Word: localitis
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...Wild elephants, not loggers, are the rangers' main problem right now. Crops planted by returning farmers are proving irresistible to two local herds. At a farm nearby, elephants have trampled banana and cacao trees, toppled betel-nut palms and left jumbo-size footprints in the fishponds. There, at the forest edge, humans and animals must coexist. Each morning, the calls of gibbons compete with the calls to prayer from nearby village mosques...
...Protecting crops from marauding elephants might seem peripheral to the task of preserving Ulu Masen. So might FFI's nursery in Geumpang, where farmers can learn grafting techniques and buy fruit-tree saplings at bargain prices. But both activities are designed to improve the livelihoods of local people, who are key allies in any REDD scheme. "These communities have to benefit," says Linkie. "That's the whole idea. They're getting an incentive not to cut [the forest] down." (See the top 10 green stories...
...sale of carbon credits might amount to only $100 to $200 a year per family, estimates Linkie. The money might be better pooled to build schools, bridges or other projects that would benefit the entire community. However it is distributed, a very clear message must be sent to the local communities, says Linkie: "You're getting this [money] because you're not cutting down the forest...
...more than $11 billion in long-overdue funds to fix India's cities. The money - for roads, sewer lines and mass-transit systems - comes with some very important strings attached. To get the money, state governments have to devolve more power to cities; and city governance would go hyper-local, giving some control over the spending to new, elected neighborhood councils. (See pictures of the tempestuous Nehru-Gandhi dynasty of India...
...India - including its villages - needs cities that work. Ramanathan, for one, is trying to organize neighborhood-watch committees in Mumbai, an effort slowed considerably by the resistance of the local police. To revitalize India's cities, the country needs a new vision of itself - and a government committed to the hard work of making it real...