News

Vegetation and peat fires in Equatorial Asia caused over 100,000 premature deaths between 2004 and 2015, finds new study from scientists at the University of Leeds. Large fire events occur every few years in Indonesia, emitting huge quantities of smoke into the atmosphere. Small particles emitted from fires (known as PM2.5; particulate matter < 2.5µm…
As part of the ongoing Leeds4Trees collaboration between LEAF, UBoC and Leeds City Council, we have been exploring a number of natural capital valuation methods. Balancing the planting and management of urban trees with development is a continual challenge for local authorities. Natural capital valuation tools can help us to better understand the importance of trees as assets…
Projects worldwide are looking into the potential for forest management to deliver climate benefits, but they also have the potential to bring development co-benefits to local communities. In a new paper, researchers from the University of Leeds examine the potential for forestry projects to deliver climate-development co-benefits and engage with local communities.  The study focuses…
Two new papers from researchers at the University of Leeds investigate the loss of carbon stocks in Vietnam attributed to logging, and the relationship between logging and livelihoods     Vietnam has observed decades of forest degradation attributed to logging, which is estimated to have left only 10% of Vietnam’s forests of good quality. Despite…
Scientists from the School of Earth and Environment and UBoC have published a new model to estimate the carbon payback periods for biomass fuel use. The work of Will Rolls and Prof Piers Forster follows research by Sterman et al. who developed a simple Dynamic Life Cycle Analysis (DLCA) model, to predict carbon payback periods for…
The ability of  forests to remove carbon from the atmosphere is found to be decreasing in tropical regions of the world, according to new research led by the University of Leeds. The global research effort, led by researchers from the School of Geography, saw  a long-term analysis of the carbon stored in tropical forests. The…
By Hazel Mooney (twitter: @EcoZel) Researchers from UBoC have estimated the total tree canopy cover across the city of Leeds as part of a wider Leeds4Trees project, in collaboration with LEAF and Leeds City Council. The work follows the i-Tree report for the University of Leeds Campus. Having identified the enormous value that trees at the…
A recent study from LEAF researchers at the University of Leeds found a strong relationship between forest cover loss and the occurrence of fire in Indonesia. Across Indonesia, extensive forest and peatland fires occur every year. Indonesia contains most of the world’s tropical peatlands which are made of partially decayed vegetation that has accumulated over…
By Laura Kiely (@laurafkiely)- University of Leeds and UBoC Emissions of smoke from peatland fires may have been underestimated, finds a new study from LEAF scientists at the University of Leeds. In the last few weeks thousands of peatland and forest fires have been burning across Sumatra and Kalimantan, two islands in Indonesia. Smoke from these…