Cutting back on deforestation Researchers are looking at the best strategies to stop tropical deforestation rates and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Climate Change and Environment © Thinkstock Large areas of forest play an essential role in absorbing carbon from the atmosphere, and provide a host of other eco-services. However, in many parts of the world, forests are being chopped down for timber or cleared for farming. The EU-funded research project REDD-ALERT looked at strategies to reverse deforestation. The findings are crucial to the development of international policies that create a financial incentive to preserve rainforests. REDD-ALERT brought together researchers from institutes in Africa, south-east Asia, Europe and South America. They documented the social, cultural, economic and ecological drivers of forest transition and conservation in case studies in Cameroon, Indonesia, Peru and Vietnam. Project members improved methods to quantify rates of forest conversion and the effect of land-use changes on GHG emissions. The team also analysed the impacts of possible strategies in their case studies. An important finding involved consideration of the overall picture when assessing reforestation efforts. For example, in Vietnam, forest cover increased from 25 % in 1992 to 38 % in 2005, but increasing imports of food and timber nullified at least half of the benefits. The team concluded that there is major competition between different land uses, and that any approach focusing on only one aspect will lead to unintended consequences. The project results will play an important role in the development of the next generation of truly sustainable policies to tackle climate change.
