As a researcher of sustainability transition, I still believe we can create a more sustainable palm oil industry in Indonesia, where millions of small farmers rely on palm oil for their livelihood.
A staff member from the Pesalat Reforestation Project on the island of Borneo replants trees in a peat-swamp forest area that was cleared by fires and logging. The areas are habitat for the orangutan, which is highly endangered.
World Resources Institute
As climate change worsens, it’s essential to restore our forests and ensure that the ones we plant are resilient. A global research network, the Tree Diversity Network, is working to make it happen.
Invasive mammals have already removed some native bird species from our cities. It’s why urban forest restoration and predator control are crucial to support the ‘ghosts of predation past’.
A 32-year-old forest on former pastureland in northeastern Costa Rica.
Robin Chazdon
As governments and corporations pledge to help the planet by planting trillions of trees, a new study spotlights an effective, low-cost alternative: letting tropical forests regrow naturally.
New Zealand recently became the first country to make climate-related financial disclosures mandatory, but it has some way to go to scale up investment in climate resilience.
A helicopter drops water on a forest fire in Alaska.
Michael Risinger/U.S. Army National Guard
Restoring western forests – thinning out small trees and dead wood – is an important strategy for reducing the risk of massive wildfires. But these projects aren’t fast, easy or cheap.
Plants live off carbon dioxide, but a higher level of the greenhouse gas in the air doesn’t necessarily lead to more biomass production.
Forest restoration is underway in Biliran, Leyte, Philippines led by the local community with support from international researchers and government agencies.
Robin Chazdon
Restoring tropical rainforests is good for the climate, wild species and humans. But where to start? A new study pinpoints locations that will maximize benefits and minimize negative impacts.
A regenerating stand of rainforest in northern Costa Rica.
Matthew Fagan
Many nations are restoring degraded tropical forests to slow climate change, protect endangered species and improve rural life. But those forests often are cleared again soon afterward.
Soybean farms surrounded the Wawi Indigenous Territory in the Southeast Amazon.
Rogério Assis/ Instituto Socioambiental
Brazil has set itself a target of restoring almost 50,000 sq km of the Amazon rainforest by 2030. But it won’t get there without changing its policies and how it engages with local people.