The Congo Basin rainforest, the second largest in the world,
could disappear by 2100.
The Congo Basin contains some 314 million hectares (1.2 million sq miles) of primary rainforest – the oldest, densest, and most ecologically significant kind. The rainforest plays a crucial role in the stability of the world's climate, and spans across six countries in central Africa: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea.
According to a study by the University of Maryland (UMD) published in the journal Science Advances, the Congo Basin lost around 165,000 square kilometres of forest between 2000 and 2014. Morover, the study predicted If the current trend holds, it’s predicted that the entire forest will be gone by 2100. Eighty percent of
the region’s total forest loss was largely due to clearing land for subsistence farming, causing to report to conclude that the primary driver underpinning deforestation in the Congo Basin is poverty.
On a positive note: Under a revolutionary scheme in DR Congo
– which is home to the majority of the Congo Basin, the world's second-largest rainforest –
the 300 villagers of Nkala were granted 4,100 hectares (16 square miles) of forest in December 2018.
This meant, for the first time in their history, the community had the legal right to own and manage the forest they live in.
Sources
https://www.lifegate.com/congo-basin-rainforest-logging; https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210107-congo-basin-a-bold-plan-to-save-africas-largest-rainforest
Pastoralism - Revival of Spansih Tradition
A resurgence in pastoralism, one of the world's more sustainable food systems, could help Spain adapt to climate change and revitalise depopulated rural areas.
Every spring and autumn, Garzón and his herd make this seasonal migration, called transhumance – from the Latin trans for "across" and humus for "earth" – a form of pastoralism where animals typically move to and from summer highlands and winter lowlands to take advantage of seasonal peaks in pastures and avoid extreme temperatures.
Practiced by 200 to 500 million people across the world's rangelands – grasslands, savannahs, mountain pastures, tundra and steppe covering half the earth's land surface – pastoralism is significant socially, environmentally, and economically. Yet misconceptions and an underappreciation of its benefits means it has been largely overlooked in international sustainability discussions and agendas.
Source:
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210923-the-revival-of-spains-epic-pastoral-migration
Crypto Climate Accord
A coalition of 200-odd crypto entities recently joined forces with the Rocky Mountain Institute, a Colorado-based environmental lobby, to create a Crypto Climate Accord. Accord signatories have apparently agreed to cut the carbon emissions from electricity use to net zero by 2030, partly via carbon offsets but also by switching all blockchain technology to renewable energy sources by 2025 and using energy tracking tools such as so-called green hashtags.
Source
Tett, Gillian. "Crypto cannot easily be painted gree," Financial Times, 7 January 2022,. p.21 .
ENVIRONS