Raising awareness among forest dwellers in Bhutan about the extent to which they rely on benefits commonly known as ecosystem services can encourage their participation in the sustainable management of forests, according to the findings of a new study.

The future of the amazon rainforest, plus the people and nature who call it home, hangs in the balance and its fate rests in the hands of each and every one of us.
The Amazon and its estimated 400 million trees have played a crucial role in stabilizing the global climate and sustaining life on Earth. But now the Amazon – on fire, under siege and on the brink of collapse – needs our help.

Gresham House has raised an initial £127m (€149m) for its forestry fund, with backing from investors including the Scottish National Investment Bank.

"As investors increasingly focus on sustainable investments, forestry is emerging as one of the most impactful solutions, which combats climate change and enhances biodiversity, while also serving as an excellent investment diversifier and producing meaningful uncorrelated returns,” says Olly Hughes, managing director of forestry at Gresham House.

Human-induced climate change is making heatwaves more likely and more severe, scientists say. The EU's Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) said the hot and dry conditions had hiked the danger of further fires.
CAMS monitors wildfires through satellites and ground-based observation statements, and said the emissions and intensity of wildfires are rapidly increasing in Turkey and Southern Italy.

A new report predicting future biomass demand will far outweigh supply urges the EU to use land and biomass more strategically. With a holistic approach to forests to improve their environmental, social and economic benefits, the Climate Smart Forest Economy Program (CSFEP), an innovative initiative from EIT Climate-KIC, The Nature Conservancy, the World Economic Forum, and the World Resources Institute, may be well-positioned to help.

For millions of people across the Americas and around the world, a vacation often means a visit to a national park. National parks can be a source of great national pride, a way to showcase unique landscapes and educate visitors about an area's flora and fauna, history, and culture. It also can be an important source of revenue that national parks and protected areas provide benefits equivalent to 3% of GDP.
However, the national parks and other protected areas are threatened by air pollution or encroaching development—they are now confronting intensifying threats due to climate change.

The European Union has drafted plans to build up forests, grasslands and other natural "carbon sinks" that absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to help curb climate change.

Carbon sinks have gained in importance as countries strive to reach "net zero" emissions by 2050, the goal scientists say the world must meet to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

With over 155 million hectares of dense humid forests, the Congo Basin is the second largest tropical forest in the world after the Amazon. Much of this forest can be found within the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which holds a portion of the Congo Basin equivalent to the size of Colombia. The DRC lost nearly 5 million hectares of tropical primary forests in the last 20 years and continues to face the threat of deforestation. In 2020, the DRC lost 490,000 hectares of primary forest cover, with Tshopo Province being the most affected in the country.

A major contributor to this loss is the unsustainable exploitation of forests to meet growing charcoal demand. Charcoal is produced by cutting and burning timber. Logs are stacked in traditional, low-efficiency kilns where the high heat turns them into charcoal. An expanding population with a growing need for food, energy and economic development has led to the rapid growth of the charcoal industry.

The 21st century has seen a surge in governments’ strategic protection of forests, for good reason. Forest protection enhances people’s lives while slowing climate change by enabling trees, soil and grasslands to perform their natural functions of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Are smallholders key to the palm oil industry’s sustainability?