396 - Asia-Pacific-Australia Tree News

September 6, 2008

--Today for you 34 new articles about earth's trees! (396th 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:

Asia-Pacific-Australia

Index

--South East Asia: 1) Save the Gibbons!

--India: 2) Court demands land grab documents, 3) Patrols only 50 days a year?

--Thailand: 4) Thai logging company bribing Burmese officials

--Vietnam: 5) Hire out of forest land for sustainable exploitation to

protect it failed

--Cambodia: 6) Negative impacts associated with road projects

--Philippines: 7) Cops and protestors face off over forest clearing

for apartments, 8) Joining hands & encircling a Government Service

Insurance System (GSIS) pine stand, 9) New book: Forest Faces, 10)

Cordillera is losing more than 300 hectares of forest every year, 11)

Doctrine of self-help can be used to save forest,

--Malaysia: 12) What Rainforest? wake up and smell the palm oil,

--Papua New Guinea: 13) No end to Greenpeace's prevention of ship from

loading logs?

--Indonesia: 14) Palm oil companies reject land clearing moratorium,

15) inviting investors to develop public forests in Java with a

core-plasma concept? 16) Six football fields a minute, 17) Economic

miracle came at a devastating price, 18) A long time ago, mussels,

cockles and crabs were found easily, 19) World's third largest forest

stores billions of tons of carbon,

--New Zealand: 20) Forest Owners responds to Native land rights agreement,

--Australia: 21) Enviros and industry split over Professor Ross

Garnaut's supplementary report, 22) Inclusion of plantation forests in

emissions trading will increase emission not lessen emissions, 23)

Biking 5,500km National Trail, 24) Wildlife is clinging to survival

around Sydney, 25) Forestry Tasmania unveiled same-old 'new' corporate

image today, 26) Journalism prize winner rips industry bribery in

acceptance speech, 27) Cont. 28) Tassie trees exported to Japan for

wood-fired power plants, 29) Students recently visit Auspine's Penola

Forest to learn how good logging is for everyone, 30) Angel's 35-year

career as an advocate for our natural world, 31) 15 trees marked by

exploration party in 1861 still standing have finally earn protection,

32) Wilderness Society campaigners speak out about carbon value of

forests, 33) Latest warning from Dr Judith Ajani a forest economist,

34) Friends of Five Forests is reporting logging could begin in

Bermagui,

Articles

South East Asia:

1) The gibbon family includes anywhere from 9 to 15 species, depending

on which reference is used. Twelve species are listed by the IUCN as

vulnerable, threatened or endangered. Some of the confusion as to

which are truly separate species may be cleared up with further study

of these lesser primates. But what is clear is that there is pressure

on all gibbon species from human encroachment. While gibbons are found

in China, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, India, Myanmar (Burma),

Malaysia and Indonesia, in most of these countries they are only found

in small numbers. Gibbons and siamang are largely arboreal, spending

little time on the ground. Since they travel through the trees,

deforestation and habitat fragmentation is one of the main threats

they face. The fruits, flowers, seeds and bark of local trees also

provide the majority of their food. These are supplemented with

insects, spiders, birds and bird eggs, most of which are found in the

rainforest trees. Gibbons live in small family groups, so finding

mates when offspring are old enough to leave the family requires

traveling to a new territory. Gibbons isolated in a rainforest

fragment may never mate, reducing an already limited gene pool.

Gibbons are hunted in some of their range with poachers taking animals

both for the traditional medicine trade and as food. The pet trade

takes a toll on gibbons as well. If a female is killed, her young are

taken to sell to the public. In some cases the female is killed simply

to get the baby more easily. The Asian rainforest habitat is being

systematically fragmented, largely due to the needs of the growing

human population in the area. In order for gibbons to survive, efforts

must focus on finding ways for local people to thrive without further

loss of this critical habitat. As part of that effort, educating those

people about the gibbons and the value of their habitat, both locally

and globally, will be necessary. Without the involvement of the people

of the area, the push to save the gibbon is unlikely to succeed.

http://wildlife-conservation.suite101.com/article.cfm/arboreal_gibbons_harmed_by\

_deforestation

India:

2) The court, which has come down heavily on both the governments for

having given 25 acres of forest land in Sandur of Bellary district on

lease for mining activities, has asked the governments to place before

it all the records pertaining to the said lease. It has also asked the

forest, mining and revenue departments to conduct a joint study and

submit the report thereof to the court. A divisional bench comprising

of Chief Justice P D Dinakaran and Justice Mohana Shantanagoudar

issued orders to the government as above, in the case. The bench also

orally asked the governments to place before it, the names of

officials involved with this issue. " The government raises a hue and

cry if common people want to occupy a small forest land either for

building homes or otherwise. On what basis does it give large tracts

of forest lands on lease?, " the bench questioned. The courts have been

trying to encourage planting of saplings and protect environment,

while the governments appear to be planning to destroy trees through

such permisions, the court commented. It also advised the governments

to use their brains instead of doing mechanical work like a computer.

" You are following in the footsteps of the British, who looted our

forest resources, " the bench commented. The bench has been hearing an

appeal filed by a person named Basha Maqbool Ahmed, who has questioned

the action of the governments in permitting a person named Menon to

conduct mining in certain portions of the land already given to him

for mining. His petition befoe the single-bench of the High Court was

earlier dismissed and his current appeal is being examined by the

divisional bench of the High Court.

http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=50631 & n_tit=B%27lore%3A+Mining\

+in+Forests%3A+Central+and+State+Governments+Censured+Again+by+High+Court

3) TOI invoked the Right To Information Act to find out how much time

the field directors spent on the field and found out that, on an

average , they spent just about 50 days a year inside forests. This

has had a disastrous effect on wildlife management , say former forest

officials and environmentalists, and may be one of the reasons that

have led to the dwindling number of tigers in Maharashtra's forests.

" There is no check on juniors when field directors themselves desert

their posts,'' a former forest official said. But principal chief

conservator of forests (wildlife) Bimal Majumdar strongly defended his

men. Much of the field officers' time was taken away in meetings with

district officers like collectors, divisional commissioners and

police, he said. " Besides, children of conservator-rank officers do

not have good schools or colleges near forest areas and so are

compelled to stay in urban areas,'' he said. But he admitted that

forest management of tiger reserves had suffered in the last few

years. " Lack of political support is one of the reasons and stakes for

not supporting our cause are very high. There is a lot of misuse of

forest land for agriculture , irrigation projects and forests are the

last item on the agenda ,'' Majumdar said. The facts speak for

themselves. The field director of Melghat visited the jungle on 59

occasions between June 2007 and May 2008, the field director of Tadoba

National Park visited the jungle 50 times during the same period and

the field director of Pench National Park visited his work area just

41 times. The Melghat Tiger Reserve office used to be in Paratwada but

it was shifted to Amravati in 1994, officials said. It has continued

to remain there as successive field directors wanted to stay in urban

areas.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Mumbai/NO_time_for_Tigers_/articleshow/343882\

0.cms

Thailand:

4) Burmese officials have been accepting bribes from a Thai logging

company, which is smuggling timber across the Three Pagodas Pass

border into Thailand, according to local witnesses. A businessman in

Three Pagodas Pass, who spoke to The Irrawaddy on Wednesday, said he

witnessed trucks laden with logs passingthrough the border crossing at

night several times. A local motorcycle taxi driver, who asked to

remain anonymous, also said that the Burmese border guards opened the

gate at night or sometimes at about 5 a.m. to allow the logging trucks

to pass through. He said the guards checked first to make sure there

weren't many people in the street before they waved the trucks

through. The local sources estimate that about 100 trucks containing

teak and other hardwoods pass through Three Pagodas Pass every month

and that the practice has been ongoing for several months. Officially,

Three Pagodas Pass border crossing is closed and the Burmese junta has

not permitted border trade with Thailand since soldiers from the

Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) kidnapped two Thai border

policemen in 2006. However, according to the local businessman,

Burmese officials have made an unofficial trade agreement with Sia

Hook, a powerful Sino-Thai logging company. The source alleged that

Sia Hook has been paying Burmese officials bribes of 30,000 baht (US

$947) per truckload of teak, and 15,000 baht ($473) for each truckload

of any other type of timber, to pass through to Thailand. It is not

clear whether the company has received permission to log timber from

the Burmese Forestry Department. However, Sia Hook has been known to

cooperate with several Burmese logging companies in the past, whose

representatives were able to arrange timber export agreements with

local township authorities.

http://please-help-burma.blogspot.com/2008/09/illegal-timber-crossing-thai-burme\

se.html

Vietnam:

5) Fresh evidence emerges that the policy to hire out forest land for

sustainable exploitation in order to protect it has been an abject

failure. The illegal felling of trees in protected forests is rampant

in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong. Many parts of 30,000

hectares of forest leased out recently by local authorities in Lam

Dong for protecting the forest, planting trees, developing eco-tourism

projects, and intermixed cultivation are being cleared by the lessees.

The trees are being felled by local residents and enterprises to sell

as timber or to set up plantations. Until August, provincial

authorities had leased out forest land to 190 enterprises. A recent

inspection by the Lam Dong Department of Agriculture and Rural

Development (DARD) of 140 projects being carried out by the

enterprises showed alarming levels of deforestation. The inspection

found one instance of up to 75 percent of leased forest land being

cleared illegally. Some of the violators include: the Lam Son Thuy

Company, which cleared 128 hectares; the Thang Hoa Company, 68

hectares; Da Dang Company, 70 hectares; Son Hoang Company, 63

hectares; Tan Dai Thanh Company, 41 hectares; and My Hong Company, 17

hectares. The department has also said that many enterprises have used

bulldozers to illegally flatten the forest, including Ba Le Company

and Thien Quang Company. Many enterprises that had been allocated

forest land for preservation at the Yahoa Forest in Don Duong District

have planted cassava or coffee instead.

http://www.thanhniennews.com/features/?catid=10 & newsid=41663

Cambodia:

6) " The discussion groups did identify potential negative impacts

associated with road projects. These potential negative impacts can be

listed as follows: 1) That some bad and clever outsiders may come

after the road is built and exploit the assets of the village. 2) That

outsiders may come and take their land. 3) That the road may lead to

their forests being destroyed or degraded by (sometimes armed)

outsiders and it will then be difficult to find forest food and forest

products to sell. - - Possible land appropriation and deforestation

following road construction is a major potential negative

socioeconomic impact. There are cases where such negative impacts,

particularly in terms of deforestation, have occurred following road

construction in forest dependent communities … . Many forest areas

have already been degraded in areas with poor road infrastructure.

However, improved roads can accelerate that process and open new areas

for exploitation by a larger number of logging interests " (Screening

Study: 136). The RILGP, however, refuses to incorporate the

recommendations, choosing instead to deny that there are even any

problems. " The small-scale activities chosen by villagers and funded

through RILGP will not affect land tenure or otherwise cause any

direct adverse impacts, " they state. It's doubly absurd since just a

few paragraphs later, they say that " prior assessment of the

appropriateness and impacts… is impossible " because the " RILGP would

empower local communities to determine their own development

priorities. " In other words, by their own logic, it is impossible to

determine whether or not there are any adverse impacts. That is,

unless there are some adverse impacts, in which case there really

aren't any.

http://gregornot.wordpress.com/2008/08/31/world-bank-helps-to-destroy-indigenous\

-rights-in-cambodia/

Philippines:

7) BAGUIO CITY – Policemen and protesters faced off on Wednesday over

plans to destroy more than 300 trees for a condominium project in a

tree park in front of a university campus here. Priscilla

Supnet-Macansantos, University of the Philippines Baguio chancellor,

and Baguio Bishop Carlito Cenzon led about 2,000 protesters at a

barricade around a wooded lot at the Baguio Convention Center compound

across UP Baguio. The realty firm SM Development Corp. plans to build

a condominium in the 30-year-old tree park. The park is in the center

of what was once the pre-war Government Center and is now surrounded

by UP, the compounds of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals,

and the SM City Baguio. Karen Padilla, SM Baguio spokesperson, said SM

had submitted its development proposal to the city council and would

abide by the body's decision. " If the city council approves it, then

we will proceed [with the plan], but if it does not, we will not

insist on pursuing it, " she said in a statement. The plan requires the

construction of three buildings that SM has named " Air Residences, "

but it will destroy 313 of 967 trees on the property. Members of the

Baguio Community of Volunteers Movement had enlisted the support of UP

Baguio, the city government's lawyers, local churches, and schools to

block plans to lease the tree park to developers. Cenzon brought along

students from the St. Louis University High School in Pacdal and the

Don Bosco High School to help UP teachers and students surround the

park. But when Macansantos decided to lead a symbolic march around SM

City Baguio, police warned her they would be forced to block the

protesters because their permits allowed only the tree park barricade.

Police set up a perimeter outside the mall exit but Macansantos led

the students around Luneta Hill instead, hoping to encircle the mall.

Policemen, accompanied by security guards sent by SM, blocked them on

Session Road. Macansantos refused to leave even when strong rains

poured at around 2:30 p.m. and stood pat, bringing traffic to a halt.

" We were the ones who planted the trees here in 1978 and we were

amazed how the trees have grown. I was shocked and outraged by the

corporation's intent to cut trees. Won't they leave a single tree

alive in the central business district? " said Luz Maranan, a UP

alumna.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/regions/view/20080905-158746/Plan\

-to-cut-trees-enrages-protesters

8) In their bid to help preserve what remains of the green patches of

Baguio, faculty members, employees and students of the University of

the Philippines (UP)-Baguio joined hands on Thursday and encircled the

Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) pine stand, the area

recently eyed by SM Development Corporation (SMDC) for the

construction of condominium units. The GSIS pine stand is located

right across the UP-Baguio campus. Dr. Priscilla Macansantos,

UP-Baguio chancellor said that while SMDC has already backed out of

the project, this does not guarantee that a plan to construct a

building there has been abandoned. Revival of the project when

opposition dies down is still possible, Macansantos said. " We want to

ensure continued vigilance to protect the remaining green patches in

Baguio, " said one student who participated in the demonstration. The

mass action was supposed to be a part of the activities for the

celebration of the city's 99th charter day last September 1, but there

was a change of plans, said College of Social Sciences Dean Rey

Robillos. Nonetheless, about 1,000 students participated in Thursday's

activity. Simultaneous with the demonstration, about 25 tree saplings

of various species were planted at the GSIS pine stand. The original

plan was only to join hands and encircle the property to symbolize

their intent of protecting forest and watershed areas. Participants

however, marched down Gov. Pack Road, to Upper Session Road then back

to the UP campus. " We hope to invite more participants, " Robillos

said. Bishop Carlito Cenzon, who was recently awarded as one of the

six outstanding citizens of Baguio, also joined the students. Speaking

before faculty, students and employees, Cenzon said he and other

longtime Baguio residents have long been rallying for the preservation

of the pine stand. He said trees in the area help absorb carbon

dioxide emitted by vehicles that pass by the area daily. " I'm happy to

be here now, " Cenzon said while narrating to the students how the area

was before. The plan by SMDC to construct buildings in the area was

met with opposition by officials and residents of Baguio alike. Four

13-storey condotel buildings called the Baguio Air Residences were

supposed to be built in the 1.4-hectare property. In the inventory

done by Manila Seedling Bank Foundation, the pine stand has 967 trees

-- 313 will be cut, 105 will be balled while the rest will be

retained, according to the original development plan of SMDC.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/bag/2008/09/05/news/up.community.takes.stand.fo\

r.pines.html

9) Sylvia Miclat of the Environmental Science for Social Change

commented on Viewpoint columns (CDN, June 26 and July 17) that

spotlighted the new book, Forest Faces. ESSC co-published this book

with the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization. " We deeply

appreciate the Viewpoint columns. They " cited the stories we really

wanted communicated to larger Philippine society. (They) speak so much

of what was lost in our forests and how these were lost. " But there

are also threads within those stories, that need to be pieced together

for Filipinos who want something done now – and who are willing to do

so. " The Viewpoint column 'Chasing after the wind' quotes from a log

truck driver in the environment office in the Autonomous Region of

Muslim Mindanao…. The log truck driver (who saw the forests devastated

and colleagues murdered) is somebody I know. And when he unfolded his

story to me, I was just dumbfounded while listening. " We can become so

numb to the numerous 'illegal logging' anecdotes as we go about our

work. But listening to someone's heart and mind as they shared their

'ordinary' lives in relation to Philippine forests, can shred one's

heart and blow one's mind. "

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/cebudailynews/opinion/view/20080902-158244/Vict\

ims-women-forests-an-honest-man

10) Cordillera is losing more than 300 hectares of forest every year

and authorities are asking the public to help in the preservation of

these resources. Data from the Department of Environment and Natural

Resources (DENR) showed an average of 317.78 hectares of forest cover

are lost every year in the region. Among the factors cited are timber

poaching, forest fires and land conversion for agricultural uses.

Agencies like the DENR, the National Irrigation Administration (NIA)

and the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) are calling for a

concerted effort to preserve the region's remaining forests. Aside

from the loss in flora and fauna species, the degradation of the

forests also poses a threat to the availability of water. Among the

provinces, Benguet recorded the highest annual forest loss, accounting

for 266.01 hectares annually. Records also showed about 29.66 hectares

of forestlands are converted to agricultural purposes every year.

Saying forest preservation is not only a job of the DENR, the NIA has

embarked on reforestation programs, in a bid to preserve the forests

which serve as the major source of water to irrigate agricultural

lands. The DENR data is based on a three-year period, from 2005 up to

this year. With regard to timber poaching, the province of Apayao

recorded the biggest number of land used. The province had the highest

number of confiscated forest products over a three-year period

beginning 2005. The DENR reported the province has an annual average

loss of 39.83 cubic meters. The highest number of loss registered in

the province was in 2005, with 69.77 cubic meters covering .98

hectares. In a three-year period, 119.48 cubic meters of timber was

confiscated in Apayao. Kalinga ranked second with 66.77 cubic meters

confiscated covering the same period. This translates to an annual

average loss of 22.26 cubic meters, covering .31 hectares of land.

Benguet came in third with 34.62 cubic meters or an annual average

loss of 11.45 cubic meters, coverings .16 hectares of land. The

confiscated timber was either donated to the Natural Resources

Conservation or submitted to the courts as evidences for the filing of

cases.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/bag/2008/09/03/news/300.hectares.of.cordillera.\

s.forests.lost.yearly.denr.html

11) LA TRINIDAD, BENGUET—The Department of Environment and Natural

Resources may lack forest rangers to look after communal forests but a

judge said the community could do a lot by resorting to an old but

legally accepted measure in civil law. Through the so-called doctrine

of self-help, Judge Agapito Laoagan of Buguias Regional Trial Court

said the province's indigenous communities could join hands and

protect their forests from intruders without the need for a court

order or deputation from environment officials. " It's a form of

self-defense of property, " Laoagan told members of the provincial

peace and order council in a recent meeting here. The meeting came

following reports that timber poaching and expanded vegetation

continued to threaten the province's forests. The province covers

265,538 hectares, of which 120,285 ha are considered national parks

and 94,485 ha are forests reserves. But Octavio Cuanso, DENR senior

forestry management specialist, said a DENR directive had already

devolved to towns the responsibility of managing communal forests and

watersheds that are below 5,000 ha. He said Department Order 30 was

issued in 1992 but many local governments were unaware of the order or

complained that they did not have the means to guard their forests.

This meant that the communities and their officials were still highly

dependent on the DENR for measures to safeguard the forests, Cuanso

said. Julius Kollin, Benguet environment and natural resources

officer, said the province has 84 communal forests covering 3,199.74

ha. Laoagan said through the doctrine of self-help, the towns could

act on their own to protect their forests without waiting for the DENR

to do the job. " The possessor or owner of a land can use reasonable

force like people power or the people themselves to protect the forest

instead of waiting for someone to do the job, " he said. The mayor, as

representative of the people who own the communal forest, could rally

for people power to protect the forest, he said. Manuel Pogeyed,

provincial environment officer, said forests are considered communal

when they are traditionally owned and accessed by a community through

established practices. These types of forests, he said, are usually

covered by a presidential proclamation.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/regions/view/20080901-157964/Self\

-help-doctrine-urged-for-forest-protection

Malaysia:

12) " What Rainforest? wake up and smell palm oil. " A documentary movie

which is going to be premiering at this year's Freedom Film Fest.

(Free of charge) A story about what is currently happen to the

rainforest in the land of hornbills. We all know that Sarawak is the

largest state in Malaysia. We also know that that Sarawakians have the

longest house compare to our house but none of us aware that Sarawak

Rainforest is decreasingly due the development of the Palm Oil Estate.

We can be proud of that Malaysia is the World No 1 palm oil exporter (

i think so...) But we be proud to know that there some people wipe out

the forest and some native people's home just to earn some profits? To

open the public eyes, this film is going to be premiering at the film

premiers at the Freedom Film Festival on 6 September 2008.

http://isleychang.blogspot.com/2008/08/what-rainforest.html

Papua New Guinea:

13) There's no sign of Greenpeace activists ending a protest that's

preventing a ship loading logs at a remote port in Papua New Guinea.

The activists boarded the ship on the South coast and stopped it

loading the shipment bound for China. The action is part of a joint

protest between Greenpeace and local landowners who say the logging

company is breaking forestry laws and destroying their land. The

group's activists are currently on top of the ship's crane preventing

it from loading logs for the Chinese market. Greenpeace says the ship

is working for Malaysian logging giant Rimbunan Hijau. In a statement,

a Rimbunan Hijau spokesman said the ship and the logging operation

belongs to Taurama Forest Industries not Rimbunan Hijau. However

Greenpeace says the independent export monitor SGS lists Taurama

Forest Industries as a Rimbunan Hijau group company. The Papua New

Guinea Forest Industries Association says Greenpeace accusations that

the timber was illegally logged are pure propaganda. Greenpeace argues

that 90 per cent of logging in PNG is illegal because many permits

were issued without proper consultation with land owners. Land owner

Keramu Bissue hopes Greenpeace protest will force the PNG government

to review logging on his land.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/09/04/2355305.htm?section=justin

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/200809/s2354848.htm?tab=latest

Indonesia:

14) A decision by Indonesian palm oil companies to reject a moratorium

on land clearing is threatening to wipe out more than 8 000 orangutans

in the next three years, activists said on Thursday. The decision last

week to reject the moratorium call by Greenpeace means there is no

effective mechanism for protecting thousands of orangutans living

outside conservation areas, said Novi Hardianto from the Centre for

Orangutan Protection. COP teams have observed land clearing by two

major palm oil companies in orangutan habitats in Central Kalimantan

province on Indonesia's side of Borneo island, Hardianto said.

Subsidiaries of companies IOI Group and Agro Group have been clearing

orangutan habitats despite signing up to voluntary standards under the

Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), he said. The Indonesian

Palm Oil Producers Association, in rejecting the moratorium, argued

RSPO standards were enough to protect species. However, Hardianto said

land clearing by the companies showed the voluntary standards would do

little to arrest the rapid decline in the number of orangutans living

outside Central Kalimantan's conservation areas. " If it keeps going at

this rate, we'll see orangutans in this environment wiped out within

three years, " he said. COP estimates 20,032 orangutans live in the

wild in Central Kalimantan province and that close to 3,000 of them

die every year. High global demand for palm oil, which is used in a

wide range of products from biscuits to soap and biodiesel, is driving

massive deforestation in Indonesia's equatorial forests.

http://redapes.org/palm-oil/big-palms-rejection-of-deforestation-moratorium-thre\

atens-orangutans/

15) The state-owned forest management firm Perhutani is inviting

investors to develop public forests in Java. Out of 2.4 million

hectares of forest owned by Perhutani, two million hectares will be

prepared for public forests. " We're using a core-plasma concept, "

Perhutani Director Upiek R. Wasrin told Tempo yesterday. The public

forest development program should actually have started this year and

continued until 2012. As there are no investors yet, there is a

possibility that development will be started next year. It is hoped

that investors will participate in planting trees on 400,000 hectares

of land up until 2013. Upiek said she suspected that investors were

worried about working with the general public as this did not make

much profit. She explained that 400 trees can be planted on one

hectare of public forest and provide an output of 120 cubic meters of

wood per hectare. Assuming that the price of wood is Rp500,000 per

cubic meter per hectare, an investor can gain Rp60 million. After

capital costs amounting to Rp19 million have been deducted, the profit

can reach Rp41 million for 7-year-old trees. " We offer a profit share

system with 60 percent for investors, " said Upiek. She went on to say

that the aim of developing public forests was to turn unproductive

land into productive land and it is predicted that Rp1.4 trillion will

be needed for this. One of the fund sources for Perhutani is from the

General Service Board of the Forestry Department.

http://www.tempointeractive.com/hg/nasional/2008/09/03/brk,20080903-133531,uk.ht\

ml

16) In the name of progress, mankind has irreversibly plundered our

environment and humans now pose the biggest threat to nature. Our

atmosphere is warming at an alarming rate, the arctic ice cap is

rapidly melting and the all-important lungs of the world -- our

precious rainforests -- are disappearing at breathtaking speed. Only

if humans die out, which is increasingly likely due to our brazen

greed and disregard for the sanctity of nature, will this planet have

any chance of recovery for the untold damage we have caused. That's

the dark and depressing opinion I recently heard being expressed by a

somewhat jaundiced eco warrior. This sullen view of the world begs the

age old question as to what is more important -- humans or the

environment? To a positive thinker like myself, this question seems

just as absurd. Surely we have just as much right to life on earth as

the birds and the trees. It is not, for me, a question of the survival

of either mankind or nature. It is certainly possible to coexist and

to flourish. We have woken up to the plight of our environment and

there is growing understanding and awareness of the acute need to

protect our biosphere. Of course we must all do much more, with

greater speed and more zest. Indonesia is a natural resource-rich

country. It can still boast some of the world's most magnificent

rainforests, which are home to millions of species whose survival is

inextricably linked to ours. Unfortunately, these forests are being

depleted at a frightening speed. According to Greenpeace, the nation's

forests are disappearing at the rate of six football fields every

minute. In spite of sound environmental laws in Indonesia designed to

conserve these priceless forests, successive governments have appeared

impotent in preventing their demise. Illegal logging remains rife, and

it is estimated that tens of thousands of low paid workers are

employed by corrupt gang masters to obliterate these cherished

resources. While some efforts have been made by this government to put

a stop to this heinous activity, thousands of trees are being

unlawfully felled every day.

http://old.thejakartapost.com/detailfeatures.asp?fileid=20080902.R02 & irec=1

17) Indonesia's economic miracle came at a devastating price for the

nation - where millions of acres were deforested. The rich forests of

Indonesia have helped fuel the island nation's fantastic economic

growth. The tropical woods were turned into pulp for paper and

hardwood furniture - finding ready markets around the world. But

Indonesia's economic miracle came at a devastating price for the

nation - where millions of acres were deforested - and the world.

Indonesia is the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases and 85

percent of that comes from cutting down trees - largely in the lush

lowlands on the island of Java. Michael Lawton has the story for

Living on Earth, " originally produced by Radio Deutsche Welle and

Java's Radio Bass FM. According to some figures, around 150,000

hectares of teak forest were destroyed by poor villagers following the

political and social chaos in the post-Suharto era. But the plundering

still continues, even if at a lower level. Krisdomo, the head of the

Forest Stakeholders Association in the region of Parangantuban

(phonetic spelling), says that although vast areas of forest have been

destroyed, it's not benefited the local people. They still live in

poverty. The forest destruction between 1998 and 2002 is a dark

chapter in the history of the state forest company Perhutani, which is

part of the Indonesian Forest Department. The Indonesian government

amended the law on forest preservation in 1999. In 2002, based on this

new law as well as past experiences, Perhutani designed a program

called community-based forest preservation. This program tries to

include locals in forest preservation measures. Villagers who live

near the forests are encouraged to help keep the forests in tact. As a

reward, they can use land surrounding the forests for their needs.

They're also entitled to 25 percent of the earnings from the forests'

produce. Community-based forest preservation might sound like a good

idea at first, but the program has yet to who any evidence of success.

http://www.pri.org/world/asia/deforestation-in-indonesia.html

18) " A long time ago, mussels, cockles and crabs were found easily

among these dense mangrove forests. But all these have now disappeared

because local residents cut the mangroves down to make charcoal, "

Defitri told The Jakarta Post. " As a result, many community coconut

plantations collapsed into the sea because there was nothing to stop

the waves, " he said. After finishing his studies, Defitri returned to

his native village, Bengkalis, and began to think about what could be

done to conserve the mangrove forests. There was one question that

kept bothering him: Why wasn't the government paying attention to the

land? He got an answer after working as a field facilitator on a

number of government projects related to the processing of fishery

resources and the development of coastal communities. " Apparently,

almost all mangrove conservation projects failed because the tender

system was in total disarray. The result of these projects was not

everyone understood mangroves, and planting was conducted during the

wrong seasons, " Defitri said. " When planting mangroves in coastal

areas, attention must be paid to the wind and weather -- there's only

a small window of opportunity when planting, otherwise they do not

reach their full potential, " he added.

http://old.thejakartapost.com/detailfeatures.asp?fileid=20080902.W05 & irec=2

19) Indonesia, home to the world's third largest forest covering 120

million hectares, has been struggling to cope with deforestation due

to lack of preservation incentives. The country's forest stores

billions of tons of carbon. No formal mechanism has been put in place

worldwide, as anticipated at the upcoming 2009 climate change summit,

to reap real financial gain from forest carbon trading. Nigel Turvey,

chair of KeeptheHabitat, talked to The Jakarta Post's Adianto Simamora

and Dwi Atmanta recently about his newly launched carbon trade project

in Mamuju, West Sulawesi, and prospects for a global carbon market.

Question: What kind of business is KeeptheHabitat? Answer: The project

promotes sustainable forests working with businesses and the

community. We have developed a conservation model for businesses

because we work with business people. We are not an NGO. Our first

project is with a state forestry enterprise, Inhutani I in Mamuju,

West Sulawesi, because we have set up a good partnership with that

business. We have negotiated with Inhutani I and the Forestry Ministry

over the past 12 months to get the project up and running. There are

so many forested areas across Indonesia that require a system to

protect and rehabilitate them in order to make them sustainable.

http://old.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20080901.A07 & irec=6

New Zealand:

20) Forest owners say the decision of Ngai Tahu to apply to have its

Treaty of Waitangi settlement reconsidered, highlights the huge losses

sustained by owners of pre-1990 forests under the government's

emissions trading scheme (ETS). " The treatment of pre-1990 forestry

has been a problem for the industry since the ETS was first proposed,

and it remains the key problem, " says NZ Forest Owners Association

chief executive David Rhodes. Citing a legal opinion prepared for the

Federation of Maori Authorities, Mr Rhodes says the effects of the ETS

on iwi who have already settled their grievances with the Crown has

been twofold. " First, the forested lands transferred to them as part

of their settlements have been de-valued, and second, if they were

considering deforestation in order to switch to a more profitable land

use, the costs of doing so are considerably higher than they were

before the ETS, because even relocating forests is penalised. " Iwi are

fortunate to have the Waitangi Tribunal open to them as a means of

getting redress for this unfair treatment. This channel is not

available to other forest owners, including Maori who own forests that

are not associated with a treaty claim. " Regardless of this we expect

any treatment of forest owners to be equitable and consistent across

the board. David Parker is correct when he says that government and

industry do not agree on what is a fair level of compensation for the

loss of value to pre-1990 forest. Government has increased the limited

5% level of compensation offered to around 7.5% of the deforestation

liability, but only for those who purchased before 2002 and this has

created yet another arbitrary and unwelcome division within the

industry. " We agree that the ETS should compensate pre-1990 forest

owners more adequately for their loss of equity and allow

transferability - the right to replant milled forests on another site

without penalty. " New Zealand needs more forests for a host of

reasons, many of them environmental. Treatment of forest owners today

is going to determine what level of interest there is in forestry

tomorrow. "

http://www.voxy.co.nz/national/ngai-tahu-claim-reflects-bad-treatment-all-forest\

-owners/5/2482

Australia:

21) Conservationists and the forest industry are split over what

Professor Ross Garnaut's supplementary report on climate change will

mean for the Tasmania's forests. The report, to be presented at the

National Press Club in Canberra today, is expected to urge Prime

Minister Kevin Rudd to increase Australia's native forest reserves as

part of the Federal Government's response to climate change. Prof

Garnaut's draft report, released in June, did not say much about the

role of forests in any carbon trading scheme. But earlier this week,

he hinted forests could be used to offset the carbon emitted by heavy

industry. " We are, of the OECD countries, probably the country in the

world with the largest area of woodlands and forest per capita and

this vast area is going to provide a very large potential for

biosequestration of many kinds, " he said. While the report is expected

to focus on protecting forests and savannahs in northern Australia,

Environment Tasmania said it opened up a huge opportunity to preserve

Tasmania's native forests. " It has long been well recognised that

protecting forests is one of the cheapest, quickest and most effective

ways to immediately reduce greenhouse gas emissions, " spokesman Simon

Branigan said. But the CFMEU's forestry division interpreted Prof

Garnaut's comments as an endorsement of the industry's harvesting

methods and even a green light to stepping up forestry operations.

" The bottom line is that Professor Garnaut understands that

sustainable forest management involves storing carbon as you go, "

national secretary Michael O'Connor said. " A sustainable forestry

industry is unique in that it reduces carbon in the atmosphere. "

Meanwhile, a submission to the Commonwealth's Carbon Pollution

Reduction Scheme Green Paper has identified laws in the Federal

Government's proposed model for carbon trading in forests.

http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=105915

22) Two Canberra academics are warning the inclusion of plantation

forests in an emissions trading scheme could drive emissions up not

down, by encouraging the logging of native forests. The latest warning

is from Dr Judith Ajani a forest economist at the Australian National

University. " The effect of the emissions trading scheme, with respect

to the forestry sector both native forests and plantations, is

potentially to be quite negative from a climate change mitigation

perspective, " Dr Ajani said. Dr Ajani argues that under the proposed

emissions trading scheme, plantation owners are likely to make more

money from using plantations for carbon storage rather than for

logging. She and a colleague at ANU have used a mathematical model to

prove their point. Their research is included in a submission to the

Government on its green paper for the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).

" We found that plantation growers would need only quite low CO2 prices

before they would receive the equal revenue that, as the alternative

of logging a plantation, " Dr Ajani said. " So we would be looking at

prices for a hard wood plantation of around $10 to $15 a tonne of CO2

for plantation growers to be attracted by the carbon market rather

than the wood market. " Dr Ajani says that is bad news for native

forests. She argues plantations should be excluded from the ETS.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/09/04/2354909.htm

23) Leaning out of his air conditioned 4WD the local ranger hollered,

" are you guys seriously going all the way? " We'd only cycled about two

kilometres (of around 5500) so the whole idea of mountain biking the

National Trail suddenly hit us like a ton of bricks. Were we kidding

ourselves? It was March 1, and we had just left the large rural town

of Healesville at the Melbourne side of the Victorian Alps with a

vague itinerary and a horrible feeling we'd forgotten something. With

a bit of crystal ball gazing, Rebecca and I were expecting to arrive

in Cooktown around the end of August. The inspiration for the National

Trail came from legendary bushman R. M. Williams sometime in the 70's,

and was initially developed by the Australian Trail Horse Risers

Association. It took years of negotiation with landowners, forestry

and national park authorities, as well as a government grant in 1988,

to finally create what is now the world's longest marked off-road

trail. It traverses lush tropical rainforests, rugged mountains,

valleys and gorges, remote dry plains, alpine meadows, and even

snowfields during winter. The abundant bird life flocking to the

flowering eucalypts, and gently undulating tracks, made going very

pleasant during the first couple of days but it was luring us into a

false sense of security. The steep climb over the very aptly named Mt

Terrible, and the innocuous sounding but equally terrible Lazarini

Spur, made it clear that the mountains had begun with a vengeance. It

marked the start of our 'rock climbing'. In this terrain riding wasn't

an option; in fact, we devised a simple classification system for our

uphill struggles. Level 1 was 'pushing' - walking the bike with both

hands on the bars (this was always welcomed!). Level 2 was 'dragging'

where the increased steepness would require a hand behind the seat

post and a bit more sweating and grunting. Level 3 was 'pannier-job',

taking everything off the bike and making multiple trips with panniers

back and forth. This was referred to as # & *!@ and would occasion flair

up as wicked temper tantrums. But hey, what about that view?

http://injinji.com.au/blog/?p=250

24) Native wildlife is clinging to survival around Sydney, despite

habitats being cleared for development or shelled by the army. A study

has found 550 invertebrate species inhabit the 1860 square kilometres

controlled by the Sydney Metropolitan Catchment Management Authority.

However, 53 species - almost one in 10 - are listed as threatened,

including eight rated as endangered. Released yesterday to mark the

start of Landcare Week, the study identified the Holsworthy military

base and Kurnell - home to sand mining, an oil refinery and a water

desalination plant - as among Sydney's top-10 wildlife hotspots. About

half of all areas ranked as high or very high importance for native

fauna were found to be outside sites preserved and managed for

conservation. Landcare Australia's chief executive, Brian Scarsbrick,

appealed to Sydneysiders to help protect habitats. " This study is an

alarming call to arms for anyone interested in preserving our wildlife

to volunteer for their urban land care group. " The study, conducted by

the Department of Environment and Climate Change, included Warriewood

in the north, Toongabbie in the west, Campbelltown in the south-west

and Darkes Forest to the south. While the Royal National Park was

given the highest ranking for its " extremely high fauna density " , the

Holsworthy military base scored fifth spot, with 146 species of birds,

41 mammals, 32 reptiles and 17 frogs. Its wildlife included endangered

broad-headed snakes and " vulnerable " koalas. " Some reptile habitat

such as rocky outcrops may be impacted by continued shelling from

artillery, " the study says. Kurnell, in eighth spot, had endangered

shorebird communities and green and golden bell frogs. Even

residential and industrial areas had threatened and " regionally

significant " wildlife. " The swift parrot is sometimes recorded

foraging in flowering screetscape and parkland trees " and some species

of bats roost " in a variety of artificial structures such as under

bridges, in stormwater drain and disused gunnery emplacements " , the

study says. Birds, including the pied oystercatcher, the double-banded

plover and the Australian pipit, were found " in artificial

environments such as Sydney Airport " .

http://forests.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=105687

25) Forestry Tasmania unveiled a new corporate image today which it

says signals a shift from an emphasis on profit to sustainability.

``The first corporate objective is not to increase profit but to

embrace science to achieve best practice environmental stewardship,''

managing director Bob Gordon said. The government business enterprise,

which was corporatised in the mid-1990s, employs about 500 people and

manages 1.5 million ha of the States forests. It's annual revenue of

about $200 million in 2007 produced a profit of nearly $30 million. Mr

Gordon said the new corporate focus was developed because the industry

had changed, FT had changed and the public view of the business had

changed. He said there was a perception that FT was prepared to

sacrifice environmental values for a quick buck.

http://northerntasmania.yourguide.com.au/news/local/news/economy-business-it-fin\

ance/forestry-tasmania-unveils-its-new-image/1259343.aspx

26) Tasmanian novelist Richard Flanagan used the ceremony, at which he

received the journalism prize, to reiterate his call for the

equivalent of a royal commission into the relationship between the

Tasmanian forest industry and the Tasmanian Government in order to

restore trust and end the destruction of " Australia's garden of Eden " .

Flanagan received the award for 'Out of Control: The Tragedy of

Tasmania's Forests', in which he exposed links between political

parties and Gunns, the company behind the controversial Tamar Valley

pulp mill, and their impact on the Tasmanian wilderness.

http://awardtragic.blogspot.com/2008/09/victorian-premiers-literary-award.html

27) Thank you, Premier; thank you to the judges for this honour; and

thank you to Paul Lennon and Gunns for a cast of characters so

improbable and a story so outrageous that it would put a pulp novelist

to shame. Journalism matters; quality journalism matters. If you wish

to see what a world without it looks like, if you want one image of

barren waste for what happens when corporate lies become accepted as

the truth - come to Tasmania and walk through a smoking clear-fell. I

want to thank Sally Warhaft at The Monthly for publishing this piece,

and Morry Schwartz for backing me. I said to Morry that Gunns was

highly litigious, and legal action a likelihood. " That would make my

day, " replied Morry, and he meant it. He fully legally indemnified me.

You cannot be a city of literature without a culture of great

publishers. How fortunate you are to count Morry Schwartz among your

number. Sadly, since this article was published, too little has

changed. We still have the grotesque situation of some of the Earth's

most carbon-dense forests being clearfelled and then burnt in fires so

extreme that for up to a month a year, Hobart is blanketed in smoke.

How can Australia have any credibility on the issue of climate change

when this year the Asthma Foundation advised asthmatics to stay

indoors while forests were napalmed? That our taxes are paying for the

consequent carbon fallout that is not only warming the planet, but

choking our own citizens, is a perversity that beggars belief. In

Tasmania today we have limited investigations underway which suggest

to many the possibility of corrupted police, judiciary and polity.

Incoming Premier David Bartlett has admitted he has inherited a mess

and that trust in government needs to be restored. Tonight I call on

Premier Bartlett to have a commission of inquiry - the island's

equivalent of a royal commission - into the relationship between the

Tasmanian forestry industry and the Tasmanian government over the past

decade. Because nothing less will end this rape of Tasmania. And I beg

of Australians to help the majority of Tasmanians who want old-growth

logging ended. Please, I ask you here tonight, please help us by

pressuring the powerful in whatever way you can, to end this obscenity

in Australia's Garden of Eden. We are better than this; we can, if we

choose, end it. http://www.themonthly.com.au/tm/node/1187

28) Tasmanian wood will be exported to Japan for use in wood-fired

power plants, says Forestry Tasmania managing director Bob Gordon.

Speaking at the launch of Forestry Tasmania's new vision and mission

statement yesterday, Mr Gordon said there had already been several

exports, mostly to Japan. Starting in October, Gunns Ltd will export

native wood from Triabunna to the Japanese company Chubu Electric.

" There have been several exports of fuelwood in the last 12 months to

a variety of customers in Japan, " Mr Gordon said. " The Japanese are

like everywhere else in the world, they are trying to replace fossil

fuel-powered electricity with renewable electricity which comes from

wood waste. " Forestry Tasmania assistant general manager Michael Wood

said fuelwood was of a lower standard than pulpwood and would normally

be part of a forest regeneration burn. Mr Wood said he was not aware

of any studies into whether the export of fuelwood to Japan and

subsequent generation of renewable energy was carbon-neutral. Gunns

says a pulp mill would reduce greenhouse gases because fewer ships

would be carrying woodchips to Japan. Mr Wood said the interest in

fuelwood had increased because of a rise in the price of renewable

energy certificates. There could be up to a million tonnes a year of

suitable wood spread across Tasmania, he said. Mr Gordon said

wood-fired power stations might be the solution to reducing forestry

regeneration burns in Tasmania. " What we really want to work on is

getting a couple of wood-fired power stations so that, instead of wood

in forests being burnt to create a seedbed for the eucalypts, what we

would be doing would be creating renewable energy as well, " he said.

http://www.news.com.au/mercury/story/0,22884,24280400-5007221,00.html

29) Tarpeena Primary School students recently visited Auspine's Penola

Forest to see logging operations first hand as part of their

Sustainable Forestry Pilot Project. The first of its kind undertaken

by a primary school in Australia, the project involves students in a

range of learning opportunities that link their curriculum to the

world. Building on previous excursions to the Forestry SA Glencoe Pine

Nursery and Auspine Tarpeena Forest, this excursion saw students

witness a third thinning operation by Merrett Logging and a clear

felling operation by Badenochs. As a special bonus, the students were

among the first in Australia to see Auspine's new bundler in action.

Tarpeena Primary School principal Stephen Errock said the students had

taken a great interest in the forestry project and have participated

in activities which had enabled them to see every aspect of the life

cycle of pine trees. " Being able to get into the forest and see

machinery working has been a highlight for our students, " Mr Errock

said. " This is creating learning opportunities for our students about

their own local industry that many people never get to see in

operation. " Students will continue their learning with future visits

planned to Auspine and Kimberley Clark mills, to see the progress of

the trees they have followed from seedling to maturity.

http://www.borderwatch.com.au/archives/1072

30) Angel's 35-year career as an advocate for our natural world began

when he walked into the Total Environment Centre to volunteer his

services in 1973. He concedes he was naive about the workings of

government. " There was a certain belief that government decisions

responded to facts, that good decisions are a consequence of mature

consideration and information, whether it was on the environment or

anything else, and I obviously discovered that political agendas are

far more influential, " he says. " You still find that today with young

people we employ. They're out of uni, they're used to analysing facts

and researching things and putting up a rational argument, and then

you explain to them that you're campaigning in a political environment

and there's a whole new universe of motives and information and

signals. " Angel learnt how to run campaigns, how to engage the public

and the media, how to get through the political system. Then five

years ago, he decided to stop and evaluate his work. He could see

climate change was becoming an urgent problem; he also wanted to

answer those colleagues who asked him: are we making any real

progress? " I didn't really want to get into a rut of repeating the

same things year in year out because I'm a quite strong believer that

you need to reinvent organisations and strategies, " he says. " Things

that were relevant or useful as a strategy or tactic 30 years ago

aren't necessarily so today. So I did want to assess the relevance of

what I was doing and what my colleagues were doing. " The result is

Green Is Good, partly a history of the Australian environmental

movement and partly a memoir, but it is also an assessment of how

" green " we have become (conclusion: we have come a long way but there

is much more ground to cover). In clear detail, Angel unravels some of

the major environmental battles of the years: successes such as saving

the rainforests, stopping woodchipping and increased recycling; others

not so successful, such as fighting to retain the deposit system for

glass bottles (which now exists only in South Australia).

http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/reaching-for-the-environmental-tipping-po\

int/2008/09/02/1220121234492.html

31) A trail of trees carved by Burke and Wills on their ill-fated

expedition to cross Australia have been preserved by the Queensland

government. Qld Sustainability Minister Andrew McNamara said the group

of trees, which marked the explorers' northernmost camp at Little

Bynoe River, 35km south-west of Normanton, had been entered into the

Queensland Heritage Register. " It's remarkable they are still standing

in such inhospitable country and vital they be preserved, " Mr McNamara

said. Fifteen trees were marked by the exploration party on their

February 1861 stopover during their historic attempt to cross

Australia from south to north. Another tree was marked nearby by

rescuer Frederick Walker when his party arrived in January 1862,

searching for the explorers who had already perished. Queensland

Heritage Council chairman David Eades said the camp of Robert O'Hara

Burke and William John Wills was an important archaeological site.

" There's potential to yield artefacts and information that adds to our

understanding of the practice and processes of 19th century

exploration of Australia's north generally, and of this famous

exploration particularly, " Mr Eades said. A separate application to

protect a Burke and Wills camp, 100km from Birdsville, is still under

consideration. Discovered late last year, it is believed to be where

the pair buried their astronomical and navigational instruments before

their deaths. Mr McNamara has previously said the site was vulnerable

to interference by treasure hunters and enthusiasts. But any moves to

declare the site a protected area - which would require permits for

entry - would need the landowner's blessing.

http://news.theage.com.au/national/qld-preserves-burke-and-wills-trees-20080902-\

47ob.html

32) Wilderness Society campaigners are on the New South Wales

mid-north coast today to push for more local forests to be protected.

The society says new research from the Australian National University

shows untouched native forests store at least three times more carbon

than previously thought. Organiser Gemma Tillack says they are holding

workshops to highlight the important role forests play in fighting

climate change. " If we do leave these forests to grow essentially over

their lifetime they are continuously sucking carbon dioxide out of the

atmosphere, " she said. " This is a very quick, and a very cheap and a

very effective way to reduce our greenhouse gas levels in the

atmosphere. " Ms Tillack says it is hugely important to protect forests

in places like the mid-north coast. " The older a forest is the longer

time it's actually had to sequester carbon over its life stage, " she

said. " So what we're saying is that it's really important to protect

our old and native forests as a solution to climate change because

they are storing up to 1200 tonnes of carbon per hectare. "

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/09/04/2354881.htm?site=midnorthcoast

33) Two Canberra academics are warning the inclusion of plantation