Forests
Logging surge threatens a quarter of Estonia’s forest, warn conservationists
Baltic state lobbied for flexibilities in EU rules to enable a dramatic increase in forestry, turning its thriving woodland into a net emitter of carbon by 2030
Will these hand-painted signs be enough to stop a dam in the Amazon?
With indigenous land demarcations frozen across Brazil, illegal mining and hydro dams threaten the Amazon. Communities are taking matters into their own hands
It’s war in the Amazon, says Brazil’s top environmental law enforcer
Local politicians are colluding with gangs to undermine rainforest protection, Luciano Evaristo tells delegates at UN climate talks in Bonn
Climate finance helps ayahuasca culture protect remote Amazon forest
Six hours from the nearest road, German climate money funds a hallucinogenic festival that tips the scales in a culture war between indigenous villagers and cattle ranchers
Brazil’s carbon emissions rose 8.9% in 2016, despite recession
After a surge in illegal deforestation, Brazil’s carbon emissions have risen for the third year running, according to a new study
Brazilian Amazon lost 660,000 hectares of forest in last year
Temer government claimed a victory as deforestation rate declines slightly, but green groups said announcement was no cause for celebration
Amazon forest fires pushing climate change ‘beyond human control’
Leading Amazon scientist highlights ‘grave problems’ in Brazil’s management of the world’s most important forest as climate-driven fires eat it away
Forest diamonds
How family rivalry and the Catholic church helped miners devastate an indigenous Amazon territory
Norway, France urged to block DR Congo forestry project
NGOs warn that a project supposed to reduce deforestation could have the opposite effect, opening up large areas to industrial logging
Finland’s plan to increase logging is a danger to the climate
Finland’s government has attempted to discredit scientists who criticised its increased logging programme, writes Hanna Aho from NGO Fern
Even Boeing-747 tanker jets can’t win our total war on fires
The more effectively we suppress fires, the worse they become. As climate change makes the world more combustible, we need a new approach
Brazil prepares to grant land rights to criminals who stripped Amazon
Brazil’s government is set to roll back protections on vast areas of the Amazon that would legitimise land claims often made under fake names to avoid prosecution
Brazil’s Temer urged to veto rollback of forest protections
Nearly 600,000 hectares of land could lose protected status under a law approved by Congress, an area twice the size of the US’ Yosemite national park
Brazilian indigenous leader appeals for solidarity against land grabs
Guarani-Kaiowá leader Ladio Veron is touring Europe to raise awareness of violence and environmental destruction by agribusiness
Brazilian MPs bid to cut protections for one million hectares of forest
As deforestation spirals out of control, bills to be voted on by Congress would roll back protections on area of forest the size of Jamaica
EU palm oil restrictions risk sparking trade spat
The European Parliament is set to back a ban on use of palm oil for biofuels, in a bid to protect rainforests, but exporters warn this would violate trade rules
We already have a magic technology that sucks up carbon
Why have emissions plans that rely on removing carbon from the air with unproven technologies when forests can do it today?
Russia, Canada, Brazil record vast forest loss
Almost 1 million square kilometres of natural forest disappeared between the year 2000 and 2013, along with its ability to absorb carbon and reduce warming
Carbon sink larger than England found in Congo jungle
A carbon sink as large as 20 years’ worth of US fossil fuel emissions has been identified in peatland in central Africa’s forests
Global warming linked to plant, animal extinctions
Almost half of plant and animal species have experienced local extinctions due to climate change, research reveals, with the tropics suffering the most pronounced loss