But the good news for
tropical forests was tempered by developments including Indonesia announcing its intentions to open up more than 2 million hectares of carbon - dense peatlands to old palm development; the collapse
in law enforcement
in Madagascar, contributing to an explosion of commercial timber (and lemur) harvesting
in that country's spectacular
rainforest parks; a breakdown at the RSPO meeting over efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from palm oil production; violent conflict
in Peru between government security forces and indigenous groups over land rights and resource
extraction; massive foreign land acquisitions
in the Congo Basin; dodgy REDD dealings
in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea; and large - scale expansion of oil palm agriculture
in the Amazon.