Brazilian coastal forest, Itacaré. Photograph: © SAF — Coastal Care
Excerpts;
Deforestation and unsustainable farming are depriving the planet of forests, while destructive practices in fishing are limiting the chance to sustainably manage our oceans.
According to United Nations estimates, the world’s population is projected to increase from 7.6 billion today to close to 10 billion people by 2050. The global demand for food is estimated to grow by 50 percent, placing productive land and seas under huge pressure.
It ultimately means that the way we manage our forests and oceans now is crucial in addressing our future needs, warn two biennial reports released this July by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the U.N.
The two reports titled The State of the World’s Forests(SOFO) and on The State of the World’s Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA), aim to highlight key facts over the state of our planet’s forests and waters and shed light on the need to address forestry, fisheries and aquaculture issues…
Read Full Article, IPS News (07-12-2018)
Saving trees in tropics could cut emissions by one-fifth, study shows, Science Daily
Reducing deforestation in the tropics would significantly cut the amount of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere — by as much as one-fifth — research shows. In the first study of its kind, scientists have calculated the amount of carbon absorbed by the world’s tropical forests and the amounts of greenhouse gas emissions created by loss of trees, as a result of human activity…
A Giant Brought to Its Knees: The Atlantic Coastal Forest
The Atlantic Forest is a shadow of its former self. Originally covering more than 386,000 sq. miles along Brazil’s coast, extending into eastern Paraguay and northeastern Argentina. Today less than 7% of that cover remains, in the wake of centuries of forest clearing for agriculture and urban development, and fragmented by centuries of unsustainable use and logging…
Human Deforestation Outweighs Climate Change for Coral Reefs, Nature (06-05-2013)
Better land use is the key to preventing further damage to the world’s coral reefs, according to a study published this week in the online science journal Nature Communications…
Official fish trade ‘hugely underestimates’ global catches; Science Daily (10-09-2017)
Conservation of dwindling fish stocks is being severely hampered by poor controls on global trade, according to new research…
Overfishing is as big a threat to humanity as it is to our oceans; Guardian UK (02-16-2016)
As global per-capita fish consumption hits all-time high, UN warns on over harvesting; UN (07-07-2016)
A new report from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) shows that while growth in aquaculture has helped drive global per capita fish consumption above 20 kilograms a year for the first time, almost a third of commercial fish stocks are now overharvested at biologically unsustainable levels…
