– A new report from the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CDB) and partners warns that an upsurge in hunting bushmeat—including mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians — in tropical forests is unsustainable and that it poses serious threats to food security for poor inhabitants of forests in Africa, who rely largely on bushmeat for protein.

“Over the last two years, the global public has become increasingly aware of the threat ofclimate change in general, and the role of deforestation in exacerbating that threat inparticular. Nevertheless, the linkages between forests and climate change – and themagnitude of the challenges to addressing them – remain underappreciated.”
Frances Seymour, has been at the forefront of international discussions around on forestsand climate change, including negotiations with the Conference of the Parties to theFramework Convention on Climate Change, Asia Forestry Week and the upcoming ForestDay 2 – UNFCCC COP 14 Parallel Event.

– Delegates from all over the world will meet today to discuss issues surrounding timber trade, forest law compliance and governance. The dialogue will be held as part of Asia Pacific Forestry Week, currently being staged in Hanoi.

– Experts from forestry institutions say that to ensure equity in the implementation of a new plan to reduce deforestation, it is essential to clarify land rights in and around forests.

The Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, Mr. Yvo de Boer, was presented with a set of key recommendations on the role of forests in combating climate change for consideration at the 13th Conference of the Parties in Bali (COP 13).

-A new study by one of the world’s leading forestry research institutes warns that the new push to “reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation,” known by the acronym REDD, is imperiled by a routine failure to grasp the root causes of deforestation. The study sought to link what is known about the underlying causes of the loss of 13 million hectares of forest each year to the promise—and potential pitfalls—of REDD schemes.

—Deforestation in tropical countries is often driven by the perverse economic reality that forests are worth more dead than alive. But a new study by an international consortium of researchers has found that the emerging market for carbon credits has the potential to radically alter that equation.

31 Oct 2007: As Indonesia’s forests assume an increasingly significant position in the global fight against climate change, it is fitting this year’s Nobel Peace Prize is shared, in part, by an Indonesian scientist dedicated to ensuring his country’s forests are managed sustainably.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton has recognized a commitment by the Government of Indonesia and the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) to address the role of forests in climate change. The commitment was featured at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting in New York. The September 27th event attracted hundreds of international leading figures from government, industry, academia, philanthropy and civil society.

One of the great challenges facing many developing countries today is balancing the need of millions of rural poor to feed their families by harvesting forest animals and plants with the need to protect the forests from excessive damage.