Tropical forests are like giant utilities providing ecosystem services to the world that we all benefit from but we don’t pay for. © GCP/ Katherine Secoy
19 million tonnes of carbon dioxide enter the atmosphere from deforestation each day. © 2002 Amdrea, Artaxo et al. SMOCC
The Rufford Maurice Laing Foundation provided a grant of £100,000 in 2007/08.
The Global Canopy Programme (GCP) is an alliance of 29 scientific institutions in 19 countries, which lead the world in forest canopy research. They bring the cutting-edge science of canopy ecosystem services to decision makers in government and financial markets. With funds from The Rufford Maurice Laing Foundation, they work on policy and positive incentive mechanisms, which help to mitigate climate change by preserving these vital forest functions for humanity.
Brazil is now taking a lead with the Whole Forest Observatory Project within the Science and Environment Ministries to fund two Brazilian Observatories. GCP continues to support the IBISCA Project, the world’s most comprehensive assessment of rainforest biodiversity, from canopy to soil.
The GCP has also started to start work with environmental economists and scientists to estimate what forest ecosystem services are, who benefits from them, the costs of their loss as deforestation proceeds and what industry would be prepared to pay to maintain them. Findings were presented at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Bali, in December 2007.
GCP has leveraged its alliance into a potent catalyst for new joined-up thinking in science, policy and finance - all related to valuing ecosystem services and halting deforestation. Their Forests NOW campaign successfully lobbied for forests to be included within global carbon markets at Bali. Their communications have put forests and climate change into national newspapers and on television around the world creating press-related ‘opportunities to see’ for 98 million worldwide!
The GCP are engaging the finance sector in the City of London to encourage them to consider new ways of investing in forests. GCP has created a new subsidiary, VivoCarbon Investments, working in a joint venture with Canopy Capital to help pioneer payments for canopy ecosystem services.
Visit the Global Canopy Programme website.