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Long road ahead to indigenous land and forest rights in Peru
Over the past half-century, more than 1,300 indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon have obtained title to more than 12…
7 min read -
Land-rights policies in Latin America still fall short, studies show
Latin American countries have made progress in granting land rights to communities in recent years. Nevertheless, policies often fail to…
7 min read -
In complex palm industry, “certified sustainable” falls short
As global demand for palm oil has grown in recent years, so has consumer concern over deforestation caused by expanding…
8 min read -
Why do forest products become less available?
In developing countries, rural smallholders and communities derive about one-quarter of their income from the forest around them. But a…
5 min read -
Mother Nature often knows best
As countries gear up for the “Bonn Challenge” of restoring 150 million hectares of deforested and degraded land by 2020,…
5 min read -
The cost of oversimplification
Let’s assume you want to conserve a large, widely-forested watershed by compensating people for not cutting down trees. Would it…
5 min read -
Alternative approaches to illegal logging
Nearly two decades ago, western Amazonian countries began implementing new forest policies to help communities and small producers manage their…
6 min read -
Why does illegal logging continue after forestry reforms?
The western Amazonian countries of Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia have implemented significant forest reforms over the last two decades to…
8 min read -
COP22 Special: REDD+ monitoring is a technical and political balancing act
Monitoring deforestation so countries can track their greenhouse gas emission targets might seem like a technical matter of satellite images…
4 min read -
Obstacles to forest tenure reform deeply rooted in the past
Ask people what ‘community forestry’ is, and you are likely to get different answers in different countries, or even in…
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Promoting progress through prospection
What are the biggest obstacles that local communities face when ensuring rights to their forest resources? Community leaders say it’s…
5 min read -
Land tenure and livelihoods: What’s the connection?
A Harakmbut indigenous community in the Peruvian Amazon has no say over the 17 gold-mining concessions overlapping its territory, despite…
6 min read -
REDD+ and other imperfect solutions
For Carolina Barbarán, leader of an indigenous Shipibo Konibo community near the Ucayali River, protecting local forests is a major…
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Science sisters of the Amazon
A welcoming committee of tarantulas outside her tent hardly inspired confidence in Katty García when she visited an indigenous Shipibo…
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Conservation by another name: Traditions, taboos and hunting
When Sara Armas Díaz goes hunting, she pauses before entering the woods and pays her respects to the forest spirits.…
4 min read