Mangrove devastation, the importance of tenure, and victories for indigenous communities in the news this week

Alarm Over Mangrove Devastation in Pakistan
Dawn, 9 March 2012
Speakers at a conference in Pakistan on mangrove ecosystems said that an acute lack of awareness among people and policy makers about the critical importance of mangroves was a major hurdle in conservation efforts along the coast.

Indigenous Groups Launch Ground-Breaking Environmental Regime in Brazil
Forest Carbon Portal, 9 March 2012
The Brazilian state of Acre has implemented a comprehensive legal framework to support compensation and payments for ecosystem services, and indigenous groups are among the first to begin implementing it.

Land Ownership Boosts Climate Resilience in India
Reuters AlertNet, 11 March 2012
Efforts to secure land ownership for tribal people in one of India’s poorest states are bolstering their economic security in the face of climate-induced hardships, and helping conserve farmland and forest.
Related article: The next crop of landowners (March 8, Landesa)

Upland Farmers in Philippines Benefit from Forest Management Program
Philippine Information Agency, 12 March 2012
A total of 1,884 upland farmers from the Bicol region are continuously benefiting from the Community-Based Forest Management (CBFM) program of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources according to the 2011 accomplishment report of the DENR Forest Management Service (FMS).

Climate Change Could Increase Fires, Logging, and Hunting in Rainforests
Mongabay, 13 March 2012
The combined impacts of deforestation and climate change will bring a host of new troubles for the world's tropical rainforests, argues a new study in Trends in Ecology and Evolution.

GPS Technology Maps Land Rights for Africa's 'Forest People'
CNN, 13 March 2012
GPS technology is helping indigenous people map the land they call home and produce documents that can help preserve their access to the forest that is their lifeblood.

Consensus Reached on Guidelines for Land Tenure and Access to Fisheries and Forests
FAO, 13 March 2012
International talks convened at FAO last week to finalize negotiations on a proposed set of voluntary global guidelines on responsible governance of land tenure and access rights to land, fisheries and forest resources have concluded successfully.

EU Brings Farms and Forests Into Low-Carbon Plans
BBC, 13 March 2012
The EU has called on European governments to include data on CO2 emissions from farming and forestry in their efforts to tackle climate change. The goal is to accurately measure CO2 emissions from biomass used for energy and from ploughing and logging.

In Africa's Vanishing Forests, the Benefits of Bamboo
New York Times Blog, 13 March 2012
Bamboo is being promoted as a potential solution to deforestation and accompanying loss in environmental services in Africa.

Local Communities in Ghana to Produce Legal Lumber
GhanaWeb, 13 March 2012
Local communities in the country would soon be producing lumber to shore up the volume of legal lumber supply for the domestic market. This would be achieved through the implementation of a project by Tropenbos International (TBI) Ghana, that seeks to link local communities to forest concession holders to produce legal lumber.

Scientists Say Massive Palm Oil Plantation Will "Cut the Heart Out" of Cameroon's Rainforest
Mongabay, 15 March 2012
Researchers allege that the company behind a proposed 70,000 hectare oil palm plantation misled the government about the state of the forest to be cleared and has violated rules set by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil.

Capacity Building, Coffee, & Conservation Through the Woodland Park Zoo
National Geographic, 15 March 2012
A partnership between Conservation International and Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo is bringing conservation and coffee together in Papua New Guinea – a 76,000 hectare conservation area will support wildlife habitats while also providing nearby coffee producers with new livelihood opportunities.

Malaysian Appeals Court Rules in Favor of Tenom Natives
Daily Express, 16 March 2012
The Court of Appeal in Malaysia has dismissed the prosecution's appeal against the High Court's decision to overturn the lower court's decision to fine six Kg Imahit natives a total of RM3,000 for entering the Kuala Tomani Forest Reserve in Tenom. Judge Datuk David Wong, in his decision, held that the magistrate was wrong in saying customary rights cannot be established in a Forest Reserve.

Global Flower Trade Threatens Rare Palm
BBC, 16 March 2012
Demand for leaves from an endangered palm, found in Central and South America, is threatening the species' long term survival, and efforts to encourage local farmers to grow the palm are hindered by lack of long term land tenure.