Three short stories of landscape restoration in the western United States show that restoration can mean a lot more than just planting trees. Sometimes it means cutting trees, setting fires, and unleashing destructive rodents. Perhaps we’d better explain. A chainsaw breaks the peace of a quiet forest in central Oregon. Soon, the crash of a […]
Having our cake and eating it, too: Can we grow more food on the world’s range lands while at the same time conserving the wealth of biodiversity those range land support? Rangelands cover one-quarter of earth’s land mass and they are storehouses of biodiversity. The scrublands of the Southern African Karoo, for example, are estimated […]
Indonesia has two big goals for 2020 that might seem contradictory: Reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 26 percent, and boost production of several major agricultural commodities, including doubling palm oil production. With agriculture being the single biggest driver of deforestation globally and in Indonesia, many are asking the question: How can […]
In some of the most biodiverse regions of the world, people have farmed for centuries, shaping magnificent agricultural landscapes. Multifunctionality recognizes agriculture as a multi-output activity producing not only private (market) goods such as food, feed, or fibre, but also public (nonmarket, non-excludable, non-rival) goods such as agricultural landscapes, farmland biodiversity, water quality, or soil […]
“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results” Albert Einstein. By Ivan Zuñiga, Beatriz Zavariz and Paulina Deschamps from the Mexican Civil Council for Sustainable Silviculture (CCMSS). Since 2007, the international community has discussed how REDD+ should be tailored to the particularities of each country with the development of REDD+ […]
In June 2015, the Terra-i team, together with the Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana (IIAP) and the Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina (VLIR-UNALM), conducted the second field validation of the data produced by the Terra-I system. This time, the study area was the Yurimaguas district, Alto Amazonas province, Loreto region (Peru). We used […]
IFPRI Senior Research Fellow, Stuart Gillespie discusses the Nourishing Millions project. Call for nominations IFPRI is pleased to invite you to nominate nutrition success stories for a new initiative on “Nourishing Millions: Stories of Change in Nutrition. This video was originally posted by IFPRI, as part of the “Nourishing Millions: Stories of Change in Nutrition“ […]
IFPRI is pleased to invite you to nominate nutrition success stories for a new initiative on “Nourishing Millions: Stories of Change in Nutrition.” Political commitment to address under-nutrition has grown significantly, and translating these commitments into action has become a leading priority. Lessons on how to improve nutrition in real world contexts are much needed. […]
The second photo-film of a two-part series, “The Ground Beneath Your Feet,” was launched during the 2015 Global Soil Week, where CIAT was highlighting the importance of soil, debating the latest science and technology as well as methods for preserving this vital natural resource. In Lushoto, Tanzania, a cluster of CCAFS climate-smart villages nestle in the stunning Eastern Arc Mountains, stretching between Tanzania and […]
The Global Landscapes Forum: The Investment Case, held in London on June 10th, drew together the diverse worlds of finance and science. Investment bankers rubbed shoulders with agriculture and forestry researchers, as well as representatives from advocacy groups and government agencies, to create practical solutions to encourage investment in the environment through new innovative models […]
When trying to protect carbon stocks and biodiversity, the expression “to kill two birds with one stone” seems hardly appropriate. And indeed, it seems that the REDD+ stone isn’t hitting the dual targets of storing carbon and protecting wildlife, according to recent research from Indonesia. The new study indicates that it’s hard to find areas where […]
Subsidized by Mother Nature, society has consumed, for various reasons and over centuries, vast amounts of timber extracted from primary tropical forests. The trees were not planted nor tended. And usually, companies just rented the much needed forestland from the government, at low prices over long periods of time. Yet this natural capital is drying […]
REDD+ is at a crossroads in Lao PDR, and needs to “think bigger” to survive. As the anti-deforestation project nears its eighth birthday, that’s the blunt claim from anew study that says tough decisions, choices and tradeoffs must be made to avoid further lost opportunities and indeed, further deforestation. “Thinking bigger,” according to study […]
BOGOR, Indonesia—A 90 kilogram full-grown male orangutan is sitting in your garden, eating mangoes stolen from your mango tree. You are unhappy about this. So how do you get rid of him? According to conservation scientist Erik Meijaard, the best method is to find some friends, form into a line, and move forward waving your […]
Like most fathers of teenage children, I am often accused of being out of touch. While my work takes me to many places, geographic and esoteric, my children do have a point: it is fair to say that much of the world of popular culture passes me by. However, I do have a favorite author […]
