For years the 'market mantra' has been to save forests by selling the carbon they embody, writes Chris Lang, harnessing the profit motive for the benefit of trees and climate. But it never worked, and now even former fans are admitting that REDD is just another failed conservation fad. So what next? How about asking local communities to manage their forests as commons?
… as commons? A new paper in Conservation Biology starts with the following sentence: … builds on a 2013 editorial in Conservation Biology that identifies REDD as a conservation …
Are we risking serious problems if action to tackle deforestation assumes that a tonne of tree carbon is the same as a tonne of fossil carbon?
All carbon is not born equal Eric Marx | 17th November 2009 News Climate Change Natural World Redd Deforestation Forests Trees oiltree.jpg Are we risking serious problems if action to tackle …
Surging Chinese demand for rosewood used in 'hongmu' furniture is ruining forests across southern Asia, writes Zuzana Burivalova. As demand surges, China must impose stricter regulations and harsher punishments or the forests may never recover.
The rosewood massacre - China must act Zuzana Burivalova | 23rd July 2014 Comment China Vietnam Myanmar Cambodia Forests Trade Wildlife Crime ming-hongmu-cut.jpg Antique furniture like this Ming era …
The world we inhabit is a miracle of billions of years of evolution as life has unfolded in its full beauty and diversity, writes Grant A. Mincy. But human activities - deforestation, mining, urbanisation, pollution, climate change - are tearing away at the functioning fabric of the living biosphere. A mass extinction is under way, and it must be halted, and reversed. But how?
… expert in the field of conservation biology, has published a landmark study in the … environmental groups deploy conservation biology, natural resource management, … in Knoxville, Tennessee where he teaches both Biology and Geology at area colleges. Support …
Scientists are calling for the urgent protection of ecologically valuable roadless areas, writes Tim Radford, as a new global map shows that roads lead to loss of biodiversity and damage to ecosystems by fragmenting habitat and providing access to exploiters.
… in the Public Library of Science journal Biology that it should be possible to devise a … between Google, the Society for Conservation Biology, and Member of the European Parliament …
Large areas of forest remain around the world, writes David Edwards, but many of them are - in biological terms - dying on their feet as their species diversity erodes due to fragmentation. To conserve the full richness of our forests, we must keep them entire and unbroken, and rebuild the continuity of forest islands.
To forestall a mass extinction, fight forest fragmention David Edwards | 24th March 2015 Comment Forests Conservation Biodiversity road-amazon-cut.jpg Large areas of forest remain around the world, …
A 'microbat' that has remained unrecorded since 1890 has been discovered in Papua New Guinea. But with the country's forests under growing pressure from logging and for conversion to plantations, this and thousands of other biological treasures are at risk.
… over time. Not enough is known about the biology of microbats throughout the world, and …
Tropical forests are valuable for their biodiversity, carbon and water functions even after logging. But they are also highly vulnerable to fire and conversion to other uses. A new focus is needed on saving tropical forests after the bulldozers have left.
After the chainsaws - tropical forests are still worth saving Bill Laurance David Edwards | 11th April 2014 Comment Forests logging-truck-kalimantan.png Tropical forests are valuable for their …
Yellowstone's Grizzly bears are facing multiple threats, writes Anna Taylor - from proposals to remove their protection under the US Endangered Species Act, and shortages of key foods caused by climate change.
… issues and new discoveries in conservation biology. She posts regular blogs on … and the Amazon. She has a BSc in Conservation Biology and a Masters in Ecology and Environmental Biology. Delisting would leave grizzly bears …
New research shows that biochar in soil strongly stimulates plant growth, more than doubling yields. However the extra growth may come at the cost of reduced plant defences against pests.
… are published in the journal Global Change Biology Bioenergy . The scientists, led by …
A new paradigm of forest conservation is gaining ground, writes Isaac Rojas: 'financialising' them and the climate and ecological services they provide to global investors. But this is a false solution - and one that excludes the local and indigenous forest communities who can truly be relied upon to sustain their sylvan heritage.
Local communities, not global financiers, are the best forest managers Isaac Rojas Friends of the Earth International | 2nd November 2015 Comment Forests Commons Finance Indigenous Peoples …
Africa is facing an unprecedented surge in road and railway building with 33 huge 'development corridors' planned that threaten 2,400 of the continent's protected wildlife areas, writes Bill Laurance. We must block the most destructive plans and limit avoidable impacts on natural areas - before it's too late.
… a paper published late last year in Current Biology , my colleagues and I assess the …
Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, has personally attacked eco-defender Carlos Zorrilla in TV broadcasts for resisting a vast new copper mine in a precious area of pristine cloud forest, and opposing the advance of oil exploration into the Amazon. Fearful for his life, Zorilla is now seeking international support for his, and his community's, battle for land, water and the natural world.
Letter from Ecuador - where defending nature and community is a crime Carlos Zorrilla | 25th March 2015 News Ecuador Mining Ecocide Forests Commons Natural World wood-lizard-cut.jpg Secuity guards at …
According to the World Health Organisation, more than 30 serious new diseases have emerged in the last three decades. Mark Walters describes one of them, Lyme disease, and shows how our destruction of the environment is inextricably linked to its proliferation
Lyme disease - what is the real cause? Mark Walters | 1st February 2004 News Lyme Disease Hunterdon County New Jersey Ticks Environmental Changes Rabies Legionnaires Disease Landscape Changes …
Longer than England, almost as deep as the Grand Canyon, Russia's Lake Baikal is one of the world's greatest aquatic wonders, writes Bryce Stewart. But it's a fragile paradise: the limpid waters are warming much faster than the global average, with as yet unknown effects on its ecology. And it faces the danger of a huge dam on its principal tributary, Mongolia's Selenga River.
… lake-Lake Baikal, Siberia. Global Change Biology , 14 (8), 1947-1958. 6. Moore, M. V., …
As China pursues a startling array of energy, mining, logging, agricultural, transport and other infrastructure projects on virtually every continent, it is having an unprecedented impact on the planet, writes William Laurance. It's not that China is any worse than historic colonial powers - the difference is in the sheer scale and pace of environmental destruction, and the total lack of oversight under which Chinese mega-corporations operate.
… BBVA Frontiers in Ecology and Conservation Biology Award for his efforts to promote …
Biogas digesters are a key technology for global sustainable development, writes John M. Hawdon. They simultaneously combat parasites that infect a billion people, reduce deforestation and methane emissions, and deliver vital energy to rural communities.
… is known about the immunology and molecular biology of infection. The lead antigen failed … Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Tropical Medicine at … has done pioneering research in the molecular biology of hookworm infection and hookworm …
A few hours from Melbourne lies one of Australia's natural wonders - a soaring forest of Mountain Ash trees up to 90 metres tall, with a host of endangered species. David Lindenmayer demands a halt to the logging, and the creation of a new National Park.
A Great Forest National Park for SE Australia Professor David Lindenmayer | 1st April 2014 Comment Forests Australia Natural World ma-logging.png A few hours from Melbourne lies one of Australia's …
A new Ecologist-produced film - to be screened by campaigners from the Forest People's Programme at the forthcoming Convention on Biological Diversity meeting in Japan - highlights how the rights of indigenous peoples and their sustainable use of natural resources are being ignored by the Bangladesh Government.
Dwindling forests, dwindling futures: Bangladesh mangrove communities under threat The Ecologist | 13th October 2010 Other Forests Indigenous People Ecologist TV And Radio fppimage.jpg A new …
Russia’s zapovedniks are some of the world’s most pristine wildernesses. For 70 years they were protected ruthlessly by the Soviet system, but recently they have fallen prey to Putin, the World Bank and ecotourists. Paul Webster reports on their plight
The Wild Wild East: Russia's Zapovedniks Paul Webster | 1st February 2003 News Russia Wilderness World Bank Ecotourism International Development International Development Consumerism World Bank …
Farmers on Palawan are being tricked into giving land away to palm oil companies with local government support, writes Rod Harbinson. Under the palm oil company 'leases' the farmers lose all rights to their land, never receive any money, and are saddled with 25 years of debt. Those who resist the land grabs are now in fear for their lives following the murder of a prominent campaigner.
Philippines islanders unite to resist 'land grab' palm oil companies Rod Harbinson | 7th January 2016 News Forests Philippines Land Grabs Corporations Farming Indigenous Peoples dsc2439-1-cut.jpg …
A new Ecologist-produced film - to be screened by campaigners from the Forest People's Programme at the forthcoming Convention on Biological Diversity meeting in Japan - highlights how the rights of indigenous peoples and their sustainable use of natural resources are being ignored by the Bangladesh Government
Dwindling forests, dwindling futures – how forest dwellers being ignored by the Bangladeshi Government 30th September 2011 Other Ecologist Film Unit Forests Indigenous People Natural World Video …
Greece's economic woes will never be solved by merely moving money around the banking system, writes Oliver Tickell. The lasting solution is to restore native forests to her barren hills and mountains, invest in large-scale solar power to energise Europe, and create an examplar of sustainable development for our global future.
… and economics, but life sciences such as biology, medicine and, in particular, ecology. …