One third of Indonesia’s greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation originate from areas not officially defined as ‘forest’ suggesting that efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD+) may fail unless they account for carbon across the country’s entire landscape.

This article is reporting on a new policy brief produced by the Alternatives to Slash and Burn Partnership coordinated by the World Agroforestry Centre.

Research by Centre scientists has found that up to 600 million tons of Indonesia’s carbon emissions “occur outside institutionally defined forests” and are therefore not accounted for under the current national REDD+ policy, which, if implemented, would enable Indonesia to win compensation from industrialized countries for protecting its carbon-dense forests and peatlands as a climate change mechanism.

Read the full story on Mongabay.com

And summaries on Environment South Africa as well as Forest Carbon Portal  

Read the article on our website: Reducing emissions from deforestation, inside and outside the forest

Download the policy brief

• Ekadinata A, van Noordwijk M, Dewi S and Minang P A 2010. Reducing emissions from deforestation, inside and outside the forest. ASB PolicyBrief 16. ASB Partnership for the Tropical Forest Margins, Nairobi, Kenya.

A new Agroforestry Policy Initiative could result in millions of dollars worth of income unlocked for poor farmers in developing countries.

The World Agroforestry Centre launched the Initiative during the XXIII World Congress of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations in Seoul, Korea. Involving a wide range of partners, the Initiative would make agroforestry a key contributor to ensuring food security, reducing poverty and combating climate change.

“This Initiative will support national and local policy reforms that will reduce barriers and improve incentives for private investment in agroforestry,” said Dennis Garrity, Director General of the World Agroforestry Centre.

“Agroforestry can deliver a wide range of benefits. It can enhance food security, improve rural livelihoods, make better use of scarce rainwater and absorb atmospheric carbon.”

Revising outdated policies and forest regulations will allow farmers in many countries to take full advantage of growing trees on farms, providing them with a lucrative source of income.

Download the media release

Read the story on:

• Alpha Galileo – Policy reform to stop discrimination against farm trees could help poor farmers out of poverty
• Scottrade – World Agroforestry Center launches policy initiative to stimulate agroforestry
• Xinhua News – World Agroforestry Center launches policy initiative to stimulate agroforestry
• Go for wood – Policy reform to stop discrimination against farm trees could help poor farmers out of poverty
• V1 Magazine – World Agroforestry Center Launches Policy Initiative to Stimulate Agroforestry
• Herd-und-Hof.de – Agroforstsysteme sichern Einkommen und Natur

Agroforestry stakeholders in Tanzania are seeking ways to revitalize and reshape agroforestry coordination in the country.

The existing agroforestry coordination committee is financially strapped and has not been able to conduct its annual conference which is making it difficult for the country to keep abreast of international trends, especially in the area of climate change.

The World Agroforestry Centre’s Country Representative, Dr Aichi Kitalyi, called for a lobbying and advocacy body in order to see increased investment in agroforestry.

This article discusses the strengths and weaknesses of initiatives in recent years aimed at supporting agroforestry to address problems of deforestation and land degradation, in particular the National Agroforestry Steering Committee (NASCO). Among the strengths is the vaailability of agroforestry technologies but the weaknesses include dissemination, inadequate capacity for agroforestry related to climate change and limited funding.

Read the full story in The Guardian Newspaper, Tanzania

In a country where good news is scarce, a pioneering agroforestry project in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is restoring heavily degraded landscapes and providing much-needed food for communities living on the sloping lands.

Jianchu Xu, East-Asia Coordinator for the World Agroforestry Centre, which has been providing technical expertise and training for the project since 2008, said agroforestry – in this case the growing of trees on sloping land – is uniquely suited to DPR Korea for addressing food security and protecting the environment.

The project began in 2002 involving the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and Korea’s Ministry of Land and Environmental Protection. The World Agroforestry Centre was brought in to provide technical advice.

Download the media release

Read the full story in:

• Science Daily – North Korea opens its doors to agroforestry
• Scientific computing – North Korea opens its doors to agroforestry
• Innovations Report – North Korea opens its doors to agroforestry
• MediLexicon – Agroforestry: A success In North Korea
• Herd-und-Hof.de (in German) – Nahrungssicherung durch Agroforstwirtschaft
• New Agriculturalist – Restoring land with agroforestry in North Korea

This article reports on the medicinal tree, known as the Greenheart (Warburgia ugandensis) which is found throughout East Africa and used to treat numerous human and livestock diseases.

As well as being used in rural areas, extracts are making their way into urban markets. Amid concerns about over-exploitation, the World Agroforestry Centre has launched a project to preserve the tree.

Jonathan Muriuki, from the Centre, says they are assisting farmers to grow an improved strain of Warburgia ugandensis. Dr Alice Muchugi, lecturer at Kenyatta University, who is also working on the project, says there is a need for policy makers to prioritize conservation of the species.

Download the article in the East African (PDF 416kb)

Read the full story on AllAfrica.com (Congo-Kinshasa)