Land rights key to forest challenge: Report

A new report from the Rights and Resources Initiative finds that land rights are central to the challenge of slowing deforestation. This is a welcome development for those of us who worried about the REDDD clause under the UNFCC turning into a carbon trading clause and a way of disempoering native groups.

“The dramatic shifts under way in markets, politics and the planet’s climate create new and very large challenges for achieving peace and prosperity in forest areas,” the report states. It argues the key to balancing local and global needs lies in recognising and strengthening forest peoples’ property rights. This is the only basis for protecting forest people, providing certainty for outside investors and giving social guidance to conservationists.

Report (PDF)

related:

• deforestation

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Protecting forests or entrenching inequality?

Deforestation is one of the most avoidable and meaningless sources of carbon emissions in the world. The productivity is appaulingly low. However, some of the frameworks being looked at to solve this problem have been labelled neo-colonial.

The worry is that in much of South America where much of the worlds great forests are to be found, the land ownership is amongst the most unequal in the globe. An artifact of Spannish colonialism the last thing we should be doing is supporting this system by paying for forrest preservation. The real solutions arent simple but land reform is virtually always a part of any realistic social and environmental plan. From past experiance we can make one prediction, if forest owners are paid to keep there forests pristine without a social solution then the local landless class will also be jobless. This will lead to huge numbers of disenfranchised people either moving to the cities or finding themselves on the wrong side of the law in illegal clearings.

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Chevron destroy Ecuadorian rainforest then kick up fuss when forest protectors are recognised.

Chevron is a big bad oil company operating in the neo-liberal global trade climate of the 21st century. Multinationals can currently get away with a lot; globalisation of capital has outstripped globalisation of government and regulation. Raping the planet is all part of the game, not doing so would be bad business unless the laws prevent it, or you can place compliance as a PR cost.

So I don't hold multinational shareholder return driven, massively unregulated, corporations to high ethical standards. However, when people win awards for to resisting the treatment dished out to them and their lands i would have expected an act of contrition. In fact the Chevron response is character assassination of the activists.

"the only thing green they are interested in is money."

Congratulations to lawyer Pablo Fajardo Mendoza and community organizer Luis Yanza for their joint award of the Goldman Environment Prize. And shame on the SF Chronicle for stating that Chevron denunciations count as controversy! Clearly Chevron are going to resist any further evidence of their deeds, particularly as they are being sued by the Ecuadorean government.

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Tiempo Climate Newsletters #64 and #65

The latest two issues, #64 & 65, of Tiempo: I like to pick these up at they are released so sorry about that delay. The Tiempo newsletter focuses on adaptation and development in the global south. The publication is a joint project of IIED and SEI.




Issue 65 Contents:

• National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPA). (Mohazurul Alam)
• The Sudanese NAPA. (Sumaya Ahmed ZakiEldeen and Nagmeldin Goutbi Elhassan)
• NAPA priorities to policies. (Bubu Pateh Jallow and Thomas Downing)
• Leassons learned in Africa. (Balgis Osman-Elasha and Thomas Downing)

Issue 64 Contents:

• Flooding and the urban poor. (Ian Douglas et. al.,)
• Climate risk integration. (Bert Koenders)
• Adaptation targets. (Ian Tellam)
• Community Adaptation. (Roger Jones and Atiq Rahman)
• Roadmap for Adaptation (Gary Yohe)
  

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...an awful lot of cattle in Brazil.

Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest has picked up speed again after briefly slowing - whilst big business gathered its forces for another assault. Despite (ie-because of) its HUGE ethanol market, Brazil remains one of the big 4 Carbon criminal states - 3/4 of it's emissions coming from deforestation and its aftermath. Still - cheap beef, eh? Fantastic!

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Report of the Week: Climate change--Impacts, vulnerability and adaptation in developing countries

Good judgement is something that we would all wish to have. However, the best decisions don't always come from your own judgement: in the case of climate change it is absurd for the global 'North' to presume to know how to help the south. As Almuth pointed out recently it is only by cooperation and working together with those effected by climate change that we can come to a reasonable idea of the challenges that they face. This week's report of the week comes via the UNFCCC so it is a top down look at issues. It does however give a better idea of what the least developed nations are worried about, and what there key climate agenda is.

The report was formulated as a result of UNFCCC negotiations which required a series of regional workshops to asses the nature and severity of regional climatic impacts and to proffer some solutions.

Climate change: Impacts, vulnerability and adaptation in developing countries.

The book draws heavily on information provided by Parties to the UNFCCC, particularly that provided at three regional workshops held in Africa, Asia and Latin America and one expert meeting held in small island developing States during 2006 – 20071, as mandated by the Buenos Aires programme of work on adaptation and response measures (decision 1/CP.10 of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC)2, as well as information in national communications3 and national adaptation programmes of action4 submitted to the UNFCCC, reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 2007)and other sources, as referenced.

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Alter-Eco: news from the UN Climate Conference

Almuth Ernsting of Biofuelwatch sent me this email whith links to the Transnational Institute which gives a climate justice or global south perspective on the issues up for debate at Bali. I wasn't aware of this group but they are working on vital issues so i was glad to share there views.

Hi,

I thought people might like to see some alternative views from the Bali Climate Conference. I am here with a colleague from Biofuelwatch and we joined in with others who formed a Climate Justice Group - people who are horrified to see that the climate negotiations are little else than a carbon trade fair,
with critical NGOs being virtually excluded and completely marginalise, all NGOs moved to a venue 2minutes from the main conference centre, and with
indigenous peoples organisations not given a proper voice.

Here is the first [and second] edition of a short newsletter which our colleagues have written.

Good luck on 8th December!

Best wishes,

Almuth

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e-action: amazonian dam project threatens bolivian biodiversity

Only a few days left for this one...
=========================

Dear Friends

The Brazilian government is planning two huge dams on the Madeira River, principal tributary of the Amazon, and a region of mega-biodiversity, with 750 fish and 800 bird species.

The dams were granted preliminary approval in July by Brazilian environmental authorities, even after technical experts of the Brazilian environmental protection service Ibama recommended against licensing the project without new studies being carried out.

The Bolivian government have protested, and on August 23rd a decision was made to form 3 bi-national working groups to study the dams' potential impacts on Bolivia.

We need your help - visit our website and sign the petition organised by IRN, Friends of the Earth Brazil & Amazonia Brasileira, and let the Brazilian government know that this is a matter of concern to the international community.

Please pass this message on to your contacts.
Thanks for your support.

Debra Broughton
Friends of the Earth International

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Sustainable Urban Transport

Sustainable urban transport is an idea that is relevant to so many problems. Dependence on foreign oil, air quality, social inclusion, health and fitness, economic growth...all are positively benefited by a move away from private forms of transport.

Recently i started reading this book on the topic, and ordered this one. I like using a couple of text books to complement recent reports and websites so that i get a good grounding in the issues as well as some of the more interesting new ideas.

In terms of websites, there seems to be quite a variety. The three that i have used a lot so far are
the Institute for Development and Transport Policy and the archieves of the THREBO9 conference and GoBRT a site promoting Bus Rapid Transit.

Other websites that i will be getting into shortly include EMBARQ: The WRI centre for sustainable transport, UrbanPlanet and the New Mobility Agenda.

Mexico city is one of the worlds largest cities and has some of the worlds busiest streets. They are currently embracing Bus Rapid Transit and cycle routes to dramatically improve transport and qaulity of life for the cities citizens.



New York is considering a congestion charge, with revenues being allocated to public transport. Is this a good idea...the case is made.

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Email Action Alert: Biofuels, Land Confiscation, And Murder in Columbia

An urgent e-action from biofuelwatch...

There is a new email action alert on Climate Ark calling on the Colombian government to protect the rights of Afro-Caribbean, indigenous and other peasant communities and the country's rainforests against palm oil expansion, which is happening mainly to serve the growing global biofuel market. This alert was written jointly with the Colombian Inter-Church Commission for Justice and Peace, following a seminar in Bogota in August

Colombia is embarking on an aggressive biofuel and palm oil expansion programme, which is threatening communities and some of the most bio diverse ecosystems on earth. One of my colleagues from Biofuelwatch took part in the seminar and in a visit to one of the palm oil areas (Curvarado) last month.

This is land which legally belongs to Afro-Caribbean communities. Those people became refugees in the late 1990s, due to severe violence and repression from state forces. 113 killings have been documented. When they returned to their land, they found much of it planted with oil palms. They have cut down some of the oil palms to grow food now and are trying to set up 'biodiversity zones', but they live in constant fear of state forces and paramilitaries who work hand in hand with the palm oil companies.

There is a good article by a member of the World Rainforest Movement who also took part in the seminar and visit - you can find it at www.wrm.org.uy (click on 'Bulletin' on the left hand side and then on the article about Colombia).

The author says:

"There are few places in the world where oil palm trees are tainted with as much blood as in Curvaradó and the only way of starting to repair the outrages committed is for the Government to legally recognize these communities' rights to their lands."

A video presentation is available--from a Camp for Climate Action workshop--where a first hand witness to the violence being used talks about his trip to columbia as part of an emergency delegation (about half way through the video).

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Guest Post: Alternatives to slash and burn.

By Jessica Schessler
jessica.schessler(at)gmail.com

Obviously, rainforest destruction is a heated topic of discussion. Many popular websites claim to plant trees in exchange for donations, and even Dell has hopped on the bandwagon. When you buy a new computer you can select “plant a tree for me” as you checkout and help offset your carbon footprint. Planting trees can be a good thing, but are we really making progress if we do nothing about the source of the problem? Sustainable Harvest International is heading straight for one source. This small non-profit organization

“has worked with nearly 1,000 families and 900 students in Honduras, Panama, Belize and Nicaragua implementing alternatives to slash-and-burn farming, the leading cause of rainforest destruction in the region.”

Malnutrition is a huge problem in this area of the world, and many vegetables are considered a luxury item. SHI teaches new farming techniques to the local families, such as alley cropping, organic vegetable gardening, and seed saving and storage.


Since 1997, SHI has successfully:

• Planted more than 2,000,000 trees.
• Converted 6,000 acres to sustainable uses, thereby saving 30,000 acres from slash-and-burn destruction.
• Improved nutrition through the establishment of more than 200 organic vegetable gardens.
• Increased farm income up to 800%.
• Built 165 wood-conserving stoves (saving 1,650 trees per year)

“…slash-and-burn practice is very shortsighted and damaging to forests… Removal of the vegetation not only destroys the habitat for numerous species of plants and animals, but it also can lead to soil erosion, watershed degradation, and climate change in the area. Once the vegetation is removed the rapid processes of plant growth, death, and decay that created the fertile environment are severely limited or entirely destroyed.” (1)

This farmer living near the Panama Canal has learned that growing rice in paddies instead of using slash and burn improves his yield by 400%-800%, without the need to cut down any forests.


What better way to stop slash and burn than with education in alternative farming techniques? SHI’s programs not only help out the farmers and their families, but the environment as well.

Check out http://www.sustainableharvest.org to find out more about SHI!

(1) http://www.cotf.edu/earthinfo/camerica/CAdef.html

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Soy...this time for uk fishing fleet.

Soy, a crop grown in the tropics is a common vegan alternative to milk. It also tastes awful!

Besides being drank by a small number of vegans in this world it is also used to feed catle, make biodesil and now--potentially to help catch the worlds ever decreasing stock of fish (Details bellow).

Some of these uses are mind-bogglingly stupid. Biodesil in perticular, you just need so much soy and so much land, to make a small amount of desil. For other uses it makes more sense in my opinion. And before people criticise it as a drink, it must be realised that cattle that produce milk are often fed this and that the overall demand for land is far higher (cutting out the midleman--or cow--makes sense).

Anyway, here are a few photos of the expansion of Soy in Bolivia. Soy is the greatest cause of deforestation in Bolivia and is also a growing threat in Brazil and other tropical, forested nations.

In Bolivia (South America)...


Perticularly in the Santa Cruz Region, there is largescale deforestation, often in radial patterns...


Closer in we see that these small radially farmed sqaures dominate the landscape near Santa Cruz.





The latest development is described bellow...(more details here)


The EU and the UK government are financing a project to try and develop biofuels for the UK fishing fleet. The Sea Fish Industry Authority manage the project. The British company Regenatec want to import large quantities of Argentinean soya for biofuels for the fishing fleet. Soya expansion is the driving force behind the rapid destruction of Argentina's semi-arid Chaco forest and the humid Yungas forest. Tens of thousands of rural families have already lost their land to soya monocultures. Pesticide spraying from the air poisons communities, food crops, water and soils. As food production is displaced by soya, malnutrition rates are increasing. Soya monocultures are linked to high greenhouse gas emissions, both from deforestation and from the emission of nitrous oxide, which is nearly 300 times as powerful a greenhouse gas as carbon dioxide. Plans to use Argentinean soybean oil in the fishing fleet will further encourage the expansion of soy monocultures at the expense of ancient forests and local communities.


Please click on http://www.regenwald.org/international/englisch/
and ask those responsible for the project to drop those plans and, instead, to work to reduce climate change emissions by drastically reducing fuel use in the UK. This email alert is supported by Grupo de Reflexion Rural, Argentina (http://www.grr.org.ar/) and Biofuelwatch (http://www.biofuelwatch.org.uk/). Many thanks.

Yours sincerely,
Reinhard BehrendRettet den Regenwald
e. V.Friedhofsweg 2822337
Hamburg040 4103804
info@regenwald.org
http://www.regenwald.org/

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Paraguaian farmers call for help--risk of eviction for soy expansion.

I just recieved the following email. I`m having web problems so this is from an internet cafe and therefore brief. Please do what you can to support these people. If this where forests rather than soy it would be know as leakage...displaced farmers will be landless and possibly move into virgin forests to clear an rebuild there lives. This kind of problem is being exacerbated by poor carbon offset schemes and biofuels across the tropical regions of the world.


========
Dear Sir/Madam,

A farmers organisation in Paraguay has asked for urgent international help to try and prevent the eviction of and possible violence against a group of young landless farmers in Pariri Province, and to protest against charges brought against the leader of their organisation, MAP for trying to peacefully support farmers whose lands are being taken over by large soya plantations. A previous eviction, like the one threatened now, ended in a large number of arrests, including of children, and two people being shot dead. International support is vital if similar violence is to be prevented in coming days and weeks.

Paraguay now has 2 million hectares of soya plantations, which have been established at the expense of rainforests as well as farming communities. Around 90,000 families have lost their land as a result, and biodiverse traditional farming systems are being turned into large monocultures, with aerial spraying of pesticides, which poisons people, wildlife, water and soil. The current biofuel boom is accelerating the expansion of soya plantations and the loss of farmland, rainforests, food sovereignty and biodiversity.

Please go to:

http://www.regenwald.org/international/englisch

Please ask your friends and family if they might like to take part, too. Many thanks!

Kind regards,
Reinhard Behrend
Rettet den Regenwald e. V.
Friedhofsweg 28
22337 Hamburg
Telefon 0049 -40 - 4103804

Info@regenwald.org
http://www.regenwald.org

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IPCC WG2 Report In Full : Website Leak or Mind Melt?

Yesterday whilst looking for more information about the IPCC WG2 Report I found the whole report online.

Now, i know that the IPCC website is a navigational nightmare. It's not inconcievale that the report is still there, and is ment to be...but, i sure as hell can't find it today!

The only reason that I know that i`m not imagining this is that I have a copy of Chapter 13 on Latin America. I`m writing about Latin America at the moment so this was my priority...I didn't download the rest. Damn.

This chapter is facinating and a great source of information, information on Latin America and climate change is hardly overly abundant (with a few exceptions such as effects on the Amazon).

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Step it Up 2007: National Day of Climate Action April 14th

Step it up 2007 looks set to be a great event, 1333 actions across the US when I last checked!

I post this video as it references the global climate campaign as part of the inspiration for them getting going as a national umbrella organisation, dispersed actions on one day.

I find this amazing, and I hope that everyone reading this from around the world will take part in this years global day of action and benefit from that solidarity an inspiration again! On the sidebar I have created some images that can be used to promote the global climate campaign website, there is also a promotional pdf. More photos and information is available on the Global Climate Campaign website.

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Website of the Week: BBC guide to climate change regional impacts.

The BBC has produced a very nice guide to the impacts of climate change around the globe.

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Climate Change: Latin and South America

I thought i`d take a look at Latin America and climate change. I havent written on this before so it makes a nice change, an i`m intending to write an article for Temas on this topic.




It's remarkably difficult to find information about the region that dosent originate from outwith. This information is perfectly valid but it's difficult to be sure that it reflects the concerns of the people who live in the region and face the local manifestations of climate change.


Climate change as an issue has several angles: Causes; Environmental and Human Impacts, and Solutions. These are not seperate by any means but worthy of individaul aswell as join inspection.



Background on Latin America can be found here, a list of the main relavent climate change issues can be found here. My previous relavent content can be found under the southamerica label.

A few resources that are relavent to this area.

• Latin America's (natural and human) contribution to climate change.

1. Fosil Fuel Usage C2,C4,C5,
2. Deforestation and Fires C1,C2,C3,C6,C7

• Environmental and Human impacts of climate change in Latin America. (Map:which nationshave assesed this?)

1. Impact on farming. I1,I5,I8,A3
2. Impact on health. I1,I8,A3
3. Impact on economy. I2,I5,I6,I7,A3
4. Impact on environment. I1,A3
5. Impact of rising sea levels. I3,A3
6. Impact of migration. I4,A3

• Some possible ways to mitigate climate change contributions and adapt to inevitable impacts.

1. Protecting forests. M1,M2
2. Alternatives to Oil, Coal and Gas.M2,M3
3. Adaptation of climate change.A1,A2,A3,

Some good sites with more information.

1. Amazon Watch
2. Carribean Environmental Health Institute
3. The Panos Institute of the Carribean
4. Adaptation days at COP 11

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Climate Justice

A look at the southern perspective on the issue of climate change. While the industrialised north fights about weather the science is real, and now, weather we should commit to small or large reductions, the south continues to suffer from the historic emissions. The latest in a long line of barbaric effects imposed by the rich on the poor.

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Tiempo:Climate and Development Bulletin

Tiempo Climate and Development Bulletin

Tiempo 62

Latin America up in smoke

Hannah Reid and Andrew Simms describe climate change impacts in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Climate and disaster reduction

Sarah Granich reports on the need for appropriate disaster
reduction strategies.

Vulnerability in Sudan

Sumaya Ahmed Zaki-Eldeen calls for improved policy process integration to support adaptation.

Operating the adaptation fund

Amjad Abdullah, Bubu Pateh Jallow and Mohammad Reazuddin describe a new proposal for operating the Kyoto Protocol Adaptation Fund.

Tiempo 61

Desertification and climate

Desertification Secretariat staff argue for a joint approach to climate change and desertification.

Climate change and the Sahara

Guy Jacques and Hervé Le Treut describe the role of climate in shaping the Sahara.

Food security in the Solomons

Louise Hunt reports on the efforts of a community group to teach capacity strengthening.

Institutions for adaptation

Evans Kituyi describes how scientific institutions in Africa could better influence national policies.

The story of the Yellow River

Li Moxuan describes the impacts of climate change.

Tiempo 60

Climate impacts on Nepal

Anil Raut discusses the impact of climate change on Nepal and options for adaptation.

Electric vehicles in Nepal
Megesh Tiwari describes the use of electric vehicles in Nepal.

Clean development in Nepal

Noora Singh considers the future of the Clean Development Mechanism.

Designing adaptation projects

Mozaharul Alam and Lwandle Mqadi describe a novel way of identifying, designing, implementing and monitoring community- based adaptation projects.

Tiempo 59

Gender and climate change.

Ulrike Röhr discusses the assimilation of gender issues in the climate change debate.

Deserts and desertification

Sarah Granich reports on the International Year of Deserts and Desertification

African fisheries

Friday Njaya and Charlotte Howard describe climate change impacts on fisheries in Malawi

Rural livelihoods

Jennifer Pouliotte, Nazrul Islam, Barry Smit and Shafiqul Islam assess adaptive capacity in Bangladesh

Low coastal zone settlements
Gordon McGranahan, Deborah Balk and Bridget Anderson describe the global distribution of low coastal zone settlements.

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Join the global climate campaign! Dec 8th 2007.

Heads up, this year's day of global action on climate change!

From the global climate campaign website...

Visit website for more details, logo, flyers and photos form the last two years.

"This webpage has been set up to publicise and promote plans for demonstrations on climate change, to coincide with the United Nations Climate Talks(COP13/MOP3) in Bali, Indonesia, December 3rd to 14th 2007.

We intend synchronised demonstrations around the world on Saturday December 8th 2007 - in as many places as possible - to call on world leaders to take urgent action on climate change.

The demonstrations will demand that world leaders take the urgent and resolute action we need to prevent the catastrophic destabilisation of global climate, so that the entire world community can move as rapidly as possible to a stronger emissions reductions treaty that is equitable as well as
effective in preventing dangerous climate change.

We feel that there is an overwhelming need to create a groundswell of global opinion to push for the urgent and radical action on climate change, without which we risk a global catastrophe of unimaginable proportions.

To help build for these demonstrations please find the contact for your country, below, or if there is not yet one listed there contact us at info@globalclimatecampaign.org"

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