Guest guest Posted October 3, 2008 Report Share Posted October 3, 2008 --Today for you 34 new articles about earth's trees! (409th edition) --Audio and Video version of Earth's Tree News: http://forestpolicyresearch.org --To Subscribe / to the world-wide email format send a blank email to: earthtreenews- OR earthtreenews- Index: --Vietnam: 1) Illegal logging of redwood (Afzelia xylocarpa) in province of Dac Nong, 2) Ghost forest, 3) SPERI helps indigenous people & trees, --Philippines: 4) UNESCO Protected land around Subterranean River has expanded, --Malaysia: 5) Gov's Memorandum of Understanding with Global Forest and Trade Network, 6) A losing battle to protect their communal forests, 7) Malaysian logging companies harassing and raping Penan women, 8) Save the Sun Bear, --Papua New Guinea: 9) Forest Authority cannot account for K100 million which has disappeared over a six-year period between 1999 and 2005, 10) current global economic system is to fault for deforestation, --Indonesia: 11) Palm oil to aggressively expand operations in Papua, 12) Where the last natural forests are to be found, --New Zealand: 13) Example of Land management values, 14) Forests Land Collective Settlement Bill, 15) Market for CO2 may be most efficient & ``durable'' way to save forests, 16) Tackle corporate dairy farming's role in deforestation, 17) Residents concerned about Maraetai Beach area being spoiled by forest logging, --Australia: 18) Gov accused of illegally logging 20,000 hectares, 19) Battle over logging in native forests is set to be re-ignited, 20) Cont., 21) Record high number of lumber trucks monitored entering Eden chipmill, 22) Cont. 23) Endangered Swift parrots breed in area of Wielangta earmarked for logging, 24) Former Aussie logger rises to power in Solomon Islands, 25) Increasing prices of its plantation logs to unsustainable levels, 26) Climate " skeptics " and denialists fall from grace, 27) Health of Murray River and River Red Gum Forests intrinsically linked, 28) New Government commercial partnership will grow timber on 4500ha, 29) They will try and disrupt the harvesting of up to 400 hectares of the Bermagui forest, 30) They struck a deal with protesters to keep the century-old trees, 31) Save the endangered red-tailed black cockatoo, 32) Walk against woodchipping continues on, 33) Demonstrators delivered a forest protection letter to the Prime Minister, 34) Conference on global deforestation held in Sydney, Articles: Vietnam: 1) DAC NONG — Rampant illegal logging of redwood (Afzelia xylocarpa) in the Central Highlands province of Dac Nong is threatening to destroy a national historical and cultural heritage site. Forest rangers say that meager resources and resourceful loggers have heavily damaged the 1,300-ha Dray Sap special use forest in Krong No District. The forest and the waterfalls of Gia Long and Dray Sap in Dac So Commune have been recognised as a national historical and cultural heritage site, that the Dac Nong Trade and Tourism Company manages to exploit its tourism potential. Le Men, deputy director of the Gia Long-Dray Sap Waterfalls area, says loggers enter the forest from all sides at day and night to log redwood. Redwood is a highly sought after wood for its beauty and sturdiness against the elements, and widely used in interior decorations including wooden-tiled floors, Men says. " The company has only three people to protect the forest, so most logging cases are discovered only after illegal loggers have carried the wood out of the forest. " The company dug two trenches along the 7-km asphalted road in the middle of the forest to prevent poachers' vehicles from transporting wood out of the forest. But the illegal loggers are able to open new roads, filling sections of the trenches or using tree-trunks spanning the trenches to get the wood out, Men explains. The company has also hired four bodyguards from the Dak Lak-based A Chau Security Company to cope with the loggers, but the move has not paid off. The loggers have attacked forest rangers and cut redwood trees even in areas near the management board offices of the tourism company. The company has assigned 30 families in Dac So Commune to protect the 1,300ha of forest land at VND100,000 per ha per year. But when the deforestation is discovered, they claim not to know who did it, according to inspectors from the Krong No District Forest Protection Office. Office chief Tran Van Giang says redwood illegal logging in the province has been a hot issue for nearly one month. " Loose management by the Dac Nong Trade and Tourism Company is one of main factors of leading to the destruction, " Giang says. http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=02ENV011008 2) The cemeteries are called rung ma, which means " ghost forest " in Vietnamese. " Each village has a burial place which is not so far away in the forest, " said Ho Van Nen, secretary of the Communist Party of Tra Tap Commune in Nam Tra My District. " They also have a unique way of burying the dead. " He said Ca Doong people often dig a hole about one meter deep and one meter in diameter and line it with pebbles. The dead body is placed in the hole and covered with a layer of pebbles and soil. For Xe Dang people, a similar method is used, although tree branches are used instead of pebbles, Nen said. The burial grounds are hard to identify because the graves do not have tombstones or any above-ground markers, he said. Nen also said sometimes wild animals dig up the corpses because the graves are so shallow. At a cemetery of the Village No. 4 at Tra Tap Commune, passers-by can easily smell the dead from hundreds of meters away. A villager said some areas in the forest had been used as cemeteries by villages that had since moved elsewhere. Recently, a construction site near the Nam Tra My General Hospital found several human skeletons thought to belong to a forgotten cemetery of some long-departed village. Dinh Van Sat, a patriarch of an ethnic minority village at Tra Tap Commune, said death was considered final by Ca Doong and Xe Dang people. The purpose of all funeral rituals is to completely cut all bonds between the dead and the living. He said the first thing a family did when someone died was to divide their property amongst members of the household, with the deceased receiving an equal share. Everything from rice and salt to bowls and pans and even gongs is distributed and the dead person's share is buried with them, he said. Sat said the deceased were buried the day they died, after being told by their family that they had received an equal share of their property so they shouldn't come back and ask for more. http://rememberwellnet.wordpress.com/2008/09/27/ghost-forests-a-place-for-forget\ ting/ 3) We are right off Vietnam's Highway 8, in the Central Province of Ha Tinh. We are on the western side of Vietnam, only about 15 kilometers from the Laos border. We arrived by motor car after all, a Toyota Landcruiser at that, and were able to make the almost 10 hour trip with some new friends, some directors and managers of SPERI, who have been working with the organization for quite some time. What I have found most now, is that the people we have met want to know about cultural differences, more than about Permaculture itself. Upon arriving at the HEPA site, Marisha and I were greeted by the new group of students, mostly Hmong and Dzao children from the north. This project helps to educated them about farming practices while encouraging them to value their cultural heritage. Many of the ethnic minority groups of Vietnam are being driven from their homes by the government and industrialization and are suffering much like the Native Americans have. This morning we climbed the big mountain to worship the cay da, a giant tree, I think the same tree I saw in Angkor in Cambodia that had overtaken the ancient temples there. The students chose the tree as their sacred tree (many of their tribes traditionally worshiped this tree) and made an alter, with offerings. We all burned incense, said prayers, and walked in a circle around the tree, as the students sang songs in Vietnamese. Afterwards, we went down the river, to sit by the waterfall and have lunch. Fresh roots and sweet potatoes, sticky rice, and oranges. It was delicious! I spent a while with my feet in the water, gathering and skipping stones, and then I spent a good deal of time, teaching an impromptu lesson in Permaculture to one student with a lot of questions. Our drawing board was in the sand and we moved it around and drew pictures to illustrate our ideas. This place is amazing! They have moved centuries old, wooden stilt houses from the countryside, where modern buildings are now in demand, restored them, and erected them here on their forest property of 450 hectares. They are used for the eating area, the study hall, and the sleeping quarters where we are sleeping. They are so beautiful it makes me shudder . . . This whole experience feels like that. So unexpected, so wild, so right! Today we also met Chi Lanh, the Director of Speri. She was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for some of her past work and is doing incredible things with this project. Tomorrow she wants me to start the day with the students, talking more about cultural differences and my feelings about retracing steps toward the past. It is ironic. I am here, to discover what my past has to tell me, and I am only speaking what is on the forefront of my mind. http://www.thegirlpoet.com/blogv4/?p=13 Philippines: 4) The Subterranean River is a good example of how comprehensive a World Heritage site should be. When it was first nominated for World Heritage inscription, the area of the Park was approximately 4,000 hectares with the Subterranean River at its center. After visiting the site, Unesco advisers pointed out that an entire tropical ecosystem existed around the Subterranean River, recommending that the Park area should be enlarged so all parts of the ecosystem would be within the protected area. Now the Park has an area of 22,000 hectares. The original 4,000 hectares is designated the core preservation zone with an additional 18,000 hectares as the protective buffer around it, ensuring that most of the ecosystem supporting the Subterranean River now lies within the 22,000-hectare boundary of the park. The other parts of the various ecosystems that compose the Park are the hills, valleys, flatlands and coastal areas surrounding the river, with an additional network of ecosystems that range from tropical rainforest and beach forest to mangroves, sandy beaches and coral reefs. The variety of habitats gives the Park a high degree of biodiversity. There are at least 149 different vertebrates, including 90 bird species, 30 kinds of mammals, 19 reptiles and 10 amphibians found in the Park, all endemic to Palawan, meaning that they exist nowhere else on earth There also are a number of endangered bird species like the cockatoo, blue-naped parrot, Palawan peacock pheasant, the Palawan owl and others. Threatened mammals in the Park include the scaly anteater and binturong (Palawan Bearcat). Inside the Subterranean River is another fascinating ecosystem. A vast number of swiftlets roost deep in the crevices of the cave together with a bat population with numbers estimated to be about 47,000. The Park is as spectacular as the Subterranean River that it shelters. There are different types of forests: lowland evergreen forests, karst forests and beach forests. UN demographers projected in 2002 that the population of the Philippines would reach between 75 and 85 million in this decade. But the population has already overshot the high projection and now stands at 89 million, up from 60 million in 1990. And the country's forests, as well as its people, are paying the price in terms of urban overcrowding and rural deforestration. Most of the country's forests were situated in the uplands, which make up more than 60 per cent of the country's total land area. " The uplands are fragile areas, and when they get overloaded with population, they just can't take it, " says Jeff Palmer, former director of the Davao-based Mindanao Baptist Rural Life Center (MBRLC). Between 1990 and 2005, the Philippines lost one-third of its forest cover. Although the current deforestation rate is around 2 per cent per year, a 20 per cent drop from the rate of the 1990s, deforestation continues. http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/lifestyle/lifestyle/view/20080929-163485/Phi\ lippine-World-Heritage-sites Malaysia: 5) The Sabah Forestry Department made a major commitment to eliminate illegal logging when it signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Global Forest and Trade Network-Malaysia (GFTN-Malaysia) Monday. Signing the MoU means Sabah Forestry has committed to achieve forest certification for 241,098 hectres of forests within a year and demarcate part of the area, namely Malua forest reserve, for Orangutan conservation. GFTN is a WWF initiative dedicated not only to eliminate illegal logging but also to improve the management of valuable and threatened forests, according to a WWF press release. GFTN works on creating market conditions designed to help conserve the world's forests principally by facilitating trade links between companies committed to supporting responsible forestry. This win-win approach provides economic and social benefits for both the businesses and people that depend on them, WWF said. The spot light is on the Ulu Segama Malua forest reserves, considered one of the most endangered forest ecosystems which is predominantly a lowland mixed dipterocarp forest. It is strategically situated within the area of the Heart of Borneo. It is also known as the largest habitat of Orangutans (the endemic sub species Pongo pygmaeus morio) in North-Eastern Borneo and the area accounts fort approximately 25 per cent of the total orangutan population of Sabah. " With the vast expereince from the management of FSC certified Deramakot forest reserve, SFD would like to prove our commitment to sustainable forest management to the world. " We strongly believe the certification could bring balance between economic development, environmental protection and also social benefits , " said Datuk Sam Mannan, Director of Sabah Forestry Department, on his thought regarding the certification through participating with GFTN. " SFD has consistently been a great supporter for sustainable forest management since 2007. WWF-Malaysia has made an official partnership with SFD through GFTN to assist FMU17A in achieving FSC certification. We are glad to know FMU17A will carry out the forest certification assessment by a third party soon, by the end of this year, " said WWF-Malaysia CEO Dato' Dionysius S.K. Sharma. " The world's forests remain under threat from deforestation, illegal logging and poor forest management. Realizing these threats, the SFD demonstrates an exemplary action to the industry and move towards sustainable forest management , " added Sharma. http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=60140 6) The Iban community in Rumah Sengok, about 80km up the Kemena River in Bintulu are fighting a losing battle to protect their communal forests or pulau, considered their most valuable assets, from loggers. And they are not the only ones having to face such a problem - the same loggers are said to be moving to other villages in the upper reaches of the river and likely to encroach into their communal forests too, Jok Jau, Marudi-based co-ordinator of Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) told Malaysiakini today. " The loggers claim they have a permit to extract the timber and are ignoring the rights of the 26-door Sengok longhouse over their communal forests of about 300 to 400 hectares, taking away valuable timber species from the palau, " he said. Once they have finished work there, the loggers are expected to move to neighbouring areas to continue with timber harvesting, Jok Jau said, adding that at least 10 other Iban longhouses in the upper reaches of the Kemena River would be affected. According him, the Ibans are not demanding for money but to preserve their rights which are recognised by law to the communal forests which supply their daily needs. Jok Jau said a government-backed consortium Grand Perfect comprising three large local timber companies are managing and implementing a forest plantation project covering an area of more than 500,000 hectares extending from Bintulu right up to Balingian under a Forest Department licence. The licence was originally awarded to a pulp and paper company. The consortium has their contractors to clear the area for the plantation and the process involves the harvesting of timber. Rumah Sengok residents are complaining that these loggers have been encroaching into their palau which is considered as part of what is known as native customary rights (NCR) land since April this year. Jok Jau said the affected natives are rather helpless as their pleas have fallen on deaf ears with the loggers insisting that they have been given clearance by the authorities to clear and remove the timber. He alluded to some threats being used against the natives as well. In the first round of tree harvesting from the Rumah Sengok communal forests, an estimated 500 tonnes of timber - hill species such as meranti, kapor and keruing - have been taken out. The company originally offered to pay the longhouse people RM6 per tonne of timber extracted but headman Sengok ak Sabang and his longhouse residents disagreed " because it is not money they want but the right to keep their communal forests which is important to their livelihood, " said the local SAM leader. http://whatrainforest.wordpress.com/2008/09/27/ibans-fight-for-communal-rights/ 7) Women from the Penan tribe have accused workers from two Malaysian logging companies of harassing and raping Penan women, including schoolgirls. 'I want to make it known that we are being sexually abused by the timber company workers on a regular basis', one woman said. The Penan live in Sarawak, in the Malaysian part of the island of Borneo. They have spent more than twenty years trying to stop logging companies destroying their forests. The accused loggers work for Samling and Interhill, two of the major companies operating on Penan land. According to research undertaken by the organisation Bruno Manser Fund, the perpetrators frequent several Penan settlements in the Middle Baram area, looking for women. The company workers are based in logging camps in the region and are usually drunk when they arrive at the villages. 'When we hear their off-road vehicles coming, we just leave everything as it is and flee into the forest,' the Penan source said. 'They come on an almost weekly basis, but the situation is worst during the school holidays when they know the students are in the villages.' In other cases, school runs operated by logging company vehicles had been arranged so that schoolgirls had to stay overnight at a logging camp, where they were abused. The Penan communities are reporting several cases of pregnancy as a consequence of abuse by company workers. They also accuse the loggers of using armed 'gangsters' to intimidate them and of handing out alcohol to young Penan. Complaints by the Penan to those in charge of the logging camps and to the police have so far had no effect. The Bruno Manser Fund has asked the Malaysian government to start a formal enquiry into the allegations. In particular, the government is being asked to ensure that the victims are protected and that the harassment of Penan women by company workers is brought to an end immediately. http://www.borneo-blog.com/2008/09/26/timber-camp-workers-sexually-abused-penan-\ women/ 8) Industrial logging, large-scale forest conversion for oil palm plantations, and the illegal wildlife trade have left sun bears the rarest species of bear on the planet. Recognizing their dire status, Siew Te Wong, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Montana, is working in Malaysia to save the species from extinction. Known as " Sun Bear Man " in some circles, Siew Te Wong is setting up the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre (BSBCC) in Sabah, a Malaysian state on the island of Borneo. The project aims to save sun bears, which have largely overlooked by conservationists, through research, education, rehabilitation, and habitat conservation. " The primary goal of the proposed BSBCC is to promote Malayan sun bear conservation in Sabah by creating the capacity to rehabilitate and release suitable orphaned and ex-captive bears back into the wild, providing an improved long-term living environment for captive bears that cannot be released, and educating the public and raising awareness about this species, " he said in an interview with Mongabay.com. " [sun bears] remain as one of the most neglected bear and large mammal species in Southeast Asia. " Siew Te Wong's efforts are partially supported by the Wildlife Conservation Network (WCN), an innovative group that uses a venture capital model to protect some of the world's most endangered species. WCN will be hosting Siew Te Wong at its upcoming Wildlife Conservation Expo in San Francisco, California on October 4th. Expo attendees will be able to meet Siew Te Wong firsthand. The event, which is open to the public and costs $25-50 per person, also features 16 other conservationists working to protect wildlife around the world. Sun bear is a protected species in Malaysia. Any killing, eating and using bear parts is totally prohibited by law. There are three different laws protecting sun bear and other protected species in Malaysia: Protection of Wildlife Act 1972 in Peninsular Malaysia, Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997 in Sabah and Wild Life Protection Ordinance 1998 in Sarawak. At the international front, Malaysia is a signatory of Convention on International Trade on Endangered Species (CITES) and a member of Asean Wildlife Enforcement Network (Asean-WEN). Thus, the law that available to protect this species is sufficient. However, the problem of sun bears being killed for all kind of purposes results from lack of enforcement on the ground. In addition, there is also a lack of educational outreach to educate people in the country that it is a felony to kill and to consume bears parts. Unlike the tiger where there are several conservation and education programs in Malaysia to reduce the consumption of tiger products, very little being done to reduce consumption of bear parts apart from the wildlife protection laws, which I've already said are poorly enforced. http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0925-wcn_wong_interview.html Papua New Guinea: 9) Greenpeace today expressed deep concern over allegations that the PNG National Forest Authority (PNGFA) cannot account for K100 million which has disappeared over a six-year period between 1999 and 2005. According to a story in PNG's Post Courier newspaper, the Auditor General's office has been unable to conduct an audit of the PNGFA's accounts due to insufficient accounts and documents. " Greenpeace has been concerned for years that there is a complete lack of transparency in the dealings of the Government and the logging sector and now it appears that the government department responsible for overseeing logging in PNG can't keep its books straight, " Greenpeace Australia Pacific Forest Campaigner Dorothy Tekwie said. " The financial benefits that the industry and government say comes to PNG from logging is being squandered by incompetence, mismanagement, corruption and a serious lack of accountability. " Industrial logging is destroying PNG's forests, government officials responsible for enforcing PNG's forest laws lack the capacity or resources to do so and landowners are becoming increasingly frustrated by the lack of any real benefits from the forestry sector. " The forest industry and government's claims that there aren't serious issues with forestry in PNG are sounding very hollow, " Ms Tekwie said. " The industry continues to operate illegally and unsustainably and yet the PNGFA is unable to do anything about it. This industry needs to be cleaned up and reformed urgently. " The International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) in a diagnostic report released last year stated: " It is believed that the narrow focus of the PNG Forests Authority on exploitation of the forest resource for the primary financial benefit of the national government presents a conflict of interest which colours decisions made by the government at all levels. " http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0809/S00554.htm 10) The current global economic system is to fault for deforestation, Papua New Guinea's Deputy Prime Minister told the General Assembly's high-level debate today, stressing the need to protect the South Pacific nation's rainforests from degredation. " Deforestation is a complex subject, but – put simply – it is driven by the fact that the world values forests more dead than alive! " Puka Temu said. " Traditional economic theory – which considers ecosystem services a 'common good' and thus free to all – is primarily responsible for the massive loss of the world's forests! " Rural communities, which depend on and care for the forests, are forced to seek alternate ways of making a living, giving up opportunities to be gained from producing products such as timer, palm oil, coffee and cocoa, he said. " The international commodity markets, in fact, have hardly changed from colonial times, " the official pointed out. " The environment is devastated, rural communities stay poor, and the rich shift the blame, " he said. Wealthier nations blame developing countries' " lack of governance and corruption, " but Mr. Temu said that " symptoms of obsolete market constructs " are what in fact propel deforestration. He called on world leaders to formulate a new economic theory and market system that allow for a sustainable future. Roughly $20 billion will be needed annually to slash carbon emissions from deforestation by half. " But this would be a wise investment, even for this one ecosystem service alone, " the Deputy Prime Minister told the Assembly's General Debate. Earlier this week, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon unveiled a pioneering initiative aimed at combating climate change through creating incentives to reverse the trend of deforestation. The UN Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) Programme is designed to tip the fiscal balance in favour of sustainable management of forests, simultaneously bringing economic benefits to participating countries and contributing to significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Initially nine countries – Bolivia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Tanzania, Viet Nam and Zambia – will receive assistance through the Programme to reduce the role deforestation plays in amassing greenhouse gases. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=28319 & Cr= & Cr1= Indonesia: 11) Malaysian palm oil firms are looking to aggressively expand operations in Papua, the Indonesian part of New Guinea, reports Bernama. The chairman of the Nabire district legislative assembly, Daniel Butu, said that investors are eyeing the region for industrial oil palm plantations. He added that assembly members hoped oil palm development would employment opportunities for Papuans. " The district legislative assembly supports any company wishing to develop the people of Nabire including the Malaysian companies, " he was quoted as saying by the Antara news agency. " We hope these investors would also set up factories that would process the raw materials into finished products such as soap, cooking oil and other cosmetic materials. " It is unclear whether the proposed oil palm development would be affected by a province-wide ban on logging. Last December Papuan Provincial Governor Barnabas Suebu imposed a moratorium on logging in hopes that the emerging carbon market would offer better returns for the people of Papua. Logging and forest conversion for agriculture †" especially oil palm and rubber plantations †" are an important source of revenue for the province. " Conversion of these spectacular forests to agribusiness would be a great loss, " Governor Suebu said at the time. " I hope this approach can provide a new development path for the forests and people of the Province of Papua. " http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0926-papua.html 12) " The last natural forests are to be found in a belt that stretches from South East Asia through Papua New Guinea to the Solomon Islands in the Pacific, " she said. The natural forests consist of tropical rain, mangrove , coastal and peatland forests that are home to many kinds of plants and animals non-existent in other parts of the world. These forests also held hundreds of original cultures and traditions. " Indonesia`s forests are shrinking at a very fast rate. Deforestation destroys people, cultures, and biodiversity. It also accounts for about 20 percent of the world`s gas emission which eventually causes climate change, " said Rustar Maitar, spokesperson for Southeast Asia Greenpeace`s Forest Campaign. The campaign director of Southeast Asia Greenpeace, Shailendra Yashwant, said Esperanza`s visit to Indonesia was meant to urge the government to implement a moratorium soon on all forms of forest conversion, including industrial deforestation, expansion of oil palm plantations, and other activities which can cause deforestation Esperanza is the biggest ship in Greenpeace`s fleet. Launched in February 2002, it is 72m long and can cruise at a maximum speed of 16 knots. On its journey to Indonesia, the ship will have Madeline Habib as captain. http://www.antara.co.id/en/arc/2008/9/27/greenpeace-ship-visits-indonesia-to-pro\ mote-forest-conservation/ New Zealand: 13) The council owns more than 1500ha of mixed-age conifer plantations on four separate blocks -- Dipton, Gowan Hill, Ohai and Waikaia Forests. The valuation was carried out on June 30 and found the tree crop was worth $9,857,720, down from the previous year's total of $10,241,640. Forest manager Roger Washbourn told councillors at a meeting of the council's Forest Committee yesterday reasons for the dip in value including changing company tax rates, changes in log prices, more land being used for lower-yielding tree crops and increases in harvesting and overhead costs. The Emissions Trading Scheme had not had an effect on the forests' value because there was no procedure for the scheme yet, and so no adjustment made to the valuation, he said. However, Mr Washbourn said the market was beginning to factor in ETS costs in the price paid for land. " The ETS constrains the sale of land in such a way that for most forests, the highest and best land use valuation criterion is no longer relevant, as the land use is effectively constrained to forestry only. " http://www.stuff.co.nz/southlandtimes/4704446a6568.html 14) The Central North Island Forests Land Collective Settlement Bill completed its third reading today. The Act provides for the transfer of the central North Island Crown forests land, worth $196 million and associated accumulated rentals of approximately $223 million to the seven iwi groups that make up the Central North island Forest Iwi Collective. This innovative settlement begins the process of providing comprehensive settlements of the historical claims for seven iwi groups and more than 100,000 of their members. It is the largest single settlement that has been completed and will provide a solid base for the economic and social development for the people of the Central North Island. The settlement was completed after Central North island iwi joined together to develop a proposal for the use and allocation of the Crown forest licensed land in the region. Without the leadership of the iwi in providing solutions to issues of allocation and overlapping claims this settlement would have taken considerably longer. The Crown was happy to proceed with the settlement proposal if it had the strong support of the groups that make up the Collective. After a lengthy and open endorsement process we were convinced that the support was there to make progress and pass this legislation. The settlement represents the culmination of many years of efforts by many people representing both iwi and the Crown. It is a landmark in settlement progress and will provide inspiration to all that creative thinking and goodwill can result in solutions to even the most difficult and complex settlement issues. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0809/S00538.htm 15) Protecting tropical forests from being over-logged or flattened for pasture should be financed through the international carbon-dioxide market, New Zealand said in a proposal to the United Nations. Trees absorb CO2, a greenhouse gas that adds to global warming if they're chopped down. Countries that save trees can create credits for sale to factories and utilities that need to offset industrial CO2 emissions. The market for CO2 credits may be the most efficient and ``durable'' approach to preserving forests, New Zealand said in a statement published by the UN. Nations need between $10 billion and $40 billion annually in incentives to not turn their forests over to the timber and agriculture industries, the Pacific island nation said in its proposal to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Bonn-based supervisor of climate-protection treaties. About 180 countries are discussing ways to avoid deforestation within a global accord to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. A new agreement, sponsored by the UN, would replace the Kyoto Protocol, a 1997 treaty that limited rich countries' CO2 output from power plants, factories and vehicles. Cutting down or burning forests to harvest timber and clear land for agriculture accounts for about a fifth of global CO2 production, more output than from passenger cars. Forests cover about 4 billion hectares (9.88 billion acres), or less than one-third of the world's land area. The economic contribution of forests declined to 1.2 percent of global gross domestic product in 2000 from 1.6 percent in 1990 as areas with trees shrank in size, according to the United Nations Environment Program. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601081 & sid=aWFSI8XoWW6c & refer=australia 16) National needs to tackle corporate dairy farming's role in deforestation if it wants to truly improve forestry in New Zealand, says Greenpeace. " Corporate dairy farming is driving current rates of deforestation, " said Greenpeace Senior Climate Campaigner Simon Boxer. " Tens of thousands of hectares of forests have already been felled to make way for corporate farms. Another half million hectares is at risk; over seven times the size of Lake Taupo and a quarter of the nation's total plantation. " National's forestry policy fails to mention this. Every political party's forestry policy must level the playing field by making agriculture pay for its environmental impact under the emissions trading scheme (ETS). " Until this is done, the forestry sector and the climate will continue to pay the price. So will Kiwi taxpayers, as our Kyoto bill skyrockets. " Agriculture is currently exempt from the ETS until 2013. Greenpeace is calling for the sector to be included well before that date. Mr Boxer also called for National to ban illegal forest product imports if it leads the next government. " National's forestry policy falls well short of what's needed to promote sustainable forestry. Its feel-good pledges won't ensure that illegally logged timber is kept out of New Zealand. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0809/S00342.htm 17) Residents concerned about popular Maraetai Beach being spoiled by forest logging have won the backing of local authorities for a study of ways to prevent soil erosion. Kane Glass, of the Pohutukawa Coast Community Association, and Andrew Jenks, of Manukau City Wai Care, had consultancy Natural Environments prepare a report into environmental impacts of harvesting the Whitford pine forest behind Maraetai. That information was presented last week to the Auckland Regional Council, which approved a $10,000 grant towards developing a pilot riparian protection programme. Manukau City said it would match the ARC grant. The residents' report said potential effects of clearing forest on such steep land included increasing flow of sediment into the Adah Platts Mills Stream and on to Hauraki Gulf shellfish habitats. Other risks were increased floods, land erosion and slipping. Pohutukawa Coast residents have had weeks of interruption to travel since a major slip closed the Clevedon-Kawakawa Rd. Council environment officials said that Matariki Forest (Rayonier) effectively managed the harvest and complied with sediment control requirements. But the landowner was retiring blocks of forest for future development. Officers suggested the residents' group explore appropriate uses for the land, establish native riparian buffers and plant long rotation tree crops. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1 & objectid=10533386 Australia: 18) New South Wales Government has been accused of illegally logging almost 20,000 hectares of listed red river gum wetlands in the Riverina. The National Parks Association of NSW (NPA) report accuses the State Government body Forests NSW of logging the wetlands in south-western NSW. It said five football fields a day had been lost over the past five years. The logging in the state forests breached federal environmental protection laws, NPA spokeswoman Georgina Woods said today. The gums are listed under the international Ramsar convention, a treaty on the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands. " The NPA report shows that the logging clearly breaches the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 which prohibits activities that damage internationally important wetlands, " Ms Woods said in a statement. " We estimate that they may have logged as much as 19,780 hectares of internationally-listed wetlands illegally since 2003 - amounting to five football fields logged every day for the last five years. " An estimated 7202 hectares of Ramsar wetlands and 1043 hectares of superb parrot breeding habitat are being logged currently or are planned for logging in the next three months. " A copy of the report has been given to the Federal Government, with the NPA calling on it to step in and stop the logging. " The NPA is calling on the Federal Government to take urgent action on this matter - to 'call in' the logging to prevent any further irreversible impacts from occurring, and to take immediate compliance action against Forests NSW for the illegal logging conducted to date, " Ms Woods said. Comment is being sought from NSW Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald. http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,24429917-29277,00.html 19) The fraught political battle over logging in native forests is set to be re-ignited with the former Labor premier Bob Carr writing to the Prime Minister and senior ministers arguing that protecting the forests is " fundamental " to fighting climate change. In a letter to Mr Rudd, his Climate Change Minister, Penny Wong, the Environment Minister, Peter Garrett, and the Forestry Minister, Tony Burke, Mr Carr has joined leading conservationists who want to transform state and federal forest policies in NSW, Victoria and Tasmania to protect older forests and previously logged forests. Citing research from the Australian National University that says Australia's eucalypt forests could hold about three times more carbon than previously thought, Mr Carr argues that rethinking forest policy is vital if Australia is going to cut its greenhouse gas emissions. Keeping carbon dioxide locked up, or " sequestrated " , in the forests will not only slow Australia's rising greenhouse gas emissions but prevent the extinction of native plants and animals, the letter argues. " Protecting our existing native forests and other vegetation is therefore fundamental to meeting any emissions reduction target. In addition, previously logged natural forests, if allowed to continue growing, will realise their carbon sequestration potential, " Mr Carr writes in a letter also signed by Peggy Figgis, the vice- chairwoman of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, and Rick Humphries, from Greening Australia. Mr Carr's intervention comes at a highly charged time for the new NSW Climate Change Minister and Deputy Premier, Carmel Tebbutt, who is about to confront a fresh round of protests over logging in NSW native forests. Activists, including the former fashion designer Prue Acton, are angry that Forests NSW has approved a round of logging at Bermagui on the South Coast next month. At a meeting last week, police told conservationists there would be a " zero tolerance " policy towards anyone attempting to stop the logging, but over the weekend activists held meetings in Bega and Bermagui, attempting to link the logging to the national climate change debate. http://www.climateshifts.org/?p=482 20) " Protecting our existing native forests and other vegetation is therefore fundamental to meeting any emissions reduction target. In addition, previously logged natural forests, if allowed to continue growing, will realise their carbon sequestration potential, " Mr Carr writes in a letter also signed by Peggy Figgis, the vice- chairwoman of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, and Rick Humphries, from Greening Australia. Mr Carr's intervention comes at a highly charged time for the new NSW Climate Change Minister and Deputy Premier, Carmel Tebbutt, who is about to confront a fresh round of protests over logging in NSW native forests. Activists, including the former fashion designer Prue Acton, are angry that Forests NSW has approved a round of logging at Bermagui on the South Coast next month. At a meeting last week, police told conservationists there would be a " zero tolerance " policy towards anyone attempting to stop the logging, but over the weekend activists held meetings in Bega and Bermagui, attempting to link the logging to the national climate change debate. Ms Tebbutt defended the logging in native forests at Bermagui, saying it was part of the regional forest agreement negotiated a decade ago by the Government after input from the forestry industry and conservationists. " It is in everyone's interest that these agreements be respected, " she said. But Ms Tebbutt also said she would meet members of the South-East Conservation Alliance and will ask her Climate Change Advisory Council to look at the research from the Australian National University on forests and climate change. She was unaware of Mr Carr's role. http://forests.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=107316 21) A record high number of trucks were monitored entering the Eden chipmill last week in the latest truck count by conservationists. An unprecedented 191 trucks were counted last Thursday up to 7pm. One truck with a full load of logs broke down north of Merimbula and this would have brought the tally to 192. Spokesperson for the conservationists, Ms Harriett Swift said that the previous record count had been 167. A typical day was about 160, she said. The record number of trucks did not include pine trucks; the 192 carried only native forest logs and chips, " she said. Ms Swift said that the shockingly high numbers put a question mark over South East Fibre Exports claims that once pine chipping commenced, native forest logging would drop. " This has clearly not happened and in fact, at this rate we would have to fear another record year for native forest woodchip exports. " " It also challenges SEFE statements that only smaller trees and regrowth forest are now chipped. " Almost 70 percent of log loads were from multi aged forest and of those about sixty percent contained some split logs. " " The very large logs are split in the forest before being loaded onto trucks. " She said that the monitoring group had been joined for the day by the Walk Against Woodchips, Ms Keri James and her daughter, Clover who are walking from Canberra to Hobart to protest against native forest woodchipping. http://woodchipwalk.com/2008/09/29/record-high-chipmill-log-truck-numbers/ 22) At Eden a new Japanese vessel headed into the harbour to load woodchips for Nippon Paper Industries and the Itochu Corporation, two of Japan's biggest paper manufacturers. A handful of anti-logging activists, including the former fashion designer Prue Acton, surveyed some of the flattened coupes with dismay. " We have decided our campaign, " she said. " Natural native forests are part of the essential solution to climate change, water and biodiversity. " The forestry industry fears some activists are planning a blockade next month when logging moves to a new site near Bermagui. " Green groups have indicated they are likely to physically oppose this harvesting operation and blockade general access, " said Vince Phillips, of South East Fibre Exports, which is owned by the Japanese paper companies. The industry is aware it is facing a far bigger challenge than a blockade, however. New scientific research is threatening to reshape the toxic politics of the forestry debate. Australian National University researchers, led by Brendan Mackey, have found that native forests store far more carbon dioxide that previously thought and could be crucial to climate change policy. It is called the " green carbon " argument. A study by the university's Dr Judith Ajani also argues that Australia is about to face a bumper supply of plantation timber that could allow it to hugely scale back native forest logging while still producing enough hardwood and softwood for domestic use and export. http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/conservation/chips-are-down-for-loggers/2\ 008/09/21/1221935450279.html 23) Birds Australia says hundreds of endangered swift parrots are set to breed in an area of the Wielangta Forest in southern Tasmania which is earmarked for logging. Conservation Manager Chris Tzaros says Tasmania is the only place in the world where swift parrots mate. Mr Tzaros is urging the state and federal governments to intervene to protect the birds. " They need to change the relevant clauses under the Tasmanian Regional Forest Agreement to stop imminent logging at this site, otherwise it will just be another nail in the coffin for the endangered swift parrot, " said Mr Tzaros. Forestry Tasmania says it will move to protect endangered swift parrots if they're found to be in a coupe that's earmarked for logging. Forestry Tasmania Spokesman Ken Jeffreys says the area will be investigated. " Forestry Tasmania always will take information from the public and pass it on to the relevant authorities, " he said. " So we'll take this information that's been provided to us, and if it's credible then we're prepared to make changes to the way we operate, " said Mr Jeffreys. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/09/29/2376873.htm 24) A former logger in the Solomon Islands has been elected as the new leader of the Australian Federal Government Opposition in an unexpected snap internal party election that wrong footed the media and caught political commentators and critics unaware. Malcolm Turnbull, 54, defeated Dr Brendan Nelson, who took over the Liberal and National Coalition party late last year following the lost of the John Howard government, but since then failed to make an impression with Australian voters. A snap election on Tuesday this week, aimed at wrong footing the former lawyer and banker, who just got back from a week holiday in Europe somehow backfired and gave the Federal Opposition leadership to the former logger 45-41. Mr Turnbull connection to the logging industry in Solomon Islands began in 1991 and 1992, when he owned shares and also chairman of the then Hong Kong listed Axiom Forest Resources that own logging operations and forest concessions in the country. The logging company was operating in Solomon Islands under the trading name, Silvania Forest Products, which was operating in Western Province and other parts of the country. Mr Turnbull claimed in a media interview with ABC last year that " his attitude towards forestry today was informed by his involvement in the (Solomon Islands) logging industry " . He rejected accusations that he had once played a huge role in bad logging practices in Solomon Islands, claiming " he was trying to encourage local landowners to change logging practices and ways " . http://www.solomontimes.com/news.aspx?nwID=2632 25) Forestry Plantations Queensland is accused of increasing prices of its plantation logs to unsustainable levels. Timber Queensland chief executive Rod McInnes said yesterday the logs were already the most expensive in Australia and - although prices varied from processor to processor - the latest increase would put them about 15 per cent above that paid by NSW millers. Forestry was a monopoly and refused to go to arbitration over the issue, which had led to Supreme Court action. Mr McInnes said the state-owned business was out of control and faced further legal action as the timber industry tried to protect its investments. " This wholly-owned Government business is acting in an unconscionable and inappropriate way and its Government masters seem unwilling or unable to sort it out, " Mr McInnes said. Although already making $100 million a year profit, it had increased hoop pine royalties from 9 per cent to 14 per cent and backdated the increases four months. State Primary Industries Minister Tim Mulherin rejected the claims, saying the issue was about Timber Queensland leveraging for increased government assistance. Mr Mulherin said last year's hoop pine price reviews that resulted in increases of 8 to 13 per cent were the first since 2002. " Yet some industry representatives, supported by Timber Queensland, wanted a price decrease of 2.8 per cent on the 2002 price, " Mr Mulherin said. The Government could not continue to sell public assets for an ever-decreasing return. " We've got to the point we're not making money, " Mr McInnes said. " We'll soon have Queensland houses being built out of imported timber from NZ, Chile, NSW and anywhere else in the world because the price of Queensland timber is determined on a whim and a fancy. " We're being price gouged by a monopoly supplier - the Queensland Government. " http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,24379939-3102,00.ht\ ml 26) Australia is seeing the emergence of a new radical cause that is cutting across old political boundaries and bringing together people who would never before have crossed paths. For more than a decade, the environmental movement has been dominated by elite lobbying organisations on the one hand and dwindling groups of direct action protesters organising forest blockades on the other. Official green discussion alternated between pseudo-scientific " sceptics " saying there is nothing to worry about and safe pastel-green NGOs telling us that if we did our recycling (and made a donation) we had nothing to worry about. Why has everything changed? In November 2000, the renowned scientific journal Nature printed an article titled " Acceleration of global warming due to carbon-cycle feedbacks in a coupled climate model " . This dry sounding title put paid to earlier expectations that climate change would be gradual. The scientific consensus now is that climate change will progress in sudden, violent leaps that will go beyond our ability to stop it. As British writer Mark Lynas put it, " The end of the world is nigh, and it's already been published in Nature " . Fast forward to 2008. The vested interests that peddled climate change " scepticism " have now decided, in most cases, to acknowledge reality, but they are acting as though they can solve the problem at the pace of the market. The climate " sceptics " and denialists have fallen from grace in more official circles, but some, like the Melbourne Herald Sun's Andrew Bolt, have found a new role feeding soothing disinformation to all those who do not read Nature magazine. The gap between the sleep-inducing official " response " to climate change and the need for urgent, world-changing action is sending shock waves through society. The fact that most media is owned by a couple of tycoons who hire the likes of Bolt has not stopped this. Climate change alarm and action is spreading. http://www.greenleft.org.au/2008/768/39606 27) The health of the Murray River and its River Red Gum Forests are intrinsically linked – a healthy river needs healthy forests. However, our River Red Gum Forests are not doing well – in some areas, 75% of the trees are already stressed, dead or dying and they are being further degraded by destructive logging and grazing. The forests act as filters for the river – if the New South Wales Government is serious about protecting the health of the Murray River, then it needs to protect our River Red Gums. Often referred to as 'The Kakadu of the South,' River Red Gum Forests are also vitally important habitat for a threatened and endangered species and play host to many thousands of migratory birds each year. Plus, they attract tourists to the region, who are an important part of the local economy. Logging, primarily for low values products such as firewood, fence posts and railway sleepers, is destroying the very values that these forests have become famous for. Replacing logging with well-managed National Parks will protect the forests, ensure that the Murray retains its natural filter system and continue to provide vital income to the region. The NSW government needs to urgently commit to creating National Parks from our State Forests in full consultation with local Traditional Owners. https://secure.wilderness.org.au/cyberactivist/cyberactions/08_08_redgum-cyberac\ tion.php?utm_source=phplist & utm_medium=email & utm_campaign=rescue_the_murray_rive\ r_red_gums & email=deane (AT) efn (DOT) org & u=129739 28) FORESTS NSW and Willmott Forests Limited have formed a commercial partnership to grow timber in southern NSW. Forests NSW will make 4500ha of harvested plantation land in the Monaro available to the timber company for the next three years. Minister for Primary Industries Ian Macdonald today said Forests NSW would manage the plantations. " This includes planting, maintenance, marketing and fire protection, " Mr Macdonald said. " The land that will be planted previously provided tree crops for NSW Forests to sell to the domestic and international timber industry. " This new agreement with Willmott Forests is a great opportunity for Forests NSW to build upon its commercial talents. " This arrangement further diversifies Forests NSW business and will strengthen the local timber industry at Bombala. " Forests NSW manages more than 30,000 hectares of softwood plantation in the Bombala area. http://theland.farmonline.com.au/news/state/agribusiness-and-general/general/new\ -monaro-forest-partnership/1273572.aspx 29) The State Forests Department has defended its plan to log a disputed area of forest near Bermagui on the New South Wales far south coast Conservationists have warned they will try and disrupt the harvesting of up to 400 hectares of the Bermagui forest which they claim is home to koalas. However, Forests NSW spokesman Howard Spencer disputes that. " Forests NSW has undertaken some extensive surveys in this area both using the current koala survey methods and also using some new methods being trialled by the Department of Environment and Climate Change, " he said. " None of those surveys have found any evidence of koalas in the two compartments being planned for logging at the moment. " http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/09/17/2366908.htm?site=southeastnsw 30) A historic south-west avenue of poplar trees has been saved from destruction. The Camperdown to Timboon Rail Trail Committee has struck a deal with protesters to keep the century-old trees. The poplars, which line Timboon's former railway yard, began to be felled last year, but safety fears halted the works. Rail trail chairman Alan Kerr said a new group -- Friends of the Timboon Poplars -- would maintain the 33 standing trees. " We (the rail trail committee) will still manage the land where the trees are, but the friends of the poplars group will be responsible for raising the necessary funds to maintain the trees, " Mr Kerr said. The avenue won't be returned to its former glory, having once stretched about 100 metres. About 50 metres will be maintained, with poplar saplings replacing every axed tree. Poplar friends member Rosalie Moorfield said there were still several trees that would be cut down over the next two years. Safety and environmental concerns prompted the rail trail committee to begin removing the trees. It hoped to replace the introduced species with a native specimen. http://warrnambool.yourguide.com.au/news/local/news/general/historic-trees-beat-\ the-axe/1278347.aspx 31) The endangered red-tailed black cockatoo lives in the southern and western Wimmera and relies heavily on the bulokes. The West Wimmera Shire's chief executive, Jim McKay, says current laws make it hard for farmers to develop properties where the trees are growing. He's hoping to be able to give farmers the chance to remove buloke trees from their properties, without denying an endangered bird its habitat. He says a planning overlay the shire has drafted has the support of environmental groups and will be considered by the Victorian Government. " Under this, farmers can take out a limited number of trees - and they're only certain sized trees, too, so you can't take out large, mature trees but you can take out smaller ones - but as an off-set the farmers have to lock up areas of buloke and also they might be required to plant back bulokes, " he said. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/09/24/2372809.htm 32) Keri James, her six-year-old daughter Clover and support crew made it over Doctor George Mountain just in time for the gig at the Tanja Hall on Saturday night. Keri and Clover are walking from their home city of Canberra to Tasmania in a " walk against woodchipping " , a journey of more than 1000 kilometres.The plan is to arrive in Melbourne on November 22 and then continue on for a few more miles through Tasmania's forests. Along the way, Keri has spread her message against woodchipping while talking to people about the use of forest timber for woodchipping in the Eden chipmill. On Wednesday, September 24, she plans to be at the chipmill to count trucks entering with previous counts of up to 160 trucks in a day. The walkers participated in a family-friendly concert at the Tanja Hall on Saturday night that drew a large crowd to the food and music by local and visiting artists. Wallaga Lake artist Warren Foster and other Aboriginal musicians performed alongside the Andy and George Band, that consists of local and Canberra musicians on walk against woodchips support crew. Part of the proceeds from the gig will go to groups such as South East Forest Rescue, who plan to campaign against the logging of State Forest compartments 2004 and 2005 located to the south of the Bermagui to Cobargo road. State Forests is preparing to log the area in upcoming months with mainly spotted gum being harvested for a mix of timber some of which will be going to the chipmill. Conservation groups have argued the area has high biodiversity value and includes a previous koala sighting, while State forests says the forests were logged 20 years ago and have been surveyed for wildlife. South East Forest Rescue and Friends of Five Forests have called for community consultation as required by the Regional Forestry Agreement and held a planning meeting in Bermagui on Saturday. http://narooma.yourguide.com.au/news/local/news/general/walking-for-the-forest/1\ 281742.aspx 33) Demonstrators delivered a letter signed by leading international sustainability groups to Prime Minister John Howard demanding that the government act in accordance with scientific recommendations to protect Tasmania's virgin forests from a well-documented arsenal of logging tactics deployed by Gunns and industry-controlled Forestry Tasmania. In the wake of massive clearcuts by Gunns, the industry routinely scorches the Earth with Napalm firebombs to eradicate all remaining life. The Rainforest Alliance Network says that Gunns has also killed hundreds of thousands of native mammals using carrots poisoned with Compound 1080, a lethal super-toxin listed as a biological weapon by both the Canadian and US governments. Gunns CEO John Gay has publicly stated that it his company kills endangered animals because " there's too many of them. " Tasmania's forests are currently being clear-cut at an unprecedented rate equivalent to approximately 44 football fields per day. The vast majority of Tasmania's ancient trees are being processed into woodchips by Gunns to make disposable paper products destined for landfills in America and Asia. The worldwide call for action today echoed a dozen of Australia's leading scientists who signed a 2004 statement of support for the protection of Tasmania's forests calling for the " urgent need for Australian government intervention. " The effort to protect Tasmania's forests is one of the largest environmental issues in Australian history, and according to a 2004 opinion poll by Newspoll, over 85 per cent of Australian citizens favour full protection for Tasmania's pristine forests. Carrying signs reading " Stop Gunns " and " Save Tassie's Trees, " the demonstraters protested with " GUNNS " taped over the mouths in solidarity with 20 silenced citizens in Australia who are currently being sued by Gunns for speaking out against the company's activities. Likened to McDonald's " McLibel " lawsuit, websites like Gunns20.org and McGunns.com are part of of a global grassroots movement 'to protect free speech, reassert democracy and save old-growth forests'the organisers say. The Gunns 20 lawsuit has also been condemned by leading human rights lawyers in the UK. For the Tasmania Forest Campaign, Rainforest Action Network and its allies today launched TreesNotGunns.org to organize future worldwide action. 34) The recent conference on global deforestation held in Sydney co hosted by the Australian Ministers for Environment and Foreign Affairs drew a crowd of ministers, officials from all over the world and international development agencies. Preservation of natural forests was proven to be of particular interest, especially when it is largely believed that deforestation contributes about 20% of greenhouse gas emissions. The Australian Government committed $200million to a global initiative on forests and climate and will be joined by the US and other countries. Malcolm Turnball, Australian Minister for the Environment was quick to point out that Australia's contribution will focus on " practical measures " , such as the promotion of better forest management, plantation of new forests and the use of remote-sensing technology to monitor the progress of deforestation in Indonesia, the Philippines and Pacific nations. However, the truth remains that sustainable forest management in natural forests in the tropics is very often simply not as rewarding economically as the combination of rapid logging and conversion of the land to other uses. At the recent high-level meeting, Turnbull estimated that for Indonesia alone halving its current rate of forest loss could be worth $3 billion a year in retained carbon value. But the bottom line is someone has to pay for the carbon emission prevented all of it for this to become a reality, and who could or would? The Stern report, strongly encourages reductions to happen as soon as possible, before costs becomes prohibitive. http://www.pulasthi.info/2008/09/coal-and-forest-preservation.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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