September 21, 2016
Equator Initiative shares local voices for climate action
New video series raises awareness of indigenous peoples’ and local communities’ solutions to global problems, especially climate change. The series, produced by the Equator Initiative, debuted this week while global leaders attend “Climate Week” events in New York City while gathered for the 2016 United Nations General Assembly. Climate Week is a high-profile gather ...
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October 24, 2015
Field Diary of Cocoa and Conservation in Bantaeng, Indonesia
Najemia Tahiruddin
Rainforest Alliance
The Sulawesi bear cuscus is a vulnerable animal on the IUCN Red List found in only one part of Indonesia. In the past, farmers viewed cuscuses as pests and would hunt them. However, after receiving training from the Rainforest Alliance, local farmers are now taking action to protect this rare species. Editor’s Note: The following […] ...
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October 22, 2015
Forests and humans, history of a renewed harmony
Olivier Rousselle
Agro ParisTech University
This is a story that takes place in the French Alps and highlights the ties that have woven forests and humans for a century, along with the many services provided by forests. One century ago, in a desolate landscape… After the French Revolution, farming and industrialization led to massive deforestation in mountain areas. The Alps […] ...
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July 2, 2015
Protecting Endangered Plants, One Taboo at a time: traditional practices and conservation
Diana Quiroz
Naturalis Biodiversity Center
The iroko (Milicia excelsa) is one of West Africa’s most iconic trees. It is a sacred tree in many of the areas where it occurs. In Benin, people call Him “the king of the forest” and hence address Him with respect. For the past five years, our team has studied plant use in West Africa […] ...
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May 8, 2015
Back to the future: quilombos and their potential to protect Brazil’s Atlantic Forest
Waverli Maia Matarazzo Neuberger
Universidade Metodista de São Paulo
Traveling to Barra do Turvo is like going back in time. Located between the two huge southern Brazilian metropolises of São Paulo and Curitiba, the road that leads to Barra do Turvo crosses the Ribeira River valley, and winds its way through the Atlantic Rainforest. According to UNESCO, this forest is one of the world’s five […] ...
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April 27, 2015
Felines in trouble: a Brazilian scenario
Rodrigo Cambará Printes
Brazilian Institute for Biodiversity Conservation
Larissa Rosa de Oliveira
Francine Schulz
Carnivores, such as large cats, are extremely important to maintain the ecological equilibrium in areas because they guarantee the diversity and resiliency of ecosystems. As predators, large cats can help control herbivore populations. Also, large cats usually leave behind a great part of their prey for several reasons, including providing food for scavenger and decomposer [&he ...
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March 4, 2015
Forests a Food Security Blanket for Communities in India
Salome Yesudas
Rukmini Rao
Gramya Resource Centre for Women
Debal Deb
Kavitha Kuruganti
Countries like India, which claim to have reduced poverty yet have had no reductions in hunger and malnutrition, present quite a paradox that must be addressed. The food sovereignty framework, introduced by the Sustainable Development Goals debate, is promising because it addresses the fact that hunger and malnutrition are not just a supply problem, but […] ...
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November 24, 2014
Global Landscape Restoration: The Art of the “Do-able”
Peter Besseau
The Global Partnership on Forest and Landscape Restoration
This post is part of an online discussion on large-scale land interventions that runs through December 24th. Can these initiatives fulfill their promises? Comment below or send a max 800 word response to a.waldorf@cgiar.org. It is easy to be intimidated by the Bonn Challenge to restore 150 million hectares of ...
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November 7, 2014
Preserving Evolutionary History Alongside Tropical Agriculture
Daniel Karp
University of California, Berkeley
The Nature Conservancy
Luke Owen Frishkoff
How to feed an ever-growing human population while simultaneously preserving Earth’s biodiversity is a major global challenge. Accomplishing both of these goals requires that we understand the potential for agricultural landscapes to harbor biodiversity. In tropical Costa Rica, where we do the majority of our fieldwork, landscapes are extremely heterogeneous. Agriculture can ...
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November 1, 2014
Taking a Look at a Landscape (Approach) Portrait of Africa
Editor’s note: In a recently published article in the journal World Development, researchers at the World Agroforestry Centre and EcoAgriculture Partners surveyed 87 integrated landscape initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa to answer questions like what motivates land managers to start ILIs, which stakeholders are most likely to be involved, and what are the most comm ...
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