CFA Newsletter - March 2022 by The Commonwealth Forestry Association

CFA Newsletter No.96

March 2022

ISSN 1750-6417

Response to COP26 and deforestation pledges

Contents: Lead • Response to COP26

Association News • Ruth Turia • Master of International Forestry

Forest Scenes • FAO’s work on urban forestry • Journalists promote gender and social inclusion in forestry • Shoring up Burkina Faso’s shea trade • Moon Trees

Publications • Governance of forest landscape restoration • New documentary highlights forestry in Canada

Obituaries • Jeff Burley • Busuyi Olasina Agbeja • Frank Wadsworth

Around the World

CFA Newsletter is the newsletter of the Commonwealth Forestry Association Editor: Alan Pottinger Contact: The Crib, Dinchope, Craven Arms, Shropshire SY7 9JJ, UK Tel: + 44 (0) 1588 672868 Email: cfa@cfa-international.org Web: www.cfa-international.org The views expressed are not necessarily those of the CFA. Publication of the CFA Newsletter is supported by a bequest from Jim Ball

irstly, I welcome the pledges to combat deforestation made at COP26. However, I was disappointed not to hear much deeper and more informed discussion at COP about the causes of deforestation and its implications for climate change, human livelihoods, wildlife, freshwater and marine ecosystems and planetary health. I am concerned that we will fall into the common rut of silo thinking and believing that Climate Change is the prime issue when in fact it has arisen by default due to the mismanagement of natural, social and human capital. Emissions of greenhouse gases (25–30% of the total) are attributable to inappropriate agricultural policies and practices, especially in tropical/sub-tropical subsistence agriculture. In addition, agriculture has also been recognized as the cause of 90% of deforestation, one of the dominant factors affecting climate change. Targeting the failures of agriculture and the breakdown of agroecosystems would have a substantial impact on the reduction of GHG emissions while also: alleviating hunger and malnutrition; reducing the loss of terrestrial and marine biodiversity/wildlife habitat and the risks of new zoonotic diseases; alleviating extreme poverty and several forms of social injustice that underpin the serious global divide between the ‘haves’ and the

‘have-nots’ that trigger illegal migration and social conﬂict. The scale of production failures in subsistence farming systems is illustrated by the average yield of maize across Africa. It is 1.5t/ha, while the potential yield from the same varieties is about 7.5t/ha. This serious under performance, known as a ‘Yield Gap’, is due to the imposition of agricultural practices and policies based on intensiﬁcation technologies developed in Industrialized Countries where the physical environment and socio-economic conditions are completely different from those in tropical/sub-tropical Developing Countries. Fortunately, after 40 years of R&D we do know how to resolve all this although this is not accepted by the advocates of conventional high input monocultural farming systems. Thus, political will, the sixth form of capital for sustainable development, remains the crucial missing ingredient in global policy making. As informed and concerned people, we should therefore be providing leadership to the rest of the world and clarity about the need for a holistic way forward, one which simultaneously addresses all the interlinked big global environmental, social and economic issues that are the result of our mismanagement of natural resources that that stem from the failures of conventional agricultural practices (Table 1). This equates to the wise use of scarce resources.

Table 1. Issues to be addressed by a holistic policy: • Poverty – 3.2 billion people (nearly 50% of world population live on less than $2 per day) • Malnutrition – 2 billion people are malnourished (75% are farmers) • Hunger – 900 million people lack calories and protein • Environmental degradation – 2 billion ha (38% of agricultural area) • Climate Change – 20–25% of GHG originate from farmland • Loss of biodiversity – 40% of insects are in serious decline • War and social conﬂict – The cost of conﬂict is about 13% of the global economy • Zoonotic disease – COVID 19 has cost the global economy trillions of dollars. The graphics below (Figure 1) indicate that the erosion of natural capital (the spine of the diagram of ‘whats wrong with the world’) is highly interactive with both the failures of agriculture and the loss of local livelihoods. This indicates that addressing these issues should be the focus of a holistic approach to improving the lot of the global population and the future of the planet. This illustrates that climate change can be addressed by default if the needs of rural communities for food and livelihoods are met by reformed approaches to agriculture that reverse the physical degradation and its underlying complex of social, economic and environmental interactions. In effect this would reverse the downward spiral of the ‘land degradation and social deprivation cycle’ (Figure 2) using a generic and highly adaptable 3-step approach that I have written about many times. It is based on the use of local trees to both restore agroecological functions, especially soil fertility and health, and to stimulate a new tropical rural economy founded on the cultivation the

thousands of traditionally/culturally important but underutilized indigenous trees. These used to provide all the day-to-day needs of local people.

Figure 2. A simpliﬁed diagram of the Land degradation and Social Deprivation Cycle responsible for the loss of agricultural productivity in the tropics and sub-tropics, and its reversal. How could this be done? Crucially great progress has been made through multi-disciplinary research over the last three decades to help local communities around the world to domesticate their useful indigenous trees (Figure 3). This is an innovative component of a form of agriculture that can reboot tropical agriculture and kick-start the local economy (Figure 4). The adoption of this important approach has been especially strong in tropical and sub-tropical countries where the need is well recognized. Unfortunately, the global community has not yet recognized this. Hopefully, the current initiatives to mitigate climate change can change this.

Figure 1. ‘What’s wrong with the world?’ and the complex series of interactions that underlie them and which suggest the need for a holistic solution.

In summary, forest restoration to mitigate climate change, rehabilitate wildlife habitat and improve the lives of the worlds most marginalized peoples can all be addressed by resolving the failures of agriculture (Figure 4) using appropriate and practically relevant technologies that allow subsistence farmers to reap the rewards of their own appropriately supported rural development activities. Addressing deforestation with on-farm planting of useful and marketable tree crops should create a less vulnerable resource of trees that will be protected by farmers. Roger RB Leakey DSc, PhD, BSc, FRGS Figure 3. The growth of a new research agenda, especially in Africa, to underpin a new approach to tropical/sub-tropical agriculture.

Professor of Agroecology and Sustainable Development Vice President of the International Tree Foundation Council Member of Global EverGreening Alliance Member of End Pandemics Alliance Member/trainer of ‘Refugees as Re-Builders Programme’ www.rogerleakey.com

Figure 4. A holistic approach to reboot tropical agriculture making it both more productive and more sustainable for an expanded and diversiﬁed ‘greener’ economy (see also Photos 1 and 2).

Photos 1 and 2. Climate-friendly, wildlife-friendly, farmer-initiated agroforests cultivated on farmland in Indonesia (totalling some 3 million hectares). They produce food products from year 1 and a diverse range of marketable tree products for decades to support rural livelihoods in association with paddy rice in valley bottoms (Source: Leakey, 2012, “Living with the Trees of Life – Towards the Transformation of Tropical Agriculture, CABI, UK).

Association News RETIREMENT Dr Ruth Turia – Papua New Guinea Forest Service in Economic Policy Analysis, IASER, 1989 followed by a Postgraduate Diploma in Forest Science, Melbourne University, 1994. In 1995, Ruth attained a Master of Social Science, Development Planning, RMIT. Ruth then went on to complete a PhD at the Australian National University in 2005, becoming the ﬁrst Papua New Guinea woman to gain a Doctorate in Forestry. Ruth’s PhD thesis: Cannot See the Land for the Trees. The forest management dilemma in Papua New Guinea. This thesis examined the role of customary landowners in the application of forest policies in the Australian colonial administration and the post-colonial state of the independent nation of Papua New Guinea. In particular, it examined the ways these policies have sought to reconcile the goal of sustainable forest management with the country’s customary land tenure systems.

r Ruth Caroline Hitahat Turia (nee Ruth Polume from Manus) was one of the ﬁrst two women graduates from the Forestry Department at the PNG University of Technology Lae in 1980. The other woman was late Agatha Pokatou from New Ireland. Dr John Davidson in his last year at PNGUT (as Pro Vice Chancellor) recalls what an excellent student Ruth was when in her third year of the four-year Forestry course during 1979. Dr Ruth Turia has spent more than 40 years with the PNG forestry sector; 30 of which was with the government forestry agency working in various sections, from industrial forest monitoring (enforcement and compliance), forest policy and planning, project management and 10 years with educational institutions (7 as a postgraduate student and 3 as an academic staff member). In her last position with the PNG National Forest Service as Director of Forest Policy and Planning she engaged with both national and international agencies on issues relating to forestry and general policy issues relating to natural resource management and climate change. Ruth has worked with external research and education partners, in research and learning directed at addressing the challenges of forest management and sustainability and general natural resource management, including climate change. She has directed and coordinated a number of national and external funded projects relating to forestry and climate change challenges, including coordinating the review to the amendment of the Forestry Act, 1991 (as amended). During her career after graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Forestry, Unitech, in 1980, Ruth undertook a Diploma

Contact Details P. O. Box 237, Vision City, Waigani, National Capital District, Papua New Guinea. ruth_turia@hotmail.com or turia.ruth@gmail.com (675) 7210 0973 (mobile) Richard McCarthy

MASTER OF INTERNATIONAL FORESTRY

iscover your place among tomorrow’s international forestry leaders. The University of British Columbia’s Master of International Forestry (MIF) is an intensive, 10-month, course-based master’s program that provides the knowledge, skills, and tools required to address the social, environmental, and economic challenges of the global forest and natural resources management. Why choose the MIF Program? Today’s forest conservation and resource management decisions are made in continuously changing landscapes and global agreements are being negotiated. International competition for forest products and services is increasing. Decision-makers and practitioners must be prepared to compete in a rapidly changing social, economic, and cultural setting. Get the skills major international employers want • The MIF empowers graduates to seek, negotiate, and implement solutions for complex global forest challenges, and most importantly, to adapt and succeed in a rapidly changing world. Expand your professional network • Gain exposure to the world’s leading forest institutions and connect with networks of internationally experienced forestry and natural resource management professionals.

Study at a top 20 University • UBC is amongst the World’s leading universities for forest issues, it is a founding partner in the International Partnership for Forestry Education and consistently ranks among the top 20 universities in the world. What will you learn? The program offers a mix of experiential learning and real-world experience over 8 months of full-time learning followed by 6–12 weeks through placement or in the guided study. Courses covering a wide range of topics, including: • Evolving trends in forests and society • Social, community, and Indigenous forestry • Integrated natural resources management • Natural resource economics and environmental ﬁnance • Forest business enterprise • International forest governance and policy • International forestry institutions, diplomacy, and negotiations • Leadership and management workshops will improve your skills to work with international organizations Apply at https://forestry.ubc.ca/programs/graduate/professionalmasters-degrees/master-of-international-forestry/how-to-apply/

Forest Scenes FAO’s work on urban forestry

rban and peri-urban forestry (UPF) is an integrative, multidisciplinary approach to the planning, design and management of forest and tree resources in and around urban areas addressed to maximize the beneﬁts these can provide to urban dwellers. Well-designed and managed urban forests can play a crucial role in increasing the resilience of urban communities to socio-economic and environmental challenges by supporting climate-change mitigation and adaptation, supplying food, increasing health and well-being, improving job opportunities and income, as well as supporting biodiversity conservation, watershed management, and disaster risk prevention.

Although a large number of studies have proven the potential of urban and peri-urban forestry to increase environmental, economic and social sustainability of urban communities, UPF is still not recognized as a strategic factor for the future development of cities. Consequently, only few countries have implemented action plans or national strategies that take into account the potential contributions of forests and trees for meeting the long-term challenges of cities. Furthermore, due to the complexity of the governance processes in urban areas, UPF faces speciﬁc challenges such as competition for land use, inadequate funding, and the absence of effective dialogue between various social actors, policy-makers

The Maidan, Kolkata, India (Photo: FAO) and decision-takers. In addition, urban forests and trees are often only viewed as green elements for beautifying cities and not as key components of the urban fabric, providing a wide range of ecosystems good and services to urban dwellers. While FAO has traditionally focused on rural areas, the rapid pace of urbanization and the related challenges to livelihoods and to the environment have led the Organization to focus its attention also in urban areas. In 2020, for instance, FAO launched the FAO Green Cities Initiative (GCI), which is intended to support countries improve their urban environment by strengthening urban-rural linkages and the resilience of urban systems, services and populations to external shocks. This would be achieved by promoting equitable access to a healthy environment and healthy diets, and will also contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation and sustainable resource management. UPF is one of the three pillars of the Initiative, along with Urban Agriculture and Urban Food Systems. Pilot activities funded by the GCI are ongoing in a number of countries such as Cape Verde, Kenya, Rwanda, Senegal and Dominica.

Beirut Forest, Lebanon (Photo: FAO)

As a further contribution to the new Initiative, the Forestry Division is developing a new global programme: Green Urban Oases. The overall objective of the programme is to turn dryland cities into “green urban oases” and strengthen their overall resilience to climatic, health, food, and economic crisis, as well as to reduce the impact of urbanization on biodiversity and the surrounding natural environment. The programme will initially focus on Cape Verde, Chad, Namibia, South Sudan, Tunisia, Jordan and Mongolia. FAO is also involved in Conexus, a EU-funded H2020 project that brings together over thirty Latin American and European partners to strengthen international cooperation on urban nature-based solutions and ecosystem restoration. Technical work in member countries is underpinned by the generation and dissemination of knowledge products. FAO regularly produces technical documents to help practitioners gain a better understanding of the planning, design and management of urban and peri-urban forest. The FAO Guidelines on Urban and Peri-urban Forestry, for example, are intended for a global audience comprising urban decision-makers, civil servants, policy advisors and other stakeholders and are aimed to be a reference for the development of urban and peri-urban forests that help meet the present and future needs of cities for forest products and ecosystem services. For a more informal point of view, Forests And Sustainable Cities – Inspiring Stories From Around The World, gave space to cities tell their own urban forestry story. An overview of urban forestry design, illustrated by a set of relevant case studies is currently being finalized and is planned to the published by mid-2022. FAO also promotes networking as a way to develop capacity and support the exchange of best practices at regional and global level. The first urban forestry network supported by FAO was the Silva Mediterranea Working Group on UPF, which met for the first time in 2013. Since then, FAO and its partners have successfully held urban forestry fora in Africa, Asia and Latin America, ensuring that leading experts from the Regions were able to meet in person or virtually to learn from each other and develop pathways for future collaboration at Regional level. The next regional meeting will be held in Latin America towards the end of the 2022. At the global level, in 2018, the 1st World Forum on Urban Forests (www.worldforumonurbanforests.org) brought

together over 600 representatives of national and local governments, academia, NGOs, international organizations and private sector from 70 countries, to discuss the beneﬁts of urban forests and trees and their contribution towards sustainable economic growth, health, environmental conservation, social cohesion and public involvement. The main outcome of the Forum was the Call for Action for Greener, Healthier and Happier Cities. A second edition of the World Forum on Urban Forests is currently planned for late 2023.

The Forum was also the opportunity to launch the Tree Cities of the World programme that was jointly developed by FAO and the Arbor Day Foundation (www.treecitiesoftheworld.org). The programme is an international effort to recognize cities and towns committed to ensuring that their urban forests and trees are properly maintained, sustainably managed, and duly celebrated. To be recognized as a Tree City, a community must meet ﬁve core standards that illustrate a commitment to caring for its trees and forest. These include i) establishing responsibility for tree care; ii) having in place a law or policy that governs the management of forests and trees; iii) having an updated inventory or assessment of the local tree resources; iv) having a dedicated annual budget for the routine implementation of the tree management plan; and, v) holding an annual celebration of trees. So far, 120 cities from 27 countries have joined the programme. FAO has also produced a number of communication tools that are widely used by practitioners around the world. For example, the infographic on Beneﬁts of Urban Trees is currently available in 17 languages. All the activities listed above would not be possible without the support of our resources partners such as the Government of Italy and the EU. Also most of our activities are carried out in partnership with UN Agencies such as UN Habitat, UNECE, UNEP and WHO, academic institutions such as the Politecnico di Milano, the University of Florence or foundations such as Arbor Day Foundation, just to name a few. If you are interested to support our work or simply want to learn more about what we do and have access to the different resources mentioned above please visit our website at: https://www.fao.org/forestry/ urbanforestry/en/ Simone Borelli and Michela Conigliaro Forestry Division, Food and Agriculture of the United Nations (FAO)

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Photo: FAO)

Simone.Borelli@fao.org and Michela.Conigliaro@fao.org

Journalists learn how to promote gender and social inclusion in forestry Media training in Nepal unpacks the gender and social inclusion dimensions of forestry, climate change, land tenure and rights of local communities.

he participating journalists were selected based on their portfolios as environmental reporters and their diverse experiences and backgrounds. Eighteen journalists from national and provincial newspapers and media agencies attended from 24 to 26 September. Eleven were women.

“The training was an eye-opener.” – Sarita Paudel, environmental journalist in Nepal The training unpacked the gender and social inclusion dimensions of forestry, climate change, land tenure and local communities’ rights to use and beneﬁt from natural resources. Participants also learned about the challenges faced by female journalists working in Nepal. “After participating in the training, I ﬁnd myself with renewed motivation to investigate and write about gender inclusion and women’s participation in forestry,” says participant

Sarita Paudel, an environmental journalist. “The training was an eye-opener for me on the issues.” The participants learned about the current status of representation and the role of women and marginalized groups in grassroots forest management. Breaking stereotypes Despite the increase in the number of women working in the media in Nepal in recent years, few have made it to decisionmaking positions such as editor, publisher, or news chief. In Nepal, female journalists are more likely to be assigned as reporters to cover topics such as family, art, culture, and entertainment, which are considered unimportant. Facilitated by media experts, the participants explored recent trends and advances in journalism. Topics included appreciative journalism which focuses on offering solutions, gender-inclusive journalism, innovations in journalism, and how to gather reliable evidence. They also explored barriers faced by female journalists.

Nepali journalists attended a media training boot camp organized by RECOFTC Nepal to promote gender equity and social inclusion in the forest industry, forest conservation and climate change initiatives.

Madhuri Mahato, a journalist from Nepal, guest speaker and RECOFTC gender champion.

“I have written and reported quite a lot on women’s rights and issues in a range of social contexts throughout my career, but rarely on forest management”, says Madhuri Mahato, guest speaker and RECOFTC gender champion. “That all changed three years ago when I got a chance to meet and learn from forest officers and experts from seven countries in a RECOFTC training in Thailand. Since then, I have written 30 articles related to forestry-related issues”. The participants discussed ways to promote the visibility of women and female leaders and gender champions and tell their inspiring stories that often remain untold. Women’s burdens, in particular, have increased during the pandemic and there is a need to understand their leadership challenges to motivate others. “I find it difficult to bring out the ‘woes of women’ when reporting about deforestation, despite the important roles they play in forest management, which are often overlooked”, says journalist Amrit Chimariya, who participated in the workshop. “Women still remain underrepresented or even excluded from mainstream dialogues on forest issues in Nepal, and that needs to change.” Taking it further Four to six trainee participants will receive fellowships with mentoring support for cases and article development based on their performance, future potential, and proposal. “Meaningful participation of women journalists, along with their male counterparts, can be a pivot to promoting gender

equality and breaking stereotypes through the media“, says Shambhu Dangal, country director of RECOFTC Nepal. “That is why we plan to continue this drive to support journalists, both men and women, and help them acquire skills to produce high quality articles and encourage gender-inclusive reporting to inform national debates and build awareness on social and environmental issues.” The WAVES initiative Weaving Leadership for Gender Equality, or WAVES, is a RECOFTC initiative launched in 2019 that promotes gender equality in the governance, management and use of forest landscapes, and their resources in the Asia-Paciﬁc region. RECOFTC established WAVES based on the idea that having stronger leadership and expertise will improve policymaking and investments in ways that promote gender equality and social inclusion more broadly. Since 2021, several activities through the WAVES program are helping build and strengthen the capacities of journalists to amplify inspirational stories, news, views on gender equality and social inclusion to inform and inﬂuence provincial governments. WAVES initiative has built a network of 31 gender leaders from seven countries and supports them as they advocate for equality and lead gender-mainstreaming programs in their communities and institutions. recoftc.org

Shoring up Burkina Faso’s shea trade requires intensive landscape restoration efforts

A woman processes shea nuts into butter (Photo: CIFOR/Ollivier Girard)

or generations, women in West Africa have produced shea butter for home consumption and to sell for use in cosmetics and cuisine domestically and abroad. But now their way of life is undergoing a transformation as the ancient trees that produce the nut from which the oil is extracted disappear, jeopardizing their earning power. The ripple effect is far reaching, with consequences not only for the health of the parklands in which they grow, but with implications for local ecosystem services, global warming, regional and international trade and commodities markets. “Changes in women’s rights of access to and use of shea trees have resulted in theft becoming one of the main strategies used by women to collect shea kernels as the relevance of customary norms, practices and institutions has declined,” said Andrew Wardell, a principal scientist at the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF). “Growth of global trade in shea butter and kernels has been accompanied by significant land cover and land use changes, which has led to progressive loss of trees, biodiversity and other ecosystem services such as pollination and carbon sequestration,” he added. “If the shea industry does not act now to restore the parklands, supply may not be able to meet demand by 2034.” Wardell has produced two new journal articles published in International Forestry Review 24(4) December 2021, providing a survey of the shea trade from the latter part of the 19th century until today. An analysis of pre-colonial, colonial and post-independence trade in the commodity describes the gendered nature of the contemporary shea economy in Burkina Faso. The country is one of the main exporters of shea in West Africa, which accounts for almost all bulk exports. Growing global demand for shea oil as an ingredient in cocoa butter equivalents (CBE), personal care products and niche edible products coupled with pressures to intensify local agricultural production of food and energy needs pose new threats to the sustainability of shea parklands and women and community livelihoods. Between 1990 and 2010, an estimated 17.5 percent decline in forest and tree cover in Burkina Faso was observed, he said. Parkland flagship tree species populations – particularly shea trees – declined from an estimated 230 trees per hectare in the early 1940s to fewer than 11 trees per hectare by 2011. “Landscape degradation in the parklands is due to demographic pressures, growing demand for food and unsustainable farming and grazing practices, shorter fallow periods, increased mechanization, fires, felling of trees for firewood and charcoal and changes in the functioning of local governance customary institutions,” Wardell said. An analysis produced by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization and the Global Shea Alliance (GSA), which was formed in 2011, estimates that approximately 8 million shea trees across West and Central Africa are lost every year due to tree removal for firewood, increasing populations, loss of fallows and areas for shea regeneration and land clearing for commercial agriculture. The restoration of shea parklands remains a critical challenge in Burkina Faso as current efforts are only meeting 2 percent of national targets to be achieved by 2030, Wardell said. INCREASING DEMAND In recent times, the commodity has gained popularity with consumers drawn to the product by cosmetics companies

promoting a connection between women who like to buy niche products produced in a “green” manner in the Global North, and women entrepreneurs in the Global South who are seen to benefit. Women have dominated shea production and sales for centuries in West Africa, managing trees, gathering nuts, roasting and crushing kernels to create rich butter used in cooking, cosmetics and medicines. But the research papers demonstrate how the parklands have dwindled as international demand has grown exponentially since the European Union began to allow 5 percent noncocoa butter derived fats to replace cocoa butter in products legally defined as chocolate. This sector – the Cocoa Butter Equivalent (CBE) market – is also largely driven by Brazil, Russia, India and China, the so-called BRICS nations projected to be the top suppliers of manufactured products, services and raw materials worldwide by 2050. The specialty fats market and agri-food industries – dominated for 200 years by an oligarchy of shea nut exporters who control the world’s largest manufactuers of CBEs – now absorb 90 percent of total shea nut exports from Burkina Faso. This reflects a marked contrast to the shea butter value chain supplying the cosmetics and edible niche markets, which represent only 10 percent of the export trade from the country. An estimated 50 percent of total annual shea nut production is still consumed locally, although empirical data is scarce as the local edible consumption of this staple edible oil is still largely ignored by government, donor organizations and nongovernmental organizations, Wardell said. This increase in trade marks the second major wave of globalization of the commodity – the first in the 1960s – a fact overlooked by some pundits who recommend globalized free trade as a mechanism to improve agricultural production in West Africa, he added. “While it is generally assumed that global markets are a more viable alternative to reliance on local, domestic or regional markets, detrimental land cover and land use changes, prove otherwise.” The papers trace the history of the industry in French Upper Volta – known as Burkina Faso since 1984. Most exports to Europe wound up in margarine prior to independence in 1960 when CBEs were first introduced by Aarhus United, Unilever, Fuji Itoh and Mitsu Bishu, firms based outside the country. After independence, the country’s first state-led forestry activities initially focused on establishing large scale forest plantations for wood-fuel production using exotic species. The government tried to control the shea nut value train, creating a marketing board, followed by a shea price stabilization initiative intended for Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Japan and the Netherlands. By 1984, government-led land tenure reforms sparked a growing awareness of the critical need to understand customary land and resource tenure arrangements and the central role of women in shea processing. By the 1990s, the system remained pyramidal, controlled by wholesalers. Until 2008, non-state actors supported capacity building of women shea producers, the emergence of new associations and federated structures, technological improvements in shea processing and access to new markets including organic and fair trade niche markets, with better quality products.

By 2010 there were 10,000 women producer shea groups designed to increase the revenues and reduce the workloads of rural women, while providing improved processing technologies to produce better quality shea kernels and butter. Yet the attention given to shea processing and marketing during this period as a means of enhancing rural women’s incomes may, inadvertently have resulted in the comparative neglect of questions related to the regeneration of the parklands, Wardell said. “Despite to the massive growth in CBE markets since the early 21st century, farmers didn’t beneﬁt – the increased price didn’t reach them and there was no incentive until mobile phone technology provided the biggest breakthrough for shea collectors by enabling them to have instant access to market prices.” In 2011, Burkina Faso had an estimated 305 million shea trees with an average density of 11 trees per hectare. Despite the adoption of a National Shea Strategy from 2015 to 2019, due to lack of funding and poor execution only 300,000 seedlings were planted. “Greater efforts are needed to combat this poor showing and to tackle the difﬁculties encountered during landscape

restoration efforts,” Wardell said, adding that ﬁscal incentives must be improved to support the crop, which is the country’s fourth most important source of foreign exchange earnings. Not only does the shea tree support the livelihoods among rural women who have few other opportunities to generate income, but it is a crucial ingredient in local climate smart agriculture approaches. “As agriculture becomes increasingly unpredictable under changing climatic conditions, non-timber forest products such as shea – produced by the most important revenue generating tree species in rural Burkinabe, gain in relative importance.” This research was supported by Burkina Faso’s Institute of Environment and Agricultural Research and Department of Environment and Forests, France’s Agency for International Development (CIRAD), Bioversity and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture, and the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agriculture. For more information on this topic, please contact Andrew Wardell at a.wardell@cgiar.org. forestsnews.cifor.org

We almost forgot about the Moon Trees

collection of tree seeds that went round and round the moon was scattered far and wide back home. The American moon missions, more than 50 years later, are each memorable in their own way. Apollo 11, of course, is known for being the very first time human beings set foot on the moon. Apollo 12, for being a little rowdier. Apollo 13, for nearly ending in disaster. Apollo 14 – the third of six moon landings – is known, as I recently discovered, for its “moon trees.” Stuart Roosa, one of the Apollo 14 astronauts, took a small canvas bag of tree seeds with him on the journey. While his fellow astronauts walked on the lunar surface, Roosa and the seeds flew round and round the moon until the crew was ready to come back. A few years after the astronauts returned home, some of the seeds – sycamores, redwoods, pines, firs, and sweetgums – were planted across the United States, to see how they would grow, or simply to keep a piece of moon history close by. I learned about the existence of moon trees earlier this month while thinking about the anniversary of Apollo 14, which launched on this day in 1971. (My tired pandemic brain had thought this year was the mission’s 50th anniversary, but turns out we’re living in 2022!) I read online that one moon tree, a loblolly pine, had been planted by the White House, within walking distance of my apartment in Washington, D.C. What a great pandemic-appropriate outing for a space reporter, I thought. Then I noticed an asterisk next to the tree’s name, and scrolled down to discover: “An asterisk denotes a tree that is no longer alive.” Oh. Nevermind. That I could find a database of these trees, and go through the experience of identifying and losing the moon tree nearest me in five seconds, is because of Dave Williams, a planetary scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, who 25 years ago took it upon himself to locate as many of them as he could. NASA didn’t keep any records on where the seeds from Apollo 14 ended up, nor did the agency keep up with the trees they

became. But Williams does, even though it’s not part of his job description. He is not a tree expert, but he has become, through his efforts, the world’s foremost – and perhaps only – expert on moon trees. Williams was once just as surprised as I was about the existence of these trees. He discovered them in 1996, through a third-grade teacher in Indiana. Joan Goble and her class had been working on a project about trees near their school, and a student came in one day saying she’d heard that something called a moon tree grew at a nearby Girl Scout camp. When the class went out there, they found an entirely normal-looking sycamore, with a little sign next to it that described the sycamore as a moon tree. Goble’s class wanted to write a thorough report, so the teacher emailed NASA for more information. No one in Williams’s office in Maryland, not even the folks who had worked at NASA during the Apollo program, had heard of a moon tree. Williams checked with the agency’s history office, which uncovered some newspaper clippings revealing the existence of at least six such trees. From the outside, the moon trees were no different than their Earth-bound brethren. “There’s nothing strange about the moon trees at all,” Williams said. He emailed Goble back with what he’d learned, and then continued to dig. Williams discovered that the head of the U.S. Forest Service had pitched Roosa, a former smoke jumper who fought forest fires, on the idea. The astronaut took about 500 seeds stuffed in sealed bags inside a metal canister, packed in the small canvas bag that every Apollo astronaut was allowed to fill with whatever they wanted. When the astronauts came back, the sealed bags went through a vacuum chamber – part of the standard decontamination protocol at the time – and accidentally burst, scattering the seeds. Stan Krugman, a geneticist at the forest service, sorted them by hand, then passed them on to a scientist who used some to experiment with germination at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, in Houston. The rest were sent to forestryscience facilities, which doled them out to communities across

the country, grateful for a free piece of the Apollo era to spice up their municipal grounds. The trees, planted mostly in 1976, took root just ﬁne on Earth. Some of the moon seeds were planted next to seeds that had never traveled to space, to see whether they’d develop any differently. The most surprising result, Williams told me, occurred when the two seeds grew into two completely different species – a result of a gardening mixup, of course, not the weird effects of microgravity. NASA didn’t undertake any serious study of the moon trees. The effort was more a PR move, Williams said, than a science experiment. After Williams wrote back to Goble, he posted an appeal online, asking anyone who came across a moon tree to contact him at NASA. Their story had been forgotten once, and if he didn’t keep track of these trees, who would? And then people started reaching out, telling Williams that they’d spotted a tree paired with an intriguing plaque on their hike around town, sharing pictures. Over the years, Williams has waited for the moon trees to reveal themselves in this way, through an emailed proof of life. “It really can go for quite a while with getting nothing,” he said. “And then I’ll get a bunch.” As of today, Williams has located about 100 trees. Of those, 30 have died or been cut down. The sycamore that Goble discovered is still there; a storm twisted its top off some years back, but the tree has managed to recover, she told me. Williams thinks that more undiscovered moon trees are out there. He just heard from a student at Delta State University, in Mississippi, who said they’ve heard rumors about a moon

tree somewhere on campus and will try to ﬁnd it, promising Williams that they’ll report back. Williams has visited quite a few over the years, and even hosted Goble and some of her students in Maryland to show them the sycamore growing near the Goddard center. What’s it like, I asked, seeing a moon tree? Isn’t it kind of anticlimactic, because it doesn’t look any different? Not to them. “I’m just in awe that this seed, the seed it grew from, went to space,” Goble said. “It went to orbit the moon.” That’s why people see the moon trees as special: They know where those seeds went. Reaching the moon doesn’t take long – Apollo astronauts took just three days to get there – but it’s the moon. People haven’t stepped foot on the lunar surface since 1972, and it’s unclear when the next crew will go. All the trinkets and tchotchkes that the Apollo astronauts took with them in their personal canvas bags are cool for this reason, bestowed with a magical sheen the second they were returned to Earth – space souvenirs. But the seeds that Roosa, who died in 1994, carried feel different from other mementos. They weren’t put in museums or auctioned off. They were buried in the soil of the Earth, the only soil like it in the solar system – in the entire universe, as far as we know. Some might have disappeared, felled by storms or saws, before someone could ﬁnd them and feel curious enough to ask NASA about them. But the ones that remain are living monuments to the time humankind escaped this world’s gravity and felt that of another. Marina Koren theatlantic.com

Publications Governance of forest landscape restoration: analyses of governance issues in cases from Ghana and India Authors: Ernest Foli, Promode Kant, Pia Katila, Wil de Jong and Michael Kleine Publisher: IUFRO – Occasional Paper 34

his report highlights important differences in political, legal, and institutional environments, and the need to recognise opportunities and limitations in the local context when restoring land. Forest landscape restoration is widely recognised as a continuous process that requires considerable time to lead to visible results that impact people’s livelihoods and well-being. This report aims at increasing the understanding of governance in the context of restoration projects in two very different contexts, in India and Ghana, and thus shedding light on the role of governance and institutions in shaping restoration efforts and their outcomes and impacts. Adequate data and research play an important role in shaping participatory social processes supporting forest landscape restoration; therefore, the present study has been implemented as a follow-up to an IUFRO-led comprehensive analysis in 2019

of the progress made in forest landscape restoration implementation in 17 different landscapes in nine selected countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Case studies in the Bono region of Ghana and in Gajwel and Mulugu Mandalas of Telangana, India that were part of the 2019 work have been further analysed with speciﬁc focus on forest landscape restoration-related governance issues. The study, coordinated by IUFRO’s Special Programme for Development of Capacities (IUFRO-SPDC), was implemented by scientists of Ghana and India in close collaboration with the IUFRO Special Project World Forests, Society and Environment (IUFRO-WFSE). The cooperation combined local expertise and research data from Ghana and India with governance experiences related to forest landscape restoration from other organizations, countries and regions. The German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) funded the study. Key messages distilled from the results may be helpful for guiding forest landscape restoration work in similar circumstances elsewhere.

Video: New documentary highlights forestry in Canada

Jenna Swanson, Registered Professional Forester – Woodlands Operations, Tolko Industries and Jack Darney, Registered Professional Forester – Forestry Superintendent, Tolko Industries explore the woodlands. The new documentary highlights the importance of forests in Canada. Photos provided by Forest Products Association of Canada and used with permission.

orest Products Association of Canada has released a new documentary for anyone interested in the forestry industry. Capturing Carbon from Forestry for the Future is a half-hour documentary that highlights the effect climate change is having on Canadian forests.

Not only does the documentary discuss how the sector is ﬁghting climate change, but it also emphasizes the important role that communities such as Espanola play throughout the country. The documentary can be found at https://www.forestry forthefuture.ca/doc

Obituaries Jeffery Burley 1936–2021

Jeff served as IUFRO President from 1996 to 2000.

effery “Jeff” Burley was born on the 16th October 1936, in Portsmouth, England. At the age of 10 he joined Portsmouth Grammar School where he began his lifelong love of sport as he represented the school at both rugby and cricket, winning his colours at the latter in 1953. His musical skills were also in evidence early on as he became head chorister of Portsmouth Cathedral and attained Grade 8 on piano and church organ. Jeff was awarded a Hampshire County Major Scholarship which, after three intervening years of National Service, enabled him to gain a B.A. and M.A. in forestry from the University of Oxford, from 1957 to 1961. During the period from 1961 to 1964 Jeff travelled to the USA where he gained an M.F. and Ph.D. at the School of Forestry at Yale University, and formed lifelong personal and professional relationships with US forest geneticists, including Gene Namkoong. For Jeff’s National Service, from 1954 to 1957, he was commissioned and then attained the rank of Lieutenant with a stint as Temporary Captain in the Royal Signals. He ended up as Ofﬁcer in Charge of a Signal Troop attached to a Heavy Artillery Regiment. He later became Training Ofﬁcer of the then Driver Training Regiment whereupon he developed one of his lesser known talents, that of an accomplished heavy truck driver. To

this he added the successful completion of the military despatch rider course, on an ancient British Matchless military motorcycle. Upon his return from America, Jeff joined Alan Lamb at the then Commonwealth Forestry Institute (CFI) in Oxford, where funds had been secured from what was the Ministry of Overseas Development to form the Unit of Tropical Silviculture (UTS), in response to a Commonwealth request made at the 1962 Commonwealth Forestry Conference in East Africa. It was here that he coordinated formal international trials with statistical designs for genetic improvement of tropical and sub-tropical tree species, stimulated by recommendations of the first FAO/IUFRO world consultation on forest genetics and tree improvement, in 1963 at Gainesville, Florida. From 1965 to 1968 Jeff gained invaluable practical skills running projects in Zambia for a sub-regional programme on genetic improvement of plantation tree species, as well as in Malawi and the former Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, where he began his long professional relationship and personal friendship with Richard Barnes. Returning to the UK in 1968, Jeff then set out on his epic tour of duty with the Oxford Forestry Department, later known as the Oxford Forestry Institute, or OFI. By 1985 he was the OFI’s Director and a Professorial Fellow and Vice-Warden of then-named Green College, now known as Green Templeton College. He gathered many more titles and responsibilities over the years, including five years as the head of the global forestry body IUFRO, before finally hanging up his gown in 2004, having by then travelled to over 100 countries on consulting duties. His literary career was as prolific as his travelling. He was single author 161 times, joint author of 178 works and he conducted 56 other literary reviews. Furthermore, there are, somewhere, 67 still-unpublished reports carrying his name. Some of Jeff’s many international achievements included: • A major organiser of the second FAO/IUFRO World Congress, followed by the agreement of the IUFRO Executive Committee to establish a Working Group on the Breeding of Tropical and Subtropical Species in 1969 within IUFRO Section 22, of which Jeff would become its chairman. • Co-chairman of the symposium Selection and breeding to improve some tropical conifers held in association with the 15th IUFRO World Congress in Gainesville in 1972. Jeff and his co-editor, Garth Nikles put tremendous efforts into gathering and editing the papers into two volumes, published in 1972 and ‘73. • Jeff and Nikles also organised, with Bill Dyson, the next meeting in October 1973 of the then formalised IUFRO Working Parties S2.02.8 Tropical species provenances and S2.03.1 Breeding tropical and subtropical species, with the papers rapidly edited and published through the CFI in 1973 as Tropical provenance and progeny research and international cooperation. • The next major meeting of the two IUFRO Working Parties was held in Brisbane in April 1977 and the papers, again edited by Jeff and Nikles plus Richard Barnes at CFI, were published in two volumes totalling 1066 pages in 1978. • Tropical and sub-tropical developing countries pointed out that while tree species intended for industrial products were indeed important, trees for small farmers and forest-dependent communities also would benefit from

•

similar range-wide seed collections and coordinated trials for improvement and better site-species matching as had been applied to industrial trees. A new generation of tree geneticists was assembled and coordinated by Jeff at Oxford, with individuals specialising in particular genera, and their knowledge published in academic journals and consolidated in Oxford Tropical Forestry Papers. Jeff was also a long-time adviser for the Marcus Wallenberg international prize for forest science.

Jeff understood the need for forestry in general, and forestry within the University of Oxford in particular, to appeal to a wide range of audiences and learned from the experience of his predecessors as Professor of Forest Science and heads of the CFI/OFI that a high standing in one area didn’t necessarily carry over to others. As a consequence, over time Jeff increasingly found a need to try and educate the major decision-makers at the University of Oxford of the value of results that were of more immediate practical value rather than necessarily being suitable to be fed into the increasingly inﬂuential machine of academic publishing. However, in December 2004, aged 67 and after deferring his initial retirement date, he ﬁnally gave up his OFI role. In spite of his valiant efforts he had lost the long battle to prevent higher powers from closing the Forestry Department. The importance of the Department, its ground-breaking work over many decades and its enduring legacy message, is beyond question but at that time forestry within a university setting had fallen out of favour. There is certainly an irony that the very department that was responsible for the closure of the OFI at the time is today reintroducing forestry into its curriculum.

Jeff during his time as Director of the Oxford Forestry Institute.

Jeff’s keen interest in sport established at school continued throughout his adult life where, away from academia, he enjoyed basketball, athletics, rugby and cricket in his regiment, playing basketball again for the main British Army team. When working at the OFI Jeff played cricket for a local team as an opening fast bowler, and as a not-so-fast no 11 batsman. He hated ﬁelding second, as his bowling duties meant he couldn’t eat any sandwiches or cake at tea time! Unfortunately, Jeff’s greatest sporting achievement narrowly eluded him as his debut for the Zambian national basketball team was cancelled due to the small matter of an attempted military coup. Perhaps basketball’s loss was forestry’s gain. Although Jeff was a tireless servant of the forestry profession he also liked to relax and loved nothing more than to be surrounded by his family in his beloved garden where he and his wife, Jean, created an Eden full of fruit and vegetables and a haven for wildlife (with the exception of squirrels, whose life expectancy diminished rapidly if they dared to enter the garden or ﬂies who generally regretted entering the airspace controlled by Jeff and Jean’s impressive collection of insectivorous plants). Jeff had known he was ill with cancer for two years before his death. He took the news calmly and pragmatically and bore the pain of it and the miserable after-effects of the various treatments silently and stoically, never once complaining. Jeff will be remembered by friends and colleagues around the world for his warmth, humour, and generosity of spirit, and will continue to inspire all who had the good fortune to know him and work with him during his long and storied career. A dedicated educator, an accomplished scientist, and a wonderful mentor, he was also a tireless champion for forests and their sustainable management. Among his many other contributions, he promoted greater involvement of the forest science community in international forest and environmental policy development, realizing that the future of the world’s forests and the

myriad benefits they provide to society depends to a vital extent on the awareness and application of the best available knowledge. Within the OFI Jeff was respected and admired by his staff as much for his pragmatic leadership as for his dedication to forestry and education. He was a leading figure, along with Peter Wood, in developing training initiatives which benefitted generations of foresters spread far and wide around the world and would always find someone who had benefitted from his experience, no matter which country he was in. Always generous with his time for the next generations, he allied this with a sustained, wide and up-to-date breadth of knowledge of forestry. Jeff’s funeral was held in Tubney Church just outside Oxford, where he was the long-time organist, on the 20th January, the same location as his marriage to Jean 60 years earlier. A larger memorial service is planned to be held later in 2022 at one of the Oxford Colleges. At this time, the words of the University of Oxford’s Vice Chancellor in 1934 when allocating the site in South Parks Road to Botany and Forestry seem most apt. “Some have thought that Foresters should be kept out of Paradise, as Adam and Eve once were, since Forestry is not one of the prime sciences. Others have held that the whole Empire would go to Hell unless a site in Paradise was granted to the Foresters.” If such a site exists we know it is in safe hands. Jeff is survived by his wife, Jean, sons Jeremy and Tim, grandchildren James, Tom, Julia and Michael, and two greatgrandchildren. Compiled by Alan Pottinger, including contributions from Jeremy and Tim Burley, John Palmer, John Parrotta and Howard Wright

Busuyi Olasina Agbeja 1966–2022

rof. Busuyi Olasina Agbeja, educator and administrator, died Monday, February 7, 2022 at the University College Hospital, Ibadan. Prof. B. O. Agbeja was born January 1, 1966 in Ilesa, Nigeria. After his elementary education, he was admitted into the University of Ibadan, Nigeria where he obtained his B. Sc in Forest Resources Management in 1989 and this gave birth to his passion for Forestry development in Nigeria. He gained an M.Sc. in Forest Economics and Management and a Ph.D. in Forest Policy and Economics from University of Ibadan, Nigeria in 1994 and 1999 respectively. In addition, he obtained a Diploma in International Environmental Law-Making and Diplomacy from University of Joensuu, Finland in 2006. At the inauguration of Commonwealth Forestry Association, Nigeria Chapter on 8th September 2011 at the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria, Prof. B. O. Agbeja became the interim President. Prof. B. O. Agbeja was then democratically elected as the First President, CFA Nigeria Chapter on 16th September, 2014, the position he held until he was called to glory on 7th February, 2022. Under his leadership, CFA, Nigeria Chapter witnessed a remarkable growth in scope, coverage and membership and this

resulted in having four workshops and three biennial conferences with outstanding impact on Nigeria’s stakeholders in natural resources management. Prof. Agbeja, as the President CFA Nigeria Chapter, was sponsored by CFA International and the Patron Queen Elizabeth II to attend and participate in XIX Commonwealth Forestry Conference from 3 to 7 April, 2017 at Dehradun, India. At the conference, he was also appointed as a Moderator for Technical Session 13 A on Urban Forestry and Landscape Management. Prof. Agbeja was such a great forester, a great influencer and achiever. He was supremely self-confident, dogged, goal-driven, bold, tenacious, passionate, daring and always in control of his faculties. He was a dedicated, focused, result-oriented scholar and outstanding mentor. What more can we say other than “he fought for the soul of forestry profession in Nigeria” Prof. Agbeja, your untimely death is a huge blow to us all and coming to terms with the fact that you’re dead and no more; has created a vacuum within CFA (Nigeria Chapter) and CFA International, that time years may not be able heal. Your premature exit from this world is challenging and too difficult for us to handle. To say, we will miss you is an understatement. Your footprint is there for all to see, from your immediate environment (University) to the international community as

evident in your latest assignment in The Gambia. Time and space will not permit us to highlight all your achievements, ranging from local and international awards, research grants, international collaborations, students exchange program sponsorships and many lives you touched through constant mentoring and monitoring, administrative assistance, to mention but few. All your efforts at making Nigeria to participate in the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy (QCC) are duly acknowledged. Indeed, the shoe left behind is colossal and difficult to fill. But who are we to question God for taking you away at this time? However, we are consoled that you are resting in the bosom of your creator, in a place where there is no more day or night, sickness or pain, sorrow or sadness but a place filled with joy and gladness. We fare thee well.... Professor Busuyi Olasina Agbeja! Till we meet on the resurrection morning. The Lord comforts and preserves all your beloved family and friends in sound health in Jesus name. CFA Nigeria Chapter will not forget your Impacts. Prof. B. O. Agbeja is survived by Dr. (Mrs.) Yetunde Agbeja and two sons. The executives of CFA Nigeria Chapter

Frank Wadsworth 1915–2022

Dr. Frank H. Wadsworth in tree nursery in Puerto Rico (1989). (Forest Service Photo by IITF Library)

he world lost a giant of forest conservation with the passing of the USDA International Institute of Tropical Forestry (IITF) emeritus scientist Dr. Frank H. Wadsworth on January 5th, 2022. Dr. Wadsworth initiated pioneering studies of the long-term dynamics of tropical forests that eventually contributed to the establishment of the Luquillo LongTerm Ecological Research (LTER) site, among many other things. “Dr. Wadsworth was a pioneer in the study, conservation and management of forests in Puerto Rico. He humbly and compassionately shared his knowledge for the beneﬁt of all, and his gift of service to the public will continue as a model for us and future generations,” said Grizelle González, IITF Assistant Director for Research and Luquillo LTER co-PI. Ariel E. Lugo, former Lead PI of the Luquillo LTER, and former director and emeritus scientist of the IITF, joined the statements of mourning by highlighting that “Dr. Wadsworth

arrived in Puerto Rico by boat without knowing anything about the island. Puerto Rico was the winner, since for the next 80 years Dr. Wadsworth focused his enormous energy, talent, and discipline in the development of tropical forestry, which did not exist at that time.” Born on November 26, 1915 in Chicago, Illinois, Dr. Wadsworth earned his PhD in Forestry from the University of Michigan. As part of his dissertation Dr. Wadsworth established in 1943 several long-term forest plots that IITF continues to monitor, yielding insights that inform ecology and management today. During his tenure as an employee of the USDA Forest Service, Dr. Wadsworth was a forester, Director of the Institute of Tropical Forestry (now IITF), Supervisor of the Caribbean National Forest (now El Yunque National Forest); he established the Luquillo Experimental Forest in 1956. After his retirement from the Forest Service, he continued his research as a volunteer at the Institute, always dedicated to conservation and tropical forestry. He traveled the world learning and sharing his understanding of tropical forests. He is particularly beloved throughout Latin America where they remember him as a founding father of the practice of tropical forestry. Over the course of his lifetime, Dr. Wadsworth was responsible for the development of countless foresters whom he trained and mentored in Puerto Rico and beyond. Thanks to his work today, all Puerto Ricans and many others around the world understand the importance of trees and their beneﬁts, and advocate for the greening of their communities and countries. The seeds that Dr. Wadsworth sowed during his long and productive career have germinated in all of us. Having an LTER site in Puerto Rico is one of the many fruits of his labors. Jess Zimmerman and Ariel Lugo lternet.edu

Around the World UK: ‘Impossible Foods’ in talks with UK farmers to swap livestock for trees

he chief executive of Impossible Foods is in talks with UK farmers for a pilot project to swap livestock for trees to fight climate change. Pat Brown, who founded the fast-growing plantbased “meat” firm in 2011, says he wants to demonstrate the economic benefits of taking farmland out of cattle and sheep production to allow forests to grow on it and absorb carbon. He argues livestock farmers would be financially better off selling carbon offsetting permits to airlines and other polluting industries. “It’s very nascent. What I’m interested in doing is kind of like a… demonstration project to show that it is actually very financially sound to buy land from livestock farmers and manage it for biomass recovery and sell carbon offsets,” Brown tells New Scientist. The Stanford University scientist is one of a growing number of experts proposing land for meat production will need to be freed up to grow trees that suck carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere if the world is to meets its climate goals. The UK government’s statutory climate advisers want to see a fifth of UK farmland taken out of production and used to store carbon by turning it over to tree-planting. “Almost every livestock farmer on Earth would make more money at $50 (£38) a tonne [of carbon dioxide], accumulating [plant] biomass on their land as opposed to livestock,” says Brown. The price of a tonne in the EU’s flagship CO2 trading scheme has been over €60 (£51) for the past month. On a recent trip to the UK for the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Brown spoke with UK farmers about hosting a trial project. He says there was some scepticism, but he believes the wider adoption of the idea could be enthusiastic because “those farmers are making a pittance right now”.

“I agree with the idea in principle,” says Pete Smith at Aberdeen University in the UK. “I can see why it is met with some scepticism though – livestock farmers are not foresters. We need to ﬁnd a way of transitioning away from livestock farming in a way that works for farmers.” Brown says he was disappointed that speeding up the phase-out of animal agriculture to cut emissions wasn’t high on the agenda at COP26. “This should be the number one topic at COP, because there’s nothing that comes close for having a fast and dramatic impact on climate change,” he says. A recent paper by Brown, not yet peer-reviewed but accepted for publication, calculates that phasing out animal agriculture in 15 years would provide around half the emissions savings needed to meet the Paris Agreement’s goal of holding temperatures below 2°C this century. Previous studies have arrived at similar conclusions. Martin Lukac at Reading University, UK, says Brown’s pilot may face economic and cultural hurdles. The amount of carbon taken up by most tree species in the ﬁrst 10 to 20 years is “negligible to very small”, he says, raising questions over how many carbon permits could be sold. He also thinks most farmers will be reluctant to be the person who “ruined” a farm by converting it to a natural state and letting it become a forest. The UK’s National Farmers Union (NFU) says carbon markets hold potential opportunities for farmers. But Stuart Roberts at the NFU says: “We really must move away from the idea that all livestock production is the same the world over and by simply removing it from the equation we solve the climate change crisis overnight. This simply isn’t the case.” A spokesperson for Impossible Foods says: “We continue to explore new ways to work with farmers to support initiatives that provide the best value for their land.” newscientist.com

Liberia: Forestry Development Authority and partners pledge sustained collaboration to protect Liberia’s pangolins and forests

he government of Liberia (GoL) through the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) and its national and international collaborating partners working in the forest sector of the country on Saturday February 19, held an elaborate program marking World Pangolin Day. The celebration was in consistent with the global protocol that calls for all nations to raise maximum awareness on the environmental importance of Pangolins and their role in protecting the forest and biodiversity. Labeled as colorful and yet another successful occasion, the third celebration of Pangolin Day held at the Paynesville City Hall Community Park in Monrovia was graced by a number of

key government ofﬁcials, representatives of foreign missions, civil society groupings, students, cultural groups, market women group, among many others. As a prelude, the groups began parading from the Joe Bar, ELWA to the Paynesville City Park where the outdoor event took place. Representing FDA Managing Director, C. Mike Doryen, as keynote speaker, the Wildlife Consultant to FDA, Edward Gbeintor acknowledged the sustained collaboration that exists between FDA and its national and international partners; and called for further increased collaborative efforts at a time when illegal activities against the health of the forest and protected animals were on the increase. He raised alarm against the

possible danger to the survival of the forest when Pangolins and other wildlife are left unprotected only to get extinct through unwarranted means including trading, killing, hunting and trafficking, something he said obviously undermines the existence of mankind. The keynote speaker then urged all partners to join the government through the Forestry Development Authority in combating those illegal activities that tend to undermine efforts being exerted to preserve the forest and biodiversity. He continued: “The day is an opportunity for pangolins and the communities to join hands in raising awareness about these unique mammals.” He added: “Pangolins are a highly prized commodity often illegally trafficked and killed for its scale by organized crime network.” Meanwhile in separate remarks, the partners, including USAID, UK, EU, Fauna and FIora International (FFI), Wild Chimpanzee Foundation, the Society for the Conservation of Nature in Liberia (SCNL) the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) HSI, LCRP, WCF, SCNL, WABiLED, LiWiSa among others have promised to invest in the forest sector but called for robust actions against wanton violators who are bent on illegally destroying the forest and biodiversity. They called for an uncompromising law enforcement regime that will deter the ugly habits of poaching, hunting, trafficking and killing of pangolins and other wildlife. Earlier, the Director of the Libassa Wildlife Sanctuary, Susan Wiper provided the overview of the program and appreciated the FDA and all partners for honoring the invitation to attend the occasion she said is very critical in the protection of wildlife consistent with the law that prohibits their illegal killing, hunting and trading.

Current research indicates that there are eight species of pangolins (also called antsbear) in the world (four in Asia and four in Africa), and Liberia is home to three of them: the White-bellied pangolin (Phataginus tricuspis), the Black-bellied pangolin (Phataginus tetradactyla) and the Giant Pangolin (Smutsia gigantea). Asian species are already close to extinction so now many pangolins are being poached from Africa to be shipped to Asia (mostly China and Vietnam), where they wrongly believe their scales are of a medicinal value and where the meat is considered a delicacy. This makes pangolins the most illegally trafficked mammal in the world. Their scales are wanted more than rhino horn, elephant tusks or tiger parts. Researchers’ estimate one million pangolins have been illegally traded in the last 16 years and given the current increased scarcity, it has been difficult to estimate current populations of the eight pangolin species. However, international pressure has mounted to prevent the pangolin’s extinction. A few years ago, at CITES’ Conference of the Parties, where the world’s conservation agencies meet, pangolins received appendix I protection. Appendix I means the highest level of protection offered by the organization and urges the 183 affiliated nations to enforce the strictest possible conservation measures. In Liberia, all pangolins are protected by law: it is a federal crime to hunt, kill, eat and keep them. Pangolins play an important role in keeping the forest healthy: they are the only mammal in West-Africa to control ants and termite populations. Without pangolins, the forest we rely on for oxygen and timber will be destroyed. That is why it is of great importance to preserve pangolins in Liberia. frontpageafricaonline.com

Global: Earth has more tree species than we thought

here are 14% more tree species than previously thought, according to what researchers are calling the first “scientifically credible” estimate. Of the 73,300 estimated species, the researchers predict there are 9,200 that are yet to be discovered. But most rare species are in tropical forests, fast disappearing because of climate change and deforestation. The study is based on a database of tens of millions of trees in more than 100,000 forest plots around the world. The researchers used statistical techniques to predict the likely number of tree species, correcting for gaps in existing data. The findings suggest more must be done to protect the incredible life forms needed for food, timber and medicine and to fight climate change by sucking carbon dioxide from the air. Lead researcher Dr Peter Reich, of the University of Minnesota in St Paul, said the findings highlighted the vulnerability of global forest biodiversity. “Our data will help us assess where biodiversity is the most threatened,” he told BBC News. “This is in the tropics and subtropics of South America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania and those are places where we discovered hotspots of known and unknown rare species. “Knowing about these hotspots, hopefully, can help prioritise future conservation efforts.” South America – the continent with the most “missing” species – has about 43% of the total number, followed by:

• • • •

Eurasia (22%) Africa (16%) North America (15%) Oceania (11%)

Diverse natural forests are the most healthy and productive, important to the global economy and to nature. The vast majority are in tropical countries where deforestation is largely driven by: • growing the ingredients of food eaten in the West, such as beef, palm oil and soy (the last two of these are also used for cattle feed) • climate change • ﬁres More than 140 international researchers worked on the study, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal. Dr Yadvinder Malhi, of the University of Oxford, said tropical forests were the “global treasure chests of biodiversity” and signiﬁcant absorbers of carbon dioxide emissions, slowing global warming. “This study shows that tropical forests are even more diverse in their trees than we had previously imagined,” he said. bbc.co.uk

USA: Wood for bourbon barrels facing long-term decline

merican white oak trees used in bourbon barrels to impart the brown liquor’s color and flavor are struggling to regenerate across the eastern U.S. including Kentucky. Shifting land management practices and changes in forest ecology have made it difficult for white oak seedlings and saplings to take root and grow into mature trees. Climate change and invasive insects have played a role as well. A new study has found that without intervention, the American white oak will begin to significantly decline in the next decade. Its authors, the White Oak Initiative, represent a diverse coalition of industries, conservation groups, government agencies and universities working together to preserve a keystone species, important to both biodiversity and business. “It’s valuable for a number of wildlife species, it’s valuable for economic use and as a big part of our forest component. “It anchors a lot of what is going on in our forests and resources we get off of it,” said Jeff Stringer, chair of Department of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Kentucky and co-founder of the White Oak Initiative. American white oak trees grow on more than 100 million acres of forest across the eastern and central U.S, according to an assessment and conservation plan the White Oak Initiative released this winter. Surveyors found 75% of all white oaks acres in U.S. forests should be classified as mature. About 60% had no white oak seedlings present, and about 87% had no white oak saplings present, according to the assessment. The assessment says that means there are extensive regions of the country where other species will grow up in the place of the white oaks that die or are harvested. Stringer said in some ways, it’s part of the natural evolution of the forest. White oaks thrive in areas with disturbance – think fires, grazing and logging, he said. Young white oaks often have trouble competing in mature oak forests. There, species like beech and maple do well growing in the shade of the canopy, he said.

“And that goes on forever unless something happens,” he said. “What we are seeing here in the loss of our oaks and white oaks, is related to that. That natural evolution of the forest under different conditions than when they started out.” That’s a problem for wildlife, hunters and a number of industries. White oak acorns are a source of food for deer and turkey and their trunks provide roosts for bats. The wood is important for furniture, flooring, cabinetry and a variety of wine and spirits, not the least of which is bourbon – an $8.6 billion industry in Kentucky. That is why several bourbon distillers have joined the White Oak initiative, including Brown Forman, which plans to purchase 50% of its logs from sustainably managed forests by 2035. “So for us, one of the things we are working on with this White Oak Initiative is to say, ‘How do we find a way to incentivize landowners to care for their forests in a manner that allows white oaks to continue to thrive,’” said Alex Alvarez, Brown Forman chief production and sustainability officer. An assessment of Kentucky’s Northern Cumberland Plateau found the area still has a significant supply of white oak, but there’s room for improvement. The Kentucky Division of Forestry is working with landowners to encourage and incentivize sustainable forest management and limit poor harvesting practices. Stringer with University of Kentucky said whatever happens, Kentucky is always going to have white oak. Right now though, over 50% of Kentucky’s white oak stands aren’t regenerating. He says that’s why the White Oak Initiative is important, to plan for the future of the species. “The White Oak Initiative helps to ensure that policy makers know that white oak is important, that money needs to be there from the federal government… to provide farmers and woodland owners with money to help do [sustainable] practices,” Stringer said. wfpl.org

Can’t cope with the urban heat? More trees could save the day Consider yourself lucky if you live in a tree-rich area hen it comes to temperatures, there’s a big gap between tree-rich and tree-less green spaces. Researchers studying data from Europe found that areas with an abundance of trees are two to four times cooler than those without them. With two-third of the population in Europe living in urban areas, it might be about time to plant a few extra trees. From preventing erosion to ﬁltering the air we breathe, trees provide a large range of environmental services – including regulating urban temperatures. They cool the air through a process known as transpiration cooling and also reduce the

amount of sunlight that hits buildings and pavement, lowering the amount of energy absorbed into the air. But these benefits can be difficult to find in big cities with a lot of concrete instead of green areas filled with trees. This is because concrete and asphalt act as heat magnets, producing the so-called urban heat island effect. Paved surfaces also block plants and trees from breathing properly, increasing the chances of high temperatures in cities. It’s most common for researchers to study temperature reductions by urban trees for a specific city or small region. But this makes a comparison between regions sometimes difficult, as each study in each city follows a different methodology. With

this in mind, a group of researchers decided to explore using the same approach for many cities. “It would be nice if we knew by how much different heat mitigation measures can reduce temperatures in different cities. If we knew this, decision-makers would be able to select the most appropriate strategy for reducing heat in a speciﬁc city. This include increasing the albedo, for example,” study author Jonas Schwaab, told ZME Science. Studying trees Schwaab and his colleagues used land surface temperature data derived from satellites and detailed data on land cover in European cities to compare the temperatures on different landcovers, looking at whether this temperature difference was the same in different regions. The assumption was that trees had a high cooling potential in cities. The ﬁndings showed that tree-covered areas in and around cities are cooler than dense built-up areas during the day in all European regions. However, in central Europe, the temperature

difference is higher than in Southern Europe. This is because trees in central Europe usually have more water than they can transpire, the authors suspect. “In southern Europe, overall drier than central Europe, less water is available and there’s less transpiration from trees. However, while the cooling effect of trees in Southern Europe through transpiration may be lower than in central Europe, trees are of course very important in providing shade in dry and wetter regions,” Schwaab said. While the study could have implications for urban development, the authors warned it has a set of limitations. Schwaab said that the land surface temperature data they used is not ideal for studying the potential reductions in air temperature and that they only focused on the effects of trees on temperature via transpiration rather than on other inﬂuences. The study was published in the journal Nature Communications. zmescience.com

Kenya: Reforesting Kenya’s never been so sustainable Solar energy seed-drying puts greening goal on a whole new playing ﬁeld enya is pioneering a newly developed 100% solar energy-driven drying system for forest pine tree seeds in its bid to tackle the country’s decades-long deforestation crisis. Logging and drought have caused severe deforestation, leaving only 7% of land covered by forest, and like many African countries, Kenya has set itself a tall target – to raise that to 10% by 2023. Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI) asked Brunel University London to streamline the way it dries pine seed pods from the forest ﬂoor under electric heaters or the sun until their seeds pop out. In August 2021, the team installed a prototype customdesigned 100% solar-powered heat generator and heat storage unit at the government agency’s Muguga plant, 30 km north of the capital, Nairobi. After 6 months it proved its potential to ramp up seed production from eight tonnes a year to 90 – enough to plant the annual two billion saplings needed to hit the lofty government goal. “We’ve not only increased production for KEFRI, but reduced the energy cost to zero,” said renewable energy engineer, Dr Harjit Singh. “So that means the seeds that they produce are 100% green, zero carbon and they are using the most advanced technology to produce them.” Dr Singh’s system also slashes seed drying time from 6 weeks to three or four days and “importantly, it doesn’t use electricity. Until now 60% of the cost of producing seeds went on energy.” The fossil fuel-based grid electricity that produces most seeds in Kenya is worth about £1m a year. The new SoFTS (Solar Heat Storage for Drying Forest Tree Seeds) system can save 80% of this cost by using solar heat. KEFRI now plans to install SoFTS at its nine seed plants nationwide. It will be a gamechanger for Kenya’s 2030 aim of 10% forest cover and 5,100,000 hectares of wastelands reforested. “The project has introduced a new technology in forestry,” said KEFRI’s Dr Jane Njuguna. “Solar drying of forest tree seeds had not been done in Kenya and this raises our international

visibility as a centre of excellence in solar tree seed drying technologies. It has reduced our energy bills and made pine seeds quickly available in the right quantities, helping us achieve the country’s goal to reduce emissions.” SoFTS’ innovative nanomaterial-enhanced heat storage uses only locally available materials to store 60–80 °C heat generated by a non-tracking low concentrating solar thermal collectors. Automatic sensors detect the seed pods’ temperature and store surplus heat overnight, so even in cloudy climates, it can provide heat for at least 1.5 days. In KEFRI’s other seed plants without the system, and in Kenya’s other four large-scale scale private sector plants, seeds can only be dried during hours of sunlight. About 30,000 people work in Kenya’s seed industry, which is forecast to grow to increase to 180,000 by 2030. Once reluctant to back the industry because of the cost of power, investors now can afford to be upbeat and are now talking about exporting seeds. Other Sub-Saharan and East African countries such as Uganda, Tanzania and South Africa could use the system for drying their seeds. “It demonstrates our research capacity here at Brunel,” said Dr Singh. “We’re looking now for backing to do more of this type of project. The biggest thing is to understand the need of the end user correctly and match it with the sort of energy resource they have in that country. It is a completely bespoke system that is something that we are very proud of and it is based on the Brunel team’s expertise that allows us to build any system for any scale.” The £201,845 project which ran from April 2020 to August 2021 was part-funded by Innovate UK to the tune of £161,427. Installed nationwide, the technology could cut Kenya’s CO2 emissions by an estimated 2.5–3.2 mtCO2e per year. For more information and to speak to Dr Singh, please contact Hayley Jarvis, Media Relations, Brunel University London Hayley.jarvis@brunel.ac.uk 01895 268 176 press-ofﬁce@pressofﬁce.brunel.ac.uk

Global climate fund aims to help indigenous people protect world’s forests

global fund launched on Tuesday aims to boost climate ﬁnancing to Indigenous communities to help them secure land rights and preserve forested areas from the Congo Basin to the Andes, the initiative’s backers said. Governments, philanthropists and companies are expected to contribute to the Community Land Rights and Conservation Finance Initiative (CLARIFI), which will distribute funding among groups working to conserve forests and other ecosystems on the ground. Over the past decade, less than 1 per cent of international climate ﬁnance has gone to Indigenous and local communities to manage forests that absorb planet-heating carbon emissions and are rich in biodiversity, but the new fund hopes to change that. “For too long indigenous peoples and local communities have received shockingly little climate funding,” said Stanley Kimaren ole Riamit, founder-director of Kenyan group Indigenous Livelihoods Enhancement Partners and a CLARIFI steering committee member. The fund will act as the “missing link” between donors that want to curb climate change and conserve biodiversity, and forest groups with the skills to do that, said Solange Bandiaky-Badji, co-ordinator of the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI), an NGO which is leading CLARIFI with the Campaign for Nature group. She said the initiative – which has not announced a funding target – would help local people map their lands and have their ownership formally recognized, as well as enabling them to develop community-led management and conservation plans.

Donor governments including Britain, the United States, Germany, Norway and the Netherlands pledged about US$1.7billion at November’s COP26 climate summit to help indigenous peoples and forest communities advance their land rights by 2025. But at least US$10-billion will be needed by 2030 to boost the legally recognised territories of Indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples and local communities to cover about half the world’s tropical forests, according to RRI and Campaign for Nature. Securing their rights and traditional way of life will help achieve global goals to conserve at least 30 per cent of the planet by 2030 and rein in climate change, CLARIFI’s backers said. According to RRI, a third of the Earth’s tropical forest carbon store is at risk without recognizing community rights to land, making it easier to clear forests to produce commodities such as beef, palm oil and timber. CLARIFI will start by passing on grants of US$25-million from the Bezos Earth Fund – set up by the founder of e-commerce giant Amazon – to communities in the Congo Basin and the tropical Andes mountains, said Bandiaky-Badji. Besides grants, CLARIFI will also provide technical and organizational support to build the ability of local groups to tap into and deploy funding to protect the world’s ecosystems. Committee member Pasang Dolma Sherpa, who directs Nepal’s Center for Indigenous Peoples’ Research and Development, said CLARIFI addresses “a need long felt by Indigenous and community organizations for a vehicle that mobilizes funding directly to them for activities not yet supported adequately by any donor.” theglobeandmail.com

Global: Climate change – Deal to help end deforestation misses first deadline just months after it was signed at COP26 The $500m (£370m) pact was part of a package of prominent deals signed at COP26 to end deforestation by 2030.

t the Glasgow climate summit, a group of donor countries promised $500m (£370m) to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to protect the Congo Basin – which absorbs 4% of the world’s carbon dioxide but is suffering widespread forest loss – in a pact signed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. In return, the DRC promised to publish an audit of all logging contracts, which would help weed out the illegal ones, such as those failing to provide protections for frontline communities or biodiversity. But the audit was not published by the end of 2021 as promised, the DRC government has conﬁrmed. ‘Botched agreement not being respected’ The pact was part of a package of deals signed at COP26 to end deforestation by 2030, with the world relying on forests for food,

water, weather and to stave off the looming, disastrous levels of global heating. “After pompous statements, glitzy public relations and hundreds of millions of tax dollars have been pledged to the DRC, not only are we facing a deal that allows for deforestation to expand by the end of 2022, but even this botched agreement is not being respected,” Serge Sabin Ngwato, Greenpeace Africa forest campaigner, told Sky News. Civil society groups warned at the time that the DRC deal would fail unless it extended a moratorium on new logging concessions, otherwise forest loss could in fact increase. “The DRC and donor countries must commit to transparency, human rights and to keep the chainsaws out of the rainforest,” Mr Ngwato said, calling for a permanent plan to Campaigners say publishing the missing audit is vital to tackling illegal deforestation in the Congo Basin, which provides food for 40 million people and regulates rainfall patterns across the continent.

Joseph Malassi, a DRC climate change advisor and negotiator involved with the deal, told Sky News the report would be published imminently. He said he appreciated that people had been able to “tell us that there is this commitment that you did not fulfil”, but said cooperation would be more helpful to protect the forest. UK must ‘keep working’ on deals struck at COP The Central Africa Forest Initiative (CAFI), the group that signed the deal with the DRC, confirmed that none of the $500m had yet changed hands. That fact shows that promises “need to be kept in order for money to flow, unlocking crucial support for indigenous peoples and local communities to halt the loss of forests and to restore nature”, according to Matt Williams from energy and climate think tank ECIU.

He said the UK government “stood tall on the world stage at COP26 and managed to secure an unprecedented scale and range of deals on deforestation, putting nature at the heart of the negotiations like never before”. But it would need to “keep working on all of these agreements to maintain its global reputation”, he said. Shortly before COP26, the DRC administration also promised to suspend all contracts suspected of illegality, of which Congolese green groups have highlighted dozens. Mr Malassi conﬁrmed six such contracts have been suspended. A Foreign Ofﬁce spokesperson said they were committed to safeguarding “one of the most important wilderness areas left on Earth” and were “working closely with the government of DRC to improve the management of their forests and tackle illegal logging”. news.sky.com

Global: Can synthetic palm oil help save the world’s tropical forests?

om Jeffries and Tom Kelleher met at Rutgers University in the 1970s while studying industrially useful microbes. Jeffries went on to run a yeast genomics program at the U.S. Department of Agriculture; Kelleher spent decades in the biomedical industry, working with biologics like insulin, which are produced by genetically modiﬁed microbes in giant, fermenting vats. In 2007, the two reunited to build a company on the back of a grant from the National Science Foundation. Called Xylome, the Wisconsin-based startup aimed to ﬁnd better methods to produce low-carbon fuel by feeding yeast agricultural waste. Yet it was by accident that Jeffries and Kelleher turned their efforts a few years later to a different global environmental problem: palm oil. The world’s cheapest and most widely used vegetable oil, palm oil production is a primary driver of deforestation and biodiversity loss in the tropics. These and other problems with the palm oil industry, such as exploitative labor practices, have

for years driven interest in more sustainable options. But good alternatives have proven difﬁcult to come by: Other vegetable oils have similar drawbacks to palm oil, and sustainable forestry practices are not always effective in the face of rising demand. Today, the world consumes nearly 70 million metric tons of palm oil each year, used in everything from toothpaste and oat milk to biodiesel and laundry detergent. Demand is expected to more than double by 2050. But with advances in bioengineering and increasing concerns about sustainability, a number of companies like Xylome have developed microbial oils they say could offer an alternative to palm oil while avoiding its most destructive impacts. They join numerous other synthetic biology companies – from ventures hawking new biofuels and fertilizer to lab-grown meat – that aspire to solve environmental problems but share similar challenges scaling up production and demonstrating their approach is in fact more sustainable than the problem they’re trying to solve. enn.com

Cameroon: Newly identified tree species named in honour of Leonardo DiCaprio

tropical, evergreen tree from Cameroon, the ﬁrst plant species to be named as new to science in 2022, has ofﬁcially been labelled Uvariopsis dicaprio today in honour of the actor Leonardo DiCaprio. It adds to the list of the strange and spectacular plants that scientists have named in the past 12 months. Martin Cheek at the UK’s Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and his colleagues – including researchers at the National Herbarium of Cameroon and the University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon – analysed photos and specimens of the tree, which is found in Cameroon’s tropical Ebo forest. They determined it was previously unknown to science, and also appears to be unknown among local communities. The team named the species after actor and environmental activist

DiCaprio to commemorate his campaigning efforts to protect Ebo forest from logging. Standing at around 4 metres tall, U. dicaprio can be identified by the distinctive and vibrant glossy yellow-green flowers that grow on its trunk. It is closely related to the ylang-ylang tree (Cananga odorata) which is native to India, South-East Asia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Australia. “This is a plant which, for a botanist, just jumps out at you,” says Cheek. “It’s so spectacular.” Currently, fewer than 50 individual trees have been spotted, and they are all confined to a single, unprotected area of Ebo forest. As a result, U. dicaprio is considered critically endangered. newscientist.com

Nigeria: We won’t allow killer herdsmen, kidnappers in our forests – Ogun

gun State government yesterday declared that it would not allow its forests and any parts of the state to serve as safe haven for killer herdsmen, kidnappers, and bandits to terrorise people. The government disclosed that it was already collaborating with neighbouring states like Oyo and Lagos to comb its forests and smoke out those with intent to bring terror and destruction on people. The declaration is coming on the heels of the upsurge in criminal activities with people suspected to herdsmen unleashing mayhem on motorists on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. About eight villages in the Imeko-Afon Local Government Area of the state were recently attacked recently by marauding herders who also allegedly killed about ﬁve villagers during an attack on some Ohori farmers at Idofa village, in the council area. Chairman of Amotekun in the state, Mr. Dave Akinyemi, a retired police commissioner said provision of adequate security has been a cardinal point of Governor Dapo Abiodun since assuming ofﬁce. According to him, with the resurgence in cases of kidnapping on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Amotekun personnel in Ogun and Oyo states are now combing the forests to dislodge the terrorists, a move that he said, has been yielding positive results.

According to him, the Abiodun administration is not unaware of its constitutional responsibility to secure the lives and property of its citizens and is doing so in many areas. He said that the state government has concluded arrangements to fortify all the 20 local government areas of the state with Amotekun operatives, who would be complemented by operatives, who recently concluded their training and are waiting to be mobilized. The Amotekun Commander in the state also noted that the Corps has been collaborating with the Army, Police, Department of State Services (DSS), Nigerian Security, and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) among others to rid the state of criminals. He disclosed that the inter-agency cooperation has led to the arrest of over 50 cultists and other hoodlums in Sagamu and other areas in Ogun East. Akinyemi said the security situation in Ogun State is a peculiar one; the state shares a border with the nation’s commercial capital, with international borders that are porous and easily accessible by criminals. “There are also threats by armed herders from the North, and by local outlaws but the state will rout the criminals with superior ﬁrepower and government has spent so much to upgrade the security architecture of the state, Ogun will continue to remain the most peaceful state in the country,” he said. thenationonlineng.net

Spain: Madrid is planting a huge forest ring around the city to lower heat levels and cut CO2 emissions

o combat climate change and pollution, Madrid is building a green wall around the city. A 75-kilometre urban forest with nearly half a million new trees. “What we want to do is to improve the air quality in the whole city,” says Mariano Fuentes, Madrid’s councillor for the environment and urban development. “To ﬁght the ‘heat island’ effect that is happening inside the city, to absorb the greenhouse emissions generated by the city, and to connect all the existing forest masses that already exist around the city.” The project will also make use of derelict sites lying between roads and buildings to help absorb 175,000 tons of CO2 per year. When ﬁnished, Madrid’s ‘green wall’ will be a forest of indigenous trees that can absorb CO2 but also the heat generated by human activity. Temperatures under the shade of these trees are 2 degrees lower than the rest of the city. “It has to be a global strategy, it’s not only about cars” said Mariano Fuentes, Madrid’s Councillor for Environment & Urban Development. “Madrid’s urban forest is part of a 360-degree approach aiming to make cities more environmentally friendly, beyond just restricting private car use in urban centres”, said Fuentes. “It has to be a global strategy,” he added. “It’s not only about cars, but also a pedestrianisation strategy, the creation of environmental

corridors in every district… and most of all… to engage citizens in this new green culture, it is essential for every city to face the near future in the best conditions.” With desertiﬁcation reaching the doorstep of southern Europe, Madrid’s urban forest intends to be both a mitigation and adaptation measure to climate change. “It is not a park,” says architect and city council urban advisor Daniel González. “Because the requirements were that it would use a very little amount of water, planting indigenous trees… and looking for other ways of maintenance. Because at the end of the day an infrastructure this big needs to be preserved with a minimum effort so it can be sustainable over time.” Cities around the world consume two-thirds of the global energy supply and generate three-quarters of the world’s greenhouse emissions. From restricting trafﬁc to promoting cycling and public transport and to planting more trees or looking for sustainable sources of energy, cities around the globe have already started their transformation. They will be the most affected by climate change, but they are also an essential part of the solution. energynordic.com

Global: How a humble mushroom could save forests and fight climate change

he conversion of forests to agricultural land is happening at a mind-boggling speed. Between 2015 and 2020, the rate of deforestation was estimated at around 10 million hectares every year. Compared to 2012, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is predicting a massive increase in agricultural demand of 50% by 2050. In South America, around 71% of rainforest has been replaced by pasture and a further 14% has been lost to the production of animal feed. One of the key successes of COP26 was a pledge from world leaders to end deforestation by 2030. From a climate and carbon point of view, we know that cutting down trees at this scale is devastating. But the impacts run deeper: 75% of the world’s accessible fresh water arises from forested watersheds. And with 80% of the world’s population facing a threat to their water security, trees play a very significant role in stemming desertification and preventing soil erosion. They also protect against flooding in coastal areas as well as being home to a huge number of species, many of which are important crop pollinators. So what can we do? We know that different foods have different footprints. Reducing the quantity of animal-based products will have a huge impact. In fact, eating less meat is one of the most potent changes that people in the west can make to help save the planet. But what if we could go further? What if, instead of having farming and forestry in direct conflict, we could develop a system that allows food production and forest on the same parcel of land?

Miraculous mushrooms This is exactly what our latest research focuses on, looking at fungi that grow in partnership with trees, in a mutually beneficial arrangement. This is a common association and some species can produce large mushroom fruiting bodies, such as the highly prized truffle. Aside from this delicacy, cultivation of these species is a new and emerging field. But progress is especially being made in one group known as milk caps, that include a beautiful and unusually bright blue species known as Lactarius indigo, or the blue milk cap. High in dietary fibre and essential fatty acids, this edible mushroom’s blue pigmentation means they are easy to identify safely. With extracts demonstrating antibacterial properties and an ability to kill cancer cells, the blue milk cap could also be a source of pharmacological potential. In our paper, we describe how to cultivate this species, from isolation in the lab to creating young tree saplings with roots

inoculated with this symbiotic fungus. These trees can then be planted at scale in suitable climate zones ranging from Costa Rica to the US. As the tree and fungus’s partnership matures, they start to produce these incredible mushrooms packed with protein. The agriculture on cleared forested land is dominated by pastoral beef production where around 4.76–6.99kg of protein per hectare per year is produced. But, if this system was replaced with planting trees hosting the milk cap fungus, the same parcel of land could produce 7.31kg of protein every year. The mushrooms can be consumed fresh, processed or the protein content can be extracted to produce other food items. This would lead to more food production, with all the benefits forests bring and without the environmental burdens of intensive farming such as fertiliser, water use or the growing of additional feed. Beef farming contributes to climate change by emitting greenhouse gases, but as these fungus-inoculated trees grow, they draw down carbon from the atmosphere, helping in our fight against the climate crisis. So, as well as producing more food, the process can also enhance biodiversity, aid conservation, act as a carbon sink for greenhouses gases and help stimulate economic development in rural areas. In Mexcio, harvesting is often a family activity where fungi are traded informally or exchanged for goods and in neighbouring Guatemala, the blue milk cap is listed as one of the most popular edible mushrooms. So there is economic potential and community empowerment at a smaller local scale as well as trading opportunities for national and international corporations. We believe this approach is cheaper – or more cost effective – than beef farming. But this is a new technology and like all new innovations, support is needed. This means further research and proper financial investment to develop the technology to a point where agribusinesses feel confident to invest at scale. But even with support, there must also be demand for the end product. Doubtless with health and environmental concerns in mind, the proportion of meat eaters who have reduced or limited the amount of meat they consume has risen from 28% in 2017 to 39% in 2019, according to market research. And sales of meat-free foods are expected to reach £1.1 billion by 2024. Clearly there’s a market, as ordinary people endeavour to do their bit for the planet. With so much at stake we must urgently pursue the promising options that fungi provide. Paul W Thomas, Honorary Professor Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Stirling in theconversation.com