Guest guest Posted November 21, 2007 Report Share Posted November 21, 2007 Today for you 39 new articles about earth's trees! (256th edition) Subscribe / send blank email to: earthtreenews- Weblog: http://olyecology.livejournal.com --British Columbia: 1) Revised forest zones on Galiano Island, 2) Kamloops timber supply, 3) Developers trash Cypress creek, --Washington: 4) Weyco negotiates for logging a swimming hole --Oregon: 5) OSU realigns? 6) 234 acres in Deschutes, 7) FS to log Kinzua creek, --California: 8) Eucalyptus has naturalized --Missouri: 9) Emerson plans to stop wilderness coalition --New York: 10) Charleston State Forests Management Plan --North Carolina: 11) GE trees featured in NY times --Southern US: 12) International Paper is not sustainable --USA: 13) No sanctions for illegal timber, 14) Fire protection by NRDC, 15) Catalogs, --Canada: 16) Loss of 45,000 migratory bird nests a year in Ontario, 17) Minister sacked, --UK: 18) Save a 400-year-old grove of holly trees --Scotland: 19) Bulldozing a nature haven for a park and ride --Uganda: 20) Forest Reserve will not be degazetted --Guyana: 21) Willems Timber found guilty --Brazil: 22) New rainforest movement, 23) Minke whale in Rainforest, 24) Chocolate, --India: 25) Save Himachal Pradesh, 26) Western Ghats diversity, 27) Kerala forestry is groping in the dark, 28) Poaching India's biggest preserve, --Japan: 29) Thinning techniques known as kanbatsu --Philippines: 30) Freshly-cut illegal lumber in Barangay Dinadiawan --Indonesia: 31) Third summit of OPEC --Australia: 32) Green Building Council say native forest cutting is wrong, 33) 15,000 march against pulp mill, 34) Swift Parrot's demise, --World-wide: 35) Support real forest defenders instead of RAN, FSC and Greenpeace, 36) Climate change and vegetation, 37) How much original forest was there? 38) 80,000 acres a day, 39) Secondary forest diversity, British Columbia: 1) Local governments across Vancouver Island will be watching as the Islands Trust Executive considers a revised Forest Zone bylaw for Galiano Island. The new bylaw would replace sections of the Official Community Plan which were designed to deal with former Tree Farm License lands (TFL), dumped on the residential real estate market some seventeen years ago. Current Galiano Bylaws were designed to permit orderly development of the former TFL lands, while maintaining the forested nature of the Island. Now a revision bylaw has been given third reading by the current Local Trust Committee. It enactment would remove the protection of the Island's forests and hand control of half the Island to the Private Managed Forest Land board. The provincial PMFL legislation permits forest land owners to hold land for development while paying minimal taxes and, most importantly, without any obligation to obey local bylaws. Galiano's current OCP still hold sway, only because it predates the PMFL Act, tampering with it will trigger the provincial Act. Bylaw #197, passed by local trustees (with a split vote) on November 7, despite significant opposition expressed at the October 27 public hearing, must now be considered by the four member Islands Trust Executive. Questions have been raised as to whether the current Galiano trustees have acted in good faith in pressing the revised bylaw, and this will no doubt be discussed by the executive. But the larger issue is whether local governments are going to be able to plan and manage development which will inevitably be proposed by the purchasers of forest lands, a flood of which the provincial government has newly released from TFLs. With a decision against this bylaw the Islands Trust could lead the way for orderly local governance throughout the entire provinence. Will it? msmith 2) The Ministry of Forests and Range is seeking comments to its discussion paper summarizing the results of a new analysis for the Kamloops timber supply area (TSA). This covers about 2.7 million hectares and includes the communities of Kamloops, Chase, Clearwater, Cache Creek, Ashcroft and Vavenby. The analysis suggests an annual harvest level of 4.2-million cubic metres could be maintained during the next few years before declining to about 1.8 million cubic metres by 2016. This decline is about 23 per cent lower than what was predicted before the mountain pine-beetle infestation. Projections also consider other forest values, including wildlife habitat, old growth, riparian management and Kamloops land and resource management plan objectives. The analysis indicates the level of salvage harvesting in the short term can significantly impact mid-term timber supply in the Kamloops TSA. Shane Berg, Kamloops Forest District manager, says " our area is looking good, " and the current harvest level could be maintained for five years. This level was temporarily doubled in 2004 due to the wildfires in 2003 and the pine beetle epidemic. After five years, the level would step down 40 per cent for another 10 years at least, which is still above the 2003 levels. As well, Berg says " the Kamlooops TSA has only 27 to 30 percent lodgepole pine so, even with beetle kill, we have 70 percent of other tree species to draw from. " Berg cautions that this harvest level projection " does not take into account other elements that are beyond our control. " These include economic markets, value of the Canadian dollar, mills, elections and so on, that could significantly impact the timber harvest. Barry Banford, acting manager for the Headwater Forest District in Clearwater, feels forestry has a future in the North Thompson. " Yes, there will be a declining harvest cut in the future, " said Banford, " however the government is developing initiatives to offset the decline over the next decade. " http://www.kamloopsnews.ca/ 3) We have a simple story of following the source of siltation from the mouth of Cypress Creek at Stearman's beach and tracking it to the headwaters in Cypress Provincial Park. Within the park are two large developments going on at the same time in the same watershed in a steelhead and salmon stream. As we started asking questions, we quickly discovered that these developments are managed differently than all that we have seen in the lower part of the watershed. Federal Habitat Policy used to first try avoid any habitat impacts on salmonids, but if impacts were considered unavoidable then there was a process where the project was reviewed and a compensation-mitigation plan was developed. Major projects such as the ski area developments and VANOC's Cypress venue are under new regulations. Federal policy has changed recently with the Environmental Process Modernization Plan(EPMP). The one size fits all Environmental Assessment (EA) uses Environment Canada water quality guidelines. The new provincial Riparian Area Regulations also don't seem to prevent problems for the creek. The two large developments continue to cause silt laden waters to flow during spawning season despite " Best Management Practices " . We are sure that the new policies had not intended this to be the result of new development in our watersheds. The problems are creating a lot of questions within the stewardship community. Is anyone besides the community volunteers aware of the development and monitoring to ensure the mitigation works are indeed working? What happens now when " conditions " change and the erosion controls no longer control? What kind of restoration work is planned for the area? http://www.westvancouver.net/article.asp?a=4521 & c=929 Washington: 4) Last winter, residents were in an uproar over Weyerhaeuser's logging plans on 70 acres adjacent to the park, as well as a request for a city permit to construct a logging access road on a small portion of the park. Weyerhaeuser has scrapped the haul road through the park, agreed to forgo logging until 2009 and worked with the city and Quarry Task Force citizens group on a timber-harvest plan residents can live with. " We've been talking to the folks out in Tenino, encouraging them to seek grants or other funding options so they can acquire land from us and expand the park, " Weyerhaeuser spokesman Frank Mendizabal said. Park supporters plan to apply for a grant from the state Wildlife and Recreation Program administered by the Recreation and Conservation Funding Board, Tenino task force member Will Rutherford said. A land purchase to expand a city park is the type of project eligible for such funding, board spokeswoman Sue Zemek said. The deadline to apply for a grant is May, and selected projects will receive funding in 2009, she added. Another possibility is for the city to swap some of its property for a piece of Weyerhaeuser land on a scenic bluff above the swimming hole. " The land swap still has a lot of potential, " Rutherford said. The iconic Tenino quarry pool has operated off and on since 1946 as a public swimming facility. The pool is fed by springs and water pumped in by the city. The quarry pool was originally carved out of the hillside on the city's south side by Tenino Sandstone Co., which mined the prized building material from 1889 to 1926. http://www.theolympian.com/southsound/story/274766.html Oregon: 5) Oregon State University College of Forestry's " strategic realignment " proposes taking the ax to the Department of Forest Resources and its comprehensive forest and nature-based-recreation policies. Such policies do not maximize timber industry profits - long the unofficial operating principle of the college. Last year Dean Hal Salwasser was strongly reprimanded for his unprofessional attempt to pressure " Science " magazine to delay publication of graduate student Dan Donato's research. This research indicated that logging after the 2002 Biscuit Fire had increased future-fire risk and hindered forest recovery. Even though Salwasser publicly admitted that regeneration of seedlings is not better after logging, he had previously in the name of the college improperly endorsed a federal bill to speed up salvage logging after wildfires (and arsons) in national forests. The Bureau of Land Management also attempted to intimidate Donato by threatening to suspend funding for his study's final year. The College of Forestry is funded in part from a state timber-harvest tax. This direct incentive for more clearcutting, this unseemly alliance between industry and academia, this corruption of public service by corporate influence has allowed short-sighted, deep-pocket timber barons to dominate Oregon politics and make a mockery of the academic freedom of those who do not agree with the college's industry-friendly orientation. Now President Bush and the BLM plan to further decimate the old growth ecosystem by dramatically increasing logging on 2.2 million acres in Oregon. Please let them and the OSU Department of Forestry know that their plans are unacceptable. http://media.www.dailyemerald.com/media/storage/paper859/news/2007/11/20/Opinion\ /Tell-Governme nt.Oregon.State.That.Plans.For.Forests.Are.Unacceptable-3112101.shtml 6) Like clockwork, the Deschutes National Forest has proposed clearcutting after the 2006 GW fire burned across 7,357 acres near Sisters. Although the agency will stay out of old-growth reserves and designated critical habitat for endangered species (likely due to our recently brokered settlement agreement of the Black Crater post-fire timber sale), it is still planning to clearcut 234 acres of public forest that experienced the healthy effects of wildfire-without an Environmental Analysis. We have submitted comment on the project and are encouraging the agency to address the effects of clearcutting in a more thorough analysis. Cutting-edge science continues to tell us that aggressive logging may seriously increase fire hazards (by leaving slash behind and by planting resinous, fire prone saplings after logging fire-resistant large trees) and impact older forest dependant species that have evolved with wildfire for millennia. Make your voice heard by emailing the Sisters Ranger District asap. Tell them they need to disclose the impacts of logging in a thorough Environmental Assessment and focus tax payer dollars on genuine restoration forestry, comments-pacificnorthwest-deschutes-sisters. 7) The Forest Service is proposing to log nearly 2,900 acres in the South Branch Kinzua Creek watershed. South Branch Kinzua Creek is a state-designated " Wilderness Trout Stream. " Wilderness Trout Stream management " is based upon the provision of a wild trout fishing experience in a remote, natural and unspoiled environment where man's disruptive activities are minimized. Established in 1969, this option was designed to protect and promote native (brook trout) fisheries, the ecological requirements necessary for natural reproduction of trout and wilderness aesthetics. The superior quality of these watersheds is considered an important part of the overall angling experience on wilderness trout streams. Therefore, all stream sections included in this program qualify for the Exceptional Value (EV) special protected water use classification, which represents the highest protection status provided by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). " The Forest Service mischaracterizes Pennsylvania's definition for Wilderness Trout Stream management. For instance, the Forest Service claims that all streams, including Wilderness Trout Streams, " should be managed in a way that maintains and/or propagates fish species as well as flora and fauna, which are indigenous to a cold-water habitat. " This does not accurately reflect the state's definition. Clearly, logging nearly 3,000 acres within this watershed is contrary to the principles of Wilderness Trout Stream management as it fails to promote a " wild trout fishing experience in a remote, natural and unspoiled environment where man's disruptive activities are minimized. " This project is also sure to affect the " ecological requirements necessary for natural reproduction of trout and wilderness aesthetics. " https://www.heartwood.org/action.html?id=134 California: 8) While traveling along the roads and highways of California, especially along its coast and inland valleys, one will see the usual oak, pine, and scrubbrush. Yet there is another member of the plant family whose presence is dominating and charismatic. Its size is lofty; its silhouette captivating; its smell clean and antiseptic like the scent unfurling from a medicine cabinet. Many think it is a California native, but it is not. It is really an immigrant from Australia that arrived as many immigrants have in this wonderful country, surreptitiously. It is the remarkable eucalyptus of which we speak that came from the virgin forests of that vast land down under, Australia. It is as curious as that land with its pouched animals and mysterious aborigines. Its adaptability and its hardiness can be seen in its groves which cling to the California hillsides and fill the crevices of the landscape. It is difficult to imagine what California would look like without the seemingly omnipresent eucalyptus. It has had a checkered history though in California. At first it was a tree of promise stirring the imagination, and then later becoming a tree of disappointment and ultimately disdain. In its homeland of Australia, it was a true friend to the settler supplying material for a pioneer's needs. Its almost mythical reputation came with the Australians to the California goldfields and with the American travelers who had seen the colossus in Australia. http://happywonderer.wordpress.com/2007/11/19/eucalyptus-trees/ Missouri: 9) Rep. Jo Ann Emerson said she would fight a proposal to secure federal wilderness protection for additional Missouri land in her district " with every last breath of my body. " Emerson, R-Cape Girardeau, said such a move is unnecessary and would make it harder to safeguard the forest from fires and pests. " We could be faced with devastation for part of the forest, " Emerson said. Her opposition dims the prospects for a proposal by the Missouri Wilderness Coalition, which says the 50,000 acres of unspoiled land, mostly in the Mark Twain National Forest, is at risk for environmental damage by logging, mining and other threats. The group wants Congress to pass legislation designating the parcels of land as wilderness areas, which would bar all-terrain-vehicle riding and other activities that environmentalists say blemish the landscape. Such a move would almost double the amount of federally protected land in the state. Emerson said federal protections would hamper efforts to clear dead trees that could fuel forest fires and could prevent treatment of trees endangered by pests. Most of the land in the proposal lies in her congressional district. " The Mark Twain is so well taken care of, and so I just don't see the need to have a wilderness designation, " she said. Sen. Christopher " Kit " Bond, R-Mo., has expressed interest in the proposal but with a major caveat. " I will be looking at the proposal and considering the views of all stakeholders, " Bond said in a statement last week. " I cannot support any proposal that does not have the clear support of local citizens and all affected members of the delegation. Also, many have expressed concern with the impact this plan would have on good forestry management. " http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/washington/story/E50812C6BF3A4\ 0FF86257398000F 4A51?OpenDocument New York: 10) The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) will hold a public meeting to gather input on a draft Charleston State Forests Unit Management Plan (UMP) for DEC-owned lands in Montgomery and Schenectady counties. The Charleston State forests include land in the following Montgomery county towns: 1,061 acres in the town of Root; 100 acres in the town of Glen; and 5,547 acres in the town of Charleston. Montgomery County properties in the unit include Charleston State Forest, Rural Grove State Forest, Yatesville Falls State Forest and Lost Valley State Forest. The unit also includes the 697-acre Featherstonhaugh State Forest in the Schenectady County town of Duanesburg. The draft plan addresses such issues as recreation, timber management, the watershed, wildlife, accessibility, biodiversity, and public information. The plan identifies goals and objectives for multiple-use management, sustainable forestry, conservation of biological diversity, and engagement of the public in the management of these State forests. Interaction with the community will be encouraged through communication with outdoor activity clubs and implementation of the Adopt-A-Natural Resource program. Public use and recreational opportunities will be offered through several proposals in the plan. The Charleston State Forests are currently used for wide variety of activities including hunting, hiking, horseback riding, cross-country skiing and snowmobiling. All of the Charleston State Forests are classified as state Reforestation Areas and are managed for multiple uses, including timber production. http://readme.readmedia.com/news/show/DEC-Meeting-Set-for-Charleston-State-Fores\ ts-Management-P lan/15507 North Carolina: 11) It might be true that " only God can make a tree, " as the poet Joyce Kilmer wrote. But genetic engineers can fundamentally redesign them. Aiming to turn trees into new energy sources, scientists are using a controversial genetic engineering process to change the composition of the wood. A major goal is to reduce the amount of lignin, a chemical compound that interferes with efforts to turn the tree's cellulose into biofuels like ethanol. Vincent L. Chiang, co-director of the forest biotechnology group at North Carolina State University, has developed transgenic trees with as little as half the lignin of their natural counterparts. " I think the transgenic tree with low lignin will contribute significantly to energy needs, " he said. Environmentalists say such work can be risky, because lignin provides trees with structural stiffness and resistance to pests. Even some scientists working on altering wood composition acknowledge that reducing lignin too much could lead to wobbly, vulnerable trees. " Nature would have selected for lower-lignin trees if they could survive, " said Shawn Mansfield, associate professor of wood science at the University of British Columbia. People working in the field also acknowledge that they will face resistance from others who see trees as majestic symbols of pristine nature that should not be genetically altered like corn and soybeans. A biologist, Claire Williams, said the wind could carry pollen from some trees like pines hundreds of miles, making it difficult to prevent a trait like reduced lignin from spreading to wild trees. Dr. Williams, who works for the State Department but was interviewed while she was working at Duke, said the long life spans of trees made it " almost impossible to evaluate the long-term consequences of transgenic trees. " http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/20/science/20tree.html?_r=1 & ref=science & oref=slog\ in Southern US: 12) It is true that the word " sustainability " is showing up a lot lately and the definition given for a sustainable business may be true, but there is no uniform definition. Any company can throw this word around as they choose - especially International Paper. International Paper may be revamping a few of their industrial processes to save money, but in all, their practices of clear-cutting and its effects on our Southern forests overshadow any small measures of " greening " that International Paper may be taking. International Paper does participate in the Sustainable Forest Initiative (SFI). However, this certification program somehow overlooks logging practices of priceless endangered forests, turning natural forests into lifeless tree plantations, clear-cutting, planting genetically modified trees in place of natural forests, and using toxic chemicals excessively. The Southern U.S. is the home to the most bio-diverse temperate forests in the world. This biodiversity is being threatened by actions of companies such as International Paper. Beware of the green-washing of corporations; we should reserve the title of " sustainability " or " green " for companies who truly act as stewards of the environment. http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20071119/NEWS/711190304 USA: 13) Globalization, in practice, often means that terrible crimes are committed in far-off countries, at the beginning of supply chains, but that the big multinationals that we eventually buy from can successfully disclaim all responsibility. In the past, Anaconda Copper Company and Standard Oil directly owned mines and wells, and they broke strikes, contaminated the air and water and helped overthrow elected governments. Today, Nike and Wal-Mart can plead they are not guilty for the compulsory overtime, low pay and environmental dangers in the subcontracting factories in East Asia that supply them. Nor are they often held responsible for, say, helping to sustain the one-party dictatorship in China. It may be a surprise to learn that there have never been sanctions against bringing illegal timber into the United States, except for mahogany and ramin, another luxury wood. If you had strong evidence that pine trees cut down illegally in Father Andres's parish and elsewhere in Honduras arrived in South Florida, destined for Home Depot or other retailers (which actually happened a couple of years ago), you would have nowhere in the US government to complain. http://www.thenation.com/doc/20071203/north/3 14) Every summer, images of wildfires dominate TV screens and newspaper headlines. Yet despite the effort -- and the money -- that goes into emergency response, fires destroy hundreds of homes and whole neighborhoods in the American West during wildfire season. This 2007 issue paper outlines NRDC's pilot study of fire protection in the Love Creek community in the Sierra Nevada mountains, and describes how Western communities and homeowners can protect themselves against fire threats with proven techniques known as " firewise " measures. In addition, we recommend changes to federal fire policy to prioritize community and resident safety. http://www.nrdc.org/land/forests/safe/safe.pdf 15) Consumers who curse the growing stacks of holiday catalogs in their mailboxes have a new alternative: a coalition of environmental groups has introduced a free Web site, CatalogChoice.org, that allows people to remove themselves from more than 1,000 mailing lists. Since it opened for business on Oct. 9, Catalog Choice has helped more than 165,000 people opt out of almost 1.7 million catalogs, the groups say. The Web site, which collects names and then contacts the catalog companies to have people removed from mailing lists, is operated by the National Wildlife Federation, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Ecology Center. While the site's users may be primarily interested in avoiding heavy tomes from the likes of Pottery Barn and Lands' End, the environmental groups say they are more concerned with reducing the number of catalogs sent to Americans every year (19 billion) and the number of trees used to make them (53 million). " In the old days, when people lived in rural areas and couldn't get anywhere, catalogs made much more sense, " said Daniel R. Katz, program director at the Overbrook Foundation, one of three charitable groups that helped finance Catalog Choice. " We don't need to use such a resource-intensive form of shopping anymore. " Catalog Choice does not charge consumers to have themselves removed from catalog lists, which sets it apart from paid services like GreenDimes.com, 41Pounds.org and a list run by the Direct Marketing Association. " Nobody is saying 'Don't shop from catalogs,' " Mr. Katz said. " We want to see them make money, but we want to see them do it at less cost to the environment. " http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/19/business/media/19choice.html?_r=2 & oref=slogin & \ pagewanted=print & oref=slogin Canada: 16) A lack of funding and government oversight are allowing the logging industry to destroy more than 45,000 migratory bird nests in Ontario's boreal forest each year, a coalition of groups said Monday in calling for an independent review under the province's Environmental Bill of Rights. The coalition is using a report by the Commission for Environmental Co-operation - an international organization spawned by the North American Free Trade Agreement - as evidence that the province is failing to make sure logging companies use sustainable practices. Several years ago, environmental groups asked the commission to study Ontario's forest management policies in the hopes of boosting their claims that nests were being wiped out by clear-cutting. The commission researched the actions of 53 forest management units in central and northern Ontario during the 2001 calendar year, and found there was potential for habitat declines of up to 35 per cent for some species if nests continued to be destroyed. Little has changed since then, and now the groups are filing an application for review with Ontario's environment commissioner in another attempt to protect the nests. " Although Ontario would prefer to duck this issue, it simply cannot escape the fact that logging companies are destroying tens of thousands of bird nests every year, " said Liat Podolsky, a researcher with Ecojustice. http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5gHHjCiGcnRERD-PqTLLJfwxqc1Cw 17) If a cabinet minister leaves the Premier out on a limb over a major issue, it should come as little surprise when the minister is sacked, regardless how well he or she performed on other issues. Such may be the case with David Ramsay, demoted from his posts as Ontario's minister of natural resources and of aboriginal affairs. In these positions he performed well in bringing in the new Species at Risk Act, dealing with economic issues surrounding the crisis in the forestry industry and handling the native confrontation in Caledonia. But he did nothing to protect the northern boreal forest, violating Premier Dalton McGuinty's promise in the 2003 election that there would be no major development until broad land-use planning was instituted to protect ecological integrity and provide a sustainable future for natives and northern communities. And south of the 51st parallel, which roughly defines the northerly extent of logging, he failed to protect woodland caribou, which are being pushed from their habitat by forestry operations. Despite proposing additional studies of caribou requirements, he was pressing ahead with forestry management plans that would see the clearing of more areas and, at the same time, he provided incentives to build logging roads into pristine sections of the boreal. Meanwhile, during the 4 1/2years of McGuinty's first mandate, the fate of the boreal ¡V north and south of the 51st parallel ¡V grew rapidly in political importance. Most of the major environmental organizations hammered at the twin subjects of McGuinty's promise and woodland caribou. Celebrities added their voices. Ramsay should have been listening more attentively. The Premier was being embarrassed; the issues were not going away. Replacing Ramsay is Donna Cansfield, the former minister of transport. She comes to MNR with a firm understanding of environmental issues and an ability to hold her own during bureaucratic infighting. http://www.thestar.com/printArticle/276889 UK: 18) Shropshire Wildlife Trust has launched a ¢G250,000 appeal to save a 400-year-old grove of holly trees. The Hollies is a 90-acre piece of land on the Stiperstones nature reserve in Shropshire. It is being sold by a local farmer and the trust has until March 2008 to raise the money. The trust's John Hughes said: " There is a tradition of people coming to cut holly for Christmas and we'd like that to continue. " The two hundred or so ancient holly trees can be found scattered on the north-east edge of the Stiperstones, with some thought to be three or four centuries old. The trees have survived for so long because of the traditional tree management practice of pollarding, which encouraged growth. The trust's Sarah Bierley said the miners who used to live on the Stiperstones fed their cattle on the holly leaves, which are very nutritious. The practice ceased when turnip growing became fashionable, she added. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/shropshire/7100632.stm Scotland: 19) Workers building a ¢G4.5 million park-and-ride scheme have bulldozed a nature haven - in order to plant more trees.Retired care manager Martha Selfridge has spent the last 25 years cultivating trees, shrubs and wild flowers on land at the rear of her home on Straiton Road. But the 68-year-old was horrified to discover the area - which included around 20 different species of trees - had been cleared to build the car park off the A701 in Midlothian. Mrs Selfridge said the woods had attracted a variety of wildlife including birds such as buzzards, partridges and goldfinches. Regional transport body Sestran, which is in charge of the building the 600-space project, said the land had been cleared on October 27 to build a new embankment, which will then be replanted. Mrs Selfridge , who has lived at her Loanhead home for more than 27 years, said: " I was absolutely furious when I came home and discovered that they had destroyed it all. " I knew it was not my land, but I had only wanted to improve the outlook and attract more wildlife to the area. " I just couldn't believe it when they said it was going to be landscaped and planted with trees. They have destroyed the habitat for so much wildlife. " Mrs Selfridge also said the trees had acted as a windbreak. Building work on the Straiton park-and-ride, which is just south of the city bypass, got under way last month following years of legal wrangling over land. The facility will feature a new terminal building, CCTV and electronic bus information screens. Local councillor Owen Thompson said: " It does seem slightly bizarre that this has happened and a little bit better communication between both sides wouldn't have gone amiss. " It is really unfortunate that someone has put all this effort into this area and it has been destroyed. " Sestran chairman, Councillor Russell Imrie, said it had been necessary to clear " much of the existing plant cover " before starting the project. http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1816972007 Uganda: 20) Vice-President, Prof. Gilbert Bukenya, has assured environmental activists and donors that Mabira Forest Reserve will not be degazetted for sugarcane growing. " We are a democratic country and had to listen to the people. " Bukenya was addressing journalists at the Nile Resort in Jinja on Saturday. " You can develop without disrupting ecology. It is possible to plant trees to replace those that have been cut down. " He cited the example of the ground on which the British Parliament stands, which he said was previously a swamp. " What we could look at is the entire ecological system and consider what would happen to the rest of the ecological system if some trees are cut down. " The Vice-President had earlier presided over the drafting of recommendations (The Jinja Declaration) that will be debated during the Commonwealth summit that starts in Kampala on Friday. The recommendations will also form part of the discussions at the UN meeting on climate change in Bali, Indonesia, next month. Bukenya said climate change in Uganda was manifested in the adverse weather and climate conditions " Between 1991 and 2,000, Uganda experienced seven droughts, compared to about seven during the period 1900 to 1970, " he said. " The last years have also witnessed an increase in intensity and frequency of heavy rains, floods and landslides in the highland areas as well as outbreaks of diseases. " Bukenya called for action against climate change. http://forests.org/articles/reader.asp?linkid=88107 Guyana: 21) Willems Timber found guilty as forestry investigation intensifies. All loggers now being probed - Another timber company, Willems Timber and Trading Company Limited, has been found guilty of breaching forestry regulations and government has announced that it will be carrying out a 100% detailed audit verification on all concessions, starting with the large ones. Kaieteur News was unable to verify reports that Willems Timbers has already been fined a reported $21 million, but the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) said yesterday that it will be disclosing the results of these investigations and the penalties to be instituted. Yesterday, Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud also confirmed that he has ordered a 100% verification of records of concession holders. Reports that two more companies were fined could not immediately be confirmed yesterday. The verification probe comes on the heels of an unprecedented fine handed down recently on Barama Company Limited for $96.4 million. http://guyanaforestryblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/willems-timber-found-guilty-as-fo\ restry.html Brazil: 22) " This (Rainforest Foundation) came into a moment in history when not a lot was being done (for the environment and indigenous people). President Mitterrand was the first to receive us, putting the (Rainforest Foundation) world tour on the level we were dreaming of -- to get the attention of the public at large on the protection of the rainforests, " said Jean-Pierre in Sanur last week. Following Mitterrand's lead, Britain's Prince Charles, the then pope Jean Paul, Spain's King Juan Carlos and celebrities across the world voiced their support for The Rainforest Foundation. That support sparked what was at the time a rainforest revolution. Jean-Pierre's cataclysmic images of both the wanton destruction of Brazil's rainforests and the subsequent collapsing of rainforest tribes and their cultures were beamed into people's living rooms across the planet. Viewers sat up and took notice. The alarm bells rung by Jean-Pierre, Raoni and Sting on the plight of the people and the environment of the Amazon basin was in some ways a forerunner of the annual United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to be held this year in Bali; a meeting in which heads of governments, industry and NGOs from around the globe will seriously discuss implementing the few options left to save the planet from global warming's fatal tipping point. Jean-Pierre believes a good place to start is by learning from indigenous tribes that live in harmony with their environments. " This archipelago is a gold mine of culture and traditions that can teach us of nature and man himself. That knowledge of plants, seeds, roots, medicinal plants -- it's all here. These (tribal) healers are the last of a long line of healers, shamans if you will, who have knowledge that dates back forever, " said Jean-Pierre on the critical importance of protecting the environment and the people living in what was once pristine wilderness. http://www.thejakartapost.com/misc/PrinterFriendly.asp 23) The hunt is on for the 16-foot creature that slipped away after being freed from a beach 1000 miles from the Atlantic. The townspeople of Piquiatuba, a tiny 70 family village in the Amazon state of Para, were assisting biologists in the search after the whale became beached in the Tapajos River, an Amazon tributary, for three days. The whale was freed by joint efforts between local fishermen biologists. Experts believe the five-meter long whale wound up in the river after falling ill or being hit by a boat and becoming separated from its group in the Atlantic. The whale brought worldwide attention to the tiny Amazon village after Brazilian national television broadcast footage of the whale's fin and the creature surrounded by villagers in the river. Katia Groch, an expert from a humpback whale institute, said " It is very atypical [to find] a whale in Amazonia. It may have lost its way, perhaps because of illness. We will only know when we can examine it. What we can definitely say is that it lost its way, " said government biologist Fabio Luna to Globo television. " It entered the river, which on its own is unusual. But then to have travelled around 1,500km is both strange and adverse. " Even more amazing than the whale's presence in the Amazon is the amount of time it may have potentially spent in the region. While the whale was only officially spotted this week, a regional head of the Brazilian environmental agency says the whale may have been in the area for up to two months. There have been quite a few reports in the last several weeks of a massive unidentified animal. Scientists hope to find the whale very soon to have the best chance of saving its life. Unfortunately, even if they find the animal immediately there is still a good chance the whale will die. Groch said: It is outside of its normal habitat, in a strange situation, under stress and far from the ocean. The probability of survival is low. " http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/?p=491 24) An experiment going on in a corner of eastern Brazil has attracted worldwide attention. Right in the midst of a thinning rainforest cacao trees are planted. There's a lot less rainforest than there once was. There used to be 330 million acres of rainforest in eastern Brazil, called the Mata Atlantica. Settlers arrived hundreds of years ago and began destroying the forest for the wood, and to create fields for pasture and crops. Only 7 percent of the Mata Atlantica remains, and destruction is still going on. Every time a tree is burned, its stored carbon is released. As more carbon is released into the air, the planet gets warmer. That worries Dario Ahnert, a plant expert at the State University of Santa Cruz in Eastern Brazil. He says farmers need an incentive to save the remaining forest, and he hopes chocolate will be that incentive. Chocolate used to be a huge industry here, but in the past two decades, plant disease and low prices in the world market for cocoa beans devastated the industry. Farmers turned to other ways of making a living, including logging trees or burning the forest for farmland or pasture. When the nutrients in the soil were used up, the land was abandoned. Ahnert wants to persuade farmers to return to chocolate farming and preserve the forest. His friend, Joao Tavares, shows it can be done, reports NPR, an independent radio network in the US. http://www.medindia.net/news/Chocolate-a-Delectable-Way-to-Preserve-the-Environm\ ent-29565-1.htm India: 25) The green cover in this picturesque town of Himachal Pradesh is under serious threat, especially within the Municipal Limits and adjoining panchayat areas, where there is no check on the felling and lopping of the trees. The town is losing its greenery in fast speed and concrete jungles are coming up. It is sad state of affairs that forest department and other local authorities are unconcerned with the situation. The deodar trees which were one time the beauty of the town is also dying day by day. In past ten year over one hundred deodar trees have either axed or dried up in the town. In front of local PWD Rest House over one dozen trees have dried up. No efforts were made by the authorities to know reason for sudden collapse of these trees. It is a matter of serious concern that none in the administration is bother to preserve greenery of the town. No efforts have been made to plant new trees in the town. Every year the Van Mahotsava is celebrated in the town, VVIPs are called to plant the new trees but after some time no trees are seen on the land. In past few years various government departments have taken forest laws lightly and number of precious deodar trees have either been cut or lopped off without the valid permission from the concerned authorities. In many areas of the town many government buildings have come up by cutting trees. Recently many old trees were axed in the town to pave way for new buildings. Nobody in the administration knew that who granted the permission to cut these trees. There are many other instances where the deodar have been axed without any permission keeping a side forest laws made for this purpose. In such case it was obligatory on the part of concerned department or municipal council to seek prior permission from forest department ,which is ultimately granted by the Deputy Commissioner who is also District Magistrate . But the many government department preferred to axe these trees by bye passing the ball rules and regulations. http://himachal.us/2007/11/18/deodar-trees-dying-faster-in-palampur-himachal/364\ 6/news/rsood 26) Having evolved over millions of years, the Western Ghats are a treasure trove of biodiversity, and have been recognised as an ecological " hot spot " of global significance. The altitudinal gradient of the mountains, combined with their orientation to the monsoons, has led to the evolution of a wide variety of interconnected ecosystems that range from scrub jungle in the rain shadow regions to moist evergreen forests on the rain drenched slopes and, at the very t op, montane shola forests nestled in the folds of undulating grasslands. This varied habitat mosaic is home to over 4000 plant species, and an extraordinary variety of creatures great and small, including elephant, tiger, Nilgiri tahr and lion tailed macaque. It is also home to many indigenous adivasi communities, who lived in traditional equilibrium with the land until the influx of hundreds of thousands of people from the plains during the last few decades. The adivasis now eke out a living as daily labour on estates and plantations, and by collecting Non Timber Forest Produce (NTFP) for supply to markets. One of the most important NTFPs from the hill forests is honey, with which virtually all the indigenous communities here have deep-rooted cultural connections. Honey Trails in the Blue Mountains chronicles these connections, whilst providing us with a larger picture of the region. Since 1995, Keystone Foundation, a Non Governmental Organisation, has been working with the adivasi communities in the Nilgiris to document their traditional knowledge, particularly, of bees and honey. This book is, according to the authors, the result of three years of work on their " Honey Hunters of the Western Ghats " programme, which was supported by the IUCN-Netherlands Committee. The data collected, and insights gathered during this period have been compiled into a valuable reference book for all those who are interested in the ecology, anthropology and land use of this region. http://www.hindu.com/br/2007/11/20/stories/2007112050021400.htm 27) The Kerala Forest Department is groping in the dark about how to protect its sandalwood wealth. Kerala's sandalwood resources are concentrated in the forests of Marayur. The smugglers are always around as sandalwood fetches pretty good sums in the black market.An idea struck the previous United Democratic Front (UDF) that sandalwood smugglers could be kept at bay by building a fence around the forests. The UDF Government awarded the contracts and kilometers of fence were completed during the LDF (Left Democratic Front) regime. Detractors say that all this work was undertaken for the commissions in the contract. For the smugglers were even capable of using gas cutters to steal sandalwood. They proved right as the fence could so far snare only a few deers. Meanwhile, the smugglers dared to attack the forest officials themselves. The officials want to quit Marayur as early as possible. The climate and conditions in the forests are not good, they say. But the question arises, why they became foresters and watchers if they could not bear the conditions in the forests. http://keralaviews.wordpress.com/2007/11/18/how-to-protect-sandalwood-forests/ 28) Rampant poaching, indiscriminate felling of trees, illegal settlements and cattle left free to graze - this is what is going on in one of India's biggest biological reserves, the Manas National Park in Assam. Manas is a world heritage site and one of the best biospere reserves in the country - the biggest National Park of Northeast India. But Manas forests at Panbari near the Bhutan-India border have now come under the UNESCO radar and is on the verge of loosing its prestigious tag of a world heritage site, and India one of its biggest green belts. Indeed, according to Musuka Basumatary, President of the Panbari Manas National Park Protection Society, if immediate steps are not taken soon for its protection, then Manas may be destroyed. The TIMES NOW team travelled with forest guards and members of an NGO who ventured deep inside the forests of Manas National Park to check illegal activities like tree felling. They followed the trail of a handcart used to ferry timber, brought in by the timber mafia. And this is what we found when we went deep into the jungles of Manas: Indiscriminate felling of trees, cattle left free to graze, illegal settlements on the forest range, evidence of rampant poaching - and worst of all the blatant indifference of the authorities. According to Debeswar Patowary, President of Green Manas Organisation, almost 90% of valuable trees are missing from the reserve. http://www.timesnow.tv/NewsDtls.aspx?NewsID=4338 Japan: 29) In the morning we learned about thinning techniques, known as kanbatsu. This includes felling trees to create space for nearby trees to grow and to open the canopy so that more sunlight can come through. We did the cutting with little hand saws, which was quite tiring, but they don't let the rookies have chainsaws. I felled two trees myself, which was quite satisfying I must say. We cut the trees into sections about 3 meters long and laid them perpendicular to the hillside so that the forest could " take them back " --a glossy phrase that conceals the fact that there is no market for wood in Japan (hence volunteers are used to " manage " forests). The second half of the day was spent inside one of the halls of the local temple where we listened to lectures about the local forests, forestry, and volunteer programs. In the end the purpose of the courses seemed to be to raise awareness about volunteering for forestry activities. Again, this reflects larger trends in Japan of forest abandonment.¡@¡@In Otaki-mura, where the majority of my fieldwork will take place, the number of government-employed foresters has shrunk from about 500 to 10 over the last forty years. Ecologically, it's hard to say if " hands off " approaches to forest management are beneficial or not, however it's apparent that such approaches can have negative impacts on human communities, particularly mountain communities located in proximity to forests. Unfortunately, this perspective is not what is championed by government officials in charge of forest management. Instead, what one hears--indeed what I heard during this course--are appeals to broader concerns about clean water, prevention of natural disasters, and combating global warming. http://ericjc.blogspot.com/2007/11/forestry-and-fall-leaves.html Philippines: 30) DIPACULAO, Aurora - Illegal logging continues unabated as indicated by the confiscation of freshly-cut illegal lumber in Barangay Dinadiawan here Thursday. A report said an Isuzu truck and its cargo of hot lumber estimated at 11,000 board feet were confiscated by the mayor's team here following a tip from a concerned citizen. The contraband allegedly owned by a high ranking municipal official here were to be delivered to the town proper when intercepted. Illegal loggers are using an old road for transshipping illegally cut logs at night to avoid detection by police and environment and natural resources personnel. During interrogation, the Isuzu truck driver said the shipment was legal since he has receipts from Toplite company owned by Johnny Chua. However, Toplite, which holds an Integrated Forest Management Agreement No .2002 covering 8,630 hectares in barangays Calaocan, Dianed and Dinadiawan, totally stopped operation last August due to the peace and order situation. http://luzon.wowphilippines.com/aurora/2007/11/17/illegal-logging-rampant-in-aur\ ora/ Indonesia: 31) Vice President Jusuf Kalla left the third summit of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) here on Sunday with the world's oil cartel giving support to Indonesia's fight in reducing global warming through forest protection. The Riyadh Declaration issued at the summit's closing emphasized the stability of the energy market, energy for sustainable development and energy for the environment, where OPEC acknowledged the importance of forests in " maintaining ecological balance, as sinks, sources and reservoirs of greenhouse gases. " " In this regard, we are committed to the promotion of the management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests. To this end, global cooperation is needed to intensify collective international efforts in this field, " the leaders said in the declaration. They also acknowledged the importance of cleaner and more efficient petroleum technologies for the protection of the environment and called for the development of technologies that address climate change such as carbon dioxide capture and storage. The declaration specially supported the upcoming UN climate change meeting in Bali, which is expected to start negotiations on a new regime to address global warming after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012. Kalla noted after the summit that the inclusion of forests and the upcoming UN meeting in Bali in the declaration should be seen as great support for Indonesia, and therefore, Indonesian officials needed to follow it up. " They totally support us in our hosting of the next meeting and our fight on forest issues. We need to follow it up in the next OPEC ministerial meeting in Abu Dhabi next month, " Kalla told The Jakarta Post after the summit. http://www.thejakartapost.com/misc/PrinterFriendly.asp Australia: 32) AUSTRALIA'S peak forestry body has accused the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA)of discriminating against native forest timber in its system of green rating for commercial buildings. The president of the National Association of Forest Industries, Douglas Head, said the council's Green Star rating tool only recognised recycled timber or timber certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). NAFI is a GBCA board member. " There was no recognition of timber certified under Australia's only national forest certification standard, the Australian Forestry Standard (AFS), " he said. Dr Head said 95 per cent of Australia's forests were certified AFS, as well as privately owned plantation and native forests. FSC was limited to mainly plantations, much of which was used only for woodchips. http://www.theage.com.au/news/business/green-ratings-are-going-against-the-grain\ /2007/11/18/11 95321606366.html 33) An estimated 15,000 people marched through the streets of Hobart on Saturday 17th November in a clear message to the next elected government and major financial institutions that community opposition to the pulp mill project is building despite the inadequate and fast-tracked government approvals. At the rally, Alec Marr, Executive of The Wilderness Society, launched the Community Pulp Mill Pledge. This pledge commits signatories to not support financial institutions who fund the destruction of native forests or the proposed pulp mill. Thousands of people signed the pledge at the rally, sending a clear message to financial institutions such as ANZ and Perpetual that if they fund socially and environmentally irresponsible project activities like Gunns pulp mill, they will bear the brunt of community outrage and opposition. Author, businessman and Telstra board member Geoffrey Cousins, speaking at the first protest event he has ever attended, called on the crowd to vote for the environment. Internationally acclaimed author Richard Flanagan reminded the crowd that forests the Prime Minister promised to protect at the 2004 election are today being logged. Forests all over Tasmania are threatened by an escalation of logging that will be brought on by the pulp mill and continued woodchip exports. Please take action by making the Community Pulp Mill Pledge today. Click here to see the photos of the 15,000 protesters and MAKE THE PLEDGE: http://www.wilderness.org.au/campaigns/forests/tasmania/gunns_proposed_pulp_mill\ /nov07_hobart_r ally/ 34) Pity the swift parrot: it has the misfortune to tilt against a pulp mill, rather than a windmill, like its orange-bellied cousin famously did. There are perhaps 1000 breeding pairs of the swift parrot left. If you managed to line them up side by side, every one of these resplendent birds left in the world could probably fit on your living room floor. That's how close we are to losing them for good. In winter, this small population can be found spread across south-eastern Australia, but in summer they breed exclusively in Tasmania, mostly in old-growth blue gum forest. There is no mystery about the decline of the swift parrot. Destruction of its forest habitat for agriculture, logging and development is the primary cause. About 70 per cent of Tasmanian blue gum forest has been cleared for these purposes. Even within what remains, the Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment has said " forestry operations and firewood collection are altering the age structure of forests resulting in the loss of older trees which provide a substantial food resource as well as hollows for nesting. " The swift parrot has a lovely voice, but it's not one that's likely to be heard on November 24. During the debate over the Gunns pulp mill, both major parties did their best to create the impression they had no power or interest in intervening to protect the forest homes of species like the swift parrot. The federal Environment Minister issued what were said to be the " world's toughest " environmental standards for a pulp mill, but not one of them relates to the wood supply for the mill or the old growth forest that can be burned to generate power for the mill or chipped for export. The Opposition, for its part, grumbled about the process, but could find no fault with the outcome. Promises to improve federal environmental legislation were made, but the details have not been forthcoming. They, too, seem as eager to put Tasmania's forests behind them as a swift parrot headed north for the winter. http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/news/opinion/opinion/political-neglect-will-lea\ d-to-parrots-swi ft-demise/1088564.html World-wide: 35) Environmental groups embracing certified logging of primary and old-growth forests threaten climate, biodiversity, ecosystems, sustainability and humanity -- stop giving them money What do Rainforest Action Network (RAN), Greenpeace (GP) and WWF have in common? Each support first time, industrial logging of ancient rainforests certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC); implying and even stating it is sustainable and somehow " protects " these primordial green cathedrals that sustain being. The " Big-Three " ancient forest logging apologists have sold out the world's forests and climate, and should have no place on your holiday gift list. They refuse to even defend their FSC support, and will not commit to ending ancient forest logging until it hits their bottom line. So stop giving them money. If you fund them, it is like you have a chainsaw in your hand, and are logging ancient forests filled with rare biodiversity, altering ecosystems and spewing tons of carbon into the atmosphere. Ancient forests have evolved over millions of years. Their full, intact biodiversity maintains ecosystem functions -- including carbon and water storage and cycling -- that sustain the biosphere, and meet human and others' habitat needs. Intact, large expanses of ancient rainforests are making their last stand, and it is way past time to confront and stop all who would allow their industrial diminishment or loss. Our campaign strategy featured prominently in a recent Wall Street Journal article, where FSC acknowledged their label was " destroying pristine forest " . We roughly estimate 60% of FSC timbers have their origin in first time logging of primary and old-growth forests -- threatening an area twice the size of the Amazon with being ravaged by bulldozers for your FSC barbeque furniture. No such figures are released by FSC. RAN is the only organization that agreed to discuss the issue, but like the others refused to substantially defend their position. RAN stated they were for ending ancient forest logging; but not using their FSC membership to examine, or work to end, FSC's leading role promoting and expanding ancient forest logging. Such doublespeak illustrates RAN's incredible intellectual weakness, lack of boldness and imagination, and a profound lack of belief that anything can be changed. http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/cgi-bin/blogs/voices.php/2007/11/17/exclude_ancie\ nt_forest_loggi ng_supporter 36) In coming decades, climate changes are expected to produce large shifts in vegetation distributions, largely due to mortality. However, most field studies and model-based assessments of vegetation responses to climate have focused on changes associated with natality and growth, which are inherently slow processes for woody plants-even though the most rapid changes in vegetation are caused by mortality rather than natality. This talk reviews the sensitivity of western montane forests to massive dieback, including drought-induced tree mortality and related insect outbreaks. This overview illustrates the potential for widespread and rapid forest dieback, and associated ecosystem effects, due to anticipated global climate change. http://risingtidenorthamerica.org/wordpress/2007/11/09/climate-forest-death-spec\ ies-migration/ 37) We learn from Columbia Encyclopedia that in very early times forests covered virtually the whole land surface of the Earth, apart from the areas of perpetual snow (such as the north pole). And as recently as 19 th century, tropical rain forests in their own right covered around 20% of all the dry land area of the Earth, but this figure was only 7% by the end of the 20 th century. Probably the main fundamental factor that has been invariably pushing rain forest destruction more and more over the decades and indeed centuries, is the demand for the rain forest as a enormous economic and social resource. First of all, tropical rain forests are " treasure troves of nature " ¡V they contain endless supplies of resources widely used in human societies, such as food, timber, raw materials etc. Second, rain forests cover huge swathes of land. And the land has always been a limited resource required for accommodation of ever growing human populations. http://www.tropical-rainforest-animals.com/Rain-Forest-Destruction.html 38) It is estimated that every day 80,000 acres of forest is destroyed. Such destruction affects innumerable species, indigenous peoples, and the climate. Habitat loss--especially in tropical forests--is one of the primary causes for the current extinction rate reaching between 1,000 and 10,000 times the historical background rate. Furthermore, this destruction often forces indigenous peoples from ancestral lands, causing them to either retreat further into the forest or be forced to confront the modern world. Finally, deforestation contributes to 20 percent of the world's carbon, which is almost as much as the United States (still the world's greatest CO2 emitter) The FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) estimated that between 2000-2005, 8.4 million hectares of forest were destroyed every year. This was a raise of 8.5 percent from the 1990's. http://news.mongabay.com/2007/1119-interview_chazdon.html 39) Biodiversity loss from deforestation may be partly offset by the expansion of secondary forests and plantation forestry in the tropics. However, our current knowledge of the value of these habitats for biodiversity conservation is limited to very few taxa, and many studies are severely confounded by methodological shortcomings. We examined the conservation value of tropical primary, secondary, and plantation forests for 15 taxonomic groups using a robust and replicated sample design that minimized edge effects. Different taxa varied markedly in their response to patterns of land use in terms of species richness and the percentage of species restricted to primary forest (varying from 5% to 57%), yet almost all between-forest comparisons showed marked differences in community structure and composition. Cross-taxon congruence in response patterns was very weak when evaluated using abundance or species richness data, but much stronger when using metrics based upon community similarity. Our results show that, whereas the biodiversity indicator group concept may hold some validity for several taxa that are frequently sampled (such as birds and fruit-feeding butterflies), it fails for those exhibiting highly idiosyncratic responses to tropical land-use change (including highly vagile species groups such as bats and orchid bees), highlighting the problems associated with quantifying the biodiversity value of anthropogenic habitats. Finally, although we show that areas of native regeneration and exotic tree plantations can provide complementary conservation services, we also provide clear empirical evidence demonstrating the irreplaceable value of primary forests. http:// www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/0703333104/DC1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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