Deforestation

Among the various innovative instruments linked to the Kyoto Protocol is the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), which offers developed countries a chance to offset some of their greenhouse gas emissions by funding development projects in areas such as renewable energy and forestry. Over the last two years, the rules of the CDM and those relating in particular to afforestation and reforestation have evolved significantly.

Large areas of the world's forests have been lost or degraded and landscapes everywhere are being simplified by current land-use practices. In this publication, Lamb and Gilmour present approaches to restoring and rehabilitating the vast areas of degraded, fragmented and modified forests which cover much of the world. They argue that by applying best practice at the site level it is possible to enhance socio-economic and ecological gains at the landscape level.

The two neighbouring countries, Libera and Sierra Leone, are situated in the heart of the Upper Guinea forest region. This region is one of the earth's most biologically diverse and was originally covered by a continuous block of dense tropical rainforest, ranging from Guinea south through Sierra Leone, and Liberia to Ivory Coast and Ghana.

The Congo Basin encompasses an enormous region of Central Africa. Up to the present day, the area has a more or less continuous forest cover and is rich in biodiversity. The lowland forest of the Congo Basin for instance, is the most species-rich forest in Africa. In particular species groups of the region, endemism is high.