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		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/afforestation/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
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	<title>News on Afforestation</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/afforestation/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Conservationists urge caution over Bangladesh’s plan to plant 250 million trees</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/conservationists-urge-caution-over-bangladeshs-plan-to-plant-250-million-trees/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/conservationists-urge-caution-over-bangladeshs-plan-to-plant-250-million-trees/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Jul 2026 07:10:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/20065257/planting-trees-bangladesh-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323977</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Afforestation, Biodiversity, Conservation Solutions, Environment, Governance, Landscape Restoration, Nature-based climate solutions, Plants, Reforestation, Restoration, Solutions, Trees, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[With an aim to increase the country’s green cover in line with the current government’s election manifesto, Bangladesh is preparing for a nationwide plantation of 250 million trees across the country in the next five years. “Currently, we are coordinating with various government agencies, including the Ministry of Agriculture; the Ministry of Local Government, Rural [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[With an aim to increase the country’s green cover in line with the current government’s election manifesto, Bangladesh is preparing for a nationwide plantation of 250 million trees across the country in the next five years. “Currently, we are coordinating with various government agencies, including the Ministry of Agriculture; the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives; the Road Transport and Highways Division; the Ministry of Education; and the Bangladesh Army to finalize the number of saplings that will be planted by each of them,” said Shaikh Faridul Islam, state minister of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC). “The plantation program is a coordinated approach,” he said. “Since the plantation does not require huge amount of funds, we will not spend extra money for the initiative, rather will allocate fund from the regular budget. Here, all government agencies will plant a set number of trees within their own annual budgets.” “At the same time, we are coordinating with different non-government development agencies working in the country and directing them to plant a specific number of trees at their own cost,” he added. The government has already formed a task force committee, led by the MoEFCC, to coordinate and monitor the program. The task force is now developing an internet-based application and dashboard where one can see the update of the activities, including the number of trees planted, their statuses, which agency planted them, the species of planted trees, and the area coverage. Islam said that the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/conservationists-urge-caution-over-bangladeshs-plan-to-plant-250-million-trees/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323977</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Popular Miyawaki reforestation method lacks evidence, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/popular-miyawaki-reforestation-method-lacks-evidence-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/popular-miyawaki-reforestation-method-lacks-evidence-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 May 2026 20:57:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Annelise Giseburt]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/13122810/miyawaki-digging-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319323</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Afforestation, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Philosophy, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystems, Environment, Forestry, Forests, Landscape Restoration, Reforestation, Restoration, Solutions, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The popular Miyawaki method of reforestation, often used to create “mini-forests” in urban areas, lacks empirical evidence to support its claimed benefits, according to a new study. Proponents of the method have claimed rapid growth is achieved by soil improvement and dense planting, the latter of which causes saplings to complete for sunlight. The Miyawaki [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The popular Miyawaki method of reforestation, often used to create “mini-forests” in urban areas, lacks empirical evidence to support its claimed benefits, according to a new study. Proponents of the method have claimed rapid growth is achieved by soil improvement and dense planting, the latter of which causes saplings to complete for sunlight. The Miyawaki method has also been claimed to accelerate succession, enhance biodiversity, boost carbon sequestration, and increase tree density. In the study, published in the Journal of Applied Ecology in December 2025, researchers reviewed 51 pieces of scientific literature on the Miyawaki method and found that only 41% provided quantitative assessments. Of these, only 33% included a control and a mere 14% included replication, key elements of the scientific method. The Miyawaki method was first developed in the 1970s. However, over the past decade or so it has seen a new wave in international popularity, likely due to society placing greater importance on urban greening and reforestation, say two of the paper’s authors, Narkis S. Morales, a forest ecology researcher at the Bioeconomy Science Institute in Aotearoa New Zealand, and Ignacio C. Fernández, an associate professor of ecology and sustainability at the Adolfo Ibáñez University in Chile. They see Miyawaki forests’ rapid growth rate as a major reason for the method’s popularity. People “don’t want to wait that much to have greener areas,” Fernández tells Mongabay. However, the researchers caution that there may be social and ecological consequences for choosing any reforestation method — Miyawaki included —&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/popular-miyawaki-reforestation-method-lacks-evidence-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-319323</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Study maps tree-planting risks and rewards for climate and biodiversity</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/study-maps-tree-planting-risks-and-rewards-for-climate-and-biodiversity/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/study-maps-tree-planting-risks-and-rewards-for-climate-and-biodiversity/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Mar 2026 16:46:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ruth Kamnitzer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/09161006/Indonesia-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315415</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Afforestation, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Forestry, Forests, Landscape Restoration, Mapping, Reforestation, Research, Restoration, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Establishing forests can capture carbon and boost biodiversity — but some biomes are a better bet than others, a recent study finds. Forest restoration has emerged as a top nature-based solution to mitigate climate change, with numerous high-profile initiatives launched over the past few decades. And while there’s enthusiasm for replanting degraded forest areas, or [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Establishing forests can capture carbon and boost biodiversity — but some biomes are a better bet than others, a recent study finds. Forest restoration has emerged as a top nature-based solution to mitigate climate change, with numerous high-profile initiatives launched over the past few decades. And while there’s enthusiasm for replanting degraded forest areas, or reforestation, there’s also a growing unease that establishing forests in ecosystems that historically had little of them, or afforestation, could harm biodiversity. The question is, how can we pinpoint the best places for afforestation and reforestation, or AR, on a global scale? A number of studies have tackled this challenge. For example, a 2025 Nature Communications study found that 195 million hectares (482 million acres) of land is suitable for reforestation when climate goals, nature, and people were taken into account. Though this represents an area the size of Mexico, it’s far smaller than previous estimates. Now, a recent study in Environmental Research Letters describes a different way of gauging the potential of AR across 13 biomes. The study finds that overall, many areas within the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forest biome offer the highest compatibility with biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration goals. However, there’s significant variation between areas, even within the same biome. In contrast, the study finds that all grasslands, shrublands and savanna biomes are poorly suited to AR. (a) Bivariate map of the spatial overlap between the habitat suitability index and carbon sequestration potential. Dark red areas have a high habitat&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/study-maps-tree-planting-risks-and-rewards-for-climate-and-biodiversity/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315415</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Senegal’s great green wall progress falters amid unfulfilled pledges: Study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/senegals-great-green-wall-progress-falters-amid-unfulfilled-pledges-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/senegals-great-green-wall-progress-falters-amid-unfulfilled-pledges-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Oct 2025 14:26:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Yannick Kenné]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Christophe Assogba]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/28142629/%C2%A9-Benedicte-Kurzen_NOOR-for-FAO-Men-and-women-from-the-community-work-in-the-trees-nursery-created-in-the-village-as-part-of-the-Great-Green-Wall-Initiative-UF1398C-00151384-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=307795</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Sahel, Senegal, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Afforestation, Climate Change, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Forestry, Forests, Governance, Impact Of Climate Change, Landscape Restoration, Nature-based climate solutions, Reforestation, Restoration, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Earlier in 2025, political and administrative leaders in Senegal gathered to plant trees in a forest in the country’s northwest to mark National Tree Day. They took advantage of the ceremony to call for action towards a greener, more resilient and sustainable country. Senegal is one of 11 countries participating in Africa’s Great Green Wall [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Earlier in 2025, political and administrative leaders in Senegal gathered to plant trees in a forest in the country’s northwest to mark National Tree Day. They took advantage of the ceremony to call for action towards a greener, more resilient and sustainable country. Senegal is one of 11 countries participating in Africa’s Great Green Wall (GGW) initiative which aims to achieve these goals. However, a newly published study finds the GGW has not delivered ecological benefits on the scale promised by pledges of more than $20 billion in support. According to the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), the initiative seeks to secure food and water, provide habitat for wildlife, and help stem the outward migration of people from drought-stricken parts of the Sahel: Senegal and 10 other African countries along the Sahel region are partnering in an ambitious effort to restore 100 million hectares (247 million acres) of land, sequester 250 million metric tons of carbon, and create 10 million jobs. The Great Green Wall’s project activities extend from Mauritania and Senegal in the west, across Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria and Chad, into Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti in the east. The study, published in the journal Land Use Policy, highlights the difficulty of translating the promises of the GGW into tangible socio-ecological change. The Senegalese components of the GGW have frequently been cited as a model of progress since the project’s launch in 2007. But, like its dryland and desert counterparts in the project, Senegal has faced serious challenges in carrying out&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/senegals-great-green-wall-progress-falters-amid-unfulfilled-pledges-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-307795</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>From deforestation to renewal: Why reforestation isn’t just about trees</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/from-deforestation-to-renewal-why-reforestation-isnt-just-about-trees/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/from-deforestation-to-renewal-why-reforestation-isnt-just-about-trees/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Jul 2025 21:49:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/12/14165454/amazon_241209040929x-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=302843</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Forest Restoration Solutions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Afforestation, Biodiversity, Conservation, Deforestation, Ecosystems, Environment, Forest Carbon, Forestry, Forests, Green, Interviews, Mitigation, Nature-based climate solutions, Plantations, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Reforestation, Restoration, Solutions, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Reforestation has long been viewed as one of the more hopeful climate interventions: a process that can, in theory, restore degraded landscapes, absorb carbon dioxide, and support biodiversity. But as sociologist Thomas Rudel makes clear, the return of forests is rarely a passive process. His decades of research highlight a more complex truth—one in which [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Reforestation has long been viewed as one of the more hopeful climate interventions: a process that can, in theory, restore degraded landscapes, absorb carbon dioxide, and support biodiversity. But as sociologist Thomas Rudel makes clear, the return of forests is rarely a passive process. His decades of research highlight a more complex truth—one in which reforestation is shaped not only by ecological conditions, but by economic shifts, social movements, and, crucially, the actions and choices of people on the ground. Rudel’s interest in forest change dates back to the late 1960s, when he served in the Peace Corps in Ecuador’s Amazon region. There, as a young volunteer assisting with land measurement and community-building efforts, he witnessed firsthand how forests were being cleared to make way for new settlements. The experience would go on to shape the trajectory of his academic career. After earning his doctorate, Rudel began conducting fieldwork with colonists and Indigenous communities in Ecuador, tracing both the causes of deforestation and the conditions that allow forests to regrow. His latest book, Reforesting the Earth: The Human Dimensions of Reforestation, draws on that lifetime of scholarship. It focuses not just on ecological recovery, but on the political and social factors that determine whether reforestation takes root—and lasts. Natural climate solutions, Rudel argues, hold enormous promise, but only if they account for the lived realities of small farmers, Indigenous communities, and the institutions that govern land use. Tree planting effort in India. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler. In a recent&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/from-deforestation-to-renewal-why-reforestation-isnt-just-about-trees/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-302843</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>After 15 years, Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court blocks road upgrade in national park</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/after-15-years-sri-lankas-supreme-court-blocks-road-upgrade-in-national-park/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/after-15-years-sri-lankas-supreme-court-blocks-road-upgrade-in-national-park/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 May 2025 14:51:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malaka Rodrigo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Dilrukshi Handunnetti]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/05/31142244/Wilpatttu-road-c-Mevan-Piyasena-768x490.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=300012</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Afforestation, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Habitat Loss, Law, Law Enforcement, National Parks, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — After a 15-year long legal battle, Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has put a stop to a controversial road construction project extending from Puttalam in the North West to Northern Mannar, technically running through Wilpattu National Park, the country’s oldest and largest protected area. Conservationists have lauded the ruling as a landmark victory — not [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — After a 15-year long legal battle, Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has put a stop to a controversial road construction project extending from Puttalam in the North West to Northern Mannar, technically running through Wilpattu National Park, the country’s oldest and largest protected area. Conservationists have lauded the ruling as a landmark victory — not just for Wilpattu, but for protected areas across Sri Lanka facing increasing threats from unregulated infrastructure development, including road construction. The project involved the upgrading of an existing rudimentary road, which links Puttalam district in North Western province with Mannar district in Northern province. Historically, this road existed in a basic form until 1983, when it was closed due to Sri Lanka’s civil war. During the violent conflict, the road served as a military supply and access route. After the war ended in 2009, the government proposed redeveloping the road for public use as it would shorten the distance from Puttalam to Mannar by 30-50 kilometers (18-30 miles). However, environmentalists swiftly warned against the reopening of the road, as it could fragment critical elephant and leopard habitats, violating the legal protections of the national park and opening the door to further encroachment and habitat loss. A herd of spotted dear (Axis axis ceylonensis) inside Wilpattu National Park. Image courtesy of Mevan Piyasena. Recognizing the environmental sensitivity that should not be disturbed, several organizations filed complaints beginning in 2010, triggering a long and complex legal battle. In a major relief to conservationists, the island’s attorney general&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/after-15-years-sri-lankas-supreme-court-blocks-road-upgrade-in-national-park/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-300012</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Collaboration, data and tracking move Africa’s Great Green Wall toward its goal</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/collaboration-data-and-tracking-move-africas-great-green-wall-toward-its-goal/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/collaboration-data-and-tracking-move-africas-great-green-wall-toward-its-goal/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Mar 2025 16:15:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/03/07120259/RS16998_Members-of-the-Vohoko-Est-cooperative-posing-with-tree-seedlings-in-the-nursery-Tewaka-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=295446</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Sahara Desert, and Sahel]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Afforestation, Climate, Climate Change, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Environment, Forestry, Forests, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Impact Of Climate Change, Landscape Restoration, Reforestation, and Restoration]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Great Green Wall in the Sahel, a mosaic of forests, farmlands and grasslands dotting the arid fringes of Sahara, was launched by the African Union in 2007 to fight desertification and land degradation. Stretching from Dakar in the west to Djibouti in the east, the 8,000-kilometer (5,000-mile) “wall” aims to restore 100 million hectares [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Great Green Wall in the Sahel, a mosaic of forests, farmlands and grasslands dotting the arid fringes of Sahara, was launched by the African Union in 2007 to fight desertification and land degradation. Stretching from Dakar in the west to Djibouti in the east, the 8,000-kilometer (5,000-mile) “wall” aims to restore 100 million hectares (247 million acres) of degraded land, create 10 million jobs, and sequester 250 million metric tons of carbon to combat climate change by 2030. Although a few bright spots have emerged over the years as part of the initiative, funding delays, conflicts in the region and insufficient coordination have slowed the progress of the GGW. The delay has prompted speculation that the wall may miss its stated 2030 deadline. As of 2020, the initiative had only restored about 18 million hectares (44 million acres) and created 350,000 jobs. In its 2020 implementation report, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Secretariat presented the progress on the Great Green Wall, highlighted additional challenges, such as the lack of monitoring and evaluation of the projects underway, and pointed out that the initiative needs an additional $33 billion at least over the initial $14 billion to meet its goals. “The report did this work of attempting to put in a milestone of where the Great Green Wall was at that time,” says Gilles Amadou Ouédraogo, program management officer at the UNCCD, adding that it was the first time they took stock of the whole initiative. “That&#8217;s basically&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/collaboration-data-and-tracking-move-africas-great-green-wall-toward-its-goal/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/collaboration-data-and-tracking-move-africas-great-green-wall-toward-its-goal/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-295446</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Seeds of 19 African tree species added to Svalbard Global Seed Vault</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/seeds-of-19-african-tree-species-added-to-svalbard-global-seed-vault/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/seeds-of-19-african-tree-species-added-to-svalbard-global-seed-vault/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Feb 2025 19:13:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Anne Nzouankeu]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/02/25185625/StephenKendiwoWithSeed_MauForestKenya_PatrickShephardCIFOR-ICRAFFlickr-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=295011</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Afforestation, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Environment, Forests, Reforestation, Solutions, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On Feb. 25, the World Agroforestry Center (CIFOR-ICRAF) deposited seeds representing tree species of special value to communities across Africa in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. The 19 species represented included 13 native to Africa and six others that have found a place in the economies and ecologies of the continent. Among the trees selected [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On Feb. 25, the World Agroforestry Center (CIFOR-ICRAF) deposited seeds representing tree species of special value to communities across Africa in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. The 19 species represented included 13 native to Africa and six others that have found a place in the economies and ecologies of the continent. Among the trees selected were the baobab (Adansonia digitata), which people in several African countries prize for its edible fruit and leaves, and the incredibly versatile Faidherbia albida — its roots enrich soil with nitrogen, its leaves are fertilizer and fodder for livestock; it can provide shade for crops like coffee, or give up its branches for fuel; the seeds it produces in the dry season can be eaten. Baobabs also play an important role as shelter and habitat for a variety of wildlife. Their massive trunks and extensive root systems create microhabitats for birds, insects and small mammals. Across Africa, forests are under pressure. According to Ramni Jamnadass, principal scientist and senior adviser at CIFOR-ICRAF, unsustainable harvesting and agricultural expansion claims almost 4 million hectares (9.9 million acres) every year, urbanization fragments forest patches and climate change affects viable growing zones. “This combination threatens not just forest cover but genetic diversity itself, as localized adaptations and unique traits disappear with each lost population,” she told Mongabay. Storing seeds in the vault at Svalbard complements her institution’s many other research and reforestation activities — securing the genetic heritage of the seeds deposited there against any eventuality. “The value extends&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/seeds-of-19-african-tree-species-added-to-svalbard-global-seed-vault/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-295011</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Brazil&#8217;s &#8216;innovative&#8217; reforestation agenda discussed in Davos (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/brazils-innovative-reforestation-agenda-discussed-in-davos-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/brazils-innovative-reforestation-agenda-discussed-in-davos-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Jan 2025 17:47:09 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Guilherme LealPaulo HartungRoberto Waack]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/09/09145631/10-tree-planting-bonn-challenge-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=293218</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Afforestation, Business, carbon, Carbon Credits, Carbon Offsets, Climate, Climate Change, climate finance, Commentary, Conservation Finance, Deforestation, Ecosystems, Environment, Finance, Forests, Governance, Nature-based climate solutions, Rainforests, Reforestation, Restoration, Solutions, Trees, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the quiet Swiss town of Davos, Thomas Mann&#8217;s The Magic Mountain unfolds as young Hans Castorp’s brief visit to a sanatorium turns into a seven-year exploration of ideas, intrigue, and debates. The story ultimately becomes a metaphor for Europe’s isolation and decline before World War I. Since the novel&#8217;s publication in the early 20th [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the quiet Swiss town of Davos, Thomas Mann&#8217;s The Magic Mountain unfolds as young Hans Castorp’s brief visit to a sanatorium turns into a seven-year exploration of ideas, intrigue, and debates. The story ultimately becomes a metaphor for Europe’s isolation and decline before World War I. Since the novel&#8217;s publication in the early 20th century, its themes have transcended Europe to reflect a world beset by geopolitical tensions. These tensions are compounded by escalating international conflicts and the repeated failure of United Nations conferences to address urgent climate and biodiversity challenges. Amid this complex backdrop, the world’s leading economic and political figures are gathering once again in the symbolic town of Davos from January 20th to 24th for the 2025 World Economic Forum (WEF). Unique to this event is the mobilization of the private sector to lead the solutions-based agenda for the environmental and climate crises. A coalition of leaders from the business and financial sectors is joining the conversation from Brazil, which is the host of this year’s COP30 in the heart of the Amazon. They are advancing one of the most strategic solutions for achieving climate balance and safeguarding nature: forest restoration. Drone view of Amazon rainforest in Brazil. Image by Rhett A. Butler for Mongabay. Forest restoration is widely recognized as one of the most effective strategies for removing carbon from the atmosphere. Enhancing ecosystem services as a whole supports sustainable supply chains and creates pathways for long-term environmental and financial resilience. Yet, despite their promise,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/brazils-innovative-reforestation-agenda-discussed-in-davos-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/brazils-innovative-reforestation-agenda-discussed-in-davos-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-293218</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nepal created a forest fund to do everything; five years on it’s done nothing</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/nepal-created-a-forest-fund-to-do-everything-five-years-on-its-done-nothing/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/nepal-created-a-forest-fund-to-do-everything-five-years-on-its-done-nothing/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Dec 2024 05:46:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/07/08032511/women-agro-forestry-Nepal2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=291947</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Afforestation, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Community Forests, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Policy, Fires, Forests, Funding, Governance, Infrastructure, and public lands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — In October 2019, Nepal’s government introduced a new Forest Act. The law laid the basis for the establishment of the Forest Development Fund (FDF) with an extensive mandate ranging from running afforestation programs to facilitating research and addressing human-wildlife conflict. Yet, five years later, the FDF has not spent a single rupee, even [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — In October 2019, Nepal’s government introduced a new Forest Act. The law laid the basis for the establishment of the Forest Development Fund (FDF) with an extensive mandate ranging from running afforestation programs to facilitating research and addressing human-wildlife conflict. Yet, five years later, the FDF has not spent a single rupee, even as the forest-managing communities it aims to assist struggle with financial challenges in preserving the country’s forests. “We have around 6.4 billion rupees [$47 million] in the forest department’s accounts set aside for the Forest Development Fund,” said Bijay Dhakal, an officer at the Department of Forests and Soil Conservation. “As of now, the fund itself doesn’t have a separate bank account,” he told Mongabay. The Forest Regulation, prepared by the Ministry of Forests and Environment to implement the act’s provisions, contains a long list of mandates for the fund. The FDF has been authorized to support forest development and conservation by promoting and managing forests, establishing nurseries, preventing encroachment and planting trees in public and degraded lands. Hills and mountains visible on a clear sunny day from Shivapuri-Nagarjun National Park in Kathmandu. Image by Abhaya Raj Joshi Similarly, it has been assigned to restore degraded ecosystems and manage environmentally sensitive areas, address human-wildlife conflict and climate change and control forest fires and the spread of invasive species. The fund is authorized to facilitate research, relocate vulnerable settlements and foster collaboration between provincial and local governments, forest user groups and organizations. “The government is working&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/nepal-created-a-forest-fund-to-do-everything-five-years-on-its-done-nothing/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-291947</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Protecting Nigeria one child &#038; one tree at a time: Interview with Doyinsola Ogunye</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/protecting-nigeria-one-child-one-tree-at-a-time-interview-with-doyinsola-ogunye/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/protecting-nigeria-one-child-one-tree-at-a-time-interview-with-doyinsola-ogunye/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Jul 2024 07:00:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Tarinipre Francis]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/07/23173419/two-school-boys-planting-a-tree-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=284444</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Y. Eva Tan Conservation Reporting Fellowship]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Nigeria, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Afforestation, Coastal Ecosystems, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystems, Education, Environment, Fellows, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Oceans, Restoration, Sea Turtles, Solutions, Trees, and Waste]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Driven to protect the planet one child, one tree and one recycled piece of plastic at a time, environmental advocate Doyinsola Ogunye is helping children, youth and women in Nigeria to create a more sustainable future for themselves. Ogunye founded the Mental and Environmental Development Initiative for Children (MEDIC), through which she also established a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Driven to protect the planet one child, one tree and one recycled piece of plastic at a time, environmental advocate Doyinsola Ogunye is helping children, youth and women in Nigeria to create a more sustainable future for themselves. Ogunye founded the Mental and Environmental Development Initiative for Children (MEDIC), through which she also established a Kids Clean Club, Kids Beach Garden and Sea Turtle Sanctuary, and other activities to teach children eco-friendly habits such as cleaning up beaches, planting trees and recycling. She also founded the Recycling Scheme for Women and Youth Empowerment (RESWAYE), an initiative to empower youth and women to protect the environment through recycling and waste management. As she navigates her daily work, Ogunye says she is guided by the same question that came to her when she first found herself in a new environment she didn’t like: What can I do? Over the years, she has found some answers — and has even been rewarded for them. Across Africa, she is recognized as an environmental advocate pulling resources to better the planet. In 2020, she won the Her Network Woman of the Year award. She is an alumnus of the Social Innovators Programme (SIP) and a goalkeeper at the Gates Foundation for U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. Doyinsola Ogunye is known across Africa for her work to help children and women build more sustainable futures. Image courtesy of Doyinsola Ogunye. Doyinsola Ogunye recently spoke with Mongabay by phone to discuss her initiatives. The following interview has been&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/protecting-nigeria-one-child-one-tree-at-a-time-interview-with-doyinsola-ogunye/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-284444</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Can Vietnam&#8217;s forests survive the spread of acacia and eucalyptus plantations? (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/can-vietnams-forests-survive-the-spread-of-acacia-and-eucalyptus-plantations-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/can-vietnams-forests-survive-the-spread-of-acacia-and-eucalyptus-plantations-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Jun 2024 18:31:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Buu Nguyen]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/06/03193226/photo-header-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=282897</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Southeast Asia, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Afforestation, Agriculture, Bioenergy, Business, Commentary, Community Development, Corruption, Deforestation, Development, forest degradation, Forests, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Land Grabbing, Land Rights, Poverty, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Timber, timber trade, Trade, Trees, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Vietnam is a mountainous country, with three-quarters of its land area covered by mountains and hills. However, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, forest cover was only 42.02% as of June 2022. Furthermore, more than two-thirds of Vietnam&#8217;s natural forests are considered degraded. The World Bank Group reports that &#8220;two-thirds of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Vietnam is a mountainous country, with three-quarters of its land area covered by mountains and hills. However, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, forest cover was only 42.02% as of June 2022. Furthermore, more than two-thirds of Vietnam&#8217;s natural forests are considered degraded. The World Bank Group reports that &#8220;two-thirds of Vietnam&#8217;s natural forests are deemed in poor condition or regenerating, with only 5% remaining as rich, closed-canopy forest.&#8221; While planted forests account for about 35% of Vietnam&#8217;s total forest area (as of June 2022, with 14,790,075 hectares), those established in the past 15 years are primarily small wood plantations used for the low-value wood chip industry. Deforestation of natural forests for resource extraction and agriculture has resulted in a number of negative consequences, including increased instability of river and stream water sources, greater difficulty controlling natural disasters, and severe soil erosion. These factors contribute to a range of harmful economic, environmental, and social impacts. Vietnam&#8217;s planted forests: Growth and challenges According to official statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, between 2012 and 2022, Vietnam lost 289,762 hectares of natural forests. However, the area dedicated to small wood plantations for the wood chip industry has increased by 1,217,793 hectares. This rapid expansion highlights the potential for afforestation efforts to increase overall forest cover, but it raises concerns about the long-term sustainability of this approach. While these plantations contribute to rural development, particularly through job creation, they often consist of fast-growing, low-value tree species&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/can-vietnams-forests-survive-the-spread-of-acacia-and-eucalyptus-plantations-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-282897</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Fear and hardship for the last community inside Chitwan, Nepal’s tiger central   </title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/fear-and-hardship-for-the-last-community-inside-chitwan-nepals-tiger-central/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/fear-and-hardship-for-the-last-community-inside-chitwan-nepals-tiger-central/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Jun 2024 09:01:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/09/20000256/E14-2017-01-02_10-19-58-CAM50705-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=282852</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, India, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Afforestation, Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Elephants, Human-wildlife Conflict, Livestock, Mammals, Protected Areas, and Tigers]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MADI, Nepal — Surya Prasad Paudel, a lean 42-year-old with an aquiline nose, sunken eyes and gray facial hair, stands waveringly in front of his mud house with the sunlight bathing the straw thatched roof a golden hue. On his phone, he scrolls through images of his recently slaughtered goats, prey to a leopard (Panthera [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MADI, Nepal — Surya Prasad Paudel, a lean 42-year-old with an aquiline nose, sunken eyes and gray facial hair, stands waveringly in front of his mud house with the sunlight bathing the straw thatched roof a golden hue. On his phone, he scrolls through images of his recently slaughtered goats, prey to a leopard (Panthera pardus) that struck in the dark of the night. &#8220;We hear tigers growl right next to our house almost every night,&#8221; Paudel says, still scrolling through the stark photos. He says he wants to claim compensation, but the process for doing so is a jumble of red tape, leaving him and many others in a state of confusion and helplessness. Farmer Surya Prasad Paudel stands in front of his house in Madi, Chitwan. Image by Abhaya Raj Joshi Paudel and his family live in Nepal’s Madi Valley, a settlement of 38,295 people spread across an area twice the size of Paris. To its south rises the hill of Someshwor, on the other side of which lies India. The settlement, comprising Indigenous Tharu, Bote and Darai peoples, as well as hill migrants, is encircled on its three other sides by Chitwan National Park. The valley is part of a vital transboundary corridor for animals such as endangered tigers (Panthera tigris), facilitating their movement between Chitwan and India’s Valmiki Tiger Reserve. This also makes Madi the epicenter of human-wildlife interactions in Nepal, says Rishi Subedi from the National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC), a semigovernmental body, are&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/fear-and-hardship-for-the-last-community-inside-chitwan-nepals-tiger-central/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-282852</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Uzbekistan plants a forest where a sea once lay</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/uzbekistan-plants-a-forest-where-a-sea-once-lay/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/uzbekistan-plants-a-forest-where-a-sea-once-lay/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 May 2024 15:38:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sonam Lama Hyolmo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/05/29125751/7-plantation-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=282631</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Central Asia, and Uzbekistan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Afforestation, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Desertification, Drought, Environment, Forest Loss, Forestry, Forests, Nature-based climate solutions, Solutions, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Between the borders of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, the Aral Sea, once the lifeblood of peoples in both countries, is parched, shrouded in a layer of toxic salt and dust that’s now taking a heavy toll on the health and farmlands of these very communities. Since the Aral Sea, technically a lake, began shrinking in the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Between the borders of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, the Aral Sea, once the lifeblood of peoples in both countries, is parched, shrouded in a layer of toxic salt and dust that’s now taking a heavy toll on the health and farmlands of these very communities. Since the Aral Sea, technically a lake, began shrinking in the 1960s, governments on both sides of the border led initiatives to revive tiny fractions of it. But Soviet-era dams, diverting waters feeding the sea to cotton monocultures, squelched the dream. As the Aral Sea dried out, a desert, the Aralkum, emerged and continues to expand on what used to be the lakebed. Today, the bed is caked with a thick layer of salt and of pesticide runoff that crystallized, creating a toxic cocktail of sediment on the ground. When the wind blows, this salt and dust can coat entire communities. Now, instead of trying to restore the lake, officials from the Uzbekistan Forestry Agency and locals are trying to plant a new forest where it once rested. The main purpose of the afforestation project it to curb the harmful sandstorms and improve the ecosystem by planting desert-tolerant plants like saxaul (Haloxylon ammodendron) on the lakebed. The current plan is to establish forests covering a total area of 150,000 to 200,000 hectares (371,000 to 494,000 acres) in 2024. Karakalpakstan, an Uzbek region that’s home to the Karakalpak people, is one of the most sandstorm-impacted areas in Uzbekistan. More than 300 residents of Karakalpakstan and around 150&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/uzbekistan-plants-a-forest-where-a-sea-once-lay/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/uzbekistan-plants-a-forest-where-a-sea-once-lay/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-282631</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>DRC’s 1 billion trees program makes progress, but hurdles remain</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/drcs-1-billion-trees-program-makes-progress-but-hurdles-remain/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/drcs-1-billion-trees-program-makes-progress-but-hurdles-remain/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Apr 2024 10:10:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sylvain-Gauthier Kabemba]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/04/25150543/Feature-photo-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=281393</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, Congo Basin, and Democratic Republic Of Congo]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Afforestation, Biodiversity, Conservation, Deforestation, Ecology, Environment, Forests, Plants, Reforestation, Threats To Rainforests, Trees, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo — Every weekend between January 2022 and December 2023, members of the nongovernmental organization Ferme Don de Dieu (FDD) planted trees on farmland in Yolo and Kinzono, on the outskirts of Mbankana, more than 140 km (87 miles) from Kinshasa. With the help of technicians from the Congolese environment ministry’s [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo — Every weekend between January 2022 and December 2023, members of the nongovernmental organization Ferme Don de Dieu (FDD) planted trees on farmland in Yolo and Kinzono, on the outskirts of Mbankana, more than 140 km (87 miles) from Kinshasa. With the help of technicians from the Congolese environment ministry’s reforestation department, they planted eucalyptus and acacia trees over an area of 33 hectares (81.5 acres). Eucalyptus was chosen for at least 22 hectares (54 acres), due to its ability to tolerate difficult soil and climatic conditions. The trees are part of a Congolese government program known as Jardin scolaire 1 milliard d’arbres à l’horizon 2023 (School garden: 1 billion trees by 2023), which was officially launched in December 2019 with the aim of planting 1 billion trees across the country by 2023. FDD’s Léa Nyakala Ngila says that reforestation is now an integral part of her organization’s mission, and that she and her teams will continue to plant trees even after the government program comes to an end. “Although we plant cassava and other crops on our land, we can no longer avoid the question of reforestation,” she says. “This initiative reflects our commitment to help fight global warming.” The overarching aim of the government program is to fight climate change and poverty, as well as protect biodiversity. According to the FAO, the DRC is losing 500,000 hectares (1.2 million acres) of forest each year due to shifting cultivation, mining and illegal and informal&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/drcs-1-billion-trees-program-makes-progress-but-hurdles-remain/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-281393</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Land tenure lesson from Laos for forest carbon projects (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/land-tenure-lesson-from-laos-for-forest-carbon-projects-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/land-tenure-lesson-from-laos-for-forest-carbon-projects-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Apr 2024 15:29:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Melissa LoOluwole SoyinkaSheng Huan TangSimran KaurSong Fu]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/04/02144744/Op-Ed-Header-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=280572</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Laos, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Afforestation, Carbon Credits, Carbon Offsets, climate finance, Commentary, Community Development, Conservation Finance, Corporations, Deforestation, Development, Finance, Forest Carbon, Forests, Governance, Land Rights, Nature-based climate solutions, Solutions, Sustainable Development, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[It’s a hot and humid afternoon in Vientiane, the capital of Laos. Our contact at Burapha Agro-Forestry welcomes us to an empty boardroom full of maps. The meeting goes smoothly, though we can’t help noticing that our contact is the only employee in office. &#8220;Why is it empty?” we wonder. Before we get the answer, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[It’s a hot and humid afternoon in Vientiane, the capital of Laos. Our contact at Burapha Agro-Forestry welcomes us to an empty boardroom full of maps. The meeting goes smoothly, though we can’t help noticing that our contact is the only employee in office. &#8220;Why is it empty?” we wonder. Before we get the answer, we receive the striking news that Burapha Agro-Forestry – one of the first Lao private sector afforestation projects with credits approved through Verra – has terminated nearly all of its staff. With COP-28 delivering a reality check over the urgent need to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030 to achieve global emissions reduction targets, international attention has been drawn to financing nature-based solutions, such as forest carbon projects, in developing countries. This is especially true in Laos, which has lost approximately 4.37 million hectares of tree cover since 2001. However, forest carbon projects haven’t had a good track record of efficacy; in some cases, projects face major roadblocks before fully delivering their intended benefits. Burapha Agro-Forestry is the latest example. So, what’s happening? Donor-designed forest carbon projects and private sector companies like Burapha Agro-Forestry are facing insurmountable challenges from an age-old problem: land tenure insecurity. And, ultimately, the pursuit of sustainable development in Laos through carbon financing is struggling from a lack of contextual understanding amongst investors on just how tightly interwoven tenure security is with the implementation of forest carbon projects. Laos suffers deforestation from an array of activities, including rubber cultivation shown&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/land-tenure-lesson-from-laos-for-forest-carbon-projects-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/land-tenure-lesson-from-laos-for-forest-carbon-projects-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-280572</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>India’s new forest rules spark dismay — and hope: Q&#038;A with activist Soumitra Ghosh</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/01/indias-new-forest-rules-spark-dismay-and-hope-qa-with-activist-soumitra-ghosh/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/01/indias-new-forest-rules-spark-dismay-and-hope-qa-with-activist-soumitra-ghosh/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jan 2024 10:00:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Niladry Sarkar]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/01/12151151/Soumitra-Ghosh-8-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=277636</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Y. Eva Tan Conservation Reporting Fellowship]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, India, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Afforestation, Community Development, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Fellows, Forest Destruction, Forests, Gender, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Interviews With Environmental Journalists, Land Rights, Landscape Restoration, Law, Natural Resources, Reforestation, Restoration, Social Justice, and Traditional People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[New amendments to India’s existing green laws in the last couple of years have sparked a fierce backlash from activists, social groups and NGOs across the country. Many have argued that the regulatory powers to protect India’s large forest cover and the people dependent on it were severely weakened in just a few strokes. Among [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[New amendments to India’s existing green laws in the last couple of years have sparked a fierce backlash from activists, social groups and NGOs across the country. Many have argued that the regulatory powers to protect India’s large forest cover and the people dependent on it were severely weakened in just a few strokes. Among others, the amendments have handed the Indian government more power to approve diversion of forests for “non-forest purposes” without seeking consent from forest-dwelling communities. Non-forest purposes are defined as clearing forest land for any purpose other than “reafforestation.” In addition, other proposed changes, if implemented, would abolish imprisonment for offenders. In light of these developments, Mongabay interviewed researcher and activist Soumitra Ghosh, who lends unique insights and perspectives on the amendments — which are not always shared among his peers. He says the changes don’t pose new threats to the environment; rather, they codify practices that have long existed. To understand Ghosh’s viewpoints, it’s critical to understand the history and background of these evolving laws. Most recently, the Forest Conservation (Amendment) Bill 2023, which amends the 1980 Forest Conservation Act (FCA), was approved by the Indian Parliament and came into effect Dec. 1 with new rules. While the bill was passed seamlessly with almost zero challenges from the opposition in both houses of the Parliament, it stirred massive controversy among forest and environmental activists and other concerned groups and persons raising serious questions about the amendment. Construction work to build a railway station deep inside&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/01/indias-new-forest-rules-spark-dismay-and-hope-qa-with-activist-soumitra-ghosh/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/01/indias-new-forest-rules-spark-dismay-and-hope-qa-with-activist-soumitra-ghosh/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-277636</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Calls grow to repurpose land squandered in Cambodia’s concession policy</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/calls-grow-to-repurpose-land-squandered-in-cambodias-concession-policy/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/calls-grow-to-repurpose-land-squandered-in-cambodias-concession-policy/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Nov 2023 02:34:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/11/08001532/RESIZED-Economic-Land-Concessions_Cambodia_Mongabay_Oct-2023-6-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=275134</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Afforestation, Agriculture, Agroforestry, Corruption, Culture, Deforestation, Degraded Lands, Drivers Of Deforestation, Farming, forest degradation, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Governance, Illegal Logging, Illegal Trade, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Industrial Agriculture, International Trade, Land Conflict, Land Grabbing, Land Reform, Land Rights, Land Use Change, Landscape Restoration, Logging, Mongabay Data Studio, Protected Areas, public lands, Rainforests, Reforestation, Regenerative production landscapes, Restoration, Rewilding, Subsistence Agriculture, timber trade, and Tropical Deforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PHNOM PENH — “Make the bosses rich in Cambodia,” then-prime minister Hun Sen said at the 2012 inauguration of a sugar refinery in Kampong Speu province. “If a country has no millionaires, where can the poor get their money from?” This underscored the ideology at the heart of the policy of economic land concessions, or [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PHNOM PENH — “Make the bosses rich in Cambodia,” then-prime minister Hun Sen said at the 2012 inauguration of a sugar refinery in Kampong Speu province. “If a country has no millionaires, where can the poor get their money from?” This underscored the ideology at the heart of the policy of economic land concessions, or ELCs, which promised benefits for all by handing vast swaths of the country to a handful of elites to develop, mostly for agroindustry. The sugar refinery where Hun Sen gave this speech belonged to one his closest advisers, Ly Yong Phat — a ruling party senator with a sprawling business empire and a well-documented history of environmental vandalism. The senator’s sugar refineries and the ELCs he was granted for the development of plantations now sit dormant and fallow. The irreplaceable ecosystems that once occupied Ly Yong Phat’s ELCs are long gone. So are the thousands of families who were evicted to make way for the plantations. While many of the evictees temporarily found day-laborer work on the plantations, there was no compensation for the family farms that were lost. Then, when Cambodia’s sugar business became embroiled in the so-called Blood Sugar scandal — an advocacy campaign that targeted European buyers and Australian financiers of Cambodian sugar due to rights abuses linked to tycoons like Ly Yong Phat — the refineries unceremoniously fell silent, leaving former residents with no land and no work. In December 2022, a fire burned through a forest within the 9,059-hectare Chinese-owned&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/calls-grow-to-repurpose-land-squandered-in-cambodias-concession-policy/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-275134</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Progress is slow on Africa’s Great Green Wall, but some bright spots bloom</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/progress-is-slow-on-africas-great-green-wall-but-some-bright-spots-bloom/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/progress-is-slow-on-africas-great-green-wall-but-some-bright-spots-bloom/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Aug 2023 18:05:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/08/03110259/3-baobab-fruits-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=271756</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Regenerative landscapes]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Sahara Desert, and Sahel]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Afforestation, Climate, Climate Change, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Environment, Forestry, Forests, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Impact Of Climate Change, Landscape Restoration, Reforestation, and Restoration]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The southern fringes of the Sahara are dynamic. As rainfall varies, land patches on the edge chop and change between green and arid brown. Human activities, like overgrazing, deforestation or poor irrigation, further degrade some of the already arid parts of the Sahel, resulting in desertification. As the planet heats up, changes in rainfall patterns [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The southern fringes of the Sahara are dynamic. As rainfall varies, land patches on the edge chop and change between green and arid brown. Human activities, like overgrazing, deforestation or poor irrigation, further degrade some of the already arid parts of the Sahel, resulting in desertification. As the planet heats up, changes in rainfall patterns can cause longer dry spells on the southern boundaries of the Sahara, stretching the desert further down, and affecting nearly a million people and their livelihoods in the Sahel. In 2007, the African Union responded to the aridification of the Sahel by resolving to build a “Green Wall” running 8,000 kilometers (5,000 miles). The tree barrier, as it was initially conceptualized, would extend all the way from Dakar in the west to Djibouti in the east and be completed by 2030. The idea of the wall slowly morphed into a more flexible concept with a socioeconomic angle: a mosaic of forested land, interspersed with farmland and grassland, spread over 780 million hectares (1.93 billion acres), that also benefits local communities. Officially known as the Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel Initiative (GGWSSI), this ambitious effort aims to restore 100 million hectares (247 million acres) of degraded land, sequester 250 million metric tons of carbon to combat climate change, and create 10 million jobs by the end of this decade. More than 20 African countries have partnered with several international agencies, research institutes, and civil society and grassroots organizations to build the wall&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/progress-is-slow-on-africas-great-green-wall-but-some-bright-spots-bloom/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-271756</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Genetically engineered trees stoke climate hope — and environmental fears</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/genetically-engineered-trees-stoke-climate-hope-and-environmental-fears/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/genetically-engineered-trees-stoke-climate-hope-and-environmental-fears/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Jul 2023 16:05:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Juliette Portala]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/07/27113318/Arizona-trees-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=271436</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Afforestation, Biodiversity, Carbon Offsets, Climate Change, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Drones, Environment, Forestry, Forests, Genetic Engineering, Research, Technology, Trees, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“O poplar tree, O poplar tree, how carbon-dense are thy branches …” Trees are a major tool in our fight against climate change by sucking up carbon dioxide, but one company is taking them a step further: genetically engineering trees to sequester even more carbon. U.S. climate technology startup Living Carbon is developing genetically engineered [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“O poplar tree, O poplar tree, how carbon-dense are thy branches …” Trees are a major tool in our fight against climate change by sucking up carbon dioxide, but one company is taking them a step further: genetically engineering trees to sequester even more carbon. U.S. climate technology startup Living Carbon is developing genetically engineered seedlings of a hybrid poplar that it says can accumulate up to 53% more biomass than control plants and thereby absorb 27% more carbon. Plants use sunlight to turn water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and sugar, a process known as photosynthesis. Living Carbon says its trees, a hybrid of the common aspen (Populus tremula) and white poplar (P. alba), can do it better with genetic changes to boost its photosynthetic performance. This solution emphasizes the potential role of synthetic biology in climate adaptation and carbon removal, and while the tweaking of trees’ genome has many proponents, not everyone is convinced. Critics warn these GE trees could lead to environmental damage and spread outside of plantation areas. The U.S. government has approved the commercial planting of Living Carbon’s GE trees. Image courtesy of Living Carbon. Sucking carbon, slowing decay Founded in 2019, Living Carbon has started strong. After collecting $15 million in seed fundingA and receiving a $500,000 grant from the U.S. government in 2021, the San Francisco-based group raised $21 million, pledging to capture 604 million metric tons of CO2 — or 1.7% of 2021 global annual emissions — from 2023 to 2030. Humans&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/genetically-engineered-trees-stoke-climate-hope-and-environmental-fears/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-271436</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Green gains: Localized efforts leave a mark, notably in drier areas, study shows</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/green-gains-localized-efforts-leave-a-mark-notably-in-drier-areas-study-shows/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/green-gains-localized-efforts-leave-a-mark-notably-in-drier-areas-study-shows/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Jul 2023 12:08:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawahare]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/07/24111525/reforestation-africa-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=271274</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Afforestation, Climate, Climate Change, Conservation, Environment, Forestry, Forests, Impact Of Climate Change, Landscape Restoration, Reforestation, and Restoration]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Efforts to green the planet are in full swing, promising everything from mitigating climate change to stalling land degradation. But how well do these actually work? Often, they sprout up as small-scale tree-planting or agroforestry schemes in far-flung areas. Pinpointing gains isn’t always easy. Visiting each site and verifying vegetal growth over time is a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Efforts to green the planet are in full swing, promising everything from mitigating climate change to stalling land degradation. But how well do these actually work? Often, they sprout up as small-scale tree-planting or agroforestry schemes in far-flung areas. Pinpointing gains isn’t always easy. Visiting each site and verifying vegetal growth over time is a nonstarter, so researchers usually rely on satellites to monitor changes. In a recent analysis, scientists from Wageningen University &amp; Research in the Netherlands showed how monitoring of localized efforts can be improved. Across Africa, spurts of green accounted for more than 400,000 square kilometers (154,000 square miles) of greening, an area the size of Zimbabwe. But how much of that was driven by humans? According to the researchers, the key is to distinguish the impacts of human efforts from trends that arise from broader climatic shifts. Historical climate records suggest that Africa oscillates between prolonged periods of greening and browning. In the 1970s and 1980s, the continent experienced widespread droughts, one of the reasons for desertification along the Sahel belt that borders the Sahara Desert. It was initially thought to result from human activities, but recent climatological analysis linked the shift to El Niño, an unusual warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean, and other variations in sea surface temperatures. But during the past few decades, Africa has seen a trend of increasing vegetative cover. Landscape of the Sahel in Burkina Faso. In the 1970s and 1980s, the continent experienced widespread droughts, one of the reasons for&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/green-gains-localized-efforts-leave-a-mark-notably-in-drier-areas-study-shows/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/green-gains-localized-efforts-leave-a-mark-notably-in-drier-areas-study-shows/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-271274</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New Tree Tech: Real-time, long-term, high-tech reforestation monitoring</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/new-tree-tech-real-time-long-term-high-tech-reforestation-monitoring/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/new-tree-tech-real-time-long-term-high-tech-reforestation-monitoring/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Jul 2023 14:57:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Claire Asher]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/07/06151840/landsat-9-nasa-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=270632</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Evolving Conservation and Tech for the Trees]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Afforestation, Artificial Intelligence, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Conservation Technology, data, Degraded Lands, Ecosystems, Environment, Forestry, Forests, Landscape Restoration, Monitoring, Reforestation, Restoration, Sensors, Solutions, Technology, Trees, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A major cause of forest restoration project failures is lack of long-term monitoring. Now, satellites, lidar, drones and in-forest sensor networks are bringing detailed, long-term, real-time data to tree-planting initiatives.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This story is the fourth article of a four-part Mongabay mini-series exploring the latest technological solutions to support reforestation. Read Part One, Part Two and Part Three. “Plant a tree!” has over recent decades become a hackneyed ecological rallying cry for numerous mega-reforestation projects hyped in the media by celebrities, companies and governments. But these projects have by and large achieved poor results, not due to a lack of enthusiasm by shovel-wielding, seed-planting volunteers, but because of what happens after the video cameras go away. Which is often nothing, or next to nothing. Many people see reforestation as a quick fix to the climate emergency, but tree-planting projects often fail to put in place the long-term monitoring programs needed to track newly planted trees through their early stages of development, and to offer prompt targeted support when those trees show signs of struggling. “A lot of those projects fail pretty early on for that reason,” said Cynthia Gerlein-Safdi, an ecohydrologist at the University of California, Berkeley. Monitoring an entire forest over many years is a huge undertaking, requiring laborious effort, money and the amassing and analyzation of big data sets. Image by Jakob Härter via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0). Laborious measurements One reason for all the failures: Monitoring an entire forest over a number of years is a huge undertaking, requiring laborious effort, money, and the amassing and analysis of big data sets. Monitoring typically requires repeated measurements of the diameter of planted trees at a consistent height above the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/new-tree-tech-real-time-long-term-high-tech-reforestation-monitoring/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/new-tree-tech-real-time-long-term-high-tech-reforestation-monitoring/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-270632</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New Tree Tech: Cutting-edge drones give reforestation a helping hand</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/new-tree-tech-cutting-edge-drones-give-reforestation-a-helping-hand/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/new-tree-tech-cutting-edge-drones-give-reforestation-a-helping-hand/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Jul 2023 15:07:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Claire Asher]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/07/06132303/seeds-from-drone-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=270623</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Evolving Conservation and Tech for the Trees]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia, Canada, Global, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Afforestation, Artificial Intelligence, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Conservation Technology, Degraded Lands, Drones, Ecosystems, Environment, Fires, Forestry, Forests, Landscape Restoration, Reforestation, Research, Restoration, Seed Dispersal, Solutions, Surveying, Technology, Trees, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Seed-sowing drones and the latest biotechnology could help restore degraded forests at an unprecedented scale — a high-tech nature-based climate solution already at work, and one that shows tremendous promise.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This story is the third article of a four-part Mongabay mini-series exploring the latest technological solutions to support reforestation. Read Part One, Part Two and Part Four. Vast tracts of forest have been cleared by logging, degraded by a range of other human activities, consumed by wildfires, and ravaged by invasive insects. Restoring these forests is crucial to curbing global climate change and bringing wild species back from the brink of extinction. But the scale of the challenge before us is huge and time is short. Although some forests can recover naturally with the right protection and support, others need more intensive help in the form of replanting. This need has spawned heavily promoted tree-planting projects that tackle the challenge manually, sending thousands of volunteers into the field to plant saplings by hand, one by one. While these efforts are inspirational, they’re also labor-intensive and cumbersome to organize, and can’t reach degraded land that’s inaccessible by road or where volunteers are few. More importantly, they can’t achieve reforestation at the planetwide scales or timeframe needed to address the climate and biodiversity crises and meet international reforestation targets. Clearly, whatever methods humanity settles on to restore millions of hectares of lost and degraded forest in the 21st century, it will require a herculean effort. But lacking Hercules, it looks like robots may be up to the job. Restoring hundreds of millions of hectares of lost and degraded forest worldwide is a formidable task, made more difficult by the fact that many&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/new-tree-tech-cutting-edge-drones-give-reforestation-a-helping-hand/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/new-tree-tech-cutting-edge-drones-give-reforestation-a-helping-hand/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-270623</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New Tree Tech: Data-driven reforestation methods match trees to habitats</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/new-tree-tech-data-driven-reforestation-methods-match-trees-to-habitats/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/new-tree-tech-data-driven-reforestation-methods-match-trees-to-habitats/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Jul 2023 11:17:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Claire Asher]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/07/05150729/reforestation-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=270583</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Evolving Conservation and Tech for the Trees]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Afforestation, Artificial Intelligence, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Conservation Technology, data, Degraded Lands, Ecosystems, Environment, Forestry, Forests, Landscape Restoration, Reforestation, Research, Restoration, Solutions, Surveying, Technology, Trees, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Complex computer models, aided by artificial intelligence and laboratory testing, can help select the right tree species for the right place, giving reforestation projects a stronger start and better chance of thriving.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This story is the second article of a four-part Mongabay mini-series exploring the latest technological solutions to support reforestation. Read Part One, Part Three and Part Four. Nations aim to restore hundreds of millions of hectares of lost and degraded forest over the coming decade to help meet Paris Agreement carbon emission targets and sequester more carbon as a stopgap as the world transitions away from fossil fuels. This requires repairing degraded ecosystems by helping forests regrow naturally, but also necessitates large-scale tree planting — reforestation carried out on a planetary scale. But the word “reforestation” prompts hard questions: How can massive tree plantings be done effectively? When faced with abandoned cattle pasture or degraded croplands in the Amazon or elsewhere, how do conservationists decide what tree species to seed in which habitat? Which ones will take hold, grow strong, and store carbon for the long haul? Also key: Which trees will thrive now and in a warmer world? For the world’s reforestation ambitions to be realized, careful planning is clearly needed. Reforestation projects that don’t use diverse native species, or that don’t account for local ecology, the evolving climate, and social environment in their plantings can at best waste time and money, and at worst do more harm than good. Reforestation project failures across the globe show that traditional forestry methods aren’t working in the planning of many large-scale restorations. That’s where new tech solutions can help: Complex computer models, aided by artificial intelligence and laboratory testing, can assist&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/new-tree-tech-data-driven-reforestation-methods-match-trees-to-habitats/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/new-tree-tech-data-driven-reforestation-methods-match-trees-to-habitats/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-270583</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New Tree Tech: AI, drones, satellites and sensors give reforestation a boost</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/new-tree-tech-ai-drones-satellites-and-sensors-give-reforestation-a-boost/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/new-tree-tech-ai-drones-satellites-and-sensors-give-reforestation-a-boost/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Jul 2023 14:00:46 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Claire Asher]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/07/04135550/Mast-Reforestation-139-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=270524</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Evolving Conservation and Tech for the Trees]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Afforestation, Artificial Intelligence, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Conservation Technology, data, Degraded Lands, Drones, Ecosystems, Environment, Forestry, Forests, Landscape Restoration, Reforestation, Remote Sensing, Research, Restoration, Solutions, Surveying, Technology, Trees, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Climate change has generated a rush in tree planting, with many hurried initiatives failing. But high-tech solutions — artificial intelligence, robotics, satellites and sensors — can help tree-planting projects succeed every step of the way.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This story is the first article of a four-part Mongabay mini-series exploring in-depth the latest technological solutions to support reforestation. Read Part Two, Part Three and Part Four. “Plant a tree!” has become a go-to, nature-based solution and green rallying cry, proclaimed in the mainstream media by climate-conscious celebrities, corporations and influencers eager to promote mega-planting projects. These reforestation efforts often bring out thousands of volunteers — shovels in hand — to abandoned cow pastures and other degraded landscapes to disperse millions of small saplings. Regardless of whether these initiatives are sincere attempts at conservation or cynical greenwashing exercises, tree planting is often portrayed as a silver bullet to mitigate climate change — sometimes allowing polluting industries to continue with business as usual by counting proposed reforestation as carbon offsets. Tree planting is usually marketed for its carbon storage benefits and for mitigating rapidly growing greenhouse gas emissions. But these projects often have other valid and laudable environmental and social goals, such as regulating water cycles and preventing desertification, protecting against soil erosion, restoring biodiversity, and alleviating poverty. The oft-cited goal is to plant a trillion trees by 2050, which global NGO Plant-for-the-Planet says could capture up to a trillion metric tons of CO2. Likewise, the Bonn Challenge, launched in 2011 by global wildlife conservation authority the IUCN, has accrued pledges to restore 210 million hectares (519 million acres) from governments and NGOs. Reforestation in Brazil and many other forest-rich countries has even become key to these countries meeting their&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/new-tree-tech-ai-drones-satellites-and-sensors-give-reforestation-a-boost/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/new-tree-tech-ai-drones-satellites-and-sensors-give-reforestation-a-boost/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-270524</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Fire imperils Madagascar’s baobabs: Q&#038;A with park director Diamondra Andriambololona</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/fire-imperils-madagascars-baobabs-qa-with-park-director-diamondra-andriambololona/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/fire-imperils-madagascars-baobabs-qa-with-park-director-diamondra-andriambololona/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Jul 2023 08:00:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Valisoa Rasolofomboahangy]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/06/30110951/baobab-madagascar-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=270398</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Conservation in Madagascar]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Madagascar]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Afforestation, Agriculture, Agroforestry, Biodiversity, Business, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Fires, Forestry, Forests, Governance, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Landscape Restoration, NGOs, Reforestation, Restoration, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MORONDAVA, Madagascar — As the director of Kirindy Mite National Park and Andranomena Special Reserve near Madagascar’s southwestern coast, Diamondra Andriambololona oversees the protection of nearly 162,770 hectares (402,213 acres) of biodiversity. The forests there are facing increasingly extreme anthropogenic threats, exacerbated by local poverty. Kirindy Mite National Park, near the village of Belo-Sur-Mer, 80 [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MORONDAVA, Madagascar — As the director of Kirindy Mite National Park and Andranomena Special Reserve near Madagascar’s southwestern coast, Diamondra Andriambololona oversees the protection of nearly 162,770 hectares (402,213 acres) of biodiversity. The forests there are facing increasingly extreme anthropogenic threats, exacerbated by local poverty. Kirindy Mite National Park, near the village of Belo-Sur-Mer, 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of the town of Morondava, has both a terrestrial and a marine component. Together, they form an ecosystem as extraordinary as it is fragile. The forest is home to three of the country&#8217;s six endemic baobab species (Adansonia grandidieri, A. za, and A. rubrostipa) — unique trees that look as though they were planted upside down. Many other endemic species live there, too, such as the critically endangered Madame Berthe&#8217;s mouse lemur (Microcebus berthae). This biodiversity hotspot is facing heavy threats from bushfires, used to manage arable land and pastures, that illegally breach the park’s boundaries. Other issues, such as illegal logging and poaching, also threaten the forest, but fire is the main driver of forest degradation. The forests in southwestern and western Madagascar — xerophytic and deciduous dry tropical forests, respectively — are particularly vulnerable to bushfires. A fallen tree in the reforestation site in Kirindy Mite National Park after a fire in 2021. Image by Nirina Rakotonanahary for Mongabay. Many farmers in the country still practice slash-and-burn farming. They clear and burn plots to prepare their fields before the rainy season begins. Although the practice is generally prohibited due to its unsustainability, and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/fire-imperils-madagascars-baobabs-qa-with-park-director-diamondra-andriambololona/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/fire-imperils-madagascars-baobabs-qa-with-park-director-diamondra-andriambololona/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-270398</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Miyawaki forests are a global sensation, but not everyone’s sold on them</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/miyawaki-forests-are-a-global-sensation-but-not-everyones-sold-on-them/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/miyawaki-forests-are-a-global-sensation-but-not-everyones-sold-on-them/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Jun 2023 15:25:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Annelise Giseburt]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/06/21121433/Afforestt-2_Density-and-people-PC-Gaurav-gurjar-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=270028</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Afforestation, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Philosophy, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystems, Forestry, Forests, Landscape Restoration, Rainforests, Reforestation, Restoration, Solutions, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KANAGAWA PREFECTURE – The Miyawaki method for cultivating fast-growing groves of native vegetation has found eager practitioners all over the world. But some say the method promises more than it can deliver, and that, in some cases, restorers are planting Miyawaki groves where they don’t belong. Developed in the early 1970s by the late Japanese [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KANAGAWA PREFECTURE – The Miyawaki method for cultivating fast-growing groves of native vegetation has found eager practitioners all over the world. But some say the method promises more than it can deliver, and that, in some cases, restorers are planting Miyawaki groves where they don’t belong. Developed in the early 1970s by the late Japanese forest ecologist Akira Miyawaki, the method involves the following steps: determine the plant species native to a given area; improve the soil by mixing in organic material; plant seedlings of native trees and understory plants in a dense, mixed manner (about three seedlings per square meter) meant to simulate a natural forest; remove weeds from the site for up to three years after planting, if necessary. After that, the grove is left to its own devices. Due to the dense planting, the seedlings grow quickly as they compete for sunlight. Although originally implemented in Japan, Miyawaki collaborated with Japanese multinational companies to apply his method overseas as well. This led Miyawaki in 1999 to claim that “quasi-natural forests can be built in 15-20 years in Japan and 40-50 years in Southeast Asia.” Over the past decade, the Miyawaki method’s popularity has reached new heights, including projects in Jordan and Brazil, among other locations. However, two ecological restoration practitioners in India recently criticized the Miyawaki method, saying it doesn’t deliver on the promise of “native, natural forests.” A Miyawaki mini-forest planted in 2007 at Izumo Taisha Sagami Bunshi in Kanagawa prefecture. Image by Annelise Giseburt for&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/miyawaki-forests-are-a-global-sensation-but-not-everyones-sold-on-them/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/miyawaki-forests-are-a-global-sensation-but-not-everyones-sold-on-them/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-270028</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Extreme reforestation: Baobab planters confront fires, loggers, cattle and more</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/extreme-reforestation-baobab-planters-confront-fires-loggers-cattle-and-more/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/extreme-reforestation-baobab-planters-confront-fires-loggers-cattle-and-more/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Jun 2023 15:28:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Valisoa Rasolofomboahangy]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/05/30155117/baobab-32-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=269206</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Conservation in Madagascar]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Madagascar]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Afforestation, Agriculture, Agroforestry, Biodiversity, Business, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Fires, Forestry, Forests, Governance, Landscape Restoration, Mongabay Data Studio, NGOs, Reforestation, Restoration, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BELO-SUR-MER, Madagascar — The situation was dire in Kirindy Mite National Park during a visit in November 2022. The previous year, a huge tract of forest had been ravaged by fire and was struggling to recover; towering baobabs were still standing, charred and leafless. And just the month before, fires also burned 45,000 young trees [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BELO-SUR-MER, Madagascar — The situation was dire in Kirindy Mite National Park during a visit in November 2022. The previous year, a huge tract of forest had been ravaged by fire and was struggling to recover; towering baobabs were still standing, charred and leafless. And just the month before, fires also burned 45,000 young trees planted across 60 hectares (148 acres) in another part of the park, reducing to ash all the work of the NGO Dry Forest&#8217;s first reforestation campaign, of 2020-2021. “It took almost 15 days to completely put out the fire there!” said Hamill Harrisson, referring to the most recent fire. Harrisson is Dry Forest’s executive director and a native of Belo-Sur-Mer, a rural commune in western Madagascar near the park, where the NGO is headquartered. “We helped put out the fire at the time; a lot of different kinds of animals perished in the fire,” Armand, a salt harvester in the village of Antsira in Belo-Sur-Mer who has planted trees with the NGO, said with sadness. (Like many Malagasy people, Armand uses a single name.) Entrance to Kirindy Mite National Park, in Belo-Sur-Mer. Image by Nirina Rakotonanahary for Mongabay. Damage from a 2021 fire in an area that Dry Forest has recently begun to reforest. Image by Nirina Rakotonanahary for Mongabay. A small, isolated commune that looks like paradise, Belo-Sur-Mer is located 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of the town of Morondava. Residents watch as one of their greatest treasures, the forest of Kirindy Mite National&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/extreme-reforestation-baobab-planters-confront-fires-loggers-cattle-and-more/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/extreme-reforestation-baobab-planters-confront-fires-loggers-cattle-and-more/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-269206</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Palm oil giant hands over sacred community land for reforestation project</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/palm-oil-giant-hands-over-sacred-community-land-for-reforestation-project/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/palm-oil-giant-hands-over-sacred-community-land-for-reforestation-project/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 May 2023 19:11:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Yannick Kenné]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/05/04190233/Photo-1-1-scaled-e1681244549859-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=268296</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Cameroon, Central Africa, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Afforestation, Biodiversity, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Deforestation, Forests, Land Conflict, Palm Oil, and Reforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MBONJO, Cameroon — Felled palm trees litter the ground at the entrance to Mbonjo, a town at the heart of Cameroun’s palm oil and rubber-producing region. Mbonjo hosts palm groves totaling an area almost ten times the size of Manhattan, New York City, clocking in at more than 58,000 hectares (143,300 acres). Operated by Socapalm, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MBONJO, Cameroon — Felled palm trees litter the ground at the entrance to Mbonjo, a town at the heart of Cameroun’s palm oil and rubber-producing region. Mbonjo hosts palm groves totaling an area almost ten times the size of Manhattan, New York City, clocking in at more than 58,000 hectares (143,300 acres). Operated by Socapalm, a local subsidiary of the French-Belgian agribusiness giant Socfin, the company has a long history of controversy in the region with local critics accusing it of land grabbing and human rights abuses. There, in the area cleared by felling trees and setting up barricades, lies ancestral community graves. These relics in this Mbonjo palm tree grove, also in a high conservation value area, are on land now handed over to local communities after more than two years of negotiations by the NGO National Cameroon Water Communities (SYNAPARCAM) and traditional chiefdoms in Mbonjo and Souza with Socapalm. The campaign to recuperate some local lands, joined SYNAPARCAM, traditional chiefs and Socapalm together to identify five sites in the area to be designated as sacred to protect the area’s ancestral tombs, historic nature, or certain medicinal plants growing there, from the company’s plantation. A grave among oil palms in Cameroon. Image by Dylan Collins. However, the community’s campaigns, while supported by civil society organizations, have only made the company hand over three of five sites, a total area of approximately three hectares (about seven acres), while they initially aimed for 30 hectares (74 acres). Socapalm&#8217;s activities in the region&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/palm-oil-giant-hands-over-sacred-community-land-for-reforestation-project/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/palm-oil-giant-hands-over-sacred-community-land-for-reforestation-project/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-268296</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Madagascar bush fires prompt exasperated NGO to curtail tree planting</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/madagascar-bush-fires-prompt-exasperated-ngo-to-curtail-tree-planting/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/madagascar-bush-fires-prompt-exasperated-ngo-to-curtail-tree-planting/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 May 2023 06:00:46 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Valisoa Rasolofomboahangy]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/04/27123528/8-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=267964</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Madagascar]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Afforestation, Agriculture, Agroforestry, Biodiversity, Business, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Fires, Forestry, Forests, Governance, Landscape Restoration, NGOs, Reforestation, Restoration, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — After 14 years in Madagascar, it was the last straw for Graine de Vie, a Belgian NGO dedicated to reforestation. In October, 50,000 saplings in the Ambohitantely Special Reserve, freshly planted eight months earlier, went up in smoke. Exasperated by what its president describes as a lack of involvement by Malagasy authorities, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — After 14 years in Madagascar, it was the last straw for Graine de Vie, a Belgian NGO dedicated to reforestation. In October, 50,000 saplings in the Ambohitantely Special Reserve, freshly planted eight months earlier, went up in smoke. Exasperated by what its president describes as a lack of involvement by Malagasy authorities, the NGO announced at a Jan. 10 press conference in Antananarivo that it would reduce its activities on the island by nearly a third. “There has been a series of triggering events. I&#8217;m sorry, but things are no longer working in Madagascar,” Frédéric Debouche, Graine de Vie’s president, said in an interview with Mongabay. In Madagascar, bush fires are widely considered an escalating national tragedy, especially as efforts to combat climate change mount. As part of these efforts, more and more NGOs and reforestation companies have been surfacing in the country. Graine de Vie, which has been present on the island since 2009, is among these organizations aiming to “regreen” the Red Island by planting trees. Until its recent reduction in activities, Graine de Vie planted an average of 10 million trees per year across 19 regions and claimed to be the leading reforestation organization in Madagascar. With 322 tree nurseries, it has been involved in reforesting 10 protected areas and planting trees in the surrounding villages. In protected areas, the NGO plants native species for ecological restoration, while in villages, it plants exotic trees that can be used locally for charcoal or building materials.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/madagascar-bush-fires-prompt-exasperated-ngo-to-curtail-tree-planting/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-267964</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nepal’s community forest program misses the biodiversity for the trees</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/nepals-community-forest-program-misses-the-biodiversity-for-the-trees/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/nepals-community-forest-program-misses-the-biodiversity-for-the-trees/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Feb 2023 15:39:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/02/22152734/38481924646_536be5a1e2_k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=265847</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Afforestation, Biodiversity, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Forest Recovery, Human-wildlife Conflict, Land Use Change, Leopards, Monkeys, Natural Resources, Tigers, and Timber]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — When NASA’s Earth Observatory published a post on its website earlier this year describing how Nepal had regenerated its forests between 1992 and 2016, it received a lot of attention.  During this two-and-a-half-decade period, according to the “Image of the Day” post, the country’s forest cover increased from 26% to 45%, thanks to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — When NASA’s Earth Observatory published a post on its website earlier this year describing how Nepal had regenerated its forests between 1992 and 2016, it received a lot of attention.  During this two-and-a-half-decade period, according to the “Image of the Day” post, the country’s forest cover increased from 26% to 45%, thanks to the implementation of community-prepared management plans. But amid the euphoria, conservationists are growingly concerned that the management plans of most of the 22,000 community-forest user groups, collectively managing around one-third of the country’s forests, don’t adequately address issues related to the conservation of precious wild flora and fauna. A screenshot from the Nasa Earth Observatory&#8217;s web post describing &#8220;How Nepal Regenerated its Forests&#8221;. “In Nepal, we see that our forestry policy is geared towards the objectives of growing forest cover and earning money by selling timber and other forest resources,” says Kedar Baral, a divisional officer for the forest department in Kaski district, in the country’s central Gandaki province.  “Community forests provide habitat to key species of apex predators such as tigers and leopards as well as ungulates that they feed on,” Baral tells Mongabay.  The community-prepared management plans only go as far as making an inventory of the plants and wildlife found in a given forest area, says Dil Raj Khanal, a natural resources lawyer who advises the Federation of Community Forest User Network (Fecofun).  “That doesn’t help a lot in terms of biodiversity conservation,” Khanal tells Mongabay. Under the community forestry scheme pioneered&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/nepals-community-forest-program-misses-the-biodiversity-for-the-trees/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-265847</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>From Japan to Brazil: Reforesting the Amazon with the Miyawaki method</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/from-japan-to-brazil-reforesting-the-amazon-with-the-miyawaki-method/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/from-japan-to-brazil-reforesting-the-amazon-with-the-miyawaki-method/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Jan 2023 12:00:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nieves Zúñiga]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/01/23155648/Miyawaki-nursery-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=264856</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Afforestation, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Philosophy, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystems, Forestry, Forests, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Rainforests, Reforestation, Restoration, Saving Rainforests, Solutions, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When Takushi Sato left Japan for Belém, Brazil, in 1971, he never imagined what he would go through. By 2000, as the manager of a timber company that shipped Brazilian wood to Japan, he was tired of being extorted by officials from IBAMA, the environmental protection agency, to get the required export documents, he recalled. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When Takushi Sato left Japan for Belém, Brazil, in 1971, he never imagined what he would go through. By 2000, as the manager of a timber company that shipped Brazilian wood to Japan, he was tired of being extorted by officials from IBAMA, the environmental protection agency, to get the required export documents, he recalled. One day, he secretly recorded a conversation in which an IBAMA officer asked him for a bribe. “I could not accept this extortion even knowing the risk of sinking the company,” Sato told Mongabay by email. His company decided to take the case to the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office in Pará state, where Belém is located. The Federal Police accepted the recording as evidence, but wanted to catch the IBAMA officer red-handed. So, cooperating with the police, Sato arranged a bribe of 1 million reais ($185,000) and a meeting with the IBAMA officer for the payment. Like in the movies, Sato took his briefcase with half of the bribe and flew to Brasília, where the handover was to take place. The Federal Police sprang their trap and arrested all of those involved in the case, including Sato, who was later released. The experience not only put Sato through “a lot of agony,” he said, but brought to light his concerns for the environment. Since the 1970s, despite working for a company that cut trees, he felt very committed to reforestation, even if only to ensure enough tree stock for his timber production. “I have always&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/from-japan-to-brazil-reforesting-the-amazon-with-the-miyawaki-method/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-264856</doi>				</item>
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