December 2011

The fifth Forest Day took place in Durban, South Africa, in parallel with the UN Durban Climate Change Conference, which convened from 28 November – 9 December 2011.

“The outcome on REDD safeguards is a step backwards from what was agreed in Cancun last year, which itself was far short of what could have been agreed in Copenhagen. The provisions for safeguards in forest conservation are being shredded”, says Raja Jarrah, CARE’s Senior Advisor on REDD.

"This is bad news for millions of indigenous people and local communities whose livelihoods depend on forests.”

A surging population in Africa seeking to provide energy for cooking needs has led to massive environmental damage, including soil degradation.
 
Worldwide deforestation accounts for 25-30 percent of annual CO2 global emissions, the result of the burning of brushland for subsistence agriculture and wood fires used for cooking.
 

Representative from Pueblos Indígenas de la Cuenca Amazónica frente al Cambio Climático (Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon Basin to Combat Climate Change) have announced more details of a program that aims to help indigenous groups in the Amazon Basin develop REDD projects.  Initially ann