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Mongabay.com News: Smuggled to death: how loopholes and lax enforcement have sealed the fate of Siamese rosewood
The illegal trade in Siamese rosewood (Dalbergia Cochinchinensis) is so well-oiled that when loggers don’t have enough men in Thailand’s forests to carry all their spoils over the Cambodian border, they simply leave felled wood lying in the forest to collect on return trips. The poachers are safe in the knowledge that no time spent […]
Thomson Reuters Foundation News: To avoid the conflict trap, Myanmar should protect its forests
Transitions from war are tough. When grievances smolder and economies fail to recover, most countries fall into a “conflict trap” and war resumes. To escape the trap, post-conflict governments often exploit forests, minerals, and other natural resources to jump-start war-torn economies.
Close to $25 Billion Spent to Secure Green Infrastructure Worldwide in 2015
Governments, water utilities, companies, and communities around the world paid nearly US$25 billion (B) in 2015 for nature-based solutions to secure reliable access to clean water, according to a new report from Forest Trends’ Ecosystem Marketplace, Alliances for Green Infrastructure: State of Watershed Investment 2016.
Alliances for Green Infrastructure
15 December 2016 | Washington, D.C. | It’s been a banner year for green infrastructure, from the roll-out of the Paris climate deal to Peru’s groundbreaking new water security strategy to California’s recent legislation recognizing nature as a critical part of its water infrastructure. In 2015, governments, water utilities, companies, and communities spent nearly $25 billion on payments for green […]
Swedish Court Rules Myanmar Timber Documentation Inadequate for EU Importers
Swedish Administrative Courts today confirmed a ruling that a certificate issued by the Myanmar Forest Products Merchants’ Federation (MFPMF) did not provide adequate proof that a shipment of teak imported into Sweden had been legally harvested.
Climate Deal for Aviation Sector a Good Starting Point; Further Ambition Needed
Today, for the first time ever, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) agreed to allow the airline industry to use a global carbon market-based measure known as the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) to achieve its carbon-neutral growth pledge. The plan neither endorsed nor prohibited specific offset types, but instead left […]
West African Forestry Leaders Take Historic Action to Fight Illegal Rosewood Trade
BISSAU, GUINEA-BISSAU | April 11, 2016 | For the first time, representatives from 11 West African countries have agreed to take action aimed at curbing illegal rosewood logging and associated trade in the region. At the first international conference ever held in Guinea-Bissau, deputies from Economic Community of Western African States (ECOWAS) member countries Burkina […]
Chinese Demand for Illegal Rosewood Drives Tropical Forest Destruction in Asia, Africa
17 December 2015 | WASHINGTON, D.C. | China’s demand for rosewood – used for classical Chinesestyle furniture and décor – is threatening some of the world’s most valuable and endangered old-growth forests. Chinese furniture manufacturers’ imports of several species of rosewood, collectively known as hongmu, have soared at an unprecedented rate since 2010 and hit […]
Forest conversion for commercial agriculture now a top driver of deforestation in Myanmar; puts country at high risk of illegality and land conflicts
EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL WEDNESDAY, 11 MARCH 2015 AT 2201 GMT / 1801 EST / THURSDAY 0431 MMT WASHINGTON, DC (12 March 2015) – An exclusive new analysis reveals that the Government of Myanmar has allocated at least 5.2 million acres and has identified another 11 million acres of some of Southeast Asia’s last remaining […]
New Report on Forest Finance Offers Climate Negotiators in Paris a Clear Path to Tackle Climate Change and Deforestation
11 November 2015 | WASHINGTON, D.C. | Forest Trends, a non-profit organization that tracks global forest developments, today released the most comprehensive analysis to date of the United Nations’ program for protecting forests and generating forest conservation finance. The study follows the money trail in 13 countries that account for 65 percent of the globe’s […]