SciDev.Net

Training tree fellers in forest management can cut tree damage and carbon emissions from degradation, argue Francis E. Putz and colleagues.

The time is right for Europe to change its carbon trading rules, giving Africa access to the market, writes Louis V. Verchot.

Strong international policies are needed to stop the biofuel revolution threatening food security for the poor, says Siwa Msangi.

Biofuels offer huge potential, but pose challenges best countered with strong and coherent development policies, says S. Arungu-Olende.

Environmental groups should buy palm oil plantations to fund biodiversity-saving nature reserves, say Lian Pin Koh and David S. Wilcove.

Collecting comprehensive national and regional data could thwart the spread of malaria in Africa as conditions warm, argues Suad Sulaiman.

Research sites on fragments of the Amazon rainforest are in danger of being fragmented themselves, say William Laurance and Regina Luizão.

Biodiversity is a complex issue, says Camilla Toulmin, and the G8 report on its economic value faces many challenges.

Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, stands up for biofuels' role in sustainable development.

China is increasing its use of bioenergy. But the government is overlooking smaller projects that could benefit poor rural communities, says Lin Gan.

Better grassland protection and more targeted funding in rural China are needed to reduce the risk of sandstorms, argues Jiang Gaoming.

South-East Asia must act quickly to stop farmers burning their land, say David J. Lohman, David Bickford and Navjot S. Sodhi.

The latest IPPC report offers an opportunity to put climate change policies into development agendas, say Gary Yohe and Rodel Lasco.

A Malaysian conservation project could help preserve biodiversity alongside the South-East Asian timber industry, says an editorial in Nature.

Jeffrey McNeely says proponents of biofuels need to take greater account of their environmental impacts and use science to make them more efficient.

Guilio Volpi argues that Brazil's policy of promoting biofuels risks increasing deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions.

Carbon emissions trading would not be an effective way of halting deforestation of the Amazon rainforest; using Brazil’s existing fiscal measures for conservation may hold more promise says Emily Boyd.

T Mitchell Aide and H Ricardo Grau say the devastating effects of recent flooding in Haiti could have been mitigated if its forested highlands had been maintained.