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</div> <div class="film" aria-hidden="true"></div> </div> <main id="content" class="flex-grow "> <header class="container-medium header align-center pegged pad-1-horizontal " data-view="shared/components/_header"> <h1 class="header__title type-heading-xl color-heading margin-3-top margin-1-left margin-1-right margin-4-top-medium margin-2-left-medium margin-2-right-medium margin-3-bottom margin-4-bottom-medium"> <div class="header__title__prelude type-utility-large color-header-prelude"> <a href="/our-work/solutions/climate-change">Climate Crisis</a> </div> WCS Forests and Climate Change </h1> </header> <div class="page"> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-expanded-bottom pad-2-horizontal"> <h2>Climate change is among the greatest challenges of our time, with devastating impacts for people and biodiversity across the globe.</h2><p>WCS’s Forest and Climate Change Program works on innovative solutions to help ensure that Earth’s remaining forests and peatlands can deliver climate change mitigation and adaptation benefits at the scale we need.</p> </div> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-expanded-bottom pad-2-horizontal"> <p style="text-align: center;" rel="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.wcs.org/our-work/solutions/climate-change/intact-forests#NeedForests">Why We Need Forests</a><br><a href="https://www.wcs.org/our-work/solutions/climate-change/intact-forests#Threat">The Threat</a><br><a href="https://www.wcs.org/our-work/solutions/climate-change/intact-forests#WhatWeDo">What We Do</a><br><a href="https://www.wcs.org/our-work/solutions/climate-change/intact-forests#Geographies">Priority Geographies</a><br><a href="https://www.wcs.org/our-work/solutions/climate-change/intact-forests#Publications">Publications</a><br><a href="https://www.wcs.org/our-work/solutions/climate-change/intact-forests#InTheMedia">WCS Forests and Climate Change in the Media<br></a><a href="https://www.wcs.org/our-work/solutions/climate-change/forests-and-climate-change/meet-the-team">Meet Our Team</a> </p> </div> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-standard-bottom pad-2-horizontal"> <p><a name="NeedForests"></a> </p><h2 style="text-align: center;" rel="text-align: center;">Why We Need Forests</h2> </div> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-standard-bottom pad-2-horizontal"> <ul> <li>Forests capture CO2 from the atmosphere via photosynthesis and store it in their biomass. Terrestrial ecosystems absorb 30% of the anthropogenic CO2 emissions emitted every year.<o:p></o:p></li> <li>Healthy forests return moisture to the air through evapotranspiration, so that areas downwind of forests receive more rainfall than those downwind from urban, agricultural, or degraded forest landscapes.</li> </ul> </div> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-standard-bottom pad-2-horizontal"> <h3 style="text-align: center;">High-Integrity Forests</h3> </div> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-standard-bottom pad-2-horizontal"> <ul><li>When thinking about the loss of ecosystems, we sometimes look at their remaining area (e.g. forest cover). But equally important to consider is the integrity of the ecosystem - the degree to which function, structure, and composition are similar to its natural or reference state.</li><li>High integrity forests typically provide higher levels of many forest benefits including: carbon sequestration and storage, healthy watersheds, traditional forest use, and contribution to local and regional climate and forest-dependent biodiversity. Ecological resilience, including to drought and fire, is higher in more intact forests.</li><li>40% of forests still have high integrity, and this is declining year on year.</li><li>Declines in ecosystem integrity generally mean reduced suitability or availability of habitat for native biota, disrupted ecological processes and functions, diminished ecosystem resilience, and reduced capacity to sustain species and to provide many other ecosystem services.</li><li>Maintaining high connectivity of intact forests across wide areas enables species to recolonize after harmful local events in a way that cannot occur in isolated fragments, further contributing to healthy and functionally diverse natural communities.</li></ul><p><o:p></o:p></p> </div> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-standard-bottom pad-2-horizontal"> <h3 style="text-align: center;">People</h3> </div> <div class="grid grid-large-half container margin-expanded-bottom"> <div class="column cell"> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-standard-bottom pad-2-horizontal -column"> <ul><li>Many Indigenous Peoples' livelihoods and cultural security are underpinned by the integrity of the forests and other ecosystems within their territories. <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/fee.2148">At least 35% of large, high integrity forest blocks worldwide lie within lands managed by Indigenous Peoples</a>.</li><li>Protecting high integrity forests helps to avoid a range of serious pressures on human health. Degradation of high-integrity forests can negatively affect water and food security, and increase fire frequency and severity, which increases respiratory illnesses over wide <a href="https://www.wcs.org/get-involved/updates/wcs-issues-report-on-links-between-ecological-integrity-and-human-health">areas</a>. Securing high integrity ecosystems helps to minimize the risk of disease spillovers that can otherwise lead to pandemics.</li></ul> </div> </div> <div class="column cell"> <div class="container-small margin-standard-bottom -column"> <figure class="relative"> <img class="image-fluid" src="https://cdn.wcs.org/2023/06/26/16/05/11/3374d79d-ee31-4f5d-90ab-b750ba08a134/Julie Larsen Maher_4591_Local People_KEN_03 06 14.jpg" /> <div class="credit" > <span class="hide-visually">Photo Credit:</span> <span class="credit__attribution">Julie Larsen © WCS</span> </div> </figure> </div> </div> </div> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-standard-bottom pad-2-horizontal"> <p><a name="Threat"></a> </p><h2 style="text-align: center;">The Threat</h2> </div> <div class="grid grid-large-half container margin-0-bottom"> <div class="column cell"> <div class="container-small margin-standard-bottom -column"> <figure class="relative"> <img class="image-fluid" src="https://cdn.wcs.org/2022/05/28/gqjsohm8m_Julie_Larsen_Maher_1805_Eastern_Steppe_MNG_09_22_16_hr.jpg" /> <div class="credit" > <span class="hide-visually">Photo Credit:</span> <span class="credit__attribution">Julie Larsen Maher © WCS</span> </div> </figure> </div> </div> <div class="column cell"> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-standard-bottom pad-2-horizontal -column"> <p>Forest loss and degradation globally are driven primarily by agricultural expansion and secondarily by extractive activities – logging, mineral and fossil fuel extraction. These drivers are enabled by misaligned financial incentives and governance regimes that fail to recognize the values provided by forest ecosystems. This results in land use decisions that favor short-term private gains over public goods.</p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-expanded-bottom pad-2-horizontal"> <p>Forest loss and degradation contribute to the climate crisis by emitting carbon and reducing the biophysical climate regulation roles that forests play, particularly in the tropics. The climate crisis itself also threatens forests, particularly in drier, hotter, and more fire-prone regions.</p><ul><li>Without protecting, maintaining, and restoring forests and peatlands, preventing dangerous warming above 1.5C is not an attainable target.</li><li>Without incentives to ensure the effective protection of forests, deforestation and degradation will continue, resulting in declines in the critical climate functions these ecosystems provide.</li><li>Yet only a limited amount of climate finance (~2.5%) has targeted forests. That funding has focused on reducing carbon from deforestation or increasing removals from reforestation, but not on protecting the world’s high integrity forests for their role as a massive carbon sink that <a href="https://cbmjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13021-016-0069-2">soaks up excess carbon</a> from the atmosphere like a “sponge.” The resilience and adaptation benefits of high-integrity forests have similarly been largely overlooked.</li></ul> </div> <div class="section container-full fill-pastel fill-egret margin-4-bottom pad-2-vertical"> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-standard-bottom pad-2-horizontal -section"> <p><a name="WhatWeDo"></a> </p><h2 style="text-align: center;" rel="text-align: center;">What We Do</h2> </div> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-expanded-bottom pad-2-horizontal -section"> <p style="text-align: center;">Our program achieves its goals through a linked set of priorities.</p> </div> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-standard-bottom pad-2-horizontal -section"> <h3>1. Protecting high-integrity forests and peatlands</h3><p>Given the importance of high integrity forests globally, our team is working to:</p><ol><li>Advance rigorous science for <a href="https://www.forestlandscapeintegrity.com/" target="_blank">measuring and valuing high integrity forest ecosystems</a> and including them in spatial conservation planning processes and other venues so their value can be recognized and incorporated into national legislation and policies, and global commitments — including in partnership with Indigenous Peoples and local communities, and with the incorporation of Indigenous science perspectives.</li><li>Catalyze global action by securing new multilateral policy commitments, funding, and financial mechanisms that incentivize high integrity forest and peatland conservation, working with forest country champions. </li><li>Consolidate and expand protections in the world’s most important high integrity forest regions, through policy reforms, incentives and support to implementation efforts by community, Indigenous, and government partners. </li></ol> </div> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-standard-bottom pad-2-horizontal -section"> <h3>2. Reducing deforestation and forest degradation</h3><p>The Forests & Climate Change Team works with the Markets Team to address the drivers of deforestation from commodity production, including through: </p><ol><li>Partnerships and interventions that create zero deforestation supply chains, and that improve farmer livelihoods through the ‘<i>Forest Frontiers’ </i>approach; and </li><li>High integrity carbon market finance, an area where we aim to place WCS in a leadership role in transitioning carbon market finance from free-standing REDD+ projects to larger-scale REDD+ jurisdictions, with individual projects nested within them. </li></ol> </div> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-standard-bottom pad-2-horizontal -section"> <h3>3. Restoring forests in and around priority landscapes</h3><p><span class="normaltextrun">Our forest restoration program is organized around four main objectives:</span></p><ol><li><span class="normaltextrun">Provide implementation funds for projects to pilot restoration efforts in conservation landscapes </span></li><li><span class="normaltextrun">Develop financial mechanisms for the scale-up of restoration efforts where this aligns with other programmatic priorities </span></li><li><span class="normaltextrun">Support the monitoring and evaluation of restoration efforts to improve practices, and increase transparency and accountability in the use of funds </span></li><li><span class="normaltextrun">Promote the evolution of global standards of practice through the sharing of data, experience and learning in international policy processes. </span></li></ol> </div> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-expanded-bottom pad-2-horizontal -section"> <h3>4. Fostering resilience and adaptation to the impacts of climate change.</h3><p>In order to strategically address climate impacts and other threats to biodiversity, our general approach is to: </p><ol><li>Understand current and future climate change impacts, and how they interact with other threats to biodiversity.</li><li>Systematically plan the actions needed to address those issues, including adapting current conservation strategies as needed and supporting governance at relevant sites to integrate adaptation into decision-making and management plans.</li><li>Leverage funding for continued forest conservation that reflects the multiple resilience benefits to biodiversity and people.</li><li>Support the implementation of conservation actions on the ground with Indigenous Peoples and local communities, including monitoring outcomes and revising actions as we work into the future. </li></ol> </div> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-standard-bottom pad-2-horizontal -section"> <p>Learn more about each of our program priorities:</p> </div> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-compact-bottom pad-2-horizontal -section"> <h3>Protecting High Integrity Forests & Peatlands</h3> </div> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-standard-bottom pad-2-horizontal -section"> <ul><li><a href="https://www.forests-for-life.org/" target="_blank">Forests for Life Partnership</a></li><li><a href="https://www.wcs.org/our-work/forests-and-climate-change/hifor">High Integrity Forest Investment Initiative</a></li><li><a href="https://www.wcs.org/our-work/wcs-high-integrity-peatlands-cross-regional-initiative">High Integrity Peatlands</a><span class="redactor-invisible-space"></span></li></ul> </div> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-compact-bottom pad-2-horizontal -section"> <h3>Reducing Deforestation and Forest Degradation</h3> </div> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-standard-bottom pad-2-horizontal -section"> <ul><li><a href="https://www.wcs.org/our-work/solutions/climate-change/redd-plus">REDD+</a></li><li><a href="https://www.wcs.org/our-work/forest-first-approach">Forest Frontiers</a></li></ul> </div> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-compact-bottom pad-2-horizontal -section"> <h3>Forest Restoration</h3> </div> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-standard-bottom pad-2-horizontal -section"> <ul><li><a href="https://trilliontrees.org/" target="_blank">Trillion Trees</a></li><li><a href="https://trilliontrees.org/reforest-fund/" target="_blank">ReForest Fund</a></li></ul> </div> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-compact-bottom pad-2-horizontal -section"> <h3>Resilience and Adaptation</h3> </div> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-standard-bottom pad-2-horizontal -section"> <ul><li><a href="https://www.wcsclimateadaptationfund.org/">US Climate Adaptation Fund</a></li></ul> </div> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-compact-bottom pad-2-horizontal -section"> <h3>Cross-Cutting Themes</h3> </div> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-standard-bottom pad-2-horizontal -section"> <ul><li><a href="https://www.wcs.org/our-work/solutions/climate-change/forests-and-climate-change/science">Science</a></li><li><a href="https://www.wcs.org/our-work/solutions/climate-change/forests-and-climate-change/policy">Policy</a></li><li><a href="https://www.wcs.org/our-work/solutions/climate-change/forests-and-climate-change/finance">Finance</a></li><li><a href="https://www.wcs.org/our-work/solutions/climate-change/forests-and-climate-change/communications">Communications</a></li></ul> </div> </div> <div class="section container-full margin-compact-bottom pad-2-vertical"> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-standard-bottom pad-2-horizontal -section"> <p><a name="Geographies"></a> </p><h2 style="text-align: center;" rel="text-align: center;">Priority Geographies</h2> </div> <div class="justify-center container-medium margin-compact-bottom pad-1-horizontal -section grid grid-half grid-medium-half grid-medium-third posters"> <div class="poster cell align-center"> <a data-track-gtm="Our Work - WCS Forests and Climate Change|Poster|5 Great Forests of Mesoamerica" aria-hidden="true" href="https://www.wcs.org/5-great-forests"><figure class="figure aspect-3-4" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject"> <img class="image-fluid" alt="" itemprop="image" src="https://cdn.wcs.org/2023/02/01/8ouxg66z0c_Macaw_2_ig_web.jpg" /> <figcaption> </figcaption> </figure> </a> <h2 class="type-caption color-neutral margin-3-top"> <a data-track-gtm="Our Work - WCS Forests and Climate Change|Poster|5 Great Forests of Mesoamerica" class="color-neutral" href="https://www.wcs.org/5-great-forests">5 Great Forests of Mesoamerica</a> </h2> </div> <div class="poster cell align-center"> <a data-track-gtm="Our Work - WCS Forests and Climate Change|Poster|Central Africa" aria-hidden="true" href="https://www.wcs.org/our-work/regions/central-africa-gulf-of-guinea"><figure class="figure aspect-3-4" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject"> <img class="image-fluid" alt="" itemprop="image" src="https://cdn.wcs.org/2023/06/27/08/26/14/6507c2b4-cd80-4044-bb91-a7d9394b305f/file.jpg" /> <figcaption> </figcaption> </figure> </a> <h2 class="type-caption color-neutral margin-3-top"> <a data-track-gtm="Our Work - WCS Forests and Climate Change|Poster|Central Africa" class="color-neutral" href="https://www.wcs.org/our-work/regions/central-africa-gulf-of-guinea">Central Africa</a> </h2> </div> <div class="poster cell align-center"> <a data-track-gtm="Our Work - WCS Forests and Climate Change|Poster|Andes-Amazon" aria-hidden="true" href="https://www.wcs.org/our-work/regions/andes-amazon-orinoco"><figure class="figure aspect-3-4" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject"> <img class="image-fluid" alt="" itemprop="image" src="https://cdn.wcs.org/2023/06/27/08/26/13/d8fd60d3-e8b2-4104-89f2-a2ec2ea30826/file.jpg" /> <figcaption> </figcaption> </figure> </a> <h2 class="type-caption color-neutral margin-3-top"> <a data-track-gtm="Our Work - WCS Forests and Climate Change|Poster|Andes-Amazon" class="color-neutral" href="https://www.wcs.org/our-work/regions/andes-amazon-orinoco">Andes-Amazon</a> </h2> </div> <div class="poster cell align-center"> <a data-track-gtm="Our Work - WCS Forests and Climate Change|Poster|Indonesia" aria-hidden="true" href="https://indonesia.wcs.org/"><figure class="figure aspect-3-4" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject"> <img class="image-fluid" alt="" itemprop="image" src="https://cdn.wcs.org/2023/06/27/08/26/14/62e4b9b9-176f-4803-a833-189504de90dd/file.jpg" /> <figcaption> </figcaption> </figure> </a> <h2 class="type-caption color-neutral margin-3-top"> <a data-track-gtm="Our Work - WCS Forests and Climate Change|Poster|Indonesia" class="color-neutral" href="https://indonesia.wcs.org/">Indonesia</a> </h2> </div> <div class="poster cell align-center"> <a data-track-gtm="Our Work - WCS Forests and Climate Change|Poster|North American Boreal" aria-hidden="true" href="https://www.wcs.org/our-work/regions/north-american-boreal-forests"><figure class="figure aspect-3-4" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject"> <img class="image-fluid" alt="" itemprop="image" src="https://cdn.wcs.org/2023/07/21/12/03/04/4c84377e-a4c6-4b76-84a3-358ff7882398/file.jpg" /> <figcaption> </figcaption> </figure> </a> <h2 class="type-caption color-neutral margin-3-top"> <a data-track-gtm="Our Work - WCS Forests and Climate Change|Poster|North American Boreal" class="color-neutral" href="https://www.wcs.org/our-work/regions/north-american-boreal-forests">North American Boreal</a> </h2> </div> </div> </div> <div class="section container-full fill-pastel fill-egret margin-4-bottom pad-2-vertical"> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-expanded-bottom pad-2-horizontal -section"> <p><a name="Publications"></a> </p><h2 style="text-align: center;" rel="text-align: center;">Publications</h2> </div> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-standard-bottom pad-2-horizontal -section"> <h3 style="text-align: center;">Priorities for embedding ecological integrity in climate adaptation policy and practice</h3> </div> <div class="container-small margin-standard-bottom -section"> <figure class="relative"> <img class="image-fluid" src="https://cdn.wcs.org/2023/06/29/09/55/33/beea6a87-5a31-49c6-a5bd-3e632e3584b8/IMG_20191001_133239.jpg" /> <div class="credit" > <span class="hide-visually">Photo Credit:</span> <span class="credit__attribution">©Paul R. Elsen</span> </div> </figure> </div> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-expanded-bottom pad-2-horizontal -section"> <p style="text-align: center;">Paper co-authored by WCS recommends seven priorities for embedding ecological integrity in climate adaptation policy and practice.<br></p><p style="text-align: center;" rel="text-align: center;"><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2023.05.014" target="_blank"><span class="btn-fill-turtle">Read More</span></a> </p> </div> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-standard-bottom pad-2-horizontal -section"> <h3 style="text-align: center;">Forest Landscape Integrity Index (FLII)</h3> </div> <div class="container-small margin-standard-bottom -section"> <figure class="relative"> <img class="image-fluid" src="https://cdn.wcs.org/2022/05/24/5haeomdrxs_arnaud_mesureur_7EqQ1s3wIAI_unsplash.jpg" /> <div class="credit" > <span class="hide-visually">Photo Credit:</span> <span class="credit__attribution">©Arnaud Mesureur/Unsplash</span> </div> </figure> </div> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-expanded-bottom pad-2-horizontal -section"> <p style="text-align: center;">WCS and its science partners have produced <a href="https://www.forestlandscapeintegrity.com/" target="_blank">the first measure</a> of ecological integrity for all the world’s forests. This new, publicly available tool can be used to inform global policy decisions and land management.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.wcs.org/our-work/forest-landscape-integrity-index"><span class="btn-fill-turtle">Read More</span></a></p> </div> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-standard-bottom pad-2-horizontal -section"> <h3 style="text-align: center;">Carbon Bomb</h3> </div> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-standard-bottom pad-2-horizontal -section"> <p>In October 2019, <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/10/eaax2546" target="_blank">a study in </a><a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/10/eaax2546"><i>Science Advances</i></a><i>,</i> co-authored by WCS, said that the climate impact from the loss of intact tropical forests had been grossly underreported. In fact, the researchers said, carbon impacts are six times higher than previously thought due to the loss of these forests between 2000 and 2013. Further, they warn, the climate change mitigation benefits from them will soon dwindle if their rate of loss continues to accelerate.</p> </div> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-compact-bottom pad-2-horizontal -section"> <h4 style="text-align: center;">Press Release</h4> </div> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-expanded-bottom pad-2-horizontal -section"> <p>“Our results revealed that continued destruction of intact tropical forests is a ticking time bomb for carbon emissions," said co-author Sean Maxwell, of WCS and the University of Queensland. "There is an urgent need to safeguard these landscapes because they play an indispensable role in stabilizing the climate.” </p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://newsroom.wcs.org/News-Releases/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/13450/CARBON-BOMB-Study-in-Journal-Science-Advances-Says-Climate-Impact-from-Loss-of-Intact-Tropical-Forests-Grossly-Underreported.aspx?_gl=1*1asilip*_ga*MTIzNTY4MjU1My4xNjU1MjE4NzQw*_ga_BTX9HXMYSX*MTY3MDg3ODU5OC43MS4xLjE2NzA4Nzk5MzQuNTcuMC4w" target="_blank"><span class="btn-fill-turtle">Read More</span></a></p> </div> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-compact-bottom pad-2-horizontal -section"> <h4 style="text-align: center;">In the Media</h4> </div> <div class="justify-center container margin-expanded-bottom pad-1-horizontal -section grid grid-full grid-medium-half image_lists"> <div class="image-list cell pad-1-horizontal pad-2-vertical"> <div class="image-list__img" aria-hidden="true"> <a data-track-gtm="Our Work - WCS Forests and Climate Change|Image List|In the Fight Against Climate Change, Not All Forests are Equal" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/30/climate/climate-change-forests.html"><img alt="" class="block" src="https://cdn.wcs.org/2022/05/24/7st60aglap_Carlos_Cesar_Durigan_0146_Igapo_Flooded_Forest_Rio_Negro_BRA_08_13_09_hr.jpg" /></a> </div> <div class="image-list__text pad-2-left"> <h2 class="type-caption color-primary margin-1-bottom"> <a data-track-gtm="Our Work - WCS Forests and Climate Change|Image List|In the Fight Against Climate Change, Not All Forests are Equal" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/30/climate/climate-change-forests.html">In the Fight Against Climate Change, Not All Forests are Equal</a> </h2> <p> <p><span class="fine-print">By The New York Times</span><br>Programs would do well to preserve forests where deforestation and degradation haven’t begun.</p> </p> <a data-track-gtm="Our Work - WCS Forests and Climate Change|Image List|Act Now" class="btn fill-callout margin-1-top" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/30/climate/climate-change-forests.html">Act Now</a> </div> </div> <div class="image-list cell pad-1-horizontal pad-2-vertical"> <div class="image-list__img" aria-hidden="true"> <a data-track-gtm="Our Work - WCS Forests and Climate Change|Image List|Climate impact from loss of tropical forests 600% higher than thought" href="https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/carbon-climate-change-intact-tropical-forests-a9178211.html"><img alt="" class="block" src="https://cdn.wcs.org/2022/05/24/jthwlde8v_Julie_Larsen_Maher_0101_Budongo_Forest_and_Murchison_Falls_UGA_06_27_10_1_.jpg" /></a> </div> <div class="image-list__text pad-2-left"> <h2 class="type-caption color-primary margin-1-bottom"> <a data-track-gtm="Our Work - WCS Forests and Climate Change|Image List|Climate impact from loss of tropical forests 600% higher than thought" href="https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/carbon-climate-change-intact-tropical-forests-a9178211.html">Climate impact from loss of tropical forests 600% higher than thought</a> </h2> <p> <p><span class="fine-print">By The Independent</span><br>“I had a hunch it was bad but I didn’t expect it to be this dramatic."<br></p> </p> <a data-track-gtm="Our Work - WCS Forests and Climate Change|Image List|Act Now" class="btn fill-callout margin-1-top" href="https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/carbon-climate-change-intact-tropical-forests-a9178211.html">Act Now</a> </div> </div> <div class="image-list cell pad-1-horizontal pad-2-vertical"> <div class="image-list__img" aria-hidden="true"> <a data-track-gtm="Our Work - WCS Forests and Climate Change|Image List|Climate emissions from tropical forest damage 'underestimated by a factor of six'" href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/31/climate-emissions-from-tropical-forest-damage-underestimated-by-a-factor-of-six"><img alt="" class="block" src="https://cdn.wcs.org/2022/05/24/50asoqih76_Julie_Larsen_Maher_0141_Budongo_Forest_and_Murchison_Falls_UGA_06_27_10.jpg" /></a> </div> <div class="image-list__text pad-2-left"> <h2 class="type-caption color-primary margin-1-bottom"> <a data-track-gtm="Our Work - WCS Forests and Climate Change|Image List|Climate emissions from tropical forest damage 'underestimated by a factor of six'" href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/31/climate-emissions-from-tropical-forest-damage-underestimated-by-a-factor-of-six">Climate emissions from tropical forest damage 'underestimated by a factor of six'</a> </h2> <p> <p><span class="fine-print">By The Guardian</span><br>Scientists say policymakers must better account for climate impacts of damage to forests, and benefits of conserving them.<br></p> </p> <a data-track-gtm="Our Work - WCS Forests and Climate Change|Image List|Act Now" class="btn fill-callout margin-1-top" href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/31/climate-emissions-from-tropical-forest-damage-underestimated-by-a-factor-of-six">Act Now</a> </div> </div> <div class="image-list cell pad-1-horizontal pad-2-vertical"> <div class="image-list__img" aria-hidden="true"> <a data-track-gtm="Our Work - WCS Forests and Climate Change|Image List|Carbon emissions from tropical forest loss underestimated, scientists say" href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-forests-emissions-trfn/carbon-emissions-from-tropical-forest-loss-underestimated-scientists-say-idUSKBN1XA1CB"><img alt="" class="block" src="https://cdn.wcs.org/2022/05/24/8l47bu9swn_Ndoki_Feature_Forest_Ele_1440px.jpg" /></a> </div> <div class="image-list__text pad-2-left"> <h2 class="type-caption color-primary margin-1-bottom"> <a data-track-gtm="Our Work - WCS Forests and Climate Change|Image List|Carbon emissions from tropical forest loss underestimated, scientists say" href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-forests-emissions-trfn/carbon-emissions-from-tropical-forest-loss-underestimated-scientists-say-idUSKBN1XA1CB">Carbon emissions from tropical forest loss underestimated, scientists say</a> </h2> <p> <p><span class="fine-print">By Reuters</span><br>"Once you open up a forest, there are several forms of damage that lead to that dwindling of carbon stocks."</p> </p> <a data-track-gtm="Our Work - WCS Forests and Climate Change|Image List|Act Now" class="btn fill-callout margin-1-top" href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-forests-emissions-trfn/carbon-emissions-from-tropical-forest-loss-underestimated-scientists-say-idUSKBN1XA1CB">Act Now</a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-compact-bottom pad-2-horizontal -section"> <h3 style="text-align: center;">Nine Ways to Avoid the Amazon Tipping Point</h3> </div> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-standard-bottom pad-2-horizontal -section"> <p style="text-align: center;">The Amazon forest system has a key role in regulating the global climate system, but there is a growing concern that it may cross a tipping point within this century, potentially leading to drastic and irreversible ecosystem shifts, write WCS's Emilio Vilanova and others.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://cdn.wcs.org/2023/12/12/14/50/25/f30e746b-eba5-43a4-b9d5-6242c5dbe4ce/PB-Tipping-Point-EN-nov23.pdf" target="_blank"><span class="btn-fill-turtle">Read More</span></a></p> </div> </div> <div class="section container-full margin-expanded-bottom pad-2-vertical"> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-standard-bottom pad-2-horizontal -section"> <p><a name="InTheMedia"></a> </p><h2 style="text-align: center;">WCS Forests and Climate Change in the Media</h2> </div> <div class="wysiwyg container-medium margin-standard-bottom pad-2-horizontal -section"> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/blog/turning-point-or-tipping-point-amazon/" target="_blank">Turning Point or Tipping Point?</a><br>By Carlos Rittl and Dan Zarin for <em>PBS Nature </em></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/blog/where-theres-smoke/" target="_blank">Where There's Smoke</a><br>By Dan Zarin for <em>PBS Nature</em></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/3839461-lula-and-biden-face-a-historic-opportunity-to-protect-the-amazon/" target="_blank">Lula and Biden Face a Historic Opportunity to Protect the Amazon</a><br>By Carlos Nobre and Dan Zarin for <em>The Hill</em> </p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/05/opinion/climate-warming-peatlands.html" target="_blank">The World's Peatlands are Climate Bombs Waiting to Detonate</a><br>By Dan Zarin for <em>The New York Times</em> </p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://ensia.com/voices/nature-positive-solutions-climate-crisis/" target="_blank">Opinion: We Need Nature-Positive Solutions to Address the Climate Crisis</a><br>By Dan Zarin for <em>Ensia</em> </p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.euractiv.com/section/climate-environment/opinion/the-global-economy-depends-on-forests-lets-act-accordingly/" target="_blank">The Global Economy Depends on Forests—Let's Act Accordingly</a><br>By Dan Zarin for <em>Euractiv</em><span></span> </p> </div> <div class="justify-center container margin-standard-bottom pad-1-horizontal -section grid grid-full grid-medium-half image_lists"> <div class="image-list cell pad-1-horizontal pad-2-vertical"> <div class="image-list__img" aria-hidden="true"> <a data-track-gtm="Our Work - WCS Forests and Climate Change|Image List|20% of Intact Forest Landscapes Overlap with Concessions for Extractive Industries" href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/07/nearly-1-million-km2-of-intact-forests-menaced-by-extractives-study-finds/"><img alt="" class="block" src="https://cdn.wcs.org/2022/05/24/xn08ysggn__Julie_Larsen_Maher_5223_Ecuador_Oil_Extraction.jpg" /></a> </div> <div class="image-list__text pad-2-left"> <h2 class="type-caption color-primary margin-1-bottom"> <a data-track-gtm="Our Work - WCS Forests and Climate Change|Image List|20% of Intact Forest Landscapes Overlap with Concessions for Extractive Industries" href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/07/nearly-1-million-km2-of-intact-forests-menaced-by-extractives-study-finds/">20% of Intact Forest Landscapes Overlap with Concessions for Extractive Industries</a> </h2> <p> <p><span class="fine-print">By Mongabay<br></span><br>Many of these extractive projects are still in the early stages, which means there is an opportunity to mitigate potential impacts before they occur.<br></p> </p> <a data-track-gtm="Our Work - WCS Forests and Climate Change|Image List|Act Now" class="btn fill-callout margin-1-top" href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/07/nearly-1-million-km2-of-intact-forests-menaced-by-extractives-study-finds/">Act Now</a> </div> </div> <div class="image-list cell pad-1-horizontal pad-2-vertical"> <div class="image-list__img" aria-hidden="true"> <a data-track-gtm="Our Work - WCS Forests and Climate Change|Image List|New Framework Identifies Climate Change “Refugia” in Boreal Forest" href="https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/new-framework-identifies-climate-change-refugia-boreal-forest"><img alt="" class="block" src="https://cdn.wcs.org/2022/05/24/8m4a4szxpr_Screen_Shot_2020_06_25_at_4.02.52_PM.jpg" /></a> </div> <div class="image-list__text pad-2-left"> <h2 class="type-caption color-primary margin-1-bottom"> <a data-track-gtm="Our Work - WCS Forests and Climate Change|Image List|New Framework Identifies Climate Change “Refugia” in Boreal Forest" href="https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/new-framework-identifies-climate-change-refugia-boreal-forest">New Framework Identifies Climate Change “Refugia” in Boreal Forest</a> </h2> <p> <p><span class="fine-print">By Canadian Geography<br></span><br>For the wildlife, finding places where climate change is slowed or less severe could be critical to survival. <br></p> </p> <a data-track-gtm="Our Work - WCS Forests and Climate Change|Image List|Act Now" class="btn fill-callout margin-1-top" href="https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/new-framework-identifies-climate-change-refugia-boreal-forest">Act Now</a> </div> </div> <div class="image-list cell pad-1-horizontal pad-2-vertical"> <div class="image-list__img" aria-hidden="true"> <a data-track-gtm="Our Work - WCS Forests and Climate Change|Image List|Time to Pay Attention to Canada's Peatlands" href="https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/its-time-start-paying-attention-canadas-peatlands"><img alt="" class="block" src="https://cdn.wcs.org/2022/05/24/44bekb4iea_Screen_Shot_2020_05_28_at_10.07.47_AM.jpg" /></a> </div> <div class="image-list__text pad-2-left"> <h2 class="type-caption color-primary margin-1-bottom"> <a data-track-gtm="Our Work - WCS Forests and Climate Change|Image List|Time to Pay Attention to Canada's Peatlands" href="https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/its-time-start-paying-attention-canadas-peatlands">Time to Pay Attention to Canada's Peatlands</a> </h2> <p> <p><span class="fine-print">By Meg Southee</span><br>A huge part of Canada's northern geography, peatlands are critical to regulating our climate — and more.</p><p><a id="main-content"></a></p> </p> <a data-track-gtm="Our Work - WCS Forests and Climate Change|Image List|Act Now" class="btn fill-callout margin-1-top" href="https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/its-time-start-paying-attention-canadas-peatlands">Act Now</a> </div> </div> <div class="image-list cell pad-1-horizontal pad-2-vertical"> <div class="image-list__img" aria-hidden="true"> <a data-track-gtm="Our Work - WCS Forests and Climate Change|Image List|Development in the Ring of Fire" href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2020/02/26/hasty-development-of-ontarios-ring-of-fire-could-have-devastating-impacts.html"><img alt="" class="block" src="https://cdn.wcs.org/2022/05/24/3j1jzplgtb_Boreal_1440x810.jpg" /></a> </div> <div class="image-list__text pad-2-left"> <h2 class="type-caption color-primary margin-1-bottom"> <a data-track-gtm="Our Work - WCS Forests and Climate Change|Image List|Development in the Ring of Fire" href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2020/02/26/hasty-development-of-ontarios-ring-of-fire-could-have-devastating-impacts.html">Development in the Ring of Fire</a> </h2> <p> <p><span class="fine-print">By Justina Ray and Cheryl Chetkiewicz<br></span><br>Plans to build roads to the Ring of Fire in the far north of Ontario are being pursued in a way that ignores the big picture.</p> </p> <a data-track-gtm="Our Work - WCS Forests and Climate Change|Image List|Act Now" class="btn fill-callout margin-1-top" href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2020/02/26/hasty-development-of-ontarios-ring-of-fire-could-have-devastating-impacts.html">Act Now</a> </div> </div> <div class="image-list cell pad-1-horizontal pad-2-vertical"> <div class="image-list__img" aria-hidden="true"> <a data-track-gtm="Our Work - WCS Forests and Climate Change|Image List|Greta and the 5 Great Forests" href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/09/greta-and-mesoamericas-five-great-forests-commentary/"><img alt="" class="block" src="https://cdn.wcs.org/2022/05/24/1xwxzf7fb6__DSC8647_Editar_Editar.jpg" /></a> </div> <div class="image-list__text pad-2-left"> <h2 class="type-caption color-primary margin-1-bottom"> <a data-track-gtm="Our Work - WCS Forests and Climate Change|Image List|Greta and the 5 Great Forests" href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/09/greta-and-mesoamericas-five-great-forests-commentary/">Greta and the 5 Great Forests</a> </h2> <p> <p><span class="fine-print">By Jeremy Radachowsky and Chris Jordan</span><br>The five forests hold nearly 50 percent of the region’s forest carbon stocks and provide important ecosystem services to 5 million people<br> </p> </p> <a data-track-gtm="Our Work - WCS Forests and Climate Change|Image List|Act Now" class="btn fill-callout margin-1-top" href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/09/greta-and-mesoamericas-five-great-forests-commentary/">Act Now</a> </div> </div> <div class="image-list cell pad-1-horizontal pad-2-vertical"> <div class="image-list__img" aria-hidden="true"> <a data-track-gtm="Our Work - WCS Forests and Climate Change|Image List|The Thinning of Earth's Forest Cover" href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/09/the-thinning-fabric-of-earths-forest-cover-commentary/"><img alt="" class="block" src="https://cdn.wcs.org/2022/05/24/7ivgpv9dxw_Julie_Larsen_Maher_6702_Uganda_Landscape_UGA_06_22_10.jpg" /></a> </div> <div class="image-list__text pad-2-left"> <h2 class="type-caption color-primary margin-1-bottom"> <a data-track-gtm="Our Work - WCS Forests and Climate Change|Image List|The Thinning of Earth's Forest Cover" href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/09/the-thinning-fabric-of-earths-forest-cover-commentary/">The Thinning of Earth's Forest Cover</a> </h2> <p> <p><span class="fine-print">By Tom Evans</span><br>The ever-smaller number of forests that remain truly intact and free from degradation are a precious resource</p> </p> <a data-track-gtm="Our Work - 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