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"This volume is a product of the staff of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank."
Deforestation rates in the Congo Basin are among the lowest in the tropical rainforest belt and are significantly below rates in most other African regions. Local and regional development, population increases and global demand for commodities are likely to increase deforestation and forest degradation in the Congo Basin.
Deforestation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is significantly lower than in other heavily forested tropical countries. However, there is increasing concern that this rate is likely to accelerate. Many of those concerned about future deforestation argue that shifting cultivation is the primary driver and that if nothing is done to change the practice, it will cause even more forest loss. This study reviews the evidence in support of these claims. In the first section, we compare the results of the most recent remote sensing-based studies on the rate of change in forest cover and try to explain why and how they differ. We then review the literature on the relationship between agriculture and deforestation in the DRC, with particular attention to the role of shifting cultivation. Finally, we integrate the insights from both the remote sensing studies and the broader literature to arrive at a general picture of the current state of the forest in the DRC and the risks for its future. Overall, we find that while there is substantial variation in the recent deforestation estimates for the DRC depending on definitions, methods and approaches, some deforestation is taking place — albeit at a slower rate than in the rest of the tropics. This deforestation is concentrated in Kinshasa and Bas-Congo provinces, in the eastern DRC and around medium-sized cities along the Congo River. Agriculture appears to be the main driver of deforestation and its impact will likely increase as the country’s population grows. While some researchers argue that this presents a real threat to the future of the DRC’s forests, there is a lack of strong evidence to show the magnitude of this threat. If the impact continues to be felt mainly in the areas where it is currently taking place, the overall ensuing deforestation may not be very extensive. While the local impacts may be real, given the vast size of the DRC and the location of its large tracts of forests, there is a strong possibility that the overall biodiversity and carbon impacts of such deforestation will be limited.
Rainforests have long been recognized as hotspots of biodiversity—but they are crucial for our planet in other surprising ways. Not only do these fascinating ecosystems thrive in rainy regions, they create rain themselves, and this moisture is spread around the globe. Rainforests across the world have a powerful and concrete impact, reaching as far as America’s Great Plains and central Europe. In Rainforest: Dispatches from Earth’s Most Vital Frontlines, a prominent conservationist provides a comprehensive view of the crucial roles rainforests serve, the state of the world’s rainforests today, and the inspirational efforts underway to save them. In Rainforest, Tony Juniper draws upon decades of work in rainforest conservation. He brings readers along on his journeys, from the thriving forests of Costa Rica to Indonesia, where palm oil plantations have supplanted much of the former rainforest. Despite many ominous trends, Juniper sees hope for rainforests and those who rely upon them, thanks to developments like new international agreements, corporate deforestation policies, and movements from local and Indigenous communities. As climate change intensifies, we have already begun to see the effects of rainforest destruction on the planet at large. Rainforest provides a detailed and wide-ranging look at the health and future of these vital ecosystems. Throughout this evocative book, Juniper argues that in saving rainforests, we save ourselves, too.
The 2010 State of the Forest report (SOF) benefited from financial support from the European Union, the United States, Germany, France and UNESCO. It represents the collaborative effort of over 100 individuals from a diversity of institutions and the forestry administrations of the Central African countries. The SOF process began with the selection and definition of indicators relevant to monitoring the state of forests in Central Africa. The indicators are structured around three thematic areas: (i) forest cover; (ii) management of production forests; and (iii) conservation and biodiversity. They are presented in a hierarchical structure at the regional, national and management unit (i.e. logging concessions and protected areas) levels. The indicators were vetted by a representative panel of stakeholders of forest management in Central Africa. The indicators are used to guide an annual data collection process carried out between April and August by national groups of four to ten individuals working within the forestry administrations. The data reported on in the 2010 SOF were primarily collected in 2009 and 2010. Results were validated in national workshops attended by government officials as well as representatives of environmental NGOs, the private sector and development projects. The data provided an important basis for the authors of the 11 chapters of the 2010 SOF, which were under the coordination of a scientific committee of international renown. A final workshop was held 29-30 March, 2011 in Douala to review a draft report. Following amendments based on comments from a wide audience of experts the final layout was completed.
Since 2000 and the implementation of China’s ‘going abroad’ policy, mainland Chinese state-owned and private companies have significantly increased their interests in the resources and investment opportunities of the Congo Basin, bringing new opportunities as well as potential social and environmental costs. This report is a synthesis of some main findings of preliminary scoping studies conducted by CIFOR and partners in Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo and Gabon. It focuses on how Chinese trade and investment in the forestry, mining and agricultural sectors might relate to effects on forests and forest-dependent communities in the region. All studies were conducted under the CIFOR project ‘Chinese trade and investment in Africa: Assessing and governing trade-offs to national economies, local livelihoods and forest ecosystems’, initiated in 2010. The scoping studies yielded useful results, including an increased understanding of the main trends in natural resources trade between the target countries and China, and the major land-based productive sectors targeted by Chinese investors. The studies also considered the role of national agencies tasked with promoting investment and overseeing corporate adherence to environmental and social requirements, and provided a better understanding of the informal processes surrounding investment and acquisition of land and other resources.
Earth Observation Science (EOS) is the study of the global Earth land-ocean-atmosphere system through observations. The principal tools for such studies are measurements from space since these provide the coverage of the planet that is necessary to capture the behaviour of the entire coupled system. In addition, surface observations, and measurements from aircraft, balloons and sounding rockets provide valuable contributors to what are now termed "integrated, global observing systems.” Coupled with models, the EOS measurement suites provide powerful tools for research into the factors controlling and changing the Earth system in which we live. The objectives of this book are to describe new methods and applications of satellite technology in the fields of land and emergency monitoring. It draws on new research outcomes from the European FP7 project GIONET (European Centre of Excellence in Earth Observation Research Training). GIONET combines industrial partners with universities and research institutes, and this book provides a perspective on Earth Observation applications that is motivated by the cross-fertilisation of both sectors. Hence, this book will find readers in both industry and academia. This book highlights a broad range of innovative uses of Earth Observation technology to support environmental management, decision making, crisis management and climate policies. It uses advanced concepts of multi-sensor image integration, multi-temporal analysis and synergies between data and models. This is a truly interdisciplinary subject that encompasses a range of applications in various fields which are discussed in detail throughout the text. If you are interested in remote sensing applications and looking for inspiration, this is the book for you.
Nearly three years ago, world leaders agreed to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – the central framework for guiding development policies throughout the world. This edition of The State of the World’s Forests is aimed at enhancing our understanding of how forests and their sustainable management contribute to achieving several of the SDGs. Time is running out for the world’s forests: we need to work across sectors, bring stakeholders together, and take urgent action. The State of the World’s Forests 2018 identifies actions that can be taken to increase the contributions of forests and trees that are necessary to accelerate progress towards the SDGs. It is now critical that steps be taken to work more effectively with the private sector, and the informal forest sector must be transformed in order to bring broader economic, social and environmental benefits. Seventy years ago, when FAO completed its first assessment of the world’s forest resources, the major concern was whether there would be enough timber to supply global demand; now we recognize the greater global relevance of our forests and trees. For the first time, The State of the World’s Forests 2018 provides an assessment of the contribution of forests and trees to our landscapes and livelihoods. The purpose of this publication is to provide a much wider audience with an understanding of why forests and trees matter for people, the planet and posterity.
The highly publicized obscenity trial of Radclyffe Hall's The Well of Loneliness (1928) is generally recognized as the crystallizing moment in the construction of a visible modern English lesbian culture, marking a great divide between innocence and deviance, private and public, New Woman and Modern Lesbian. Yet despite unreserved agreement on the importance of this cultural moment, previous studies often reductively distort our reading of the formation of early twentieth-century lesbian identity, either by neglecting to examine in detail the developments leading up to the ban or by framing events in too broad a context against other cultural phenomena. Fashioning Sapphism locates the novelist Radclyffe Hall and other prominent lesbians--including the pioneer in women's policing, Mary Allen, the artist Gluck, and the writer Bryher--within English modernity through the multiple sites of law, sexology, fashion, and literary and visual representation, thus tracing the emergence of a modern English lesbian subculture in the first two decades of the twentieth century. Drawing on extensive new archival research, the book interrogates anew a range of myths long accepted without question (and still in circulation) concerning, to cite only a few, the extent of homophobia in the 1920s, the strategic deployment of sexology against sexual minorities, and the rigidity of certain cultural codes to denote lesbianism in public culture.
DRC has committed to reduce its emissions effectively, efficiently, and equitably from deforestation and degradation (REDD+). The country experiences complex relationships between drivers, agents, and institutions of deforestation nationally. The REDD+ policy arena is influenced by both governmental and non-governmental actors whose number have increased in the policy arena over the years; however, weak coordination among these actors remains an issue. Since 2009, the DRC has announced several reforms relating to land tenure, land-use planning and agricultural policy, to create an institutional environment that motivates the implementation of REDD+ in the DRC. By 2019, none of these reforms had materialized, due to both political changes and a lack of finance, capacity, and political will. Between 2013 and 2019, little progress has been made on REDD+ in the DRC, as a result of conflicting interests among actors both at national and decentralized levels; information asymmetry; elite capture and corruption; and the pre- and post-election situation. To date, the effectiveness of REDD+ activities in the DRC remain unclear, due to the absence of rigorous impact assessment. However, efforts can be observed on the field where there is increased number of participants to forest policy process compared to REDD+ early years; and several ongoing projects are testing policy options within and across levels. If these efforts are sustained, they can contribute in putting in place conditions to achieve REDD+ objectives.