Guest guest Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 Today for you 33 new articles about earth's trees! (227th edition) Subscribe / send blank email to: earthtreenews- Weblog: http://olyecology.livejournal.com . --British Columbia: 1) A fight like you've never seen --Oregon: 2) BLM liquidation is not sensible, 3) Fire ecology, --California: 4) Forest go to pot, 5) Industry to clearcut neighborhoods of Tahoe Fire, 6) Berkeley treesit challenged in courts again, --Wyoming: 7) Stop logging Medicine Bow NF --Hawaii: 8) Wao Kele O Puna forest saved --USA: 9) Fire ecology, 10) House caused forest fires 11) Employee condemns agency, --Canada: 12) ORVs are a criminal scourge, 13) Endangered species, --Greece: 14) Fire fallout --Congo: 15) OLAM World Bank corruption --Mexico: 16) Long list of dead and jailed forest defenders --Peru: 17) Coco farmers now FSC certified forest destroyers, 18) Border theft update, --China: 19) Million hectares of farms to forests, 20) Guidelines for global destruction --Pakistan: 21) Unchecked deforestation --Kashmir: 22) Once famous all over the world for its lush green forests --India: 23) Conservation efforts are making too many enemies --Bangladesh: 24) National workshop on Biodiversity Conservation, 25) Cont. --Philippines: 26) Older inhabitants of Talakag remember when, 27) Trees for Life, --Malaysia: 28) Parit Forest Reserve under threat --Indonesia: 29) 20 million euros to pretend to stop logging, 30) Killing pulp makers, --Australia: 31) Wineries fight plantations, 32) Pawns in a capitalist conspiracy, --World-wide: 33) ADM big player in deforestation, British Columbia: 1) A wilderness advocate has promised the B.C. Liberals a " fight like you've never seen " if they fail to end logging immediately in endangered areas on Vancouver Island and southwestern B.C. Ken Wu, executive director of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee (Victoria Chapter), told the Straight this is just part of a campaign demanding that the provincial government " end old-growth logging, period, on Vancouver Island and the southwest Mainland [of B.C.]. " Wu, a Victoria resident, said WCWC wants a gradual phase-out across Vancouver Island by 2015. He is pressuring the provincial government to enact tough legislation this fall when provincial lawmakers unveil the coastal old-growth strategy. " This is their chance to do it right this fall, " Wu said by phone from Sooke. " If they fumble this one, then I swear [they will get] a fight like you've never seen around old growth heading into the next electoral period and after, because the public is big on environment now. " Rich Coleman, minister of forests and range, did not return Straight messages by deadline. However, in 2006 Coleman's ministry released a 194-page report, The State of British Columbia's Forests . It predicted " deteriorating " ecosystem dynamics, noting that " fire suppression, timber harvests and climate change are changing ecosystem dynamics across the province " . The report stated that their combined effects are " not easy to anticipate " . Wu said WCWC obtained 2004 satellite photos of Vancouver Island that show that " three-quarters of the original productive old-growth forest has already been cut down, including 90 percent of the valley bottoms, where the biggest trees are " . http://www.straight.com/article-107647/wcwc-kicks-off-old-growth-fight Oregon: 2) My family also has BLM land abutting our farm astride the Little Applegate River in southern Oregon, and it's land that forms an essential buffer in our effort to heal the ravages of outmoded logging practices on our property. The condition of our little river matters very much to the health of its larger grandparent, the mighty Rogue River. If the adjacent BLM tract also had been clear-cut, we probably would be unable to restore " our " nearly half-mile of river. There would be many fewer animals to fertilize and aerate the soil, hotter temperatures in the area we're trying to reforest, more silt from runoff into the river. The adjacent BLM lands also are important to our successful conversion of the star thistle- and blackberry-ridden pastures we bought in 1998 to the lush grass that now supports our flock of more than 100 small Soay sheep, known for their foraging prowess and tasty meat. In short, the BLM lands matter to the economics of our sheep ranch and to the restoration of badly neglected farmland. The BLM has proposed nearly tripling the logging allowed in its western Oregon forests, potentially boosting county payments. A final decision on the plan isn't expected until next year. But the flip side of the coin is the responsibility we on our private farm, and all of us as Oregonians, share for the conservation of these lands. After all, they don't merely belong to the federal government or some faceless bureaucrats. They belong to all of us. And all of us have an obligation to wisely use this irreplaceable collection of assets -- timber, forage, mulch, habitat, water filter, oxygen generator and more. We will succeed in this responsibility only if we fulfill a dual mandate -- harvesting timber for essential county revenues, but no more than what will ensure sustainable regrowth. And sustainable doesn't mean a clear-cut tract that may grow back in 100 years, or even 60 years. Sustainable means that each year there will be enough old, middle-age and young trees left on each of our BLM parcels to keep them healthy on an ongoing basis, not just in some highly speculative time several generations into the future. http://www.oregonlive.com/oregonian/stories/index.ssf?/base/editorial/1188343512\ 191410.xml & coll= 7 3) When sizzling lightning storms peppered southwestern Oregon on the evening of Aug. 30, 1987, Dave Perry was already a well-respected forestry professor at Oregon State University. But the forest ecologist, who had been teaching at OSU for a decade, says the nearly 150,000-acre Silver fire complex ignited by thunderbolts 20 years ago today taught scientists valuable lessons about the Klamath-Siskiyou forests. " My jaw dropped nearly to my knees from what I saw, " he recalled of a visit to the complex's still-smoking Longwood fire near Takilma in the Illinois Valley. " I was used to the fire dynamic in the northern Rocky Mountains, where old-growth forests are more susceptible than mature forests to crown fires. " I found out the structure of the old-growth forests here is patchy enough that it doesn't propagate crown fires as readily as a more uniform homogeneous stand, " he added. " The other thing was I had not a clue in hell that the hardwoods would be fire-resistant. " " It was a paradigm buster, " observed Amaranthus, 51, who has a doctorate in soil biology. " Until then, we didn't know that hardwoods could actually slow down a fire, " said Amaranthus, who studied the impact of the fires on local forests. " The managed areas with the monocultures we were trying to produce had a type of canopy that really spread fire rapidly. The plantations went up like Roman candles. This showed that Smokey the Bear wasn't the best thing for forests, " he said of fire suppression over the decades. " And the burn was hot enough to stimulate these shrubs coming back. " Studies have shown that shrubs support soil organisms that conifers depend on, he explained. For instance, he noted that madrone stimulates nitrogen fixation in the root zone of a fir. " That's very important because a lot of nitrogen gets volatilized in these fires, " he said. " So anything that comes back that will pump more nitrogen into the system becomes very important in the ecological recovery. For reasons we don't yet understand, a madrone will stimulate that happening in the root zone of a Douglas fir. " DellaSala acknowledged that many foresters may look at the site and see hardwoods and other shrubs as competition for the conifers. " They would want to wipe out this hardwood-shrub understory, " he said. " But if you look at it through a different lens in terms of the forensics science of ecosystems that come back from fire, it is all related, all interconnected. http://mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070830/NEWS/708300367 California: 4) Officials complain that crime rings have planted around 6,000 acres of secret marijuana plantations in federal forests and often send armed squatters to set up camp and tend the lucrative crop. In one recent three-week period, officials pulled up more than 280,000 marijuana plants, worth about $1.8 billion, largely in California's Shasta-Trinity National Forest. Sixteen people were arrested and 10 weapons were seized in those operations. Mark Rey, the Agriculture Department undersecretary whose portfolio includes the Forest Service, announced the eradication campaign in Fresno, California, before the fall marijuana harvest. Officials say the burgeoning crop not only breeds organized crime, but attracts traffickers from other countries who damage forests by diverting water and thinning brush and trees. " Everyone has come together to realize this is a serious problem right now, " said Janice Gauthier, a Forest Service spokeswoman in California. The new campaign will seek and destroy marijuana plants in national forests and step up clearing of plantation sites of fertilizer or chemicals. http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN307639720070830 5) An offer by a local timber company to remove fire-damaged trees in the South Lake Tahoe area for a maximum cost of $100,000 will save taxpayers more than a million dollars. The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday authorized Sierra Pacific Industries, which operates a mill in Camino, to remove hazardous trees in the Angora fire burn area. The Environmental Management Department solicited informal bids from licensed timber operators. Sierra Pacific offered to do the job at no cost to the county, with a not-to-exceed amount of $100,000 to cover any unforeseen or extraordinary circumstances. A company representative said the tree removal would begin this week and likely be completed within 30 days. " Thank you very much for providing this to survivors of the Angora fire, " said Supervisor Norma Santiago, who represents the South Lake Tahoe area. " By taking out the trees, the number of lots ready for building will increase exponentially, " she said. The fire, which began June 24, burned approximately 3,100 acres and destroyed more than 250 structures. Nine other firms submitted bids ranging from $1.19 million to more than $4.5 million. Gerri Silva, environmental management director, said the program applies not only to lots where structures were destroyed, but also to property where trees burned, but homes survived. A representative of Arrowhead Enterprises Inc., the firm submitting the next lowest bid, while not criticizing Sierra Pacific's offer, said he thought the firms bidding on the project had been misled. He said county officials asked the companies to submit separate bids for three different zones and indicated that three firms would be selected for the work. Yet, the county in the end awarded the entire project to Sierra Pacific. Property owners may sign up for the hazardous-tree removal program by completing a right-of-entry permit and a right-of-entry permit addendum.http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/350656.html 6) In a Hayward courtroom, attorneys for the tree-sitters argued that the university should take down the 6-foot-tall, chain-link fence because a court order earlier this year banned any development at the site. Alameda County Superior Court Judge Barbara Miller, who heard UC attorneys argue that the fence had nothing to do with the proposed athletic facility, said she would make a ruling within 24 hours. UC Berkeley wants to build a $125 million training facility next to the stadium, which straddles the Hayward Fault. The City of Berkeley, a tree-advocacy group and residents living near the stadium have filed suits intended to block the project, claiming it will increase traffic and eliminate an important stand of coastal oaks. Among the gawkers at the site this morning were Brian and Mitzi Knott of Huntingdon, Tenn., decked out in their team's trademark orange and video-taping the tree-sitters and their support crews on the ground. " We don't think the people in the trees are crazy, " Brian Knott said. " They're passionate about their cause. That's something we respect, and it's what you expect when you come to California. " UC police stood outside the fence erected by the university around the protest site. On Wednesday night, officers arrested two people near the trees, including one man who was trying to hoist food and water to the sitters. Today, police officers are not stopping supporters of the protest from sending up food and water. One of them, a Berkeley resident who said his name is Ayr, said he thinks the trees can be saved and the university can get its training facility. " We welcome the chance to interact with Cal Bears football fans, " he said. " We can have old trees and new gyms. " http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/08/30/BA04RSF9V.DTL Wyoming: 7) Unsustainable logging remains a clear and present threat to the health of the Medicine Bow National Forest. Under the new long-range management plan for the Medicine Bow, the Forest Service is proposing nearly 2,000 acres of additional clearcutting. And last spring, the Forest Service proposed the Devil's Gate timber sale, a massive industrial logging project that calls for over 500 acres of clearcutting in the Snowy Range near the Platte River Wilderness. Clearcutting has ravaged the Medicine Bow National Forest. According to the Forest Service, nearly 80,000 acres of the Medicine Bow has been clearcut since 1950. The Snowy Range west of Laramie has experienced the majority of the clearcutting. Satellite images of the mountain range, which is immensely popular for forest recreationists, show a massive patchwork of clearcuts. In the years 2003 and 2004 alone, nearly 1,000 acres of clearcutting were authorized by the Forest Service. Numerous scientific studies point to clearcutting as a serious threat to forest health. One peer-reviewed study, for example, co-authored by University of Wyoming Professor Dr. William L. Baker, found that the Medicine Bow National Forest has become unnaturally fragmented because of clearcutting. Forest fragmentation, which is where once-continuous forest becomes splintered into fragments, often prevents the free movement of wildlife. Studies have also found that clearcutting is harmful to songbirds, deer, and elk, and is responsible for a decline in old growth forest habitat. Clean water is also at risk because clearcutting. Increased soil erosion, sediment pollution, and degradation of stream banks can occur as clearcutting removes vegetation that would otherwise protect streams. BCA's campaign for sustainable logging is not only calling for an end to clearcutting, but putting forth alternative methods that ensure both that forest health is protected and that sustainable logging can occur. Alternatives to clearcutting are readily available. http://group8pollution.blogspot.com/2007/08/promoting-sustainable-logging-on.htm\ l Hawaii: 8) The 25,856-acre Wao Kele O Puna forest on the Big Island was formally turned over to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs yesterday in the midst of the forest, the first land acquisition in the history of OHA. It was an emotional moment for Palikapu Dedman, the former protester whose organization, the Pele Defense Fund, fought a successful battle in the forest and in court from 1985 to 2002 to stop geothermal development on land then owned by Campbell Estate. Dedman choked up as he tried to speak to a crowd of several hundred people. Finally he said, " We were just being ourselves. " " The court case was won on (Hawaiian) gathering rights, not on science, " he said. " We've got to grow on this. We've got to expand our gathering rights. " Dedman was the only speaker among 14 to receive a standing ovation from the crowd. U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye obtained $3.35 million through the U.S. Forest Service, augmented by $300,000 from OHA, to purchase the land from Campbell Estate. He made a confession about the geothermal project. " The project failed, thank God, and I realized I'd made a bad mistake, " he said. " I hope all of you will forgive me. " This belongs to the people, and it will be for the people forever, " he said. U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie added, " We have a responsibility to make sure that all of the assets of the Hawaiians are put back in Hawaiian hands. " The way to do it is through the Akaka Bill designed to permit creation of a Hawaiian-governing entity, he said. Among protesters jailed during demonstrations was Emily Naeole, now a Hawaii County councilwoman. Her son is now 16 1/2, she said, and his name is Wao Kele O Puna, which means the " upland rain forest of Puna. " In 1985 the state traded the land to Campbell for Campbell's Kahualea land farther uphill. Attempts at geothermal development continued from 1988 to 1994. The purchase by OHA, completed July 14 with the assistance of the Trust for Public Lands, means a return to public ownership. OHA land manager Jonathan Scheuer said the state Department of Land and Natural Resources will manage the land for conservation for the first 10 years, receiving $228,000 per year from OHA and contributing $100,000 per year in Land Department labor. Meanwhile, lava flows have been knifing into Wao Kele. Kaliko Kanaele of the Royal Order of Kamehameha interpreted that as a positive sign. " Tutu (Pele) is coming, " he said. " She's not coming for destruction. " http://starbulletin.com/print/2005.php?fr=/2007/08/28/news/story06.html USA: 9) Typically new science does not entirely invalidate the old ideas, but provides new insights and nuances. I see that happening now with fire ecology and how fire issues are reported in the media. One of the frequently repeated " truths " is that fires are more " destructive " than in the past due to fire suppression. By putting out fires, we are told, we have contributed to higher fuel loads in our woodlands that is the cause of the large blazes we seem to be experiencing around the West. But like any scientific fact, the more we know, the more we understand how little we really understand. While fuels are important to any blaze, the latest research is suggesting that weather/climatic conditions rather than fuels drive large blazes. In other words, you can have all the fuel in the world, but if it's not dry enough, you won't get a large blaze. On the other hand if you have severe drought, combined with low humidity and high winds, almost any fuel loading will burn and burn well. Despite all the rhetoric about " historic " fire seasons, including several years where more than 7-8 million acres burned, the total acreage burned today is actually quite low by historic standards. As recently as the 1930s Dust Bowl drought years, more than 39 million acres burned annually in the US. And long term research going back thousands of years suggests that the past 50-70 years may be real anomalies in terms of acreage burned as well as fire severity. It may be that the limited fire activity between the 1930s and 1990s was more a reflection of moister climatic conditions than due to any effective fire suppression. The fact that recent fires are burning through clear cuts, thinned stands, and other forests that are supposed to be fire proofed, suggests that big blazes are, at least in some situations, the norm. This has huge policy implications, especially in light of global warming. http://www.newwest.net/index.php/topic/article/wildfires_in_the_west_myths_and_r\ ealities/C38/L38 10) Why do some forest fires spread rapidly over large areas, destroying and damaging many homes, while others are contained with minimal damage? New research shows a major factor is whether homes are fireproofed -- not just yours, but those of your neighbors as well. " There is actually more flammable material in a house per square yard than in a forest, " said Michael Ghil, UCLA distinguished professor of climate dynamics and geosciences and co-author of the research, which will be published in the Sept. 4 print edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. " It makes a tremendous difference whether you fireproof your home or not, " Ghil said. " Neighborhoods where homes are fireproofed suffer significantly less damage than neighborhoods where they are not. " " Our study shows that fireproofing of homes is important not only for the houses, but also for the forest, " said Ghil, who is a member of the Institute of the Environment and the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics at UCLA, with a joint appointment in geosciences at France's Ecole Normale Supérieure. " We looked systematically for the first time at both the dwellings and at the forest. When you fireproof houses, not only do you help preserve those houses, but you also help limit the spread of fires to a much smaller area. " Ghil and his co-authors modeled the spread of fires and studied data from forest ecosystems in Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin. They addressed both the houses and the trees in a unified way for the first time. " Many people seem to have a fatalistic attitude and don't understand that it really matters whether you fireproof your home, and whether your neighbors do, " Ghil said. " The spread of forest fires is not just an act of God. Fireproofing houses can make an enormous difference in whether a fire sweeps through a community or not. " As the density of non-fireproofed houses increases, the chances of the neighborhoods burning increase dramatically, Ghil said. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070828110719.htm 11) I retired from the Forest Service in 2003. Going to work for that agency was the biggest mistake of my life. I actually thought that their prime motivation was to conserve and protect the public land. How wrong I was. I think it's so important that the American public learn the truth about how the Forest Service is hammering the ecological fabric of our the public land to provide money-making opportunities for private interests while simultaneuosly telling the public lies about how their development projects are needed and benefit the environment. The first EA I received was on August 17, 2004. Under Section 101(2) of Bush's tragic and euphemistically named Healthy Forest Restoration Act (HFRA) of 2003, authorized fuels reduction projects were no longer subject to notice, comment, and administrative appeal provisions pursuant to 36 CFR 215.Instead, the concerned public was provided with a meaningless, worthless, waste of time ... the pre-decisional objections process, that's even worse than the objections process used by the BLM. This process ONLY allows citizens to suggest minor changes or tweaks in the proposed logging and road construction. Unlike the administrative appeals process, under Bush's HFRA, no owner of these public lands has the right to demand that the Forest Service withdraw or drop a project entirely. Many USFS line officers who would easily fit the definition of " timber beast, " look back to this era as a time of spiritual significance. They pray for its return. Unless Section 101(2) of Bush's Healthy Forest Restoration Act is not rescinded in a federal district court, their prayers will be answered. In lieu of site specific, analysis one would think The Healthy Forest Restoration Act should have discussed the delaying or eliminating the natural fire cycle programmatically. It didn't. I'm not an attorney, but I think this is a large legal flaw in the HFRA. My wife & I live on retirement pay. I cannot afford to sue. Dick Artley (retired forest planner, Nez Perce National Forest) dartley Canada: 12) Crimes against the land, crimes against our streams and rivers and wetlands, crimes against clean air, crimes against fish, wildlife and birds, crimes against wild plants, crimes against soil, crimes against quiet and solitude, crimes against peaceful non motorized public lands users; the list goes on and on. All crimes documented by scientific, social and public lands management evidence. That is the legacy of off road vehicles and their users, not just in Alberta, but across North America. This is one crime spree that most Albertans do not have their heads in the sand about; no fairy tale ostrich impersonations here except in the blinkered self-serving world of off road users. Albertans are fed up with this bunch; all that remains for the people of Alberta to do is clear out a government and the old boys network of land managers that are protecting off roaders. It is probably more accurate to say protecting manufacturers and dealers - the money people - who act as the pushers for the addicts – the gloriously self endowed " enthusiasts " that desecrate public lands. These are the people that are fueling the destruction of the natural and real recreational world. The core group of off roaders are notorious machine and party idolizing young males best characterized as environmental deadbeats. Most are abysmally poorly informed about the destruction they and their machines impose on the landscape. The majority fancy themselves immune to responsibility, as are the manufacturers and dealers. The latter are the people who provide the money, they hook " the clubs " , who Minister Morton apparently wants to " work with " . These almost private deals take place outside the political and public process, in the backrooms, where the money men curry political favoritism. The fact is Morton, and this government, have no legal, moral, ethical or democratic authority to give off road " clubs " preferential treatment; Morton and Stelmachs moral, legal and scientific responsibility is to implement a high level of protection for all public land, native biological diversity, water, and the collective public interest. That is their one and only obligation. http://rewilding.org/rewildit/30/burying-the-facts-does-not-eliminate-the-truth-\ about-off-road-v ehicles-on-public-lands/ 13) Expanding cities, pollution, logging and predatory house cats are being blamed as the federal government considers adding close to 40 more species to the list of endangered, threatened or otherwise at-risk animals and plants in Canada. In documents published by Environment Canada over the weekend, loss of habitat to one form of human development or another is cited repeatedly as the biggest threat to the various vulnerable species. The flora and fauna in trouble range from the Pacific water shrew to the bowhead whale and Ord's kangaroo rat: a gerbil-like mammal that lives in the sandhills of southern Alberta and Saskatchewan and resembles a miniature version of its Australian namesake. A proposed regulation released Saturday would expand the number of organisms protected under the Species at Risk Act by 36. The list already includes 389 species. Under the five-year-old act, the federal government is supposed to work to rebuild species that are threatened or endangered and take action to prevent those in the third category - special concern - from facing further risk. Conservation groups, however, have accused the federal government of failing to live up to its obligations under the legislation, which in some cases can mean confrontation between wildlife preservation and economic development. Last fall, a consortium of groups filed an official complaint under the North American Free Trade Agreement, saying the government's performance in the area has been " abysmal. " For instance, it has failed to submit required recovery plans for more than 100 species, charged the submission filed by the Sierra Club, the Western Canada Wilderness Committee and others. Species are added to the list on recommendation from a scientific advisory committee headed by Jeffrey Hutchings, a Dalhousie University biologist. Neither Prof. Hutchings nor an Environment Canada official could be reached Sunday. The department will accept submissions on the proposed regulation published Saturday, before submitting it for final approval by cabinet. http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=73485ddf-f0db-46a0-ba0b-09\ 739ffd1107 & k=36 255 Greece: 14) With Greek national elections less than three weeks away, questions are being raised about how seriously the government takes the protection of the country's open spaces. " So many fires breaking out simultaneously in so many parts of the country cannot be a coincidence, " Mr. Karamanlis said in a nationally televised address Saturday. " The state will do everything it can to find those responsible and punish them. " Already, at least three people have been arrested for setting this weekend's fires; one, accused of setting a blaze that killed six people, is being charged for murder as well as for arson. But in the past, local activists say, the state has had a poor record of catching and prosecuting these types of arsonists. The problem persists, they say, and in large part perpetrators have previously gotten away with it. " Most of the reasons concern changing of land use – from forest to something else [such as] construction, or building, or to grazing, or agriculture, " explains Nikos Georgiadis, head forest officer for the Greek office of WWF (the World Wildlife Fund). " But the response from the government has not been effective at all. " But there is beginning to be a backlash against government inaction – as Greek villagers desperately battle blazes using garden hoses and buckets of water – that is likely to intensify as a result of this weekend's fires. Earlier this summer, after a fire burned one of the last remaining forests on Mount Parnitha, near Athens, thousands of people took the streets outside the Greek parliament demanding more action from the government to protect forests and ensure that burned areas were replanted. Many observers saw that fire as a turning point in local politics toward a greater green consciousness. " People in Athens, but also around Greece, are becoming more green, " says Dr. Georgiadis, who said that hundreds of people called the WWF office in the aftermath of that fire, outraged and offering to help. Greece has one of the worst records in the European Union on environmental issues, and on forest protection in particular. Environmental groups say recycling is in its infancy, development is largely unregulated, and protected areas neglected. Although forested areas cannot legally be built on, that law is difficult to enforce because Greece – unlike every other country in the European Union – has no national record of what land is forested. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0827/p01s03-woeu.htm Congo: 15) In 2005, OLAM was awarded logging titles covering over 300,000 hectares in the Bandundu region, in violation of a 2002 moratorium on the allocation of new logging titles, and DRC's Forest Code, both of which were introduced with the support of the World Bank in an attempt to tackle uncontrolled logging in the DRC. In December 2003, the IFC invested $15 million in OLAM and, during 2004, a partial guarantee of $50 million was approved for the company. World Bank records show that, as of fiscal year 2006, IFC held $11.2 million in OLAM loans and guarantees. Meanwhile, the World Bank denies any IFC involvement in the DRC forest sector, stating on their website that " the Bank does not fund logging anywhere in Africa and our main advice to the Government of DRC is not to expand industrial logging. " " This is an example of the World Bank's double standards when it comes to using international finance to help save the DRC's forests. While the left hand of the Bank claims to save the Congo forests, its right hand helps destroy them, " said Susanne Breitkopf, Greenpeace forest campaigner. " Rather than financing the plunder of the world's second largest rainforest, the World Bank should invest in strengthening forest law enforcement in the DRC, to control the wanton and illegal destruction being perpetrated by logging companies. " In April 2007, Greenpeace published a report detailing how OLAM trades in timber from third parties whose destructive logging operations cause social conflicts, massive environmental damage and significant loss of state revenue. In May, Greenpeace wrote to the IFC asking that it divest from OLAM on the basis that the group's existing logging titles, awarded illegally after a 2002 moratorium on new titles, should be considered illegal and cancelled. At the end of July, the IFC rejected this request, claiming that the group only works with suppliers who hold valid logging permits and that OLAM is committed to sustainable forestry. http://www.commondreams.org/news2007/0829-12.htm Mexico: 16) Mexico's 56.000.000 hectares of lush forestland covering a quarter of its national territory and comprising 1.3% of the world's forest resources, are increasingly littered with the corpses of dead forest defenders.The list of the dead is horrific. In the state of Mexico, 30 forest inspectors, a third of the state force, have been murdered since 1991 according to a count kept by Hector Magallanes, Greenpeace Mexico forest action coordinator. Federal forest wardens are equally as vulnerable. With 300 inspectors to cover more than 50,000,000 hectares, each inspector oversees 180,000 hectares. Too often, they find themselves caught up in shoot-outs with organized gangs of wood poachers ( " talamontes " ) who do their dirty work mostly in the dark with an army of gunsills standing watch. When Wilfredo Alvarez, a Guerrero state forest inspector was ambushed in 2003 near the state capital of Chilpancingo, one of his killers was a fellow inspector who had been corrupted by the talamontes. Miguel Angel Maya, regional coordinator for the National Protected Land Commission, was gunned down in the Chimilapas, one of Mexico's last two great forests, in 2005--his predecessor had been murdered the previous summer. Poor farmers who seek to defend their forests from the wood poachers are met with homicidal repression. 17 members of the Farmers Organization of the Southern Sierra (OCSS) were massacred at Aguas Blancas Guerrero in June 1995 after they blocked a crony of corrupt governor Ruben Figueroa from logging out their sierra. 28 Zapotec Indians were butchered in 2002 in the southern Oaxaca sierra in a feud over forest ownership. When forest defenders are not murdered outright, they are persecuted and jailed on absurd charges on orders from the talamontes. This past June 6th, Jaime Gonzalez who campaigns to halt the wholesale devastation of fragile mountain forests in Motozintla Chiapas was jailed by local police for a traffic offense and disappeared for 15 days during which he says he was relentlessly tortured. Gonzalez remains in state prison. http://www.counterpunch.org/ross08302007.html Peru: 17) In the Ucayali Region of Peru, an inland region located in the Amazon rainforest, 1,500 farmers from the Sinchi Roca Community have left their illegal coca plantations and become successful lumber industrialists. 44,700 hectares of this community's forest have been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) to take part in the lumber business, under the condition that all national and international laws are obeyed. In addition, the Sinchi Roca Community has been assisted by the NCS American Forestal lumber company, which has a branch in Pucallpa and prepares wood products for exportation. It was reported that it was necessary to establish a portable sawmill in the Sinchi Roca area due to the fact that not a lot of wood was commercially usable. NCS American Forestal is to establish a sawmill which will increase profit margins for the Sinchi Roca Community. Currently, NCS American Forestal is financing the work being done by the Sinchi Roca Community. The work is being carried out with a 20,000 sole advance NCS has granted, which will also be used to build the campsite needed for the sawmill. PDA Engineer Edwin Durand has stated that the Santa Martin Community, which has signed an agreement to eradicate illegal coca plantations and has also been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, could be the next community to associate themselves with a private company. http://www.livinginperu.com/news/4599 18) It's been a month since the blog of the Ashaninka Society of the Rio Amônia (Apiwtxa), has been decrying that workers from the Peruvian company Venao Forestal had illegally crossed into Brazil, and were now logging mahogany and cedar there. On a recent expedition to supervise the border, the Brazilian Ashaninkas were received with death threats from a task leader of the Peruvian company, which raised some worries about the possibility of violent clashes in the region. The power of the Internet and the blogs for outreach and networking have recently been discovered by some of the young leaders of these communities, and this fact is surely making a difference in the present struggles faced by their people. " I have a friend who I see as a kind of Guardian, a Guardian of the border. He lives at the Upper Juruá, in the Apiwtxa community, and he is from the Ashaninka people. His name is Benki Piyãko. Some days ago I received an email from him reporting about a case not detailed, but which has troubled him. To those who are not following the recent events at the Brazilian-Peruvian border, Peruvian logging companies continue to invade our forests. An encirclement is advancing. Benki's indigenous territory and its people have been victimized for years, and the sad new is that the invasion has reached the Upper Juruá Reserve on its West and South borders (see post " Encirclement on the Border). Well, there was an Ibama's [Ministry of Environment] action along with the Army on the border, and some persons were imprisoned. All the dirty work from the Peruvian companies involves suspect alliances (on which terms?) with indigenous people living on the region. There are things like logging companies backing handling plans of indigenous communities, who will in the end sell them the wood. One of the Army's tenants told Benki that a resident from the reserve who had guided that expedition was receiving death threats from " Peruvian Indians " , who might have been looking for him at his house. http://www.infoshop.org/inews/article.php?story=2007082812383077 China: 19) China has returned more than 24 million hectares of farmlands to forests since 1999, Xinhua learnt from a national conference on forestry work held here on Saturday. China started the nationwide campaign of returning farmlands to forests in 2000, involving 124 million farmers of more than 32 million households in 25 provincial areas. The campaign has contributed to more than 60 percent of the country's newly-made forest areas in recent years, according to the conference. Farmers who were affected by the campaign had also received subsidies and grains, with subsidies accounting for almost ten percent of farmers' average annual income.The government will earmark another 200 billion yuan (US$26 billion) to the campaign in the coming years, making the total investment reach 4.3 trillion yuan. A special fund will also be established to consolidate the achievements of the campaign. China has planted 53.3 million hectares of forests in the past 58 years, more than any other country in the world, with forestry coverage rate rising from 8.6 percent to 18.2 percent, according to the State Forestry Administration. China will continue implementing key projects in forestation, including returning farmlands to forests and grasslands and preserving natural forests, with the aim of increasing forestry coverage to 20 percent by 2010. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-08/26/content_6056860.htm 20) China on Tuesday issued guidelines for Chinese enterprises that engage in overseas forest cultivation activities, the first of its kind in the world. The Guidelines on Sustainable Management of Overseas Forests for Chinese Enterprises was jointly designed by the State Forestry Administration (SFA) and the Ministry of Commerce, according to the SFA. Jia Zhibang, head of the SFA, said the Chinese government would encourage and support domestic enterprises to carry out forest cultivation activities in foreign countries in a manner that highlights sustainability, bio-diversity and the development of local community. The purpose of the move is to guide relevant enterprises to help the countries or regions that are faced with difficulties in forest restoration and to help improve the livelihood of local residents, Jia said. China will cooperate with international organizations to carry out pilot programs to improve the guidelines and will also take the guidelines as key basis for evaluating and supervising the performance of relevant enterprises, he said. China has been active and successful in forest cultivation both at home and abroad. The country's artificial a forestation totaled 53.65 million hectares, ranking the first in the world, according to latest statistics. So far, Chinese enterprises have invested more than 500 million yuan (66.19 million U.S. dollars) in Southeast Asian countries through a UN drug-plant replacement program, according to Jia. A total of 40 thousand hectares of forests and crops have been grown with the assistance of Chinese enterprises in those countries, said Jia, adding that the activities also contributed to local employment and economic development. He said protection and restoration of forests are irreplaceable measures to ease climate change and safeguard the eco-system. As a responsible country, China attaches great importance to the protection and cultivation of forests around the world. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-08/28/content_6621425.htm Pakistan: 21) It is a painful truth that Pakistan stands ravaged by unchecked deforestation and a complete lack of planning for the future. The temperate forests of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Murree, the Galyat region and Hazara have all suffered the ravages of the infamous timber mafia. Apart from providing much-needed scenic greenery to the area, forest in general have an important ecological role. They add to humidity through transpiration (the process by which plants release water through their leaves) and thus ensure local rainfall. Other than that, trees also help prevent soil erosion. In many parts of Galiyat, the forest cover has all but disappeared. A good example of this how over the years the top of Miranjani (which at around 2,900 metres is the highest peak in the area) has been shorn of its forest cover. Other than that, the oft-visited hamlets of Doonga Gali and Nathiagali have suffered from much deforestation. The case of the latter is even more heart-rending. Now the abode of the rich and the powerful – many bureaucrats, government officials, military officers, rich businessmen and professionals have built summer homes there – Nathiagali is coming close to resembling any ill-planned city in Pakistan. http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?188012 Kashmir: 22) Kashmir was once famous all over the world for its lush green forests, musical rivers and life giving fresh air. But today Kashmir is losing its charm because man is cutting these green forests without restrictions. Man is greedy and wants to use these forests for his own sake without caring for its own future generation. Our forests are burning in the fire of man's greed and ignorance. The green gold is being looted by those who call themselves the 21st century modern men. The authorities act like spectators here encourages the destruction. Deforestation is going on at the rate of competition of modern technology but the forest officials seem unconcerned. Illegal timber is smuggled in bright day light but Forest Police and General police never interfere because they are getting their share as bribe out of this illegal trade. They are equally responsible when they are not caring this illegal trade. This greedy man is destroying their own existence and his environment, thus creating grave problems for the coming generations. These green forests can not take any action against the greedy men. These forests can not go to the court for their rights. By destroying our forests, we are actually destroying the beautiful picture of this earth that has been created by Allah. Allah has created everything on the earth in its proper balance and Allah will never forgive us for creating imbalance in his universe. It is time to think and act to save the remaining wealth of the forests, otherwise it will be too late to respond. -- Muhammad Yaseen Rather, Haran, Budgam myaseen_mohd http://www.greaterkashmir.com/full_story.asp?Date=31_8_2007 & ItemID=1 & cat=14 India: 23) Even as the tiger crisis makes the headlines, conservationists should be doing all they can to garner greater public support for wildlife conservation. Instead, we are making many more enemies. Across the country in dozens of sites, the fragile livelihoods that communities living within forests have carved out for themselves are being snatched away by insensitive conservation laws and programmes. The people, who have for centuries considered forests their mother, are being alienated from them. In March this year, there were reports of widespread forest fires in the Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Wildlife Sanctuary (BRT WLS), in Karnataka. Once famous as the hideout of Veerappan, BRT WLS is a stronghold of the elephant and other wildlife, as also home to a few thousand Soliga adivasis. Newspaper reports cited forest officials blaming these adivasis for the fires, suggesting that they were probably taking out their anger on the government for having banned collection of non-timber forest produce (NTFP). An investigation by Kalpavriksh revealed that indeed the Soliga adivasis were angry and upset. The ban on collection of produce like amla (gooseberry), medicinal plants, honey, and lichen, had hit them badly. In some cases such prod uce comprised over 60 per cent of their income, apart from their own use for food, health, housing, and other requirements. Gauramma, an elder of Kaneri Colony, a Soliga settlement, had this to say: " Ever since we have been stopped from collecting forest produce, we are in a desperate situation. We used to have two full meals a day, now even one is difficult to get. " She and her husband now migrate out of the sanctuary to work, earning a meagre amount as labour in the fields of non-adivasis. Our investigation found that the Soligas could not be blamed for most of the forest fires. However, the alienation caused by the NTFP ban led to a lack of interest in reporting fires or helping the Forest Department to douse them, as was the case earlier. Additionally, local researchers reported that outsiders had chopped down several dozen amla (gooseberry) trees in the WLS. In previous years, they would have been stopped by the Soligas who had a stake in protecting the trees. Clearly, the NTFP ban is not only causing widespread impoverishment and misery, but also backfiring on conservation itself. This will intensify if the anger among the Soligas grows, and if, as some local social workers fear, " Naxalite " groups active in nearby areas gain a foothold among the disgruntled adivasis. http://www.hindu.com/mag/2007/08/26/stories/2007082650030200.htm Bangladesh: 24) The second national workshop on 'Biodiversity Conservation', organised jointly by the Wildlife Trust of Bangladesh (WTB) and Global Forest Coalition, was held at Cosmos Centre in the city yesterday, says a press release. The theme of the workshop was 'Conservation, sustainable use and benefit-sharing: Ecosystem approach and threat mitigation.' About 40 participants from various organisations including UNDP, Sparso, Proshika, Ubinig, Debtec, Shed, Bangladesh Poush, Porosh, and teachers and researchers from Dhaka, Jahangirnagar, IUB and other universities took part in the workshop. Prof Harunur Rashid, WTB vice-chairman and chairman of Bangla Academy, inaugurated the workshop, while WTB Chief Executive Prof Md Anwarul Islam delivered the welcome address. D Shahriar Kabir of Independent University Bangladesh and Mamunul Haque Khan of UNDP coordinated the workshop. The workshop recognised that current forest management practices have two aspects- protective and productive. The participants discussed pollution impacts, climate change and mitigation of losses due to fragmentation and conversion of land for other uses. Within the short-term framework, they recommended a total cessation of clear felling. They also recommended that alternative livelihood/income generation is a critical component of contemporary forest management. The speakers stressed that targeted revenue demand from the government is counter-productive and not consistent with the ecosystem approach. They recognised the need to monitor the effectiveness of restoration programmes using suitable indicators. http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=1486 25) Globally as well as nationally there is consensus on the issue of biodiversity conservation through various means, especially by saving the forests. Because of random felling of trees in the pristine forests of Bangladesh a large variety of flora and fauna have already become extinct and others are on their way to the same finality. It is only a matter of time before the wanton destruction of the biodiversity would result in irreparable ecological disaster throughout the country. The onus of conservation of a country's forest resources lies primarily on the government; and laws and regulations are created in order to discourage any move to destroy these resources for personal gain. But it can be said with a touch of cynicism that the past governments in Bangladesh did little to save the forests and biodiversity therein from their own party people. In fact, the tale of blatant encroachment on forests and water-bodies by the lawmakers and their henchmen reached a new level in the last five years. It is, however, heartening to note that a good number of stakeholders, both national and international, including UN agencies, are getting their heads together to find ways and means to address the burgeoning situation. They have spoken loud and clear about the imminent threat the destruction of forests poses to biodiversity as well as the overall environment of the country. The core message that comes out from numerous research works, seminars and workshops is that if the forests are gone, biodiversity will be gone too. The added fallout of vanishing forests is erratic behaviour of the climate, triggering devastating cyclones, earthquakes and floods at odd times of the season. In Bangladesh, the present forest management system, conservation laws and awareness level of the masses of the people need to be looked into on an urgent basis. Before the world community comes forward to help us with damage control measures, we have to make our own people conscious about what would happen if all the forests were gone one day. http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=1532 Philippines: 26) Older inhabitants of Talakag talk of when they used to travel the road to and from Cagayan de Oro the hillsides were completely covered in forest of mainly hardwoods native to the area and most likely hundreds of years old. They also mentioned the wildlife that existed and the monkeys that frequented the canopies. Trees in those days were harvested so the local sawmills could convert them into lumber for construction, furniture and for domestic use. When you travel the same road today the hillsides for as far as the eye can see are completely denuded of forest with nothing not even a trace of an official reforestization plan in sight. It's a little wonder that the weather pattern is changing and the rains when they fall loosen the soil from these very hillsides and wash it down into the lower reaches with all too often disastrous results for the people living below. I have read about government initiatives encouraging people to plant trees as projects and that is commendable but the type of reforestization I'm talking of will require lots of capital and the setting up of both national as well as regional forestry commissions to ensure the planting is done in a controlled manner. Nurseries will have to be established so that seedlings of the correct species suitable for the soil conditions are propagated ready for planting. Surveys and mapping will also have to be carried out in order to ensure that all work is catalogued and recorded for future generations to use. Much of the hillsides are no good for farming due to the terrain so to reforestize them would be the best way to maintain a future lumber supply as well as help with the eco system and best utilize the land. http://www.mindanao.com/blog/?p=2382 27) Without fanfare, seasoned climbers from the Mountaineering Federation of the Philippines (MFP) have been trekking to denuded watersheds in Central and Southern Luzon to reforest them. Since the " Trees for Life " was launched in July, MFP president and Mt. Everest conqueror Regie Pablo has been mobilizing 100 mountaineers to plant trees in the watersheds almost every weekend. " We don't need to convince the mountaineers about this project. As we say among ourselves, 'What's the use of being a mountaineer if the mountain isn't there anymore? " ' Pablo said. On the contrary, it's the non-mountaineers, with little consciousness of the importance of environmental protection, who are hard to convince, he said. The climbers from MFP, a network of close to 70 mountaineering clubs and 30,000 mountaineers, have hiked to La Mesa and Ipo watersheds and a hill in Batangas City to plant endemic tree seedlings in wide swaths of logged areas. " We're concentrating on watersheds because they're in a critical state, " Pablo said in an interview at a fast-food restaurant in Quezon City, as torrents of rain raged outside. " They sustain life, that's why we need to protect them. " http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view_article.php?article_id=852\ 96 Malaysia: 28) The tropical rainforest of Parit Forest Reserve in Malaysia is under threat as pieces of the park are continually de-gazetted and converted to destructive developments. The reserve has shrunk from 4000 ha to only 1000 ha today. With a ring of developments around, the last corridor of the park is about to be destroyed for a destructive goat farm development. A piece of the park has been de-gazetted for this development and the endangered species of the park, such as the Clouded Leopard, Argus Pheasant, Malayan Tapir and Barking Deer, will be trapped with nowhere to go. Already, disturbed and confused animals are wandering out into human settlements. In addition, the development is destroying an important freshwater wetland. Due to outcry, the Chief Minister of the state of Perak has said he may consider stopping the project. However, he is more likely to do nothing except try his other stated goal of 'moving' some of the animals [where?] It is essential that international pressure calls on him to stop the goat project and re-gazette the area into the park. Otherwise, all of the endangered wildlife will not survive. It is essential to write to those in charge ASAP. The Chief Minister has already said he _may_ cancel the goat project. It is essential we show international pressure so he doesn't engage in greenwashing or trying to 'move' the animals [where?] as he also suggested. Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Tajol Rosli Ghazali [Mentri Besar Datuk = Chief Minister of Datuk] Contact Information: Tel. No: 05-2418522(D/L) / 05-2531957 ext. 5888 Email: tajolrosli Indonesia: 29) The Indonesian government's programs to tackle deforestation are getting a much needed injection of funds, with several developed countries committing to providing financial support. Forestry Minister M.S Kaban, addressing a two-day conference on deforestation in Central Jakarta on Monday, said the German government would donate approximately 20 million euros (US$27.3 million) to help Indonesia in its efforts to overcome deforestation. He said that the country would need the funds to finance reforestation programs and operations throughout the country. The two-day conference aims at collecting information to be used as a platform for further discussions to be held in Bali at the end of this year. The Bali conference, to be attended by top government officials, will be treated as a new benchmark on environmental issues, replacing the Kyoto Protocol. Dieter Brulez of the German Technical Cooperation, a subsidiary of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, however, said that the discussion between Indonesia and German was still ongoing. He said further technical discussions between the two governments would be held next month to determine the amount of assistance provided. The collaboration of the two governments started with the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol by Indonesia in 2004. The cooperation has provided technical support throughout the country since then. http://www.thejakartapost.com/misc/PrinterFriendly.asp 30) As part of the fight against illegal logging, the National Police have been conducting a series of operations, labeled overeager by the industry, that have resulted in the halting of the operations of many pulp and paper firms and their suppliers in Riau province. As a result, the country's two biggest pulp and paper companies, PT Indah Kiat Pulp & Paper and PT Riau Andalan Pulp & Paper, are faced with a serious shortage of raw materials. Fahmi said that while the ministry supported the implementation of Presidential Decree No. 4/2005 on the eradication of illegal logging, he was concerned about the investment climate in the forestry industry, which is one of the five industries that contribute the most to the country's exports. " The implementation of the decree has disrupted the pulp and paper industry, and has led to a decrease in production volume. Therefore, we are impartially trying to find a solution. While we support the war against illegal logging, we also need to protect industries that provide our exports, " said Fahmi. The value of pulp and paper exports in 2006 amounted to about US$3.5 billion out of $8 billion for the entire forestry sector. The pulp and paper industry employs some 249,000 people in 14 pulp and paper factories in Riau, South Sulawesi, North Sumatra, Jambi, East Kalimantan and Aceh. He said that Kadin supported law enforcement, but also pointed to confusion between illegal logging and legal logging. " Some companies that have legal permission from the state for logging have become the target of arbitrary police actions. Police cordon off their equipment, concessions and processing facilities without sufficient evidence, " argued Hidayat. http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailbusiness.asp?fileid=20070825.M05 & irec=4 Australia: 31) COONAWARRA - Australia's most famous cabernet sauvignon region, looks set to get a new neighbour - a $1.5-billion pulp mill. A site has been selected south of Penola, in the heart of the Coonawarra region, and the South Australian Government is in the process of having a special act of Parliament (the Penola Pulp Mill Authorisation Bill) passed. Vineyards have been growing next to pine forests in the region since the late 1800s and the two industries have enjoyed a distant but polite relationship. The forestry industry has been authorised to expand plantations in the region by almost a third, an additional 59,416 hectares of trees, to guarantee future wood supply. There are about 140,000 hectares of existing forest plantations.Winemakers say the viability of the irrigation systems serviced by the underground aquifer is threatened by stands of trees this size. " We are not fighting the pulp mill, " says president of the Coonawarra Vignerons Association, Nick Zema. " We are fighting water allocation and usage. " Water and water management is the biggest issue in Australian winemaking today. In Coonawarra it has been of concern for decades because of the uncertain size of the underground aquifer that lies below the region's famous layer of terra rossa soil. Coonawarra sits on a ridge of limestone. The surface layer is rich, red soil, then comes a layer of clay and below that a vast water table. Mr Brodie says the level of the aquifer is dropping. Anecdotal evidence suggests this has been happening for some time. Coonawarra vignerons lobbied for logging companies to be required to obtain water licences, as vignerons do and on July 31 the Victorian Government made it mandatory for all new plantations to obtain water licences in areas where the water table is six metres or less below ground. The decision followed the discovery that 45,000 hectares of forest was extracting ground water from shallow water tables at an annual rate of about 80 megalitres. http://www.theage.com.au/news/epicure/what-a-bore/2007/08/27/1188066984240.html?\ page=2 32) When I rolled up as a fresh-faced forestry cadet 40 years ago, life was simpler. We were taught that forests served multiple purposes, providing wood, water, biodiversity and recreation, that revenue from forest product sales was the financial mainstay of forest management, that the first task of the new forester in an area was to be able to find their way around the bush, and that protection of forests from fire was an overriding task. The lecturers used to lament that no one had much interest in the fate of the forests. " Wouldn't it be good if we could get a story about forestry on the front page of The Age, " they would say. There was an expectation that the fledgling foresters liked " being in the bush " and an unwritten law that (mainly vehicle) misadventures would be repaired and, as far as possible, hidden from " head office " . All of this seemed pretty reasonable, forestry work was fun, there was an adventure component to it all and the system seemed to work tolerably well. Ah, how my sweet naivety has been revealed. Judith Ajani's recent book The Forest Wars has laid bare the conspiracies that dominated our forest management. She has shown that we were but pawns in a capitalist Liberal Party conspiracy to channel huge profits out of the forests. The book argues that we can meet our wood needs out of plantations — which is true, provided that you are happy to have your house and furniture made out of radiata pine or blue gum. http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/use-our-forests-well/2007/08/28/1188067108\ 357.html World-wide: 33) Last week, RAN's new agribusiness campaign put ADM chief executive officer Patricia A. Woertz on notice. In a two page letter we let her know that RAN has fundamental concerns about her company's role in the expansion of soy and palm oil plantations throughout South America, Southeast Asia, the Pacific and Africa. The letter is our " shot across the bow " before we publicly launch our campaign exposing the role of U.S. agribusiness companies in the expansion of destructive palm oil and soy plantations around the globe. Palm oil and soy plantations destroy critical habitat, contribute to climate change, and are linked to egregious human rights violations. Illinois-based ADM is one of the world's largest agricultural processors and grain traders. Since its formation in 1923, ADM has been known as a food and ingredients company but in the last couple of years, the company has shifted its priority away from ingredient processing and towards biofuels production. With an ever-increasing global demand for biofuels, ADM is seeking to cash in. Woertz, who comes to ADM from Chevron, has set her sights on palm oil and soy as crops with great promise to supply the biofuels boom. The rapid expansion of these crops along with global demand is cause for great concern. As we wrote to Woertz: " Soy and palm oil plantations are expanding at an alarming rate into some of the last primary forests in the world – including tropical forests in Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Uganda, Ghana, Argentina, Paraguay, and the Brazilian Amazon – as well as in the Cerrado grasslands of central Brazil. These ecosystems represent some of the most biodiverse regions on the planet. Plantations threaten the habitat of more than 130,000 plants and animals in the Amazon and Cerrado ecosystems. They threaten the survival of such keystone species as the Amazon river dolphin, giant river otters and jaguars in the Amazon, as well as orangutans, Sumatran tigers and Asian elephants in Indonesia, and countless other species in tropical ecosystems around the world. Industrial agricultural plantations also threaten the survival of hundreds of Indigenous cultures, including some with little or no contact with the outside world. " http://understory.ran.org/2007/08/24/rainforest-action-network%E2%80%99s-agribus\ iness-campaign- puts-archer-daniels-midland-adm-on-notice/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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