: *[Enwl-eng] SFB Weekly: ‘Community ownership’ may be the best way to fight deforestation

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A solutions-oriented weekly digest from Struggles From Below
27/11/21
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In our latest feature, Peter Yeung discovers that putting conservation in the hands of local communities might be the best way to fight deforestation

The idea is that community-run forests – those owned, managed and governed by their inhabitants – naturally preserve biodiversity and have very low, if any, levels of deforestation, while improving the livelihoods of the world’s often disadvantaged, rural communities who rely on forests to make a living. Who better to act as forest guardians and to manage these complex ecosystems in harmony with nature, the argument goes, than those born and raised within them?

There’s growing empirical evidence to support that intuition. Research by the World Resources Institute (WRI), a global non-profit research organisation, into 14 forest-rich countries containing 323 million hectares of community forest across Latin America, Africa, and Asia has found that communities “maintain or improve their forests’ carbon storage". The report found that community forests are a “vital opportunity to combat climate change” and one that has “long been undervalued".

With deforestation and other land degradation now accounting for 11% of annual global greenhouse gas emissions, the need for a new model is more pressing than ever. The planet lost an area of tree cover larger than the United Kingdom in 2020, including more than 4.2 million hectares of primary tropical forests, according to research by the University of Maryland. Using one familiar measure, that’s eight football fields of rainforest destroyed every minute – a 12% increase from 2019, despite the pandemic.

Fortunately, schemes have taken root across the world, reducing deforestation, increasing biomass and making communities more resilient: from the more than 2,000 ejido forests of Mexico, to Nepal’s 18,000 community forests, to the five million hectares of community-run forests across the islands of Indonesia.

The benefits have spread far and wide. The WRI report found that government protection of the forest rights of communities in Niger has added 200 million new trees, absorbing 33 million tons of carbon over 30 years. Community forestry in Nepal has improved forest health and generated a carbon stock of more than 198 million tons across 1.6 million hectares. And in Bolivia, from 2000 to 2010, only about 0.5% of land on legally recognised Indigenous community forest was deforested, compared with 3.2% in the Bolivian Amazon.

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What we're reading:

Bridging Africa's digital divide: The rise of community internet
In villages and townships, Africans are building their own internet infrastructure to connect, and protect, the unconnected. THOMSON REUTERS FOUNDATION


How might the world meet its clean energy needs
With the world attempting to reach net zero by the middle of this century, what sources of energy could feasibly replace fossil fuels? BBC FUTURE


France is freeing fruit and veg from its plastic prison
Under a new law, a large portion of the country’s produce will no longer be sold in single-use plastic containers. REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL


Up and out of the darkness
Several UK organisations sprang into action to combat COVID-19-related lockdown loneliness and isolation. The Cares Family connected tens of thousands of younger and older neighbours to spend time together, virtually now due to the pandemic, and Linking Lives also connected people through a telephone befriending model that has yielded deep connections. THINK GLOBAL HEALTH


Why putting solar canopies on parking lots is a smart green move
Solar farms are proliferating on undeveloped land, often harming ecosystems. But placing solar canopies on large parking lots offers a host of advantages — making use of land that is already cleared, producing electricity close to those who need it, and even shading cars. YALE ENVIRONMENT 360


One to ponder:

Can a vastly bigger national-service programme bring the US back together?
The idea has a remarkably broad array of supporters, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Stanley McChrystal. THE NEW YORKER
 
Quote of the week: 

“It is a fault to wish to be understood before we have made ourselves clear to ourselves.” – Simone Weil
 
Song of the week: 

Wesley Joseph - Thrilla 

That's it for today, folks. If you're enjoying this newsletter, please do forward it on to any friends who might be into it.

All the best,

Ollie

Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Struggles From Below
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Subject: SFB Weekly: ‘Community ownership’ may be the best way to fight deforestation


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