Improving tenure of forests by Indigenous and Tribal Peoples can lower deforestation rates and biodiversity loss, avoiding C02 emissions, but more investment is urgently needed to address rising threats.

• Indonesia’s annual fire season has started again, with hotspots detected in 10 provinces.
• Some of the fires have been detected in protected areas with large swaths of peatland.
• The government says it’s preparing to carry out cloud seeding to induce rainfall in affected areas.
• However, environmentalists have called for more traditional methods of law enforcement to prevent fires breaking out in the first place.

Neuf nouvelles forêts, pour une superficie totale de 84 mille 726 ha, sont classées dans les régions de Kolda, Matam, Tambacounda et Sédhiou. Cette décision du chef de l’Etat vise à consolider le Plans Sénégal émergent vert (Pse vert) et la réalisation du projet continental de la Grande muraille verte.

A tree planting ceremony was held along a stretch of road leading to Badas Dam as part of the Badas Tree Planting 2021 project yesterday.

It is a collaborative research project between Universiti Brunei Darussalam’s (UBD) Institute for Biodiversity and Environmental Research (IBER) and Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) aimed at supporting Brunei Darussalam National Climate Change Policy (BNCCP) particularly in increasing forest cover.

Main photo: A herder collects snow to be melted down into drinking water.

The dzud is a peculiar weather phenomenon unique to Mongolia in which every few years a summer drought combines with a harsh winter. Nomadic herders can only despair as piles of dead, frozen sheep and goats stack up across the steppes, dead from either starvation or the cold. It is not uncommon to see a frozen animal dead on its feet.

A total of 1,60,566 individuals and organisations have grabbed 2.57 lakh acres of forest land across the country. 

Of the total forest land, 1.38 lakh acres are reserved forest area -- grabbed by 88,215 persons and organisations. 

Forest Department submitted the statistics containing names of grabbers of forest land all over the country today at a meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on the ministry of environment, forest and climate change. 

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 29): The Energy and Natural Resources Ministry (KeTSA) has achieved a new milestone in forestry management with the adoption of the Malaysian Forestry Policy 2020 which involved consultations among the three regions in the country, namely the Peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak.

Its Minister Datuk Dr Shamsul Anuar Nasarah, in a statement today, said the policy outlined a clear objective for the forestry sector to face new challenges at the domestic and international levels.

Main Photo: Environmental officials inspect Prey Lang wildlife sanctuary in Sandan district, Kampong Thom province​ on 2020. Environment Ministry

The government has repealed all previously issued letters certifying sales, purchases, transfers, occupation or ownership of any land within the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary.

The decision was made following an investigation into land disputes between 188 families and environmental officials in Kampong Thom province.

In the forests of the Congo Basin, rising temperatures and erratic rainfall are adversely affecting wildlife resources. The availability of edible mushrooms and caterpillars has fallen by about 80%. This is according to a study published on 5 January 2021 by the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).

The Congo Basin contains the world's second-largest rainforest, crucial for regulating the world's climate. Inside it, a plan to halt the forest's decline is bearing fruit.

With a gentle tug of his left hand, Patrick Wasa-Nziabo eases dozens of kernels from a sun-dried cob and into a large plastic bucket brimming with lemon-yellow corn at his bare feet.

• A report by Global Witness has found that more than 100 Indonesian palm oil mills supplying agribusiness giants ADM and Bunge have been accused of land and human rights violations and environmental destruction.
• Global Witness found that neither company is addressing the majority of these allegations through their formal grievance processes, and effectively passing on this “conflict” palm oil to major consumer brands such as Nestlé, Unilever and PepsiCo.
• ADM and Bunge have denied any failure to police their suppliers, but have also pledged to look

UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre vigilant on potential impacts of oil and gas exploration in Namibia and Botswana on the Tsodila and Okavango Delta World Heritage properties.