*[Enwl-eng] SFB Weekly: ‘Community ownership’ may be the best way to fight deforestation

[ENWL]

SFB Weekly: ‘Community ownership’ may be the best way to fight 
deforestationView this email in your browser







                              A solutions-oriented weekly digest from 
Struggles From Below
                              27/11/21

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subscribe for free here.

                              In our latest feature, Peter Yeung discovers 
that putting conservation in the hands of local communities might be the 
best way to fight deforestation.

                              The idea is that community-run forests – those 
owned, managed and governed by their inhabitants – naturally preserve 
biodiversity and have very low, if any, levels of deforestation, while 
improving the livelihoods of the world’s often disadvantaged, rural 
communities who rely on forests to make a living. Who better to act as 
forest guardians and to manage these complex ecosystems in harmony with 
nature, the argument goes, than those born and raised within them?

                              There’s growing empirical evidence to support 
that intuition. Research by the World Resources Institute (WRI), a global 
non-profit research organisation, into 14 forest-rich countries containing 
323 million hectares of community forest across Latin America, Africa, and 
Asia has found that communities “maintain or improve their forests’ carbon 
storage". The report found that community forests are a “vital opportunity 
to combat climate change” and one that has “long been undervalued".

                              With deforestation and other land degradation 
now accounting for 11% of annual global greenhouse gas emissions, the need 
for a new model is more pressing than ever. The planet lost an area of tree 
cover larger than the United Kingdom in 2020, including more than 4.2 
million hectares of primary tropical forests, according to research by the 
University of Maryland. Using one familiar measure, that’s eight football 
fields of rainforest destroyed every minute – a 12% increase from 2019, 
despite the pandemic.

                              Fortunately, schemes have taken root across 
the world, reducing deforestation, increasing biomass and making communities 
more resilient: from the more than 2,000 ejido forests of Mexico, to Nepal’s 
18,000 community forests, to the five million hectares of community-run 
forests across the islands of Indonesia.

                              The benefits have spread far and wide. The WRI 
report found that government protection of the forest rights of communities 
in Niger has added 200 million new trees, absorbing 33 million tons of 
carbon over 30 years. Community forestry in Nepal has improved forest health 
and generated a carbon stock of more than 198 million tons across 1.6 
million hectares. And in Bolivia, from 2000 to 2010, only about 0.5% of land 
on legally recognised Indigenous community forest was deforested, compared 
with 3.2% in the Bolivian Amazon.


                              Read the article



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                              What we're reading:

                              Bridging Africa's digital divide: The rise of 
community internet
                              In villages and townships, Africans are 
building their own internet infrastructure to connect, and protect, the 
unconnected. THOMSON REUTERS FOUNDATION


                              How might the world meet its clean energy 
needs
                              With the world attempting to reach net zero by 
the middle of this century, what sources of energy could feasibly replace 
fossil fuels? BBC FUTURE


                              France is freeing fruit and veg from its 
plastic prison
                              Under a new law, a large portion of the 
country’s produce will no longer be sold in single-use plastic containers. 
REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL


                              Up and out of the darkness
                              Several UK organisations sprang into action to 
combat COVID-19-related lockdown loneliness and isolation. The Cares Family 
connected tens of thousands of younger and older neighbours to spend time 
together, virtually now due to the pandemic, and Linking Lives also 
connected people through a telephone befriending model that has yielded deep 
connections. THINK GLOBAL HEALTH


                              Why putting solar canopies on parking lots is 
a smart green move
                              Solar farms are proliferating on undeveloped 
land, often harming ecosystems. But placing solar canopies on large parking 
lots offers a host of advantages — making use of land that is already 
cleared, producing electricity close to those who need it, and even shading 
cars. YALE ENVIRONMENT 360


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                              One to ponder:

                              Can a vastly bigger national-service programme 
bring the US back together?
                              The idea has a remarkably broad array of 
supporters, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Stanley McChrystal. THE 
NEW YORKER

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                              Quote of the week:

                              “It is a fault to wish to be understood before 
we have made ourselves clear to ourselves.” – Simone Weil

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                              Song of the week:

                              Wesley Joseph - Thrilla





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                              That's it for today, folks. If you're enjoying 
this newsletter, please do forward it on to any friends who might be into 
it.

                              All the best,

                              Ollie

                              Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Struggles From 
Below























                              Copyright © 2019 Struggles From Below, All 
rights reserved.
                              Our mailing address is:
                              Struggles From Below, 48b Waller Road, London, 
SE14 5LA
















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United Kingdom





      From: Struggles From Below
      Sent: Saturday, November 27, 2021 11:03 AM
      Subject: SFB Weekly: ‘Community ownership’ may be the best way to 
fight deforestation



 
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