image: Flickr/CIFOR

Forests are key to ensuring that the climate remains stable enough so that life on Earth can continue as we know it. The ability of a forest to hold (or sequester) carbon is one of the key functions it provides globally. This function is undermined by increasing temperatures in tropical forests as well as by forest degradation and deforestation. The Amazon forest has already started to emit increasing amounts of carbon dioxide as the region becomes drier, thus contributing further to climate change. A resilient forest has a greater adaptability to changes in climatic conditions, e.g precipitation, temperature etc.

ClientEarth met with two Fang communities in the north of Gabon to study the land tenure regime in the Woleu-Ntem province’s rural areas. What is striking is that so few people have so far secured legal ownership over their lands. Why?

ClientEarth is engaged in working with forest communities and civil society in Africa to offer legal and strategic support to secure communities’ rights and promote fair and sustainable management of forests and land. We are working closely with local partners in Gabon, Ghana and the Republic of Congo.

Nathalie Faure and Feja Lesniewska report from Douala, Cameroon, about the workshop ‘How can community control of forest lands be secured, delivered and maintained?’ This is a collaboration with ClientEarth’s partner organisations FERN, Forest Peoples Programme (FPP) and the Cameroonian-based Centre for Environment and Development (CED).

photo: keoki seu

ClientEarth's Feja Lesniewska and Nathalie Faure describe arriving in Cameroon for a workshop on forest law in Africa.

photo: Threat to Democracy

photo Mister Jo

Late last week the Church of England announced that it is to divest its £3.8m stake in controversial mining company Vedanta Resources.