Sustainability

How trees may be a first defense in the battle against disaster By Douglas Sheil, originally posted on Forests News The 12-year absence of major hurricane landfalls in the continental USA ended earlier this year: Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Irma… perhaps the list and the destruction will continue. But what does this have to do with forests? As […]

By Joe Kiesecker, lead scientist for land conservation, The Nature Conservancy Following the Paris Agreement, 140 nations have volunteered plans to reduce their carbon emissions—most of which include a greater reliance on renewable energy sources. Subsequently, global investment in and power generation from renewables set new records in 2016 while the cost of generation from […]

Solution Search, a global contest designed to identify, reward and spotlight innovative approaches to conservation, has released the list of its 10 finalists for the 2017 “Farming for Biodiversity” contest. This year’s theme showcases innovative ideas that make farming more sustainable and promote behaviors that increase biodiversity across the agricultural sector. A panel of experts […]

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 […]

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 Douglas McGuire, Coordinator of the Forest and Landscapes Restoration Mechanism, FAO Ravaged landscapes, parched riverbeds and destitute communities. These are maybe not the first images that come to mind when you think about forests. But every year forests are being degraded and lost by an area about the size of Belgium. In fact, the […]