As the benefits of urban green spaces become apparent, passionate activists across the Middle East & North Africa are changing their cities through urban agriculture, rooftop gardens, innovative waste management solutions, and community engagement. In January 2020, the U.S. Forest Service brought together a group of individuals from Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia, and the Palestinian …
In February the United States Forest Service and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) partnered with the Guinean Association Mines Sans Pauvreté (Mines without Poverty) to organize a West African mining and environment study tour. The tour brought together 30 representatives from mining companies, government agencies, civil society organizations, academic institutions, media and communities …
The Lebanon Reforestation Initiative (LRI) has transformed the way native trees are grown and planted in Lebanon. Now the community-based NGO is tackling riparian corridors and rangeland restoration with the help of the U.S. Forest Service. In August, a U.S. Forest Service experts led rangeland management and monitoring workshops; demonstrated field practices; and helped LRI …
This month, the U.S. Forest Service was in the Milange District of Mozambique’s Zambézia Province, where it supports a demonstration nursery project with community development organization Esperanca Para Novo Rebento (ESPANOR). Communities in the Milange District are suffering the results of deforestation – destabilized river banks, a lack of shade for crops and living spaces, …
Communities to Gain from New Model Nursery along Mozambique/Malawi Border Read More »
A U.S. Forest Service team was in Madagascar this week to lead a training on the Agriculture and Land Use Greenhouse Gas Inventory software for the National Office of Climate Change Coordination and REDD + and the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, among other partners. The USAID-supported training provided practical exercises for technicians in …
U.S. Forest Service Introduces Climate Change Software in Madagascar Read More »
In early June, the U.S. Forest Service spent 10 days with Jordan’s Royal Department for Environmental Protection Rangers to learn about the challenges they face and to collaborate on solutions. The Royal Rangers support Jordan’s Ministry of Environment and the Public Security Directorate to enforce environmental laws and regulations throughout the country, particularly those focused on protecting Jordan’s limited green spaces. They …
Safeguarding Jordan’s Natural Resources: Royal Rangers Hone Their Skills Read More »
Supported by USAID’s Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment, the U.S. Forest Service is working throughout the Congo Basin with a range of partners to develop a model of improved fire management that can be scaled-up for use across the region. This includes developing land use and fire management plans with communities that are …
Timber waiting for export at the port in Douala, Cameroon. Photo courtesy of Richard Paton, USFS-IP Around the world, illegal logging is a leading cause of deforestation. Central African forests are particularly exploited because of weak governance. Countries are losing their exotic species and old growth trees, and both humans and biodiversity are suffering. In …
The Challenges Illegal logging is the most profitable natural resource crime, valued at US$52 billion to $157 billion annually (Global Financial Integrity 2017 Transnational Crime and the Developing World). If even a fraction of revenue lost to illegal timber trade could be retrieved and invested in communities and government programs in places particularly hard hit — …