'The current biofuel policies of rich countries are neither a solution to the climate crisis nor the oil crisis, and instead are contributing to a third: the food crisis. In poor countries, biofuels may offer some genuine development opportunities, but the potential economic, social, and environmental costs are severe, and decision makers should proceed with caution.'

Case studies on customary land and development in the Pacific, is a collection of 16 studies that look at problems and innovative practices in land tenure and administration across the Pacific region.

Poor rural farmers and herders in developing countries that bear the brunt of land degradation and desertification are also part of the solution, according to the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

A new study by the World Resources Institute and other researchers finds that much of the world's deforestation is isolated in a handful of "hotspots", not spread out over many nations and many locations. In fact, this study showed that over half the world's deforestation is happening in just two locations: 48% is occurring in Brazil, with another 13% concentrated in Indonesia. Meanwhile, deforestation in Africa is negligible in comparison.

The Agricultural Network Information Center (AgNIC) is an alliance of land-grant universities, agriculture organizations and the National Agricultural Library. Members provide research data and other informative articles on agriculture via electronic communications on the World Wide Web.

Forestry AgNIC is sponsored by the University of Minnesota Forestry Library, part of the University Libraries.

Farm workerThe global biofuels boom risks harming poor people in poor countries by forcing them off land they depend on, says a report published today (2 June) by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. But the report adds that biofuels are not all bad, and shows that their production can also allow poor groups to increase their access to land and improve their livelihoods if the right policies are in place.

This new paper from the International Food Policy Research Institute analyzes the on-site and off-site economic impacts of various sustainable land management (SLM) practices in Kenya. Long-term trial data are used to establish the relationship between SLM practices and maize yield. The analysis of on-site effects focuses on the profitability of maize production at the farm level, while the examined off-site effects include carbon sequestration and siltation from maize farms, which increase the more...

The Australia Forest & Trade Network (Australia FTN) is the Australian chapter of WWF's Global Forest & Trade Network (GFTN) set up by WWF to assist Australian businesses that are seeking to support responsible forestry.

The Global Forest and Trade Network is an alliance of national networks all working to promote the responsible purchasing of timber products, and to create market incentives for forest managers to improve forestry practices where it matters most.

In countries with weak governance such as the Solomon Islands, logging has numerous negative externalities. These include illegal and uncontrolled exploitation of the resource, smuggling, misclassification, transfer pricing, and corruption at different levels and scale. The consequences of these activities include environmental degradation, diminished livelihoods, loss of state revenues, an erosion of democratic principles, and a direct contribution to conflict. Many of these factors are present more...

This article in the last edition of FRAMEgram, by Thomas Erdmann of USAID's Eco-Regional Initiative (ERI) Program, Madagasca, talks about the success of Community Based Forest Management (CBFM).

How do those who are persuaded by the potential, utility and justice of CBFM convince the naysayers? Several paths have recently been suggested. First of all, advocates should endeavor to mount a continuous, forceful and unrelenting communication campaign that targets the doubters. This could tak more...