Forest Canopy

On September 19th I successfully defended my PhD thesis. I presented my findings in a 30min talk and we had a lively discussion afterwards. It was mainly revolving around questions how ecotourism concepts can be used to enhance the livelihoods of local communities. Now I am working on the publication, the book will be published by VERLAG FÜR ENTWICKLUNGSPOLITIK SAARBRÜCKEN and should be out by the end of this year. There is a slight change in the title. The book will now be titled Canopy Tourism in Tropenwäldern - Eine politisch-ökologische Analyse zum Tourismus in Baumkronen.
The presentation of my talk can be viewed here. Simply click the PLAY arrow or click MORE for the fullscreen view.

My Phd-project, which gave me the opportunity to do research in places like Borneo or Rwanda, has come to an end. I submitted my thesis titled: Canopy Tourism in tropischen Wäldern - Eine akteurorientierte Untersuchung aus Sicht der politischen Ökologie in May. The defense of the thesis will take place in September. You will find the abstract of the thesis below. Read the whole article »

Scientists have discovered a new species of ape living in the treetops of the rugged mountains along the Vietnamese, Laos and Cambodian borders. The “Yellow-cheeked Crested Gibbon” has been given the name Nomascus annamensis. It is is the seventh Nomascus species to be identified.
Van Ngoc Thinh, who is studying for his doctorate at DPZ, which is part of central Germany’s Goettingen University, observed the gibbons in the jungle and wrote up the findings in the Vietnamese Journal of Primatology: Van Ngoc Thinh, Alan R. Mootnick, Vu Ngoc Thanh, Tilo Nadler, Christian Roos: A new species of crested gibbon, from the central Annamite mountain range. Vietnamese Journal of Primatology 1(4), 2010, 1-12.

For the past 19 years the Reisepavillon represented an international fair on sustainable tourism. In order to allow the public a closer look at activities of tourism-related development cooperation, GTZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit) has been an exhibitor at Reisepavillon for many years to further the dialogue with experts on tourism and sustainable development and to initiate and enhance cooperation with the private sector.

Among various topics, this year’s Tourism Forum International (TFI), hosted by GTZ focused on Destination Development as Consultancy Work. At this venue I gave a presentation about canopy tourism as a tool for destination development with examples from Costa Rica, Malaysia and Rwanda. Further information about the workshop and the presentations given there can be found here.

There is a new website online which gives superb information about tropical montane cloud forest, like tho one to be found in Monteverde, Costa Rica. The great thing is that the site is very interactive. There are 360° panoramas of the forest where you can actually move around the forest. It is not as good as actually being in the forest - but it comes close. This is great, especially because interpretation of the rainforest and its canopy in many canopy tourism projects is rather limted. This is from the project’s description:

Canopy in the Clouds is designed to partner emerging professionals in science, photography, and cinematography to create the next generation of environmental outreach materials. The project seeks to:

1. Promote conservation through educational media delivered in an innovative and engaging manner.
2. Inspire young scientists by sharing our passion and excitement for carrying out science.
3. Engage people in the beauty, biodiversity, and importance of tropical montane cloud forests from the perspective of the
forest canopy.

Here is the link to the website: http://www.canopyintheclouds.com/

A new bird was discovered at the walkway of Borneo Rainforest Lodge adjacent Danum Valley Conservation Area in Sabah, Malaysia. In June two employees with a tour company named Field Guide came upon a bird species entirely unknown to science.

While walking along the canopy walkway, Richard Webster discovered a bird he didn’t recognize feeding on mistletoe berries. He took photos of the individual and later shared them with Dr. David Edwards, an ornithologist from Leeds University who has been studying birds in the area for three years. After checking with several museums, they realized that no one had ever recorded such a bird.

Over the next few days Webster, Edwards, and Rose Ann Rowlett found two more individuals of the unknown bird and listened to one singing. Since then there have been no more sightings of the species.

Borneo has lost nearly half of its forests over the last fifty years due primarily to logging and clearance for oil palm plantations. Timber was extracted to make lawn furniture, chopsticks, and paper pulp. In more recent decades, oil palm plantations—which are unsuitable habitat for the majority of Borneo’s species—has overrun the island.

The discovery has been published in the latest issue of the Oriental Bird Club’s magazine, BirdingASIA. The species, known only as the ’spectacled flowerpecker, has not yet received a scientific name.

For further information: David P. Edwards, Richard E. Webster, Rose Ann Rowlett. ‘Spectacled Flowerpecker’: a species new to science discovered in Borneo?. BirdingASIA 12 (2009): 38–41.

More than half of the world’s science academies have signed a statement supporting a plan to save tropical forests as a means to fight climate change, reports the Global Canopy Program (GCP). During the Nobel Laureate’s Conference at St James’ Palace some months ago, hosted by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, GCP was able to instigate this statement with the support of the Royal Society the InterAcademy Panel.

The statement argues that tropical forest protection is a critical strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions over the next 15-20 years. It calls upon world leaders to reach a consensus on a path forward for a funding package that would support the infrastructure needed to develop an effective reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) mechanism.

“There can be no solution to climate change without addressing deforestation,” reads the statement. “Deforestation must be addressed now, not later, if we are to meet an 80% CO2 reduction target by 2050.”

“Forests play a critical role in the climate system by providing a natural carbon capture and storage function and by regulating rainfall patterns; sustainable forest management can make a major contribution to climate change mitigation… Intact and healthy forests provide food, energy, water, shelter and flood protection services, reducing the vulnerability of rural populations to climate change and enabling adaptation to climate impacts.”

The statement also calls for certain safeguards to be included in a forest provision under a climate agreement.

“Any agreement reached as part of the UNFCCC negotiations must respect the rights of forest dwellers and forest dependent peoples when designing and implementing schemes, and promote sustainable development pathways that do not involve deforestation.”

The full text of the statement follows. Read the whole article »

Environmentalists across the world are to be enlisted as armchair detectives to monitor satellite images of rainforests and report any illegal logging. Times Online reportet Saturday, that anyone online will be able to report their findings to an international agency being created to monitor whether countries are meeting their commitments to reduce deforestation. Any state found to have broken its pledge will lose its share of a new global fund established by rich countries to pay nations for leaving their trees standing.

The fund, called ‘Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD)’ and worth up to $30 billion (£18 billion) a year, is due to be approved at the UN climate change summit in Copenhagen next month.

Google is helping to create the new online detective tool, which is likely to be launched next year. Philipp Schindler, from Google UK, said: “Our engineers are exploring how we might contribute to this effort by developing a global forest platform that would enable anyone in the world, including tropical nations, to monitor deforestation and draw attention to it.” Read Full Story at Source.

If you are in London this week you must witness the ‘Ghost Forest Art Project’ that artist Angela Palmer has bravely installed at Trafalgar Square, bringing ten giant rainforest tree stumps from sustainably logged forest in Africa straight to the heart of London. The intention of the project to raise public awareness of the connections between deforestation and climate change. The idea is “to present a series of rainforest tree stumps as a ‘ghost forest’ – using the negative space created by the missing trunks as a metaphor for climate change, the absence representing the removal of the world’s ‘lungs’ through continued deforestation”. On Sunday the tree stumps will head to Copenhagen.

The 5th International Canopy Conference in Bangalore was a great event. More than 250 scientists got together to present their latest findings and exchange their views on the future of canopy research.

The symposium on canopy tourism went very well. We had a great variety of speakers from different fields and research backgrounds. You can find a short summary and download links to the presentations here. Read the whole article »