Can politicians provide the missing magic?
‘Protecting forests means fighting for the very survival of humanity,’ Yvo de Boer (above), Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), told participants at Forest Day 2 on 6 December 2008 in Poznań, Poland. more

DG's message
2009 is possibly the most important year for forests in living memory. We are in the final stretch of the road to Copenhagen, where negotiators hope to finalise a post-Kyoto global climate agreement. more

Average tree size increasing as trees absorb more carbon
An international team of scientists, including CIFOR researchers, has discovered that the average size of rainforest trees is increasing as they store more carbon from the atmosphere and slow climate change. more

The impact of climate change on forests
Dr Markku Kanninen, CIFOR scientist and co-author of ‘Facing an Uncertain Future: How Forests and People can Adapt to Climate Change’, explains how small changes in climate can harm forests and thereby fuel climate change. more

Adapting to uncertainty
A CIFOR report released to coincide with Forest Day 2 at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 14th Conference of the Parties in Poland last December warns that climate change might have a devastating effect on the world’s forests and the nearly 1 billion people who depend on them for their livelihoods. more

Moving ahead with REDD to achieve the 3 Es: Efficiency, effectiveness and equity
A new report, released by CIFOR at the UNFCCC COP-14, addresses key questions negotiators need to consider as they determine how to reduce forest-related carbon emissions in the new climate agreement to be finalised at COP-15 in Copenhagen in December 2009. more

The way ahead for Cameroon’s forests
A recent study by CIFOR and the Australian National University (ANU) challenges perceptions about forest management plans in Cameroon. more

Making tenure tenable
‘It is now widely recognized that clear tenure rights are central to achieving social and economic development...more

Forest farmers offer hope in Amazonia
CIFOR scientist Patricia Shanley profiles three farmers who have inspired her work. Shanley has produced award-winning research materials in a format and style suited for local forest users. more

Sustaining Bangladesh’s remaining forests
Bangladesh’s forests are declining at an alarming rate, spelling hard times for this country where only 6 percent of the land’s surface is forested and where 70 percent of the population depends on natural resources such as forests for their livelihoods. more

Zambian beekeepers to sweeten their profits
The decision of the Zambian Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources to draft policy on beekeeping signals the importance it places on forest products for economic and environmental prosperity. more

Getting a whiff of CIFOR’s NTFP research
The smell of the durian fruit—‘the king of the fruits’—has been compared unfavourably with everything from vomit, rotten onions, pig faeces, gym socks and turpentine to a used surgical swab. more

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