Forest, desertification, land degradation & biodiversity

Photo: There are more than 833 million hectares of salt-affected soils around the globe. © FAO

COP26: Protect Peace and Justice at the Climate Change Summit

Viewpoint by Arunabha Ghosh and Isabel Studer Noguez

While Dr Arunabha Ghosh is CEO, Council on Energy, Environment and Water, Dr Isabel Studer-Noguez is Director of Alianza University of California-Mexico. Both sit on the international expert panel for the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) initiative Environment of Peace.

STOCKHOLM (IDN) — When world leaders meet in Glasgow for the climate change summit (COP26) (October 31-November 12), they should be aware that their decisions will cast a long shadow over the future both of climate and security.

: Europe Editor; OPINION; 22 October 2021

Photo: Mwala Mooto of Mooto Cashew Suppliers Ltd., a tree nursery focusing on drought-resistant crop trees to help depleted ecosystems. Source: Mootoo Cashew Suppliers Limited

How Hyperlocal Businesses can Save Biodiversity

Viewpoint by Julia Rohe-Frydrych and Luis Ebert

BERLIN (IDN) — Markets have not been kind to biodiversity. Activities up and down the economic value chain take an enormous toll on the planet’s ecological riches, and many people believe conservation and private-sector commerce are mutually opposed. In recent years, some conservationists and economists have started to argue that biodiversity is essential to long-term business survival.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 14 October 2021

Image: The artwork was created by Sara Wolman from Alaska, U.S.A. and depicts a small selection of the migratory birds which travel along three of the major flyway systems found in the world: The Americas Flyway, the African-Eurasian Flyway and the East-Asian Australasian Flyway.

Hundreds Of Events Mark World Migratory Bird Day

By Rita Joshi

BONN (IDN) — People all over the world celebrated on October 9 World Migratory Bird Day, a global campaign that aims to raise awareness of migratory birds and the need for international cooperation to conserve them.

Two environmental treaties—the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) and the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) — and the non-profit organization, Environment for the Americas (EFTA), joined the UN-backed campaign.

: Rita Joshi; SUSTAINABILITY; Forests, desertification, land degradation & biodiversity; 10 October 2021

Coastal Developing Countries Count on A Sustainable Ocean Economy in the Aftermath of COVID-19

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN | UNCTAD) — Barbados, Belize and Costa Rica are looking beyond the pandemic and climate shocks by developing and implementing national trade strategies strongly linked to resilience, conservation and the sustainable use of their marine resources.

A regional experience-sharing workshop held on September 23-24 highlighted the need to adopt, elaborate and implement evidence-based and policy-coherent oceans economy and trade strategies (OETS) under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) framework.

: Jamshed Baruah; SUSTAINABILITY; Forests, desertification, land degradation & biodiversity; 08 October 2021

Photo: The DRC government is planning to lift a moratorium on new logging concessions that threatens some of the last intact tropical forest on earth, Forest protection in DR Congo. Credit: Greenpeace.

NGOs Urge Donor Governments to Intervene to Stop New Logging Plans on The Congo Rainforest

By Devendra Kamarajan

NAIROBI | KINSHASA (IDN) — Ahead of international donors announcing a 1 USD billion forest protection agreement with the Democratic Republic of Congo, NGOs are urging that such funding for the Central African country should be conditional on a moratorium on any logging concessions, reports Greenpeace. The ban has stood since 2002 but the DRC government is apparently planning to lift the moratorium.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Africa; 24 September 2021

Photo: UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw. Credit: United Nations

Action on Land Degradation Crucial to Averting the Worst Ravages of Climate Change

By Ibrahim Thiaw

UN Under Secretary General and Executive Secretary to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, Mr Ibrahim Thiaw, responds to the IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Land.

BONN (IDN) — We have known for over 25 years that poor land use and management are major drivers of climate change, but have never mustered the political will to act. With the release of the IPCC special report on climate change and land, which makes the consequences of inaction crystal clear, we have no excuse for further delay.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 11 August 2021

Photo: Mr. Juan Carlos Salazar officially assumed the office of Secretary General of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) on August 1. Source: ICAO

A Colombian Replaces China's Dr. Liu as Head of UN's Civil Aviation Organization

By J C Suresh

TORONTO | MONTREAL (IDN) — Colombia's Mr. Juan Carlos Salazar officially assumed the office of Secretary General of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) on August 1, succeeding Dr. Fang Liu of China. Mr Salazar is the second to replace a Chinese as head of a UN specialized agency.

: J C Suresh; UN INSIDER; 01 August 2021

Image credit: Convention on Biological Diversity.

A New Global Biodiversity Framework Seeks to Bring 'Humanity in Harmony with Nature'

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) — The Secretariat of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has published the first official draft of a new global framework for biodiversity to guide actions to conserve and protect nature and its basic services to humans by 2030.

After more than two years of development, the draft will be further refined in late summer through online negotiations and submitted to its 196 Parties for consideration at COP15 in Kunming, China, from October 11 to 24.

: J Nastranis; SUSTAINABILITY; Forests, desertification, land degradation & biodiversity; 25 July 2021

Photo: "We are learning how to manage our crops better,” say farmers Malvin Ortiz and Felipe Martínez, “and we are teaching our children how to do it, too.” Now, the future is looking more hopeful." Credit: Oxfam International

Latin America's Unique Biodiversity Can Help Boost Post-Covid Recovery

By Fermin Koop*

LONDON (IDN) — Protecting and restoring natural areas in Latin America, home to 50% of the planet’s biodiversity and over a quarter of its forests, could help the region achieve a ‘green’ post-pandemic recovery and meet biodiversity conservation targets, experts say. Doing so could even create thousands of jobs in key economic sectors such as agriculture.

: Europe Editor; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 13 July 2021

Photo: Indigenous Juruna warrior from a village in the Brazilian Amazon reviewing his territory | Photo by Todd Southgate

Rivers Are Crucial for Restoring Biodiversity Worldwide

Viewpoint by Alessandra Korap Munduruku*, Darryl Knudsen** and Irikefe V. Dafe ***

This article was produced by Earth | Food | Life, a project of the Independent Media Institute.

ITAITUBA, Brazil | OAKLAND, USA | ADDIS ABABA | Ethiopia (IDN) — In October 2021, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) will meet in China to adopt a new post-2020 global biodiversity framework to reverse biodiversity loss and its impacts on ecosystems, species and people.