NEW DELHI: Government's plantation projects under the compensatory afforestation fund scheme cannot be taken up on forest land where forest dwellers' rights have already been recognized, the tribal affairs ministry (MoTA) has said.

BONN, Germany — Nearly 1,000 members of the development, environment, and finance communities gathered in Germany this week for what is being hailed as a “new phase” of the Global Landscapes Forum as it breaks away from the United Nations climate conference.

• The Mercosur trade bloc (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay) and the European Union are expected to conclude trade negotiations and put finishing touches on a trade agreement by the end of this year.
• That pact will include landmark indigenous human rights clauses meant to protect indigenous groups from violence, land theft and other civil rights violations.

Indigenous peoples and other local communities play a vital role when it comes to mitigating the impact of climate change. But despite inhabiting 50 per cent of the world’s land, these communities legally own just 10 per cent of it. As a result, civil society groups are calling on governments around the world to scale up the protection of customary land rights.

• The government of Nigeria has announced its plans to restore four million hectares, or nearly 10 million acres, of degraded lands within its borders.
• The West African nation is now one of 26 countries across the continent that have committed to restoring more than 84 million hectares (over 200 million acres) of degraded lands as part of the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR100), an effort that aims to bring 100 million hectares of land under restoration by 2030.

• In August, the village of Taba Padang in southwest Sumatra was recognized by the Indonesian government for practicing the best community-based forestry management this year.
• Less than a decade ago, however, many of its residents were being arrested for planting in a nearby forest, deemed off-limits because of its protected status.
• In 2010, newly elected village chief Yoyon embarked on a years-long process to obtain state approval to allow the farmers to manage nearly 10 square kilometers of land in the forest.

• Recent research found that 20 different “natural climate solutions” have the potential to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 23.8 billion metric tons every year — and that nearly half of that potential, or some 11.3 billion metric tons of emissions, represent what the study’s authors call “cost-effective climate mitigation.”

Colombia's palm oil industry and big businesses have pledged to eliminate deforestation from their supply chainsefore

BOGOTA, Nov 29 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Colombia's palm oil industry and big businesses have pledged to eliminate deforestation from their supply chains as the country battles to reverse the growing destruction of its tropical rainforests.

A recently tabled audit report from CAG of India on the government of Odisha reveals the performance of implementation of Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006 during the period 2011-16 in the state. The rules for carrying out the provisions of FRA were notified in 2008 and were subsequently amended in 2012.

NEW DELHI: Over 70 per cent of compensatory afforestation across 10 states has been done on forest land instead of non-forest land in violation of the Forest (Conservation) Act. This was done on community forest land without the consent of gram sabhas, said an analysis released on Tuesday.

India needs to design its tree-based programmes better to meet climate goals