Tropical Forests and Climate Change: Biological and Anthropological Perspectives, Panel discussion, Tuesday 14th February 2017, 5pm – 7pm, Pavilion Room
From South America to Southeast Asia, tropical forests support vast webs of plant and animal life. Worlds of green light shrouded in memory and mist, they also store 25% of terrestrial carbon and play a vital role in maintaining the planet’s climate. As the human population grows, 12 million hectares of rainforest cover is lost each year – and with it medicine, food, and spiritual space for forest-dependent peoples.
In an attempt to mitigate climate change, the UN’s REDD+ programme asks industrial countries to pay developing nations for reducing deforestation through carbon trading and other strategies. But conservation policy cannot be separated from cultural values and economic goals. The REDD debate implicates both natural and social scientists, and addressing climate change requires insight from both fields.
- How does ethnobiology relate to climate change?
- What significance do rainforest plants have for human cultures?
- How can social justice and science collaborate to find solutions?
Join us as we bring anthropologists and biologists together for a discussion of these and other questions.
Panellists:
- Dr. François Barbira-Freedman
Division of Social Anthropology, University of Cambridge - Professor David Coomes
Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge - Dr Lewis Daly
Teaching Fellow in Anthropology, Environment, and Development at University College London - Dr. Rajindra K. Puri
Senior Lecturer in Environmental Anthropology, University of Kent
Further information on the panellists is available on the Eventbrite page.
If you would like to attend, please book via the Eventbrite page – www.tropicalforestsandclimatechange.eventbrite.co.uk
