Pada 27 September, Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) bersama kelompok bisnis, LSM, badan pembangunan dan pemerintah, menggelar konferensi bertema Hutan Indonesia: alternatif masa depan untuk memenuhi kebutuhan pangan, kayu, energi, dan REDD+.

Para pembicara antara lain Menteri Kehutanan Zulkifli Hasan, Menteri Lingkungan Norwegia Erik Solheim, dan Special Envoy for Climate Change dari Bank Dunia Andrew Steer akan mengisi acara konferensi yang berlangsung di Jakarta. Ditargetkan 800 hingga 1.000 orang hadir di konferensi ini. Menurut Hadi, hingga pekan lalu sudah terdaftar 444 orang dari pelbagai negara.

A new study done by the Center for International Forestry Research, published in Forest Ecology and Management looked at 40 protected areas and 33 community-managed forests in 16 nations. The community forests only lost 0.24% of forest cover per year, while the government-protected areas lost an average of 1.47% annually.

As for the reason why the community-managed forests fared better on average, the study says involving the community in conservation not only (perhaps obviously) increases local participation, but it also reduces poverty and provides greater economic opportunities.

Arild Angelsen, CIFOR associate, Poverty and Environment Network (PEN) coordinator and professor at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences comments on income from forests that contributes as much to rural livelihoods as crop cultivation, making up about one-quarter of the income of rural people. “Earlier studies have emphasised the special importance of forest incomes to the poorest households,” he explains.

The Indonesia-based Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) recently published a study assessing the potential for biofuel production in Africa. The study, titled “Assessing Opportunities and Constraints for Biofuel Development in sub-Saharan Africa,” addresses how biofuel production could increase the region’s energy security while creating job opportunities.

In South Africa, a new working paper from the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) explores different biofuel production mechanisms for sub-Saharan Africa and ways to mitigate potential negative side effects from project development while ensuing local benefits such a job creation and energy access. Market-based mechanisms versus legal and policy mechanisms to enhance long-term sustainability are also discussed.