Without oversight and safegaurds, REDD may be caught up in web of corruption

The issue of measurement, reporting and verification of carbon levels is set for the agenda at COP 16 in Cancun next month. Experts warn, however, that more attention must be given to the monitoring and reporting of REDD+ financial flows, which stand to be caught up in complex webs of corruption. There will be a lot at stake. In Copenhagen last year developed countries committed new and additional resources to forestry worth $30 billion for 2010-12, and set out to mobilise $100 billion annually from 2020 to address the needs of developing countries. If any of that money makes its way into bank accounts overseas, the money trail becomes difficult to follow.

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Fear and conformity in conservation

Conservation is like guerrilla warfare. But are the similarities flattering for conservationists? No matter how big, conventional and entwined with power conservation organizations get, they still have the posture of guerrilla groups. While conventional warfare seeks to reduce an opponent’s capability through head-on confrontation, guerrillas seek to undermine the opponents’ strength and their public support. Guerrillas...

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Orangutan Awareness and Caring Weeks Collide

post by by Melanie J. Martin, special to mongabay.com Sumatran Orangutan in Gunung Leuser National Park. Photo by Rhett A. Butler in May 2010 The Orang Utan Republik Foundation (OURF) and other conservation NGOs are celebrating November 7-13, 2010 as Orangutan Caring Week. The theme this year is “Back to Green,” which, according to OURF, implies returning orangutans to the wild while becoming more ecologically conscious. Meanwhile,...

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Tool for comparing value of forest conservation to logging, palm oil

A new tool developed by Lian Pin Koh of ETH Zurich allows users to quickly compare the value of various forms of land use, including oil palm plantation development, logging, and carbon conservation for REDD+ payments. The web-based tool provides a rough estimate for the net present value of economic activities as well as the impact on biodiversity. The tool is available at LU...

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Iracambi – Protecting the Beauty of the Atlantic Rainforest

A few weeks ago on Mongabay we featured an interview with Robin and Binka LeBreton, Directors of a Research Centre situated in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest. The following is an excerpt from the diary kept by Clare Emily Raybould, a volunteer in January 2010…

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Degradation is in the Eye of the Beholder
Sep27

Degradation is in the Eye of the Beholder

In the discussion about where oil palm and other plantations should go we talk so easily about degraded lands. But the concept is not straightforward. When the US and Europe cleared their forests a few centuries ago, they did so to “improve” the land. Forests were seen as a source of lumber, best to be cleared and replaced by annual crops with which a lot more money could be made. We have learned since then, and now...

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