Guest guest Posted August 21, 2008 Report Share Posted August 21, 2008 --Today for you 33 new articles about earth's trees! (387th edition) --You can now RSS tree news in a regional format at: http://forestpolicyresearch.org --To Subscribe / to the world-wide email format send a blank email to: earthtreenews- OR earthtreenews- In this Issue: BC-Canada EU-Africa-Mid-East World-wide Index: --British Columbia: 1) WFP may profit as much as $70 million for selling stolen land, 2) Increased water flows from pine beetle deaths, 3) New economics related to foraging in B.C. forests, 4) Enviros use wrong poster in posterchild campaign, 5) New effort to thrive off logging waste, 6) Faux GBR deal leads to genuine citizen action campaign to demand consultation / protection, 7) Salmon habitat restoration project, --Canada: 8) New Russian Log export taxes accelerate Canadian export opportunities, 9) Kimberly-Clark protest to save the Boreal, 10) Renegade scientist proposes reforesting cities with medicinal trees, 11) Ten sawmills mills down to only one sawmill and it's a mystery as to why? --UK: 12) Wytham Woods is the new European hub for climate studies, 13) Search for the elusive Pine-Martin, 14) Turkey Oaks return to benefit their pre ice-age habitat, --Ireland: 15) State ownership for forests is more valuable --Bulgaria: 16) Low elevation ski resort boondoggle --Portugal: 17) Pine wilt disease, 18) Cork maker promotes buying cork for eco reasons, --Spain: 19) One of the remaining stands of the forests that once stretched without break --Ghana: 20) Next round of UN Climate talks starts here on 8/21 --Uganda: 21) He will nurture forests and fight encroachment until his last breath, --Malawi: 22) They imposed a ban on the export of hardwood --Congo: 23) How will they cancel 75% of 156 logging deals --Rwanda: 24) Red Cross to plant 600,000 trees --Nigeria: 25) Perennial devastation of the Anambra must stop before it's too late --Central Africa: 26) WWF / FSC green claims --World-wide: 27) 3 worst companies abusing tribal people, 28) Documentary: The Burning Season, 29) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 30) Race to grab land in developing countries, 31) How oxygen levels change over time, 32) Does WWF ever really save what they claim to save? 33) They are our elders, Articles: British Columbia: 1) Since the heady days of the Clayoquot Sound logging blockades, few issues on Vancouver Island have triggered such public outrage as the proposed sale of thousands of hectares of forestland on Victoria's doorstep. That outrage only intensified last month after B.C. Auditor General John Doyle issued a blistering report criticizing the provincial government for failing to consider the public interest when granting Western Forest Products (WFP) the right to sell these lands. When news of a potential buyer surfaced last year, hundreds of woodworkers, environmentalists, First Nations and outdoor enthusiasts protested at community meetings and before elected municipal and regional councils from the provincial capitol, through Sooke, Jordan River and Otter Point. Surfers and loggers alike correctly saw that the sale would mean a proliferation of houses and roads where forests once stood, and an end to carefully developed regional growth plans that embraced sustainable development by limiting urban sprawl. The controversy goes back to January 2007, when the provincial government gave debt-ridden WFP permission to break a long-standing social contract. That social contract saw forest companies get generous tax breaks and access to public timber in exchange for bundling their private holdings into tree-farm licenses and managing both their private and public forestlands under the same set of rules. By allowing WFP to decouple its private forestlands from B.C.'s publicly managed forest resources, the province set the stage for the company to sell the lands for so-called " higher and better uses, " a move that could potentially see WFP's shareholders reap a $70 million windfall. It now falls to newly appointed Forests Minster Pat Bell to deal with the mess left by his predecessor Rich Coleman. With an election less than a year away, Bell has little time to make it right. But make it right he can, and here's how. http://thetyee.ca/Views/2008/08/18/FLR/ 2) At Rockin's River Resort north of Prince George, British Columbia, Horst Schulz is experiencing a consequence not often associated with the mountain pine beetle epidemic. " The flooding has gotten tremendous now that all the pine are dead, " Schulz said. " I had to take a boat to the house for about a week this year. " Schulz said high water forced him to push his campground's opening date back an entire month this year, from May 15 to June 15. " There is an issue with hydrology, " said Jim Snetsinger, British Columbia's chief forester. " These trees aren't there any longer to suck up water from the ground. Where does it go? " Hydrology joins other smaller concerns such as water quality and blocked accesses in looking at the fallout from the North American West's massive mountain pine beetle epidemic. With 33.3 million acres already impacted by the mountain pine beetle in British Columbia, Snetsinger is estimating it will be 10 to 15 years before the province's hydro balance returns. None¬theless, Snetsinger said there are too many other factors at play to blame the type of increased runoffs Schulz experienced on the pine beetle alone. Andy Cadenhead expects similar impacts in Colorado. Of particular concern are slides and other mass soil movements that may occur when the ground is saturated with water formerly absorbed by lodgepole pine trees. " One thing that appears to be happening was while these trees were green, they were taking up an incredible amount of water, " said Cadenhead, a Steamboat Springs-based supervisory forester with the U.S. Forest Service. " We'll see the water table essentially rise in the forest. If we get wet years, it will certainly increase our flooding potential. " Like Snetsinger, Caden¬head said flooding is a minor concern when considering the impacts of the mountain pine beetle epidemic. Another risk is falling trees, not just ones that could hit people, but also ones that could block roads and trails. " I think it's safe to say there's a time period of about 15 years where most of the trees are going to come down, " Cadenhead said. http://www.steamboatpilot.com/news/2008/aug/17/dead_trees_cause_many_dangers/ 3) Foraging in B.C. forests is suddenly something to be reckoned with. It's graduated to the post-secondary level. One of the projects undertaken by The Centre for Non-Timber Resources at Royal Roads University in Victoria is Buy B.C. Wild, which has sponsorship from the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, Thrifty Foods, VanCity and Service Canada. " We realized there were a lot of wild products coming out of our forests and there was a need for wildcrafters and businesses to have a collective voice to showcase their wonderful products and services, " says Holly Caine, coordinator of Buy B.C. Wild. A website directory listing 150 purveyors of wild food, herbs and craft material from B.C. forests showcases the non-logging side of our forests. (See www.buybcwild.com) Some of the businesses selling edible products made from wild foraged plants are listed below. " What we're trying to promote are the people who access the resources in our communities and provide local products, " says Caine. While Vancouver Island's timberlands are mainly private, in the rest of the province, about 70 per cent is Crown land, she says. " One of the really important things to the centre, as the sector emerges are policies regarding sustainability and guidelines on how to forage and we'd like to see money go back into the communities, " she says. Currently, the best source of information on where and how to forage is district forest offices. " You need to contact them to let them know of your intentions. People also have to be aware of first nations cultural use of medicinal plants. A harvesting area might have been used for centuries and they have cultural and heritage rights to that area. " On Vancouver Island, she says, " everybody knows how wonderful and nutritional our native plants are. Our blueberries are amazingly nutritious with phytonutrients. " http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/arts/story.html?id=e29fc2f6-c90d-4994-a7\ dc-dc1908be245a 4) There was extensive international news coverage of the " Save the Clayoquot " rally in Tofino on Aug. 2, with many reports suggesting another war over old-growth logging was brewing in the West Coast wilderness. But now it appears the location of a clearcut depicted in a photograph at the rally used by Adrienne Carr, deputy leader of the Green party, wasn't taken in Clayoquot Sound at all. The clearcut is located in an active logging area managed by Interfor, and is located five kilometres north of the UNESCO biosphere reserve boundary. " We're not clearcutting and Miss Carr can get all the pictures she wants, but she needs to be true on where those pictures are — that's not in our territory, " said Joe Tom, chief councillor of the Hesquiaht First Nation yesterday. Carr said yesterday she'd been told by the Friends of Clayoquot Sound before the rally that the photo was taken within the sound and Hesquiaht territory. She feels badly about the misrepresentation " because I pride myself on accuracy. " I went ahead and used that as an example of the kind of logging that we don't want to see happening in a biosphere reserve. " The flap over the photo is the latest exchange that pits environmentalists on one side, and First Nations and the Coulson Group of Companies — who are working together on logging in the Hesquiaht Point Creek watershed — on the other. The environmentalists had threatened to take action if old-growth trees were cut. Despite the error, Carr said she can't assume that clearcut logging isn't happening in Clayoquot. " There just may not be photos available of logging in that region by Coulson. I'm not prepared to say that's not happening. The First Nations are logging the area to help get its people out of poverty, said Tom.A truce was called two weeks ago so both sides could discuss issues, but no meetings have taken place, said Tom. " We've offered two meetings and we've had a number of different excuses, " he said. http://forestaction.wordpress.com/2008/08/16/green-party-duped-over-clayoquot-cl\ earcut/ 5) WILLIAMS LAKE -- In the forested heart of British Columbia, Geoff Wagner is walking through huge piles of woody debris, the kind of stuff once considered trash by an industry that turns less than half of every tree it cuts into 2x4s. But no longer. Today, those piles are a vision of a future in which forests not only build houses but light streets, and in which forest companies are no longer simple hewers of wood but rather power players. It is already happening under plant manager Wagner's watch, as Edmonton-based power producer Epcor Power LP transforms chipped bark and railway ties into a constant stream of electricity powering this part of central B.C. Soon, it will be happening elsewhere as the West's biggest forest companies race to build new facilities that will turn wasted wood into cash. B.C. Hydro estimates companies could produce 470 megawatts of power this way, or about 10 per cent of the province's annual energy production. Forest companies say this could be just the beginning, as B.C. serves as the pilot for a model of forest power that could be replicated across the country. It is, however, Wagner's plant that is in many ways the pilot for B.C. The largest biomass power plant on the continent, the Williams Lake facility produces 66 megawatts of electricity -- enough to power 65,000 homes -- from a steady stream of chipped wood burning in a 1,000-degree Celsius inferno. http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=7ee06695-228d-41e\ 9-914b-343b1b6 650d5 6) Bella Bella - The Vickers family traveled to the threatened Ingram-Mooto watershed in Heiltsuk traditional territory on Friday, July 25, 2008. During this time, they erected signs in the Ingram-Mooto that demand the halt of any road building and logging plans. " The lack of consultation has left us no choice now as a family to make a move, " - Heiltsuk Vickers family statement. " It's a tough call, we as a community should be benefiting from this operation. " Located just 52km north of Bella Bella, Ingram-Mooto is in Spiller Inlet, known to the Heiltsuk as 'Glditas Daqvu'. We respectfully ask that our community be consulted on the economic benefit to our Nation. Will there be a long-term benefit to the Heiltsuk, or just a few short-term jobs? We would also like assurances that the logging and road building will not damage other local resources. " The short-term benefits vs. long-term damage to the land. The fact that First Nations have to follow EBM guidelines and Industry carries on business as usual. The high-grading of Cedar is devastating to us as Heiltsuk. " - Don Vickers, elder/fisherman. " As a Heiltsuk family, we are tired of not being told what is happening in our traditional territories! There are many of us. We deserve an opportunity to have a say on the impacts on behalf of future generations. I cannot again stress the importance of Cedar and Wild salmon to our survival, as a Nation. " - Mary Vickers http://forestaction.wordpress.com/2008/08/15/heiltsuk-vickers-family-takes-stand\ -for-threatened -ingram-mooto-watershed/ 7) UCLUELET — For the 13th season in a row, the Central Westcoast Forest Society is leading a team of partners in a salmon habitat restoration project. Since its inception in 1995, the non-profit society and its partners have restored over 78 kilometres of stream, rehabilitated 66 hectares of riparian habitat, stabilized 48 hectares of landslide area, and deactivated 247 kilometres of forestry road. The areas, on the Kennedy Flats between Ucluelet and Tofino, include sections of Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. This season, the continued restoration focus is on Lost Shoe Creek. This includes riparian and stream maintenance, stream restoration, and a smolt fence (operated by the Thornton Creek Salmon Enhancement Society) for monitoring the number of salmon heading for ocean habitat. Lost Shoe Creek exits though Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, and while this area is now in the park, this was not always so. It wasn't until 1972 that Macmillan Bloedel Ltd. donated areas of its logging tenure to the park, but not before the Lost Shoe Creek area was extensively logged. " We were worried about a restoration program even starting this year, " said Warren Warttig, secretary treasurer for the Central Westcoast Forest Society. " But Mamook-Coulsons stepped up to the plate with their Forest Investment Account funding and while Iisaak has supported us in the past, they were unable to help this season " . " The issue with FIA funding is that it can only be invested on provincial crown land, which does now allow for continuation of restoration within the park, " said Don McMillan, president of the CWFS. " Thankfully our application to BC Transmission Corporation came through with a grant for $10,000. This has allowed for this year's program to proceed on lower Lost Shoe and help Parks Canada with their ecological integrity mandate. " http://www.westcoaster.ca/modules/AMS/article.php?storyid=4776 Canada: 8) A looming Russian tax on log exports could push markets for North American wood products into the most dramatic supply-side shock since the northern spotted owl crisis of the 1990s, a report by Vancouver consultant Russ Taylor forecasts. And that has some coastal loggers saying it could open up new opportunities for the beleaguered sector. " Russia is a huge exporter of logs. A restriction in the amount of logs coming out of Russia will create demand elsewhere, so it could be an extremely positive thing, " said Dave Lewis, executive director of the B.C. Truck Loggers Association. " But we still have to be able to access [potential markets], " he said, referring to restrictions on B.C. log exports. Taylor, president of the International Wood Markets Group, said in a monthly research report that the Russians are on track to raise the export tax on raw logs from its current rate of 25 per cent to 80 per cent effective Jan. 1, 2009. That's going to squeeze European, Chinese and Japanese log supplies, sending a ripple effect into North America's currently depressed log and lumber markets.Already, Chinese delegations are sending out feelers to B.C. in their search for supply to replace Russian exports, should the tax go into effect as proposed, forest company TimberWest Forest reported last week. Russia is the world's largest exporter of raw logs, supplying 40 per cent of the world's softwood logs. Taylor said the shock of such a price increase on Russian logs is not well understood within North American wood products markets because most Russian sales are to China, Finland and Japan. But in today's global economy, a disruption in one supply chain has worldwide repercussions. http://www.amazon.com/Spell-Sensuous-Perception-Language-More-Than-Human/dp/0679\ 776397 9) Environmental activists are currently reading a damning report about forest destruction in Canada's Boreal Forest to Kimberley-Clark employees at their area office. The activists, who are floating in a boat in a lake at the center of the Kleenex-makers office complex and using a bullhorn to make sure they are heard, are part of an international campaign to force Kimberly-Clark to stop purchasing pulp from destructive logging operations and to increase its use of recycled materials for its disposable products such as Kleenex and Cottonelle. " Greenpeace demands that Kimberly-Clark stop wiping away our treasured, ancient forests to make disposable products like tissue and toilet paper, " said Lindsey Allen, Greenpeace forest campaigner. " Greenpeace is here to directly communicate with Kimberly-Clark employees so they can encourage their company's leadership to stop using endangered forests such as the Boreal to make products that are used once and then thrown away. " Greenpeace is particularly interested in communicating with Ken Strassner, Kimberley-Clark's Vice President of Global Environment, Safety, Regulatory and Scientific Affairs, who works out of the Roswell office. Strassner no doubt knows of the recent Greenpeace report that shows how Kimberly-Clark devastated Ontario's Kenogami Forest while promoting itself as a socially responsible environmental leader. The report, " Cut and Run: Kimberly-Clark's Legacy of Environmental Devastation, " uses government information, independent audits, public records, and satellite mapping to document Kimberly-Clark's management and logging of the Kenogami Forest near Thunder Bay, Ontario. It details how, in just 70 years, the Kenogami Forest has been turned from a vast expanse of healthy, near-pristine forest to a severely damaged landscape rife with social and environmental problems--largely to make products that are used once and then thrown away. http://yubanet.com/enviro/Activists-Set-Sail-at-Kimberly-Clark-Roswell-Office.ph\ p 10) Ms. Beresford-Kroeger, 63, is a native of Ireland who has bachelor's degrees in medical biochemistry and botany, and has worked as a Ph.D.-level researcher at the University of Ottawa school of medicine, where she published several papers on the chemistry of artificial blood. She calls herself a renegade scientist, however, because she tries to bring together aboriginal healing, Western medicine and botany to advocate an unusual role for trees. She favors what she terms a bioplan, reforesting cities and rural areas with trees according to the medicinal, environmental, nutritional, pesticidal and herbicidal properties she claims for them, which she calls ecofunctions. Wafer ash, for example, could be used in organic farming, she said, planted in hedgerows to attract butterflies away from crops. Black walnut and honey locusts could be planted along roads to absorb pollutants, she said. " Her ideas are a rare, if not entirely new approach to natural history, " said Edward O. Wilson, a Harvard biologist who wrote the foreword for her 2003 book, " Arboretum America " (University of Michigan Press). " The science of selecting trees for different uses around the world has not been well studied. " Miriam Rothschild, the British naturalist who died in 2005, wrote glowingly of Ms. Beresford-Kroeger's idea of bioplanning and called it " one answer to 'Silent Spring' " because it uses natural chemicals rather than synthetic ones. But some of Ms. Beresford-Kroeger's claims for the health effects of trees reach far outside the mainstream. Although some compounds found in trees do have medicinal properties and are the subject of research and treatment, she jumps beyond the evidence to say they also affect human health in their natural forms. The black walnut, for example, contains limonene, which is found in citrus fruit and elsewhere and has been shown to have anticancer effects in some studies of laboratory animals. Ms. Beresford-Kroeger has suggested, without evidence, that limonene inhaled in aerosol form by humans will help prevent cancer. " She holds fast to the notion that if you are in the aura of a black walnut tree there's a healing effect, " Mr. Lemkay said. " It needs more science to be able to say that. " http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/12/science/12prof.html 11) There's a mystery going on in the north. Three years ago, the Buchanan group of forestry companies had 10 mills operating, and was Ontario's largest lumber-producing organization. Now, due to the downturn in lumber markets, it has one mill operating at only half capacity, and it is supplying that mill from old-growth trees in the 10,876-square-kilometre Ogoki Forest, 250 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay. Cutting this old growth means destroying habitat for woodland caribou. Why, does the Ontario government tolerate this? Why doesn't it require Buchanan to log in one of the other areas where it has a licence to cut – in an area where the forest is second growth, and habitat for caribou was largely destroyed a long time ago? Cutting in the old-growth is more desirable for Buchanan, because the farther north you go, the more uniform is the spruce forest. There aren't as many of the unwanted, low-grade hardwood trees that slow down cutting of the spruce. The Ogoki Forest is the farthest north of any area in Ontario where logging is allowed. Queen's Park would be perfectly justified in telling Buchanan to cut elsewhere because it has been formally alerted to the threat posed to caribou. An Independent Forest Audit, completed two years ago, said " ... the Ministry (of Natural Resources) must provide strong objective evidence that the projected decline in habitat (in the Ogoki Forest) will not further endanger caribou. " The audit team recommends that the ministry conduct an objective assessment of the viability of the caribou population in the forest, and that the results of the assessment be incorporated into subsequent forest management plans. " No objective assessment was done, and nothing was incorporated into the months-old current plan. The audit on the Ogoki says that caribou habitat will be reduced by 57 per cent by the time all the old-growth is cut, and logging of second growth is slated to begin. Logging roads alone will reduce habitat by at least 6 per cent. Aside from the audit report, research suggests caribou don't return to areas that have been clear-cut, even after second-growth trees have matured. There seems to be a pattern that points to the government bending over backward to accommodate Buchanan: It has ignored the audit recommendation to prove caribou won't be further endangered by logging in the Ogoki. It approved a new forest management plan that ignores the impact on caribou. It isn't monitoring caribou movements adequately. It has provided subsidies to build logging roads into the Ogoki. http://www.thestar.com/News/Ideas/article/475067 UK: 12) This summer, Wytham Woods near Oxford in the UK will become the European hub of an ambitious global research programme into the impacts of climate change on forests. Earthwatch, the international environmental charity, is pleased to announce the opening of its Europe Regional Climate Centre* as part of the HSBC Climate Partnership. Formed in 2007, the partnership brings together HSBC, the Climate Group, Earthwatch, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and WWF to tackle the urgent threat of climate change on people, water, forests and cities. The Climate Centre will be the base for a five-year climate change and forestry research programme. It is one of five centres throughout the world. The others are located in Brazil, India, China and North America. Teams of HSBC employees from all over Europe and members of the Oxfordshire community will spend time working alongside scientists at Wytham Woods. They will look at many aspects of forest ecology from the flow of carbon within woodlands to the response of populations of small mammals and insects to changes in weather patterns. Between them, the teams will clock up an impressive 40,000 hours of field work, equivalent to a single scientist working alone for 21 years. Earthwatch's Field Director Rowan Byrne is heading up a team of local staff at the Climate Centre. He explains the regional importance of the research programme. " Here in Oxfordshire, we live on a floodplain. Forests play a crucial role in reducing the impacts of heavy rainfall and protecting vulnerable communities from the worst impacts of flooding, by holding water in the landscape and releasing it slowly. As extreme flooding events are predicted to become more frequent in a changing climate, it is increasingly important that we maintain our already heavily impacted forests in as healthy a state as possible. " http://www.itnews.it/news/2008/0818010201483/ancient-woodland-in-oxfordshire-to-\ be-european-ba se-for-international-climate-change-research-programme.html 13) FOREST chiefs are stepping up a local search for a rare and elusive tree climbing mammal, written off as extinct in England only a few years ago. Special cameras triggered by infra-red beams are being installed in a remote North York Moors wood in a bid to capture an image of a pine marten - the second rarest carnivore in Britain after the wild cat. Although the pine marten is believed to have been sighted in woods in the Osmotherley area, the exact location cannot be disclosed. Four years ago forest chiefs, aided by local conservationists, began a project to track down the creature, which can grow up to two feet long, after an experienced naturalist made a reliable sighting in the area. Sticky tubes baited with jam sandwiches were deployed in a bid to collect hair samples from the phantom sweet-toothed animal. More recently, boxes designed by the Vincent Wildlife Trust have been erected to offer martens a ready-made home to raise their young. Brian Walker, Forestry Commission wildlife officer for the North York Moors, said: " The cameras are being trained on feeding stations near the boxes and if anything breaks the invisible beam any time of the day or night, the shutter will be activated. " My gut feeling is that we do have pine martens, but they are few in number, nocturnal, and often in the trees, making them extremely tough to spot. " A number of scat (faeces) samples found on the boxes have undergone DNA analysis to determine their origin – martens are known to mark their territories in this way. One batch proved to be from a stoat, but another is being subjected to further laboratory tests. Pine martens look similar to a ferret or stoat, but are significantly larger, and sport a bushy tail. http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/2008/08/20/operation-to-snap-elu\ sive-pine-mart in-84229-21561713/ 14) Turkey oaks were introduced to Britain in the 18th century and have spread across the country, but unlike many invasive species they are thought to be benefiting the native wildlife. Researchers now believe that the species of oak, Quercus cerris, fits perfectly into the native ecosystem because it was a native tree until driven out by an ice age 120,000 years ago. The tree has been identified as a boon to garden birds because gallwasps lay eggs on its buds early in the spring, and these provide an invaluable feast for species such as blue tits and great tits as they raise their young. Galls form around the eggs because chemicals on them trick the trees into protecting them, but, being about the size of sesame seeds, they are easily picked off by the birds. Tits and other types of bird have been driven to lay eggs earlier in spring because of warmer conditions brought on by climate change. Without the gallwasp eggs, few of the young would survive, because the caterpillars that the birds would usually depend on have yet to emerge. Dr Stone said after carrying out research with the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. " It's quite probable that blue tits and great tits are quite used to feeding on it because they have been around for a long time. They were certainly here 150,000 years ago. " As the Turkey oak reasserts itself in its ancient home, it is helping to alleviate some of the effects of the very modern problem of climate change. " The trees reached Britain in 1735, when it was hoped that they would provide the Royal Navy with building materials, but the timber proved inferior to English oak. They became popular in gardens, however. " Everyone who was trendy was having one put in. It quickly became naturalised, " Dr Stone said. Some people were concerned that the spread of Turkey oaks would disrupt native oak woodland, but he was convinced the two species could complement each other. Many types of gallwasp depend on the two oaks and at least 11 species have spread naturally to Britain. Animals and plants could take a very long time to return to their native areas after being driven southwards by ice ages, Dr Stone said. So a proportion of the species reaching Britain to-day were doing so as part of a natural cycle, not man-made global warming. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article4553496.ece Ireland: 15) In his article on reviving Ireland's economic fortunes, Philip Lynch (Opinion, August 13th) includes forestry as among those activities which " no longer fit with State ownership " . In reality, due to its long-term nature, there is no enterprise more appropriate for State involvement, a fact recognised throughout the developed world. It was direct State investment from 1904 to 1988 which created the present Irish State forests and this continues, at one remove, through State ownership of Coillte. Proper management and protection of forests, whether public or private, can be assured only through direct State control. Mr Lynch suggests that " Coillte should be sold back to the farmers of Ireland as part of a new drive to restart our ailing agriculture and food sectors " . Which farmers? How would it be paid for? What would they do with it? For many decades the afforestation of good land was prohibited by our Government. It is not the quality of our land that leaves food production in Ireland less competitive in global markets; it is our climate. And there is little we can do about that in the short term. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/letters/2008/0818/1218868019373.html Bulgaria: 16) The State Forestry Agency is helping Kovachki build the " Iskrovete-Govedartsi-Maliovitsa " ski resort, claims the environmentalist coalition " Let Nature Survive in Bulgaria " . In 2007 and 2008 the SFA conceded 300 ha of forests for the construction of ski runs, lifts and hotels in the area of Govedartsi village, bordering on Rila National Park, a protected area. The resort project is being developed by the company Nadar 2006, represented by Kovachki's company LM Impex and Samokov municipality. The altitude of the resort is 1500 m on average. Swiss banks do not finance resorts at such low altitudes because of the climatic changes, ecologists inform. The government conceded this land in violation of article 87 of the EU Agreement because no tender took place. Moreover, the competitive EU market mechanisms weren't taken into consideration. The SFA violated the European directive on strategic ecologic evaluation because no environmental impact assessment was made. It is unclear whether the project is compatible with the directives of Natura 2000. The LNSB coalition has notified the EC of these violations. http://news.guide-bulgaria.com/SW/Sofia/Samokov/Rila/News.aspx?3793=Government_r\ ants_businessm an_Hristo_Kovachki_forests_in_Rila_to_build_ski_resort Portugal: 17) CASTINCAL — Manuel Coimbra watches in silence, his hands on his hips, as a lumberjack saws down one of his pine trees to stop a killer bug which experts say could wipe out large belts of European woodland. The dense forests that blanket the hillsides of this rural area of central Portugal are the latest international conquest for the pest which has caused ecological catastrophes in East Asia. Thousands of trees here are already dead, according to locals. " It makes me sad, " Coimbra says, leaning against a jeep on a shady dirt road as experts bag shavings from the felled tree for testing at a local lab. " Future generations probably won't know what we're talking about when we tell them about pine forests. We'd better start taking some photographs to show them, " said Coimbra, a soft-spoken middle-aged man who owns about 20 acres of local pine forest. His land is on the front line of Europe's attempt to check the spread of pine wilt disease which is running out of control in this southwestern corner of the continent and is a menace for pine forests across the borderless European Union, from Scandinavia to Italy and Greece. Two species of pine are susceptible — maritime pine, which accounts for almost one-quarter of Portugal's forest, and Scots pine, the most widespread pine species in Europe which is frequently used for Christmas trees. The concerns are not just environmental. Europe is the world's largest importer and exporter of forest products which account for more than 3 percent of global commodity trade with an annual turnover exceeding $200 billion, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. The European Commission last month imposed tight restrictions on the export of Portuguese pine, which must be disinfected and given a clean bill of health before leaving the country. The bug, called a nematode, is a worm invisible to the naked eye which swarms through a pine tree's innards and kills it within weeks by choking off the flow of sap. It gets around by hitching a lift in the respiratory system of a flying beetle which looks a bit like a cockroach. The beetle is believed to have arrived in Portugal in a ship's cargo from East Asia, where in the 1970s the nematode almost wiped out Japan's vast pine forests. The following decade major outbreaks were recorded in the pine forests of China, Taiwan and Korea. http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080817/NEWS/80817037\ 0/-1/rss01 18) The world's leading cork maker has launched a campaign against the increasing use of screw caps and plastic stoppers in wine bottles, which it says is a threat to Portugal's forests of cork oaks. Portugal's Amorim Corticeira argues that using only cork stoppers would ensure the survival of the forests and sustain their unique ecosystems, home to several endangered animal species such as the Iberian lynx. Portugal is the world's largest cork producer. Amorim does not grow the trees itself but buys cork from producers. " The cork industry in general is under attack, one could say, from alternative wine bottle closures, " Carlos de Jesus, Amorim marketing director, told Reuters. " If cork growers lose the cash interest, they will plant something else, jeopardizing the sustainability chain. " Cork oaks are not cut down but their bark is harvested every nine years in a tree's lifespan of more than 150 years. The campaign (www.savemiguel.com> followed a study by the WWF in June urging Portugal to expand its cork forests to prevent growing desertification caused by global warming. De Jesus said the proportion of cork stoppers in wine bottles had fallen to 70 percent from 90 percent in 12 years. http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSLC44285220080819 Spain: 19) As the path wends its way into Sarria it passes through thick tangled forest, massive trees line the path and the light is dim, having to pass through many layers of broad leaves. The air is cool (although admittedly this could be because I arrived very late, well into evening, but I like to think it was simply the forest) and the outside world seems far distant, despite being only a few hundred yards away. These trees are true natives, making up one of the remaining stands of the forests that once stretched without break across the Iberian peninsula. Whilst much of Spain is now completely cleared of trees, Galicia has a fair amount of forest, but these are made up of mainly eucalyptus and pine, with little space for the slow growing indigenous species. As far as I know there are plans to try and change the balance somewhat and plant more of the native trees here in the future. I hope so, I'm sure that as I walked through that ancient forest I heard birdsong I hadn't heard anywhere else in these lands. http://walkacrossspain.blogspot.com/2008/08/ancient-forests.html Ghana: 20) Delegations from the world over will meet on 21-27th August in Accra, Ghana for the next round of UN climate talks, with a view to chalk out ways and means to combat global warming. The talks will lay emphasis on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation in Developing Countries or REDD. This might seem like a step in the right direction, but green groups, by voicing their opposition against REDD have highlighted the hazards of including forests in the carbon market. Campaigners have warned that unless indigenous groups are part of the climate negotiations, efforts to slow down deforestation could lead to a " land grab " . Nikki Reisch of Rainforest Foundation UK asserts that " indigenous people that have lived in and depended on the forests are best placed to protect them " . Friends of the Earth International criticized the UN for concentrating on financial concerns when " land rights must be centre stage " . Though cognizant of the fact that deforestation is responsible for almost 20% of the global emissions, campaigners believe that preserving forests through carbon trading will take away focus from the real culprit -our ever growing " needs " and also give the developed nations an excuse to continue emitting nasty amounts of greenhouse gases. http://www.carbonoffsetsdaily.com/carbonmarketnews/environmental-groups-against-\ including-fore sts-in-carbon-markets-1073.htm Uganda: 21) The look on Twinomuhangi's face left no doubt about his determination to nurture forests and fight encroachment until his last breath. The youthful forester's undisputed resolve has earned him not only respect from his superiors, but also the hearts of the local people. " We were put as stewards and the work we are doing is not ours, " he says. " It is important to protect the forest so that the children who are not yet born can benefit from them. " He was in a mournful mood last week as he took NFA's trustees around forests that had more tree stumps than trees, a testimony to the many years of wanton destruction. " This, " Twinomuhangi says, " had been left by mindless encroachers and illegal loggers. " The bare patches staring at the sky have now become a recipe for the erosive rains that drag away soil and deposit it in the nearby Lake Victoria. " It is difficult to imagine that the people who have cut down this forest like this expect to get rain, " says Twinomuhangi. Twinomuhangi says this set-back has come as a result of shortage of manpower. " Where five patrol officers are needed to watch over illegal activities, you find only one. " He was speaking to Baguma Isoke, the chairperson of NFA and other trustees that were on a mission to find out the challenges facing the conservation body. Their three-day tour started in Mukono and later covered parts of Mpigi, Wakiso, Masaka, Rakai, Sembabule and Lyantonde districts. In agreement with Twinomuhangi was Jane Niwaninda, the sector manager in Rakai, who has also been engaged in running battles since the creation of NFA four years ago. " We lack manpower, but the community in some areas is on our side, " she says. " We patrol the forest together and plant trees to help the forest recover. " http://allafrica.com/stories/200808190257.html Malawi: 22) Government, through the Ministry of Industry and Trade, has imposed a ban on export of hardwood and its products with immediate effect. The development follows rampant deforestation that has threatened the future of natural trees mostly used in the carving of curios. But the move has not gone down well with curio traders who fear the ban would negatively affect their business, which is mostly export oriented. However, in an interview on Monday, Principal Secretary of Industry and Trade Nebert Nyirenda, said the decision was made to preserve forests and avoid further environmental degradation. " The fact of the matter is that hardwood trees have been there for along time some of them over hundreds of years and to destroy something like this for money is illogical so the ban still stands, " said Nyirenda. But a curio vendor in Blantyre who identified himself as Adak Yusuf said government is not being considerate by banning the exports since it would slash their income earning base. " You see most of our customers are foreign tourists and by coming up with this ban government is cutting us out from that market. The reality of the matter is that it is very rare for our citizens to buy curios from us and our business will suffer, " said Yusuf. But Nyirenda said it was high time people dealing in trade that hurt the environment diversify to other sectors like agriculture that are equally profitable. " There are several ways that curio traders could do since the ban is affecting hardwood they could be seasoning soft wood so that the quality matches hardwood. On the other hand they must explore farming cash crops because currently crops like beans, maize and rice are attracting huge returns locally and internationally, " said Nyirenda. He added that government would prosecute those merchants found exporting the banned product. http://www.dailytimes.bppmw.com/article.asp?ArticleID=10605 Congo: 23) Reuters reported last week that a Congolese-government funded study recommends that ¾ of logging contracts should be ended immediately for not meeting required standards. The study, which looked at 156 logging deals, was conducted in order to recoup millions of dollars in tax money and to put an end to a " business ripe with corruption. " In 2002, the Congo put a 5-year halt on any new logging contracts but that has been largely ignored as new contracts are still being approved. Only 29 of the 156 contracts currently meet logging standards, and the commission's preliminary findings recommend that 16 current contracts be terminated. Portugese owned Sodefor, German-owned Siforco and Safbois all have multiple contracts on the recommended list for termination, in total accounting for " 66% of all timber exported from Congo. " Congo has the second largest tropical forest in the world, accounting for a quarter of the world's tropical forests, and they are currently being chopped down at a rate of 800,000 hectares a year. The study was backed by the World Bank and findings from the report will be published mid-September. Their recommendations are non-binding and any actions to be taken will be decided once the final report is published. http://www.treehugger.com2008/08/congolese-logging-not-protecting-forests\ ..php Rwanda: 24) The Secretary General of the Rwanda Red Cross Society (RRCS), Appolinaire Karamaga, yesterday revealed that they intend to plant over 600,000 trees by the end of 2008. Karamaga was addressing Red Cross field and headquarter workers, and the organization's partners in a meeting on climate change at the Red Cross Headquarters in Kacyiru, Gasabo District. According to Karamaga, all local Red Cross branches at district level have prepared nursery beds, with an average of 20, 000 plants. Karamaga pointed out that one of the recommended measures to preserve the world's climate is tree planting. He added that human activities cause climate change, citing examples of deforestation and over grazing. " With our network of volunteers and the great commitment of the Red Cross movement to cope with this crisis, we think we can do more. But, we consider that adaptation is critical in responding to the impacts of climate change and offers opportunities to support development, " Karamaga said. He continued to say that a big part of the country in the past years was hit by a long drought which mostly affected poor communities who depend solely on agriculture. Karamaga added that there is need to explore all areas and opportunities to enhance actions to promote food security, good health and prevent other disasters like floods and landslides.The of Environmental Education and the Focal Point of the United Nation Convention on Climate Change in Rwanda, Sebastian Dusabeyezu, said that Global warming with its associated challenges is becoming more apparent with the threat of reducing the potential of natural resources to support livelihoods and development in general. He added that adaptation to climate change in Rwanda is vital and has been highlighted by its initial communication report, National Adaptation Programmes of Action – NAPA and Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS). He recommended tree planting and exploiting solar, energy efficient cooking stoves, peat and hydropower, climate change awareness in schools, government & local institutions. http://www.newtimes.co.rw/index.php?issue=13627 & article=8816 Nigeria: 25) A hydro-geologist and Acting Vice Chancellor, Nnamdi Azikiwe University (NAU), Awka, Professor Boniface Egboka, has said if the perennial devastation of the Anambra environment by flood is not properly checked, the state may be obliterated from the map of Nigeria in the next 20 years. Egboka said the signs are already manifest, adding that ecological problems in the state are both manmade and natural. He said human activities such as land excavation, deforestation, and urbanisation over the years had destroyed the environment, while natural factors like poor soil geology, which makes it porous and heavy, had rendered an otherwise rainforest zone of the South-East into a Guinea Savannah, with far greater effects on Anambra, whose land area of over 70per cent had been devastated by flood and gullies. He also said high population density of the entire South-east, loss of human activities and effects of the civil war in the zone which witnessed heavy bombardment, destabilised the environment and caused a lot of problem. Egboka said agricultural areas at Agulu in Anaocha Council area, Oneh and Ogboji and Orumba South, as well as the Omambala communities in Anambra east and west council areas are destroyed with most of the land surface wasted away, while increasing indices of diseases, poverty, hunger and depression linger. He said there was need for both the Federal Government and international agencies to intervene and save the state and the entire South-east from being washed away, adding that government should hearken to the plea by South-east governors who visited him recently, and give attention to the erosion problem in the zone. http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=120185 Central Africa: 26) This forest is for WWF one of the most important places on earth. It is at the cutting edge of conservation for the organisation. Here we are trying to conserve forest on a very large scale, working at the highest levels with heads of states and with foreign governments and at the same time working with local communities to try and find solutions which can sustain conservation in the long term. It is a flagship programme for our organisation. So it is important for me to have time to see what is being done and to share with some of our most important partners. What is your impression about the Jengi Programme? This is a place with stunning resources; the only place where you can see lowland gorillas and forest elephants. But more broadly a real spectacular forest from a biodiversity perspective. It is a place for people who want to be part of finding solutions, who want to be part of conservation and a place of great challenges. This is a hard place to find good solutions. We have seen very exciting work from some of our colleagues in Central Africa Republic and here in Cameroon. We have seen some of what they are up against and the challenges they face. It has been for me a very inspiring trip. You were in a logging company (Group SEFAC) that recently received FSC Certification. Do you think, from what you saw and heard, it was worthwhile for WWF to accompany this company through the certification process? I think FSC Certification is one of the most important strategies we have developed over the last 15 years because, absolutely, we have to find ways to conserve the forest and at the same time meet the economic and social needs of surrounding communities. And certified forestry is a proven strategy for doing that. It is very exciting to see that strategy work here in Central Africa. In this specific case we were able to talk with the management and see sustainable forest management in operation. For me it was a great visit. http://www.postnewsline.com/2008/08/conservation-ca.html World-wide: 27) To mark the UN Day for Indigenous Peoples on 9 August, Survival International today named its 'unholy trinity' – the three worst companies abusing tribal peoples' rights. They are: 1) VEDANTA. This FTSE-100 company is determined to construct a bauxite mine on the sacred hills of the Dongria Kondh tribe in Orissa, India. It has already built a $1 billion aluminium refinery at the foot of the hills. The Dongria Kondh, one of India's most isolated tribes, are resolutely opposed to the mine, which will destroy them as a people. 2)PERENCO. A Franco-British oil company, Perenco is pushing ahead with drilling in the nothern Peruvian Amazon, despite being warned that its operations risk the lives ofuncontacted Indian groups. The company's plans have attracted two lawsuits from Peru's Amazon Indians, but it has vowed to carry on. There have already been reports of contact between the oil workers and the isolated Indians. 3) SAMLING. Active in Sarawak, Malaysia, for four decades, Samling has been responsible for logging vast areas of rainforest, including the ancestral lands of the nomadic Penan tribe. The Penan have repeatedly blockaded logging roads in an attempt to halt the devastation of their forest, but much of it has now been destroyed. Many Penan have been arrested, and James Ho, Samling's Chief Operating Officer, has said, 'The Penan have no rights to the forest.' http://whatrainforest.wordpress.com/2008/08/12/sarawak-boleh-samling-earns-inter\ national-recog nition/ 28) As inspiring as " An Inconvenient Truth " was frightening, Cathy Henkel's energetic documentary, " The Burning Season, " tackles one aspect of global warming and introduces people trying to make a difference. Heady facts about emission trading schemes threaten to overwhelm the viewer, but pic also packs plenty of genuine emotion, and the presence of altruistic Australian entrepreneur Dorjee Sun in the financial corridors of power gives it the same giddy atmosphere that made " Startup.com " so exhilarating. A 42-minute version aired on PBS in July; other pubcasters should. Feature-length version shown at Brisbane should be a hot ticket on the fest circuit. Henkel starts in the jungles of Borneo, where orangutans are dying or being displaced thanks to deforestation, which covers the region in smoke and creates carbon emissions. Danish conservationist Lone Droscher-Nielsen, dedicated to saving the simians, nurses back to health the few apes she can rescue from " the burning season. " Images of orangutans wandering in devastated forests are heartbreaking. Repping deforestation's other side, pic's second thread focuses on the plight of Indonesian villager Achmadi, one of thousands who strip palm trees for palm oil (frequently marketed as vegetable oil) for international cosmetics and confectionery corporations. His motivation is simple survival — and the rare privilege of sending his daughter to school. http://redapes.org/news-updates/must-see-new-film-the-burning-season/ 29) The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change sets the rules by which countries report their Greenhouse Gas Emissions. The IPCC is empowered to make these rules according to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Nearly every country, including the United States, is a signatory. With all that in mind, let's focus on the rules around emissions from harvesting forests and the storage of carbon in forest products. The rules for measuring carbon stored in ecosystems is actually pretty straightforward: the balance of carbon stored there year after year is measured (estimated) based on estimates for which the IPCC provides methodologies. Change in the carbon stored are reported either as an emission (the amount of carbon went down) or a removal (the amount of carbon went up). It is called a removal because the ecosystem removes carbon from the atmosphere. At present, the U.S. is estimated to be carbon positive, as trees grow more than they are cut down or are otherwise lost. This is the equation given in the IPCC's Good Practice Guidance for Land-Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry for national greenhouse gas reporting of the carbon balance in forests: The equation means that the change in forest carbon is equal to the change in living biomass plus the change in dead organic matter plus the change in soils. There are also rules for accounting for harvests of forest products. This is the most significant issue with regard to the paper industry, since it lays out the rules by which the most important input into the industry is accounted for in terms of carbon emissions. Let's focus on the Good Practice Guidance equation 3.2.7 " Annual Carbon Loss Due to Commercial Fellings. " The loss due to logging (a.k.a. harvest) is calculated as: [losses from commercial fellings] = [the volume of wood extracted] x [wood density] x [biomass extraction factor] x [carbon left to decay] x [carbon content of the wood harvested] For our purposes, we need to understand that the wood harvested is an emission of carbon and we also need to include the wood that is left in the forest that will decay and that must be accounted for as well. Thus, when accounting for inputs into products or the use of biomass for energy, harvested wood must be counted as an emission. There really is no ambiguity around this fact. Those who state 'biomass is carbon neutral' (a normative statement, not a scientific one) rely on statements like this one in the 1996 Revised Guidelines for national greenhouse gas reporting: " Biomass fuels are included in the national energy and CO2 emissions accounts for information only. Within the energy module biomass consumption is assumed to equal its regrowth. " http://thepaperplanet.blogspot.com/2008/08/rules-for-carbon-accounting-of.html 30) A race to grab land in developing countries and exploit food supply fears and payments to conserve forests could spark conflicts in areas of land disputes, development and civil rights groups say.Investors say higher land valuations are just what's needed to settle claims which may have festered since colonial days. But much marginal and forested land is common property, which in the past has given poor local communities little benefit from logging, mining and oil concessions. " No-man's land and hinterland is suddenly valuable, " said Andy White, coordinator for the Washington-based Rights and Resources Initiative, a development NGO. " Communities had been told the land was theirs. Now it's contested, " he said, explaining that a community in Liberia had told him that in one week they had separate visits from a mining company, a logging company and a biofuel company. " They were told by the government -- 'go out and prospect'. " Spiralling commodity prices have driven speculative interest in farms and forests in emerging markets where productive land can cost one 10th of the price in industrialised countries. " There are still very good prospects, " said George Lee, manager of hedge fund firm Eclectica's agriculture fund, which invests in companies which buy land, comparing grazing land prices in Uruguay at $3,000 per hectare with $20,000 in Britain. Benchmark wheat prices have dipped by a third since a peak last September but remain 50 percent above a 2007 low. Land and food prices are expected to remain high as a growing, richer world demands more land for settlement and food, while climate change threatens more droughts. Steps to fight climate change and secure energy supplies are partly to blame for stoking land prices, by fuelling interest in alternative energy including biofuels produced from food crops such as palm oil, soy, sugar and grains. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/feedarticle/7724979 31) Compared to prehistoric times, the level of oxygen in the earth's atmosphere has fallen by over a third and in polluted cities the decline could be more than 50 percent. This change in the makeup of the air we breathe has potentially serious implications for our health. Indeed, it could ultimately threaten the survival of human life on earth, says Roddy Newman, who is drafting a new book, The Oxygen Crisis. So, what's the evidence? About 10,000 years ago, the planet's forest cover was at least twice what it is today, which means forests are now emitting only half the amount of oxygen. And desertification and deforestation are rapidly accelerating this long-term loss of oxygen sources. The story at sea is much the same. NASA reports that in the north Pacific Ocean oxygen-producing phytoplankton concentrations are 30 percent lower today, compared to even the 1980s. This is a huge drop in just three decades. Moreover, the UN Environment Program said in 2004 that there were nearly 150 " dead zones " in the world's oceans where discharged sewage and industrial waste, farm fertilizer run-off and other pollutants have reduced oxygen levels to such an extent that most or all sea creatures can no longer live there. Professor Ian Plimer of Adelaide University and Professor Jon Harrison of the University of Arizona accept that oxygen levels in the atmosphere in prehistoric times averaged 35 percent compared to only 21 percent today. The levels are even lower in densely populated, polluted city centers and industrial complexes, perhaps only 15 percent or lower. Much of this recent, accelerated change is down to human activity, notably the industrial revolution and the burning of fossil fuels. Which means we are slowing down one process, oxygen generation, and speeding up another, carbon dioxide production. Very interesting. But does this decline in oxygen matter? Are there any practical consequences that we ought to be concerned about? What is the effect of lower oxygen levels on the human body? Surprisingly, no significant research has been done, perhaps on the following presumption: the decline in oxygen levels has taken place over millions of years of our planet's existence. Surely, this mostly gradual decline has allowed the human body to evolve and adapt to lower concentrations of oxygen? Maybe, maybe not. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2008-08/15/content_6937226.htm 32) Whilst I am appreciative of WWF's reply, it does nothing to reassure me they will save any orangutans. Why? Because some 25 years ago they also had 'big' plans to " Save the Tiger " . What happened? I'm guessing WWF must have spent tens of millions of pounds of donors money on this project. I've been unable to find out what the tiger population was back in about 1975, but the Indian tiger is now down to the about last 1500. I think we can safely say that during WWF's multi-million pound " Save the Tiger " campaign at least 10,000 tigers have been killed, maybe 20,000 or more. Numerically speaking WWF has not saved a single tiger; worse though, thousands were killed during this high profile WWF fundraising campaign - to save tigers. So, where did all the public money go? Now we have WWF with another big, 'sexy', high profile income generating species, and really big plans to save them. Hmmnn. I'm not saying WWF won't try. What I am saying is, based on their past and my own impression of WWF on the ground in Indonesian Borneo, I have zero faith in their ability to save any orangutans. About 2500-3000 orangutans have been killed annually for the past 25 years. Let's see if WWF can get this figure down shall we? As you will see below, the amount of money WWF has at its disposal is enormous. It is what WWF does with the money that concerns me. Keep in mind a great many people in Borneo would consider a wage of £1000 a year to be a fantastic amount. Now look at how much money WWF has - available for orangutan conservation - and this is ONLY the UK office. Put another way; the Centre for Orangutan Protection (COP) in the past couple of months has saved seven orangutans at a total cost of perhaps £2000. COP is also out there building conservation camps, investigating and exposing palm oil companies, etc. etc. on an annual budget for 10 people that is smaller than any single project WWF has listed below. Just look at the photos on this Blog, then look at WWF's fancy web site and judge for yourself, who you think is doing a much better job for orangutans. http://naturealert.blogspot.com/2008/08/wwfs-reply.html 33) They are our elders and help to mark our seasons; skeletal in the winter, limey in the spring, deep-green in summer and crimson in autumn. Not every place on the planet has the climate conducive to tree growth, and those that can support a healthy tree population should be encouraged to do so, especially in this age of potential climate change. Certainly, from a practical or utilitarian perspective, we should remember our trees when we sit on our favourite chair, jot a phone number on a scrap of paper or huddle inside our homes by the fire, burning bright and warm. http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/We-must-strive-to-protect.4397355.jp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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