Planning, Participation and Sustainable Cities

Posted on May 14, 2012 by lathamsa

Sustainability has many definitions and provokes a wide range of concepts and approaches. In many aspects sustainability has been overused and lacks the clarity needed to fully understand what it means for a particular place. In my experience stemming from years of hands-on planning in communities of all sizes and locations, one lesson is that one size does not fit all in terms of sustainability solutions. Anyone concerned about a brighter future for the next generation across the globe will promote a tailored, custom solution to the unique needs and situations faced by the range of communities and cultures. In order for the concept to have meaning, it needs to be tied to measures that reflect where we are and whether what we do is making us more or less sustainable.

Patterns of human development – physical, social, and economic – affect sustainability at the local and the global level. City and regional planning helps define how, where, and when human settlement occurs. The location of urban development and the choices for reusing and adapting cities make a huge difference in resource consumption. Planners can play a crucial role in improving the sustainability of communities and the resources that support them.

Sustainability, seen broadly, should address three main goals, commonly referred to as the “three Es”: Environment, Equity, and Economy. The most sustainable policies and implementation practices will be the ones that simultaneously advance all three goals. For me sustainability is a value-based effort to achieve what is right for society, or in any given community. My organization, The American Planning Association (APA) just held its 104th annual conference in Los Angeles and to kick it off, we cosponsored a Youth Forum on Sustainable Cities in cooperation with our Chinese partners. It is critical that we reach out to young people from all disciplines and all countries to engage them in the process of shaping the future. Too many times, their voices are not at the table when decisions are made yet their generation will be most affected.

ECPA Fellow Jeff Soule getting local perspectives in Rio De Janeiro with meetings in the neighborhoods. (Courtesy Photo)

Widespread urbanization in both the U.S. and around the world is one of the most significant demographic trends seen today. Fortunately, it is also one of the most sustainable trends. Populations in urbanizing areas experience lower birth rates, higher educational attainments, and smaller carbon footprints. In other words, urbanization is at the core of sustainability. Yet for the benefits of urbanization to be realized, there are things we need to do better.

1 Improve citizen involvement. We must engage each other in the discussion of the choices we have based on knowledge and information sharing. Planners are especially trained to help citizens become more informed and engaged in shaping a more sustainable future. In many places, citizens do not have a direct voice in development decisions and resource allocation and participatory governance a new concept that needs our support.

2 Plan according to Nature. Look at the regional picture and protect sensitive areas from urbanization. Much of today’s urbanization is occurring in areas of high risk for natural disasters: coastal and delta regions, earthquake and tsunami prone areas and places susceptible to sea level rise. Planning for hazard mitigation and avoidance is a critical effort that is often overlooked. We must not continue to place people in harm’s way through lack of planning.

3 Respect and learn from traditional patterns and techniques. Today the world is more interconnected than ever and we can recognize and value cultural differences and approaches to creating places. In many cases, historical building styles and materials embody the essence of low energy and sustainability. Equating high technology with modernity is a concept that needs to be questioned as we examine and respect the traditional settlements, designs and cultures that can inform our options.

This guest blog was written by Jeff Soule of the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas (ECPA).

Protecting Tigers in Thailand and Using Biogas in Mongolia

Posted on April 26, 2012 by lathamsa

Wildlife Conservation Society: Protecting Wildlife in Thailand

Wildlife Conservation Society Tiger Project Thailand

In August 2011, the U.S. Department of State’s Regional Environmental Office (REO) in Bangkok awarded a small grant of nearly $25,000 to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) to improve wildlife protection in Thailand’s Western Forest Complex (WEFCOM). The WEFCOM is one the largest protected landscapes in mainland Southeast Asia, supporting various globally threatened species including tigers and elephants.

The core area of WEFCOM includes Huai Kha Khaeng and Thung Yai Wildlife Sanctuaries (HKK-TY), which the international tiger conservation community has categorized as a tiger conservation landscape of top priority. Over the past seven years, WCS has worked closely with several of the Thai government’s wildlife management agencies to strengthen law enforcement and monitoring, including supporting the deployment of advanced wildlife monitoring technologies.

This REO-funded small grant project has significantly improved the law enforcement system in HKK. Coverage for 20 patrol teams has increased to span almost the entire 2,700 square kilometers of the HKK. This intensified patrol effort led to a rise in arrests of tiger-poaching gangs that previously operated with impunity deep inside the HKK.

Wildlife Conservation Society Tiger Project Thailand

This small project also involved a public education campaign to stop the illegal sale of wild meat in local food shops and restaurants. Posters and notebooks were developed, posted, and distributed in local communities bordering the HKK. WCS also organized a big parade in Lan Sak district to raise awareness of this critical issue. The widely publicized parade caught the attention of local people including school children. Key figures participated in the parade, including the Vice Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, the Deputy Director General of Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP), the Mayor of Lansak District, and 24 representatives of twelve countries who had come to the HKK for a training course on wildlife conservation enforcement organized by the Smithsonian Institute.

This poster conveys the message: “Wild animals are for the food for tigers, not for humans.”

Wildlife Conservation Society Tiger Project Thailand

Mongolia Environment and Nature Consortium:
Exploring Potential Uses of Biogas in Mongolia

The Mongolia Environment and Nature Consortium (MENC) received a small grant for $24,900 from the U.S. Department of State’s Regional Environmental Office (REO) in Bangkok to conduct a project to identify the potential to produce and use methane-based biogas from livestock dung in Mongolia. Development of such technology could eliminate the need for rural communities to connect to a traditional electric grid. The results of this project will be widely distributed to support further development and diffusion of biogas technology in Mongolia.

Mongolia Biogas Project

To guide this project, the MENC established a biogas advisory group of distinguished scientists and stakeholders, responsible for selecting the pilot site and managing the project’s implementation. Dr. M. Badarch, Director of MENC and Prof. B. Namkhainyam, Technical University of Science and Technology, are the main project leads. Badarch and Namkhainyam jointly developed the technical concept of biogas development and application for Mongolia.

Mongolia Biogas Project

As a pilot site for this project, the MENC selected a small community called Ovor Gunt, located roughly 25 kilometers outside the capital city of Ulaanbaatar. Ovor Gunt is comprised of eight families, with 65 cows that will produce dung for conversion to biogas. The technical components of the biogas pilot plant were bought in China, transported to Mongolia, and installed at Ovor Gunt. One significant challenge initially encountered was adaptation to Mongolia’s extremely cold climate. The advisory group continues to test the technology and work with experts to improve the biogas technology currently in use at Ovor Gunt, while also designing new biogas extracting techniques and technology, possibly for use with sheep dung.

As a pilot site for this project, the MENC selected

One adaptation of this project to Mongolia’s harsh winters was the construction of a small “Greenhouse” that will protect dung/fuel and equipment from precipitation, and allow biogas conversion to continue during winter months. In order to promote the benefits of this type of low-cost, non-labor-intensive, and environmentally friendly biogas production in Mongolia, project personnel are drafting a Mongolian language user guide. The MENC also plans to hold a conference to publicize the existence of this biogas plant and to discuss potential legal issues and how to manage them. The expected result will be a legally binding agreement among farmers at the biogas pilot site, and a set of guidelines for future biogas plants. Several local smaller-scale group discussions on project implementation issues and technical concepts have already taken place, along with other small-scale public awareness efforts, including logo design and a branding campaign.

Earth Day Stories: Italy and Thailand

Posted on April 24, 2012 by lathamsa

On Sunday, millions of people around the world participated in Earth Day. Here is the last set of international stories about Earth Day celebrations from the people who bring you Earth Day each year: the Earth Day Network. Tomorrow we will recap some of the history of how the yearly celebration got started and explore more international environmental projects.

Italy

Crowd at Earth Day event in Rome, Italy (Photo credit: Earth Day Network)

Naples is mobilizing for Earth Day 2012 through a massive day-long festival. Earth Day Network partner Earth Day Italia is organizing the event – which will feature musical performances and fashion shows – to draw attention to environmental problems in Italy and around the world, raise money to support ecological preservation initiatives, and promote a green lifestyle. Last year’s event took place in Rome; this year’s Mobilize the Earth-themed event is expected to draw 10 thousand participants. The event will also be screened online so people all over the world will have a chance to participate.
“Since its inception, the Italian Earth Day has worked to host our event in order to raise public awareness on critical environmental problems on Earth. Through music and fashion, Earth Day Italia brings people together who are working to form a more sustainable Italy and a more sustainable planet. The Giornata della Terra or Earth Day is an event that will stay in the minds of Italians for years to come.” – Claudio Sestili, President of Earth Day Italia.

Thailand

In Thailand, Earth Day Network partner Plant a Tree Today (PATT) Foundation is mobilizing by holding a Family Planting Day on April 22 in Khao Yai. All of the trees planted will be added to Earth Day Network’s environmental service campaign, A Billion Acts of Green®.
The event is designed to raise awareness about climate change and other environmental problems while helping children learn about different tree planting techniques, forest evolution, and the difference between reforestation and forest restoration.
“Not only is it beneficial for the planet to plant trees but it’s also important for children to understand the benefits that reforesting our planet brings. And what better way than to get the whole family out there to help us ‘save the planet one tree at a time!’.” – Andrew Steel, Founder of PATT Foundation.

*These events are two of thousands being held around the world for Earth Day 2012. To find or start a local event and learn how you can get involved in Mobilize the Earth™, go to www.earthday.org/2012.

Earth Day Stories: Iraq and Jamaica

Posted on April 17, 2012 by lathamsa

Over the next week leading up to Earth Day on Sunday, April 22, we will have a series of stories from around the world about what people are doing to celebrate Earth Day. Today’s stories are about Iraq and Jamaica!

Iraq

His Excellency Dr. Barham Salih, Prime Minister of Kurdistan Regional Government, planting a tree in honor of Earth Day (Photo credit: Earth Day Network).

In Iraq, the provincial government in Kurdistan is mobilizing to plant five million trees for Earth Day 2012. Other important Iraqi government agencies have participated, such as the Agency of Protection and Improvement of the Environment, the Ministry of Municipalities, and the Ministry of Education. And Earth Day Network partner “Together” has already planted 400 trees in honor of Earth Day 2012 in Salah Al-Din Province.
“We’re proud to be joining so many people all over the world who are taking action for Earth Day 2012. By planting these trees, we’re improving the environment of Kurdistan and the surrounding communities, but we also hope to set an example for the rest of Iraq, the region and the world.” – His Excellency Dr. Barham Salih, Prime Minister of Kurdistan Regional Government.

Jamaica

Children in Kingston, Jamaica, participating in a “Building Appreciation for Nature in Children at Risk” event in the run up to Earth Day (Photo credit: Earth Day Network).

The Jamaica Environment Trust—based in Kingston, Jamaica—is mobilizing for Earth Day by hosting a day of festivities to mark the completion of its “Building Appreciation for Nature in Children at Risk” project. The project seeks to expose children from inner-city communities to the natural world. Since the project started in October of 2010, 150 children from Cockburn Pen, Olympic Gardens and Drewslnd in Kingston have participated.

The event will feature environmentally-themed games, arts and crafts, and educational activities. There will be a concert held during lunch, as well as an opportunity for the children to showcase the artwork that they’ve created throughout the project.

“As a voice for Jamaica’s natural resources, JET has always found Earth Day to be a great opportunity to spark public interest in our environmental programmes. Earth Day allows us to promote different aspects of the important environmental education work JET is doing, giving Jamaicans, particularly our young people, a cause to rally around and an opportunity to learn more about the environment in which we live.” – Suzanne Stanley, Programme Director, Jamaica Environment Trust

Children in Kingston, Jamaica, participating in a “Building Appreciation for Nature in Children at Risk” event in the run up to Earth Day.

Let’s Mobilize the Earth for Earth Day 2012

Posted on April 16, 2012 by lathamsa

By Kathleen Rogers, president of Earth Day Network

Earth Day 1999 poster created by the State Department's Bureau of International Information Programs.

Earth Day 1999 poster created for the U.S. State Department's Bureau of International Information Programs.

The first Earth Day – on April 22, 1970 – was the birth of the modern environmental movement. Twenty million Americans took to the streets in cities all over the country to demand that something be done about the destruction of the environment. The events of that day led to the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts.

Since then, Earth Day and a global environmental movement have grown exponentially. Today, more than a billion people in 192 countries participate in Earth Day-related activities. It is the largest civic observance in the world.

Back in 1970, the Earth Day movement achieved a rare political consensus, enlisting support from Republicans and Democrats, urban and rural, business and labor, rich and poor. People recognized that the air we breathe, the water we drink, the environment our kids play in, the continued enjoyment of our natural resources – these are not liberal or conservative issues. And today, Earth Day remains the single best tool to broaden, diversify and mobilize the environmental movement.

This year, though, the movement has some work to do.

Environmental issues have largely taken a backseat for world leaders, but the problems our planet faces aren’t going to go away if we just ignore them. Moreover, with so many important elections taking place around the world this year and the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio +20) happening in June, 2012 will be critical in shaping environmental policies for the next decade. If we are to avert the worst of climate change and protect our planet, if we are to create the new green jobs – jobs of the future – that we need to bolster the struggling economy, we must raise our voices and let world leaders know that we want swift action. That’s why the theme of Earth Day 2012 is Mobilize the Earth™.

Thousands of Mobilize the Earth events will be held all over the world on April 22nd. From Rome to Rio, London to New Orleans, Beirut to Muscat, Kolkata to Jakarta, Beijing to Melbourne – to the flagship event on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. – we’ll harness the power of Earth Day and demand that environmental issues become a top priority.

Also for Earth Day 2012, Earth Day Network is inspiring A Billion Acts of Green® to demonstrate the breadth of support for this movement. A Billion Acts of Green is the world’s largest environmental service campaign and is being called a global referendum on the environment. Hundreds of millions of environmental actions have been registered by individuals, governments, businesses, and faith-based and civic organizations. We’re almost there, but we still need your help to make it to a billion.

To learn more about Earth Day 2012 and how you can get involved, go to www.earthday.org/2012 and watch this video:

About Earth Day Network:
Earth Day Network’s mission is to broaden, diversify and mobilize the environmental movement. As the global coordinator of Earth Day, EDN mobilizes over one billion people in 192 countries on environmental challenges impacting our health, quality of life and the natural world. Year-round, EDN is a U.S. leader on environmental education and green school buildings, providing teachers, parents and children with curricula, lesson plans and many other tools that are necessary for achieving a higher quality of life and an environmentally literate society in an increasingly complex world. EDN also works to expand the emerging green economy and is engaged in protecting natural lands and planting millions of trees worldwide. With the leadership of the founders of the first Earth Day, EDN has grown to 22,000 partners in 192 countries, giving us the strength to tackle the most challenging environmental issues of our time. www.earthday.org

Community Water Program in India

Posted on March 8, 2012 by lathamsa

An Indian community working together on water issues.

In addition to large government projects, communities around the world are working together to bring safe, clean water to their people. These smaller projects allow communities to address the specific needs of residents, including their unique climate, economy, methods of food cultivation, etc. Sometimes, organizations focus on helping a variety of different communities, adapting a successful model to fit the unique needs of different places. For more information on water issues in India, check out the India Water Portal, which seeks to provide “Safe, sustainable water for all.”

One such organization is Naandi Community Water Services in India, which in 2010 was present in over 400 villages, providing safe drinking water to 2.4 million people. The program was launched in 2006 by the Naandi Foundation, and they have one clear mission: “providing access to safe drinking water by supplying inexpensive professional services.” To measure their impact and carry out this mission, they have three main social objectives:

“Equality: Safe drinking water for everyone, regardless of class and caste, and access to drinking water in underprivileged areas, with women and children benefiting most.

Family life: Naandi estimates that each household will save around 4,500 rupees ($89) a year…Women and children account for 80% of the program’s consumers.

Living conditions: By late 2012, Newco estimates, 2000 sites will be in operation, directly or indirectly serving 5 million people. Income should increase significantly for the program’s 4,000 operators and “social mobilizers.”

By taking this community-specific approach and operating in-country (that is, the organization was founded in and operates in India), Naandi Community Water Services represents an interesting and unique water program. Do you have a great community water program where you live?

February’s theme is…Forests!

Posted on February 3, 2012 by lathamsa

India coffee forests (Photo credit: Blofeld Dr. / Wikimedia)

Trees are a beautiful, incredibly important part of our world and its various ecosystems. They clean our air, sequester carbon, provide shade and natural resources in the form of fruit, bark, sap, timber and countless other commodities. Without them, our world would be uninhabitable.

Why, then, are forests being destroyed at such an alarming rate? And what are people doing to stop that destruction?

To find out more about solutions, check out the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s Forest Conservation website. The site offers resources like videos of tree planting efforts in Eastern and South Africa to make areas less vulnerable to climate change. There is a section exploring how gender is key to sustainable forests, and one about Guatemala’s partnership with REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation).

Costa Rica Santa Elena Skywalk (Photo credit: Liftarn / Wikimedia)

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has an entire section devoted to Forest Conservation. The website’s front section says it all: “WWF”s forest conservation programme is geared toward halting deforestation around the world, from rainforests to temperate forests. Tough assignment? With your help, we can make it happen.” For more specific scientific information about the state of forests, check out their Living Forests Report: “Forests for a Living Planet.”

Another organization offering great resources is Conservation International, a well known environmental group working on projects all over the world. Their Saving Forests website is broken down into three sections: Overview, Projects and Places. Find out locations in the world where they are tackling forestry issues, and what projects they are implementing in local communities to find solutions. From afforestation to reforestation, the site is a treasure trove of helpful information about what real people and organizations are doing to combat these issues.

As February progresses, we will have more information for you about forest conservation problems and how people are solving them. Monday’s post is all about organizations protecting forests in Kenya.

Guest Blog: Solar Sister #3

Posted on January 23, 2012 by lathamsa

Solar Sister Energy Access & Health Matters Series:
What has women and girl’s health to do with clean energy?

Did you know that energy poverty has a female face? Women and girls in villages, small towns and shanty dwellings dispersed across the length and breadth of Asia, Africa and Latin America live with the worst consequences of energy poverty. Let’s put spotlight on two key health dimensions that often get sidelined in discussions on why energy access is so important for women’s health. One, the burden of lifting heavy fuelwood for cooking over long distances and two, women’s sanitation and safety concerns related to the use of outdoor bathrooms without basic lighting at night.

All over the world, rural women heavily depend on fuel wood for cooking. According to the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, over half of world’s population cooks food, boils water, and warm their homes using wood, dung and other local biomass. The World Health Organization estimates that exposure to smoke from cooking constitutes the fifth worst risk factor for disease in developing countries. Open fires and poorly designed makeshift cook stoves emit smoke and particulate matter which are responsible for nearly 2 million deaths a year worldwide.

In most cases, women and children are responsible for collecting the wood, a very time-consuming and tiring task. International Energy Agency estimates that the average fuel wood load in sub-Saharan Africa is around 20 kg (44 lbs) but loads of 38 kg (84 lbs) have also been recorded. Women can suffer serious long-term physical damage carrying such heavy loads on their back with impacts like low birth weights in babies. Add to this the constant risk of falls, bites or assault, that risk of injury rises steeply the further from home women and children have to walk to collect the wood due to deforestation engulfing many areas. The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves is fighting these issues to save lives, improve livelihoods, empower women, and combat climate change by creating a thriving global market for clean and efficient household cooking solutions.

The other women’s health issue related to energy poverty was brought to my attention by Sarah Kasule, Program Coordinator with the Mother’s Union of Uganda, which is one of Solar Sister’s key grassroots partners in training rural women as solar entrepreneurs. Sarah told me an important benefit of solar light for the women of Africa that I had not heard about from anyone else I’d met. She said that in Uganda, open pit toilets are often located outside the houses/larger settlements and in absence of light; women have to walk in the dark to use the toilet. This is not a very appealing topic for most to talk about openly but is extremely important from women’s health perspective as women pick up all kinds of unsavory infections in absence of clean toilets and worse, without being able to see where they are going. Besides, walking alone in the thick of night to use the toilet increases the risk of gender-based violence, which drives women further into poverty. The situation is worse for women living in refugee camps. Access to light can be one of the important tools to improve nighttime security and health for women. Sarah is happy that now with the unique partnership between Solar Sister and Mother’s Union of Uganda, this important issue can get much needed light.

These posts are written by Neha Misra, the Chief Collaboration Officer of Solar Sister. You can follow her on Twitter at @LightSolar.

Join Solar Sister in spreading light, hope and opportunity. Join us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Learn more at www.solarsister.org.

Climate Change, Health and Poverty

Posted on January 11, 2012 by lathamsa

Rainforests trap huge amounts of carbon dioxide, and cutting trees down accelerates the impact of climate change and related health effects. (AP Images)

Health and climate change are directly related. As the Global Health Council puts it, “A change in the conditions in our ecosystem also leads to changes in our relationship with it. Health impact is one component of this relationship.” Whether the effects are direct, like heat stroke, or indirect, like rising temperatures causing disease carrying vectors to survive at higher elevations and thus infecting even more people, impoverished people are particularly vulnerable.

The organization Health Poverty Action has an entire section devoted to climate change and health, and they discuss how poor people in developing countries are most at risk, “partly because of geography and partly because they lack the resources to adapt quickly to the impacts of climate change.” The site goes on to explain that

As temperatures increase and rainfall patterns change, crop yields are expected to drop significantly in Africa, the Middle East and India, while densely populated coastal areas and small island states will be particularly vulnerable to floods. Increased flooding will spread more water-borne diseases like diarrhea, while droughts will breed insects and rodents affecting food, water supplies and health. With rising temperatures, diseases like malaria, West Nile disease, dengue fever and river blindness will shift to new areas.”

To help combat these issues in Laos, Health Poverty Action is working with local communities to help them develop sustainable livelihoods that will allow them to be more resilient to environmental changes.

For a more in depth look at the relationship between poverty, climate change and health in Pacific Island countries, check out Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service’s paper “Poverty, Climate Change and Health in Pacific Island Countries.”

Guest Blog: Maurine Winkley of the Rainforest Partnership

Posted on November 16, 2011 by lathamsa

Maurine Winkley, Rainforest Partnership (Courtesy Photo)

Maurine Winkley is the Director of Operations at Rainforest Partnership. In both professional and academic experience, she has sought opportunities to combine her passion for entrepreneurship and finance with her desire to create lasting economic alternatives to environmental destruction. Specific focal areas have been in carbon finance, financial analysis and international business management. Her experience spans both the non-profit and privates sectors and notably includes two businesses she started, managed and sold.

Maurine enjoys being outdoors as much as possible and joining local volunteer efforts in her home town of Austin, TX. Other core interests include gourmet cooking, international travel, conversing in Spanish & Portuguese and staying active. Read her guest blog below!

Photo courtest of Rainforest Partnership.

When it comes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, much of the focus today is on new technologies for renewable energy and other cool stuff like electric cars and high tech green buildings. While these are an essential part of the solution, sometimes old tricks are the best tricks for making big reductions in emissions: saving the rainforest.

Not only do rainforests take out carbon from the atmosphere and store it, but they also produce oxygen, hold 50% of the species on the planet (think monkeys, butterflies, trees) and regulate weather patterns beyond their immediate location.

One of the best ways we can reduce global carbon emissions is by stopping people from cutting down and burning trees in rainforests. Cutting and burning of forests adds up to one fifth of the annual global carbon dioxide emissions (CO2). For rainforests, that is the equivalent of about 24,000 football fields a day that get cut! If we can stop tropical deforestation, it would be like stopping every car and truck from emitting CO2.

It’s that simple!

But, it is not that easy. As much as we would like to, those trees in the Amazon cannot be protected unless they are worth more standing that cut down, or the land they are on is worth more with them on it. So we must work to find innovative and effective ways to protect rainforests.

Photo courtest of Rainforest Partnership.

Experts agree that empowering communities to act as stewards of their forests works better than fencing off large sections forest and hoping that it remains untouched – working with the communities that live in and around the rainforest ensures that everyone benefits.

Over the past decade, Peru has lost more than one million hectares of rainforests to deforestation. In a new study using satellite imagery to estimate the carbon stocks of forests in Peru, researchers at Carnegie Mellon found some telling numbers.

The researchers mapped out 4.3 million hectares of the Amazon forest in the Madre de Dios region of Peru. They found that the trees in this region contained some 395 million metric tons of carbon and measured a release of 630,000 metric tons of carbon per year. They also found that older more diverse forests stored 3 times as much carbon as replanted forests.

According to the Council on Foreign Relations cutting deforestation rates by just 50 percent over the next century would provide about 12 percent of the emissions reductions that we need to meet the carbon dioxide concentration target of 450 parts per million at the end of the century. Obviously this is just part of the solution, but I think that we can do better than 50 percent. Prudent forest conservation and management efforts combined with aggressive reforestation will go a long way towards saving the planet from catastrophic climate change that our current trajectory is steering us towards.

Photo courtest of Rainforest Partnership.

This is where we step in. At Rainforest Partnership, we are partnering with communities that live and depend on the forest to create sustainable economies that protect and regenerate their forests. We believe that the best stewards of the rainforest are the people who live in the forest.

Every forest and every community is unique. Using a bottom-up approach, Rainforest Partnership matches the needs, desires, culture, knowledge and skills of local communities with sustainable economic development opportunities unique to each local forest.

At Rainforest Partnership we work with rainforest communities at the local level but there are also steps that we can all take as global consumers of products that come from the rainforest. My advice would be to become aware of what you buy. The rainforest provides us with a cornucopia of goods: coffee, chocolate, tea, fruits, and not to mention wood. As consumers we need to purchase goods that are grown and harvested sustainably and that provide real benefits to the communities that harvest them.

Visit http://www.rainforestpartnership.org/ to find out more about our projects and learn how you can partner with us, become a Facebook fan, follow us on Twitter and check out our Youtube Channel.

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Category Archives: Community

Planning, Participation and Sustainable Cities

Protecting Tigers in Thailand and Using Biogas in Mongolia

Earth Day Stories: Italy and Thailand

Earth Day Stories: Iraq and Jamaica

Let’s Mobilize the Earth for Earth Day 2012

Community Water Program in India

February’s theme is…Forests!

Guest Blog: Solar Sister #3

Climate Change, Health and Poverty

Guest Blog: Maurine Winkley of the Rainforest Partnership