Human-induced climate change is making heatwaves more likely and more severe, scientists say. The EU's Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) said the hot and dry conditions had hiked the danger of further fires.
CAMS monitors wildfires through satellites and ground-based observation statements, and said the emissions and intensity of wildfires are rapidly increasing in Turkey and Southern Italy.

A new report predicting future biomass demand will far outweigh supply urges the EU to use land and biomass more strategically. With a holistic approach to forests to improve their environmental, social and economic benefits, the Climate Smart Forest Economy Program (CSFEP), an innovative initiative from EIT Climate-KIC, The Nature Conservancy, the World Economic Forum, and the World Resources Institute, may be well-positioned to help.

For millions of people across the Americas and around the world, a vacation often means a visit to a national park. National parks can be a source of great national pride, a way to showcase unique landscapes and educate visitors about an area's flora and fauna, history, and culture. It also can be an important source of revenue that national parks and protected areas provide benefits equivalent to 3% of GDP.
However, the national parks and other protected areas are threatened by air pollution or encroaching development—they are now confronting intensifying threats due to climate change.

The European Union has drafted plans to build up forests, grasslands and other natural "carbon sinks" that absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to help curb climate change.

Carbon sinks have gained in importance as countries strive to reach "net zero" emissions by 2050, the goal scientists say the world must meet to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

With over 155 million hectares of dense humid forests, the Congo Basin is the second largest tropical forest in the world after the Amazon. Much of this forest can be found within the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which holds a portion of the Congo Basin equivalent to the size of Colombia. The DRC lost nearly 5 million hectares of tropical primary forests in the last 20 years and continues to face the threat of deforestation. In 2020, the DRC lost 490,000 hectares of primary forest cover, with Tshopo Province being the most affected in the country.

A major contributor to this loss is the unsustainable exploitation of forests to meet growing charcoal demand. Charcoal is produced by cutting and burning timber. Logs are stacked in traditional, low-efficiency kilns where the high heat turns them into charcoal. An expanding population with a growing need for food, energy and economic development has led to the rapid growth of the charcoal industry.

The 21st century has seen a surge in governments’ strategic protection of forests, for good reason. Forest protection enhances people’s lives while slowing climate change by enabling trees, soil and grasslands to perform their natural functions of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Are smallholders key to the palm oil industry’s sustainability?

Mangroves are salt-tolerant coastal forests that have uniquely adapted to growing at the border between sea and land and they are one of Earth’s most resilient, productive, and biodiverse ecosystems. They provide habitat and nursery grounds for mammals, reptiles, birds, crab and shrimp species as well as more than 3000 fish species, of which many are commercially important. Through their ability to trap and stabilize sediments, mangroves increase water quality seawards, which benefits other highly diverse marine ecosystems, such as coral reefs and seagrass meadows. Most importantly though, they are also critical for the livelihood of about 120 Million people, who depend on them for food, raw material, and coastal protection. Without mangroves, many coastal communities that live off fishing in mangrove forests and surrounding waters would lose an important source of food and income.

Why is forest biodiversity so vital?

In both low- and high-income countries, communities that live within forests rely directly on forest biodiversity for their lives and livelihoods, using products derived from forest resources for food, fodder, shelter, energy, medicine, and income generation. Forest biodiversity benefits much of humanity as a whole through its role in the carbon, water, and nutrient cycles and through its links with food production, including seed dispersal and crop pollination.