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topic: Forest Products
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To ease deforestation, natural rubber industry must ‘paddle hard’ (commentary)
- A recent study by the Royal Botanical Garden Edinburgh found that natural rubber related forest loss has been substantially underestimated and is at least two or three times higher than suggested by previous figures.
- The same study shows that at least 2 million hectares of forest has been lost for rubber cultivation since 2000, while the supply chain has begun to come together to define and standardize key requirements for environmental benefit and social equity.
- “All eyes in the rubber industry are currently turned towards the EU Deforestation Regulation. There are waves of opportunity that came before the EUDR and there are waves that will come after [but the] organizations that want to set themselves up for long term success will keep this in mind and paddle to good positions to ride all the incoming waves,” a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
U.S. and U.K. lawmakers must wake up to the coffee problem (commentary)
- Coffee is a globally traded agri-commodity that is also a major driver of deforestation, mass extinction, child labor, slavery, and other abuses.
- The FOREST Act just introduced in the U.S. Senate would regulate palm oil, cocoa, rubber, cattle, and soy – but not coffee. Also this month, the U.K. announced details of its long-awaited deforestation legislation, but it doesn’t cover coffee, either.
- It’s time for regulators in these top coffee consuming countries to wake up, recognize the urgency, and regulate coffee, a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
Bird-friendly maple syrup boosts Vermont forest diversity & resilience
- A relatively new program in Vermont is helping both maple syrup-producing farms and their customers to improve forest habitat preferred by a diversity of bird species.
- Launched in 2014, the Bird-Friendly Maple Project furnishes a logo to qualifying farms for use on their products, if they can demonstrate that the forests where they tap sugar maple trees contain a diversity of trees and shrubs, which improves the woodlands’ structure and foraging and nesting opportunities for birds.
- Creating a biologically diverse farm is a major tenet of the sustainable agriculture technique of agroecology, because it leads to greater resilience and health of the farm, its farmers and its wildlife.
- Maple syrup operations included in the program cover 7,284 hectares (18,000 acres) of forests via 90 participating farms as the program is now being replicated in New York, Massachusetts and Maine.
Certificate of origin for Acre’s açaí is a boost for the Amazonian superfood
- The municipality of Feijó in Acre state is the first in Brazil to receive a certification of origin for its açaí berries, raising hopes that the economy centered around the fruit will grow in value.
- A success the world over, açaí is a multimillion-dollar product that has shown how developing an Amazonian bioeconomy can keep the rainforest standing.
- Local communities and experts say they hope that training, research and support for production will help to consolidate the production chain to benefit producers and grow the local economy.
Amazon women create sweet business success with wild, vitamin-C packed fruit
- A women’s group in Colombia’s Amazon is successfully leading a sustainable, and profitable, business by harvesting camu-camu, an acidic wild fruit with more vitamin C than an orange or lemon.
- The business has been able to produce four to 14 tons of fruit pulp per year for sale around the country, while sustainably managing the plant species’ population.
- The women played a pioneering role in Colombia by showing that non-timber forest resources could be used to generate income in areas of protected rainforest.
- The sustainable use of such resources has become a successful conservation strategy that has received praise from scientific institutes and environmental authorities.
Banana fiber sari offers sustainable, biodegradable alternative in Bangladesh
- The sari, a quintessential part of Bangladeshi culture and attire, is known for its vibrant colors and intricate designs.
- However, traditional sari production is often associated with resource-intensive processes that raise environmental concerns.
- A couple of Indigenous Marma and Manipuri communities in Bangladesh have taken the Bangladeshi fashion scene by storm with their unique creation: a sari woven entirely from banana fiber, considered a sustainable and biodegradable alternative.
Transgenics contaminate a third of Brazil’s traditional corn in semiarid region
- A new study identified the presence of up to seven transgenic genes in single seeds of traditional, or “creole” corn from more than 1,000 samples collected in 10% of the towns in Brazil’s Caatinga.
- The results indicate cross-contamination in the fields; it is estimated that pollen from transgenic corn can travel up to 3 kilometers, contaminating nearby traditional corn crops.
- The loss of agricultural biodiversity due to contamination by transgenic plants leaves Brazil vulnerable to climate change and food insecurity. Farmers have put their faith in community creole seed banks.
São Paulo students plant mini-forests on school grounds as urban oases
- Four thousand students planted nearly 10,000 trees on public school grounds in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, in 2022, and another eight mini-forests will be planted in 2023.
- The project, created by the NGO formigas-de-embaúba, could be implemented at 650 public schools in the city, according to a MapBiomas study.
- Guarani leaders from the Jaraguá Indigenous Territory participate in the project, which was inspired by Indigenous knowledge and cosmology.
- Specialists see mini-forests at schools as a strong strategy for creating a democratic network of “cooling places” or urban oases in the face of intensifying global warming.
Community pine nut harvests help protect Brazil’s araucaria trees
- Pine nuts from the araucaria trees of the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina are driving a chain of sustainable production involving more than a dozen municipalities from the mountain region of the southern Brazilian state.
- With devastating logging by the timber industry, the original extent of araucaria forests has fallen by 98%; today, keeping the trees standing — and selling their nuts – has proven to be a better alternative source of income for the communities living in the highland area.
- Despite these conservation efforts, legal obstacles persist: 70-90% of araucaria pine nut sales take place informally, which opens the way to middlemen, while low levels of mechanization in the production chain hinder the chances of expansion.
Climate change makes its presence felt in the Amazon’s shrinking fish
- Studies show that the effects of climate change can already be seen in Amazonian fish, which are growing smaller and less abundant in wetlands and streams; female fish are also reproducing at a younger age.
- It’s estimated that half of all threatened fish species in the Brazilian Amazon are sensitive to the impacts of climate change.
- A project by the National Institute for Amazonian Research (INPA) is documenting these impacts through the perspective of Indigenous communities, and has found that they match what the scientific data already show.
- Indigenous communities like the Ticuna and the Kokama in the Upper Solimões region are reporting the disappearance of large fish, the need to travel longer distances to find places to fish, and warmer waters in rivers and streams.
Clothes sourced from plants could expand deforestation – or abate it
- Cellulose fabrics are fibers extracted from plants and transformed into clothing. Fuelled in a large part by promises of higher environmental integrity, cellulose fibers are the fastest growing feedstock of the textile market.
- Companies dominating the market have brought with them systemic problems that have seen primary forests felled, peatlands drained and waste management poorly managed.
- Despite ongoing sustainability issues, the future of the market is promising, experts say, as new innovations and companies have a fighting chance to bring new materials and manufacturing processes to market.
Encircled by plantations, a Sumatran Indigenous community abides changing times
- Residents of the village of Talang Durian Cacar on Indonesia’s Sumatra Island are struggling to earn decent incomes from unproductive oil palm trees.
- Jakarta-based NGO Kaoem Telapak described the community’s switch to growing oil palm trees as an “ecological, social and cultural consequence of their marginalization.”
- The community, part of the Talang Mamak Indigenous group, can access its customary forest through a corridor bisecting oil palm plantations.
In São Paulo, Indigenous Guarani unite over their reclaimed farming tradition
- At the southern end of the São Paulo city limits, a Guarani Indigenous community has reclaimed degraded land once used for eucalyptus monoculture.
- After collecting seeds from communities in other states and countries, the Guarani have more than 200 varieties of native plants, free of any genetic modification.
- The crops include nine types of corn, 15 types of sweet potato, four types of peanut, as well as fruits native to the Atlantic Rainforest.
- Guarani society is built around agriculture, and the recovery of these ancient planting traditions is bringing the community together in a way that wasn’t possible before.
Seed banks catalog Brazil’s food past to safeguard its future
- Brazilian agricultural research agency Embrapa has collected some 120,000 seeds from nearly 700 crop species over the course of 49 years, part of an effort to safeguard the country’s rich food diversity.
- While many of the samples are stored in the network of 164 seed banks throughout Brazil, some have been sent to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in the Norwegian Arctic, including rice, beans, peppers and pumpkins, with native varieties of corn, passion fruit and cashew to follow.
- A movement to recover traditional seeds, started by the Krahô Indigenous people together with Embrapa in the 1990s, has helped initiate exchanges of both seeds and knowledge all over the country.
- Embrapa researchers say their partnership with Indigenous and traditional communities is essential to their efforts, since many seeds can’t be stored in vaults, and must be continuously cultivated in the fields.
In Brazil’s northeast, family farmers are guardians of creole seeds
- Families in northeastern Brazil’s Alto Jequitinhonha region have held out against industrial farming by preserving dozens of traditional seed varieties through generations of family farming.
- The tradition led to publication in 2019 of the Alto Jequitinhonha Creole Seed Catalog, which lists 132 varieties preserved and grown by 28 families in the region.
- Guaranteeing food security means dealing with several challenges in this region, including increasingly longer dry seasons as a result of climate change, and competition with eucalyptus monocultures for water.
Opium production down as communities in Mexico’s Golden Triangle turn to forestry
- Four communities in Mexico’s state of Durango, located within the ‘Golden Triangle’, an area known for the presence of the Sinaloa Cartel and opium and marijuana production, embarked on a sustainable forestry project to reduce dependence on illegal crop production.
- The project has helped lift the Tamazula municipality, where the four communities are located, off the state’s poverty list, raise their income above the minimum wage and contain narcotrafficking, according to the Topia Unit for Development and Comprehensive Forest Conservation.
- The mountainous region of temperate forests, diverse species of conifers and deep-cut ravines has a long legacy of sustainable forest management, which the communities hope to revive to relieve stigmatization.
- However, the communities are very isolated and surrounded by long dirt roads, meaning journeys to sell their wood are often arduous and costly.
Can a reforestation project stop land grabs? Villagers in the DRC give it a try
- Kinandu village residents in southern Democratic Republic of Congo are taking part in a reforestation initiative in the miombo woodlands while land grabs are simultaneously on the rise.
- The fear of losing the land on which they were born and raised, coupled with an awareness of the environmental degradation they took part of, is inspiring residents to own forest concessions and restore the land.
- However, restoration largely depends on whether residents and stakeholders will change the way they produce essential goods, such as maize and charcoal.
- The government should continue to support the project after it ends in July 2022, says Jonathan Ilunga, professor of the University of Lubumbashi’s faculty of agronomy and deputy director of the Open Forests Urban Observatory.
Tukupu: The women of the Kariña community, guardians of Venezuela’s forests
- Tukupu is Venezuela’s first Indigenous forest business, sustainably managing and reforesting 7,000 hectares (17,300 acres) of the Imataca Forest Reserve in the south-east of the country.
- The business is led mainly by women who have used their ancestral knowledge to restore over 312 hectares (770 acres) of forest, reforest another 113 (280 acres) and dedicate 189 (468 acres) to agroforestry.
- According to the FAO, the equivalent of more than 23 million tonnes of carbon emissions have been avoided, either directly or indirectly, through the project.
- One of the key points of the project has been to figure out how the resources from the forest can be commercialised in a sustainable way that also benefits members of the community.
Myanmar teak is tainted. Time to jettison it, some yacht-making insiders say
- As Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos looks set to take possession of the world’s biggest sailing yacht in 2022, activists are raising questions about yacht makers continued use of teak from Myanmar, which returned to repressive military rule this year.
- Bezos, the world’s second-richest person, entered the league of big-ticket environmental funders in 2020, announcing a $10 billion “Earth fund,” of which $2 billion is pledged for land restoration, including forests.
- Oceanco, the Dutch company reportedly making Bezos’s yacht, defended its use of teak in its projects, saying it was legally sourced. The EU imposed sanctions in June effectively make it illegal for businesses in the bloc to import teak from Myanmar, where harvesting and export of timber is under state control.
- “We need a PETA-like campaign, supermodels with their bloody fur coats, but a teak equivalent,” says Jessie Rogers, part of a family-run boatyard in the U.K. “You need people to be ashamed of having teak.”
‘Collaboration is key’ to address big environmental challenges, says Daniel Katz
- In 1986 Daniel Katz set out to save tropical rainforests by co-founding the Rainforest Alliance to develop a global certification standard for forest products and crops. Katz hoped this approach would create economic incentives for companies to adopt more sustainable practices and provide sustainable livelihoods for local people.
- Over the next 35 years, the Rainforest Alliance grew into one of the world’s best known environmental brands and brought the idea of eco-certification into the mainstream.
- Since founding the Rainforest Alliance, Katz has served in a range of roles, from board member to management advisor to Senior Program Director at the Overbrook Foundation. In those capacities, he’s been a keen observer of how the conservation sector has evolved.
- In a wide-ranging interview with Mongabay, Katz spoke about trends in conservation, obstacles the sector still needs to overcome, and the importance of collaboration. He also offered advice for conservation entrepreneurs.
Climate change threatens traditional extractive communities in the Amazon
- Traditional peoples in the Amazon are already experiencing the scientific community’s warnings that rising temperatures will impact those who depend on the forest for their livelihood.
- Brazil nuts, açaí berries, andiroba oil, copaíba oil, rubber, cacao and cupuaçu fruits are some of the products at risk of disappearance or reduced production in the next 30 years.
- In addition to climate change’s environmental impact on these resources, the social impact will likely bring worsening poverty and an exodus of traditional peoples to urban areas.
Brazil punching below its weight in getting forest products to the world
- Brazil may have given its name to the Brazil nut, but it exports less than 6% of the global export market of the nut, while Bolivia supplies 52%.
- That’s one of several key findings from new research that shows that Brazil, home to a third of all tropical forests, is punching well below its own weight when it comes to the value of its exports of forest-derived commodities.
- Experts highlight several key obstacles preventing production and export of these commodities from being scaled up, including logistics, lack of technical expertise and equipment, and costly certification requirements for breaking into markets like the EU.
- Proponents say ramping up production and exports of forest commodities could be the key to achieving economic and social development in the Brazilian Amazon, as well as a way of reviving vast swaths of degraded and abandoned areas.
Farmers in the Amazon could earn 9 times more and prevent ecosystem collapse
- In this opinion piece, Jonah Wittkamper, Alexander Borges Rose, and Denis Minev argue that agroforestry in the Amazon “can replace cattle, generate new wealth, create jobs and develop new economic zones that insulate pristine forest from deforestation risk.”
- “The opportunity is huge and the needs are urgent,” they write. “If landowners switched from producing soy to a polyculture of fruit and horticultural products, their income would more than triple.”
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
‘Drastic forest development’: Vietnam to plant 1 billion trees — but how?
- After a string of deadly typhoons in late 2020, Vietnam’s prime minister called for the country to plant 1 billion trees nationwide by 2025 to reduce the risk of landslides and flooding.
- Surprisingly, the government says tree planting will be concentrated in developed areas such as cities and industrial zones; it has not released further specifics on what species will be planted, where, by whom, or the cost.
- Past reforestation campaigns have succeeded in increasing the country’s overall tree cover, but mainly by establishing plantations of non-native species that are regularly clear-cut for paper or timber. Some organizations and farmers are working to change the way Vietnam approaches reforestation.
- This story was produced with support from the Rainforest Journalism Fund in partnership with the Pulitzer Center.
Some guitar makers in pursuit of sustainable manufacturing
- Guitar manufacturers use a small volume of some of the rarest exotic woods, but have come under the most pressure to adopt sustainable practices because of their high profile.
- Over the past decade, manufacturers like Czech-based Furch Guitars and Taylor Guitars in the U.S. have rolled out initiatives such as tree replanting and funding for forest communities in the areas they source their timber from.
- Furch Guitars CEO Petr Furch says the sustainability drive is about more than just the material used to make the instruments, but also the carbon footprint of the manufacturing process.
- The company says it has shifted to 100% renewable energy at its Velké Němčice plant, and reduced its carbon footprint by two-thirds in the process.
Helping Papuans protect Indonesia’s last frontier: Q&A with Bustar Maitar
- Bustar Maitar’s storied career in environmental activism began in the Indonesian region of Papua, the land of his birth and today the coveted target of extractives and industrial agriculture companies.
- In his time at Greenpeace International, Maitar led a forest conservation campaign that pressured major corporations like Nestlé and Unilever to commit to zero deforestation in their supply chains.
- Maitar’s new venture, the EcoNusa Foundation, brings him back to Papua, where it all began, to push for protecting the forests, waters and other ecosystems of this last pristine frontier in Indonesia.
- In an interview with Mongabay founder Rhett A. Butler, Maitar talks about bridging international NGOs with local communities, ecotourism as a development model for eastern Indonesia, and the revival of the kewang system of traditional environmental stewardship in the Maluku Islands.
Traditional healers are preserving their knowledge, and with it, the biodiversity of Brazil’s savanna
- The Brazilian savanna contains almost a third of Brazil’s biodiversity but less than 10% is officially protected and its native vegetation is threatened by a rapidly-advancing agricultural frontier.
- Much of the flora and fauna remain unknown to conventional science.
- A network of traditional healers is at the forefront of finding ways to protect, sustainably manage, and document the biodiversity based on their in-depth knowledge of medicinal plants.
- Experts say that finding ways to value the savanna more, such as through recognizing its immense botanical and pharmacological value, could aid in its conservation.
An economic case for competing in the XPRIZE Rainforest contest (commentary)
- In 2019, XPRIZE Rainforest opened its doors and challenged the world to develop new biodiversity assessment technologies by offering a $10 million prize for the best one.
- In this commentary, Jonah Wittkamper, President of the Global Governance Philanthropy Network and co-founder of NEXUS, makes an economic argument for participating in the contest.
- Wittkamper says a great deal of value could be unlocked with the ability to rapidly assess rainforest biodiversity.
- This post is a commentary and does not necessarily reflect the views of Mongabay.
Agroforestry and land reform give Brazil cacao farmers sweet taste of success
- In the 1990s, witches’ broom disease, a fungal outbreak, devastated cacao crops in the south of Brazil’s Bahia state, leaving many farms abandoned.
- One of those farms was occupied by 40 families who now sell top-quality cacao to major chocolate brands.
- The community reestablished the agroecological system known as cabruca, in which farmers plant cacao trees and other crops without clearing native forest.
- Thanks to this system and their land reform efforts, the farmers have seen their monthly earnings more than double since 2008.
Myanmar’s troubled forestry sector seeks global endorsement after coup
- Two days after the military coup in Myanmar on Feb. 1, the nationally privatized Myanmar Forest Products and Timber Merchants Association (MFPTMA) released a statement claiming its timber trade is fully in compliance with legal and official deforestation guidelines intended govern international exports.
- The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has publicly countered the letter, saying that Myanmar’s timber trade is highly corrupt and does not comply with international policies such as the EU’s Timber Regulation.
- Expert critics say the letter was motivated by money, and that any subsequent timber trade would directly benefit the ongoing military coup, which has been promised to last for at least a year.
- The EIA has called for placing economic sanctions on Myanmar, particularly in regard to the timber trade, until power is handed back to the democratically elected government.
A Philippine community sees life-saving payoffs from restoring its mangroves
- For more than 30 years, a community in the central Philippines has been actively involved in reforesting and protecting a mangrove site, which has expanded from 50 hectares to 220 hectares (124 acres to 544 acres).
- Their efforts have resulted in the successful transformation of a once-barren mudflat into one of the few remaining large patches of mangrove forests in the country.
- Replanting the mangroves has paid off, with the forest shielding the community from the extreme impacts of the typhoons that routinely tear through the Philippines.
- While the community has successfully managed the mangrove reserves, it continues to grapple with illegal fishing, cutting of mangrove for fuelwood, and climate change.
Technology innovations look to change the cacao landscape in Colombia
- Cacao holds promise as a “peace crop” in Colombia, providing smallholders with a viable alternative to coca.
- Two projects — EcoProMIS, led by Agricompas, and COLCO, led by Satellite Applications Catapult — are developing technology applications to build on cacao’s potential in Colombia and ensure transparency and traceability.
- A combination of apps, smart devices and data analytics could help farmers produce more per hectare, refine their post-harvest process, and fetch fairer prices, all while improving transparency and traceability.
- Boosting yields per hectare is an important goal for Colombia given that it has committed to ensuring zero deforestation in the cacao supply chain.
Fight rages on to save centuries-old giant Philippine rosewood tree
- Officials in the southern Philippines have decided to cut a centuries-old Philippine rosewood tree (Petersianthus quadrialatus) that’s believed to be the oldest and tallest of its species.
- The decision comes after assessments showed extensive fungal rot and termite damage in the trunk, presenting a risk of the 56-meter (184-foot) tree falling over onto a nearby highway.
- Experts, however, say there is still hope for the giant tree through a regimen of tree surgery, fungicide treatment and regular checkups, which they accuse officials of failing to do in the past.
In Colombia, a protected park is buffeted by social, environmental conflicts
- When Serranía de Las Quinchas Regional Natural Park was established in Colombia in 2008, thousands of campesinos were already living there on land previously dominated by paramilitaries.
- Many productive activities have been restricted and residents are requesting state support.
- There have been reports that the army is eradicating illicit coca crops while disregarding health and safety protocols put in place to combat COVID-19.
- Residents of the park say they have no means of making a living and are worried about illegal logging, land ownership and oil infrastructure in the area.
Anticipated new restrictions on wildlife trade in Vietnam fall short of a ban
- Earlier this year, in response to the coronavirus pandemic, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc called for the drafting of a ban on wildlife trade and consumption by April 1.
- After a delay of several months, on July 23, the government finally released a directive aimed at strengthening enforcement of existing rules governing the wildlife trade, but not banning the trade outright, as conservationists had hoped.
- Conservationists expressed support for the directive as a major step forward, but cautioned that much work remains, particularly in terms of enforcement.
Vietnam wildlife trade ban appears to flounder amid coronavirus success
- In March, responding to the novel coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc requested a draft of measures to restrict the trade and consumption of wildlife in Vietnam by April 1.
- That date has come and gone, but no information on the requested draft has been made public since March.
- Some conservationists are concerned that Vietnam’s thus far successful containment of the coronavirus outbreak means the government is no longer prioritizing wildlife regulations.
- NGOs are still working, both behind the scenes and in public, to press the issue.
As COVID-19 spreads, commodity markets rumble
- Projections of a construction slowdown caused the price of lumber to plummet on global markets.
- While palm oil prices have dropped by 15 percent on lower demand for biofuels, most agricultural commodity prices have remained relatively stable so far.
- Economists say the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the environment is hard to forecast, but warn that the global economy could be on the brink of collapse.
Vietnam considers wildlife trade ban in response to coronavirus pandemic
- Last month, conservation organizations sent an open letter to Vietnam’s prime minister recommending action against the wildlife trade as a means of preventing future outbreaks of disease, such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
- In response, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc tasked the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development with drafting a ban on the trade and consumption of wildlife by April 1.
- The COVID-19 outbreak has been relatively contained in Vietnam, with 75 confirmed infections at the time of writing, but the economic impact is severe.
- Conservationists hope to see strong enforcement on both the supply and demand sides of the wildlife trade.
Forestry companies warned over environmental policies
- Sustainable timber operations have the potential to protect huge swaths of tropical rainforest, but the majority of companies do not have adequate safeguards for the forest holdings they control.
- New analysis investigates the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) policies of 97 companies that manage an area of rainforest greater than the whole of California.
- Companies with good policies are more likely to attract investment because they are protecting their assets over the long-term
Can rice husk briquettes stem the tide of mangrove deforestation in Myanmar?
- Despite the knowledge about the role mangroves play to protect inland areas from storm swells, and a nationwide ban on logging, Myanmar continues to lose mangroves, particularly to communities in the Irrawaddy Delta where electricity is lacking and a reliance on mangroves as firewood and to make charcoal.
- An enterprising rice mill owner, U Zayar Myo, uses discarded rice husks to create compact briquettes that can be burned as an alternative fuel to mangrove wood or charcoal.
- These rice-husk briquettes are now being distributed to other businesses historically reliant on burning mangrove wood, and point to one way to reduce the rate of mangrove deforestation in Myanmar.
Graphic anti-wildlife-trafficking campaign tackles Vietnam’s pangolin problem
- A bold new campaign launched in Ho Chi Minh City late last month focuses on pagodas and aims to educate Buddhists on the devastating impact of the illegal wildlife trade and the importance of these three species.
- Research has shown that fewer Vietnamese believe in the alleged medicinal properties of these animal parts than in the past.
- Despite increasing awareness and changes in attitude, massive shipments of ivory and pangolin scales continue to be sent to the country.
Ecuador’s artisans struggle to save wooden toy culture
- Environmentalists have long been promoting the benefits of wood toys, especially over their plastic counterparts that create massive waste. Plastic toys are often produced cheaply, break easily, are thrown away quickly, and can take hundreds of years to decompose.
- The 87-year-old artisan wood worker known affectionately Mr. Tops has been creating and selling traditional Ecuadorian toys here for over 50 years.
The man who made Ecuador’s wooden Tigua masks famous
- The 73-year-old artisan, woodworker, and painter takes his inspiration from Andean life for his artwork and colorful wooden masks.
- Long a part of traditional indigenous culture, popular use of the masks has declined over time but the art of the craft remains very much alive.
Pressure mounting for the home of wild coffee and Ethiopian wolves
- The region of Bale Park is vital to the survival of endemic flora and fauna, like the mountain nyala (Tragelaphus buxtoni), a large antelope, and some of the planet’s last wild coffee
- Bale is also home to other ancient forms of livelihood, such as traditional beekeeping.
- Now there’s a mounting battle to preserve the park, a crucial part of southern Ethiopia’s ecosystem and a watershed source for 12 million people.
CITES rejects another Madagascar plan to sell illegal rosewood stockpiles
- At a meeting in Sochi, Russia, earlier this month, CITES’s standing committee rejected Madagascar’s latest plan to sell off its stockpiles of illegally harvested rosewood, largely because the plan called for local timber barons to be paid for their troves of wood.
- Environmental groups argued that operators who logged illegally should not be rewarded for it, and delegations from several African countries reportedly opposed the plan because they feared their own timber barons would learn the wrong lesson from the deal.
- Madagascar’s environment ministry released a statement after the meeting indicating that it would take the recommendations made by the CITES committee into account in revising the plan for submission again in 2019.
In Brazil, a forest community helps seed new trees far and wide
- Brazil’s Atlantic Forest is dotted with quilombos, communities originally founded by former slaves, some of which have been around for more than 300 years.
- Following the example of indigenous communities in the Xingu area of Mato Grosso state, quilombos in São Paulo state’s Vale do Ribeira region are collecting and selling seeds as a source of income.
- They ship the seeds by mail, in mixed batches called muvuca, to landowners who use them to reforest degraded lands through direct seeding.
- The project has not only helped financially empower the quilombos, but also raised the communities’ understanding and appreciation for the native trees and plants of their land.
Madagascar proposes paying illegal loggers to audit or buy their rosewood
- In June, the World Bank facilitated a workshop to discuss what Madagascar should do with its stockpiles of illegally logged rosewood.
- Madagascar has been grappling with the question for years, but has been unable to make a proper inventory of the stockpiled wood or control illegal exports.
- The rosewood could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars on the international market, but the country cannot sell it until it shows progress in enforcing its own environmental laws.
- At the workshop, Madagascar’s government proposed a radical solution: paying loggers for access to their illicit stockpiles in order to keep tabs on the wood, or even buying the wood back from them directly.
New tea plant discoveries in Vietnam highlight vitality of protected areas
- Two new species of tea plant, from the genus Camellia, have been described from a protected area in central Vietnam.
- The discoveries, along with similar finds of other new plant and animal species, underscore the country’s rich biodiversity.
- However, the excitement generated by new discoveries such as these tends to be tempered by the reality that they don’t always translate into funding for conservation or further study.
Study links US demand for Chinese furniture to deforestation in Africa
- Recent research links the U.S. demand for furniture made in China to tree cover loss in Africa’s Congo Basin.
- Between 2001 and 2015, China became the largest export market for timber from the Congo Basin, and over that same time period, the share of imports of furniture from China to the U.S. grew from 30 percent to 50 percent.
- The researchers suggest that public awareness campaigns aimed at curbing the demand for such furniture could be a boon for the Congo Basin’s forests.
Colombia pledges to produce deforestation-free chocolate
- On July 17, Colombia signed up to the Cocoa and Forests Initiative, an effort that aims to achieve deforestation-free cocoa production, becoming the first Latin American country to make this commitment.
- One of the country’s largest chocolate manufacturing companies, Casa Luker, and the members of the National Cocoa Federation have also joined Colombia in this pledge.
- The Colombian government has been working to boost cocoa production to improve the country’s competitiveness as a cocoa producer internationally and is looking at cocoa as a potential replacement for crops like coca, the plant used to make cocaine.
Madagascar: Yet another anti-trafficking activist convicted
- Christopher Magnenjika, an activist working to stem corruption and wildlife trafficking in northeastern Madagascar, was tried, convicted, fined $9 and released earlier this month.
- The charges against Magnenjika include “rebellion” and insulting local officials.
- Magnenjika’s supporters say his arrest and conviction were a pretext for keeping him quiet about the illicit trade in rosewood, a valuable tropical hardwood.
- Magnenjika is one of at least ten Malagasy activists who have faced imprisonment in recent years.
Papuan chef Charles Toto serves up sustainability and environmental protection in a platter
- Charles Toto is the founder of the Jungle Chef Community, a network of enthusiasts from across the Indonesian region of Papua who promote sustainable living and environmental protection through local cuisine.
- Toto came up with the idea after seeing foreign documentary makers and tour groups embarking on weeks-long treks in the Papuan wilderness with nothing more than instant and canned food.
- Over the years, he has learned to make the best use of the ingredients served up by the forest and the sea, and has taken his unique mission to culinary shows across Indonesia and abroad.
- But for Toto and his group, the opening up of Papua’s forests to palm oil and other commercial operators, aided by a government-backed infrastructure push, threatens the region’s natural wealth and heritage.
Tambopata: Where forest conservation and opportunity meet
- Robin Van Loon is founder of Camino Verde in Peru, an organization working to go above and beyond sustainable agro-economics in favor of regenerative agro-economics.
- The Tambopata Region of the Peruvian Amazon is one of the most biodiverse places on the planet where new species are still being discovered. It’s home to species of trees used and nurtured by Camino Verde for profit and forest health.
- The vision of Robin Van Loon and his team at Camino Verde: see the forest for the trees, and you’ll find a way to preserve both for generations to come.
Luxury British yacht makers vow to examine supply chains
- Highly durable and aesthetically beautiful Burmese teak is prized for boat decking, particularly in luxury yachts, but natural teak from Myanmar is often exported illegally.
- According to a recent alert from Britain’s Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), many British-made luxury yachts contain decking from illegally-sourced Burmese teak despite EU regulations in place to prevent its sale and export.
- Luxury yacht companies interviewed at the London Boat Show stress that although they plan on investigating their supply chains, they maintain that their Burmese teak decking is legally and ethically-sourced.
Illegal Burmese wood used in British boats, says organization
- The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) says decking on luxury yachts made in the UK have illegal wood on them.
- EU rules dictate that point of origin in the chain of sale must be legally-sourced teak from Myanmar.
- Princess Yachts International and Sunseeker International, both singled out by the EIA in their statement, will be at the London Boat Show this week.
Former Mongabay intern, now pop star, launches Amazon-friendly perfume
- Heather D’Angelo, a member of the pop band Au Revoir Simone, just introduced her fragrance line, Carta.
- Inspired by her love of mixing scents and conserving tropical rainforests, D’Angelo created an Amazon-friendly and inspired scent.
- The former tropical ecologist hopes to create an example for conservation success with her Peru-based NGO partner, Camino Verde.
CITES rejects Madagascar’s bid to sell rosewood and ebony stockpiles
- The standing committee of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) had its annual meeting in Geneva November 27 through December 1.
- The committee rejected Madagascar’s petition to sell its stockpiles of seized rosewood and ebony that had been illegally cut from the country’s rainforests.
- CITES delegates agreed that while a future sale of the stockpiles might be possible, Madagascar was not yet ready for such a risky undertaking, which could allow newly chopped logs to be laundered and traded overseas.
- Other notable outcomes of the CITES meeting dealt with the sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis), pangolins, and the critically endangered vaquita porpoise (Phocoena sinus).
Madagascar petitions CITES to sell millions in stolen rosewood
- The Madagascar government has petitioned wildlife regulators under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) for permission to sell its stockpiles of seized rainforest wood.
- Some campaigners warn that traffickers stand to benefit from any such sale and fear it could herald a “logging boom” in the country’s remaining rainforests.
- The CITES committee will consider the proposal at the end of this month.
Logjam: Inside Madagascar’s illegal-rosewood stockpiles
- Over the past six years, Madagascar has spent millions of dollars and devoted countless person hours to figuring out how to dispose of vast stockpiles of highly valuable, illegally logged rosewood, much of it cut from the country’s rainforests following a 2009 coup.
- To do so, the government must conduct a comprehensive inventory of the stockpiles, among other requirements issued by CITES. The World Bank has supported the effort with at least $3 million to $4 million in murky ad hoc loans.
- The current state of affairs, with untold thousands of rosewood logs still unaccounted for, and tens of thousands more stacked outside government offices, is widely seen as facilitating continued corruption and illicit activity.
- This is the sixth story in Mongabay’s multi-part series “Conservation in Madagascar.”
Another Madagascar environmental activist imprisoned
- Malagasy authorities have held Raleva, a 61-year-old farmer, in custody since September 27 after he asked to see a mining company’s permits to operate near his village.
- His arrest is at least the sixth such case of authorities targeting those opposed to wildlife trafficking or land grabs.
- Environmental activists say they face bribes and threats from traffickers on one side, and jail time and fines from the government on the other.
Anti-trafficking activist held without trial in Madagascar
- Clovis Razafimalala has been working to end rosewood trafficking in Madagascar since 2009.
- He has been imprisoned since September on charges of unauthorized rebellion and burning state files and property during a protest he maintains he did not participate in.
- No trial date has been announced, although one is supposed to be set by May 26.
- Activists say his case raises concern for the civil rights of Malagasy environmental activists.
Despite delays, Kenya and Tanzania continue to push against illegal logging
- The MOU is intended to stem the illegal timber trade in East Africa, which is fuelling deforestation in the region.
- Several projects included in the MOU, such as increased border patrols and crackdowns on illegal timber transport, are already underway.
- Other initiatives, including harmonizing tax customs documents and financing the MOU for its five-year duration, have been delayed.
- Local woodcarvers who depend on smuggled wood for their trade are seeing their industry decline as a result of the MOU.
The people of Ethiopia’s forests
- Ethiopia’s forestry sector contributed $893.7 million to the economy in 2011, or about 3.2 percent of the GDP.
- After decades of significant loss, the country’s forests have slowly begun to limp back, in large part due to planting efforts.
- From conservation work to sawmill houses and beyond, the forest-dependent populations of Ethiopia are impacting the future of the country’s forests.
10 conservation “fads”: how have they worked in Latin America?
- A 2013 editorial in the journal Conservation Biology described 10 conservation methods that emerged since the late 1970’s as fads, “approaches that are embraced enthusiastically and then abandoned.”
- The fads on the list were: the marketing of natural products from rain forests, biological diversity hotspots, integrated conservation and development projects, ecotourism, ecocertification, community-based conservation, payment for ecosystem or environmental services, REDD+, conservation concessions, and so-called integrated landscapes.
- Mongabay consulted seven conservation experts on how the 10 fads played out in Latin America, a region that is not only a hotbed of biodiversity but also of conservation activity.
Controversial park plans in Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve
- Mirador-Rio Azul National Park is one of the best-conserved protected areas in Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve, where illegal logging and agriculture, forest fires, looting, and drug trafficking have contributed to deforestation.
- A plan to increase tourism to the area and redraw the boundaries of the park and adjacent community forest concessions aims to prevent these threats from compromising the area’s rainforest and important archaeological sites.
- Yet the plan has drawn widespread opposition from local communities, environmental NGOs, and the government agency charged with managing the reserve. Opponents say the plan would threaten the region’s ecology, local livelihoods, and community forest concessions that have successfully protected the rainforest.
Communities lead the way in rainforest conservation in Guatemala
- The Maya Biosphere Reserve, which covers one-fifth of Guatemala, is one of the most important tropical forest areas north of the Amazon and contains dozens of ancient Mayan archaeological sites.
- The best way to protect the reserve’s rainforest—better than national parks—has turned out to be nine community concessions, forest allotments where locals earn a living from the carefully regulated extraction of timber and plants.
- However, the community concessions’ future remains unclear, with contracts set to expire in the coming years and powerful forces opposing them.
Successes and many challenges in Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve
- The Maya Biosphere Reserve, which covers one-fifth of Guatemala, is one of the most important tropical forest areas north of the Amazon.
- The reserve is a gem of biological and cultural heritage, with more than 500 species of birds, numerous endangered and iconic wildlife species, and dozens of ancient Mayan archaeological sites.
- The reserve’s multiple-use zone has generally succeeded at reducing deforestation and providing sustainable livelihoods for communities living there. But deforestation remains a huge problem in the reserve as a whole, pushed along by complex factors, including illegal settlement by landless migrants, oil development, and the presence of drug traffickers, cattle ranchers, and other armed groups.
Leonardo DiCaprio invests in company, donates shares to Amazon indigenous organization
- DiCaprio’s investment in RUNA is being called an innovative model for environmental philanthropy.
- DiCaprio donated a portion of his investment to the Coordinating Organization of the indigenous Peoples of the Amazon Basin (COICA), an advocacy group dedicated to ensuring Amazonian indigenous peoples’ rights and conserving the forests in their traditional territories.
- Indigenous Kichwa communities traditionally drink guayasa, a naturally caffeinated tree leaf brewed like tea, early in the morning and late at night.
Could conservation education in virtual reality help change the real world?
- New virtual reality (VR) apps can immerse the public in lifelike environments and experiences that raise ecological awareness and promote environmentally friendly behavior in real life.
- Cutting-edge VR could have myriad applications for conserving dwindling natural habitats, species and resources.
- Future improvements and ubiquity with more releases of competing consumer VR devices will make the technology a prominent environmental education tool.
Sustainable non-timber forest products failing to meet conservation promise
Red Fruit (Pandanus conoideus), a traditional fruit known by Papuans as kuansu. Harvesting of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) is failing to meet lofty goals for combining conservation and poverty alleviation, said a forestry expert speaking at the annual meeting of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation in Bonito, Brazil. Long hailed as a “silver […]
How fruit defines Borneo
Rambutan fruit. Photo courtesy of Orangutan Foundation International. Among conservationists and biologists, the mega-island of Borneo is a sort of Mecca. Its rich plant and animal biodiversity, as well as high degree of endemism (unique species found nowhere else) make it a naturalist’s dream. There is one aspect of this biological richness which applies to […]
90% of tropical forests managed poorly or not at all
Less than 10% of tropical forests are ‘sustainably’ managed More than 90 percent of tropical forests are managed poorly or not at all, says a new assessment by the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO). The report, Status of Tropical Forest Management 2011, finds that while forests continue to be degraded and destroyed at a rapid […]
Good stewards of forests at home outsource deforestation abroad
As more nations adopt better laws and policies to save and restore forests at home, they may, in fact, be outsourcing deforestation to other parts of the world, according to a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Looking at six developing nations where forests are recovering—instead of receding—the study […]
New tree species discovered in Guyana is rich source of oil
Summary: Carapa akuri is a new tree species endemic to Guyana Carapa akuri produces oil-rich seeds valuable for a range of uses Carapa akuri may provide another reason to conserve Guyana’s forests Botanists working have described a new species of tree with commercial significance in Guyana. The discovery is published in Brittonia, a journal put […]
Eco-label for rainforest products could boost sustainability
Tropical forests around the world continue to fall, largely the result of logging and conversion to agriculture. But new hope for forests has emerged under a scheme that would reward countries for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and degradation. Some variations of the concept, which is known as REDD, would allow for “sustainable forest […]
Is Amazon conservation worth more than clearing for cattle or soy?
After a steep drop in deforestation rates since 2004, widespread fires in the Brazilian Amazon (September and October 2007) suggest that forest clearing may increase this year. All told, since 2000 Brazil has lost more than 60,000 square miles (150,000 square kilometers) of rainforest — an area larger than the state of Georgia or the country of Bangladesh. Most […]
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