Guest guest Posted May 16, 2007 Report Share Posted May 16, 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) Treesit continues, 2) Against Adams river Heritage designation, 3) lumber market fades to biofuels, 4) Save Sechelt benchlands, --Washington: 5) We need money to fix our roads, --Oregon: 6) Biscuit salvage ends but liars are still lying --California: 7) Ski resort can't cut old growth for new lifts --Arizona: 8) Forest Health? --Michigan: 9) $850,000 for federal forests to support the industry --Texas: 10) 1.1 million acres of forest for sale --New York: 11) Park creation destroys a diversity of bird habitat --USA: 12) Half million people move to wildfire zones in only 7 years --Canada: 13) Save the Boreal, 14) Kimberly-Clark protest, 15) Peel protests work, --Malta: 16) Hunters destroy reforestation effort --Russia: 17) FSC objective or simply an international political alliance? --Ghana: 18) Quest for wood is more and more challenging --Mali: 19) Women are most directly affected by the decline of forests --Congo: 20) Indigenous have conference to talk about genocide and slavery --Brazil: 21) Jail for Stang's murder, 22) reducing greenhouse gas, 23) Illegal loggers, --India: 24) Forest reserve's people protect lions, 25) Banyan and Fig get hitched, --China: 26) Persecution of Atayal Aboriginal tribe --Vietnam: 27) To plant a million hectares by 2010 --Cambodia: 28) Farmers of Balang almost out of wood --Indonesia: 29) 266 hectares of forests lost in Nanggeroe Aceh Darussalam --New Zealand: 30) Non-native wilding conifers taking over farms, --Australia: 31) Stop Gunns, 32) Church to stop Gunns, 33) Gulaga blockade arrests, 34) Bodalla forest closure due to protests, 35) Logging Melbourne's water supply, --Tropical forests 36) Tropical Timber Organization want money to save forests, --World-wide: 37) Cutting deforestation to limit carbon emissions, 38) How much carbon is released? British Columbia: 1) Demonstrators have camped out in a tree near the cave for weeks in an effort to protest against the construction of the interchange and highlight the fact that survey tape in the area indicates the interchange route would plow the cave under. Destruction of the cave would add insult to injury, said Adrian Duncan, president of the Vancouver Island Cave Exploration Group, given that a Skirt Mountain cave considered sacred by First Nations has been destroyed for a road to the Bear Mountain resort/subdivision. " I've been advised verbally by the city of Langford that they are very much mindful of the concern regarding the cave and they share our desire, if possible, in the context of their project that the cave not be alienated, " he said. Duncan said the lake's 50-metre-long, largely horizontal cave has been known to members of his club since the late 1960s. " The significance is that there are very few limestone-solution caves within the boundaries of the Greater Victoria municipal area, " Duncan said. " We believe Victoria is one of the very few, if not the only, provincial capitals that has karst features within its municipal boundaries. This is a unique feature of Victoria that we think should be recognized and preserved. " An 80-metre cave, the longest in the area, is in the Florence Lake area -- covered by a trailer park. In November, destruction of a Skirt Mountain cave to make way for a road to service the Bear Mountain subdivision sparked protests and was called cultural genocide by First Nations groups who considered it to be sacred. The protests ended when the developer and First Nations representatives met through mediated talks to sort out their differences. http://tinyurl.com/2chlcs 2) KAMLOOPS - Bestowing federal heritage designation on the Adams River threatens future logging and mining opportunities, rural politicians say. Directors of the Thompson-Nicola Regional District voted against a motion to support heritage designation to the Adams River, widely known for being home to one of the world's largest sockeye salmon runs. A consultant for the project, Clive Callaway, asked the board to endorse the designation for the Adams River. But that request to join Interfor Corp. and the village of Chase, among other supporters, brought expressions of fear among directors for what the brand might mean in the future. " All of a sudden when you want to apply for a permit (for mining) it's a heritage area, " said Wells Gray Country director Bert Walker. " It will come back to haunt us. " Steve Quinn, the director for the Blue River area, also said heritage designation could harm future mining interests. He cited the Tatshenshini River, one of three B.C. rivers to have the designation along with the Fraser and Cowichan. The NDP government of the 1990s declared the northern river area a park, killing a proposed mine. " There's potential for future mining and I don't want to impinge on it .. . . just so someone can drift down a river and not see a bridge, " Quinn said. Callaway said the federal government will not bestow heritage river status without a community consensus in favour of the idea. The proposal originated with the Adams River Salmon Society several years ago. Callaway said it has widespread support in the Shuswap. The river is nominated based on the salmon run, use for angling and kayaking and First Nations history. http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/story.html?id=88b09bbb-3446-4f6f-9ae3-f7abba1\ 8df2f & k=64797 3) PricewaterhouseCoopers partner Craig Campbell said traditional pulp and lumber production, particularly in the pine beetle-ravaged Interior, is going to give way to bioenergy, smoothing over the boom-and-bust cycles that characterize the industry today. Campbell's forecast of a prosperous future comes at a time when the industry is the world's basket case. He said mountains of logs are piling up alongside forest roads today because companies cannot economically convert them to lumber. " The next five years in the B.C. forest industry are going to be without a doubt the biggest transformation we will ever see, " Campbell told the 500 people attending the conference. The pine beetle is the greatest challenge and, as wood quality deteriorates in the dead pine stands, less of it will be suitable for lumber. " The outlook is very bleak for the Interior sawmilling industry. Dozens of sawmills are going to close. " He said that in the Interior, 15 million cubic metres of timber -- enough lumber to fill half a million logging trucks -- is going to waste in huge roadside piles because it cannot be economically converted to lumber. http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=884c09f6-c579-400\ e-831d-c30883365 5c4 4) A Sunshine Coast citizens' group is gearing to halt logging on the Sechelt benchlands near Dakota Ridge, an operation they believe is compromising the Chapman Creek and Wilson Creek watershed and may be fouling local salmon-bearing streams. An 800-hectare parcel is being logged by Columbia National Investments in preparation for the development of a 36-hole golf course and planned resort community. But Wilson Creek resident John Keates claims that logging and road-building is muddying local streams and Keates and a handful of concerned area residents have asked the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to conduct an on-site inspection. " It's pretty obvious that some of the feeder streams into Wilson Creek are being compromised and that's a salmon-bearing stream, " Keates said. " We've taken some pictures of the muddy water. " Keates's group enlisted the help of the Sunshine Coast Regional District Thursday, asking directors to request that Howe Sound Pulp and Paper, which is buying logs from the Dakota Ridge site, reject wood taken from the Chapman Creek watershed. Chapman Creek supplies about 85 per cent of the Sunshine Coast's drinking water. The mill's fibre supply manager, Jeff Carwithen, said he has seen no evidence that the Dakota Ridge logging operation is not in compliance with government regulations. But he added that because logging on the Sunshine Coast is such an emotional issue, he would try to cooperate with Keates's group if possible. But he warned that logs and fibre are in short supply at the moment. http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=1cac7808-36d\ 7-4fac-ac23-123 5d96c6b79 Washington: 5) Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., said at a recent hearing, " If we do not fix our roads, we will have to drink our roads — after they slide into our streams. " Nationwide, there are roughly 380,000 miles of roads in the national forests. The Forest Service estimates there is a $4 billion maintenance backlog on the roads. At the same time, Dicks said the Bush administration has proposed a 31 percent cut in the Forest Service's road maintenance budget. The roads were built and maintained using money generated by timber sales. But as logging has declined, so has available funding. Prior to the protection of the northern spotted owl and other threatened and endangered species in the region's old-growth forests, nearly 6 billion board-feet of timber was being logged annually in Washington and Oregon. Today, less than half a billion board-feet is cut, though the Bush administration would like to see that level doubled. State officials say the roads, especially in the Mount Baker- Snoqualmie and Olympic national forests, are falling apart and creating erosion and runoff that is smothering salmon spawning habitat with sediment and raising water temperatures above levels the fish can tolerate. " It's a road system built for resource extraction that is no longer needed, " state Department of Ecology senior policy analyst Steve Bernath said. " If you don't maintain them, this will be only a growing problem over the years. " Bernath said the problem was especially acute because many of the roads were at the top of important salmon watersheds along Puget Sound. Their deterioration along with blocked and broken culverts have already caused problems downstream. About two-thirds of the roads in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie and Olympic forests need work, Bernath estimated, adding that the Forest Service is only spending about $3 million a year on road maintenance in the state while the backlog of deferred maintenance grows by $8 million a year. " They are only going to fund 15,000 miles of road maintenance nationwide, and we have 22,000 miles of roads in Washington state alone, " he said. In 2000, the Forest Service signed an agreement with the state that required it to close roads or fix them by 2015. Five years later, the Forest Service admitted it couldn't make that deadline. http://www.theolympian.com/101/story/104751.html Oregon: 6) The last of the salvage timber sales from the Biscuit fire are nearing completion, marking the end of a significant and controversial chapter in the history of the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest. It also provides a time for review, a time to test the claims of many about what the Biscuit recovery project was or was not. The 2002 Biscuit fire became a lightning rod in the national debate over post-fire logging. It attracted protests, congressional hearings, news stories, scientific debate and, of course, lawsuits. The conflict was serious and waged with a no-holds-barred intensity that I've rarely witnessed in my 30 years in natural resource management. Unfortunately, there were casualties in the process, and one of the most saddening of these casualties was the truth. The time and resources spent battling such claims could have been more productively spent restoring our landscapes in hope of avoiding another Biscuit fire on your lands. http://www.oregonlive.com/commentary/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/editorial/1178925\ 90254500.xml & coll=7 California: 7) On Wednesday April 25th the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency unanimously voted to save an old growth stand of trees in the " North Bowl " region of Heavenly Ski Resort. Instead of approving the construction of a new lift which would decimate an ancient stand of Red Firs, they decided that Heavenly would need to adapt an alternative chairlift layout that would go around the magnificent giants. Heavenly was quick to agree with TRPA's decision and is now advocating the replacement of the existing Northbowl and Olympic chairlifts with high speed " quads " as the quick and environmentally friendly way to get skiers up the mountain. It has been a long and arduous struggle for locals and Tahoe area environmental groups. During the first TRPA hearing on Heavenly's Master Plan for new development, the board members voted in favor of cutting the old stand of trees so that a new chairlift could be installed in a direct line from the bottom of the Northbowl chairlift to the top of the Olympic Chairlift. Fortunately, the Sierra Nevada Alliance, the League to Save Lake Tahoe, and the Tahoe Area Sierra Club were able to get this decision thrown out due to multiple violations of the Brown Act, California's public meeting law. Thanks to a strong collaborative effort between locals and environmental groups, the issue had built up public momentum by the time the second TRPA hearing came around. This momentum translated into over four hours of heated local testimony to the TRPA board. At one point during the proceedings, local resident Jim Hildinger grabbed a large poster displaying the old Red Fir trees and broke it over his knee, yelling out to the board, " This is what you want to do to them! " And after a whole day of this kind of testimony, along with the help of a vibrant power-point presentation by the League to Save Lake Tahoe and the Tahoe Area Sierra Club, the TRPA board members reconsidered their previous decision. http://www.yubanet.com/artman/publish/article_56923.shtml Arizona: 8) Mechanical arms grabbed the tree and a grinding circular blade severed it at ankle height in a second. While still holding the cut pine vertically, Walker jerked the machine to another tree a few feet away to repeat the process. Within a few minutes, Walker and his machine cut and carried eight trees before stacking them in a pile for removal. As he worked, sunlight spilled onto the previously shrouded forest floor for the first time in decades. " From my standpoint, from the district ranger's standpoint, it's beautiful, " said Jeffrey Rivera, a U.S. Forest Service ranger. The new gap between the trees will prevent a potential wildfire from racing treetop to treetop, a condition that makes wildfires practically unstoppable, he said. Thinning projects are under way in every national forest across the state; however, the Apache-Sitgreaves project is the largest and considered a national model for creating healthy forests, said forest supervisor Elaine Zieroth. " Our goal here is to thin 150,000 acres of ponderosa pine forest right next to private land and communities here in the White Mountains, to protect the communities from large fires similar to the Rodeo-Chediski fire, " she said. Federal officials are 2½ years into a 10-year agreement with the firm Future Forests of Show Low to cut and remove primarily small trees, which feed wildfires. The usual approach to thinning overgrown forests was to sell rights to logging companies to harvest a portion of the most profitable trees — large old-growth ones. Then, the Forest Service used the proceeds to offset the costs of hiring loggers to clear the less profitable and more dangerous trees — the small, younger timber. The effort was met with resistance. Environmental groups repeatedly sued the government to prevent the old-growth cuts, which stalled the entire process. The Forest Service changed its approach and local market conditions by offering the 10-year thinning contract in the Apache-Sitgreaves, under the title of the White Mountain Stewardship Project. Untreated and unburned portions of the Apache-Sitgreaves currently support an average of 1,600 trees an acre. Forest officials are thinning it to what they believe is a more natural count — about 100 trees an acre. That leaves one old-growth tree about every 30 feet or so, which suits Jake Stephens, a Greer Fire District captain. http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/89664 Michigan: 9) U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Menominee, announced that the U.S. Forest Service will steer $850,000 towards Hiawatha, Ottawa and Huron-Manistee national forests to help these forests cope with reductions in funding for fiscal year 2007. " This funding will help the Hiawatha, Ottawa and Huron-Manistee forests to process timber sales so it may continue to serve as a source for Michigan's timber industry, " Stupak said. " Michigan has the fifth largest timber industry in the nation, so forestry and timber are vital to the Michigan economy. " The Forest Service was able to divert the funding because Congress did not pass an Interior Appropriations bill for fiscal year 2007. Stupak said the Forest Service's reduction in funding should be a one-time occurrence and that funding should be restored once Congress passes an appropriations bill for fiscal year 2008. In the meantime, several forests, including the Ottawa, Hiawatha and Huron-Manistee, had been forced to reduce the amount of timber that would be available this year. Stupak said Michigan's forests support 200,000 jobs and generate $12 billion each year. http://www.ironwooddailyglobe.com/0511fore.htm Texas: 10) Conservationists have a big problem with Temple-Inland's stewardship of 1.1 million or so acres of East Texas timberland: They don't want it to end. They didn't get a vote in the boardroom, though, and the company indeed has hung the " for sale " sign on its forest holdings, cajoled by a billionaire investor into joining a land-divestment trend within the industry. The result of Temple-Inland's decision in February to split three ways and relinquish its trees has been rampant uncertainty, both for the forests the company has harvested, planted and protected for more than a century and people who have long depended on them. Charlotte Temple, former company director and great-granddaughter of founder T.L.L. Temple, boiled it down at the annual stockholders' meeting in Diboll earlier this month. " What assurances do we have that the timberlands will be cared for? " she asked. Kenneth Jastrow, chairman and chief executive, answered that the company would press for certain conservation and forest management commitments in its sales agreements, but he added that details of negotiations were confidential. Conservationists are scrambling to get a piece themselves, particularly about 150,000 acres abutting the Big Thicket National Preserve and a collection of " distinctive sites " that Temple-Inland has nurtured over the years. Until the deals are done though, it's impossible to predict who will buy them or what will become of the land. Big Thicket protectors, who have fought for decades to establish and expand the preserve, are worried about the future of the tracts and excited about the possibility of gaining control of them. " It's a big opportunity, a big challenge for Texans to step up to the plate and do this right, " said Andy Jones, director of The Conservation Fund's office in Austin. He cautioned that demand is hot for timberlands but conservationists have " a fighting chance. " http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/biz/4800808.html New York: 11) " I invite you to join me on a tour of a crime scene. " That is the opening line of a letter I am sending to Carol Ash, New York State parks commissioner; Satish Mohan, Amherst supervisor; Williamsville mayor Mary Lowther and the deputy state parks commissioner for Western New York. Local readers concerned about this crime should visit as well. Beginning only a quarter mile north of Main Street just beyond the formal Williamsville Glen Park, this narrow, gerrymandered area along Ellicott Creek extends north to Sheridan Drive. Despite its small size, it has provided some remarkable bird records. Even with its inland location, well over a hundred species are recorded in these parklands each year. And on one May morning in 1990, Peter Yoerg and I found 23 warbler species here. Several years ago, the former glen owners, the Sisters of Saint Francis, decided to sell it. The possibility of development threatened, but local leaders stepped up and the area was purchased by an agreement between the Town of Amherst and the state to become Amherst State Park. A local committee met regularly with a commercial firm hired to prepare plans for the park. Committee members were unanimous in their demand that the area be kept 'as natural as possible.' The final document did not satisfy everyone but it largely followed that recommendation. But now we reach the creek and the first sign of devastation. Most underbrush has been removed. Shrubbery where we formerly found winter wrens, white-throated and fox sparrows, wood thrushes and redstarts is gone. One of the sad features of parks today is driven by fear of molesters hiding behind bushes. But take away the undergrowth and you no longer have a natural park. Head south into the mixed woodland. Suddenly we emerge into a formerly forested area now bulldozed down to mud and rock. Where Richard Salembier last year discovered a rare prothonotary warbler, the brush is gone; all that remains is slimy mud. Where several years ago, I found an equally rare worm-eating warbler, tall pine trees have been removed and the piles of muck that remain add gluey inches to boot soles. Where baybreasted warblers and Philadelphia vireos sought insects, attractive willows have been removed. Already in some areas the trees and bushes are being replaced, but notice what is replacing them. The vigorous purple shoots of Japanese knotweed are already forcing their way up through the thick clay. They will soon form dense, almost impenetrable, 7-foot high canebrakes. http://www.buffalonews.com/185/story/74848.html USA: 12) Since 2000, roughly 450,000 people - enough to populate a city the size of Atlanta - moved to Western areas endangered by wildfires, a USA TODAY analysis shows. About 3.5 million people now inhabit those places, dotted through forests and scrub-covered mountain slopes from California to Colorado. Many settle there to live in scenic settings, or because of the outward expansion of Western metropolises. A fire sparked on a dry and windy day could grow rapidly to catastrophic proportions, the analysis shows. Several fires already are raging this week: One savaged a park in Los Angeles before firefighters brought it under control. The rapid movement to fire-prone areas propelled the federal government's cost for battling wildfires to nearly $2 billion last year. It threatens to drive up insurance rates. Allstate will stop writing new policies in California starting July. It also has Western cities and counties rethinking how and where people should build homes, and in extreme cases, it puts more homeowners and firefighters in danger. " This is a lesson that's been learned in the blood of our firefighters for many years, " says Tom Harbour, the head of firefighting for the U.S. Forest Service. " We need to be telling people Š that just because you built something here, we're not going to die for it. " The growth is most pronounced in the brittle hills of Southern California, near Riverside and San Bernardino, where 240,000 people settled in fire-prone areas since 2000. The growth is also playing out along Nevada's eastern Sierra slopes, where the at-risk population grew by nearly 14,000; outside Boise; and at the fast-growing fringes of metropolitan Phoenix. " Some things are a once-in-a-lifetime event where you can say it's an act of God or nature, " says Kate Dargan, the state fire marshal in California, which will start enforcing some of the nation's toughest wildfire building codes next year. " Wildfires happen every year. " The population in high-fire areas grew 15%, faster than the West as a whole. " Smart growth means not building in high-fire-risk zones, " says Dan Silver, president of the Endangered Habitats League. " That's stupid growth, and everyone pays the price for it. " http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20070511/1a_lede11.art.htm Canada: 13) New polling released today by two leading conservation groups shows that 90% of Ontarians want the provincial government to protect more forests as a defence against global warming. " This polling shows that the public is leading on this issue, " says Janet Sumner, Executive Director of CPAWS Wildlands League one of the groups releasing the polling. " The McGuinty government must keep its promise and implement land use planning before development in the Boreal Forest, " Sumner adds. The polling comes on the heels of a letter signed by 1,500 scientists released yesterday in Ottawa urging all governments to act to protect the Boreal Forest. The scientists warned that the Boreal Forest - a garland of green in Canada that shields us against global warming - is clearly under serious threat from industrial logging and mining activities. It shields us from global warming by storing more carbon in its soils, forests and wetlands than any other ecosystem on the planet. " Scientists, a chorus of celebrities, conservation groups and now the public all support setting aside large portions of Ontario's intact Boreal Forest in the face of global warming while safeguarding threatened species, " says Wendy Francis, Director of Conservation and Science for Ontario Nature. " We know it can be done without closing mills. When will this government act? " Francis adds. In 2003, Mr. McGuinty promised to implement a land-use planning regime for the northern third of the province, an area that until now has been off limits to logging. So far he has failed to deliver on this promise, instead approving the massive DeBeers Victor Diamond Mine. The groups are also asking the government to protect significant areas of intact caribou habitat in the commercial forestry zone; a move that also would store large quantities of carbon that otherwise would contribute to global warming. The polling was conducted by McAllister Opinion Research and is based on a random digit dial telephone survey of 500 Ontarians aged 18 and over. The survey was fielded from the 30th March 2007 to the 3rd April 2007 inclusive. A random sample of 500 Ontarians would yield a margin of error of +/-4.4%, 19 times out of 20. http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/May2007/15/c8632.html 14) Members of the University of Chicago Environmental Concerns Organization delivered a singing telegram to Kimberly-Clark Board member Linda Johnson Rice's receptionist, Helena Boyd. The video is difficult to see so please focus on the audio. Boyd was so impressed, she promised to deliver a letter to Linda Johnson Rice, and asked for a copy of the video footage from the event to share with Rice. This activity is the latest in a series of creative events at Johnson Publishing Company headquarters in downtown Chicago aimed at opening a constructive dialogue with Ms. Rice about Kimberly-Clark's unsustainable logging practices in the Boreal forest. Previous activities included a performance of our own interpretation of Dr. Seuss's " The Lorax. " http://kleercut.net/en/node/888 15) The Region of Peel has promised to work with local environmentalists in identifying rare or old trees that are in the path of a major water main installation in the northeast end of Brampton. A group of 15 Greenvisions protestors gathered on Castlemore Road near Goreway Drive at 6 a.m. Friday as Region of Peel contractors chopped and plowed a path through the forest southwest of the intersection. " They were cutting into a shagbark hickory that's more than 100 years old when I got here, " said Bruce Haines of Greenvisions. They stopped, but the tree won't survive, he said. He said 30 or 40 trees had already been cut down " that shouldn't have been. " He pointed to a buroak that is still standing, saying it is more than 200 years old. " It's older than our constitution and it was going to be destroyed... What we're seeing here is nothing short of a crime. " Haines' group called Peel police, who issued a cease and desist order on the project pending proof that all approvals are in place. However, the region does have all approvals needed to do the work, including permits from the City of Brampton and the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA), according to Simon Hopton, the region's manager of water and wastewater capital projects. Those approvals were to be presented to the police Friday, at which time Hopton said he expected the cease and desist order to be lifted. In the meantime, the region agreed to take a walk around the property with TRCA officials and Greenvisions to find out which trees merit saving, and then decide how, and if, that can be done. http://www.northpeel.com/npmg/article/24020 Malta: 16) At least two hunters were arrested and interrogated by police on suspicion that they may have been involved in the violent destruction of 3,000 trees on the night between Tuesday and Wednesday, deemed to be the worst case of ecological vandalism in Maltese history. But police are not yet excluding the possibility that the vandalism could have been motivated by other factors other than the spring hunting conflict between hunters and environmentalists. Police sources confirmed that further arrests are expected in the coming days. More persons were expected to be interrogated on Saturday afternoon. Between Thursday and Friday night, at least two persons were taken in custody for a few hours. They were interrogated and later released. The destruction of 3,000 trees forming part of Malta's largest afforestation project, at Ghadira Bay, Mellieha, has shocked the country, and brought back memories of the atrocious vandalism of Mnajdra Temples in 2001. Ghadira's 'Foresta 2000' project was launched in 2003. Birdlife Malta initiated this afforestation as its " millennium project " . 'Din l-Art Helwa' and the Environment Ministry are partners in the same endeavour. The vandalism of over 3,000 trees has set back the project's fruition by a number of years. Moreover, tens of thousands of Maltese Liri will be required to replant new saplings. And while other motives are still being investigated, the thesis that the culprits were hunters is being held as one of the " major possibilities " . Sources in Mellieha explained that some hunters considered the Foresta 2000 as a " threat " . Once the forest project is concluded, migrating birds will be attracted to roost in the trees, and away from other areas where they can be easily hunted down. http://www.maltastar.com/pages/msFullArt.asp?an=12053 Russia: 17) FSC-Watch has been sent the following article by Svetlana Alekseeva, Chief Editor of " Forest Certification " . It raises a number of serious questions about the motivation of various 'stakeholders' involved in FSC certifications in Russia. Students of the history of global forest management and policy will recognise some of the underlying themes and concerns of this article. Over the last 100 years or so, wherever large 'forest frontier' areas come under extensive exploitation, the addition of new (often legal) requirements for 'sustainable forest management' are skillfully used by the larger interests to squeeze out their competitors, enabling them to consolidate their land-holdings and reduce their competitors' market share. In a February 2007 statement, WWF claimed that there is a " revolution in Russian forestry " , pointing to the exponential rise in the number of FSC certificates issued there. However, one respected Russian forestry expert - who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals - has told FSC-Watch that " there is no revolution in Russian forestry " . Moreover, we are told, " there are contradictions between the FSC's requirements and Russian law " . One Russian project was supported by IKEA in 2001-02. The main executor of the work was Greenpeace Russia. IKEA paid $1m to Greenpeace and they developed maps of virgin forest for Russia. Later on, however, Russian experts found out that many " virgin " forest sites are situated in regions where IKEA has competitors (see " Russian Forest Newsletter " # 23. Many Russian forest industrial companies were displeased, but after a few meetings between NGOs and FSC, the conflict was suppressed. At the present time, FSC has a confused situation in relation to development FSC in Russia. The more the FSC helps to fulfill NGO projects, the more it loses status as an independent and professional certification system. Conflict by conflict, FSC demonstrates itself as an international political alliance. Certainly, in the present moment, FSC has a high reputation in world but there are more than 17 million hectares of FSC certified forest in Russia and the area will increase soon. The loss of reputation in Russia can impact on the reputation of the FSC worldwide. http://www.fsc-watch.org/archives/2007/05/13/FSC_in_Russia___sustainable_forest_\ management__or _simply_money_and_politics_ Ghana: 18) Forest reserves in the country are diminishing under pressure from the boom in the building industry and expansion in educational facilities, especially the construction of school desks. The Acting Executive Director of the Forestry Services Division (FSD) of the Forestry Commission, Mr Matthew Owusu-Abebrese, who made this known, said the two developments had created a huge demand for wood products, which the current supply market could not meet. He said chainsaw operators had taken advantage of the situation to destroy the country's forests. He, therefore, urged the government to take a second look at the Temporary Utilisation Permit (TUP), which allowed chainsaw operators to fell trees for community projects but which had now been abused. Mr Owusu-Abebrese was speaking at a two-day workshop on forest management planning at the University of Ghana, Legon, yesterday. The workshop, organised by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the United States Government, is to build the capacity of forest managers of timber companies and Forestry Commission (FC) officials on the development and implementation of management plans for forest reserves and timber utilisation contract (TUC) areas. Mr Owusu-Abebrese cautioned that if the nation was going to look on unconcerned while the forests were being destroyed, then in a few years, Ghana would cease to have forests. http://www.graphicghana.info/article.asp?artid=16788 Mali: 19) The president of the alliance, Oumou Toure, says her group became involved in fighting deforestation because women are most directly affected by the decline of forests as they are the ones who typically buy and sell wood and use it to cook. " Our constitution says that each Malian has the right to live in a healthy environment, " Toure says. " What is happening today is that our environment is degraded, the natural resources are weak and women are having to deal with this. " The government has passed laws to protect certain species of trees against cutting and has suspended the export of wood from live trees. Environmentalist Ibrahim Togola with the Mali Folke Center says despite government and civil society efforts, it is hard to halt wood cutting as long as poverty persists and wood is the only way for many to make enough to live. " On one hand, wood represents a very easy access to income. 'Bamako needs wood, OK, I have a forest, " Togola says. " You just need me to go cut the wood, there are trucks coming. I sell that wood. I get some cash. I can send my children to school. I can buy some clothes.' And it is easy, because it is there. " Togola says the problem with most of the alternatives introduced to reduce Mali's wood consumption is that none are as cheap or as fast to cook with as wood. He says there are also environmental changes happening that Mali cannot control. " We have less and less rain, " Togola says. " Before (there) was enough water so the forest could be regenerated by itself, and there were less people. With the [population] pressure, this is not possible. How are we going to live? " http://mensnewsdaily.com/2007/05/14/malians-seek-way-to-curb-deforestation/ Congo: 20) The first clue to the location of the conference was the chanting which drifted out of the rainforest. I headed towards it down a narrow track through the forest. Small figures flitted in and out of the trees on the path ahead. A few seconds later the trees parted to reveal a shaded clearing; on it, somewhat incongruously, a pile of white plastic chairs. Everything else around was clearly made from and in the tropical rainforest. Leaves had been bent and twisted and then shaped into small domed huts. Inside, children slept on, oblivious to the large circle of men and women shuffling, swaying and singing outside. The soundtrack was provided by the beat of drums, several taller than a man. I had arrived at the first international forum for indigenous peoples in the Congo basin. The delegates were from settlements of ancient forest peoples - many commonly called pygmies. There are no roads linking this place to the rest of Congo. Just the Oubangui river, which flows into the mighty Congo river just after it crosses into the southern hemisphere. As a delegate from Cameroon puts it, indigenous people from the forests of central Africa are the third world of the third world. Their way of life - hunting in the forest and moving from one spot to another - makes it tricky for them to take advantage of education and health services. Meanwhile the bureaucrats among the non-forest people find it difficult to deal with those born in a jungle, away from officialdom.So, for the pygmies, there are problems getting birth certificates, attending school, taking part in elections and playing an active role in the wider society. There is also the problem of exclusion from the forests, because of logging companies. And it is not uncommon to hear about others kept in slave-like employment, by neighbouring farmers who regard them as sub-human. http://commonsensewonder.com/?p=2077 Brazil: 21) A Brazilian rancher was convicted Tuesday of ordering the killing of American nun and rain forest defender Dorothy Stang in a case seen as an important test of justice in the largely lawless Amazon region. A judge sentenced him to 30 years in prison. Vitalmiro Bastos de Moura was found guilty of masterminding the shooting of 73-year-old Stang on Feb. 12, 2005, along a muddy stretch of road deep in the rain forest. Judge Raymond Moises Alves Flexa sentenced Moura to 30 years in prison, the maximum sentence, in a case seen as a test of whether the government could crack down on lawlessness in the Amazon. Moura " showed a violent personality unsuited to living in society, " the judge said, adding that the " killing was carried out in violent and cowardly manner. " Stang's brother David, who flew to Brazil for the trial, trembled and cried after the verdict. " Justice was done, " he said, adding that he now believed another rancher accused of ordering the killing may be convicted when he goes to trial later this year. The conviction came even though three other men convicted in connection with the killing — a gunman, his accomplice and a go-between — recanted earlier testimony that the rancher had offered them 50,000 reals (US$25,000; euro18,400) to kill the nun. Moura is one of two ranchers accused of ordering Stang's killing in a conflict over land he wanted to log and develop but she wasn't trying to protect. Stang, a naturalized Brazilian originally from Dayton, Ohio, helped build schools and was among the activists who have tried to defend the rights of impoverished and often exploited farmers drawn to the Amazon region. She also attempted to halt the rampant jungle clearing by loggers and ranchers that has already ripped away some 20 percent of the forest cover. http://tinyurl.com/2hjm8o 22) " More than any other country, Brazil has demonstrated that it is feasible to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from tropical deforestation " , says co-author Daniel Nepstad, Senior Scientist at the Woods Hole Research Center. He, along with colleague Marina Campos, showed that since the beginning of 2004, Brazil has created more than 20 million hectares of parks, extractive reserve, and national forests in the Amazon region, and many of these protected areas are located in the agricultural frontier. These protected areas, if fully enforced, will prevent one billion tons of carbon from being transferred to the atmosphere through deforestation by the year 2015. Brazil's deforestation rates have been cut nearly in half in recent years through a combination of government intervention and economic trends. " We are encouraging the Brazilian government to fully endorse the Compensated Reduction proposal " , states Paulo Moutinho, Scientist and Coordinator of the Climate Change Program of the Amazon Institute for Environmental Research (IPAM), a non-governmental research institute in Brazil. CR would help Brazil offset the costs of slowing deforestation rates. In Brazil, the cost of reducing deforestation emissions by half will be less than $5 per ton of carbon dioxide, as estimated in an unpublished study of IPAM and the Woods Hole Research Center. http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Brazil_Demonstrating_That_Reducing_Tropical_De\ forestation_Is_ Key_WinWin_Global_Warming_Solution_999.html 23) " There are a lot of illegal loggers, " states Domingos. " There are some areas they don't go into, but they are invading ... Two years ago many loggers came from the Transamazon Highway—there were 10, 20 trucks transporting wood night and day, " claims the leader. Now, the Madeira River Complex threatens to increase agribusiness pressure on the Parintintin's federally protected lands, especially from soybean producers. " Soybeans can justify all sorts of public works, which have much more impact on deforestation than the actual area that's cleared for soybeans, " says Phillip Fearnside of the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA). The price of soy, according to Fearnside, explains 72% of the fluctuation in deforestation rates since 2004 in the state of Mato Grosso. Mato Grosso alone accounts for 40% of all deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. The governor of Mato Grosso, Blairo Maggi, is also the chairman of the world's largest soybean production company, Grupo André Maggi. The company received two loans of US$30 million each from the International Finance Corporation (IFC, World Bank Group) in 2002 and 2004, and one loan of US$34 million from BNDES in 2004. The Madeira Complex, if completed, would enable the Madeira River system to transport an estimated 35 million tons of soybeans a year—a 500% increase from the seven million tons currently carried out by river.3 Critics claim cheaper transport costs on the river would provide an incentive for the expansion of soybean production in neighboring Rondônia and Amazonas states, increasing deforestation and land invasions of the type already faced by the Parintintin. " For soybeans, " says Fearnside, " you have the justification to do it, and that sets into motion a whole series of other processes: land speculation, logging, and, of course, ranching. " For the Parintintin, land invasions and decreased river levels would place the resources they utilize for survival—such as fish, their dietary staple—at risk. http://americas.irc-online.org/am/4235 India: 24) Junagadh - Babaravidi has two unique features. While lions fall prey to paochers elsewhere, here they are safe in while living and breeding. Besides, people living in surrounding villages are lion-friendly and they do care a lot for the big cats, quite like their own family. Babaravidi, a reserved forest area spread over 1,500 hectare outside Gir forest, is better known as a maternity home for lionesses. Located at about 15 km from Gir sanctuary in Maliya taluka of Junagadh district, it is surrounded by revenue area and a large human population. Wild cats find this place to be an ideal labour room and a safe haven for their newborn cubs. The area with plain grassland provides suitable atmosphere to big cats. At least one dozen villages are situated along its border. The residents of these villages are lion-friendly and they consider themselves as parents of mother lionesses. According to Babara village sarpanch Kalabhai Pithiya, his family has been engaged in agriculture in this area for decades. He says a group of lions came here about five years back, and since then, the lions have made it their permanent home. " And when the big cats conceive, they come here for delivering the cubs, " he said. " When the lion poaching incidents surfaced, I convened a meeting. People from eight villages, especially youths and farmers, attended. They formed alert groups in each village to ensure the safety and security of the lions, particularly in this region, " the sarpanch said. A septuagenarian of Babara village said: " It is our tradition that married daughters visit their parents' home for delivery; we treat the lionesses and their cubs with the same feelings. " ' Villages like Babara, Pankawa, Chuladi, Pithiya, Dharampur, Juner, Vandervad and Itali are located on the periphery of Babaravidi. People living in these villages mostly belong to Aahir and Koli community and are farmers. " Lions are symbols of power, so we take care of these animals like our family members, " said Haridas, a farmer. " To provide drinking water facility to domestic as well as wild animals, particularly roaming lions, water holes have been built in almost all farmlands here. Beside, if lions are found trapped in wells, our youth are always there to lend a helping hand, " said farmers of these villages. http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=235921 25) RAIGANJ - A banyan tree was married to a fig tree at Kalibari More here late last night. The priest followed all the Hindu rituals while conducting the unique marriage. Fig tree (the groom) wore dhoti and banyan tree (the bride) wore a red saree as hundreds of locals witnessed their marriage. The trees had their " parents " too. While Mr Ram Gopal Dutta and Mrs Usharani Dutta were the groom's parents, Mr Rabindranath Das and Mrs Dayamayi Das played the role of the bride's parents. The marriage took place at 12.30 am. Over 800 persons were present on the occasion. Lorries, buses, auto rickshaws and other vehicles were used by the people to reach the marriage venue. The villagers also hired a band party to make the marriage more enjoyable. Mr Ramgopal Dutta, the " father " of the groom arranged a boubhaat party today. More than 900 persons, including district administration and police officials, were the invitees. Marriage cards were also printed to invite the people. Although the district administration officials did not turn up to the marriage party, more than 1700 persons were present on the occasion. They ate delicious food items at the house of Mr Dutta. Mr Tufan Chatterjee, the priest who conducted the marriage, said: " The two trees were depending on each other to live. Hence, the residents of the area decided to marry them. I readily accepted their request. " http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=10 & theme= & usrsess=1 & id=156228 China: 26) China Times reported that the Smangus community of the Atayal Aboriginal tribe in Hsinchu County's Chienshih Township refused to allow Forestry Bureau officials to observe a traditional ceremony expressing the tribe's sovereignty on May 7. The refusal was sparked by an event two years earlier, in which tribe members had taken dead logs from trees blown over during a typhoon back to their community for decorative purposes. The bureau sued them for violating the Forestry Law and the Hsinchu District Court ruled that the removal of the logs constituted " larceny. " This astounding verdict has made citizens doubt whether the spirit of " multiculturalism " that the government professes is actually possible.The residents of Smangus have always decided tribal matters by consensus and through traditional tribal law. For example, when the tribe made the decision to take the fallen logs back to the community, this action was seen as no different from taking food out of one's own refrigerator to cook. If we closely analyze this issue in light of Taiwan's policy toward Aborigines, their laws and similar policies in other countries, it becomes clear that the government's handling of this incident did not conform to the spirit of multicultralism. President Chen Shui-bian signed an agreement called " A New Partnership Between the Indigenous peoples and the Government of Taiwan " with Aboriginal representatives on Orchid Island in 1999 when he was running for president. He again acknowledged the agreement as president in 2002. The announcement of the Aboriginal Basic Law in 2005 further confirmed, in practical legal terms, that Aborigines have the right to self-governance. The law clearly acknowledges that Aborigines have authority over their land and natural resources. http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2007/05/14/2003360824 Vietnam: 27) Viet Nam aims to plant one million hectares of forest, with 750ha of which composed of production forests, by 2010. In the same period, the Government plans to increase the country's forest coverage to 43 per cent and forestry products to a value of $7.8 billion. Nhi reaffirmed that the Government's policy is to diversify management and ownership of forests by strengthening the equitisation of State forestry enterprises in which the State will not hold a controlling stake. The Government also encourages setting up joint ventures or partnerships between State companies and private enterprises and communities in planting, protecting and manufacturing forest products, he said. According to Dinh Ngoc Minh, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Economics, under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Government has revised policies on land and forest assignment and forest leasing, in order to promote investments in the sector from private and foreign enterprises. http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=01AGR110507 Cambodia: 28) Unfortunately, the farmers of Balang don't have a way to store water from the rainy season for use year-round. Without a storage system, the farmers in our villages can only use the water half the year, and they can't grow enough during this time to make a decent living. The rest of the year they are forced by necessity to turn to activities other than farming. For Bet Wi's family, this means that her husband must go off to the forest to harvest wood for extra income. Many other villagers in Balang do the same to make up for the lack of food and money they earn from farming. In crisis situations, people turn to the first work they can find to earn money. This is also the case in Balang, and logging in recent years has become one of the most common ways for farmers to earn a living here. But logging in excess is unsustainable, and recently the intense logging around Balang has begun to show a strain on local forests. Some villagers living near Bet Wi discussed with us the rapid deforestation they were seeing all around them. Met Sim, 69, said " A cartload of wood used to be worth 5,000 riel ($1.25). That was 2 years ago. Now because there is so little wood the value of a cartload has increased a lot, but it is so much harder to find enough wood that its not very profitable work anymore. " Another interviewee, Mot Ten, living in Popeil village southeast of Kroper, said " Foraging wood used to be a way for people to earn money here in Balang. Now almost all the wood is gone. " http://www.humantranslation.org/2007/05/bet-wi-and-villagers-of-balang.html Indonesia: 29) At least 266 hectares of forests in Nanggeroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD) Province were damaged in the 2005 - 2006 period, an non-governmental organization official said here on Monday. Tisna Nando of the Indonesian Flora and Fauna (FFI) organization said that the forests were damaged partly as a result of the rehabilitation and reconstruction process of Aceh after it was hit by an earthquake-triggered tsunami in 2004. He said that in 2005 local police confiscated 33,249 cubic meters of processed timber which were obtained from illegal logging. Nando said that Aceh previously had 3,549,813 hectares of forests, most of which were found in Mount Leuser National Park (TNGL) and in Ulu Masen in the northern part of Aceh. But deforestation and illegal logging had been increasing during the Aceh reconstruction process to meet the need for wood materials, which in 2006 increased four folds to 120,209.50 cubic meters. The Ulu Masen area, which covers the districts of West Aceh, Aceh Jaya, Aceh Besar, Pidie and Pidie Jaya, has 740,000 hectares of forests. About 20 percent of this forest cover have been affected by forest concessionaires` exploitation. " Of the total forest cover, about 20 percent or about 740 thousand hectares, have been exploited by forest concessionaires, " Nando added. http://www.antara.co.id/en/arc/2007/5/14/aceh-lost-226-hectares-of-its-forests-i\ n-2006/ New Zealand: 30) Wilding conifers are mainly found in the eastern South Island, covering tens of thousands of hectares from Marlborough to Southland, including iconic areas such as Craigieburn, Lake Tekapo and Queenstown. Well-sited, well-managed conifer plantations are harmless. However, the weed-like spread of wilding conifer species takes over grazing land, invades native habitats, and blocks views. Many wilding areas are dominated by Pinus contorta (lodgepole pine), mountain pine, Corsican pine and Scots pine. None of these species are commercially valuable today, and wilding stands are of little economical worth because of their uneven age structure and form. However, Douglas-fir, a very important commercial species, has become a wilding threat over the past 20 years. In the past, councils, agencies and landowners have largely battled wilding conifers in isolation. Due to the increasingly visible wilding problem, Landcorp Farming, at the urging of Molesworth Station farmer Jim Ward, has co-ordinated funding from the Sustainable Farming Fund to set up the South Island Wilding Conifer Management Group (see " Background information " for membership details). The group will assess risks of wilding spread, determine the best and most cost-effective control methods, and how best to succeed wildings with more desirable plants (such as native species). http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/SC0705/S00027.htm Australia: 31) Gunns is a large Tasmanian company intent on destroying this beautiful state. They tear down huge swathes of forest for the production of woodchips. This is a travesty Frank and I have been aware of for some time. We had not been aware of the extent of the problem. As it turns out, Gunns is not only ruining our forests, it's also destroying the social fabric of our state through lies, deceit, bribery, and basically ripping everybody off for their own corporate profit. They are tearing the heart out of our state, and it would seem both sides of government are standing back giving tacit nods of approval. More recently Gunns has been intent on constructing an enormous pulp mill just 40 kilometres from my house. This entails more than just a stinking mill pumping out pollution faster than it pumps out woodchips. It means doubling the rate of forest destruction in order to maintain wood supply to the ever hungry mouth of the mill. This will have even greater detrimental environmental and societal impact. http://happychatter.blogspot.com/2007/05/environmental-activist-is-born-or-sue.h\ tml 32) A church has waded into the row surrounding a proposed $2 billion pulp mill in northern Tasmania, saying Christians should reject the development. Timber giant Gunns Ltd has earmarked a site for the mill in the picturesque Tamar Valley, a region well-known for its forest tourism. State politicians will decide on the mill once an independent assessment of the project is presented to parliament by August 31. Premier Paul Lennon this year sidelined the Resource Planning and Development Commission (RPDC), which had been assessing the project, when Gunns withdrew from the RPDC process, saying delays were proving too costly. Reverend Dr Andrew Corbett, pastor of the Legana Christian Church (Assembly of God) near Launceston, in the state's north, says there was a perception of underhand tactics and deception surrounding the proposal. His 33-page report summary says: " This particular project proposal seems to have been shrouded by a lack of truthfulness and possible lack of integrity " . " This deeply concerns Christians. " http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Tasmanian-church-opposes-pulp-mill/2007/05/1\ 5/1178995136937 ..html 33) The Gulaga blockade continues, but logging has also started. A heavy police presence yesterday allowed the Mathie crew to enter with their machines, after a long delay caused by blockaders. The same thing happened this morning with police arriving more slowly and in smaller numbers, but acting very decisively to clear the road. Of yesterday's 13 arrests, only one was maintained. The others were told that they were not to be arrested after all.Today a couple of people were taken away in the paddy wagon for refusing to get off the road quickly enough. The police are currently at the Gulaga blockade camp. Twelve arrests have been madebut some of these are repeats, so it's not 12 people. The contractor, Mathie arrived this morning to start logging the forest. His vehicles have been unable to enter the compartment; someone is locked onto Mathie's ute. It appears that the contractor was not originally set to be Mathie, but he is now lined up to do the job. This may be a way for the industry to get the Wandella injunction invoked as some of the people who are subject to that injunction may be involved. Peter Rutherford failed at the chipmill the other day and may now see this as another opportunity to take out some of the key people in the SE forest campaign. If you can get there - now is the time. http://sydneyalternativemedia.com/blog/index.blog?entry_id=1691756 34) A disputed forest on the NSW far south coast has been closed to the public as the row over logging work continues. Police were called yesterday to the Bodalla forest, near Tilba, after protesters tried to block access to logging contractors who were due to begin harvesting in the area. It is understood one person was arrested, although police have not confirmed this. About 30 people were involved in the protest, which has been prompted by the proximity of the logging work to Mount Dromedery, which is an important Aboriginal cultural site. Protest spokeswoman Virginia York says the protest is likely to continue. Forests New South Wales says the closure of the Bodalla forest is a workplace safety issue and it warns people protesting there could now be fined up to $2,200. A spokesman says the section of the Bodalla forest being logged will supply sawmills at Narooma and Eden as agreed to by both the industry and conservationists under the Regional Forests Agreement. http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200705/s1923269.htm 35) The State Government has been accused of allowing illegal logging near Melbourne's main water supply. The logging threatens to soil the city's drinking water as the Thomson Dam dips below 18 per cent and sediment becomes an issue. Environment groups say the Department of Sustainability and Environment has breached regulations by extending the deadline for logging into the high-rainfall winter season. Under the Government's Forest Management Plan for the Central Highlands, there can be no logging around the Thomson Dam between May 1 and November 30. The ban is designed to protect the city's water supply from sediment and other contaminants. But the Department of Sustainability and Environment gave loggers a two-week extension, ending yesterday. " The Thomson Dam supplies Melbourne with up to 60 per cent of our drinking water, " said Sarah Reece, of environment group Central Highlands Alliance. " Activity during this restricted period may threaten water quality due to increased rainfall and subsequent soil erosion and run-off. " There are two sources of sediment: the coupes themselves, and the roads used by trucks, which often cross streams. Over the past two weeks, loggers have been harvesting timber in two coupes, one of which is near the headwaters and only 500 metres from the dam. The area received about 40 millimetres of rain last weekend. http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/illegal-felling-threat-to-water/2007/05/1\ 2/1178899169265 ..html Tropical Forests: 36) A key global tropical timber group has joined the debate on whether to pay nations to conserve their tropical forests under a carbon credit scheme. The International Tropical Timber Organisation resolved at its conference in Port Moresby at the weekend to engage in the global debate on the issue and highlight the role of sustainable forest management in averting deforestation. The organisation comprises representatives from tropical timber producing nations and consumer nations. Spokesman Steve Johnson said tropical countries could currently only get carbon credits for planting new forests. " There's a huge debate going on now on somehow letting tropical countries benefit from maintaining and from keeping their forests healthy, rather than allowing them to be destroyed or degraded, " he said. Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister Michael Somare has led a charge among tropical nations to win payment under an international system from carbon credits for conserving forests. Mr Johnson said climate change and such issues as payment for conserving tropical forests were high on the international community's agenda. " One of the recommendations from our discussions this week is that ITTO should stay engaged in this process. " It should inform the debate about the role of sustainable forest management in averting deforestation and keeping forests healthy so the carbon stays locked up in the forests. " Mr Johnson said this was the first step the organisation was taking on the emerging issue but it had already backed projects for countries to be paid for planting new forests under a clean development mechanism. http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?class=international%20news & subclass=\ general & story _id=584466 & category=General World-wide: 37) In the next 24 hours, deforestation will release as much CO2 into the atmosphere as 8 million people flying from London to New York. The rainforests of the Amazon, the Congo basin and Indonesia are thought of as the lungs of the planet. But the destruction of those forests will in the next four years alone, in the words of Sir Nicholas Stern, pump more CO2 into the atmosphere than every flight in the history of aviation to at least 2025. Stopping the loggers is the fastest and cheapest solution to climate change. So why are global leaders turning a blind eye to this crisis? The rampant slashing and burning of tropical forests is second only to the energy sector as a source of greenhouses gases according to report published today by the Oxford-based Global Canopy Programme, an alliance of leading rainforest scientists Figures from the GCP, summarising the latest findings from the United Nations, and building on estimates contained in the Stern Report, show deforestation accounts for up to 25 per cent of global emissions of heat-trapping gases, while transport and industry account for 14 per cent each; and aviation makes up only 3 per cent of the total. " Tropical forests are the elephant in the living room of climate change, " said Andrew Mitchell, the head of the GCP. http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/climate_change/article2539349.ece Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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