Gambia news from mongabay.com

U.S. Lacey Act, programs in Rwanda and Gambia, awarded for forest protection

2011-09-23T16:57:00Z

Forest policies in the United States, Rwanda, and Gambia won U.N. backed awards for contributing to efforts to protect and sustainably manage forests.

Top forest policies recognized

2011-03-23T19:13:00Z

19 forest policies have been nominated for an award by the World Future Council, a global think tank.

How free trade has devastated Africa's farmers and poor

2010-02-15T19:59:00Z

A push in the mid-1980s for Africa to embrace free trade to aid its economies backfired in many of the continent's poorest countries, argues a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Africa was pushed to rollback government involvement in development and instead to rely on the private sector: government services shrunk, cash crops were pushed over staples, while tariffs and subsides were abolished. The insistence on free trade was meant to spur economic growth, but instead undercut traditional agricultural systems that had worked for centuries, eventually leading to a food crisis, which left millions hungry, caused multiple food riots, and destabilized governments.

Indigenous people, forest communities in Africa control less than 2% of forest land

2009-05-28T15:23:00Z

Less than 2 percent of Africa’s tropical forests are under community control, hindering efforts to slow deforestation and alleviate rural poverty, reports a new assessment from the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) and the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI), a global coalition of non-governmental and community organizations.

Goodbye to West Africa's Rainforests

2006-01-22T15:19:39Z

West Africa's once verdant and extensive rainforests are now a historical footnote. Gone to build ships and furniture, feed hungry mouths, and supply minerals and gems to the West, the band of tropical forests that once extended from Guinea to Cameroon are virtually gone. The loss of West Africa's rainforests have triggered a number of environmental problems that have contributed to social unrest and exacerbated poverty across the region.