Blog Posts: agriculture

New research from WRI and others shows that stopping deforestation, restoring forests and improving forestry practices could cost-effectively remove 7 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide annually, or as much as eliminating 1.5 billion cars.

Research shows that every $1 invested in restoring degraded land generates an estimated $7–$30 in economic benefits, including improved food production, carbon sequestration, and water quality.

This article originally appeared on the World Economic Forum Agenda.

The new Fire Risk Map on Global Forest Watch Fires aims to provide a Smokey for Southeast Asia. Every day, a computer model generates a new interactive map showing where dry conditions increase fire risk in Indonesia and Malaysia. The tool can help decision-makers take action to prevent fires before they ignite.

An accurate, actual, complete and transparent data is a necessity for a well-informed decision-making process.

Tropical regions face an emissions challenge from an important, but relatively little-known source: drained peatland. Peat soil, made up of partially decomposed, wet plant material that forms over thousands of years, is highly concentrated in Indonesia and Malaysia. Peatland in these countries has become a common target for agricultural expansion, particularly for oil palm, as fertile land becomes increasingly scarce. When land is cleared for plantations, the underlying peat needs to be drained, releasing CO₂ into the atmosphere.

Why do we let history repeat itself? Less than six months ago, fires raged in Indonesia, blanketing the region in toxic smoke and releasing more greenhouse gas emissions than Germany produces in a year. Eventually the fires subsided, the air cleared, and the world stopped talking about this crisis. But it will happen again. These fires, caused by unsustainable forest management and agricultural practices, are a devastating and costly cycle that we have been repeating for decades.

New analysis reveals even more troubling news about Indonesia’s fires crisis. Emissions from this year’s fires have reached 1.62 billion metric tons of CO2—bumping Indonesia from the sixth-largest emitter in the world up to the fourth-largest in just six weeks.

The analysis from Guido van der Werf with the Global Fire Emissions Database also reveals that:

According to estimates released this week by Guido van der Werf on the Global Fire Emissions Database, there have been nearly 100,000 active fire detections in Indonesia so far in 2015, which since September have generated emissions each day exceeding the average daily emissions from all U.S. economic activity. Following several recent intense outbreaks of fires—in June 2013, March 2014 and November 2014—the country is now on track to experience more fires this year than it did during the 2006 fire season, one of its worst on record.