. Earth Science News .




.
WOOD PILE
Little headway in Durban on deforestation: experts
by Staff Writers
Brasilia (AFP) Dec 14, 2011


The UN's Durban conference on climate change failed to make enough headway in efforts to curb deforestation, experts warned, saying forest preservation plays a central role in the global warming debate.

After 14 days of marathon talks in the South African city, the conference on Sunday approved a roadmap towards an accord that for the first time will bring all major greenhouse-gas emitters under a single legal roof.

If approved as scheduled in 2015, the pact will be operational from 2020 and become the prime weapon in the fight against climate change.

"Durban has failed to deliver progress on fundamental issues like social and environmental safeguards, and on strict rules to ensure that global deforestation is reduced," said Lars Lovold, head of Norway's Rainforest foundation.

One of the main decisions taken at the 2010 Cancun climate conference in Mexico was to include forests in the fight against climate change through a UN mechanism called Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation.

Known as REDD+, it aims to secure financial and technical support to help curb deforestation in the rainforests of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Brazil and Guatemala.

It also includes a role for conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks.

Deforestation, which releases large quantities of CO2 when forests are destroyed, represents around 17 percent of greenhouse gas emissions that causes global warming, more than the total global emissions from transport.

The issue is particularly acute in the Amazon, the world's largest tropical rainforest, dubbed the lungs of the Earth.

Protected areas of the Amazon in Brazil cover more than 2.1 million square kilometers (814,000 square miles) and the government's environmental protection agency IBAMA is playing a key role in deterring deforestation.

An environmental crimes law passed in 1998 gave IBAMA new enforcement powers, which it has used, albeit selectively according to environmentalists, in raids aimed at arresting and fining the most blatant violators of the law.

And experts believe that 40 to 60 percent of the timber extracted from the Amazon is illegal, compared with more than 80 percent 10 years ago.

In 2009, Amazon lumber represented a $2.5 billion market, according to a study by the Imazon institute and the Brazilian forestry agency.

But Durban made only modest headway on REDD+, opening the way to a future carbon market and stressing the need for rules to guarantee emission curbs and protect indigenous communuties and biodiversity.

"We do not have progress on the 'politics behind the money' and without this we cannot talk about sustainability of REDD," said Louis Verchot, a scientist at the Indonesia-based Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).

"REDD was overshadowed in Durban by larger issues," said Bruce Cabarle, head of WWF's Climate and Forests initiative.

"All of the global analyses show that we have to have reductions in emissions from the forests fairly soon or else we cannot meet the 2050 goal of keeping (climate-temperatures) increasing more than 2 degrees Celsius."

"For our countries with wide forest coverage, REDD is critical. This requires technical support and resources which is a global responsibility which we have not seen," Maria Fernanda Espinosa, Ecuador's Cultural Patrimony Minister, told AFP.

Deforestation destroys more than seven million hectares (17.2 million acres) every year in the world's main forests where more than one billion people live.

As scientists slammed increasing deforestation rates in Africa, Rachel Kyte, vice president of the Sustainable Development Network at the World Bank, said: "Forests cannot be sustained if people are hungry."

"By far the countries where action on deforestation is required are Brazil and Indonesia," Verchot told AFP. "Together these countries account for more than 70 percent of the deforestation emissions."

But he also stressed the need for progress in the Congo Basin as well as in Malaysia and Myanmar.

In Latin America, Verchot cited some progress in Central America, but said more was needed there as well as in Venezuela, Peru and Bolivia.

Related Links
Forestry News - Global and Local News, Science and Application




.
.
Get Our Free Newsletters Via Email
...
Buy Advertising Editorial Enquiries




.

. Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle



WOOD PILE
Climate change blamed for dead trees in Africa
Berkeley CA (SPX) Dec 15, 2011
Trees are dying in the Sahel, a region in Africa south of the Sahara Desert, and human-caused climate change is to blame, according to a new study led by a scientist at the University of California, Berkeley. "Rainfall in the Sahel has dropped 20-30 percent in the 20th century, the world's most severe long-term drought since measurements from rainfall gauges began in the mid-1800s," said study l ... read more


WOOD PILE
Mob involved in Fukushima clean-up: Japan reporter

Japan set to declare Fukushima plant shutdown

The hermit of Fukushima 'staying put' despite risks

Scientists Assess Radioactivity in the Ocean from Japan Nuclear Power Facility

WOOD PILE
Researchers explain granular material properties

Stress causes clogs in coffee and coal

New eco-friendly foliar spray provides natural anti-freeze

Amazon selling over one million Kindles a week

WOOD PILE
Sewage treatment plants may contribute to antibiotic resistance problem

Species, and threats grow in Mekong region: WWF

Brazil's Belo Monte dam better than alternatives: study

Mekong nations meet on controversial Laos dam

WOOD PILE
South Pole conquest hailed 100 years on with eye on climate

Antarctic expedition checks CryoSat down-under

GPS Reveals 2010 Spike In Greenland Ice Loss Lifted Bedrock

Plunge in CO2 put the freeze on Antarctica

WOOD PILE
Salt-tolerant crops show higher capacity for carbon fixation

Earliest Known Bug-Repellant Plant Bedding Found at South African Rock Shelter

As climate change sets in, plants and bees keep pace

Nature's medicine cabinet could yield hundreds of new drugs

WOOD PILE
Thai flood death toll exceeds 700

Major 7.1 quake strikes Papua New Guinea: USGS

Mexico unrattled one day after quake

Major 6.5 quake hits southern Mexico, 2 dead

WOOD PILE
Casamance rebel faction condemns attack on Senegal troops

Poverty blights S.Africa's liberation army veterans

Newest nation South Sudan ravaged by war, climate

US troops deploy in LRA rebel hunt: Uganda army

WOOD PILE
The Disappearance of the Elephant Caused the Rise of Modern Man

Survival of the fittest: Linguistic evolution in practice

Taxi driver training changes brain structure

Why Are Humans Not Smarter


.

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2012 - Space Media Network. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement