Guest guest Posted April 3, 2007 Report Share Posted April 3, 2007 Today for you 37 news items about Earth's trees. Location, number and subject listed below. Condensed / abbreviated article is listed further below.Can be viewed on the web at http://www.livejournal.com/users/olyecology or by sending a blank email message to earthtreenews---British Columbia:1) Green Olympics to destroy old forests, 2) Clayquot sound to be logged again, 3) Job loss by the truckload, 4) Protest Marathon, 5) Great bear fraud,--Washington: 6) Forests into houses, 7) Weyco shareholders informed, 8) SPI erosion,--Oregon: 9) Forest Guild points to Fed failings, 10) Portions of Crosel creek saved, --California: 11) small acrerage logging ban, 12) SPI riles the neighbors again, --Montana: 13) Blackfeet tribe to remove all that remains--New Mexico: 14) Save the Lynx--Southeast Forests:15) loggers who work for retirement funds,--Kentucky: 16) Battling tree thieves--USA: 17) Roadless Area Conservation Act, 18) 155 National forest saved from Bush, --Canada: 19) Greenpeace wants moratorium, 20) Decline in recreational value,--UK: 21) Protest camp near Brecon--Finland: 22) Forest controversy in Lapland continues--South Africa: 23) Government sells 130,000 hectares of state forest land --Tobago 24) The world's first protected rainforest--Brazil: 25) Free Internet for the Indian tribes--Korea: 26) Tree sit protest marks 100 days--China: 27) How they log the world--Indonesia: 28) Massive illegal logging, 29) New laws trump loggers, 30) Harapan rainforest has been restored to contiguous canopy, 31) Two richest loggers, 32)Freeport McMoran and Kwila trees--New Zealand: 33) Fighting logger giant Ernslaw One --Australia: 34) $200 Million dollars of Hypocrisy, 35) Certisource timber verification, --Tropical Forests: 36) Rainforest facts --World-wide: 37) RestorationBritish Columbia:1) Whistlerite Eckhard Zeidler wants to know why the organizing committee for the 2010 Winter Olympics (VANOC) plans to cut down more than 38 hectares of 250-year-old trees to make way for recreation trails in the Callaghan Valley when there are already more than 100 kilometres of existing trails in the area. He also wants to know why the trails — known as the "legacy trails" near the Nordic Centre venue — are designed to be 10 to 20 metres (33 to 66 feet) wide when the standard trail width set by B.C. Parks is only six metres (20 feet). Most trails at Lost Lake are four to five metres (13 to 16 feet) wide. These new details and others about the plans for the 20 to 25 km of recreation trails in the Madeley Valley area of the Callaghan were released to the public last week when VANOC's amended Environmental Assessment application was posted to the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office website (www.eao.gov.bc.ca). But the 500-plus-page report and appendices raise more questions than they answer, said Zeidler, who has taken an ongoing personal interest in the trail plans. "The trails are huge; they're not just trails. People should ask themselves, 'Is this trail construction or is this logging operation?'" the municipal councillor, speaking only as a concerned citizen, told The Question on Tuesday (March 27). "(The trails are) being pushed through before they'll ever be needed." Even though they are called legacy trails, VANOC is planning to construct them this summer — a timeline that VANOC Nordic Venue Project Manager Doug Ewing admits is "ambitious." There is a potential for the public to be using the trails this year, he said Monday (March 26). And even with recent evidence of grizzly bears in the Callaghan, VANOC is still planning to make the trails available for use year-round. http://www.whistlerquestion.com/madison/WQuestion.nsf/0/A3B24EE1F382AE4D882572AD0070F58F?OpenDo cument2) Two Alberni-Clayoquot forest companies have signed an agreement-in-principle to harvest and mill Clayoquot Sound timber according to strict environmental and social standards. Wednesday, Ma-Mook Natural Resources Ltd. and Port Alberni's Coulson Group announced they will harvest and mill timber from TFL 54 according to Forest Stewardship Council standards. Ma-Mook also announced it has purchased TFL 54 from International Forest Products Ltd. "We will be focused on certifying TFL 54 to FSC standards and we will be processing this timber through our three lumber manufacturing facilities that have already been FSC certified," said Wayne Coulson, president and CEO of the Coulson Group. "We believe our lumber products will receive a good reception from the international market base because the FSC label certifies that our products have been harvested from forests that meet stringent environmental, social and economic standards." TFL 54 is located in Clayoquot Sound and boasts and annual allowable cut of 66,759 cubic metres. Ma-Mook is owned by the Ahousaht, Hesquiaht, Tla-o-qui-aht, Toquaht and Ucluelet First Nations. "TFL 54 has not operated since 2004 and this new partnership will create new opportunities for surrounding communities," said Gary Johnsen, president of Ma-Mook. "This joint venture represents a tremendous business opportunity between Coulson Group, a smaller, family owned and operated forest company, and local First Nations, and marks an important contribution to the development of a new relationship with First Nations," added Shawn Atleo, B.C. regional chief, Assembly of First Nations. http://www.westcoaster.ca/modules/AMS/article.php?storyid=18283) Ken James said the TimberLess Society announced Thursday 21 hours of counting yielded 436 loads of raw logs and 46 loads of processed wood. "It's something we can do that's relatively simple yet effective in informing the public how many logs are leaving the Cowichan Valley," said James. "When those logs are being shipped out, so are a lot of jobs." A letter from the coalition to Forests Minister Rich Coleman suggests if all log exports from 2005 had been processed in B.C. it would have translated into 3,300 additional jobs. James and the rest of the coalition believe the report on raw log exports, completed late last year by Bill Dumont and Don Wright, falls short of its mark in dealing with raw log exports, especially regarding communities, jobs, the environment and sustainability. "There is nothing in the report that seriously addresses these issues," reads the letter to Coleman. "Worse yet, there is much to suggest in the review's recommendations that the situation could get worse, not better, in the months ahead." The coalition said ultimately it believes the overriding object should be that all logs from public and private forestlands are processed in B.C. "We know and accept that that may take time to achieve, but we are anxious to work with you in whatever way we can to make that vision a reality." The letter to Coleman, written in late January, led to a meeting with the minister last week. Unfortunately, said James, very little came out of it. http://www.cowichannewsleader.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=9 & cat=23 & id=864812 & more= 4) "Public protest is a marathon; it's not a sprint," said Bob Simpson, Quesnel-Caribou MLA. "It is persistent. We have not gotten anything as a society without persistent, day-after-day, year-after-year public protest. "What you are doing is vital in a democratic society, and I plead with you to keep it up. You're doing the right thing, the necessary thing, and this is part of what makes democracy work." Simpson said his visit was part of a week-long NDP push to raise awareness of forestry issues on B.C.'s coast. Simpson, local MLA Scott Fraser and others have been working with local activists and asking questions in the legislature. Simpson said they are asking the government to conduct an independent review of logging practices on the coast, immediately impose an export tax on raw logs from public and private lands, implement a value-added strategy that does not give large corporations a monopoly over the land base, and allow the public to have input into what happens in the province's forests. "The government must examine the results of them releasing 120,000 hectares of private land out of public control," said Simpson. "They promised when they did that that there would be maintenance of the highest environmental standards, maintenance of CSA standards or better, that watershed plans would be built and that community watersheds would be protected. Well that's not happening. In two days, my friends, you will have no right to give input on cutting plans on public lands. Under the new so-called results-based code, the minute a company has an approved forest stewardship plan, there is no requirement for public notification or consultation for what happens on the ground." http://www.westcoaster.ca/modules/AMS/article.php?storyid=18365) When Premier Gordon Campbell announced last year that nearly two million hectares in the heart of British Columbia's Great Bear Rainforest were being protected, he promised a new type of ecosystem-based management would be developed to control logging in the remaining four million hectares. But now three leading environmental groups, which helped work out the unprecedented deal to save a rain forest so ecologically rich it's often compared with the Amazon, say that despite a lot of talk -- and the raising of $120-million in private and government funding -- little has been done to shift to the new " soft impact " logging that Mr. Campbell said would be in place by 2009. The forest industry disagrees and argues that progress is being made, although changing to a new, more complex style of logging is taking longer than expected. The Great Bear, which stretches along the B.C. coast from just north of Vancouver Island to the Alaska Panhandle, is the largest intact temperate rain forest left in the world. Soft-impact logging, or ecosystem-based management, is expected to result in smaller, selective cuts and minimal impact on the environment, rather than in the controversial, sweeping clear-cuts that have long been found in B.C.'s forests. But little has changed so far on the ground, say representatives of Greenpeace, ForestEthics and the Sierra Club of Canada. They complain that hillsides in the Great Bear Rainforest are still being clear-cut because industry is having trouble changing logging methods that have been in use for the past century. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070329.BCLOGGING29/TPStory/National Washington:6) A more conservative forecast by one of the nation's leading land-use economists suggests about 200,000 acres of Western Washington forest will be converted. Experts give these reasons: 1) The booming population has driven up land prices and provided an incentive to sell. 2) Timberland owners have found other places – including other continents – where it's cheaper and faster to grow trees. 3) Limited land-use controls allowed it to happen. -- In Pierce County, development has occurred on ground that once belonged to Weyerhaeuser, Pope Resources, Plum Creek and other commercial timberland owners. Examples include the proposed 4,086-acre Cascadia development in East Pierce County and the 450-acre Falling Water development near Bonney Lake, both on former Weyerhaeuser land; and the Gig Harbor North commercial development and portions of the Sunrise development, which once belonged to Pope Resources. Besides those high-profile developments, timber companies are selling lands on the South Sound's distant outskirts, what some call the forest interface. People who hanker for their own piece of ground are buying 5-, 10, and 20-acre lots, some eligible for the same low tax rate as commercial tree farms. Around the state, people are buying 20-acre chunks as hideaways. Social scientists call them "amenity migrants." It's even happening in distant Okanogan County, Sutherland said. "They're selling off 20s, they're selling off 40s, they're selling off 80s," he said of landowners. The resource losses are one of the reasons the Legislature in 2005 gave the UW $1 million to look into the future of the state's commercial forests. Besides conversion to other uses, UW experts have studied economic trends and other statewide forestry issues. The final report is due in June, but the UW unveiled the land forecast at a fall forum. The UW predicts about 300,000 acres will be converted to other uses by about 2010 or 2012. The forecast is based on past trends. Between 1978 and 2001, an estimated 648,000 acres of industrial timberland in Western Washington were converted to other uses, according to the U.S. Forest Service. http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/6442282p-5739884c.html 7) This week, hundreds of responsible investors in Canada and the United States began receiving letters from Rainforest Action Network detailing the extent of Weyerhaeuser Corporation's (NYSE:WY) environmental and human rights violations. The letters request that responsible investors "engage with Weyerhaeuser over the rights and interests of the Grassy Narrows First Nation in northwestern Ontario, and their refusal to adopt the Forest Stewardship Council's certification standards." The letters endorse a shareholder resolution filed by Capital Strategies Consulting, Inc., requesting "a feasibility assessment to suspend wood procurement from Grassy Narrows' territory until the free, prior, and informed consent of the community has been established." The resolution contends that Weyerhaeuser's ongoing procurement of wood from Grassy Narrows' territory is an unnecessary violation of internationally recognized human rights and established industry best practices. Independent research shows that the Ontario Province could respect Grassy Narrows' call for a moratorium on non-consensual logging without sacrificing jobs by re-directing unused hardwood supplies from other less controversial regional forests to Weyerhaeuser's Timberstand mill in Kenora, Ontario. http://www.commondreams.org/news2007/0329-07.htm 8) Mesches, a carpenter and organic farmer, bought his six-acre Cabrant Road property about two years ago. At that time, he knew that the state had approved the logging of 172 acres on the slopes above him. But he was confident the timber harvest would cause him no trouble, because it had received such scrutiny. That was because a neighbors' group, Friends of Sumas Mountain, had mounted a legal challenge to the logging permit issued by the Washington Department of Natural Resources in 2003. The neighbors argued that the logging activity could weaken unstable slopes above them, and they hired geologists who supported that claim. But Crown Pacific Partners, the now-bankrupt company that originally owned the land, produced its own experts who said the job could be done safely. In late 2004, the Washington Forest Practices Appeals Board sided with Crown Pacific. Sierra Pacific Industries of Redding, Calif., took over the Sumas Mountain site as part of its purchase of 147,000 acres of Crown Pacific holdings in mid-2006. During heavy rainfall earlier this month, diverted runoff that had been confined to a ditch alongside a logging road apparently broke through the ditch banks, shortcutting across Mesches' land and threatening to wash out the muddy access road to the small home on the site that he is refurbishing. It also cut a gully that is three to four feet deep in spots, in the midst of a grove of Western red cedar trees. "How long does it take to make an inch of forest topsoil and how many inches were washed away?" Mesches asked. Tom Nelson, Sierra Pacific's district manager, said the company has complied with all the conditions on the logging permit granted by the state. He said his company has every intention of fixing the runoff problem that is damaging Mesches' land, but his crews can't go to work on that problem without state approval of the new work on the logging site. http://www.bellinghamherald.com/255/story/52828.htmlOregon:9) According to the Forest Guild's new report, the federal government needs to improve the record keeping and increase public participation in planning fuel reduction treatments used to lower the risk of forest fires. The Forest Guild, a national organization of natural resource professionals, studied projects implemented in southwestern Oregon as part of the Healthy Forest Initiative (HFI) and the Healthy Forest Restoration Act (HFRA) to assess their ecological and social impact. To address the need for increased community participation, the Forest Guild also created a workbook to assist communities in monitoring fuel reduction treatments. With support from the Wilburforce and 444S foundations, Forest Guild Research Director, Dr. Zander Evans, and Forest Guild member George McKinley, a family forest land and mill owner, investigated more than 100 federal fuel reduction projects in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest and BLM's Medford district in southwestern Oregon. Major federal programs, including HFI and HFRA, have focused on reducing fire risk by cutting trees and removing fuels. The large scale of fuel reduction has prompted public interest in monitoring federal efforts. However, according to the new report, until the federal government improves their reporting and monitoring, it is impossible to fully evaluate the ecological and social impacts of fuel reduction. Much of HFI focused on streamlining the regulatory system and reducing the avenues for the public to challenge federal land management decisions. However, HFI has not decreased the amount of environmental documentation that agencies file, according to the Forest Guild's analysis of HFI and HFRA projects. Moreover, the number of projects litigated has changed little because of HFI and HFRA. http://forestguild.org/fuel_reduction_evaluation.html10) With mud from the Crosel Creek flood plain sucking at her boots, North Coast Land Conservancy land steward Katie Voelke hikes through a valley between two tree-covered hills south of Astoria. She takes a deep breath and sighs. " There's nothing like the smell of skunk cabbage in spring, " she says. " It gets more and more pungent as they bloom. These are the smells you learn to love when you work in wetlands. " Spring is smelling sweet - and a little skunky - for the North Coast Land Conservancy, a Seaside-based nonprofit organization that manages hundreds of acres of habitat in the region with help from local communities. The group recently acquired 121 acres of forested wetlands surrounding Crosel Creek in Astoria, bringing its title holdings to about 1,500 acres in Tillamook, Lincoln and Clatsop counties. It took about two years for NCLC to complete the Crosel Creek land acquisition, which was finalized this month. Maine and Voelke spent weeks evaluating the property before sending their first grant application to the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board. The habitat ranges from upland forest dominated by Western hemlock and Sitka spruce to lowland riparian woodland and shrubland. There is intertidal freshwater wetland, and a portion of the property is hardwood forest containing a rare community of bigleaf maple and red alder trees, with native sword fern and fringecup plants. NCLC bought the land for $575,000 with the help of a $420,000 grant from OWEB, $120,000 from the Columbia Land Trust and $15,000 from the Pacific Power Conservation Fund. The landowner, Helen Gaston of Seaside, contributed $30,000 to NCLC's endowment fund to cover the costs of managing the property. http://www.dailyastorian.com/main.asp?SectionID=2 & SubSectionID=398 & ArticleID=41234 & TM=68287.26 California:11) At their April 24 meeting, supervisors are tentatively scheduled to consider increasing the size that a piece of land must be before it can be rezoned for logging. The requirement sits at five acres, set by supervisors — including Patton — in the 1970s. Supervisors could raise it as high as 80 acres, which would prohibit logging on 22,600 acres and 1,600 forested parcels, according to documents from the county Planning Department. That pleases environmentalists, who don't like trees falling in the Santa Cruz Mountains. But it irks some property owners and logging companies already frustrated by the red tape they must cut through to qualify land for logging. Especially frustrated is Big Creek Lumber Co. owner Bud McCrary, who owns about 15 acres of personal property that he has not rezoned. Now, he's not sure if he will have enough time to do it before a new rule passes. " Suppose I were in a situation where I really needed to harvest my 14.96 acres to put one of my kids through school, " McCrary said. " What would I do? I couldn't do anything with it. I would stand there and watch [the trees] get bigger and bigger " ast year, the county won a lawsuit allowing supervisors to require land be zoned for timber production before owners could log it. But they lost what many considered a crucial point of the suit: rules that would have allowed the county to impose stricter limits on harvesting around streams and other areas than what the state requires. As a result, while loggers must rezone their land, supervisors legally must approve all the applications to do so if state standards are met. In the past month, about 20 rezoning applications have breezed through. The proposed new rule increasing land-size requirements could change that. http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2007/March/30/local/stories/02local.htm12) Sierra Pacific Industries' plans to clear-cut 809 acres near Manton has sprouted opposition from locals. Marily Woodhouse, who has lived in Manton for 20 years, is leading the drive to collect signatures of those opposed to the timber giant's logging plans for land surrounding Digger Butte, about eight miles east of the town of about 400 in the foothills of the Cascades, just south of the Shasta-Tehama county line. As of Friday, she had about 130 signatures and had drafted a letter she planned to turn in to the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection today. " I have spent a great deal of time in the past few weeks talking and listening to the people here and all except a few of the petition signees are opposed to the clear-cutting because of how it will affect the watershed and the cleanliness of the water supply, the biodiversity of flora and fauna and how much drier and hotter it will make the land, " Woodhouse wrote in the letter. But officials at Anderson-based Sierra Pacific -- the largest private timber holding company in the country with 1.7 million acres -- said their timber plan will leave most of the 13,902-acre Digger Creek watershed untouched and will lead to a healthier forest. http://www.redding.com/news/2007/apr/02/clear-cut-faces-criticism/Montana:13) Two big forest fires left the Blackfeet Tribe with a multi-million-dollar windfall — and a timber shortage that could take a century to replace. " With the short growing season that we have up here, I won't see those trees grow back in my lifetime, " said Robert Mad Plume, the tribe's forestry director. Most recent was the Red Eagle fire, which started in Glacier National Park, ran south of St. Mary across U.S. Highway 89 and onto Blackfeet tribal land last summer. It burned roughly 50 square miles, including about 17,000 acres in the park and 15,000 acres of tribal land. Ironically, a previously burned area blocked part of the Red Eagle fire's advance. In 2002, the Fox Creek fire charred 6,400 acres just east of St. Mary. " Those two fires burned up roughly 30 percent of our forest reserve, " said Mad Plume. So now the Blackfeet Tribe has contracted with three major timber companies and six local loggers to salvage logs on 6,000 charred acres. The tribe hopes to harvest 20 million to 25 million board feet of timber, Mad Plume said, although the fire damage is expected to reduce its value. " But if the fire did not burn really hot and you harvested it right away, you could avoid most of the potential losses, " said Chuck Keegan, director of forest industry research for the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of Montana. Mad Plume said the tribe is hoping to make about $4 million off the salvage logging operation. " That may be a little over-optimistic, " said tribal Treasurer Joe Gervais. " We're thinking it will be closer to $3 million. " http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070402/NEWS01/704020301New Mexico: 14) The fight for lynx (Lynx canadensis), a high-elevation wildcat, in New Mexico is not over. Forest Guardians, Sinapu, and a coalition of conservation groups have requested that the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals re-examine a February decision that the U.S. Forest Service does not need to review the impact of Forest Management Plans on lynx in the Carson and Santa Fe National Forests. Western Environmental Law Center (WELC) Attorney Matthew Bishop, representing the groups, filed the request today. "The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and U.S. Forest Service both determined that the number one threat to lynx in the Southern Rockies is the implementation of Forest Plans that fail to include conservation measures for lynx," said Matthew Bishop. "It's hard to reconcile this determination with the Court's decision," said Bishop. In the February Court decision, a 10th Circuit panel of three judges found that the Forest Service did not need to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over environmental impacts of the two New Mexico Forest Plans on this elusive cat. The panel held that ongoing implementation of the Carson and Santa Fe National Forest plans does not trigger a Forest Service obligation to consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service over effects to the lynx – a previously extirpated species that has been actively reintroduced to the southern Rocky Mountains. The petition for re-hearing also charges that the February decision counters the landmark Supreme Court opinion on Endangered Species Act consultation, Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hill. In that decision, the Supreme Court found that consultation was required for activities that are ongoing or underway. http://sinapu.wordpress.com/2007/03/29/groups-ask-court-to-reconsider-lynx-in-new-mexico/ Southeast forests:15) If Paul Bunyan were chopping logs today, he'd probably be working for a retirement fund. The nation's 504 million acres of timberland, home to wildlife and the source of everything from deck frames to copy paper, have been the focus of a massive multi-year auction, the outcome of which is set to change the rules for wood companies and conservationists alike. " In the last 10 years, there's been an explosion of interest in timberlands, " said Bob Izlar, director of the University of Georgia's Center for Forest Business. One such sale is going on now. Paper and wood maker Temple-Inland, Inc. has said it is seeking buyers for most of its 1.8 million in Southern U.S. timberlands. The acquirers are likely to be financial investors that include insurance companies and specialized asset managers. And while these types of investors continue to log, their growing role in the industry has cast a long shadow over what happens to these forestlands 10 or 15 years from now, when some timber-oriented funds are scheduled to wind down their investment. " There's an uncertainty in the general conservation community about the long-term predictability that [these lands] will stay in timberland and won't go into a golf course, " said Izlar, who is considering a study on the impact of ownership changes. The forest industry - including companies like International Paper Co., Meadwestvaco Corp. and the now privately-owned Boise Cascade -- sold over 31 million acres in the 10 years through 2006, or the majority of all large timberland transactions in that period, according to data provided to MarketWatch by industry publication Timber Mart-South. About 25 million of the sold acres, or 80%, ended up in the hands of financial investors, says Timber Mart-South. Some were a type of asset manager-cum-logger called a timberland investment management organization, or TIMO. What's the attraction? In a nutshell, financial investors have found that they can swing the ups and downs of a forestry cycle better than companies that run sawmills. http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/private-investors-gobble-up-us/story.aspx?guid=%7BE750A6A 9-5A46-4E41-AB86-9ED7C6B80DFF%7DKentucky:16) Dean and Nina Cornett returned to Blackey in the fall of 2003 from their home in Alaska and found that more than 100 trees worth several thousand dollars had been stolen from property that had been in Dean Cornett's family for 75 years. But unlike in other cases of theft, such as a stolen car, no one seemed to take the theft seriously. Tree theft is a growing problem in large part because few rogue loggers are caught and even fewer are prosecuted. Without the threat of possible jail time or a big money judgment against them, timber thieves operate unchecked, police and experts say. A single hardwood tree can be worth up to $1,000. That's too tempting for some loggers. The Cornetts have spent more than $50,000 pursing criminal and civil cases against the loggers. Jarrod Breeding, the man accused of cutting the Cornetts' trees, has strenuously denied he did anything wrong. He has filed a counter-claim against the Cornetts, saying that the couple's accusations have caused him to lose business. The civil lawsuit and criminal case have been contentious, with allegations of harassment and wrong-doing on both sides. The trial has been delayed five different times by Breeding's lawyers. This is not the first time that Breeding has been accused of stealing trees. In 2000, Jeanette Adams said Breeding, who was contracted to cut trees on adjacent land, cut through a fence to get to her trees. In 2002, Sonny Frazier, a banker, also sued Breeding alleging that he and his crew had illegally harvested timber from the Frazier family's land. After more than three years, that case was settled for an undisclosed amount. Kentucky has made attempts to rein in timber theft. In 1994, the legislature passed a timber trespass law. If a logger does not notify adjacent landowners that he is cutting trees adjacent to their property and then crosses boundary lines, a landowner can sue for three times the damages. But the Cornetts will likely stay involved with timber theft issues in the years to come. They started a non-profit organization several years ago and are now dedicating those resources to help people prosecute timber theft. " For us, it's not just the cost of the tree, " Nina Cornett said. Many Eastern Kentucky mountains are now bald -- victims of logging and strip mining. The Cornetts want to turn their land into a conservation area and donate it to Berea College. " We lost a 42-inch red oak that was here since this country was formed, " Nina Cornett said. http://www.kentucky.com/454/story/31610.htmlUSA: 17) Roadless leaders in the House of Representatives are continuing their co-sponsorship drive to reintroduce the Roadless Area Conservation Act of 2007. The House of Representatives will be on Spring Recess from April 2nd to April 13th. Most Members will be returning to their districts for this time period, so it would be an excellent opportunity to call your Representative in-district while they are home and ask them to become an original cosponsor of the Roadless Area Conservation Act of 2007. During the Recess, your Representative may be holding a town hall meeting, where you can ask them in person. To find out if a town hall meeting is scheduled, check your Representative's website or call their district office. The Roadless Area Conservation Act of 2007 would codify the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule into law. In the 109th Congress, the House roadless legislation had over 140 co-sponsors. With your help, we can continue to build strong support for protecting our roadless wild forests in the 110th Congress. The deadline to become an original cosponsor of the legislation has been extended to mid April. The following Members of Congress are asking their colleagues in the House of Representatives to join them as original co-sponsors of the Roadless Area Conservation Act of 2007: Jay Inslee (D-WA); Mark Kirk (R-IL); Maurice Hinchey (D-NY); Christopher Shays (R-CT); Jim Ramstad (R-MN); George Miller (D-CA)http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/americanlandsalliance/campaign.jsp ?campaign_KEY=688318) A federal judge in California on Friday overturned the Bush administration's revised rules for management of the country's 155 national forests, saying that the federal Forest Service violated the basic laws ensuring that forest ecosystems have environmental safeguards. The rules, issued in early 2005, cut back on requirements for environmental reviews and safeguards for wildlife, and limited public participation in the development of management plans for individual forests. Instead, they broadened the power of forest managers to decide whether mines, logging operations, cellphone towers or other development would be appropriate uses of forest land. In the ruling Friday, Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton of Federal District Court in San Francisco said the Forest Service had violated several laws when it changed the rules forest managers must follow when making decisions, and did so without consulting the public or considering environmental impact. The judge issued an injunction forbidding the service from using the rules to make decisions about the national forests and grasslands, which cover 8 percent of the country. Judge Hamilton said she could not determine if the rules were environmentally benign, as the Forest Service argued, or if endangered species would be unaffected, because no studies had been done. "The agency was required to undertake some type of consultation, informal or otherwise, prior to making a conclusive determination that there would be no effect," she wrote. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/31/washington/31logging.htmlCanada:19) On the heels of a dramatic report by Global Forest Watch Canada, Greenpeace today underlined the urgency of a moratorium on logging in all remaining intact areas of Ontario's Boreal Forest. Citing the rapid loss of ancient forests documented in the report, Greenpeace said the time for government and corporate action is now. " Our forests are being destroyed with an intensity that is wiping out species and accelerating climate change, " said Christy Ferguson, a Greenpeace forests campaigner. " This report shows that Ontario's forests simply cannot withstand the pressure the logging industry is putting on them. If we don't take immediate measures to save what's left, the opportunity will be lost. " The study, Recent Anthropogenic Changes within the Boreal Forests of Ontario and Their Potential Impacts on Woodland Caribou, used satellite imagery to examine human-caused changes in Ontario's northern forests between 1989 and 2006. One area highlighted in the study is the 1.9 million hectare Kenogami forest area near Thunder Bay, which is a major supply area of pulp for Kleenex manufacturer Kimberly-Clark. Satellite imagery shows that in just five years, 28.9% of the large intact forest landscapes in the Kenogami were lost; and that thanks to damage already done, the threatened woodland caribou could be driven out of over 95% of the area. " Companies like Kimberly-Clark are treating the Boreal Forest as a source of cheap materials for disposable products, and ignoring the fact that it's an ecosystem in crisis, " continued Ferguson. http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2007/27/c7044.html20) Remote logging roads are opening up access to fly-in resorts, devaluing their worth and reducing wildlife population says outdoor tourism director. Executive director for Nature and Outdoor Tourism Ontario Doug Reynolds says logging roads have opened up paradise for zealous local anglers and hunters and a mechanism is needed to regulate accessibility into logging roads. "If the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) is the landlord for crown lands we want them to invest the equity wisely," he says. "MNR has an obligation to balance and maximize value." This means harvesting white pine for furniture; not wood burning, it means maintaining the remoteness of some lakes because studies indicate they are three times more valuable, he says. Intrinsically, there has to be a balance between drive-in tourism operations and fly-in outposts. Both are required to meet consumer needs. Land users including tourism outfitters, mining and forest companies need to collaborate on a planning process that would regulate the "recreational use of motorized vehicles on crown land." Restricting access in designated areas will prevent the erosion of remoteness, keeping fly-in fishing and hunting camps at premium revenue values."The logging company is not impacted by this in any way. They are legitimate natural resource users as are the local trappers and prospectors." Decommissioning a road entails removing culverts, bridges and at times erecting a gate with a sign prohibiting users from entering. It may stop the trucks and trailers, but not ATV drivers, says one forest company spokesperson. Domtar's director of Ontario's forest, Brian Nicks, says "people don't appreciate having restrictions on them," and at times this comes out in public meetings when forestry plans are being developed. There is an alternative Reynolds suggests. Under the Lands for Life process enhanced management area (EMA) prohibits trespassers from entering onto the well-marked EMAs. Such places already exist in the North for the protection of tourism outfitters and wildlife habitat. http://www.nob.on.ca/industry/tourism/09-06-remoteless.aspUK:22) The campaigners have spent the last two-and-a-half months holed-up there in an attempt to block the National Grid's construction of a 190-mile gas pipeline, running from Milford Haven in West Wales to Gloucestershire. Their camp is situated four miles west of Brecon on the A40, close to Bettws Penpont church. The woodland is scheduled for decimation by National Grid to clear a path for the high pressure gas pipeline. Just metres from the camp, a stream of banners bordered the road, telling passing motorists " Defend Our Valleys " , " Fight the Pipeline " and " Stop Destruction " . Car horns tooted in support as they tore towards Brecon. A steady stream of eco-warriors have travelled to the site in the past couple of months, with the main bulk of protesters arriving at weekends. This week the group had dwindled to just 10. I arrived at the camp early in the evening, just as they were preparing dinner – a vegetable mash with garlic and chilli that would make survival expert Ray Mears blush. A huge steel pot sent clouds of smoke billowing up into the blue tarpaulin above us and the strong scent of wild garlic wafted through the night air. The campsite was impressive – littered with sturdy treehouses and tents, a makeshift kitchen and hammocks strewn between the trees. Each person who had passed through the camp had taught the group a new skill and the site had a homely feel. The group chatted openly to me about their intentions, but they were eager to glean my stance on their protest. " So what do you think about the pipeline? " they asked. " Have you ever protested before? " I mumbled back something about having signed some petitions in the past, but said, no, I hadn't actually 'done' anything. I could sense their disappointment. Then I realised it is because of bystanders like me, who might agree in principle but never act, that cause protests like these to fail. If we all made a stand for something we believe in, maybe we could make the world a better place. http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0200wales/tm_headline=-my-night-with-the-pipeline-prote sters- & method=full & objectid=18843262 & siteid=50082-name_page.htmlFinland:22) The Forest Owners' Union of Northern Finland believes that the future of the forest sector in Lapland and local sawmill industry activities all the way to the Koillismaa region are threatened by the demands for additional protection. The environmental organizations request the additional protection of 100,000 hectares of forest, the researchers appeal for the retention of natural forests, and tourism and reindeer herding demand additional protection of state land. The proposal of the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation and Greenpeace to establish a new old-growth forest protection programme applies to eight forest areas comprising roughly 100,000 hectares in the municipalities of Kittilä, Sodankylä, Savukoski and Salla. But more than 43% of the region's forests are already protected by legislation. More than 1 million hectares of the forests in Lapland are over 140 years old, and over half of these are located in protected areas. Furthermore, the areas protected on the basis of the Forestry Act include a large amount of younger forest left in a natural state. http://www.ihb.de/fordaq/news/Finland_Lapland_forest_14625.htmlSouth Africa:23) JOHANNESBURG – The 130,000 hectares of forest controlled by the state will be sold to private owners, the Department of Public Enterprises said yesterday. In August last year the Cabinet stopped the proposed sale of the Komatiland Forests. "There is recognition that the Komatiland Forests is a valuable asset to the South African forestry industry, but the Cabinet is of the view that this value and other objectives can be retained by means other than state ownership," spokeswoman Vimla Maistry said. In 1997 the Cabinet decided that the state should quit commercial forestry and sell its forests to private owners, but only 55% have been sold so far. The forests in question are mainly located in the Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces. It was not clear when any sale might be completed. A statement last night said: "The Cabinet has decided to confirm its previous decision to exit the commercial forestry industry and to dispose of the Safcol subsidiary, Komatiland Forests. http://www.citizen.co.za/index/article.aspx?pDesc=35289,1,22Tobago:24) Tobago's rain forest is the oldest environmentally protected forest in the world. In 1765, wealthy sugar and cocoa planters, just beginning to understand the connection between trees and the climate, appealed to George III to protect it. In 1776, a few months before the Declaration of Independence, Parliament made it law -- what the Scientific American called, "The first act in the modern environmental movement." Rooks recited the act from memory as he led us through a curtain of vines onto the Gilpin Trace, a central path through the Main Ridge Forest Reserve: These forests shall remain forever inalienable, to be left in wood for the express purpose of attracting rains. Right on cue, the rain began. For several minutes, it beat the canopy before breaking through in a deluge. The short tropical cloudburst washed insect repellent into my eyes and turned the muddy path into a slippery, boot-sucking muck. Almost solid vegetation walled us in. Between showers, we listened for the flap and scurry of creatures. Rooks pointed out rufous tailed jacamars, their beaks like needle-nosed pliers; golden olive woodpeckers, tropical mockingbirds, turkey-like cocricos and racquet-tailed, blue crowned motmots. Some of the sharper-eyed spotted the yellow tail of a canopy-dwelling crested oropendola. Motionless blue-green salamanders monitored us and tiny brown tree frogs, called crapauds, clung to the bark of acacia trees. Other ground level wildlife, including the wonderfully named crab-eating raccoon, and the Green Iguana -- which can reach four feet in length -- proved more elusive. "Look at the size of that Swiss Cheese plant!" The Lancastrian woman said, emerging from under her umbrella to comment on the fauna. "This place is like a garden center on steroids," her husband added. The size and variety of plant life is almost overwhelming. Tiny white orchids roost on branches, living off rain water and airborne nutrients. Giant blooms of red heliconia, like clustered daggers, poke out of the foliage. Ravines are clogged with Jurassic Era tree ferns, vines as thick as men's torsos and tree climbing philodendrons with leaves as big as refrigerators. http://seniortravel.about.com/od/seniorfriendlyplaces/a/tobagorain_2.htm Brazil:25) Brazil's government said it will provide free Internet access to native Indian tribes in the Amazon in an effort to help protect the world's biggest rain forest. The environment and communications ministers signed an agreement Thursday with the Forest People's Network to provide an Internet signal by satellite to 150 communities, including many reachable only by riverboat, allowing them to report illegal logging and ranching, request help and coordinate efforts to preserve the forest.The goal is to " encourage those peoples to join the public powers in the environmental management of the country, " Francisco Costa of the Environment Ministry said in a statement. " The government intends to strengthen the Forest People's Network, a digital web for monitoring, protection and education. " The ministry said city and state governments must first install telecenters with computers in selected areas, including indigenous lands. The federal government then will provide the satellite connection. http://blog.wirearchy.com/blog/_archives/2007/3/30/2846584.htmlKorea:26) Reverend Yun In-jung has been waging a protest atop a pine tree on Mt. Gyeyang in Incheon for 100 consecutive days, against a plan to build a golf course on the mountain. Shin Jeong-eun, an official of Green Incheon, an environmental activism group that is a member of the umbrella group, started the demonstration atop the pine tree on October 26 last year, and Rev. Yun took her place in the branches of the tree on December 20. The demonstration is aimed at stopping Lotte Engineering & Construction's plan to develop the mountain. Lotte had pushed ahead with construction of a 27-hole golf course on the mountain last year, but the company could not obtain permission to begin construction due to the objection of residents and the Ministry of Environment. Lotte then changed its plans to build a smaller 18-hole golf course, but the company again failed to obtain permission for the project. Lotte is reportedly pushing ahead with a third plan to build a golf course on the mountain. http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/199974.htmlChina: 27) The Chinese logging boss set his sights on a thickly forested mountain just inside Burma, aiming to harvest one of the last natural stands of teak on Earth. He handed a rice sack stuffed with $8,000 worth of Chinese currency to two agents with connections in the Burmese borderlands, the men said in interviews. They used that stash to bribe everyone standing between the teak and China. In came Chinese logging crews. Out went huge logs, over Chinese-built roads. Chinese and Russian crews hacked into the virgin forests of the Russian Far East and Siberia, hauling away 250-year-old Korean pines in often-illegal deals, according to trading companies and environmentalists. In the highlands of Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and Africa and in the forests of the Amazon, loggers working beyond the bounds of the law have sent a ceaseless flow of timber to China. Some of the largest swaths of natural forest left on the planet are being dismantled at an alarming pace to feed a global wood-processing industry centered in coastal China. These wares are shipped from China to major retailers such as Ikea, Home Depot, Lowe's and many others. They land in homes and offices in the United States and Europe, bought by shoppers with little inkling of the wood's origins or the environmental costs of chopping it down. " Western consumers are leaving a violent ecological footprint in Burma and other countries, " said an American environmental activist who frequently travels to Burma and goes by the pen name Zao Noam to preserve access to the authoritarian country. " Predominantly, the Burmese timber winds up as patio furniture for Americans. Without their demand, there wouldn't be a timber trade. " The cross-border log trade swelled by 60 percent between 2001 and 2004, reaching $350 million in 2005, according to a London environmental group, Global Witness. With competing Burmese generals involved and some using force to evict villagers in the way, control over land is in flux, contributing to forest destruction: Chinese logging crews work fast, cognizant that new armed forces could show up any minute and shut them down. " You bribe one army and you get the right to cut everything, " said Li Tao, a Chinese logger preparing last May to sneak across the border from the Chinese town of Ruili. " Then another army comes and threatens to arrest you, and you have to bribe them, too. " http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/31/AR2007033101287.html Indonesia:28) One of the world's biggest environmental crimes continues to unfold in Indonesia as efforts by the government to curb massive illegal logging are being severely undermined by a weak and corrupt justice system and the continued demand for cheap wood products from countries like the United States. A new report released today by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and Telapak - entitled "The Thousand-Headed Snake" - exposes how corruption and collusion at all stages of the justice system, from the police and prosecutors to judges, conspires to ensure that the main culprits behind illegal logging in Indonesia remain at liberty. The demand for cheap wood products is driving the illegal logging and overwhelming Indonesia's justice system. For example, U.S. customs data reveal that over two shipments of expressly illegal Indonesian logs and sawn timber entered U.S. ports every day in 2006, worth almost US$14 million. Illegal logging has cost Indonesia around US$4 billion a year since the beginning of the decade, and is responsible for around 2.8 million hectares of forests being lost annually - one of the world's worst deforestation rates. Despite such a huge crime taking place, there have only been a handful of successful prosecutions in the country. The report reveals how an unprecedented anti-illegal logging operation in Papua Province in March 2005 failed to snare the powerful timber barons and their protectors in the police and military. Although the operation identified 186 suspects, by January 2007 only 13 convictions had been secured and none of these were the ringleaders. Of 18 major cases which made it to trial, all the defendants were cleared by the courts. http://www.savetheorangutan.co.uk/?p=32729) Conservationists battling to preserve endangered wildlife threatened by the destruction of the Indonesian rainforest have scored an important victory that is likely to halt logging and allow the habitat to regenerate. New laws will allow wildlife groups to manage a tract of Sumatran rainforest that had been designated for logging concessions and plantations of palm oil for use in food and bio-fuel. In the first project of its kind, which was five years in the making, three bird conservation groups - the RSPB, BirdLife International and Burung Indonesia - won the right to maintain and develop 400 square miles of lowland forest. http://www.guardian.co.uk/indonesia/Story/0,,2048101,00.html30) The Harapan Rainforest Initiative, planned and pursued for over five years by the coalition of Burung Indonesia, the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, UK) and BirdLife International, with support from BirdLife Partners, will establish Indonesia's first "forest ecosystem restoration concession" for the conservation and regeneration of a 101,000 hectares forest block in the lowlands of Sumatra. The change in law effectively allows for the first time, 'production forest' to be allocated for conservation and restoration.The announcement comes just in time - the area was likely to be felled and replaced by plantations for timber or oil palm production. "Indonesia suffers from some notoriety for its rapid deforestation. However the Harapan Rainforest initiative, and the Indonesian government's support for it, could mark a turning point for the country's forests, a new hope for their conservation." said Marco Lambertini, Director of Network and Programmes for BirdLife International. Sukianto Lusli, Executive Director of Burung Indonesia, said: "We expect big dividends for wildlife as well as for local communities. Sumatra's lowland forest is already a hotspot for rare wildlife. The restoration of the forest will help prevent forest fires which have been badly affecting local communities as well as the entire region. Every part of Harapan Rainforest has been logged to some extent in the last 60 years and some of its species have been staring extinction in the face. But all of the forest can still recover and every single species it hosts now has a toehold on survival." he said. http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2007/04/harapan_rainforest_launch.html31) Two Richest tree-oriented people in Indonesia: Eka Tjipta Widjaja & family (Age 83) Net Worth $2.0 billion Came from China to Indonesia as a child. Sold biscuits at age 17, but pulp, paper and palm oil became source of fortune. Created Asia Pulp & Paper, which defaulted on massive debt in 2001. His children and relatives now run privately held Sinar Mas and its listed Asia Food & Properties. Grandson Eric Oei invests in construction back on mainland China --- Sukanto Tanoto & familyT (Age 56) Net Worth $2.8 billion Began supplying equipment and materials to state oil firm. In 1973 moved into forest products. In 1995 took public pulp and paper business, Asia Pacific Resources International, on New York Stock Exchange, only to delist in 2001. Today his privately held RGM International thrives in paper, palm oil and energy. --- http://wiermansa.wordpress.com/2007/03/13/top-10-richest-people-in-indonesia/32) Since Freeport McMoran was granted concessions in 1967 to mine copper and gold at Timika in the highlands, it has destroyed forests and aquatic resources belonging to the Amungme and Kamoro people. Their sacred mountain has been decapitated and a 230 square kilometre barren wasteland now dominates as the mine tailings extend relentlessly. Greenpeace says that kwila costs the earth but few New Zealand buyers are aware that their affordable outdoor furniture has a black history. The New Zealand Government announced late last year a policy aimed to discourage the import of illegal timber and to forbid Government departments from using it. But this weak policy is manifestly ineffective in curbing the demand for kwila products. What is to stop the Government from regulating to prevent the import of stolen rainforest timber? We should revive the adage of the anti-nuclear campaigners - if in doubt keep it out - and use only plantation-harvested wood for our decks and leisure furniture. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/466/story.cfm?c_id=466 & objectid=10432022 New Zealand:33) The Environment Court has backed Environment Waikato's decision to grant forestry giant Ernslaw One resource consent to continue harvesting the Whangapoua Forest. The Malaysian timber company applied for several resource consents in 2004, and EW granted the applications after a four-day hearing in February 2005. It received six submissions for and 31 submissions against the applications. Opponents included the Conservation Department and Whangapoua Environmental Protection Society, which lodged appeals with the Environment Court, citing harvesting as a threat to endangered species. The Conservation Department later withdrew its appeal, after negotiating with Ernslaw One to protect native lizards, frogs, kiwi and bats. Other concerns were raised over the effect harvesting would have on soil erosion and water quality in streams, wetlands and harbours. The forest's main catchment area is the Whangapoua Harbour, but it also includes the Manaia, Coromandel and Whitianga harbours. The Environment Court held a five-day hearing in December last year to consider the appeals. In February, the court said it backed EW's decision to grant Ernslaw One resource consent. EW's regulatory committee was informed of the decision late last week. Forestry and Minerals manager Grant Blackie said Ernslaw One would be given the go ahead next month. Ernslaw One has been harvesting Whangapoua, a sustainable 10,500ha forest on the Coromandel Peninsula, for 10 years. Timber is sold to local and offshore buyers. http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/waikatotimes/4011190a6579.htmlAustralia:34) The Federal Government's $200 million initiative to reduce deforestation in South-East Asia has been dismissed as hypocritical and ill-informed by peak environment groups. Australian Greens leader Senator Bob Brown who received a global award last year for his efforts to end logging of Tasmania's old growth rainforests said the plan was offset by the Government's " $100 million pledge " to support logging and burning of forests in East Gippsland and Tasmania. Prime Minister John Howard boasted yesterday Australia would lead the world by kick-starting a program to tackle climate change and protect the world's forests. The surprise announcement follows comments earlier this week by former World Bank chief economist Sir Nicholas Stern. Sir Nicholas said Indonesia was the world's third-highest emitter of greenhouse gases after China and the United States because of broadscale clearing and burning of its forests. He said curbing deforestation was a key step in lowering global greenhouse emissions. Mr Howard said Australia would work with the World Bank to reduce emissions from deforestation, inviting Britain, the United States, Germany, Brazil, New Zealand, Japan and Indonesia to join the initiative. Senator Brown said it was " rank hypocrisy from the Prime Minister to have personally signed-off Regional Forest Agreements in Australia, promoting the aerial fire-bombing of logged ancient forests " . He said an estimated 30,400ha of native forests were logged in Tasmania during 2005-06, followed by a four-month burning season to prevent forest regeneration. " Yesterday, 14 of these so-called regeneration burns were lit in Tasmania, using napalm-like incendiaries dropped from helicopters. Hundreds more will go up this autumn to facilitate Gunns export woodchip industry, " he said. The Australian Conservation Foundation, Planet Ark and Friends of the Earth have called for the Government to " get its own house in order " and end logging of old growth forests and illegal land clearing. http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?class=news & subclass=general & story_id=571196 & categor y=General35) The technology was launched today in Australia, by Certisource, a Singapore-based timber verification company, and Simmonds Lumber - one of Australia's largest timber importers. WWF, the global conservation organisation, has called Certisource's proprietary DNA-verification method a 'world-first'.'It offers a practical means of ensuring that timber can be traced back to a legal source,' said WWF Australia's Forest and Trade Network Coordinator Jana Flair. She added: 'This technology enables timber traders and importers to take a tangible step towards eradicating the problem of illegal logging.' In the past, it was impossible to verify where a piece of wood came from. Timber from illegal sources could be passed off as coming from legal forest concessions. That's why Certisource spent more than five years working with NUS Professor Chew Fook Tim and his team, to develop a technology to track a tree to its roots. The Certisource method involves using special sampling techniques in a process that's similar to the DNA paternity tests used in court to settle custody cases. The cost of implementing DNA verification is less than 5 per cent of the cost of the timber. With such verification, the legality of each piece of log can be proved 'beyond any doubt', said Certisource managing director and co-founder Andrew Young. The technology has implications for Singapore as it is 14th in the world in terms of volume of timber traded, he added. More than 1 million cubic metres of timber goes through Singapore to more than 80 countries. 'DNA verification can help make Singapore a hub for legal timber trading and increase its share in the global timber trade,' said Mr Young, also a Singapore permanent resident who is trained in environmental science. This is because countries like the US are considering legislation to allow only timber imports that can be verified as legal. Currently, very little information is available to verify the source and legality of 90 per cent of the world's timber supply. http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,126057,00.htmlTropical forests: 36) Consider these facts...Over one half of the Earth's biodiversity resides in the rainforest. One hectare (2.47 acres) of land can contain over 480 species of trees. One square mile of rainforest houses more than 50,000 insect species. Over 2,000 species of fish have been identified in the Amazon basin. The U.S. National Cancer Institute has identified 3,000 plants with anti-cancer properties - 70% of these are found only in the rainforest. The rainforest generates over 20% of the world's oxygen. 1.5 acres of the rainforest is lost every second. Over 34 square acres of rainforest are burned every 23 seconds. Up to 78 million acres of rainforest are destroyed every year. 80 - 90% of Earth's remaining rainforest is predicted to disappear by 20120. 137 species of plants and animals go extinct every day. 50,000 species of palnts and animals go extinct every year. It is estimated that ten million indigenous people lived in the Amazon 500 years ago - today there are fewer than 200,000. Over 90 different Amazonian tribes disappeared in the 20th century. Deforestation is the second principal source of atmospheric carbon dioxide, contributing 25% of carbon emissions to our atmosphere. http://underthemosquitonet.blogspot.com/2007/03/disturbing-news.htmlWorld-wide:37) Regardless of dictionary definitions, anyone who has ever restored a car or a house knows that it is not only possible, it is also a rewarding experience that allows one to regain use of something that has been damaged or fallen into disrepair. But no one expects a restored house to be the same house that it was before. The paint may be the same color, but if lead paint was used something less toxic would now be substituted. No one would propose the use of asbestos as insulation or wallpaper known to burst into flames from a mere spark. In some parts of the world, air conditioning might be installed to protect the remaining historic components of a structure from the elements; if threatened by floods, a historic house undergoing restoration might be raised up on pilings. Where a house might have been home to a family of five, it might now be used as an office or retail store. The same is true of restoring ecosystems. Ecosystems can and are being restored by the thousands all over the world: forests, wetlands, deserts, coastal uplands. Trees are planted, exotic species removed, fire reintroduced, hydrology repaired. Are these restored ecosystems exactly like they were pre-disturbance? Of course not; why would we expect them to be? Neither ecological theory nor the broad practice of restoration (of any kind) would lead us to think that this would be possible, much less desirable. The Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) International has been long concerned with how ecosystems actually work and how restoration goals are chosen. For nearly 20 years, debates have raged among the membership over definitions and targets. But when the dust settles we generally agree that ecosystems are dynamic and that steady states are relatively short-term phenomena. Thus, ecological restoration becomes " the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed. " (SER Science & Policy Working Group, 2002 & 2004). http://www.ser.org/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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