252 - Earth's Tree News

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Today for you 38 new articles about earth's trees! (252nd edition)

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Weblog: http://olyecology.livejournal.com

 

--British Columbia: 1) Green Chain podcast, 2) Sierra Club Shams, 3)

MLA Fraser opens can of whup-ass, 4) Dome Creek Community Association,

5) Save Sacred Headwaters,

--Oregon: 6) Overestimating fire suppression, 7) Climbers like to measure trees,

--California: 8) UC treesits abound

--Idaho: 9) Potlatch loggers are now all about real estate development

--Montana: 10) Family ranch is timberland

--USA: 11) end of forest planning rules back on the table

--Canada: 12) 400-acre restoration

--Cameroon: 13) Warning exploiters

--Tanzania: 14) $33 Million in taxes lost to illegal logging

--Kenya: 15) Crisis in 10,500 evictees return to Mau Forest, 16)

Police abetting destruction of Cengalo forest,

--Nigeria: 17) 79,000 Nigerians die from wood fuel smoke

--Gabon: 18) 13 areas equal to 10,000 square miles up for protection

--Congo: 19) New forestry code requires local development, 20) Gold mining

--Brazil: 21) Amazon Watch pulls out of Film festival, 22) Croton Palanostigma,

--Uruguay: 23) New ruin of plantaion-based pulp mill prepares for protests

--Argentina: 24) 2.5 million hectares given away in 12 years

--Chile: 25) Volunteering for Forest Ethics

--India: 26) First planting pine now oaks

--Brunei: 27) Potential in Brunei's forestry industry?

--China: 28) A Million Chinese cops can only catch 10 illegal loggers

--Philippines: 29) Perpetual ban on logging in virgin forests

--Indonesia: 30) Greenpeace's alternative plan to emission credit, 31)

No need for sustainable practices, 32) Palm Oil makers can't fool us,

33) Midnight Oil guy sells out, 34) Rare forests losing out to urban

sprawl, 35) Tassie Parliament to debate pulp mill,

--World-wide: 36) World's carbon in soils could be released, 37)

Indigenous forestry, 38) Defroestation stats contested,

 

British Columbia:

 

1) When people from outside B.C. arrive here, they assume we're

defined by the mountains or the ocean, but what really defines the

province aesthetically, economically, politically and spiritually is

trees. Environmentalism is a British Columbian's birthright. Our

province launched Greenpeace, The Sea Shepherd Society and helped

unleash Dr. David Suzuki, who's so iconic that when I used to play an

environmentalist in my comedy troupe, Local Anxiety, I'd refer to him

as my spiritual leader. But cutting trees is a B.C. birthright too.

Our economy -- and many of our communities -- have historically been

fuelled by forests. In 1991, director John Juliani and I started

talking about creating a series of stories about trees for CBC Radio

or TV. My favourite title -- until coming up with The Green Chain --

was Shoot the Spotted Owl, which was inspired by former B.C. IWA boss,

Jack Munro. After logging was stopped in some U.S. forests because of

the discovery of endangered owls, Munro told The New York Times, " I

tell my guys if they see a spotted owl to shoot it. " After John

Juliani passed away in 2003, I wrote a script to tell the stories we'd

always talked about. I had the pleasure of working with John on

several projects for radio and stage and whenever he directed

something he always hoped it would spark a conversation. The Green

Chain podcast is part of that conversation -- and I can't think of a

better place to be talking about trees than The Tyee. Every two weeks

we'll post a new interview with someone who has a unique perspective

on forests and the environment.

http://thetyee.ca/Views/2007/08/17/TreesandUs/

 

2) Sierra Club British Columbia (SCBC) is celebrating defense of the

forest industry's access to low elevation forest as though it is a

victory for the mountain caribou. Kathryn Molloy thinks her help for

the forest industry is worth a big donation to the Sierra Club of BC.

Please, urge people to stop donating money to these aloof out-of-touch

defenders of industrial exploitation. Providing money for SCBC will

get you conservation of the worst kind --protection of the forest

industry and its presumed right to trash the environment. Tell Kathryn

Molloy, SCBC executive director, to stop defending Mountain Caribou

habitat liquidation. Find out what is really going on with this fake

conservation initiative. bcenvirowatch - Molloy's

Message: " We are celebrating a victory for mountain caribou—but the

situation is critical for B.C.'s other 1,374 endangered species. They

include the chocolate-eyed Spotted Owl and the Sooty Hairstreak, a

delicate butterfly fond of lupine flowers. We urgently need your help

to protect B.C.'s endangered species. B.C. has more endangered species

than anywhere else in Canada. Yet we are one of only two provinces

that have virtually no legal protection for threatened species. We

must raise $5,000 to help B.C.'s endangered species. In December,

Sierra Club BC will launch the next phase of a campaign to pressure

the B.C. government to introduce endangered species legislation—like

Ontario did recently. Now is the time for B.C. to step up on this

issue, but we must act quickly. A scant 5% of B.C.'s endangered

species are protected legally. Irreplaceable habitats and wild spaces

are vanishing because of unbridled resource extraction and

development. " http://www.sierraclub.ca/bc/

 

3) On Nov. 2 Alberni Qualicum MLA Scott Fraser told the Alberni Valley

Times that regardless of the fact the Liberal government refused to

put the matter on the table for debate, he will vigorously pursue it.

The opposition has requested the auditor general perform a full audit

into the release of private lands from TFLs, including the removal of

lands from TFL 44 - in the Port Alberni area - back in 2004. In July

of that year, then forest minister Mike de Jong approved an

application by Weyerhaeuser to remove 73,000 hectares of private

forestland from TFL 44. The move was widely believed to be a sweetener

in the subsequent sale of the US-based company's BC Coastal operations

to Brascan in 2005. Much of the current friction over raw log exports

to Asia and the US, and forest practices on private land stems from

this decision, critics say. Fraser hopes a full audit will reveal the

total cost of the removal, including the impact of the subsequent

spike in raw log exports, and the affect on local forest sector

operations. " I want to know what it cost, " Fraser said. According to

the MLA, TFLs were set up in the 1950s by Royal Commissio to ensure

the forest industry remained sustainable and profitable for the

communities that rely on it. " We now have a government that has

ignored the entire mandate of the TFL, " Fraser said. " They gave the

lands back (to private companies) and asked for nothing in return. " He

insists these decisions have allowed forest companies to do " anything

they want to do " with former TFL lands, including selling them for a

profit. http://www.canada.com/vancouverisland/westerly/index.html

 

4) Dave Radies took a walk in the woods two years ago to research

lichens. But instead of tiny fungi and algae, the University of

Northern B.C. graduate student found himself staring up at an ancient

grove resplendent with western red cedars that have been estimated to

be 2,000 years old. While it's normal to find trees that large in the

coastal rainforest, his discovery was not expected so far from the

coast, which gets buckets of rain. But what the forest lacks in rain,

it makes up in heavy snowfall. " I was looking for an old-growth

landscape [to study lichens], " Radies told The Province yesterday.

" When I walk into these old stands, as a scientist I find it amazing

and overwhelming, the questions that you could ask. " But awe soon gave

way to a feeling of fear -- that he hadn't come equipped with the

proper tools to measure the tall timbers. " This [grove] is

particularly interesting because it does seem to have some of the

largest examples of trees, " he said. It wasn't long before Radies

started to notice flagging tape stapled to the ancient giants, a

telltale sign that a logging company had plans to cut them down. Now

he and concerned citizens from Prince George to McBride are trying to

save the grove, to make it appealing to tourists who travel Highway 16

about 130 kilometres east of Prince George. A group called Dome Creek

Community Association has built a two-kilometre trail through the

grove, which covers about 30 hectares of Crown land. A sign on the

highway tells passersby to visit " The Ancient Forest. " A 500-metre

hike gets you into the grove and the trail takes about 40 minutes to

walk. One of the giants has been named Radies' Tree, a tribute to his

discovery. " It's a little embarrassing, I didn't really lift a finger

to build the trail, " he said. " A lot of other people had a lot to do

with it. "

http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=1f545299-e642-41fc-badb-b13\

a4cf505a8

 

5) CALGARY - Environmental and social justice groups are targeting the

Calgary headquarters of Royal Dutch Shell today to kick-off tomorrow's

nation-wide 'Shell Saturday', an event created to draw attention to

Shell's lack of respect for indigenous rights in an area of northwest

BC referred to as the Sacred Headwaters. As they go to and from work,

employees of Shell will be offered a packet of materials designed to

inform them of the Sacred Headwaters conflict. The action is timed to

correspond to the eve of the 12th anniversary of the execution of Ken

Saro Wiwa, the indigenous Nigerian leader who was killed for opposing

the destructive presence of Shell and others in the Niger Delta. In a

conspicuous absence of tact, Shell is marking this anniversary with a

recruitment fair in Calgary for its Nigeria operations

http://www.globalcareercompany.com/shell/ " Shell thinks it can get

away with abusing aboriginal rights here in the same way they have in

Nigeria . " says Eric Swanson, spokesperson for Dogwood Initiative.

" The First Nation Elders have given them a clear message: 'Get the

Shell out.' " According to creation myths of the Haida, Nisga'a, and

Tahltan First Nations of BC, the Sacred Headwaters is where the world

began. The area itself is within Tahltan traditional territory, and it

is here that the Skeena, Nass, and Stikine rivers are born, three of

BC's greatest salmon rivers. Shell's ambitions to drill for coalbed

methane in this sacred area have been met with blockades, arrests, and

calls for help from local elders to the international conservation

community. " The public relations nightmare of Ken Saro Wiwa's

execution triggered an attempt by Shell to re-brand itself as a leader

in corporate social responsibility, " says Eric Swanson.

" Unfortunately, Shell's actions in the Sacred Headwaters and elsewhere

undermine those aspirations – the company could save a lot of time and

money if they came to understand that they will not be allowed to turn

British Columbia into Nigeria North. "

http://www.sacredheadwaters.com/home

 

Oregon:

 

6) There's no question that we need to allow the natural cycle of

wildfire to return to our forests. Yet are we overestimating the

effects fire suppression has had on our forests? Over the history of

many Western forests, particularly the temperate rainforests of the

Pacific Northwest, often several hundred years passed without a fire.

And when those fires did burn, they were often " stand replacement "

fires, meaning most of the trees burnt, replenishing forest soils and

setting the stage for a new cycle of forest growth. Consider this:

Fire suppression has never been all that effective and has only

occurred for the past century, industrial fire suppression

(helicopters) only over the last 50 years. So if these forests have

historically gone centuries without a fire, less than a hundred years

of fire suppression hasn't altered the fire cycle at all. And of

course, let's not forget that the unconscionable decimation of our

forests over a century of " industrial forest management " remains the

greatest threat to forest health. On a positive note, science is

finally catching up to common sense that " thinning " a forest can open

it up to sunlight and wind, drying it out and creating more

undergrowth, and can therefore not only make a fire burn hotter but

actually spread faster. In fact, recent science demonstrates that

forests that were " thinned " before a wildfire, including the Biscuit

Fire, ended up with more dead trees than the forests that were left to

nature. Those of us who have investigated the aftermath of this

summer's Lake Tahoe fire learned that a major cause of homes igniting

was unmaintained defensible space around these homes, which spread to

other unmaintained homes. Not surprisingly, many of the forests around

Lake Tahoe had already been " thinned, " some of them up to six months

before the fire, which — at best — did next to nothing to prevent the

fire, and — at worst — intensified the blaze. In our neck of the

woods, we're being subjected to the " Oakridge Thinning and Fuel

Reduction Project, " yet another example of business-as-usual logging

being dishonestly passed off under the guise of " forest health

thinning. " We recently toured this 80- to 120-year-old native forest

in the Willamette National Forest with Roy Keene, who in his comments

renamed the project the " Oakridge Timber Harvest and Fuel Production

Project. " Keene contested the USFS claim that the project would

" increase public safety " and commented that if the project went

through " surrounding forests and human dwellings will be at greater

fire risk than they are now. " Submit your own comments to

eornberg. http://www.eugeneweekly.com/2007/11/08/views1.html

 

7) This Douglas fir is the world champion Pseudotsuga menziesii. The

Portland men want to climb and measure all the largest trees in the

world, and the Doug fir is their 10th champion since they started in

February. With thousands of species, Koomjian and French know they'll

never finish. So the realistic mission -- to call attention to the

plight of trees and educate people about the giants -- is something

they feel they can accomplish. Because -- while trees help people when

they soak up carbon dioxide and pollutants; prevent erosion; and

provide shade, food and habitat -- people can be trees' biggest

enemies. The climbers also hope to change that. A publicist,

filmmaker, a Web designer and others have volunteered to help Koomjian

and French spread their gospel. But as their project gains attention

-- CNN has interviewed them -- concern comes with it. Some tree

scientists and canopy researchers have always worried that

recreational tree climbing will become the new extreme sport and

attract a huge crowd. At age 10, Brian French built a forest in

his Kentucky bedroom using pots of ferns, cedars and pines. His mother

grounded him. A few years later, he met an arborist and realized he

could make a living climbing trees. At 22, he became one of the

youngest certified arborists in the country. " I really identify with

trees, " he says. " To a certain extent, I feel like they have more

wisdom and more rights than anything else on this planet. " Koomjian

grew up outside Chicago and when he was 15, his family took a vacation

to Oregon. He fell in love with the tree-filled landscapes. After high

school he enrolled at Reed College, but he dropped out after a few

semesters to become an arborist. " Being out here in Oregon has

everything to do with trees, " he says. " Being an arborist has

everything to do with me being here. So really, being in these

old-growth groves has been a long time coming. " Koomjian and French

work at Collier Arbor Care in Clackamas.

http://www.oregonlive.com/O/relationships/index.ssf?/base/living/119395410728366\

0.xml & coll=7 & t

hispage=1

 

California:

 

8) This is the second (that I know of) tree-sit set up to protest a

University of California campus clearcut. And yes, it is a clearcut

when the trees are replaced by concrete, asphault, dorm rooms and the

most ridiculous, a sports traning center in UC Berkeley. Why is it so

hard for the atheletes to walk from a location further than right

outside the stadium? Is it too far for the muscle bound inspiring

sport's stars to walk a little furthur than right in front of the

stadium? How spoiled can you get? Must be getting ready for the NFL

and the perks of the professional sponsored athelete. Now you have

another action to protect greenspace, at the UCSC campus. How

will/have the overall residents of Santa Cruz support this action?

Although the Berkeley has overwhelming support by the community, the

fact is that they are both state " institutions " , and not necessarily

subject to local control. In other words, the state has power over

local government and enforcement. So my question is, why would a city

give up local control to house a UC, CS, etc? This should set a

precedent for cities across the state. Those who feel that local

control should be kept to protect the community may want to consider

the downsides of hosting a State campus, correctional facility, or

military base, whether it is the decision of the community or not.

Direct action should be taken against any force that threatens the

ideals or values of the local community and it's resources.

http://humboldtforestdefense.blogspot.com/2007/11/tree-sit-in-uc-santa-cruz.html

 

Idaho:

 

9) Potlatch became a REIT in 2006, after years of talk both inside and

outside the now 104-year-old company about the need to translate into

greater shareholder value the vast timberlands it owns. Under a REIT,

income related to timber and real estate sales generally isn't subject

to corporate tax. Potlatch shifted its far-flung manufacturing

operations, which produce lumber, plywood, particle board, pulp,

paperboard, and tissue products, into a taxable subsidiary of the

REIT. Since then, Covey, who is chairman, president, and CEO, has been

reinventing the company. While in the past Potlatch was characterized

almost entirely by the products it made, today its emphasis is more on

the timber from which those products come, and the land upon which the

timber grows. 1) In September, Potlatch announced plans to acquire

179,000 acres of timberland in central Idaho for about $215 million.

While the company sees the land as valuable for its timber, the

property is situated in the heart of a high-end recreational corridor,

and Potlatch plans to study how much of it might bring far greater

returns if sold off for second homes and resorts. 2) Late last month,

the company said it was on track to reach its goal of selling 15,000

to 20,000 acres of other land it has identified as nonstrategic to its

timber business. Long term, Potlatch expects to sell off 250,000 to

300,000 acres of its timberlands, which now total about 1.7 million

acres in Idaho, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Arkansas. 3) Potlatch also

is boosting harvest levels. Covey says the company hasn't been

aggressive enough about doing that, adding that in Idaho, some of

Potlatch's standing timber is 70 to 80 years old, and from a financial

standpoint, it should have been harvested at 50 to 60 years.

Meanwhile, though, the company sees sustainable forestry as a profit

center, and is starting to get premium prices for some of the logs and

finished goods it sells that it can call " green " products thanks to

certifications it has earned from the international Forest Stewardship

Council and others.

http://www.spokanejournal.com/spokane_id=article⊂=3366

 

Montana:

 

10) much of the Warfield family ranch is timberland. " I belong to the

Montana Tree Farmer Association, " said Redfield. " Growing up in

northeastern Montana, I look at all of these trees in wonder. I took a

forest stewardship class through the extension forestry and learned a

great deal. " After he learned what constitutes a healthy forest,

Redfield worked with his family to find a logging plan that worked for

the family ranch. " We had a helicopter log the whole ranch and took

one-third the trees from the forest because it was so overgrown, " he

explained. " Right now, the timber is in good health compared to other

forests you see where every third or fourth tree is dead. " Like those

who worked on the Warfield family ranch before him, Redfield used

timber harvested on the ranch to build several ranch buildings, such a

horse barn for his wife and her sister's horse business and a shop for

himself and his twin girls, Jodi and Katie, who each enjoy working in

the shop when they are home from college. " I am planning to do some

logging to set up a fire stop, make open space where a fire would slow

down and drop to the ground, " said Redfield. " I want to know if there

is a way I could do that and not hurt the view of the timber from the

house. " Redfield said he also plans to rebuild the ranch's corrals,

but will need more lumber before he can tackle that project. " A friend

of mine has a portable sawmill that we would use, " he said. " We used

it to build the shops and barns. "

http://www.theprairiestar.com/articles/2007/11/09/ag_news/producer_progress/prod\

ucer12.txt

 

USA:

 

11) A 2005 proposal to drastically streamline national forest planning

rules is back on the table and still drawing fire from conservation

groups. The Forest Service developed the new planning regulations as a

way to make forest planning more cost-effective and efficient,

according to Kevin Lawrence, who worked on the proposal in the

agency's national headquarters. Instead of spending millions of

dollars on paperwork and administrative procedures, the new rules

would help get money applied on the ground, where it's needed most,

Lawrence said. Lawrence also said the new rules would boost public

involvement. " There's a lot more emphasis in the rule, not just on

public comment, but on a collaborative approach with stakeholders and

looking toward a final desired outcome, " Lawrence said. But various

conservation and watchdog groups have panned the rule for gutting

crucial environmental protections, for example by removing

requirements for enforceable standards with " must-do " language,

according to Rocky Smith, of Colorado Wild. The old rules also

required forest plans to ensure species viability. They also required

monitoring of some key species as a way of measuring compliance with

the plan. In drafting the new rule, the Forest Service said it can't

ensure species viability because of factors outside the agency's

control, and that a focus on species viability diverts attention from

an ecosystem approach to land management.

http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20071108/NEWS/71108015

 

Canada:

 

12) The 400-acre property sits between the South Walsingham Sand

Ridges and Venison Creek, both of which are large areas of Carolinian

forest. It's hoped the Lake Erie Farms property will provide

conductivity between the two properties for wildlife in general and

endangered species such as the American badger, eastern hog-nosed

snake, cerulean warbler and Jefferson salamander. When purchased by

NCC, the property was a mix of farmland and woodland. The goal was to

restore the former farm fields to a natural state.

One of the first steps was breaking the tile drainage to restore the

natural hydrology of the property. Next 150 species were seeded. The

mix included trees, shrubs, wildflower and grasses. " We're

reestablishing the whole natural system, not just trees, " said Heather

Arnold, NCC science and stewardship co-ordinator. The goal is to

establish a mix of mature oak wetlands, sand barrens and wet meadows.

There are no plans to manage the property, except to control invasive

species. The volunteers who descended on the property Saturday were

planting black oak acorns. Arnold explained last year was not a good

year for acorns so planting of black acorns was delayed. This year is

better for the species. Most of the planting so far was done

mechanically by a contractor. Planting acorns was one of the first

initiatives to enlist volunteers. The volunteers signed up through an

Internet program and some came from as far away as Toronto.

http://www.tillsonburgnews.com/News/352869.html

 

Cameroon:

 

13) Forestry and Wildlife Minister, Professor Elvis Ngolle Ngolle, has

cautioned forest exploiters against violating Cameroon's forestry

policy. Ngolle Ngolle said the state was engaged in negotiations with

the EU within the framework of the Forest Law Enforcement Governance

and Trade- FLEGT programme, which is based on the sustainable

management of the forest, according to The Post. According to him, the

talks will lead to greater value and better prices for Cameroon wood

on the world market. The Minister said the government would ensure

that wood exploitation was done within the law.

http://www.legalbrief.co.za/article.php?story=2007110608421796

 

Tanzania:

 

14) Tanzania lost at least $33 million (about Sh40 billion) in

uncollected non-tax forest revenue in the fiscal year 2006/07 as a

result of the shortage of staff and supporting resources for the

collection and prevention of illegal logging. Finnish Embassy

cooperation head Satu Santana told a recent general budget review

meeting in Dar es Salaam that the low rates of investment and

expenditure on forest revenue collection and forest law enforcement

also limited the revenue collection from forestry. The non-tax revenue

in forestry consists of registration fees, forest royalty fees, export

permits, and penalties for forest law violations. In royalties of

timber sales alone, which account to about 93 per cent of all forestry

revenue collected, the Government loses around $23.8 million (Sh32

billion) annually. Recent estimates show that the forest sector's

total annual contribution is between 10 and 15 per cent of the total

gross domestic product (GDP). At the current Government spending of 30

per cent of GDP, revenues from forestry would have contributed to more

than half of the whole Government spending.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200711080472.html

Kenya:

15) Experts have warned of an environmental crisis following the

return of 10,500 evictees to Mau Forest. An NGO, Friends of the Mau,

said this would destroy the water catchment and endanger the lives of

thousands of people and wildlife. The evictees, some without title

deeds, started trooping back to the forest three weeks ago after

President Kibaki promised to resettle them. Last month, Kibaki said

the settlers would not be evicted until the Government found

alternative land. But conservationists want them resettled elsewhere

to save the forest. Friends of Mau chairman, Mr Jackson Kamuye, said

logging and charcoal burning, among other activities, would destroy

the forest. " We appreciate the evictees' desire to have a place to

call home, but that should not be at the expense of the forest, " he

said. He criticised the Government for dragging its feet over the

matter, saying a solution should have been found since the eviction

four years ago. Kamuye said the forest was a source of 12 rivers. He

accused the Government of using the forest to woo the evictees to vote

in its favour in the General Election. The return of the evictees has

also put a Sh92 million project in doubt. The Spanish government had

donated the money for a community conservation project. The money was

to be given through Unep, Kenya Forest Working Group, Ewaso Nyiro

South Development Authority and the Green Belt Movement, among other

conservationists.

http://www.eastandard.net/hm_news/news.php?articleid=1143977127

 

16) Forest guards have accused police of abetting destruction of

Cengalo forest in Uasin Gishu District. The guards claimed they had

been unable to stop logging and charcoal burning because the suspects

have been colluding with police to defeat justice. A letter to the

district forest officer in Uasin Gishu District, which was obtained by

the Nation, read in part: " Very many arrests have been made and the

culprits taken to the police station with the right charges preferred

against them, but the charges are substituted with lighter ones with

the aim of defeating justice. " The forest guards said their lives have

been threatened by the released suspects, and they now want the

Government to take urgent action against the concerned police

officers.

http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=1 & newsid=\

110163

 

Nigeria:

 

17) Worried by the statistics that 79,000 Nigerians die from wood fuel

smoke yearly, ICEED is working with partners to distribute 10 million

metric cubic improved stoves by 2015 and starting in 2008, the center

in partnership with ECN has targeted to roll out one million modern

and efficient wood stoves. Alao, represented by director, Forestry,

Federal Ministry of Environment, Housing and Ussrban Development, Mr.

A.A. Afolabi noted that " The steady growth in population and economic

development has led to a corresponding upsurge in the demand and

utilization of fuelwood in the country. " In terms of wood demand from

the forest, fuelwood accounts for about 90% of the total. For example,

the projected 2010 fuelwood demand for Nigeria is 93.12 metric cubic

out of a total wood requirement of 102.179 metric cubic. " She claimed

that following the high demand for firewood there is already shortage

in many parts of the country especially in the less endowed

Sudan/Sahel and Guinea Savannah zones where the forestlands are mostly

poorly stocked. Alao added that the heavy dependence on fuelwood has

culminated in increased deforestation, desert encroachment, soil

erosion and flooding. The minister said that the government has not

been resting in its oars as it has recorded positive results following

its efforts to arrest deforestation in the country. " With the use of

Science and Technology, it is now known that deforestation rate has

changed to 1.6% in 2006 as against the figure of 3.5 in the 1996 which

translated to a loss of 350,000 half of the forest annually. " The

reduction in percentage loss is a result of various measures put in

place by the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of

Environment Housing and Urban Development. " Urging participants not to

relent because of the marginal decrease in deforestation rate, the

minister divulged that total forest cover of the country is still less

than 10 percent of the land area, which is far below the 25 percent

recommended by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

http://allafrica.com/stories/200711060213.html

 

Gabon:

 

18) Hippos don't surf! Yet here in front of me was a photograph of

hippos doing exactly that; tumbling about in the waves like characters

in a Beryl Cook painting. It was taken in the west African country of

Gabon; at that moment I knew I had to go there. Gabon is blanketed by

thick, impenetrable forest, with few roads. Its population of barely a

million people live mainly on the coast. As well as surfing hippos, it

has mandrills, chimpanzees and the largest number of western lowland

gorillas anywhere in the world. Its forests are home to small, feisty

forest elephant, neat, compact buffalo and hundreds of species of

bird. For several years the World Conservation Society (WCS) has been

working to uncover this country's extraordinary natural treasures. But

Gabon is also rich both in oil and timber, the life blood of the

country's economy and making good use of these valuable resources puts

enormous pressure on the environment and its wildlife. Yet if its

wildlife could generate revenue, there would be more reason to protect

it. In 2002, Gabon's President Omar Bongo announced that 13 areas,

about 10,000 square miles, would be designated as national parks and

Gabon was able to take its first tentative steps towards becoming a

destination for wildlife tourism. Sadly, though, this can't be said

for the whole country. The oil and timber industries result in loss of

habitat and make hunting easier and more destructive. There is no

agriculture in Gabon; food comes from the rivers and the forest. Where

hunters would go into the forest on foot to catch something for the

pot, new roads means they can go further and take more. The bush-meat

trade is flourishing, and one of the most highly prized species is

gorilla. The sanctuary on Evengue island is where some of the luckier

orphans of the victims are rehabilitated. It is impossible not to be

enchanted by a young gorilla. They're playful, cheeky, intelligent and

highly physical, and I was captivated by the interaction between the

young gorillas and their keeper.

http://travel.independent.co.uk/africa/article3127648.ece

 

Congo:

 

19) The government has written a new forestry code that requires

companies to invest in local development and follow a supposedly

sustainable, twenty-five-year cycle of rotational logging. But many

companies ignore these stipulations; some have used intimidation and

bribery; others log in blatantly illegal ways with no regard for the

long-term damage they are causing. And now the massive mahogany,

afromosia, teak and wenge trees of Congo are making their way

downriver, past the lower falls and over the sea to re-emerge as

parquet flooring and lawn furniture in the homes of French, Italian

and Chinese yuppies. If these woodlands are deforested, the carbon

they trap will be released into the atmosphere. Environmentalists say

that if deforestation continues unabated, by 2050 the DRC could

release as much carbon dioxide as Britain has in the past sixty years.

On the ground, this would likely mean desertification, mass migration,

hunger, banditry and war. But an effort is afoot to halt Congo's

plunder. " This is a make or break period, " says Filip Verbelen, a

forest campaigner with Greenpeace. " Logging is not helping the DRC's

economy, and it is destroying the environment. The damage has to be

contained now before it is too late. " Among the major timber firms in

the DRC is an American company called Safbois, owned by a secretive

family firm called the Blattner Group. The Blattners' other

Congo-based businesses include construction, road building,

telecommunications, aviation, trucking, port services and agriculture.

The managing director, Daniel Blattner, splits his time between a

Philadelphia suburb and the DRC, where his family has run businesses

since just after independence. The Blattners have operated in Congo

for forty-six years. They purchased some of their best assets after

the despotic Mobutu seized them from their Belgian owners.

Environmentalists charge that Safbois is logging in violation of local

agreements and national laws and with no regard for the well-being of

people or the environment. To investigate all this, I set out to visit

Safbois's main timber concession, a 667,000-acre expanse of public

land the firm gets to log. It lies near the town of Isangi, where the

Lomami River meets the Congo. It is an area of tremendous

biodiversity, home to 32,000 people, mostly subsistence farmers.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20071022/parenti

 

20) Commercial gold mining threatens a key forest reserve and wetland

in French Guiana say scientists who warn that exploitation could

pollute rivers with toxic compounds, threaten wildlife, and put

indigenous populations at risk. IAMGOLD, a Toronto based mining and

exploration company, is seeking to develop gold deposits in the Kaw

Mountain region of French Guiana, an overseas department of France

located on the northeastern coast of South America. The proposed

concession borders Trésor -- a rainforest reserve that houses

protected wildlife -- and is close to Kaw swamp, a Ramsar-listed

wetland. The Kaw Mountain area is home to 700 plant species, almost

100 species of mammals and 254 species of birds, according to the

IUCN. The proposed mine would operate for 7 years and involve the

crushing of more than 12 million tons of rock, the excavation of large

pits, and the use of 30,000 tons of chemicals, including cyanide. Mine

opponents -- including a coalition of environmentalists, indigenous

rights' groups, and some scientists say the mining project could

result in forest clearing, contamination of groundwater and soils with

heavy metals and other toxic substances, and erosion and sedimentation

of local waterways. " Nearly 370 hectares (920 acres) of primary forest

will be deforested, " said Dr. Pierre-Michel Forget, a biologist from

the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Brunoy, France who has

worked in the region for more than 20 years. " Further, the edge

effects might amount to 1000 hectares (2500 acres) or roughly three

times more than the core area that would be deforested. "

http://news.mongabay.com/2007/1107-french_guiana.html

 

Brazil:

 

21) Celebrities such as Daryl Hannah and Q'Orianka Kilcher, and

international NGOs such as Amazon Watch have dropped their support for

the 2007 Artivist Film Festival after it was revealed the event

organizers accepted sponsorship money from a protested oil firm. Under

attack is the company Petrobras — Brazil's state-owned oil company.

Apparently, the firm has regularly drilled in pristine areas of the

Amazon rainforest, including within the territories of uncontacted

indigenous peoples. Artivist announced that Petrobras would be a

" presenting sponsor " last week and was quickly slammed by

environmental groups for accepting the funds. Apparently, the oil

giant is planning on drilling in Yasuni National Park, a UNESCO

Biosphere Reserve and one of the Amazon's most biodiverse parks.

Ironically, a film called Justice Now — which explores ChevronTexaco's

toxic legacy in the Northern Ecuadorian region of the Amazon

rainforest — was to have premiered this weekend at the festival. Martin O'Brien quickly pulled the documentary and along with

his two stars — Hannah and Kilcher — appealed to Artivist to return

all funds from Petrobras and formally announce the severing of ties

with the company. Artivist refused. As a result, the screening of

Justice Now will be moved to an independent location at the Raleigh

Studios in Hollywood on Saturday, November 10th at 6:30pm. The

screening is free, but the group is accepting donations.

http://www.ecorazzi.com/?p=4384

 

22) Scientists at Case Western Reserve University's School of Medicine

have published in the Journal of Inflammation a remarkable discovery

with a natural product derived from the Amazon rainforest. The

discovery's unique actions suggest a broad set of applications in

various joint, skin and gastrointestinal diseases, including

osteoarthritis and irritable bowel syndrome. The publication revealed

that Progrado®, an extract from a rainforest tree called Croton

palanostigma, was a remarkably potent antioxidant and prevented the

destruction of human cartilage by molecular s scissors called matrix

metalloproteinases (MMPs). According to the researchers, these enzymes

cut collagen, which forms the backbone of the cartilage, into tiny

pieces during states of inflammation and alter the fabric that holds

tissues together. " This is an exciting finding, " said Tariq Haqqi,

professor of medicine at Case Western Reserve University and

University Hospitals of Cleveland and the lead investigator and senior

author of the study. " This is the first time a natural product has

been shown to directly block these molecular scissors while showing

potential to stimulate repair. This is a testament to the wound

healing properties of this traditional medicine and the distinctive

therapeutic opportunities that nature offers. "

http://blog.case.edu/case-news/2007/11/08/rainforest

 

Uruguay:

 

23) Uruguay Friday shut one of three main border crossings to prevent

Argentine protestors from entering the country to protest the opening

of a paper pulp plant they fear will pollute the river along their

shared border. " The decision was taken in the afternoon as a

precautionary measure given the sensitivity of the situation, " said an

official of the defense ministry, which controls the frontier. Finnish

paper giant Botnia was preparing to start operating the plant in Fray

Bentos Friday, management sources told AFP on the sidelines of the

Ibero-American Summit in Chile. The company obtained an environmental

permit for the mill from authorities in Uruguay in February 2005, but

Argentine environmentalists have fought to block its startup, saying

it will pollute the environment in a region dependent on agriculture

and tourism, and harm the livlihoods of many who live along the river.

Uruguay argues the mill would cause little harm to the environment,

and would revive the area's economy.

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Finnish_paper_mill_to_open_in_Uruguay_despite_\

Argentinas_pro

tests_999.html

 

Argentina:

 

24) From 1995 the Province started selling most of its public land. At

that time it had 3 million hectares and presently only some 580

thousand remain. The transfer of public land to large landowners was a

prior requisite to its subsequent clearance. The Chaco human rights

organization Centro de Estudios Nelson Mandela (Nelson Mandela Centre

for Studies) reported in November 2006, that over the past years, the

Province's Forestry Office had dismantled its administrative and

operational structure. " The State has a laisser-faire policy regarding

the sector. The law is a closed book. Decree 1341, which suspended the

granting of land clearance permits until the finalization of the Chaco

land planning operation, is neither applied nor respected. Not only

does land clearance continue but it is stepped up. It is all a

scandalous picture, marked by destruction and impunity, " warned a

public declaration of this same organization on 20 October 2006. This

process mainly affected El Impenetrable forest, which stretches from

the west of the Province and is the ancestral land of the Toba and

Wichi. The disappearance of the forest has led to the disappearance of

animal and plant proteins from the diet of these peoples. " The

algarrobo symbolizes almost everything because the indigenous peoples

obtained most of their proteins from its fruit. The disappearance of

these trees has meant that they must now sustain themselves with fat,

flour, sometimes a little pasta, not always and less and less with

some rice, and hardly ever with some meat. So this diet has led to

undernutrition, to hypertension and diabetes.

http://wrmbulletin.wordpress.com/2007/11/09/argentina-chaco-land-clearance-under\

nutrition-and-

death/

 

Chile:

 

25) Back in January, Patagonia paid me to go to Chile for two weeks to

volunteer with ForestEthics, a North American-based environmental

group working to preserve and protect native forest. My name is Jim

Little. I'm an editor here at Patagonia, and one of 21 employees last

year who took advantage of one of the coolest programs this company

offers. My goal was to help ForestEthics advance the story of its work

in Chile. The actual result of my internship turned out to be

different, but perhaps even more helpful in the greater scheme of

things. If you're interested in Chile and its amazing landscapes, read

on to hear about my experience. If not, no problema. " We plant a lot

more than we harvest, " reads a roadside billboard. What it doesn't say

is that large native trees are harvested, and the forest replanted

with non native seedlings that offer nothing to local fauna and flora.

My flight into Temuco, capital of Chile's Region IX, gave me a

bird's-eye view of the issue. From the air, the forest clearcuts

bordered by neat rows of Monterey pine and Douglas fir – plantation

tress – were very clear. Chile, I would come to find out, contains

one-quarter of the world's remaining temperate rainforests with the

highest biodiversity among temperate forests worldwide. More than 90%

of the animal and plant life is endemic. But many of the species of

plants, mammals, birds, fish and insects in this area are threatened

or endangered. Continued cutting of native forest will drive many of

them to extinction.

http://www.cleanestline.com/2007/11/two-weeks-in-ch.html

 

India:

 

26) Some 15 years ago, pine-covered hillsides were the typical images

of Karsog in Himachal Pradesh's Mandi district. But pine provided

little fodder for cattle. People in its villages preferred broadleaved

species, so they started planting oak and other fodder trees. Over the

years, pine monoculture in Karsog has been replaced by forests of oak,

amla (Indian gooseberry), pomegranate and other trees. " Cattle-rearing

was a major occupation in this area. Most of the forest was sealed off

and we did not have any place to graze our cattle. We'd bring grass

from distant places. So some of us got together during the literacy

campaign of 1992-93 and started telling people that the forests

belonged to them, " says Maina Devi of Mahadev Banboni village in

Karsog tehsil. Women were in the forefront of this campaign. " They

decided what trees they wanted in their forests, " says Nekram, a

member of the forest committee in Nanj village, where the first

efforts were made. " Eventually, the initiative spread to 80 forest

committees all over Karsog. " But it was not a simple matter of

creating awareness. The people did not receive much cooperation from

forest officials, despite a shift in the department's strategy away

from pine monoculture. According to Pankaj Khullar, the state's

principal chief conservator of forests, the emphasis on pine has been

moderated since 2001. " Pine now forms 15 to 20 per cent of the

plantation programme, " he says. Middle- and lower-rank officials,

however, still prefer hardy pine species, Pinus wallichiana and Pinus

roxburghii, for they show good survival rates with minimum effort.

Villagers as well as the forest department now realise that the

solution lies in interplanting pine monoculture with other trees. This

is what the people in Mahadev Banboni are doing. Khullar also

acknowledges the association between pine and fire, but points out

that production of pine resin employs 40,000 people in the state.

http://www.downtoearth.org.in/full6.asp?foldername=20071115 & filename=news & sec_id\

=50 & sid=40

 

Brunei:

 

27) What's after oil? That's the million-dollar question for Brunei

Darussalam. According to Markku Ranin, the Managing Director of Fintec

Asia-Pacific Sdn Bhd, who is part of the Finnish business delegation

currently in the Sultanate to explore business opportunities, the

answer could be " green gold " . He was referring to Brunei's pristine

forests. He believes that there is great potential in Brunei's

forestry industry. If successfully implemented; the Sultanate could

have its own sustainable industry. Even though the forest resource

available for the development of timber industry in Brunei is limited,

the country could envision itself to be a processing centre for

countries around Southeast Asia, he said. Markku, however, pointed out

that he was not exploring the potential of Brunei's forestry industry

during this business trip. But he strongly believes that there is

potential in the forestry industry after meeting with officials from

various ministries and agencies in Brunei. Finland has one of the

strongest forestry industries in the world. Just like the Sultanate,

Finland's forests cover more than two-thirds of its land. Commercial

forests alone total to more than 260,000 square kilometres. Forest

products account for a high proportion of Finland's total exports. In

Brunei, only 100,000 cubic metres of the national quota can be cut

from the country's vast forest. So how would the people of Brunei

benefit from this so-called " green gold " industry? The answer is a

sophisticated downstream value-added forestry industry in the

manufacturing of a variety of materials such as wood and wood waste.

http://www.brudirect.com/DailyInfo/News/Archive/Nov07/071107/nite19.htm

 

China:

 

28) Forest authorities have punished 10 illegal loggers as part of a

crackdown on those threatening the country's environment and

ecosystem. The perpetrators were exposed to media during the second

round of crackdowns from May to September this year. State Forestry

Administration (SFA) spokesman Cao Qingyao said in Beijing yesterday

that the latest operation focused on illegal logging and damage to

nature reserves, forest parks and State-owned woodlands. He said about

a million forest law enforcers had taken part in the nationwide

inspection that included uncovering more than 65,000 cases and

recovering about 110,000 cu m of timber. In Jiangcheng county in

Yunnan Province, five violators were jailed and fined for logging 550

cu m of timber last year. In Guangdong, wildlife smugglers were nabbed

for dealing in more than 5,000 lizards, 30 pangolins, 21 bear palms

and 3,000 tortoises. Nine suspects were taken into custody. Cao said

illegal logging and destruction of forest resources have made a

comeback in recent years. He listed illicit construction projects,

profiteering of timber prices and improper use of forest recovery

funds as some of the reasons behind the trend. In the first six months

of the year, there have been close to 210,000 cases of illegal forest

activities, an increase of 3.4 percent from last year.

http://www.china.org.cn/english/China/231354.htm

 

Philippines:

 

29) Senator Pia Cayetano, chairman of the committee on environment and

natural resources, yesterday batted for a perpetual ban on logging in

virgin forests, watershed areas and protected forests to arrest the

degradation of the ecology. Cayetano broached the proposal while

presiding over her committee's hearing on a bill seeking a 25-year log

ban and a sustainable forest management plan. In justifying her

drastic proposal which goes further than the intent of the bills

presented to her committee, she pointed out that the country's

old-growth forests are dwindling fast that they may disappear totally

in a few years unless logging is permanently prohibited in these

areas. She also pointed out that many watershed areas, which provide

drinking and irrigation water for the population, are in critical or

endangered condition. As a result, the provinces that depend on them

for their water supply have begun to suffer from acute water shortage.

" If we look at the total log ban bill, it's so simple. It actually

bans logging only in virgin forests, as well as in watershed areas and

natural parks for 25 to 30 years, " Cayetano said. " I believe the ban

should be in force forever. These protected forest areas should not be

touched. " Cayetano said that the log ban bill distinguishes between

the " protected forests " where the ban will apply and the " production

forests " where cutting of trees will be allowed. She said this follows

the position taken by the Philippine Foresters Association. Studies

have shown that in 1900, an estimated 21 million hectares of the

country's total land area of 30 million hectares, had forest cover.

But based on available data, the forest areas have declined to 7

million hectares. According to studies, only about 800,000 hectares of

virgin forests remain and big portions of these areas continue to be

denuded through legal and illegal logging.

http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=politics2_nov8_2007

 

Indonesia:

 

30) Environmental group Greenpeace proposed an alternative plan to the

government's emissions reduction scheme, calling for the voluntary

financing of deforestation efforts in lieu of a carbon trading system.

The group's Tropical Deforestation Emission Reduction Mechanism

(TDERM) proposes making financial support to counter deforestation

voluntary. " The money needed to protect the forest could come from

local people or the government, " Greenpeace Southeast Asia political

adviser Arief Wicaksono told reporters Thursday. " (In our plan) we

don't sell the carbon. We don't want the government to commit to a

plan just because of the potential income from carbon trading. " The

government drafted the Reductions Emission from Deforestation in

Developing Countries (REDD) plan to gain financial incentives under

carbon trading. Under the REDD plan, the government would market tons

of carbon stored in its forests to Annex I countries who have an

obligation to reduce greenhouse gas emission levels, as stipulated by

the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20071109.H04 & irec=3

 

31) Forestry companies are generally still reluctant to adopt

sustainable management practices because most do not see the benefits

for their businesses. According to the Indonesian Ecolabeling

Institute (LEI), which introduced a sustainable forestry management

scheme to Indonesia in 1998, just 12 of hundreds of forestry-related

companies in the country have adopted sustainable forest management

practices and earned certification. Manager of the institute, Gladi

Haryanto, said recently most forestry companies felt there was little

benefit to obtaining sustainable forest management certification,

which is known as ecolabeling. " Many companies have applied for the

certification but when they failed to meet the requirements they

withdrew because they can't see its benefit, " Gladi said in Riau

recently. He said the sustainable management scheme was introduced to

promote cooperation, mutual understanding and partnership among the

various stakeholders in the industry, and to give forestry companies

increased access to the international market. In some developed

countries especially in Europe, timber products with no ecolabelling

or green certificate are prohibited. But Indonesian forestry

companies, which sell most of their products to South Korea and Japan,

see no urgency in adopting the scheme. Gladi said companies with

ecolabeling certification benefited because they could export their

goods to countries that set high standards for forestry products.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/misc/PrinterFriendly.asp

 

32) Officials from the Indonesian ministry of agriculture and the palm

oil industry are distributing materials that misrepresent the carbon

balance oil palm plantations, according to accounts from people who

have seen presentations by members of the Indonesian Palm Oil

Commission. Ministry of agricultural officials are apparently arguing

that oil palm plantations store and sequester many times the amount of

CO2 as natural forests and therefore converting forests for

plantations is the best way to fight climate change. In making such

claims, these Indonesian officials are ignoring data that show the

opposite, putting the credibility of the oil palm industry at risk,

and undermining efforts to slow deforestation and reign in greenhouse

gas emissions. http://news.mongabay.com/2007/1108-palm_oil.html

 

Australia:

 

33) The left-wing rocker and former conservation leader who now

supports logging in old growth forests and a pulp mill in Tasmania

claimed he had not betrayed any of his values. Labor's environment

spokesman Peter Garrett yesterday said he opened a world's

best-practice pulp mill when he was president of the Australian

Conservation Foundation. And he believes if we continue to import $2

billion worth of paper products we'll be consuming paper from poorly

regulated overseas mills rather than properly regulated Australian

ones. " I don't accept for one minute what I'm doing as a Labor shadow

minister for climate change and the environment is a betrayal of

anything at all including my principles, " he told the National Press

Club yesterday. " In fact I would argue strongly it's the opposite. " Mr

Garrett said he came into politics to make a difference knowing he'd

have to toe the Labor Party line and, unusually for an election

campaign, praised his counterpart's motives too. " I came in to make a

difference, " Mr Garrett declared, " and I believe (Environment

Minister) Malcolm (Turnbull) did it for the same reason. "

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22725333-5007132,00.html

 

34) Rare eucalypts growing on Commonwealth land could be lost to urban

development under Labor's housing affordability policy. The policy is

designed to put more land on the market by demanding federal

departments either justify holding on to surplus land or releasing it.

Labor's National Policy Unit said its Housing Supply Research Council

would consider appropriate uses of unused Commonwealth land, while

respecting environmental sustainability principles and flora and

fauna. But Greens senator Kerry Nettle said the strategy was

short-sighted and placed important bushland areas such as the

endangered Cumberland Plain woodland at risk of development. " Western

Sydney is already struggling to cope with the poor government planning

decisions that do not involve public transport, " she said. " More of

the same is unacceptable. " She said the expansion of low rent housing,

more funding for public and community accommodation measures and

appropriate medium and high density areas in urban centres would be

more appropriate. The Labor policy includes building housing-linked

infrastructure to reduce the cost of houses and tax incentives for

affordable rental properties.

http://bringelly.yourguide.com.au/news/local/general/threat-seen-to-rare-trees/1\

082893.html

 

35) This week, the Tasmanian Parliament will debate Gunns' proposed

pulp mill at Bell Bay in Tasmania. If built, the US$1.4 billion

project would need four million tonnes of logs a year. It would double

Gunns current rate of clearcutting in Tasmania's native forests. The

pulp mill would produce large amounts of toxins, polluting the air and

Tasmania's Bass Strait. The day before the Tasmanian Parliament

started its discussions, Australia's Federal Environment Minister

Malcolm Turnbull announced a " draft decision " to approve the pulp

mill. The approval process has become a multi-million dollar sham. In

July 2006, Gunns submitted a Draft Integrated Impact Statement on the

proposed pulp mill to the Resource Planning and Development Committee

(RPDC), an independent statutory body. The Tasmanian Government,

meanwhile, spent millions of taxpayers' dollars on a " Pulp Mill Task

Force " to promote the pulp mill.

http://wrmbulletin.wordpress.com/2007/11/08/australia-pulping-democracy/

 

World-wide:

 

36) The world's soils store more carbon than is present in biomass and

in the atmosphere. Little is known, however, about the factors

controlling the stability of soil organic carbon stocks and the

response of the soil carbon pool to climate change remains uncertain,

We investigated the stability of carbon in deep soil layers in one

soil profile by combining physical and chemical characterization of

organic carbon, soil incubations and radiocarbon dating. Here we show

that the supply of fresh plant-derived carbon to the subsoil (0.6–0.8m

depth) stimulated the microbial mineralization of 2,567,226-year-old

carbon. Our results support the previously suggested idea that in the

absence of fresh organic carbon, an essential source of energy for

soil microbes, the stability of organic carbon in deep soil layers is

maintained. We propose that a lack of supply of fresh carbon may

prevent the decomposition of the organic carbon pool in deep soil

layers in response to future changes in temperature. Any change in

land use and agricultural practice that increases the distribution of

fresh carbon along the soil profile could however stimulate the loss

of ancient buried carbon. Nature mag, v450 v 7167

http://www.nature.com/index.html

 

 

37) Indigenous communities use the forest with restraint because it

provides for their basic needs -- food, shelter, water, medicine, fuel

and clothing. The Bambuti people of the Congo refer to the forest as

mother or father, and hold it sacred: a deity to ask for help and to

thank. The Yanomami of Venezuela and Brazil believe that the natural

and spiritual worlds are united: the fates of all people and the

environment are inexorably linked. So when people destroy the

environment, humanity slowly commits suicide. In Borneo, the Penan

harvests the sago palm, a fast-growing tree whose pithy trunk is

loaded with starch used to make flour. Only the largest trunks are

taken, the smaller shoots carefully preserved for future harvests.

They call this molong, meaning never taking more than necessary. When

the Haida people of Canada fell a red cedar, the bark is made into a

textile for clothing, ropes and sails, and the wood is used to make

dugout canoes, ceremonial masks and boxes, and to build communal

longhouses. Smaller branches are used for smoking salmon. Passing on

information is the key to a successful forest lifestyle. Individual

trees are merely tree, obviously their presence is good for

environment but forest is natural occurrence of plants; it can

maintain ecological balance. In forest, plants are not separate

entities rather they are interconnected with other forms of life.

Forest is home to numerous species of birds, fishes, amphibians,

reptiles and mammals. All these along with various plants and

microorganisms make up the biotic community. The biotic community with

the physical environment forms the ecosystems. Missing some component

an ecosystem cannot function well. Functioning of ecosystems on the

earth surface can ensure the undisturbed global environment. Forests

are full of environmental goodies. Even man made forest is not

equivalent to natural forest.

http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=10789

 

38) Late last year, Frdric Achard and colleagues published a

controversial article in which they contended that earlier estimates

of worldwide tropical deforestation and atmospheric carbon emissions

were too high. In the February 14 issue of Science, Philip Fearnside

from the National Institute for Amazonian Research in Brazil, and

William Laurance from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in

Panama argue that the Achard study contains serious flaws rendering

its conclusions about greenhouse gases unreliable.The article in

question ( " Determination of deforestation rates of the world's humid

tropical forests " , Science, vol. 297, pages 999-1002), which received

extensive press coverage, asserted that only about 0.6 to 1.0 billion

tons of greenhouse gases (most carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide)

were being produced by the razing and felling of tropical forests each

year. This estimate is professional liability error and omission

insurance lower than those of earlier studies, which estimated up to

2.4 billion tons annually. Fearnside and Laurance list seven serious

errors or limitations of the Achard study, which, they say,

professional liability insurance for consultant lead to a major

underestimate of greenhouse gas emissions. Among the errors they

identify is that the Achard team failed to include drier tropical

forests–which are also being rapidly cleared and burned–in their

estimate. Other concerns include underestimating the amount of

biomass–and hence the amount of consultant insurance liability in

tropical forests. The study assumes that notary error and omission

insurance forests on abandoned lands will re-absorb large amounts of

atmospheric carbon. In fact, such forests are often re-cleared after a

few years. The study also fails to consider the effects of important

greenhouse gases like methane and nitrous oxide, which are also

produced by deforestation.

http://insurancelawyerliabi.elankaonline.com/2007/11/08/tropical-deforestation-a\

nd-global-wa

rming-smithsonian-scientist-challenges-results-of-recent-study/