- Hong Kong Carbon Reduction Campaign
- Global forest carbon research
- Securing water supply in China's heartland
- Taking direct action
- Saving the Freshwater Gharial in the Ganges
- Cleaning up the Ganges
- Untangling our understanding of lianas and climate change
- The Panama Canal Watershed Experiment
- Protecting the Ganges: Interschool Recycling Workshop
- Cooking on natural gas in the Yangtze
- Tackling illegal deforestation
- Johannesburg's Rea Vaya Bus Rapid Transit Project
- Baicheng wind farm project
Tackling illegal deforestation
The Amazon rainforest is the largest tropical rainforest on Earth, sheltering one in ten of known species. The region's rich biodiversity is under threat from illegal logging, but WWF is piloting a method to track this illegal logging by using technology from the National Institute for Space Research (INPE).
Climate challenge
Carbon emissions from the destruction and degradation of forests are estimated to contribute about 20 per cent of all global greenhouse gas emissions. Every year the Amazon loses a forested area almost the size of Belgium. Much of the forest clearance is a result of illegal loggers chopping down mature trees and destroying forest habitats. This activity also has an adverse impact on the 30 million people who live in the Amazon region, many of whom rely on the forest for their livelihood.
Insight and action
Under the HSBC Climate Partnership in Brazil, WWF is working with the Acre state government, and the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) to develop a methodology for assessing the extent of illegal logging in the Amazon forests. Acre is a Brazilian state, located in the Amazon interior and shares borders with Bolivia to the southeast and Peru to the south and west.
A pilot study is using satellite imagery from INPE to track the extent of deforestation. Data from the satellite pictures, showing the extent of disturbances to the forest canopy and deforestation in a defined 12,000 hectare plot, is compared with figures showing the actual volume of wood legitimately marketed from the same plot.
Outcomes
The pilot is still at an early stage, but the model will be used to compare satellite images of deforestation against actual volumes of legitimately logged wood across the entire Amazon. The variance can be attributed to illegal logging and this 'illegal logging index' will be reported at regional and sub-regional levels. This will help local and federal governments to take more effective preventative action. Using this technology to prevent the entry of illegal timber into the market also supports the legal logging businesses who strive for sustainable forest management and who show respect to the workers and communities within the forest.
Many factors have affected environmental stability in the Amazon forest, and one of the United Nations priorities for 2050 is sustainable development in the Amazon. The partnership between HSBC and WWF contributes to this objective, transforming fi nancial resources into a common good, supporting business, social development and the diversity of nature, communities and cultures.
Sheila Pimentel, President, Humanitare Institute
The HSBC Climate Partnership is a five-year environmental programme between HSBC, The Climate Group, Earthwatch Institute, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and WWF. It aims to reduce the impact of climate change on people, forests, freshwater and cities and accelerate the adoption of low-carbon policies.
