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East Asia & Pacific is facing some great development challenges today: urbanization, protection of the environment, the need to find renewable energy sources and many others. This site wants to create a conversation around those important issues. More »

REDD

Online mapping tool gives view of forests in developing countries

Submitted by James I Davison on Wed, 2009-10-28 17:10

In July, biodiversity specialist and blogger Tony Whitten wrote a post about not abandoning old-fashioned conservation techniques as an important method of taking positive action on climate change. One of the important old-school mitigation methods, he wrote, lies in protecting the world’s forests through reforestation and avoiding further deforestation.

Accordingly, a big part of the ongoing climate change discussion includes reducing emissions through deforestation and degradation (known as REDD). And the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization now offers a tool to help monitor forests in developing countries. Using satellite imagery and other data, the Global Forest Resources Assessment Portal displays the information on an interactive map.

Convenient solutions to an inconvenient truth: How old-fashioned conservation helps deal with climate change

Submitted by Tony Whitten on Tue, 2009-07-14 12:13

So much is being written about climate change. The heat is on, so to speak, to find new solutions to increasingly dire predictions from ever more detailed data and refined models. Many conservationists are setting great store by the promise afforded by RED (Reducing Emissions through Deforestation) and REDD (add Degradation). It is only a few more months before we learn whether the leaders of the world reach agreement of whether to move forward and unlock the money which could – forest governance permitting – cause a major boost to the funding and rationale for forest conservation.

Meanwhile, a new World Bank report has revealed that conservationists have actually been doing climate change projects all along; they just hadn’t realized it. New technological fixes aren’t essential to taking positive action.

Engaging with the world's third largest greenhouse gas emitter

Submitted by Joe Leitmann on Thu, 2008-03-06 09:30

You may be surprised to know that Indonesia has emerged as the world's third largest emitter of carbon, following the U.S. and China.  This is primarily because of land-based emissions from peatland degradation, forest fires and deforestation, complemented by some of the fastest growing energy-based emissions.  In addition, as an archipelago of 17,000 islands and a significant agricultural population, its coastal urban population and farming-dependent rural economy are highly vulnerable to climate change.

For these reasons, the World Bank has been actively supporting a range of partnerships on mitigation and adaptation, including:

Rainforest-for-carbon-credits save Ulu Masen forest from conversion into palm oil plantation

Submitted by Michael Figueroa on Wed, 2008-03-05 10:51

 The World Wildlife Fund recently announced a new report that documents deforestation on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia.  WWF partnered with Hokkaido University and Remote Sensing Solutions GmbH on the full report, (pdf), which details the impact of converting carbon-rich swampy peatlands into pulpwood and palm oil plantations.