Brazilian Amazon with bows and arrows, hunting monkeys and wild pigs. Their only contact with the outside world was with the rubber tappers who occasionally ventured through their territory. Then, beginning in the late 1960s, the Brazilian government laid a 2,000-mile highway through the heart of the jungle. Lured by the promise of cheap, fertile land, thousands of poor farmers boarded buses, rickety pickups, and horse-drawn wagons and bore deep into Surui tribal lands. The results were catastrophic. First the tribe was decimated by disease. Then unscrupulous speculators started hawking fraudulent titles to the land, spawning bloody turf wars between the tribe and settlers. Within a few years, the Surui population dwindled from roughly 2,000 to fewer than 200.