132 - Earth’s Tree News

[Guest guest]

Today for you 40 news items about Mama Earth's trees. Location, number

and subject listed below. Condensed / abbreviated article is listed

further below. --British

Columbia: 1) Forest fire danger is created by logging, 2) Roads,

Logging, hotels and shopping malls for provincial parks, 3) Suing to

save the owl, 4) BC forest leadership 5) Island Timberlands plans to

log, 6) GBR deal is not fair?--Washington: 7) This year's fire totals, --California: 8) fuels reduction in the LA area, 9) Edgar Wayburn turns 100, 10) Cemex hires sleezy forester, --Idaho: 11) cutting firs for aspen, --New Mexico: 12) Two sawmills remain--Minnesota: 13) Slow down in crate and pallet sales--West Virginia: 14) It's all going down in Tucker County--Vermont: 15) Wilderness designation--New York: 16) Management plan for 49,120 acres of the Adirondacks

--USA: 17) Roadless protections revised by the courts--Canada: 18) Forest cuts " quite small nowadays,'' 19) artists explore disappearing forests--Russia: 20) Finland's Illegal Timber Trade with Russia

--Africa: 21) Satellite images of the natural resources--Liberia: 22) Diplomacy of who gets to cut the forest--South Africa: 23) Plantation expansions--Kenya: 24) Anchor to the livelihoods of millions of people

--Congo: 25) Plans to create two new protected areas--Chile: 27) Plantation expansions--Brazil: 28) Benefiting those who really need it, 29) VCP and IP trade land and mills,--India: 30) Sandalwood trees smuggled less often

--China: 31) US$200,000 grant stretching over two years--Borneo: 32) One of the largest islands in the world, 33) Scientist Lisa Curran awarded--Philippines: 34) Illegal logging syndicates in Sierra Madre--Indonesia: 35) Plantations at the expense of forests and forest peoples' rights

--New Zealand: 36) Small forest owners targeted for increase in production--Australia: 37) Hoddles Creek is being logged--World-wide:

38) National Tree Day: End plantation war crimes! 39) G8 Illegal

Logging Dialogue, 40) Precautionary approach urged for GE treesBritish Columbia:1)

Stephen Fisher-Bradley was looking at forest fire danger maps when he

noticed that on Vancouver Island, the areas with the lowest risk of

forest fire were places like the Walbran, the Carmannah and Cape

Scott-places where the woods are the most intact, and therefore able to

hold what little moisture there is during the hot summer months.

Everywhere else, particularly the east side of the Island and the

heavily logged areas north of Port Alberni, was dry as can be and

therefore more ready to ignite. A long time forest activist and former

provincial Green Party candidate, Fisher-Bradley blames the logging.

" The clearcutting that's going on on this island is so fast and so

heavy. They're not letting up at all, " he says. Where he lives in Port

Alberni, he says, some 300,000 cubic metres of wood is being logged

from the town's watershed every year. " It's visible to people who've

lived in this town. Half of what you can see has been logged within the

last 10 years. " The story is the same everywhere from Lake Cowichan to

Port Hardy, he says. " It's just crazy. This is going on all up and down

the Island. " And that's affecting everyone's water. In Port Alberni

there are level one water restrictions, which Fisher-Bradley blames on

reduced snowpacks and stream flows. Water in one local river was too

hot this year for salmon, delaying their spawning. With fewer roots

holding the soil, there have been mudslides in the Alberni Valley and

he predicts there'll be more. Creeks that have always had water are

running dry. " Everyone in town is outraged, " he says. " Without the

canopy of the forest you can get real serious desertification here. " http://web.bcnewsgroup.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=117 & cat=23 & id=732626 & more=

2)

The B.C. government not only wants to build new lodges in provincial

parks, it wants to log and start forest fires. In fact it's already

doing so. Manning Park has been much in the news lately, threatened by

two lightning-sparked fires. Singled out by former Manitoba premier

Gary Filmon in his report following the 2003 wildfire season, Manning

has become a pilot project for the forest and environment ministries.

Since Filmon's post-mortem on the interface threat that broke open at

Barriere and Kelowna, the pine beetle has only added to the dry fuel

load built up by our long-standing mindset that every fire should be

put out as quickly as possible. Environment Minister Barry Penner tells

me we can expect more logging in Manning Park, beyond the fuel break

that's now being cleared on the eastern side. Trees have been taken out

around the lodge and several popular camping areas, such as Lightning

Lake, where beetle-killed trees have to go before they become a hazard

to visitors. The value of the wood is part of the equation. Work at

Lightning Lake last year was done at a net cost of $160,000 after the

marketable logs were sold, and Penner is hoping the larger eastern

firebreak will be self-financing. So how do people react to seeing all

these stumps in provincial parks? If they're told it's due to the pine

beetle, they accept it, Penner says, but he's not so sure the public is

ready for what needs to be done. Forests Minister Rich Coleman agrees,

saying this summer's fire scare has raised the bar on what preparations

are needed to protect Manning. " We may have to get more aggressive on

that, " Coleman said. " The challenge is that people love their parks in

B.C. so they want them to stay with the natural side of things. " http://www.vicnews.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=36 & cat=48 & id=732150 & more=

3)

Five environmental groups are suing Environment Minister Rona Ambrose

in Federal Court, arguing she is not doing enough to protect the 17

remaining northern spotted owls perched in British Columbia's

old-growth forests. Ms. Ambrose argued earlier this year that there is

no need for Ottawa to use its powers of intervention under the Species

at Risk Act because the British Columbia government is protecting the

owls. " It is my opinion that, given the measures they are taking, such

as stopping logging in areas currently occupied by owls, there is no

imminent threat to the survival or recovery of the northern spotted owl

at this time, " Ms. Ambrose said in a statement last month. But the B.C.

action plan is not enough, according to the environmentalists, which

include the Western Canada Wilderness Committee, the David Suzuki

Foundation, ForestEthics, Environmental Defence and Sierra Legal

Defence Fund. The lawsuit asks the court to force the minister to

impose an emergency order under the federal Species at Risk Act on the

grounds that the B.C. government is not protecting the owls, whose

known numbers have dropped to 17 this year from about 100 since 1997.

The environmentalists argue the B.C. plan protects only the areas where

the owls are now, leaving 80 per cent of their original habitat open

for logging. The lawsuit notes that calls for previous Liberal

environment ministers to intervene also went unheeded. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060921.BCOWL21/TPStory/National

4)

BC Timber Sales is well positioned to evolve to the next level of

encouraging free market activity and pricing of trees. Changes required

to make this evolution: 1. BC Timber Sales needs to be independent of

short-term political interference - similar to how legislation makes

the BC Chief Forester independent. 2. Rather than selling standing

trees, BC Timber Sales needs to begin selling wood profiles. This would

remove the existing barriers to garage based businesses from getting

started - as they no longer will need to hire individuals to harvest

and truck the wood. Nor will they have to merchandize (sell) the wood

they do not require. They just place an order for the quantity and

quality of wood they desire - and have to pay more than anybody-else

interested in the same wood. http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/bcts/about/structuralreview.htm5)

West Coast residents can learn more about Island Timberlands plans to

log its private Ucluelet and Clayoquot lands Thursday. The Island-based

forest company will host an open house in the Ucluelet municipal

building from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. "We're actually going to be there for

people who want to connect with us and meet with us," said Diane

Medves, corporate forester for Island Timberlands. Medves said the

company will have maps and plans on display. At the end of August, the

company told members of the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District that

the company plans to harvest eight, privately owned cut-blocks, four of

which are now undergoing road construction. The cut-blocks are located

around Ucluelet, Ucluelet Inlet, Kennedy Lake and the Kennedy River

Road junction. The company plans to harvest about 100,000 cubic metres

in 2007. http://www.westcoaster.ca/modules/AMS/article.php?storyid=11756)

New hostilities over the Great Bear Rainforest have emerged, seven

months after the British Columbia government brokered a deal meant to

end a battle between environmentalists and the logging industry. This

time the government is under fire from the Spirit Bear Youth Coalition,

a group that boasts it has six million supporters worldwide, an

animated Hollywood film in production and that is led by Simon Jackson,

who in April of 2000 was named to a Time Magazine list of 60 " heroes

for the planet. " The group, which drops the names of influential

supporters such as Nelly Furtado, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Jane

Goodall in its press releases, has accused the B.C. government of

failing to follow through on a promise to protect the rare white bears

found on the Central Coast. The so-called spirit bears -- soon to be

glamorized in a film illustrated by the designers of The Lion King --

are black bears with a gene that causes their fur to go white. For more

than a decade, they have been an icon for environmentalists trying to

stop logging of old-growth forests on the B.C. coastline north of

Vancouver Island and south of the Alaska Panhandle. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060921.BCBEAR21/TPStory/TPNational/BritishColumb

ia/Washington:7)

Sept. 6th: More than 3,300 firefighters were assigned to the state's 10

largest fires, which have burned nearly 468 square miles. The priority

remained the Columbia complex, which was 40 percent contained

Wednesday. The fire has blackened 145 square miles, or 93,225 acres,

near Dayton in southeast Washington. The Columbia County sheriff's

office reopened two roads, but several hundred residents remained

evacuated, said Virgil Mink, a U.S. Forest Service fire information

officer. More than 1,600 firefighters were assigned to the blaze,

focusing on structure protection and strengthening fire lines to

protect the Bluewood Ski Resort about 6 miles away. Firefighters also

attacked more than a dozen small lightning-caused fires in the Umatilla

National Forest, the largest about 100 acres. In northcentral

Washington, 1,393 people were on the fire lines northeast of Winthrop

at the state's largest burn, the Tripod complex, which has consumed

163,098 acres, or almost 255 square miles, and was 56 percent

contained. The northern flank of the fire was within a mile of the

Canadian border near Haig Mountain. On Monday, the fire destroyed the

historic Big Horn Cabin in Horseshoe Basin, about 16 miles northwest of

Loomis. The cabin had been used by wilderness rangers and was not open

to the public, said Mark Pepin, spokesman for the Okanogan and

Wenatchee National Forests. Canadian fire crews were monitoring the

Tripod fire, as well as the 34,000-acre Tatoosh fire, which previously

burned from the Pasayten Wilderness Area into British Columbia between

Manning and Cathedral provincial parks, about 125 miles east of

Vancouver. An evacuation alert was issued to an undetermined number of

residents "to get people ready ... in case they do have to leave on

short notice," said Mary Ann Leach of the Kamloops, British Columbia,

Fire Center. Fire information officer Jeff Moore said Tuesday the fire

was "zero percent contained" in Canada because heavy smoke had kept

firefighters from getting close to the burn. The entire Pasayten

Wilderness Area was closed to recreation. To the south, a new

lightning-sparked fire burned 200 acres in steep, rugged terrain within

the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area 20 miles northwest of Cle Elum in the

central Cascades. Some popular hiking trails were closed because of the

Polallie fire, Forest Service spokeswoman Robin DeMario said. http://www.bellinghamherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060906/NEWS/60906005

California:8)

"In a way, we are all somewhat reclusive here in the mountains. We have

this little green nest, a little place to hide. But we are loving our

forest to death. We are not allowing Mother Nature to do her thing."

Effinger was one of many concerned citizens and officials on hand at

the Discovery Center Sept. 12 to encourage Big Bear Valley, Angelus

Oaks and Forest Falls residents to take advantage of the Forest Care

program administered by the San Bernardino National Forest Association

and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Funding

comes from a federal fuels reduction grant provided by the United

States Forest Service. Community partners include local and county fire

departments and fire safe councils. It is a unique partnership between

nonprofit, state and federal agencies, according to Shawna Meyer,

Forest Care director. "This is a partnership endeavor that is making a

real difference in the community," she said. The Forest Care program

became available to qualifying Big Bear Valley residents on Sept. 15.

The program helps landowners pay for reducing hazardous fuels on their

lands. It is a cost-share program that reimburses private property

owners up to 75 percent for the cost of thinning small diameter live

trees on densely treed lots. The program has already proven successful

in Crestline and Twin Peaks with more than 60 landowners participating.

Here's how it works. Private properties smaller than five acres and

with a high tree density of more than 200 trees per acre, qualify for

the program. Once the property owner contacts Forest Care, a

professional forester comes out to the property to create a fuels

management plan. Once the plan is designed, the landowner can either

remove the trees or hire a licensed timber operator to do the work.

After thinning is completed, a Forest Care representative will inspect

the property then reimburse the owner for up to 75 percent of the cost.

http://www.bigbeargrizzly.net/articles/2006/09/20/news/forestcare.txt9)

Pre-eminent San Francisco environmentalist Edgar Wayburn, who ranks

with John Muir in the annals of conservation history, is credited with

saving more than 100 million acres of mountains, meadows and rivers in

California and Alaska. On Sunday he marks another milestone: His 100th

birthday. That means he has protected at least 1 million acres of land

for each year of his life, from the top of Mount McKinley to Point

Reyes National Seashore. " Edgar Wayburn has helped to preserve the most

breathtaking examples of the American landscape, " President Bill

Clinton said in 1999 when he presented Wayburn with the Presidential

Medal of Freedom, the country's highest civilian honor. " He has saved

more of our wilderness than any other person alive, " Clinton said. As

president and longtime leader of the Sierra Club, Wayburn designed and

negotiated the creation of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area,

which stretches over 85,000 coastal acres between San Mateo and Marin

counties, and Redwood National Park in Humboldt and Del Norte counties.

His work saved the slopes of Mount Tamalpais from development and

expanded Mount Tamalpais State Park by six times its original size. And

after a life-changing trip in the 1960s to Mount McKinley, the Kenai

Peninsula and Glacier Bay, he wrote and worked for the passage of the

sweeping Alaska lands bill, signed into law by President Jimmy Carter.

Wayburn now spends more time in a comfortable chair in his Japantown

home than in the High Sierra or his beloved redwood forests. Yet he can

recall in detail 60 years of environmental battles, his early medical

practice in internal medicine at San Francisco General Hospital and

UCSF, and family life with his wife and four children. The Sierra Club

threw a party for Wayburn at Fort Mason on Friday. The club named him

honorary president a decade ago and holds him in the same regard as

founder John Muir. On Sunday, his close friends will help him

celebrate. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/09/16/MNGN6L72O71.DTL10)

The Cemex cement plant in Davenport, and in fact all of Santa Cruz

County, sits in the middle of one of those hotspots, a region extending

from Oregon to Baja California. The Ohlone tiger beetle, the Zayante

band-winged grasshopper and the Ben Lomond spineflower are a few of the

rare species found only in Santa Cruz County. Last month, Cemex, a

100-year-old company based in Mexico, hosted an event at Chaminade for

more than 160 community leaders. The event, which featured

presentations by two scientists active in the conservation movement,

was an opportunity for people to learn more about the global

corporation that took over the cement plant and 10,000 acres of forest

a year and a half ago. The Davenport plant, like its new owner, has

been in existence for 100 years. It's been a source of good-paying jobs

and valued partner for the local school and community groups, but its

past also includes neighbors upset by smelly sulfur dioxide and

environmental groups contesting polluted discharges into Monterey Bay.

The plant's new owner showcased its partnership with Conservation

International and a hefty 380-page book, " Hotspots Revisited, " brimming

with eye-catching photos from locales around the world. The book is the

12th in a series begun in 1993 by the partnership, aimed at protecting

the world's precious wild spaces. Several hundred scientists

contributed to the research along with a group of internationally

renowned photographers who traversed the globe from Brazil to

Bangladesh to illustrate it. This year Cemex hired an assistant, Carla

Moyer, for the environmental compliance manager. The company retains

Gary Paul, a forester certified by the RainForest Alliance Smart Wood

program, to oversee logging on the property. His plan involves cutting

down 2,000 trees while planting 20,000 redwood seedlings a year. http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2006/September/17/biz/stories/01biz.htm

Idaho:11)

A proposal by the U.S. Forest Service calls for cutting some Douglas

firs and other conifer trees in the Ketchum region. Wildlife Biologist

David Skinner says the cuts are needed to save some dying aspen stands.

He says the conifers are too dense, blocking sunlight and choking out

the aspen trees. If the plan is approved, Skinner could begin cutting

the conifer trees by next August. Aspens provide habitat for 13 bird

species in the Ketchum district, including woodpeckers and owls. They

also have become part of the local tourism industry, with thousands of

sightseers traveling to the Wood River Valley each fall to view the

brilliant reds, oranges and yellows of turning aspen leaves. http://www.ktvb.com/news/localnews/stories/ktvbn-sep1806-saving_aspens.207b4a5a.html

New Mexico:12)

Today there are two large sawmills remaining in New Mexico, both on the

Mescalero Apache Reservation. At the same time, Blazer said, forests in

his state are reeling from a century of successful fire suppression.

"Our forests in New Mexico are in pretty sad shape," Blazer said. "The

exclusion of fire over the last century has left us with forests that

are overstocked. We now have a lot of catch-up to do." Part of that

catch-up will likely include rebuilding a commercial wood industry, he

said. "It's a big piece of the puzzle for us here," Blazer said. "It's

certainly not going to be easy to do." Public land managers around the

West often use timber sales to help offset costs of thinning and other

forest restoration projects. In New Mexico, officials estimate it costs

between $400 and $1,200 to treat one acre of forested land. Costs for

that kind of work can climb much higher. http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2006/09/18/news/mtregional/news06.txtMinnesota:

13)

The trees they cut down eventually become wood chips or crates, and

their Baudette, Minn., company has provided jobs for 20 workers. But

the sagging housing market is starting to echo in the North Woods, and

the Ericksons' business is down 20 percent this year as a result. " Our

lumber is used in shipping and crating. And when people don't buy

houses, they also don't buy the refrigerators and stoves and things

that need to be shipped in a crate, " Gib Erickson said. With too much

inventory sitting in stockyards, deliveries have stalled and prices

have plunged. " I'd say our lumber sales are down about 20 percent, " he

said. Most of Minnesota's 300 logging firms are being hurt to some

degree. Small operations that typically generate less than $5 million a

year, they sell their timber to lumber mills, crate and paper

manufacturers and makers of oriented strand board (OSB), a product made

from wood chips that's commonly used to build exterior house walls. Now

some loggers are at the end of a domino chain in which mill owners are

putting off deliveries because of the slowdown in home building. That

has left some cash-strapped loggers skipping equipment loan payments to

their bankers, scuttling their pension plans or simply walking away

from the business. " It's probably the worst market that we have seen

for loggers for 25 or 35 years, " said Wayne Brandt, executive vice

president of the Minnesota Timber Producers Association, a trade

association. " The rise in interest rates and these low housing starts

have had a significant impact. " http://www.startribune.com/535/story/680758.htmlWest Virginia14)

This is a decades long clash between environmental idealism and big

industry pragmatism with thousands of weary residents caught in the

middle. And it's all going down in Tucker County, one of the wildest,

most remote regions of West Virginia. A county where moonshine is still

readily available and the federal government is public enemy number

one. The potential recreation the proposal would bring into one park is

astounding. Imagine including the world class climbing of Seneca Rocks

and the pristine cross country skiing of Dolly Sods underneath the same

management umbrella. Imagine paddling class V Blackwater River and

hiking Otter Creek Wilderness within the same park. And all of it, from

the existing Wilderness areas to the national forest's logging

prescriptions would be permanently protected for future generations. In

ten years, there would be no threat of a condo development at the

bottom of Seneca Rocks. In 30 years, the backcountry campsites on

Canaan Mountain wouldn't be a Walmart. Blackwater Canyon National Park

would permanently preserve some of West Virginia's most beloved natural

landscapes while encompassing the state's most sought after recreation

hot spots. The potential recreation possibilities and tourism dollars

of a national park in the West Virginia Highlands has gained quite a

bit of political support at the state and federal level over the last

several years. Both Governor's Wise and Underwood pledged their support

to preserving the area in and around Blackwater Canyon during each of

their terms. In 2000, Senator Byrd endorsed a feasibility study for a

national park in West Virginia's Highlands region and even managed to

allocate $300,000 in funding for the project before the study was

killed in committee. Legislation asking for a similar feasibility study

has been introduced in the West Virginia legislature three times. But

today, the creation of a national park is no further along than it was

30 years ago when the site was first anointed for designation by the

Department of the Interior. http://www.blueridgeoutdoors.com/content/article.php?article_id=141Vermont:15)

Thousands of acres of national forests in Vermont and New Hampshire

would be designated as wilderness by the federal government, thanks to

a bill moving through Congress that has angered timber industry

advocates. The designation would more closely regulate the uses

permitted on the land, which conservation advocates say will

permanently protect natural areas but loggers say takes more land away

from their industry. The bill calls for adding 47,700 acres of

wilderness in six different parcels to the 400,000-acre Green Mountain

National Forest. In New Hampshire, the 800,000-acre White Mountain

National Forest's designated wilderness areas would grow by 34,500

acres, in two parcels. The measure also calls for the creation of the

Mount Moosalamoo National Recreation Area in Vermont, a 15,857-acre

tract south and east of Middlebury where _ unlike the wilderness areas

_ snowmobiling and some logging would be permitted. Motorized access

and commercial logging are not permitted in wilderness areas, although

hunting, hiking, snowshoeing and other " low impact " activities are. The

bill calls for creating two new wilderness areas _ around Glastenbury

Mountain in Bennington County and along several peaks and ridgelines in

the Green Mountains, straddling Addison and Windsor counties _ and

expanding four existing areas in Vermont. http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=5436079 & nav=4QcSNew York:16)

ALBANY -- State conservation officials have drafted a management plan

for 49,120 acres of the Adirondacks that includes a new snowmobile

bridge across the Raquette River and some motor vehicle access among

the options. While environmentalists worry the plan would also allow

the use of all-terrain vehicles and harm the forest, DEC spokeswoman

Kim Chupa said Tuesday the draft plan " does not envision ATV access in

the unit. " Town officials in Colton, Piercefield and Hopkinton want

more motorized access into the Raquette Boreal forest management unit

and have been holding up Gov. George Pataki's deal for state

preservation and recreation rights to paper company lands inside their

boundaries. " I'd say it's almost exactly what we're looking for, "

Colton Town Supervisor Hank Ford said Tuesday of the DEC plan. " What

we're looking for is something that's going to stimulate the economy of

the area and possibly look at some economic development in the

surrounding area. " What the towns want is a year-round multi-use trail

system that would accommodate both snowmobiles and ATVs, something they

consider essential to their constituents and the sparsely populated

area's tourism economy. In Colton, Ford also wants to build a multi-use

bridge over the Raquette River. The Raquette Boreal unit includes about

12,000 acres of state-owned primitive area, which would essentially be

left untouched; 3,000 acres of state forest; and 34,000 acres of state

easements on private land. Ford said the old Lassiter Main Haul logging

road would provide an ATV route southwest to northeast through the unit

and still meet environmental concerns. " It's already hard-packed. It's

a road that has been used for decades, " he said. http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--adirondackland-ve0919sep19,0,1474130.story

?coll=ny-region-apnewyorkUSA:17)

In a major, sweeping decision, a federal judge in California today

reinstated Clinton-era protections of 58.5 million acres of national

forests. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Laporte of the U.S. District Court

in San Francisco sided with four Democratic attorneys general and 20

environmental groups in reinstating the Clinton rule and throwing out

the Bush administration's roadless petition plan. The Clinton rule put

58.5 million acres of national forest off-limits to roadbuilding,

logging and other development. Idaho Gov. Jim Risch ® is scheduled to

announce his state's roadless petition today along with Agriculture

Undersecretary Mark Rey, but it is unclear how Laporte's ruling will

play out. " Defendants are enjoined from taking any further action

contrary to the Roadless Rule without undertaking environmental

analysis consistent with this opinion, " Laporte said. Forest Service

spokesman Dan Jiron said the agency will review today's decision. " We

still believe the state petition rule is a viable way to protect

roadless areas. " The states, who filed their challenge last September

(Washington joined this February), claim the Bush administration failed

to conduct an environmental analysis of removing the Clinton roadless

protections as required by the National Environmental Policy Act. http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/2006/09/20/#1Canada:18)

The group cites new satellite images obtained from the United States

Geological Survey which allegedly show five clearcuts all larger than

260 hectares within the Trout Lake Forest in northwestern Ontario. The

region was logged as late as May 23rd, according to the group.

ForestEthics says the images contradict a statement by Natural

Resources Minister David Ramsay that large-scale logging is not taking

place in the province. The group says one month after the alleged May

clearcut in Trout Lake, Ramsey was quoted as saying Ontario keeps

forest cuts " quite small nowadays.'' ForestEthics member Leah Henderson

says much of Ontario's boreal forest is slated to be logged or mined in

the next few years, placing caribou in a fight for survival. http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20060920/ontario_clear_cutting_060920/20060920?hub=To

rontoHome19)

As the emerald ash borer continues to ravage Southwestern Ontario

woodlots, two artists are exploring the issue of disappearing forests

in a new exhibit at Gallery Stratford. Micro/Macro is the title of the

show that explores the tree and woodlot paintings of Robert Wiens and

Melissa Doherty. " This borer is devastating big areas of forests, " said

Wien, who doesn't believe attempts to save trees by blocking the ash

borer will work. Earlier this summer, Elgin and Lambton counties were

added to a list of Southwestern Ontario counties banned from shipping

out ash wood products in an attempt to halt the tree-killing pest.

Wiens is particularly concerned with the loss of our forests as he is

also a woodworker. " I have an interest in using native wood species (in

his art), " he said. The Leamington native said his hometown area has

one of the most diverse ranges of tree species in the province, yet has

the least amount of forest. " It's a sad testament to the depletion of

forests in Southern Ontario. " Wiens' watercolours are studies of

true-to-scale tree trunks that he first photographs. " I wanted to

really paint them in as clear a way as I could. That was one way of

making a statement that was as real as I could get it. " His white pine

paintings are based on pictures he took in the Temagami area, which has

one of the last old-growth forests in Ontario and is threatened by

further logging. " That kind of forest existed throughout most of

Southern Ontario and there's only a small portion of it left in a few

places, " he said. Most of Wiens' work in this exhibit was done in the

last two years. Melissa Doherty includes many small-scale paintings in

her exhibit of scenes based on Southwestern Ontario forests and areas

that have been eliminated by urban sprawl. " Paintings of cropped

forests, woodlots and roadways have developed into aerial paintings as

a result of my interest in showing landscape as a limited material, "

the Kitchener woman has said. http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/Today/2006/09/18/1856764-sun.htmlRussia:20)

A Greenpeace International report released today reveals how illegally

logged timber from Russia is being freely imported into Finland to

factories including those of Stora Enso, which is partly owned by the

Finnish State. In its report: 'Partners in Crime: A Greenpeace

Investigation into Finland's Illegal Timber Trade with Russia'

Greenpeace has documented wide-spread illegal logging in the Russian

Republic of Karelia. During undercover field research between June and

August 2006, campaigners witnessed timber being harvested in violation

of Russian forest and environmental laws,(2) then transported across

the border to be processed by industry giants UPM and Stora Enso.

Products from these mills are exported throughout Europe and beyond, as

far away as Japan. Customers of these mills include liquid packaging

manufacturers, such as Tetra Pak and Elopak. "Finland can no longer

distance itself from the laundering of illegal timber. As President of

the EU, it is the government's duty to support effective EU-wide

legislation that ensures legal and sustainable sourcing of wood

products in Europe. Instead, Finland is allowing the EU to serve as a

clearing house for the spoils of forest crime," said Sue Connor,

Greenpeace International campaigner.The European Commission promised to

propose options for legislation to combat the import of illegal timber

into Europe, aimed at filling the gaps of an earlier voluntary

programme, but has, to date, failed to deliver. Finland has so far put

economic interests before forest protection, claiming that industry-led

voluntary measures are sufficient to control timber trade, while the

evidence provided in the Greenpeace report makes it clear that these

are inadequate. http://www.greenpeace.org/forests/illegal-logging-finn-russiaAfrica:21)

Latest satellite images of the natural resources of Africa show that it

is under an environmental assault of bigger proportions which could

have disturbing consequences on the livelihood of people across the

continent in future. According to the United Nations Environment

Programme (UNEP), which launched a new atlas at an international water

conference held in the Swedish capital of Stockholm last month,

Africa's river basins, fresh water lakes, forests, coastal lagoons and

wildlife sanctuaries are under siege from unsustainable exploitation.

Environmental experts say African countries are becoming increasingly

aware of the costs of inaction, of the price economies pay for lax

environmental management and ecological degradation. A recent study in

Egypt has found that pollution and environmental damage is costing that

country alone over 5 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP). http://allafrica.com/stories/200609190881.htmlLiberia:22)

According to a release issued by Mr. Oscar Cooper, Chief Executive

Officer of the Inland Logging Corporation, the House and the Senate are

being coerced by the International Community through the United Nations

to change the newly passed " National Forestry Reform Law of 2006 " . The

Law gives a long term protection to the Liberian Heritage by reserving

40% of all established commercial forestry areas exclusively to

Liberians, whether utilized or not. The release said that the

international communities are adamant that the 40% allocated to

Liberians and future generations be removed from law and that a

previous bill submitted with their interest opening the entire

commercial forestry areas to foreign investors alike. " This act, we

fear will disenfranchise Liberian-owned companies that do not have the

pecuniary potency to compete after the insurmountable losses incurred

during the war. An influx of foreign investors in the forestry sector

would undoubtedly dominate the bidding process for forestry

acquisition, " the release said. Mr. Cooper said that this open-door

policy would unquestionably invite companies like the O.T.C. to acquire

vast forest tracts and extensively deplete their National Reserves. He

stated that the position of the International Community greatly

deviated from the rationale as to why the sanctions were originally

imposed on Liberia and in what aspect and roles were being played to

determine which laws were beneficial to Liberians by the interpretation

of the Liberianization policy as to whether the laws enacted, quote,

" are investors friendly even to the detriment of Liberians? " " The House

and the Senate are in a state of perplexed dilemma as to why the United

Nations would continue to impose sanctions on Liberia, " the release

said. http://allafrica.com/stories/200609190835.htmlSouth Africa:23)

" Timber plantation expansion now being promoted by the South African

government in the Eastern Cape province will not benefit local

communities. Instead they will only bring more suffering to an already

impoverished and marginalised region. " said Wally Menne, chairperson of

the Timberwatch NGO Coalition. He concluded saying that " The South

African government must reverse its decision to promote the expansion

of unsustainable timber plantations and should rather assist rural

communities with sustainable projects around organic food production,

tourism and small-scale manufacturing, that will genuinely help to

ensure their long term welfare and self-reliance. " Environmental

experts say African countries are becoming increasingly aware of the

costs of inaction, of the price economies pay for lax environmental

management and ecological degradation. A recent study in Egypt has

found that pollution and environmental damage is costing that country

alone over 5 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP). http://www.wrm.org.uyKenya:24)

I simply wrote what the Nature's Wisdom, a community-based organization

dealing with environmental issues, felt should be raised. In the wisdom

of its leaders, Nature's Wisdom had simply pointed an accusing finger

at the provincial administration for sleeping on the job while all

kinds of people massively rape the forest. They were complaining that

the forest trees were being cut as if the world was coming to and end.

After all, Mau forest is not the property of the people of Embomos,

Chebugen or Cheptalal but is ecologically speaking the anchor to the

livelihoods of the millions of people in Kenya and beyond. I was told

that bar gossip had it that I was writing 'bad things' about my own

people. But even as this line of talk was taken, nobody mentioned

tragic events that include children disappearing in the forest for two

days while transporting timber or that a teenager, who, while escaping

from the wrath of the forest guards, had ran into a snare set by a

relative and is now seriously ill. There is a typically native outlook

to some of these things. There is this incapacity to see that unless

there is regeneration, nature is not after all infinite. "Who will ever

finish this huge forest," one of my village critic wondered upon

hearing that a story to that effect was published in the newspapers,

adding gleefully that the forest had been there that since he was a

kid. http://www.timesnews.co.ke/21sep06/editorials/comm1.htmlCongo:25)

The Minister of Forestry Economy of the Republic of Congo announced

today plans to create two new protected areas that together could be

larger than Yellowstone National Park, spanning nearly one million

hectares (3,800 square miles). Instead of bison and elk, these new

protected areas contain elephants, chimpanzees, hippos, crocodiles, and

some of the highest densities of gorillas on earth. The announcement

was made by Minister Henri Djombo and officials from the Bronx

Zoo-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) at the United Nations.

The first new protected area to be created, will be called

Ougoue-Lekiti National Park, and lies in the western part of the

country. It will adjoin Bateke National Park in Gabon, which was

established with WCS's help in 2002. Together this transboundary

protected area will safeguard some 600,000 hectares (2,300 square

miles). The northern half of Ougoue-Leketi contains a vast and ancient

sand dune system, and is covered by large grass and wooded savanna

patches separated by fine lines of dense gallery forest, along with a

multitude of small lakes and river valleys. The south and west of the

new park supports an intact block of Chaillu forest and the Ougue River

basin along which a series of important natural forest clearings are

used by forest elephants and other large mammals. Until recently the

region contained lions – unusual to the Congo Basin – though poaching

may have wiped out the population. The Savanna landscape still supports

such rare species as Grimm's duiker (a small antelope species),

side-striped jackal, and rare birds including Denham's bustard. Inside

its forests roam elephants, forest buffalo, bush pigs, leopards,

gorillas, chimpanzees and several monkey species. The second protected

area to be created in the coming year – Ntokou-Pikounda – lies

southeast of Odzala Kokoua National Park, which is well-known for one

of the highest gorilla populations in the world. WCS conservationist

Dr. Mike Fay identified parts of this area as the "Green Abyss" in

2000, during his "Mega-transect," an expedition co-sponsored by

National Geographic. Fay also recorded extremely high densities of

great apes in the region's broad Marantacae forests. http://news.mongabay.com/2006/0918-wcs.htmlChile:26)

In the case of Chile, Lucio Cuenca, Director of the Latin American

Observatory of Environmental Conflicts, affirmed " that if the

Government really wants people to believe in its slogan of 'Citizen

Government' it should first eliminate the laws the dictatorship enacted

to make the rich, richer and which even now are still in force, such as

Decree 701 that gave subsidies and special credits and tax breaks to

carry out plantations. " Cuenca also denounced that the companies have

managed to implement new strategies getting the State bodies to grant

even greater amounts of public funds for the promotion of plantations.

He concluded by saying that " an increasingly impoverished society is

subsidising companies that are getting richer all the time. This cannot

be defined as 'citizen government'. " http://www.wrm.org.uyBrazil:27)

In the case of Brazil, Carla Villanova, from Friends of the Earth,

stated that " taking into account the negative impacts of the plantation

experience in other parts of Brazil, we totally oppose the State and

Federal Governments' plans to support plantation companies. " She added

that " what is needed is not the support to major industries, but

government support to other productive alternatives, benefiting those

who really need it. " http://www.wrm.org.uy28)

A recent campaign has been strengthened last week, in which Aracruz, by

using trade unions and other related companies, tries to incite the

local and regional population against the Tupinikim and Guarani

indigenous peoples, using false accusations: 1)at least 10 big paid

announcements in the main regional newspapers, calling the Indians

" pseudo-indians " , " barbarous " , " criminals " , " thiefs " , just to mention

some terms, and appealing to the government to intervene against the

indigenous protest actions; 2) several enormous outdoors spread in the

town of Aracruz with sentences like " we do not want Indians anymore,

who are threatening workers " ; 3) a demonstration was held on Friday, 15

September, in the town of Aracruz against the Indians and against NGOs

that support them; the demonstration counted with more than 3,000

participants, especially workers of Aracruz and the companies where

outsourced employees work; the workers had two choices: continue

working or going to the demonstration; some witnesses affirmed that

extra hours were paid to worker; the demonstration was headed by two of

the trade unions of workers related with Aracruz Celulose (Sinticel and

Sintiema) over which the company has 100% control. Aracruz commented in

the newspapers this demonstration as " a sign of maturing of

trade-unionism in Brazil " ! http://www.globaljusticeecology.org29)

VCP's Chief Executive Officer Jose Penido told reporters his company,

whose stocks soared on the deal, was going to focus more on pulp output

in the coming years. In the meantime, the Memphis, Tennessee-based IP

will center more on the uncoated paper business in Latin America's

largest country. Under the terms of the deal, VCP will give its pulp

and paper mill in Luiz Antonio, Sao Paulo, and the plant's forest

reserve to International Paper. IP will transfer to VCP its Brazilian

pulp plant under construction worth $1.15 billion as well as lands and

forest in Tres Lagoas, Mato Grosso do Sul. The Tres Lagoas plant is due

to start operating in January 2009 with an output capacity of 1.1

million tonnes per year.Votorantim, which provided the actual value of

only one part of the deal, will also supply pulp at market prices to

IP, which plans to build a paper plant in the same area. " We've chosen

to reduce the emphasis on uncoated paper, but we still have our (paper)

brands and plants ... In the years to come, VCP will focus on

strengthening its position on the pulp market, " Penido said. http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=mergersNews & storyID=2006-09-19T164137Z_01_N

19394031_RTRIDST_0_TIMBER-BRAZIL-VCP-UPDATE-2.XMLIndia:30)

Thiruvananthapuram: Illegal felling and smuggling of sandalwood trees

in Marayur forest in Idukki have come down owing to a series of steps

taken by the Government, Minister for Forest Benoy Viswom has said.

Speaking at a seminar on `Deforestation in Kerala,' organised by the

BBC World Service Trust and the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)

as part of EU-India Economic Cross Cultural Programme here on Monday,

he said the rate of felling of sandalwood trees had come down to .2

level. " We are not satisfied with that and wants to make it zero level.

Despite the vigil, we lost one sandalwood tree a couple of days ago, "

he added. Mr. Viswom said the Government was committed to seeing that

illegal felling and smuggling of sandalwood trees in Marayur was

prevented at all costs. The Government would strive to see that the

existing forest cover was preserved at all cost. All attempts would be

made in this direction, although it was a difficult task. It would be a

priority agenda of the LDF Government. The Minister said deforestation

was carried out for social, political and economic reasons. " It stems

out of greed of powerful quarters running behind wealth. They are

powerful, roots are deep and contacts are wide. As they are rich, they

think they can do anything, " Mr. Viswom said. http://www.hindu.com/2006/09/19/stories/2006091920890300.htmChina:31)

United Technologies Corporation says it is supporting Conservation

International's efforts to restore critically endangered forests within

the mountains of southwest China through a US$200,000 grant stretching

over two years. UTC's grant donation will be used to support a pilot

reforestation effort that will replant and improve natural regeneration

of native tree species on 102 hectares in the Teng Chong County, Yunnan

Province around the Gao Li Gong Nature Reserve. When completed, this

effort, a part of CI's Forest Restoration for Climate, Community and

Biodiversity initiative, could have the potential to absorb about

16,600 tons of carbon dioxide over 30 years. " Environmental

sustainability is part of UTC's commitment to social responsibility, "

said Jim Gradoville, president of United Technologies International

Operations in China. " That's why we are pleased to support a project

such as this, which will help restore the forest in one of the world's

most threatened natural environments. " CI's FCCB initiative is working

in partnership with the State Forestry Administration of China, the

Yunnan and Sichuan forestry departments and other non-government

partners to demonstrate the benefits of utilizing native species to

restore degraded lands in areas that provide critical habitat for

wildlife. In addition to revitalizing habitat, the pilot projects will

demonstrate the additional value of ecological services provided by

native species, such as carbon sequestration and water services.

Initial funding for the initiative was provided by the 3M Foundation.

The mountains of southwest China face increased pressure from over

logging and flooding due to loss of natural habitat. By reforesting

with native species, it provides multiple benefits, such as protecting

the region from massive soil erosion and flooding, insuring a viable

habitat for endangered species, conservation of soil and water,

reducing the risks of pests, pathogens and fire, and sequestration of

carbon, one of the main contributors to global climate change. http://www.chinacsr.comBorneo:32)

Borneo, one of the largest islands in the world, was once covered with

dense jungle. But in the past 20 years, indiscriminate logging has

leveled nearly 80 percent of its primary rain forest, turning its

tropical timber into garden furniture and paper pulp and clearing the

way for oil palm plantations. Environmental groups such as WWF,

formerly the World Wildlife Fund, are fighting to preserve what is

left, focusing specifically on a 220,000- square-kilometer, or

85,000-square mile, tract in the island's mountainous heartland. It is

one of the richest areas of biodiversity in the world, where, according

to the WWF, 361 new species have been discovered in 10 years. The WWF

saw some returns on its efforts in March. The three governments that

share the island - Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei - pledged at a United

Nations biodiversity conference in Brazil a joint conservation effort,

the Heart of Borneo initiative, that, although limited in scale, could

become a significant milestone for cross- border environmental

cooperation. Malaysia declared it would protect more than 200,000

hectares, or 495,000 acres, of vital forest habitat in Sabah state,

while Brunei established two conservation areas and Indonesia proposed

a new national park of 800,000 hectares. Perhaps as important,

Indonesia appears to have pulled back from a Chinese-funded logging

deal that would have cleared 1.8 million hectares along the border of

East Kalimantan Province, in Indonesian Borneo, and the Malaysian state

of Sarawak, that would have replaced forest with the largest oil palm

plantation in the world. A government agreement on the oil palm plan

was signed during a visit to Beijing by President Susilo Bambang

Yudhoyono of Indonesia in July of last year. But an Indonesian Forestry

Ministry spokesman said last month that the government now proposed to

steer Chinese oil palm investment toward 400,000 hectares of

agricultural land instead. " Several issues may affect the success of

the Heart of Borneo initiative, " Sheil added. A three-nation agreement

requires intergovernmental cooperation at a time when relationships

between the neighbors can be sensitive, he said. The cost of preserving

the forest is also a consideration, with Indonesia's resources already

stretched and about 20 million people living in poverty.http://www.iht.com33)

Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies professor Lisa

Curran was awarded a five-year John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur

Foundation Fellowship - known colloquially as a " genius grant. " One of

25 recipients, Curran will receive $500,000, which she may use as she

wishes, as the foundation does not require any result or specific use

of the funding. The first Environment School faculty member to receive

the award, Curran, a professor of tropical ecology and the director of

Yale's Tropical Resources Institute, uses satellite technology to

document land-use changes and alterations in tropical forests,

specifically on the Indonesian portion of Borneo, a Southeast Asian

island. But Curran's research extends beyond the science of forest

ecology. Her group studies the effects of changing land use on climate,

local livelihoods and development - covering topics from biodiversity

to indigenous peoples. " We do the science of it, and then we try to

understand the economic and social drivers, " Curran said. " Why are they

doing this, and who is responsible? " Curran's peers say the result is

research making a strong mark on her field. " She just got tenure and

her scholarship is world-class, but she is also profoundly engaged in

helping to solve real-world problems, " Environment School Dean Gus

Speth said. " She has been deeply engaged as a critic of the

mismanagement of the forests of Southeast Asia, sometimes at great

personal risk. " For a time, Curran switched her research to the Amazon

because working in Borneo became too dangerous due to political

instability in the region. Just as her scholarship has crossed

continents, her academic approach also bridges two fields of study. http://www.yaledailynews.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=33283Philippines:

34)

LUCENA CITY -- Illegal logging syndicates in Sierra Madre are operating

with impunity because of lack of government funds to sustain

antilogging operations, an official of the Department of Environment

and Natural Resources admitted to the Inquirer. "We don't have funds to

shoulder anti-illegal and retrieval operations in the mountain. What we

only have are regular allowances for our limited number of forest

rangers," Antonio Diwa, DENR local office head, said. A source from the

DENR admitted that, in some cases, if the retrieval of confiscated wood

products was not possible due to lack of funds, the forest rangers

would just destroy the seized items. "The wood products would either be

cut into small pieces or, in some cases, burned on the spot. Because if

they would be left unattended, most likely, the illegal loggers would

just transfer and hide them in other sites in the mountain," said an

Inquirer source. Nilo Tamoria, director of the DENR-Special Concerns

Division, clarified that the department had allotted some funds for

antilogging and retrieval operations. "But the fund is too limited," he

said.The expenses incurred during the recent weeklong antilogging

operations in Sierra Madre, which totalled 600,000 pesos, were

shouldered by environmentalist group Tanggol Kalikasan from funds

granted by the Philippine Tropical Forest Conservation Foundation. "At

least 252,000 pesos were spent as payment to more than 30 'magbubulaog'

(log haulers) who manually retrieved the confiscated flitches and

lumber from several log ponds atop the mountain," said lawyer Sheila de

Leon, TK-Southern Tagalog chief. Every "magbubulaog" was paid five

pesos for every board foot of wood that he hauled from the mountain

down to the DENR stock yard in Real town. "Since the DENR doesn't have

the manpower to carry out the task of bringing down the confiscated

forest products, we didn't have any option but to hire the

'magbubulaog' who were also being employed by illegal loggers in

carrying out the same task," De Leon said. http://newsinfo.inq7.net/breakingnews/metroregions/view_article.php?article_id=21726

Indonesia: 35)

Indonesia has a long history of forest destruction and substitution by

large-scale oil palm and pulpwood plantations. Rully Syumanda, from

WALHI/Friends of the Earth stresses that "the introduction of oil palm

plantations has been made at the expense of forests and forest peoples'

rights and have made local communities poorer. The main issue is

therefore that indigenous rights to land are recognised in national

legislation and that the right to free, prior and informed consent

allows communities to accept or refuse plantations on their land." http://www.wrm.org.uyNew Zealand:36)

Small forest owners will have big impact in Nelson/ Marlborough Small

forest growers will have a major impact on future wood availability in

the Nelson/Marlborough region, creating both opportunities and

challenges, reports the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF). The

Nelson/Marlborough Forest Industry and Wood Availability Forecasts

report was released today. It is the first in a national series of new

forecasts for local industries.The region had the potential to increase

the annual forestry harvest over the next 20 years from 2.3 million

cubic metres in 2005, to some 3.2 to 3.5 million cubic metres, MAF

Policy Regional Team Leader Chas Perry said. The report shows that

future wood availability increases will mainly depend on the harvesting

decisions of the region's 700 small-scale forest growers, which are

mainly concentrated in Marlborough. Any such increases in wood

availability would provide an opportunity for the local processing

industry to expand, Mr Perry said. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0609/S00226.htm Australia:37)

SHIRE of Yarra Ranges councillors have lashed out at the State

Government for allowing a protected forest in Hoddles Creek to be

logged. Mayor Monika Keane said green lighting the logging of a rural

conservation zone was shortsighted and an insult to the Upper Yarra

community. She branded the decision, handed down by the Victorian Civil

and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) last week, a kick in the guts for

the shire's planning scheme. Cr Keane, and Lyster Ward councillor

Samantha Dunn have also called on the State Government to overhaul the

Planning Act and the operation of VCAT. They and representatives from

nine other councils have written to the Minister for Planning, Rob

Hulls, calling for reform. The outburst by the councillors came after

VCAT gave Moran Logging Company of Warburton the go-ahead to log within

a 99-hectare forest adjacent to Beenak Road in Hoddles Creek VCAT

allowed the logging to proceed with some restrictions despite the

forest being listed as a Rural Conservation Zone and being subject to

an Environmental Significance Overlay - two of the shire's strongest

environmental controls. The shire rejected Moran Logging's application

to log the forest in January this year citing strong opposition from

local residents and a commitment to protect the sensitive flora and

fauna in the area. Cr Dunn slammed VCAT's overturning of the shire's

ruling, labelling the verdict as bitterly disappointing and

heartbreaking. "The decision flies in the face of what our community

wants and how they want to live their lives," she said. "It is

outrageous that VCAT has made this determination. If we can't say no to

logging here, where can we say no?" Keith Jesse, spokesman for Friends

of Hoddles Creek - a group of residents who campaigned against the

logging proposal - said he was disheartened by the decision. http://www.starnewsgroup.com.au/story/25557World-wide:38)

September 21, 'National Tree Day' was chosen as a significant date to

commemorate internationally the struggle against monoculture tree

plantations. In spite of the innumerable complaints against the impacts

of these plantations, governments continue to promote forestry plans

consisting of a package of legislative measures promoting large-scale

plantations, mainly through subsidies, tax exemptions, soft loans, land

concessions or other promotional mechanisms. Those policies are

increasingly being challenged by organizations and communities in

affected areas and what follow are opinions from some campaigners in

Africa, Asia and Latin America on this third International Day against

Monoculture Tree Plantations. Soumitra Ghosh, from NESPON and National

Forum of Forest People and Forest Workers says: We want no more

monocultures and demand that the Government makes no attempt to hand

over forest land to industrial houses for raising more eucalyptus or

pine plantations. Let monocultures be banned everywhere.Peoples

throughout the South are struggling against large scale plantations",

said WRM international coordinator Ricardo Carrere. "On this

International Day against Monoculture Tree Plantations, we demand that

governments put an end to the promotionof these socially and

environmentally destructive plantations and to instead support efforts

made by local communities to improve their quality of life in harmony

with their environment", he concluded. http://www.wrm.org.uy39)

The G8 Illegal Logging Dialogue has been launched in Singapore to

attempt to put a stop to worldwide illegal logging. Delegates from G8

nations, plus China, India and other top timber producting nations,

timber companies and NGOs will take part. Illegal logging is

threatening the livelihoods of millions of the world's poor, robbing

governments of billions of dollars in revenue and undermining

legitimate logging businesses, the World Bank said in a report released

on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank meetings in Singapore. Katherine

Sierra, the Bank's vice president for sustainable development, said

nearly a fifth of humanity was dependent on forests for some part of

their livelihoods. She said that better law enforcement was needed to

combat illegal logging. Despite the magnitude of the problem, there are

few instances of prosecution and punishment, the report said. In fact,

if there are prosecutions it is the poor, looking to supplement their

meagre livelihoods, who are victimised and sent to jail. Large-scale

operators continue with impunity. While the fate of the world's forests

looks bleak, the Bank said that in recent years, illegal logging had

shifted from an almost taboo subject to now being part of an open

dialogue between governments on sustainable forest management. The

dialogue aims to agree on a practical plan of action to address illegal

logging and will present a set of recommendations to the G8 in 2008. http://www.newbuilder.co.uk/news/NewsFullStory.asp?ID=159240)

At its last Conference of the Parties (COP8), the Convention on

Biological Diversity adopted a very important Decision

(VIII/19), " Recommending " Parties to take a precautionary approach when

addressing the issue of genetically modified trees " . That Decision

recognized " the uncertainties related to the potential environmental

and socio-economic impacts, including long-term and transboundary

impacts, of genetically modified trees on global forest biological

diversity, as well as on the livelihoods of indigenous and local

communities, and given the absence of reliable data and of capacity in

some countries to undertake risk assessments and to evaluate those

potential impacts " . This is a very important step in the right

direction, which needs to be supported against the pressure that will

be put on the CBD by the powerful pro-GM tree lobby. The letter

concludes that " GM trees have no role to play in the conservation of

global forest biological diversity and, on the contrary, are likely to

reduce forest biodiversity, with attendant social consequences. The

high risks indicated by the available though incomplete science show

that the technology could result in the extinction of forest plant and

animal species with severe negative impacts on biodiversity " and urges

the CBD " to move forward from the current recommendation to Parties to

take a precautionary approach, to a mandatory decision declaring an

immediate ban on the release of GM trees. " The full letter is available

or can be found: http://www.wrm.org.uy/subjects/GMTrees/LetterCBD.html