339 - Earth's Tree News

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Today for you 35 new articles about earth's trees! (340th edition)

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--Myanmar / Burma: 1) One of world's Deadliest Cyclones due to deforestation

--Vietnam: 2) Videos of illegal loggers

--Mumbai: 3) 50% of its forest lost in 30 years

--Solomon Islands: 4) Forests sold below value, 5) Macroeconomic

strategies needed,

--Malaysia: 6) Forests preserves on the Thailand border, 7) Paddy

Farmers losing their crop water to loggers, 8) Illegal logging in 650

hectares of Forest Reserves,

--Borneo: 9) 1,300 species of trees and plants planted becomes

ecological miracle,

--Indonesia: 10) IP goes against their own greenwash rules, 11)

" Model " conservation villages to be built around reserves, 12) 10

million hectares of forests converted to Palm oil since 2000, 13)

Forest protection / destruction stats, 14) Using radio shows to save

forests, 15) 70 million who live in or near forests survive on less

than a $1 a day, 16) Stop mining in protected forests, 17) Shift of

" biodiversity paradigm " to " carbon sink paradigm, " 18) Palm Oil

industries' plans and stats, 19) STB and Crestino Intl. to build 100

palm oil mills,

--New Zealand: 20) Kyoto's wicked problem, 21) Save the edges of

Rotorua's Tikitapu (Blue Lake), 22) Cont.

--Australia: 23) Weyco sells holdings to Carter Holt, 24) Thousands of

Red Gums saved with 17 billion liters of water, 25) Buffer zone

restoration for Coffs Creek Flying Fox Camp, 26) Sawmill ruined by

State's Native Forestry Code of Practice, 27) Hobart's bushfire smoke

fallout continues, 28) GUNNS gets $15 million if they can't log

everything they want to log, 29) Help save Lower Weld Valley, 30)

Social costs of new dam that will flood Williams Valley,

--World-wide: 31) MAP saves Mangroves, 32) Book: " Forests: The Shadow

of Civilization " 33) 56-page report: Carbon Finance, 34) Resist GE

trees, 35) Nature of most logging operations in undeveloped parts of

the world,

 

 

Myanmar / Burma:

 

1) After the dead are finally counted in Myanmar, the cyclone that hit

on May 2nd will go down as one of the deadliest cyclones of all time.

Currently seventh on that list is the 1991 cyclone that killed 138,866

people in Bangladesh. Some estimate the Burmese death toll will be

around 100,000. The reports are streaming in about how many dead, how

many injured, how many missing, how many homeless and, worryingly, the

relief organizations' frustration at the sluggish acceptance of

foreign aid by the country's authoritarian military leaders. But one

report is not making the current top headlines and may not merit

mainstream news coverage even after the dust in Myanmar has settled.

And that's the fact that if the country's mangrove forests hadn't been

cleared over the years, many people would have survived this disaster.

Mangrove forests -- which grow along shorelines and up to a few miles

inland -- provide a natural barrier against giant waves. After the

Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, it was found that mangrove forests

protected coastal communities in several countries in the region. The

International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) looked at

the death tolls in two Sri Lankan villages that were hit by the

tsunami. They found that only two people died in the village that was

protected by dense mangroves, while the other village, with no similar

vegetation, lost 6,000. Several countries have established trade

embargos against Myanmar. In 2003, the United States put into law the

Burma Freedom and Democracy Act, which bans all Burmese imports.

European Union sanctions include restrictions on the import of Burmese

timber, metals and gemstones and the prohibition of EU investment in

Burmese mining and logging industries. But the success of sanctions

from the West is questionable, especially when the Burmese dictators

enjoy an unfettered trade with their neighbors that helped the nation

to a 2.9 percent growth rate last year. Thailand gobbles up almost 50

percent of Myanmar's exports, with most of the rest taken by India,

China and Japan. And people who live in places that do not have import

sanctions in place against Myanmar can think twice about eating

Burmese shrimp and buying Burmese teak. These may seem like small

gestures, but at these increasingly interconnected times, we all would

do well to ponder again the famous question asked by meteorologist

Philip Merilees in 1972: Does the flap of a butterfly's wings in

Brazil set off a tornado in Texas?

http://13point7billion.blogspot.com/2008/05/shrimp-effect-does-eating-shrimp-in.\

html

 

Vietnam:

 

2) The videos show sawing machines, falling trees and people loading

logs onto trucks as they laugh and talk. Although illegal logging has

been occurring for several years, Tien said the destruction escalated

early last year. Every day, hundreds of valuable trees are cut down by

illegal loggers and transported to Dong Xoai, the provincial town, for

sale. Using the digital video cameras he bought to expose the logging,

Tien has even videotaped interviews with hamlet leaders, asking for

their comments on his recordings of two uniformed forest rangers

ordering five young men to cut down trees and load the logs on a

truck. The interviews were recorded in parts of the forest destroyed

by illegal logging. Tien sent copies of the most startling parts of

his videos to many provincial agencies but the deforestation has not

been stopped. " They said I film at one place and talk about another

place, " Tien said. After seeing some video clips, Thanh Nien reporters

asked Tien to show them the destruction of the forests. More than 100

meters from warning signs, in a primeval forest of about three

hectares, hundreds of trees the size of an adult's thigh had been

felled and were lying on the ground, leaves still green. Further off,

newly-cut wood being burnt popped like firecrackers. Four or five

people had started a fire. Tien said they had been hired to burn all

traces of the illegal logging. Near the fire, there were hundreds of

felled trees, two trucks, a crane and more than 10 people working

hurriedly. " The wood from the forest is brought here and loaded on the

trucks, with the big wood hidden under the small wood, to be

transported to Dong Xoai, " Tien said. Hundreds of hectares of forests

had been destroyed.

http://www.thanhniennews.com/features/?catid=10 & newsid=38406

 

 

Mumbai:

 

3) Experts say that over the last 30 years, Mumbai has lost of over 50

per cent of this unique eco-system. In 1975, the city had a cover of

50 sq kms of mangroves. Today, merely half of them are left.

Environmentalists allege that the politican-builder lobby

systematically destroyed the mangroves. ''They don't allow the water

to enter and gradually they begin dumping rubble around the mangrove,

killing it and then they declare the land arid,'' said Dr Quadros. But

though urban planners agree a balance needs to be struck, they say the

paucity of land in Mumbai is putting greater pressure on the

environment. ''A lot of exaggeration is being done and developers are

therefore being considered anti-development. But if you want Mumbai to

be the financial capital of South East Asia, you cannot stop

development,'' said Rajiv Mishra, urban planner, IAG Consultants.

''When it comes to a land parcel for development, the model that

Mumbai has adopted is that of land sharing. You've got to give up

something to get something. There is no clear thumb rule which says

you've to destroy so much of environment to get so much of

development,'' he added.

http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080049282 & ch=5/8/2008%\

208:11:00%20PM

 

Solomon Islands:

 

4) It is a big concern for the government when logs from the natural

forest are gone in the not too long distant. This indicates lack of

strategic planning by successive governments over the past years since

Solomon Islands got its independance to be able to visualise the trend

of the countries important resources such as that of the forest. The

government relies heavily on round log export duty thinking that the

forest will be stable over time but in our case " not " . The government

continue to embark on selling its owned forest plantations for a few

million dollars some years ago which really did not reflect the real

value of the forest plantations at that time. Had the government hang

on to its forest plantations which were located in different parts of

the country and had the government serious about reforestation

programs on government own lands and in customaryland, the trend in

revenue collected from log export would be stable. Because when the

merchantable forest is gone, the next succession crop should be ready

in ten years time, this is if logging operations are controlled and

done according to the Solomon Islands code of harvesting practice in

which the forestry department has sole responsibility over. The

transission period that it takes to wait for the next natural forest

harvest would be eased by harvesting trees from government plantations

and even from community or family owned forest stands. I suggest that

the government of the day take drastic measures to maintain only

genuine logging companies, forster natural regeneration in concession

areas to speed up the next available crop, re-enforce strick

monitoring and avoid logging companies getting away with super small

logs which are our next harvest and assist reforestation programs in

all provinces. http://solomontimes.com/letter.aspx?show=298

 

 

5) At the launching Mr Lilo said Government had already taken the

first step to ensure the country receives a fair return on the

extraction of forest resources. He said this is by increasing the

determined value for export round logs. However, Mr Sogavare said what

is not clear in the CNURA Government's medium term strategy regarding

the forestry sector is the specific measures the government is taking.

He said this is important to ensure the remaining harvestable logging

area are sustainably developed so that the country continues to earn

the much needed revenue from round log exports. " Our immediate concern

is that the CNURA Government's new forestry policy will create a hole

in the 2008 Budget and thus it must actively find alternative source

of revenue, " he said. He said the Opposition Group would want to see

well-researched macroeconomic strategies to address the country's

preparedness to face the challenges looming in the medium term. The

Opposition Leader added that the need for a bridging revenue support

would also be necessary if the Government is considering a major

reform in the forestry sector.

http://solomonstarnews.com/index.php?option=com_content & task=view & id=1425 & change\

=71 & changeown=

78 & Itemid=26

 

Malaysia:

 

6) The 300,000ha forest complex in Hulu Perak is bounded by the

Malaysia-Thailand border and is linked to the Hala-Bala Wildlife

Sanctuary and Bang Lang National Park. The East-West Highway from Ipoh

to the East Coast divides the forest reserve into two parts – the

Upper Belum (to the north) and the Temenggor Forest Reserve (to the

south), which includes Lower Belum. The forest is known for its rich

bio-diversity. It is home to more than 100 species of mammals,

including the Asian elephant, Malayan tiger, leopard, sun-bear,

Sumatran rhinoceros and Malayan tapir According to the Malaysian

Nature Society (MNS), all 10 hornbill species of Malaysia can be found

within the forest complex, including the endangered Plain-pouched

Hornbill. Last year, the Royal Belum State Park was gazetted and

granted fully protected status. The Federal and State governments also

announced that logging would be phased out in the Temenggor Forest

Reserve by 2008. This was achieved through a partnership with The Body

Shop in postcard campaign, whereby 80,000 signatures were collected in

support of the effort. The 117,500ha Royal Belum is managed by the

Perak State Parks Corporation and guarded by the army. It comprises

tropical rainforest with many river systems, small grassland areas and

Tasik Temenggor, a large man-made lake. However, the battle to Save

Belum-Temenggor is only half-won, and to create greater awareness of

the need to save Malaysia's green heritage, the Body Shop and MNS

recently organised a nature trip into the wild. The journey began in

Pulau Banding, which is the gateway to the forest complex.

http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2008/5/8/central/21032350 & sec=centra\

l

 

7) More than 9,000 padi farmers in Selangor face the possibility of

losing their crop because illegal loggers have felled timber in a

water catchment area of the Raja Musa Forest Reserve which is a source

of water to their padi fields. The illegal loggers, who are suspected

to have been operating there for two years, have levelled the area in

the 650-hectare reserve. Besides the Raja Musa Forest Reserve, the

Bestari Jaya Forest Reserve near Universiti Industri Selangor (Unisel)

and the Hopeful Estate Forest Reserve are also sources of water supply

for padi-growing areas in Tanjung Karang, Sabak Bernam, Sekinchan and

Kuala Selangor. It is learnt that land in the logged area of the Raja

Musa Forest Reserve was sold illegally for between RM8,000 and RM8,500

for every two acres, and that about 100 people had bought plots.

Illegal logging is also said to be going on in the Bestari Jaya and

Hopeful Estate forest reserves.

 

8) More than 650 hectares of forest reserve and state land, at three

different sites, have been ravaged and logged under the noses of the

Forestry Department.The Selangor government has launched a full-scale

investigation into the scandal. The ravaged sites at the Raja Musa and

Tanjung Karang Forest Reserves are important water catchment areas.

Their destruction can adversely affect rice yields in Tanjung Karang

and Sekinchan. Selangor executive councillor for Agriculture, Natural

Resources and Entrepreneur Development Yaakob Sapari said the

destruction was irresponsible and illegal. " This has been going on for

between two and three years. " However, the authorities have not done

anything to curb it. " Yaakob said an investigation was under way to

find out why authorities had turned a blind eye to the destruction.

" The Forestry Department had issued fines and seized excavators of the

culprits but nothing concrete was done to stop the deforestation. "

Yaakob yesterday toured peat swamps, which had been devastated at the

Raja Musa Forest Reserve, with Sekinchan assemblyman Ng Swee Lim. The

site borders padi fields in Tanjung Karang, while Sungai Tengi, which

flows through the area, is an important water source for farmers. " I

have ordered the department to cordon off the entrances into the

encroached sites and to immediately start reforestation activities. "

Yaakob said all relevant authorities would be ordered to monitor the

sites to prevent further destruction. Ng suspects politically-linked

syndicates were behind the deforestation. " It is learnt they logged

the area before selling small lots to unsuspecting buyers for between

RM8,000 and RM8,500. " The buyers were then assured they would be able

to obtain temporary occupation licences for the land, from the

previous state government. Ng said he has received several complaints

from those who have been hoodwinked into buying the land but they were

afraid of the syndicate and have refused to lodge an official report.

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Wednesday/National/2233614/Article/index_\

html

 

Borneo:

 

9) From this ruined landscape a fresh forest has been grown, teeming

with insects, birds and animals, and cooled by the return of moist

clouds and rain. It is a feat that offers hope for disappearing and

ruined rainforests around the world. The secret was to use more than

1300 species of local trees and a fertiliser made with cow urine, says

Dr Willie Smits, the Indonesian forestry expert who led the

replanting. " The place became the scene of an ecological miracle, a

fairytale come true, " says Smits, who has written a book about the

project. Rainforests are home to half the world's 10 million species

of plants, animals and insects, store more carbon than the Earth's

atmosphere, clean air and water, and regulate temperatures and rains.

The United Nations estimates that every day more than 14,000ha of

primary rainforest are cut down - a figure campaigners warn is

" conservative " . The area around the small town of Samboja was like a

" moonscape " when Smits first visited it nearly a decade ago. The

rainforest had been cut and burned and the land was covered with

grasses. Without the forest, the rains disappeared and temperatures

rose. Streams dried up, harvests failed, fires broke out, jobs

disappeared and ill health soared. " The only thing I saw was this huge

sea of yellow, waving grass; there was wind, but there was no rustling

of leaves, " Smits said. " There were no birds, not even insects,

nothing but this damned grass. " Smits raised money to buy 2025ha and

six years ago set about planting seeds collected from more than 1300

species of tree, more even than would have lived in the original

forest. These were planted with a fertilizer made from sugar,

excrement, food waste, sawdust and cow urine. Already Smits and his

team from the Borneo Orang-utan Survival Foundation claim the forest

is " mature " , with trees up to 35m high. Cloud cover has increased by

12 per cent, rainfall by a quarter, and temperatures have dropped

3-5C, helping people and wildlife to thrive, says Smits. Nine species

of primate have also returned, including orang-utans. " If you walk

there now, 116 bird species have found a place to live, there are more

than 30 types of mammals, insects are there. The whole system is

coming to life. I knew what I was trying to do, but the force of

nature has totally surprised me. " People have benefited from being

given land around the forest to plant crops, providing food and

income. " It was the poorest district in the area, now it's above

average, " said Smits. " It can be done anywhere. The principles are

that you must have scientifically sound approaches, work with local

trees, and you have to have the respect of local people - that's the

key. " http://jungaling.com/Malaysia/?p=194

 

 

Indonesia:

 

10) Rainforest Action Network and ForestEthics today condemned a

proposal by U.S.-based International Paper to build a pulp mill and

establish 1.2 million acres of plantation forest in the heart of the

Indonesian rainforest. The groups urged International Paper, which is

holding its Annual General Meeting today, to not violate its own paper

policy and to abandon its plans to expand into Indonesia, a global

warming and biodiversity hot spot. The policy,[1] announced in 2003,

states: " International Paper will not procure or use wood that

originates in biological hotspots or endangered, native forests in

Indonesia or other parts of the world designated by Conservation

International, as biodiversity hotspots or major tropical wilderness

areas. We will assure that any wood procured from within the

boundaries of these special areas comes solely from plantations and

that our procurement practices do not jeopardize the ecological

integrity of these hotspots. Most Indonesian wood is either harvested

illegally or taken without consent from the country's Indigenous

peoples, " said Brant Olson, director of Rainforest Action Network's

Old Growth Campaign. " A move by International Paper to break its own

commitment by sourcing from Indonesia would be a major setback for the

climate, biodiversity, and Indonesia's forest communities. "

International Paper is among the world's biggest pulp and paper

producers. In 2003, it joined home builder Centex Homes and home

improvement retailer Lanoga in announcing it would stop buying

Indonesian wood products until the Indonesian government sufficiently

addressed illegal logging within its borders and respected the

property rights of its Indigenous populations. Since then, logging

practices have further deteriorated, Indonesia's small farmers and

Indigenous groups continue to be pushed off their traditional lands,

and the country's carbon-rich forests and peatlands are disappearing

at the alarming rate of more than 2.8 million hectares a year.

http://www.commondreams.org/news2008/0512-15.htm

 

11) The Forestry Ministry together with the U.S. Agency for

International Development (USAID) announced more model conservation

villages to be built around protected forests and nature preserves.

There are currently 182 conservation villages in West Java, Central

Java, East Java, Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam and North Sumatra, Forestry

Minister M.S. Ka'ban said here Wednesday. " Those villages are located

in upstream areas close to nature preserves, " he said. " Through the

conservation villages project, we hope local people will help us to

preserve forests. " The conservation village project is a community

empowerment initiative involving local people. It aims to protect

forests and wildlife habitats by reducing deforestation and watershed

pollution. There are around 22 million hectares of conservation area

in Indonesia. However, according to the ministry, the areas are

endangered by deforestation, forests fires, illegal logging and

illegal trading of rare plants and animals. Deforestation has damaged

some 59 million hectares out of the country's 120.35 million hectares

of forest. According to the ministry, 2,040 villages with 660,845

inhabitants, who live adjacent to protected areas, are dependent on

the forests for their livelihood. Darori, the ministry's director

general of forest preservation and nature conservation, said the

conservation village model aims to educate local people about forest

rehabilitation and ecosystem restoration. " As a start, we must give

people who live nearby the protected areas the correct information

about forest preservation so as to maximize the benefits through

conservation, " he said. " People must understand they will gain greater

access to clean water through environment preservation, " he said.

According to the director of Basic Human Services of USAID, Alfred

Nakatsuma, the five-year project, which started in 2005, is having a

positive effect. " So far we're very happy with the results and we're

planning future activities. Hopefully, the conservation village models

can soon be implemented nationwide, " he said.

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

 

12) Forest conversion has reached an alarming level in Indonesia with

more than 10 million hectares of protected forest converted for

business use since the inception of regional autonomy in 2000, a study

says. The study, conducted by the Greenomics Indonesia environmental

group, found most regional spatial plans do not aim to protect

forests. " In fact, some existing spatial planning … expedites forest

conversions, " Greenomics executive director Elfian Effendi told The

Jakarta Post on Thursday. " The area of converted forest now exceeds

158 times the size of Singapore. " Indonesia is the world's

third-largest forestry country, with over 120 million hectares of

rainforest. The government has set aside about 40 million hectares for

both protected and conservation forests, where plantation, agriculture

or logging activities are not allowed. " However, as forest conversion

remains common practice, only 30 million hectares of protected forest

are now left. They will disappear in the short term unless the

government takes actions to stop forest conversion, " Elfian said. The

issue of forest conversion made the headlines when the Corruption

Eradication Commission (KPK) arrested lawmaker Al Amin Nasution for

allegedly accepting a bribe to facilitate the approval for forest to

be converted on Bintan Island, Riau, last month. The Bintan

administration requested the government's permit through the House of

Representatives to convert around 200 hectares of a 7,300-hectare

protected forest for an office complex project. The Greenomics study

found that in the last two years alone, there were at least 40 cases

where forest land was converted into plantations and agricultural

land, covering about 195,000 hectares of protected forest. Greenomics

found some 327,000 hectares of its protected forest has been converted

under forest concessions in North Sumatra, while in Aceh about 160,000

hectares of protected forest was turned into plantation and

agricultural areas.

http://redapes.org/downloads/green-economics-group-indonesian-forest-conversions\

-alarming/

 

13) There are around 22 million hectares of conservation area in

Indonesia. However, according to the ministry, the areas are

endangered by deforestation, forests fires, illegal logging and

illegal trading of rare plants and animals. Deforestation has damaged

some 59 million hectares out of the country's 120.35 million hectares

of forest. According to the ministry, 2,040 villages with 660,845

inhabitants, who live adjacent to protected areas, are dependent on

the forests for their livelihood. Darori, the ministry's director

general of forest preservation and nature conservation, said the

conservation village model aims to educate local people about forest

rehabilitation and ecosystem restoration. " As a start, we must give

people who live nearby the protected areas the correct information

about forest preservation so as to maximize the benefits through

conservation, " he said. " People must understand they will gain greater

access to clean water through environment preservation, " he said.

According to the director of Basic Human Services of USAID, Alfred

Nakatsuma, the five-year project, which started in 2005, is having a

positive effect. " So far we're very happy with the results and we're

planning future activities. Hopefully, the conservation village models

can soon be implemented nationwide, " he said. Aep Saefudin, a

conservation village resident living in Sukatani, Cianjur, West Java,

said he was excited about the project. " The field school, one of the

programs within the project, has given us greater knowledge of how to

benefit from the land properly, " he said.

http://old.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20080509.H04 & irec=3

 

14) Radio was the ideal medium with which to draw attention to the

problem, as it is the most popular form of media in Indonesia. Along

with the Indonesian partner station Radio KBR68H, and with support

from the German Development Ministry, the forest conservation project

went into action. For Germany's international broadcaster Deutsche

Welle and its Indonesian language radio department that was a good

reason to raise awareness of the problem in the country itself. The

aim of the project was to make a feature series of 10-minute reports

to broadcast on about 400 local radio stations during the climate

summit. For the journalists involved, it was a rare opportunity to do

some solid on-the-spot research – something their limited resources

usually don't allow, says Ade Wahyudi, program manager at KBR68H. " In

the provinces in particular, journalists don't have the technical or

the financial capacity for fact-finding trips, " he said, adding that

the complex topic of forest conservation can best be communicated to

listeners when presented in a lively way and told from the perspective

of those affected. The project yielded some interesting results. Some

of the journalists went to the island of Kalimantan, looking for

Sebuku elephants. Only a few dozen of them have survived the

destruction of their habitat in the forests of East Kalimantan. In

eastern Java, project members found a village where every single

resident earns a living from illegal logging. Not even the police dare

to go there. Another team went to Poso and Palu in central Sulawesi,

places famous for the black wood of the ebony tree. Officially, ebony

is protected and the trees must not be felled. But the violent

conflict in the region makes the rules hard to enforce and prevents

reforestation programs. The decades-long conflict in Papua between the

local population and the central government with its huge army

presence has also had an impact on the environment. The military,

foreign companies, local officials – there are many different parties

earning money in the timber trade.

http://spreadthehopes.blogspot.com/2008/05/defending-nature-with-microphone-and.\

html

 

15) Indonesia has nearly 70 million people living in or near forest

land, many of them living on less than US$1 per day. Illegal logging

operations cause widespread destruction of forests and, although it

does earn short-term gains for a few, it destroys the livelihoods of

people who depend upon the forests. Just after we left, Indonesian

officials cracked down on smallholder illegal logging in the region.

But having smallholders thrown into jail is not necessarily a success.

Many of these imprisoned are people living under a US$1 per day. They

often live in miserable circumstances and are trying to make a living.

They are not the buyers or the people who are driving the illegal

deforestation. Undoubtedly, as soon as the police leave, new illegal

loggers will replace the old ones and the long-term gain will still be

missing. Law enforcement is needed, but it must be done with smart

planning and development—not by simply throwing people out or

arresting them. Why? 1) Indonesia is one of the largest tropical

timber producers, with an estimated 80 percent of timber exports being

illegal. This poses serious environmental and economic concerns. 2)

The Indonesian government fails to capture over US$100 million per

year in tax revenue on illegal logging and exports. 3) The cheap and

plentiful supply of timber from illegal sources depresses timber

prices worldwide by 2 percent to 4 percent and thus also impacts the

U.S. timber industry. 4) Deforestation in Indonesia accounts for 4

percent of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. And thus deforestation

in Indonesia is a major contributor to climate change.

http://www.wri.org/stories/2008/05/first-hand-account-illegal-logging-indonesian\

-rainforests

 

16) Our president had the power to stop mining in protected forests, "

said Rully Symanda of Indonesia's environmental protection alliance

WALHI. " He did not. Nice speeches are followed by contradictory

policy, influenced by the powerful mining lobby. " Symanda was still

optimistic in December, because Indonesian President Susilo Bambang

Yudhoyono had given a wonderful speech then at the climate summit in

Bali. " We are gathered here to fulfill the hopes of over six billion

people, " Yudhoyono said. " Every nation must become part of the

solution, not part of the problem. " After Brazil, Indonesia has the

world's second-largest rain forest. Deforestation releases carbon

dioxide, accounting for one-fourth of the global rise in the

concentration of greenhouse gases. Therefore, making forests disappear

is the second deadly sin against the Earth's climate following the

burning of fossil fuels. " Forests are our only option for carbon

sinks, " Yudhoyono said to enthusiastic applause. " Those blessed with

forests must do all they can to preserve and expand their forest

cover. " Yet, only two months later, and away from the public eye,

Yudhoyono allowed 13 firms to continue open pit mining in protected

forests. http://redapes.org/downloads/indonesia-should-be-ashamed-of-itself/

 

17) If the shift of " biodiversity paradigm " to " carbon sink paradigm "

gains more support among foresters, the pressure from forest

industries to harvest more timber in natural forests will get

stronger. Forest industries are very willing to promote the

controversial idea of Patrick Moore (a former Greenpeace activist who

established Greenspirit, a consulting firm on the environment and

natural resources) to use more wood because a rise in wood demand

would supposedly trigger the market to plant more trees. Local

government officials and parliament members will be very happy to hear

this idea because they will have a strong argument to clear-cut

natural forests and get a lot of money from the timber. Not only

natural forests in production forest areas, but also in conservation

forest areas will likely be harvested since the central government has

little power to protect it. These companies just want to get money

from the timber and not to make plantations. The government has little

power nor political will to punish these companies. If the forest

companies want to make tree plantations in order to get more wood and

absorb carbon at the same time, they can do so in degraded forest

areas, which account for about 60 million hectares, and in critical

land within and outside forest areas, which is 41 million hectares.

http://old.thejakartapost.com/detaileditorial.asp?fileid=20080513.E04 & irec=3

 

18) Executive director of the Indonesian Palm Oil Association (GAPKI),

Didiek Hadjar Goenadi, said here Monday palm oil companies would focus

on utilizing idle land, including former forest concession areas, to

maintain Indonesia as the world's largest crude palm oil producer. " We

realize the environmental impacts by opening all our forests so we

will stop touching the forest and just concentrate on abundant lands

which have not been cultivated yet, " Didiek told reporters during a

break in a a seminar on climate change, agriculture and trade. There

are currently 6.7 million hectares of oil palm plantations in the

country -- half belonging to private firms, while the rest are

operated by small-scale farmers. Only about 600,000 hectares are

managed by state-owned enterprises. Didiek estimated there were about

seven million hectares of idle land across the country that could be

used to plant oil palms or rubber trees. He said the association's

members had applied the so-called roundtable on sustainable palm oil

(RSOP), an international initiative promoting sustainability up and

down the palm oil supply chain. " But since many oil palm plantations

are operated by farmers, many of them are still unaware about the RSOP

regulations. It is the government's task to educate them, " he said.

Indonesia's crude palm oil production reached its highest-ever level

of 17.2 million tons last year, passing Malaysia, which produced 16

million tons. Environmental activists have stepped up protests against

the country's palm oil companies, accusing the firms of expanding

their operations by clearing formerly forested land.

http://old.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20080513.A07 & irec=6

 

19) Sitt Tatt Berhadon Friday said its wholly-owned unit, STB

Technologies Pte Ltd, has teamed up with Crestino International

Limited to build and operate palm oil mills in Indonesia. On May 9,

STB Technologies signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Crestino to

participate in the project by investing RM20.0 million. The sum will

be paid to Ithmaar Development Company Limited to enable Crestino to

fulfill the pre-condition for the approval in principle by IDC to

finance the business, Sitt Tatt said in a statement to Bursa Malaysia

on May 9. On 25 May 2007, Crestino was awarded the rights to construct

and manage 100 palm oil mills in Indonesia by PT Permodalan Nasional

Madani Techno Venture. Crestino will establish a marketing/trading

company in Singapore to handle the marketing and trading of the final

products of the palm oil mills, the statement said. Crestino will

establish a marketing/trading company in Singapore to handle the

marketing and trading of the final products of the palm oil mills, the

statement said.

http://redapes.org/downloads/deforestation-continues-malaysian-companies-to-buil\

d-palm-oil-mill

s-in-indonesia-orangutans-beware/

 

 

New Zealand:

 

20) Forest owners are angry that Government plans to defer the

inclusion of transport fuels in the emissions trading scheme will

leave them with carbon credits they will struggle to sell. " We look

around and we don't see a lot of other people in the ETS, " NZ Forest

Owners Association David Rhodes told members of Parliament's finance

and expenditure select committee yesterday. In the early years of the

scheme, oil companies would have been the biggest buyers of carbon

credits which the owners of post-1990 forests fought long and hard

for. Following a backdown by the Government last week, that demand

will now be deferred until 2011. NZFOA chairman Peter Berg said:

" There is a sense among foresters that anything is liable to happen in

the future, so why invest in forestry. " Concerns about the market for

devolved carbon credits come on top of existing concerns about the

treatment of pre-1990 forests arising out of provision of the Kyoto

Protocol. If landowners want to switch to another land use, such as

dairying, upon harvest, they face a prohibitive liability for the

carbon in the trees, which is deemed to be emitted then and there. The

effect is to lock the land into forestry, which might not be its best

use. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/3/story.cfm?c_id=3 & objectid=10509688

 

21) Logging on the edges of Rotorua's Tikitapu (Blue Lake) could kill

off the iconic lake, a professor warns. Environment Bay of Plenty

chairman Professor David Hamilton has warned the popular lake is close

to a disastrous tipping point, and sediment resulting from planned

logging could ruin its pristine waters. Mr Hamilton said the logging

could have disastrous effects if they were carried out similar to what

had been done at Lake Rotokakahi (Green Lake). Timberlands, which

manages the cutting rights of the forest, is to undergo selective

logging around the lake which would see about half of the trees

removed and the popular walking track around the lake closed for a

short period. Helicopters are being used for the felling. Timberlands

forest risk manager Colin Maunder told the Daily Post last month it

intends to replace the entire area with redwoods in 25 years. However,

Mr Maunder would not answer Daily Post questions yesterday, only

saying " the operations were recently inspected by Environment Bay of

Plenty and considered to be compliant with council standards " . Mr

Hamilton said Tikitapu's surface water was pristine, but oxygen levels

in the lake's depths had dropped. The waters were completely devoid of

oxygen at the end of summer. He said the loss of oxygen had been the

first obvious indicator of the decline of water quality in other

Rotorua lakes, such as Okaro, Rotoiti and Rotorua. " Actions that

increase sediment and nutrient inputs to Lake Tikitapu will hasten

this decline. " Mr Hamilton said a Master of Science study was carried

out this year at Waikato University on Lake Rotokakahi (Green Lake),

which has recently been logged extensively by Timberlands. He said the

study found substantially increased sediment concentrations in the

lake water during and following the period of logging.

http://www.dailypost.co.nz/localnews/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3772085 & thesection\

=localnews & thes

ubsection= & thesecondsubsection=

 

23) The Labor Government has been asleep at the wheel in regards to

the logging of 90-year-old forests on Crown land surrounding the Blue

Lake, Tikitapu, in Rotorua, says National's Environment & Conservation

spokesman, Nick Smith. " These magnificent trees offer far more to New

Zealand and Rotorua for their scenic and recreational value than as

timber and pulp. They are part of the popular Blue Lake walkway and

the stunning scenery that is the backdrop to the busy tourism highway

to Lake Tarawera and the Buried Village. " There is deep and widespread

concern in the Rotorua community about the impacts of this logging on

tourism and recreation. However, the Rotorua District Council can't

fix it without Government support. " Dr Smith says the 90-year-old

douglas fir trees are on Crown land, but the cutting rights are owned

by Kangaroa Timberlands, a company jointly owned by Harvard University

and the New Zealand Superannuation Fund. The company is planning to

selectively log the trees over the next two months in a process that

will require the closure of the Blue Lake track. " Private property

rights must be respected. However, the Nature Heritage Fund could be

used to purchase the rights at reasonable market rates in an agreement

with the local council and the forest owner. " In my view, retaining a

forest like this with conservation value in one of New Zealand's major

tourism destinations should be a higher priority than some of the

other projects this so-called conservation-minded Government gets

itself involved in. And frankly, it also makes commercial sense in

terms of our tourism industry. " Just because these trees are not

native trees, does not mean there is no conservation value in this

instance. The plantation forests of the Whakarewarewa area, including

the majestic redwoods and these massive douglas firs, are part of

Rotorua's rich heritage of forestry experimentation.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0805/S00137.htm

 

 

Australia:

 

23) Weyerhaeuser Co., the largest North American lumber producer,

plans to sell its Australian sawmills to Carter Holt Harvey Ltd. to

help stem losses from slowing U.S. housing markets. Carter Holt, based

in Auckland, didn't say how much it will pay for the units. Global

Forest Partners LP may buy a half-share in 20,000 hectares (49,400

acres) of forest as part of the accord, Federal Way, Washington-based

Weyerhaeuser said in a statement. Weyerhaeuser, which last week

reported a worse-than expected $148 million first-quarter loss, is

selling assets and closing mills amid falling U.S. demand for lumber

used in homebuilding. Carter Holt, part of billionaire Graeme Hart's

Rank Group, will eliminate a competitor by buying the units. ``The

parties are now working to complete the preparation of sale and

purchase agreements,'' said Michael Edgar, Global Forest's

Auckland-based Asia-Pacific director. He wouldn't comment on prices

and said the timetable for completing the transaction will be

determined by regulatory decisions. West Lebanon, New Hampshire-based

Global Forest manages about $2 billion of trees worldwide. It last

year bought Weyerhaeuser out of a New Zealand forest and sawmilling

venture in Nelson. Carter Holt last year sought bids for its board and

lumber mills in Australia and New Zealand after being approached by a

potential buyer. The opportunity to buy the Weyerhaeuser assets arose

during that process, Rank said in a statement today. A purchase

``represents the best immediate strategic step in improving the

combined business,'' Rank said. The company wouldn't comment further.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601081 & sid=aPdCUp1ytH9I & refer=australia

 

24) Thousands of red gums on the brink of death have been saved —

temporarily at least — after 17 billion litres of water were released

from dams to boost Victoria's ailing Murray wetlands. The water

sparked an immediate response from the environment. Hundreds of frogs

spawned, waterbirds arrived and tortoises laid eggs. Many of the areas

targeted had not seen water for two years. Numbers of waterbirds have

dropped by two-thirds during the 11-year drought. About 10,000 red

gums — some 500 years old — would have been dead within a year had the

environmental flow not occurred, said Dr Jane Doolan, from the

Department of Sustainability and Environment. Water has flowed through

the wetlands and creeks for two weeks. Recent studies have found that

70% of red gums in northern Victoria are dead or dying. This month's

watering will cover only 900 hectares, or 1.4% of the state's river

red gums. The environmental allocation consists of 6 billion litres

from the Murray-Darling Basin Commission's Living Murray program and

11 billion litres from Victoria's pool of environmental water. It is

flooding the Gunbower Wetlands north-west of Echuca; Little Lake Boort

west of Echuca; the Lindsay-Walpolla site in the Mallee; and the

Reedy, Kinnaird, Black and Moodies swamps near Shepparton. State

Environment and Climate Change Minister Gavin Jennings said the water

had prevented ancient forests from turning into red gum graveyards.

" Some of the river red gums were alive when Columbus discovered the

Americas. They are part of all Victorians' heritage, " he said. The

Murray remains bleak, however. Dried-up wetlands and creeks in the

lower parts of the river in South Australia have started to turn

acidic and leach heavy metals, including high amounts of aluminium and

arsenic, zinc and lead. The $12.9 billion water package to save the

Murray has been finalised, but water specialist Mike Young, from the

Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, has warned that time is

running out and the Federal Government must act quickly to use $3

billion to buy back the 1500 billion litres the river system needs to

be healthy. The Bureau of Meteorology winter forecast for the basin,

released last week, suggested another dry El Nino phase could be on

the way and there was little hope of good rainfall. The basin

commission's chief executive, Dr Wendy Craik, described the situation

as not terribly optimistic, but dam levels were slightly higher now

than at this time last year.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/environment/parched-forests-get-an-overdue-drink/2\

008/05/10/1210

131335204.html

 

 

25) Work is set to begin in mid May on the vegetation management plan

designed to create a buffer zone around the Coffs Creek Flying Fox

Camp to alleviate its impacts on local residents. The strategy was

adopted after extensive consultation with residents and the NSW

Department of Environment and Climate Change (DECC) – which is the

regulatory body – and issued Council with a license to carry out the

vegetation work. This consultation is ongoing and includes workshops

with residents and regular meetings of the Working Group. DECC will

also continue to provide technical advice and support. The vegetation

management plan aims to consolidate the flying foxes in the centre of

the reserve, away from residential properties. This will be achieved

by creating a vegetation buffer zone around the camp. Tall and

fruit-bearing trees, which attract flying foxes, are to be removed

from the periphery of the reserve and low-growing natives planted in

their place. Native species will also be planted throughout the core

of the camp to encourage roosting in the centre. In addition, exotic

weeds are to be cleared from the area to aid the growth of native

species. The ultimate goal is a screen of native vegetation around the

perimeter of the camp that discourages bat occupation, reduces noise

and odour levels by limiting air movement, but enhances the visual

amenity of the area for the residents. The first stage of the plan –

due to begin in mid-May and go on until October – involves the

clearing of specific trees from the periphery of the creek reserve

area and private properties adjoining the reserve. In addition,

under-storey weed control will be carried out and infill planting of

trees in and around the centre of the flying fox camp. The work itself

can only be carried out at the end of the breeding season. The

timetable had to be postponed as there was a late season this year due

to the long periods of rain. DECC has recently advised Council that

the breeding and maternity season is at an end and work can begin in

mid-May. http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=98895

 

 

26) Tamworth sawmiller Garry Frazer is expecting to lose his home

today thanks to the State Government's Native Forestry Code of

Practice. The JT Frazer and Co sawmill closed its doors on December 22

last year. Changes introduced as part of the code had rendered the

once thriving local industry worthless. Mr Frazer, who has rejected a

" paltry " offer of $14,200 compensation from the NSW Government, was

forced to sell the land on which the mill stood to try to recover some

of his losses. Because of the introduction of the code it had proved

impossible to source wood to mill. " I went from receiving two semi

loads of logs a week to one load a month, " he said. Mr Frazer

estimates that between August and December last year he lost from

$60,000 to $70,000. " These changes have totally devastated my life. I

have lost everything, " Mr Frazer said. Since closing the mill he has

been forced to sell other family assets – including property – to make

ends meet. His home phone was disconnected this week and restrictions

have been placed on his water service. He is expecting the bank to

foreclose on his home loan today . Mr Frazer took over as the

owner/operator of J.T. Frazer and Co Sawmill in 1993. He was the third

generation of Frazers to run the family business, set up in Westdale

by his grandfather on May 13, 1953. Member for Tamworth, Peter Draper,

a long time campaigner against the new forestry management regime,

said yesterday it had proved to be a disaster. " Two out of three local

sawmillers have closed or are in the process of shutting up shop, " he

said. " Despite repeated representations... there is still no

acceptable exit package. " The new code has created a maze of

regulations and red tape that make it more trouble than it is worth

for landholders to continue supplying timber to regional mills such as

Mr Frazer's and the Bendemeer Sawmill.

http://tamworth.yourguide.com.au/news/local/news/news-features/squeezed-out-timb\

er-mills-get-th

e-chop/766036.aspx

 

 

27) Bushfire smoke that blanketed the sky above Hobart late last month

graphically marked an abrupt turn in the public debate about forest

management. Environmentalists were quick to make the link between

forest regeneration burns and carbon emissions, and to argue that old

growth should be saved to serve as carbon stores. Indeed, this debate

was anticipated in February at a conference in Hobart on management of

the world's old forests; by co-incidence that week Government adviser

Ross Garnaut released his interim report on Australia's possible

response to global change. Like it or not, carbon and the forestry

debate are now firmly linked. Peppered throughout Garnaut's report are

references to how land cover change, and especially de-forestation, is

connected to worsening climate change. Garnaut advocates

re-forestation and forest conservation to providing breathing space

for new technologies to " de-carbonise " our economy in the next decade

before we trigger dangerous climate change. This would be a brave new

world for forest managers and forest conservationists, both

battle-scarred following decade-long debates about biodiversity

conservation, aesthetics and wood production. While hard-won

agreements for greater reservation and changed forest practices have

been achieved, simmering tensions remain over old-growth forests and

the development of pulp mills. Suddenly the game has changed. The

catch is that rules of the new carbon game for forests are far from

settled. Factoring forests into national and international carbon

trades will be devilishly complicated, as complicated as the global

carbon cycle itself, the full understanding of which remains on the

frontiers of ecological science. To make matters worse for Australia,

the life cycles of eucalypt forests have peculiar attributes,

especially the need for wildfires to initiate regeneration. This

compounds the problem of neatly quantifying the carbon biomass in

forests. The fact that our giant eucalypt forests arise from

occasional intense fires is often forgotten. We need a coherent and

comprehensive national monitoring framework which properly values

carbon in wood products, and establishes a sensible baseline for

forests and the forestry sector. We need to end the " forest wars " and

focus on future challenges. Garnaut may be the trigger for this

renaissance in forest management.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23655530-30417,00.html

 

28) GUNNS will be eligible for up to $15 million compensation if the

wood supply to its pulp mill is cut off. Treasurer Michael Aird

yesterday revealed the State Government had four months ago signed a

tripartite sovereign risk agreement with Forestry Tasmania and Gunns.

He said Gunns had required the agreement for its potential financiers,

but it was " highly unlikely " that the Government would have to pay any

compensation. " It will only be considered if both Houses of Parliament

pass a law that directly results in Forestry Tasmania failing to

supply wood under the terms of the wood supply agreement, " he said.

Forestry Tasmania has a 20-year deal to supply 1.5 million tonnes of

pulpwood from native forests and plantations each year to Gunns' Tamar

Valley pulp mill. The Tasmanian Greens were scathing of the sovereign

risk agreement, saying it would impose a " huge financial penalty on

future taxpayers " if forestry practices were changed. " Tasmania is in

the box seat to gain a big financial windfall when carbon trading gets

underway to counter climate change, as there is a very real prospect

that we will make a lot more money from keeping forests growing as

carbon stores than logging them for pulp, " said Greens leader Peg

Putt. " But Lennon has made this unacceptable deal to try and lock in

logging against the changes we need to make to battle climate change

and leave the legacy of a decent life for our grandchildren and their

grandchildren. " Mr Aird denied the agreement was another example of

the Government looking after the big end of town.

http://www.news.com.au/mercury/story/0,22884,23653069-3462,00.html

 

29) Please write to the below people expressing your concern about

planned logging operations in the Lower Weld Valley. Feel free to

print and sign this letter, write your own (best) , or email Julie

Collins, Peter Garret, and Kevin Rudd. Calling their offices is also

very worthwhile. Remember, these people work for you! If you do write

a letter, please photocop two copies(or write separate letters) and

send them to Peter Garrett and Kevin Rudd. It is important that both

local members and cabinet decision makers are aware of the strength of

community opposition to the destruction of the Weld Valley.

Email/Phone Contacts: Julie Collins: Julie.Collins.MP (03)

6263 5050. ; Peter Garrett:

http://www.petergarrett.com.au/send-enquiry.aspx (02) 9349 6007 ;

Kevin Rudd: http://www.pm.gov.au/contact/index.cfm (07) 3899 4031 See

Form Letter at: http://www.huon.org/forest_info.html#weldletter

 

 

30) I can only tell my own story in order to explain why being well

compensated financially, and perhaps buying somewhere else in the

area, is not the point. As I mentioned before, Mum grew up at Munni

House but lived most of her adult life in Sydney. But in the year 2000

she moved back 'home' to the Williams Valley. Her place is the small

property just past the windy bits after the Tillegra Bridge. We looked

down on it today when where we walking to the trig point. Mum was an

enthusiastic supporter of the local Landcare initiatives and had begun

planting trees on her property. When she died in 2002 we planted a

'Memorial forest' for her and scattered her ashes on the seedling

trees. It was bloody hard yakka planting those trees, all one thousand

or so of them! Many of them are now four or five times my height with

some almost as high as the established casuarinas at the river. The

other day, I was excited to see an Azure Kingfisher on the gate to our

shed where we stay - that's the first time I have ever seen one away

from the protection of the river. Sitting on the verandah of our shed

and hearing the birds singing their little hearts out is the most

beautiful sound. It is one we have only started to hear in the last

year or so, since the trees have grown into a small forest. If this

dam happens, we will all lose some of the most beautiful and the most

viable agricultural land in this country. But those people, who are

connected with this land personally, will lose their history, their

roots, their sense of belonging. My cousins and I will lose the place

where the ashes of my grandfather and grandmother were buried. My

cousin Phillippa will lose her home, in the valley where she grew up.

Her mother Naida, will lose the valley she almost gave her life to

save. For my Uncle Snow and his children, he will lose the dairy he

put so much of his life into even, though he lived in Sydney. His

children will lose the place that has always been part of their lives,

that they love with a fierce passion. For me, I will lose the place

where we scattered my mother's ashes and the place where we planted a

forest in her memory. I will lose the vision I had for my children, to

feel this continuity with their past and their future in this

connection to place. For all of us in the proposed inundated area, we

will lose our valley. http://www.notillegradam.com/?p=80

 

World-wide:

 

31) MAP is dedicated to reversing the degradation of mangrove-forest

ecosystems worldwide. We promote the rights of local coastal peoples,

including fishers and farmers, and encourage community-based,

sustainable management of coastal resources. We are based in the U.S.,

with regional offices in Thailand and Indonesia, and another office

opening soon in Brazil. Mangrove forests are vital for healthy coastal

ecosystems -- their salt-tolerant trees and other plant species

provide nutrients for the marine environment and support immense

varieties of sea life in intricate food webs. Yet for too long, these

vital wetlands have been undervalued, called mosquito-infested, muddy

swamps, worthless and remote. They're being lost to the charcoal and

timber industries, shrimp farms, tourism, golf courses, and

ill-planned urban expansion. We've got a mangrove-y kind of love. The

loss of these wetlands has made coastal regions vulnerable to tsunami

waves and hurricane winds, resulting in the loss of thousands of lives

and billions of dollars in property, as tragically evidenced in the

tsunami of Dec. 26, 2004, in which more than 250,000 people were

killed. Most recently, it is believed that loss of coastal wetlands

along the Mississippi Delta contributed to the immense devastation

from Hurricane Katrina. If mangrove forests and related coastal

wetlands are kept in a healthy state, they can offer a protective

greenbelt to buffer against such otherwise devastating tsunamis or

storm surges.

http://www.grist.org/comments/interactivist/2005/10/03/quarto/?source=daily

 

32) I've been reading the extraordinary book Forests: The Shadow of

Civilization, in which Robert Pogue Harrison describes how our

imaginations are wooded from pole to pole. " If forests appear in our

religions as places of profanity, " he writes, " they also appear as

sacred. If they have been considered places of lawlessness, they have

also provided havens for those who took up the cause of justice . . .

.. If they evoke associations of danger and abandon in our minds, they

also evoke scenes of enchantment. " Forests have done much work in the

human imagination and in our material world as well, furnishing not

only shadows and havens, but food and fuel. We may have come down from

the trees, but we never stopped seeking their shade and wood; our

ancestors learned to coax both game and gardens from the glades. But

the work that forests do isn't limited to the human commonweal. By

absorbing sunlight and carbon, they temper extremes of climate as

well. From the taiga of the far north to the rainforests of the

tropics, forests play a crucial role in sequestering atmospheric

carbon dioxide, trapping the gas in solid form where it can't

contribute to the warming of the planet. Since the evolution of

bark-bearing trees, forests have been managing the carbon cycle; the

CO2 released when we burn oil and coal was trapped by trees in the

carboniferous age, 350 million years ago. Deforestation, then, deals

two blows to our climate. By reducing the number of trees, we limit

the amount of carbon that can be trapped safely; by burning many of

those trees, we release the carbon they've already stored back into

the atmosphere. Deforestation has immediate effects on climate and

environment, too; deforested places are hotter, drier, and more prone

to devastating events like floods and wildfire. In Forests, Harrison

shows how deforestation is written into the DNA of civilization.

Gilgamesh, the first hero in world literature, embarks on a quest to

kill Humbaba, the demon of the forest, who lives in the mountainside

cedar groves harvested to the last by the ancient Sumerians. (It's

telling that Humbaba offers to become Gilgamesh's slave if he will

spare his life.) Actaeon and Artemis; Romulus and Remus; Hansel and

Gretel's sylvan witch–our oldest stories stir with the antipathy

between town and timber. And as the ancient forests fell, so did those

civilizations that both feared and depended upon them. The

Mediterranean basin is sunstruck and bereft of shade today because of

the deforestation wrought by the Mesopotamians, Greeks, and Romans–in

the process bringing about climate change that did as much as

barbarian hordes and new religions to unwork civilization.

http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2008/05/our-fate-in-forests/

 

33) The latest issue of Environmental Finance is now available,

including a special report on the carbon markets. The 56-page special

report, produced in conjunction with Carbon Finance, examines how the

carbon markets are evolving, with a particular focus on the Kyoto

Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism. It also includes articles

looking at how carbon finance is beginning to be applied to preventing

deforestation, and how a post-2012 climate change agreement could

better embrace the forestry and land-use sector. The report examines

how the US, Japan and Australia are embracing – or considering –

emissions trading schemes to tackle carbon emissions, and looks at

opportunities in the fast-growing carbon jobs market. Elsewhere in the

issue, two leading socially responsible investment (SRI) specialists

examine the real story behind the growth in SRI assets under

management, and we profile Michael Eckhart, the head of the American

Council on Renewable Energy. Other features include: 1) How to finance

a boom in biodiversity businesses; 2) An examination of the trends in

corporate social responsibility reporting; 3) The evolution of wind

farm finance; 4) Why environmental liabilities could soon loom larger

in M & A deals. http://www.environmental-finance.com/onlinews/0508new.html

 

34) The timber industry has joined forces with the oil industry and

the biotechnology industry to rapidly advance their work to

commercialize GE trees for pulp and paper as well as agrofuels. They

plan to develop huge plantations of genetically engineered with traits

such as reduced lignin and insect resistance. GE tree plantations will

have catastrophic implications for forests, forest-dependent peoples

and wildlife. The agrofuels boom is driving this rapid advancement of

GE tree technology. GE tree-based agrofuels are being promoted as the

answer to climate change, though use of GE trees for agrofuels will

damage forests and their ability to store carbon, accelerate

deforestation around the world and lead to more and larger monoculture

tree plantations. All of these will worsen climate change. Please join

the STOP GE Trees Campaign and help us stop the commercial release of

GE Trees. http://www.globaljusticeecology.org/

 

 

35) Everett Young writes: The existence of a population of several

logging companies logging the same forest leads almost certainly to

the companies racing to clear-cut the forest as fast as possible,

because each company " knows " that if it does not cut as many trees as

possible, the competition will. How do they know the competition will?

Because they know that the competition knows this same thing about

them. Everyone knows that everyone knows that everyone knows, so every

corporation must race to clear-cut the forest as fast as possible.

This requires no free will and no consciousness. A non-conscious

computer could run the corporation based on purely logical, rational

principles, and would come up with the same strategy without a need

for " evil " uncaused intent. There is only one solution, of course, to

this tragedy of the commons: every corporation must be held

responsible for over-cutting the forest--including disincentives, such

as financial penalties. The corporations can only fulfill their

chartered purpose if they are held responsible. This, without their

even being conscious beings, let alone entertaining illusions of being

free.

http://centerfornaturalism.blogspot.com/2008/05/collective-rationality-of.html