The continuous rise in the global demand for palm oil has resulted in large-scale expansion of industrial oil palm plantations - largely at the expense of primary and secondary forests. The potentially negative environmental impacts of these conversions have given rise to closer scrutiny. However, empirical data on the effects of conversion of forests to industrial oil palm plantations on soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks is scarce and patchy.

As the applications of Earth system models (ESMs) move from general climate projections toward questions of mitigation and adaptation, the inclusion of land management practices in these models becomes crucial. We carried out a survey among modeling groups to show an evolution from models able only to deal with land-cover change to more sophisticated approaches that allow also for the partial integration of land management changes. For the longer term a comprehensive land management representation can be anticipated for all major models.

Community land, crucial to rural livelihood around the world, is increasingly targeted by commercial interests. Its loss can lead to environmental degradation, increased rural poverty and land disputes that last for years. Without formal legal recognition of their land rights, communities struggle to protect their land from being allocated to outside investors.

The negative consequences of human actions have brought our world and our future to a dangerous crossroads: will we be able to avert the worst impacts of climate change? How can we stop and reverse the loss of fertile soil, biodiversity, and other natural capital that supplies all our food and other basic needs? Where are the jobs for millions of unemployed young people?

Se analiza si la deforestación en la región amazónica es un caso típico de fallo del mercado. Se calcula el costo de oportunidad de actividades económicas que contribuyen a la deforestación, comparado con el costo de los usos que dejan intactos a los bosques. Respecto a los recursos ambientales en peligro, las modalidades de uso productivo de la tierra se consideran en función del valor de los beneficios netos de las actividades primarias realizadas en tierra.

La búsqueda de China de recursos naturales en América Latina / Felipe Freitas da Rocha y Ricardo Bielschowsky .-- Gobierno corporativo y deuda internacional de empresas latinoamericanas / Georgina Núñez Reyes, Ignacio Perrotini Hernández y Francisco López-Herrera .-- Efecto derrame del crecimiento de China en América del Sur: un análisis basado en el comercio internacional / Gercione Dionizio Silva, Marília Fernandes Maciel Gomes y Evandro Camargos Teixeira .-- Desigualdades territoriales, transferencias de igualación y reparto asimétrico de recursos naturales no renovables en América Latin

The article discusses whether deforestation in the Amazonian region should be considered a typical case of market failure and computes the opportunity cost of economic activities that promote deforestation relative to uses that keep the forest intact. For environmental resources threatened by Amazon deforestation, forms of productive land use (“opportunity” uses) are considered in terms of the net benefit values of primary land-based activities.

China’s quest for natural resources in Latin America / Felipe Freitas da Rocha and Ricardo Bielschowsky .-- Corporate governance and international bond issues by Latin American corporations / Georgina Núñez Reyes, Ignacio Perrotini Hernández and Francisco López-Herrera .-- The spillover effect of Chinese growth on South America: an analysis from international trade / Gercione Dionizio Silva, Marília Fernandes Maciel Gomes and Evandro Camargos Teixeira .-- Territorial inequality, equalization transfers and asymmetric sharing of non-renewable natural resources in Latin America / Giorgio Brosi

This policy brief was developed based on findings from a series of sub-national and national multi-stakeholder workshops organized between July and November 2018. These workshops shared the experiences of community forestry enterprise (CFE) development and private sector partnership in Myanmar. This report highlights the findings. 

Developed by ICRAF as part of the ASFCC program, these guidelines were adopted by AMAF in October 2018 and seek to provide technical support to ASEAN Member States pursuing agroforestry development. 

As of 2017, SGP has awarded over 3,800 small grants to land degradation projects in over 120 countries, many of which are in regions with extreme levels of poverty and food insecurity across Africa and Latin America. Africa, in particular, is experiencing the highest population growth of the developing world, while being exposed and vulnerable to the rising impact from climate change.

Vietnam, which has a long history of theft of timber from neighbouring Laos and Cambodia, recently initialled a timber trade agreement with the European Union. This will see Vietnam implement legislation to address imports of illegally harvested or traded timber, in return for timber exports to the EU being deemed to comply with the requirements of the European Union Timber Regulation (EUTR).