Agroforestry

For cocoa farmers in the forested region of San Martin, Peru, adapting to new, sustainable farming methods may mean passing through the financial ‘Valley of Death.’ Improved cocoa farming methods can boost yields and reduce negative effects on the environment. For example, by planting the cocoa trees between other native tree species, farmers can improve […]

By Johan Kieft (UN Environment – Regional technical specialist) and Richard Wecker (UNICEF Indonesia – DRR specialist), originally published on the UN-REDD blog. Large-scale conversion of natural peatland and forests to croplands on the islands Sumatra, Borneo (Kalimantan) and Papua has radically altered the lives and livelihoods of millions of Indonesians in recent decades. Slash-and-burn […]

Agriculture is currently the main driver of forest loss in the tropics. If current farming patterns continue, the future looks increasingly bleak for tropical forests. Food production will need to increase by approximately 70% between 2005 and 2050, according to the FAO. Assuming current patterns of land use and productivity continue, logic dictates that farming […]

By Gabrielle Lipton, originally posted on Forests News Indonesia – The sky turned yellow just before the 2015 peatland fires reached their height in Kalimantan, Indonesia. Then it turned dark, like a phantom’s mask covering the island of Borneo with thick, humid brown haze. The particles in the air were so dense that people’s eyes […]

By Kate Evans, originally posted on Forests News Indonesia – New tools and new discoveries are drastically altering our existing knowledge of peatlands. Scientists have recently discovered the existence of huge, previously unknown areas of peatland in central Africa and South America – and the numbers are quite astonishing. A new map developed by the Center […]

How old is old growth in Borneo? 130 million years. Almost 80 percent of the island of Borneo was covered with this old growth rainforest in 1973. Today, only 28 percent remains. Barely bigger than France, Borneo’s rainforests are packed with more rare and fascinating species than almost anywhere else in the world. However, Borneo […]