Access for local people can help protect forests

A new research paper questions whether local communities should be excluded from managing conservation areas.

The people of Khe Tran used cards and buttons rank the importance of different areas of forest. This information can be used to develop conservation policies tailored to local community needs. Photo by Douglas Sheil

For the 100 or so residents of the Vietnamese village of Khe Tran, the forest was central to their livelihoods. Under the canopy they practiced shifting cultivation, hunted small game, cut timber and grazed livestock. They also collected non-timber forest products (NTFPs) for food and handicrafts. These NTFPs sometimes included the rusty metal leftovers from the war, such as shrapnel and the occasional unexploded bomb or landmine.   more

Payments to reduce carbon emissions could preserve habitat for endangered mammal species

New study is among first to show benefits that carbon payments could have for populations of endangered large mammals in tropical forests

The Borneo orangutan, one of the endangered mammals that could benefit from carbon payments. Photo by Daniel Murdiyarso

A recently published report provides compelling evidence that paying to conserve billions of tons of carbon stored in tropical forests could also protect orangutans, pygmy elephants, and other wildlife at risk of extinction. The study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Conservation Letters, is one of the first to offer quantitative evidence linking the drive to reduce carbon emissions from forests with the push to preserve threatened mammal biodiversity.  more

Previous Highlights »