In Andhra Pradesh, local people living near forests are forming Vana Samrakshna Samithi (VSS), village organisations dedicated to forest restoration. In partnership with the state forestry department more than 5,000 VSS are working to restore more than 1.2 million hectares of degraded forests.
VSS share all of the non-timber forest products (grasses, fuel-wood, fruit, and medicines) amongst themselves, and receive all of the income from the harvest of timber and bamboo.
Half of this income is set aside for the future development and maintenance of the forest. In this way the long-term sustainability of the project is protected and government support is only required while the forest returns to a productive state.
A UN-REDD workshop on ‘Identifying and promoting ecosystem co-benefits from REDD+’ was held from 27th-29th April 2010 in Cambridge, UK, convened by UNEP-WCMC. Forty-four people participated in the workshop, including representatives from five UN-REDD pilot countries, one observer country, and a number of different institutions, agencies and NGOs.
Resource Type: ReportsThis paper reviews the potential for carbon sequestration in dryland ecosystems, which includes forests, but also covers other habitats, such as grasslands, and, importantly, soils. It also considers ways in which carbon storage in drylands affects land degradation issues.
Resource Type: ReportsAn international team of research scientists has created a peer-reviewed website, http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/reportcard/, which tracks multiple changes in the Arctic environment (Fig. 1). While the 2007 loss of summertime sea ice is the most dramatic example, changes are also seen in the atmosphere, on land and in the ocean, and as shifts in location and abundance of Arctic species.
Resource Type: ReportsThis reports looks at the carbon storage function of protected areas as a contribution to the development of strategies for reducing emissions from land use change. In particular, it is relevant to the current discussions surrounding reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Resource Type: ReportsThis study combines the best available data on carbon stocks and deforestation with protected area data to estimate the area of forest loss within the protected area network of the humid tropical forest biome during 2000-2005.
Resource Type: ReportsThe ability of coral reefs to survive in a globally-warming world may crucially depend on the levels of pollution to which they are exposed, new findings indicate.
Scientists studying reefs that were bleached in the late 1990s by high surface sea temperatures have found a link between recovery rates and the levels of contamination entering coastal waters from developments on the land.
Resource Type: ReportsThis paper provides an overview of the issues surrounding and opportunities for achieving ‘multiple benefits’ from Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in developing countries (REDD). The UN‐REDD Programme understands the term ‘multiple benefits’ to include both the ecosystem and social benefits of REDD.
It is an output of the International Support Functions component of the UN‐REDD Programme, relating specifically to the development of output 3.2: ‘Tools to encourage the capture of ecosystem service co‐benefits developed’,focussing on the ecosystem aspects of multiple benefits.
Resource Type: ReportsThe conservation of world forests is an important measure in order to address the ever-worsening consequences of climate change. Tanzania has over 34 million hectares of forests and woodland habitats (more than 30% of the whole country). This report concludes that REDD strategies in Tanzania should be integrated with, and improve upon, current conservation strategies.
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