All the bad things that have ever happened to a forest—wildfires, slashing and burning, deforestation, etc. have come from humans. Yet a new study—Securing Rights, Combating Climate Change—from the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the Resources and Rights Initiative (RRI) learned that the best way to protect a forest isn’t to keep people out, but to let more people in. In the Amazon rainforest, deforestation rates in community-owned areas are far lower than outside. Since 2000, annual deforestation rates in Brazil have been 7 per cent outside indigenous territories, but only 0.6 per cent inside. The report estimates that indigenous territories in the Brazilian Amazon could prevent the emission of 12 billion tons of CO2 between now and 2050. Only 1/8 of the world’s forests are controlled by communities, the vast majority are controlled by governments who lease out logging and mining contracts to private corporations.
Rainforests are best protected by local communities
More of Today's Solutions
Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation regains ancestral lands near Yosemite in major c...
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Nearly 900 acres of ancestral territory have been officially returned to the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation, marking a ...
Read More8 fermented foods that your gut will love (and that taste great, too!)
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Fermented foods have been a dietary staple in many cultures for centuries, but in the U.S., they’re only ...
Read MoreBreaking the silence: empowering menopausal women in the workplace
Addressing menopause in the workplace is long overdue in today's fast-changing work scene, where many are extending their careers into their 60s. According to ...
Read MoreInsect migration: the hidden superhighway of the Pyrenees
Insects, while frequently disregarded, are critical to the planet's ecosystems. They make up about 90 percent of all animal species and play important functions ...
Read More
