After 12 years, Indonesia’s legislature has finally voted to ratify the ASEAN treaty on cross-border haze as fires ripped through forests in the western side of the country, choking neighboring Singapore with hazardous smog.
Media Coverage
Bolivian vice president proposes unprecedented agricultural expansion (PART 1)
On August 14, the Bolivian Vice President, Alvaro Garcia Linera, made the announcement that by 2025 Bolivia was going to make two striking developments: first, it would expand all cultivated land to 2.5 times its present area, and second, it would triple food production from 15 to 45 million tons.
Why we need to protect forests to combat global warming
Should governments spend more money on combating global warming by slowing the clearing of forests in countries like Indonesia? Definitely yes, and for more reasons than you think, argue Frances Seymour and Jonah Busch from the Center for Global Development.
Cameroon: Artisanal Millers Vs. Industrial Plantations in a Palm Oil Paradox
Many communities in Cameroon have mechanized the processing of oil palm fruits by using artisanal mills powered by car or motorbike engines. These mills are so profitable, the Cameroonian government is considering banning them. This story of paradoxes is explored in a new paper by Raymond Nkongho and other scientists from the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).
Ghana: Crop Diversity Can Sweeten the Deal for African Cocoa Farmers
New research is pointing to a potential solution for struggling smallholder cocoa farmers: increasing the value of their cocoa systems and the income they derive from them not by intensifying their crops, but by diversifying them.
Raze, reuse: How a former congressman will build a big green house in Palisades
Former Democratic Congressman Michael Kopetski and his wife Frances Seymour, the former director general of the Center for International Forestry Research, decided to build a new home in Palisades and to go green in that process.
Ebola, forests and bushmeat: Making sense of a crisis
The current Ebola crisis in Africa has drawn attention to the link between the animal-borne virus and bushmeat, a crucial source of food for tens of millions of people. A ban on the hunting of forest-based wildlife in hopes of stemming the possible spread of the Ebola virus in Africa would be impracticable. CIFOR is calling for more research to understand the value chain of the bushmeat trade — a difficult task given that the trade is carried out informally, often illegally and unsustainably.