Climate change

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 Tim Christophersen, acting Chief of UN Environment’s Terrestrial Ecosystems Unit and REDD+ Team Leader. Rooting out climate change Let’s face it: we are not on track to win the war against climate change. Time is running out, and more and more citizens around the world are starting to feel the effects of a warming […]

How the media can help protect Indonesia’s peatlands By Rose Foley and Leona Liu, originally published on Forests News Indonesia – For some residents of South Sumatra, Indonesia, peat is a constant preoccupation. “Life keeps getting harder,” says 53-year-old Maemunah. She lives in Talangnangka village in the center of the province, among peatland that was once […]

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 […]