Blog Posts: forests

According to data displayed on Global Forest Watch Fires, there have been 66,000 fire alerts in Indonesia from January through the end of September. While this is much lower than fire levels in 2015 — which saw more than 110,000 alerts at the end of September — it far exceeds levels in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Baltimore is one of many cities coping with the problem of urban wood waste from damaged trees, construction lumber and yard trimmings. Salvaging that wood can cut landfill waste, create jobs, engage local communities and refill municipal coffers.

Southeast Asia's Mekong region has lost much of its forests. A new satellite imagery technique reveals countries like Thailand are reversing the trend, not just in forests but on farms and villages too.

Research shows that ambition to tackle big sustainability problems can emerge when the private and public sector recognize and reciprocate one another's efforts. Right now, one such "ambition loop," which aims to reduce deforestation related to your chocolate bars, is in danger of stalling out.

As deforestation and land use issues get more global attention, leaders shouldn't forget the people living on these lands. A new report from the Food and Land Use Coalition outlines solutions that help rural and forest communities thrive.

We tested 73 wood products from well-known US retailers. More than half the time, the wood wasn't even the species it was labeled to be.

Frances Seymour, a WRI Distinguished Senior Fellow, and Nancy Harris, Research Manager at Global Forest Watch, offer their expert perspective on tropical deforestation in the journal Science as the world's attention is riveted on fires in the Amazon and around the globe.

Most communities overlook a critical tool in reducing their greenhouse gas emissions: trees. One of the reasons is that they don’t know how to account for forests and trees in their emissions inventories.

The latest IPCC report confirms a lot we already knew about the relationship between tropical forests and climate change, as well as reveals some relatively new science about how forests interact with the atmosphere. The bottom line? Protecting forests—especially tropical forests—is one of the most important strategies for both climate mitigation and adaptation.

A new IPCC report found there could be significant benefits to land-based carbon removal, such as through afforestation and restoration. But if deployed incorrectly, these strategies could create greater pressures on land and compromise food security and ecosystem health.