Forests Vs. Food?

CIFOR Director General, Frances Seymour comments on a turning point for deforestation, but high food price. REDD (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation), a concrete steps towards for avoided deforestation which would allow companies and countries to claim carbon credits for maintaining trees. But at the same time, record high food prices could reverse all of that progress, if farmers around the world choose to clear forest to make room for more crops. “In my view, 2011 is going to be the critical year,” says Frances Seymour, the director-general of the Center for International Forestry Research. “This is the year we'll find out whether we'll be successful or not.”