News
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Farms vs. forests? A more nuanced look at agrarian change
Forests are being converted into agricultural land throughout the tropics, from Borneo to the Congo Basin. But this process –…
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Having your oil palm, and forests too
You might not believe this from reading the news, but the oil palm industry isn’t necessarily synonymous with environmental destruction.…
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PFES and REDD+ in Vietnam – A two-pronged approach to forest conservation
HANOI, Vietnam – Vietnam is no stranger to forest conservation payment schemes. Its national Payments for Forest Environmental Services (PFES)…
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First estimate of Pygmy population reveals their plight
Increased deforestation and road building in Central African rainforests will intensify threats to the lives and lifestyles of indigenous Pygmy…
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Sustainable investment in Africa starts with the law
Diamonds, gold, oil, natural gas, extensive forest and farm land: Africa has such abundant resources that it is little wonder…
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Migration: What happens to the people (and forests) left behind?
By leaving their rural communities and sending money back home, migrants in tropical forest countries are changing not only the…
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COP21 could revitalize REDD+ … or not
The original vision for Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) was ambitious yet simple: create both a supply…
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Thinking restoration? Think big and think inclusive
Pledges to restore millions of hectares of degraded land could lead nowhere without improved planning, prioritization and monitoring, warn the…
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Owning the Amazon: Individual titles might not be the answer
Holding formal individual property rights is widely seen as a boon for reducing poverty, conflict and environmental degradation. But in…
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A landscape picture from Cameroon
It’s a daunting challenge whose complexity only continues to intensify: How can we manage the land so that it can…
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Amazon rising: Adaptation begins at home
For hundreds of thousands of rural families eking out a living in Brazil’s Amazon estuary, living with flooding is a…
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In Ethiopia, jobs might grow on trees
Work on a timber plantation in Ethiopia is tough, with low wages, poor conditions and little security – but at…
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Growth in Chile’s plantations may have spelled growth in poverty
Timber production is a $6 billion business and the economic mainstay in south-central Chile. But the people who live around…
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Zero deforestation pledges doomed without government support
Not cutting down trees for other land uses might sound simple enough, but it’s turning out to be rather complicated.…
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A little logging may go a long way
In one corner is the Brazil nut, the most economically important non-timber forest product in the Amazon Basin. It supports…
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