Submitted by Gregor Wolf, Program Leader, and Werner Kornexl, Senior Natural Resource Management Specialist Cattle ranching and agriculture have been key drivers of deforestation and land degradation in Brazil,  with land use practices that come at the expense of the environment and cause water scarcity, biodiversity loss and persistent poverty. There’s no doubt that land and forest restoration to repair ecosystems is urgently needed in Brazil. This is especially evident in the State of São Paulo, where water scarcity from a combination of an extended drought and degraded watersheds is...
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This blog post was submitted by Patti Kristjanson, Senior Research Fellow, World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF), and Gender Advisor, PROFOR In a talk the other day, Marc Sadler, World Bank Global Lead Economist for Agriculture, said he had a real ‘aha’ moment when reading the Gender in Climate-Smart Agriculture module on the plane on his way to Rome several months ago. What struck him was that we shouldn’t be so focused on...
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Forests may literally be a source of green growth. According to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), investing in forests gets us as much as one third of the way towards the mitigation goals that many studies say are necessary by 2030. So much for the ‘green’ – what about the ‘growth’? With support from the World Bank, PROFOR and WAVES, serious statistical efforts are underway to determine how much forests contribute to economic growth and...
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The sweeping and largely arid lands of Kazakhstan may not immediately conjure up images of a Garden of Eden - although the country is home to the original wild apple and one of the largest forest covers in Europe and Central Asia. Despite this, overall forest scarcity in Kazakhstan – and recognition of the substantial economic and environmental benefits that forests provide - is driving current efforts to protect and grow these fragile...
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Looking back, the year 2015 highlighted both monumental challenges and opportunities to achieving sustainable forest management. Some of the setbacks included devastating levels of haze from forest fires in Indonesia, historically high numbers of wildfires across the western United States, and rising deforestation in the...
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This blog post was submitted by Werner L.Kornexl, Sr. Natural Resources Management Specialist and Program Manager for PROFOR At the close of the Paris climate meetings, 186 countries had published plans for reducing their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Not surprisingly, forests figure prominently in the final Paris agreement and in many countries’ roadmaps. For instance, Mexico has set a goal of zero...
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In the Lao People's Democratic Republic, as in much of the world, average temperatures have risen and rainfall patterns have become less predictable in recent decades. For the poor and agriculture-dependent in Lao PDR, these new conditions under climate change have brought immediate consequences: longer and more severe droughts, more extensive pest infestations, and a shift in seasons that complicates the timing of the harvest. These threats pose daunting challenges for Lao smallholder farmers, whose poverty and limited access to infrastructure, new technology, finance, and technical support...
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Development initiatives often emphasize the importance of “quick wins” and “low-hanging fruit.” But what if the issues that are the most pressing are also the most complex? The Bajo Lempa region of El Salvador is a good illustration of this. Located along the Pacific coast in what’s known as the Central American Dry Corridor, Bajo Lempa features everything from hillsides covered in coffee plantations, to flood-prone coastal plains where family farms border industrial sugarcane operations, to mangrove forests that compete with shrimp production. Increasing population and agricultural pressures...
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A rising number of cities around the globe are facing crisis-level constraints in water access, highlighting the pervasive and immediate consequences of climate change. Honduras’ capital, Tegucigalpa, is one such flashpoint. The city’s water utility currently meets less than half of residents’ demand for water – some of the city’s one million residents receive water only once a week. Tegucigalpa’s problems have followed a common pattern: urbanization and population growth are rapidly increasing the demand for resources, while also encroaching on the natural systems that provide those...
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This blog was submitted by Gerhard Dieterle, Adviser and FIP Program Manager, and Meerim Shakirova, FIP Focal Point team.   Today’s REDD+ agenda recognizes that climate change mitigation and development are intrinsically connected, aware that the productive functions of forests must be part of the solution. Indeed, the drivers of deforestation are largely outside the forest sector, and the fight against deforestation and forest degradation cannot be won without addressing the rapidly growing demand for food, timber, fiber and wood-based energy and non-timber forest products. Today and...
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