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![Person measuring tree in a forest, Viet Nam. Photo credit: FAO/Joan Manuel Baliellas Person measuring tree in a forest, Viet Nam](/sites/default/files/styles/listing_image_290x218/public/2024-06/12169471994_07ab5ad5bd_k_fao.jpg?h=b6717701&itok=_wv83U37)
Unlocking climate action – the power of forest data transparency
In the battle against climate change, forests stand as stalwart allies. These green giants play a pivotal role in sequestering carbon dioxide, regulating the climate, enhancing biodiversity, and supporting livelihoods. However, the fate of forests worldwide hangs in a precarious balance due to…
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![Trucks on a highway throught the Amazon forest in Brazil. Photo credit: PARALAXIS/Shutterstock Trucks on a highway throught the Amazon forest in Brazil](/sites/default/files/styles/listing_image_290x218/public/2021-11/shutterstock_1664965060_trucks_brazil.jpg?h=e85f6c07&itok=0ggM5qDa)
Lessons from a perfect storm in the Amazon wilderness
The agreement by 110 countries at COP26 in Glasgow to halt and reverse deforestation within the decade is very good news. But what will it take for change to actually happen?
This is not the first time world leaders have made such a commitment – the successes and failures in the fight to save one…
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![Residents of Freetown, Sierra Leone, show off tree planters. Photo credit: Freetown City Council Residents of Freetown, Sierra Leone, show off tree planters](/sites/default/files/styles/listing_image_290x218/public/Freetown_City_Council_trees.jpg?h=8abcec71&itok=mbJ9fTkq)
#FreetownTheTreeTown campaign: Using digital tools to encourage tree cultivation in cities
Freetown, located at the seaward tip of a heavily forested, mountainous peninsula, is the capital of Sierra Leone, dominating its urban, economic, and social landscape. Each year, more than 100,000 people in search of employment move to the city, and the urban fringes continue to push deeper into…
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![Young Kyrgyz farmer picking corn. Photo credit: FAO Young Kyrgyz farmer picking corn](/sites/default/files/styles/listing_image_290x218/public/WFD2020_Kyrgyzstan_corn.jpg?h=e85f6c07&itok=oE3TtXVI)
Working together to grow, nourish, and sustain
On October 16 every year, we celebrate World Food Day to highlight the enduring vision of a world free from hunger and malnutrition. This year, we face the unprecedented crisis of COVID-19, which threatens food security and human health and may push another 130 million people into hunger by the end…
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![Forest and mountain landscape of Hawaii. Photo credit: elena_prosvirova/Shutterstock Forest and mountain landscape of Hawaii](/sites/default/files/styles/listing_image_290x218/public/shutterstock_723558763_hawaii_forest.jpg?h=e85f6c07&itok=uwxmQ46a)
Mapping nature to create a global biodiversity framework
The year 2020 was considered a 'super year' for biodiversity. A string of interconnected events offered a unique opportunity to build a global coalition and international policy framework that recognized the central role of nature to all life on Earth. At the UN Biodiversity Conference (…
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![Suspended walking bridge in Costa Rica rainforest. Photo credit: Dmitry Burlakov/Shutterstock Suspended walking bridge in Costa Rica rainforest](/sites/default/files/styles/listing_image_290x218/public/shutterstock_394454731_costa_rica_bridge.jpg?h=e85f6c07&itok=7FOLcyo0)
Investing in nature makes more sense than ever
It is not easy to plan for the future during a pandemic or a recession. But this is 2020, and governments and businesses are working hard to navigate both challenges at once.
As they do so, it is incredibly important they cast aside the notion that the environment is a tangential concern.
The…
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![Photo: Konstantin Aksenov/Shutterstock Evergreen jungle forest after rain. Natural misty background. Bali, Indonesia.](/sites/default/files/styles/listing_image_290x218/public/shutterstock_551827666_rain_forest_trees.jpg?h=e85f6c07&itok=C7vL-0-v)
Nature: one of the best solutions to climate change
Investing in trees and forests combats global warming and provides good financial returns.
The best way to tackle climate change may come naturally. For years, solutions have focused on clean energy technology, including electrifying transport and driving down the cost of wind and solar power.
But…
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![A new report provides a helpful road map for coordinating actions locally, nationally, and globally to address the root causes of these illegal activities. It also suggests measures to help countries strengthen their national capacity to address these crimes and to elevate efforts to protect their natural resources. Photo: Izzul Ahmad/Shutterstock. Staff at a government-run waste management facility outside Seremban, Malaysia arrange seized ivory tusks before destroying](/sites/default/files/styles/listing_image_290x218/public/shutterstock_wbg_illegal_ivory.jpg?h=e85f6c07&itok=FWBZEjx6)
The real costs of illegal logging, fishing, and wildlife trade: $1 trillion–$2 trillion per year
Illegal logging, fishing and wildlife trade rob the world of precious natural resources – and ultimately of development benefits and livelihoods. The statistics are grim: an elephant is poached for its tusks about every 30 minutes, an African rhino for its horn every 8 hours, one in five fish is…
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![The Rural Corridors and Biodiversity Conservation project, financed by the GEF, is is showcasing the conservation of the melipona bees by combining the use of technology and scientific knowledge with ancestral wisdom to implement sustainable production practices. Photo: National Parks Administration of Argentina. Argentine honey bees](/sites/default/files/styles/listing_image_290x218/public/wb_argentina_honey_bees.jpeg?h=c673cd1c&itok=ej-aAfTc)
Innovative investments in nature: native honey from the Chaco forest of Argentina
In the Argentine Chaco forest, the indigenous and creole peoples of Pampa del Indio work together to produce honey from the "melipona bees," which are native stingless bees (Tetragonisca fiebrigi and Scaptotrigona jujuyensis). In a recent blog, we explain how this zone has become a sanctuary for…
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![Next year is expected to mark the tipping point when Asia’s economies surpass the rest of the world in terms of purchasing power parity. But the bigger and inarguably more transformative impact will come not from this greater prosperity, but from Asia’s opportunity to embrace and drive sustainable development. Photo: BatmanV/Shutterstock. Deforested area](/sites/default/files/styles/listing_image_290x218/public/shutterstock_telegraph_deforestation.jpg?h=e85f6c07&itok=9ZL5KiLb)
Sustainable development in Asia: seeing both the forests and the trees
As the continent comes to dominate the global economy, it will do much to determine the fate of the global commons
As a young Asian business leader, it is fascinating to be part of an important transformation – the rise of Asia in the global economy.
Next year is expected to mark the tipping…