Commentary: Protecting SC's Lowcountry Means Protecting Its Forests

Commentary: Protecting SC's Lowcountry means protecting its forests

A proposed natural gas pipeline in Colleton County would pose problems for forests and property owners who already are experiencing economic challenges from the closure of South Carolina saw mills.

Smallholders are not the weak link in forest protection (commentary)

In general, plantation companies view local communities and smallholders as obstacles to expanding operations and to securing social licenses. In deforestation-free supply chains, smallholders are also often treated as a risk. In my experience, this is one reason forest protection efforts fail: we don't want to understand why smallholders are perceived as a risk. Yet many of the people closest to the forest are also the ones with the strongest r…