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ASB presentations from Forest Day 2

On 6 December, ASB and its partners participated in Forest Day 2, convened by CIFOR and held alongside the UNFCCC 14th Conference of Parties in Poznan, Poland.

The presentations from our side event, Avoided Deforestation with Sustainable Benefits: bottom-up approaches to measurement and policy change, are now available for download. The side event was co-hosted with the Macauley Land Use Research Institute, which presented the upcoming collaborative project with ASB, “REDD-Alert“.

What we’ve done so far: opportunity costs of avoided deforestation with sustainable benefits – Meine van Noordwijk and Sonya Dewi, ICRAF Southeast Asia

What we’re doing next: Introducing new initiatives to support implementation of REDD – Robin Matthews, Macauley Land Use Research Institute

The full Earth Negotiations Bulletin summary of Forest Day is now online. A drafting committee representing members of the CPF produced a summary of key messages that emerged in the course of the day, to be forwarded to the UNFCCC Secretariat: http://www.cifor.cgiar.org/publications/pdf_files/cop/cop14/Summary-Forest-Day-2.pdf

Side Event Presentations: REDD Strategies for High-Carbon Rural Development

This morning, ICRAF, ASB and partners held a side event to the UNFCCC climate change conference on REDD Strategies for High Carbon Rural Development. The presentations from this event are now available for download below.

Welcome: Dennis Garrity, DG, World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Chair of ASB Partnership for the Tropical Forest Margins

Introduction to High Carbon Rural Development and Possible Links to Carbon Finance. Brent Swallow, Global Coordinator, ASB / ICRAF

Foundations of a Strategy to Address the Agricultural Productivity-REDD Nexus in the Cocoa Belt of West and Central Africa. Jim Gockowski, (STCP / IITA)

Trees, Forests and Poverty Reduction in Africa. Charles Erhhart, Care Intl

High Carbon Stock Livelihoods: a perspective from Indonesia. Meine van Noordwijk, Niken Sakuntaladewi, Fahmuddin Agus, Sonya Dewi (ICRAF, FORDA, ISRI)

Discussants:

Peter Holmgren (UNREDD/ FAO)
Peter Minang (ASB: Central Africa perspective)
Benoit Bosquet (FCPF/WB)

Thanks to everyone who attended, we look forward to seeing you tomorrow at our Forest Day Side Event: Avoided Deforestation with Sustainable Benefits: bottom-up approaches to measurement and policy change (co-hosted with the Macauley Institute). 14:30-16:00.

Is the Road Through Poznan Paved in Voluntary Carbon?

A new article at the The Katoomba Group's Ecosystem Marketplace takes stock of voluntary and regional carbon reduction initiatives to quantifying the amount of carbon captured in trees. The article also investigates implications for the global carbon regime.

Peru REDD declaration

The Peruvian REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) Group would like to share the Tarapoto Declaration concerning REDD issues, which was signed by different Peruvian stakeholders during a REDD workshop organized in October 2008 in Tarapoto city, Peru.

For further information, please contact  Verónica Gálmez M. Programa Regional ECOBONA / Intercooperation

Paper – Biofuel Plantations on Forested Lands: Double Jeopardy for Biodiversity and Climate

BIOFUEL PLANTATIONS ON TROPICAL FORESTLANDS ARE BAD FOR THE CLIMATE AND BIODIVERSITY, STUDY FINDS

Danielsen et al. Biofuel Plantations on Forested Lands: Double Jeopardy for Biodiversity and Climate. Conservation Biology, 2008; DOI: 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2008.01096.x

WASHINGTON DC, December 1, 2008 — Keeping tropical rain forests intact is a better way to combat climate change than replacing them with biofuel plantations, a study in the journal Conservation Biology finds.

The study reveals that it would take at least 75 years for the carbon emissions saved through the use of biofuels to compensate for the carbon lost through forest conversion. And if the original habitat was carbon-rich peatland, the carbon balance would take more than 600 years.  On the other hand, planting biofuels on degraded Imperata grasslands instead of tropical rain forests would lead to a net removal of carbon in 10 years, the authors found.

The study is the most comprehensive analysis of the impact of oil palm plantations in tropical forests on climate and biodiversity. It was undertaken by an international research team of botanists, ecologists and engineers from seven nations. (more…)