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"Global Forest Watch (GFW) is a dynamic online forest monitoring and alert system that empowers people everywhere to better manage forests. Visit GFW at globalforestwatch.org. For the first time, Global Forest Watch unites satellite technology, open data, and crowdsourcing to guarantee access to timely and reliable information about forests. Armed with the latest information from Global Forest Watch, governments, businesses and communities can halt forest loss."

Global Forest Watch (GFW) is a dynamic online forest monitoring and alert system that empowers people everywhere to better manage forests. For the first time, Global Forest Watch unites satellite technology, open data, and crowdsourcing to guarantee access to timely and reliable information about forests. GFW is free and follows an open data approach in putting decision-relevant information in the hands of governments, companies, NGOs, and the public.

"Forest ecologists like a challenge however, and there have been several attempts at estimating the forest carbon "sink". According to this analysis, intact forests and those re-growing after disturbance (like harvesting or windthrow) sequestered around 4 billion tonnes of carbon per year over the measurement period - equivalent to almost 60% of emissions from fossil fuel burning and cement production combined."

"In the American West, wildfires are essential for keeping forests healthy. But the same fires that help release nutrients and promote new plant growth can also wipe out thousands of acres of forest and cause millions of dollars in damage. Since the 1970s, wildfires have been on the rise and some of this is due to a warming planet. But increased wildfires because of hot climate is not the whole story. Here we look at the way climate can affect vegetation in the West, and what influence this has on wildfires. Drought and rainfall can have very different wildfire outcomes depending on where you look in the West."

"REFLEX, Australia's best-known brand of paper, is set to lose its international green accreditation within the next two months unless its manufacturer can strike an unlikely deal with some of its fiercest enemies. The loss of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification would force Australian Paper, which makes Reflex, to either abandon its public commitment to the FSC process or shift its sourcing from native forests to more expensive plantation timber."

Coastal seagrass can store more heat-trapping carbon per square kilometre than forests can, which means these coastal plants could be part of the solution to climate change. Even though seagrasses occupy less than 0.2 per cent of the world's oceans, they can hold up to 83,000 tonne of carbon per square kilometre, a global team of researchers reported in the journal Nature Geoscience.

"Two of Australia's World Heritage listed places have made the headlines in the last week. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority gave the go-ahead for silt from a government-approved dredging operation to be dumped within the World Heritage listed park boundaries. And the federal government announced that it was seeking to have a recent extension of Tasmania's World Heritage listed forests partially overturned. What is World Heritage listing and why is it important?"

This course covers "Renewable energy - passive and active Greywater and rainwater catchment Soil regeneration and land restoration Food forests, trees, and garden design Urban apartment permaculture and more!"