Norway will invest more money to help developing countries conserve their forests through reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation schemes (REDD+) if other countries also step up with additional support, the Norwegian Minister for Environment said at a recent CIFOR event.

Community managed forests in Nepal are already achieving goals set out at this year’s Rio+20 conference by promoting sustainable use of natural resources and making sure more trees are left standing, experts say. However, poverty eradication and social justice will be crucial in the quest for a greener and fairer economy.

More climate change adaptation research is needed to fill knowledge gaps on the role of forests in various systems beyond the local level, for example water and hydrology cycles, to ensure that countries can better adapt to the impacts of climate change.

REDD+ as an idea is a success – but implementing it is fraught with challenges, according to a new publication from the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).

Strict law enforcement in the Brazilian Amazon has seen deforestation rates plummet, yet the government “must go beyond enforcement” and reform land use policies to restore millions of hectares of degraded land vital for the sustainable management of its forests.

Enough talk about the rights women have to forest resources and a need for greater participation in decision-making, leaders and researchers at a U.N. conference on sustainable development say. It’s time, now, for action.

A new approach to managing land based on the social, economic and environmental services it provides could end the ongoing debate that forests have to be sacrificed for the sake of agricultural development.