193 - Earth's Tree News

[Guest guest]

Today for you 37 news items about Earth's trees. Location, number and

subject listed below. Condensed / abbreviated article is listed further

below.Can be viewed on the web at http://www.livejournal.com/users/olyecology or by sending a blank email message to

earthtreenews---British Columbia: 1) Rivers Without Borders, 2) Save Elk Mountain trail, --Washington: 3) RAN's Old Growth Campaign, 4) Olympic NF roads, --Pacific Northwest: 5) Shooting Barred owls, 6) Changing owl science for industry,

--California: 7) Ebbetts Pass Forest Watch--Colorado: 8) Dillon Reservoir health project won't stop beetle--Ohio: 9) On oaks and fires--Pennsylvania: 10) Save the Allegheny NF--North Carolina: 11) 2 million acres of forest lost to development by 2007

--Kentucky: 12) Too much logging and burning in Daniel Boone NF--Southeast forests: 13) 100,000 acres of Ozark forest lost this year, 14) Hurricanes--New York: 15) Rainforest Alliance likes certifying everything

--Maine: 16) Plum Creek new housing plan still no good, 17) SmartLogging?--USA: 18) Rich land grab--Canada: 19) Kimberly-Clark's annual general meeting, 20) Time Inc. studies forests,--North America: 20) Industry mega-mergers with Weyco leading the charge,

--Sweden: 21) Government Sustainable forest Guidelines--Netherlands: 22) Illegally logged plywood protest--Brazil: 23) GE Eucalypt to be planted on large scale--Belize: 24) Economic reality of lost forests

--Chile: 25) Native forest species depleted by 23 percent--China: 26) sustainable forest plantation guidelines, 27) massive land use changes,--Asia: 27) Mr. Ashton knows his trees--Russia: 28) Disappearing Russian forest

--Thailand: 29) Out of work Elephant loggers--Australia: 30) Forest workers got it wrong last time, 31) Koala extinction, --Tropical Forests: 32) Hunting destroys forests, 33) Forest saving strategies,

British Columbia:1)

The Transboundary Watershed Alliance has a new name. From today forward

we will be known as Rivers Without Borders. We have a beautiful new

website too, developed with the assistance of Biro Creative. It will be

constantly updated with new and compelling information. Our new name

and website mark our renewed commitment to make people aware of the

enormous, beautiful and rare place that is the transboundary region.

Rivers define our region, so we started with that. The Taku, Whiting,

Iskut-Stikine and Unuk Rivers drain from glaciated and snow packed

alpine mountaintops in British Columbia down to lush temperate

rainforest and salt water in Southeast Alaska. Fish , bears, moose,

migratory birds and other animals move across the border without

noticing it. They know this vast place simply as home. We continue to

hope that it will one day be managed with that holistic perspective in

mind. Borders usually divide, but to sustain this vast wild land and

its irreplaceable ecological values, we will need to find common

purpose across the border. That was the spirit of the original TWA, and

it carries on now as Rivers Without Borders. While we are introducing

new elements to our work, there is much continuity as well. Our

seasoned staff continue to work from offices in Whitehorse, Juneau, and

Vancouver. We will remain a supportive "go to" organization for

communities, First Nations and individuals concerned about the

transboundary region and its future. http://www.riverswithoutborders.org2)

Nearly 200 hikers and outdoor enthusiasts rallied Sunday to save the

popular Elk Mountain trail that runs through a woodlot logging licence

held by the Ch-ihl-kway-uhk tribal society. "I'm here because I love

this trail," hiker Heather Burles said at the trailhead yesterday.

"This is like the Grouse Grind of Chilliwack." Alana McKenzie said she

hikes the trail at least once a month, and often brings her husband and

three children along, because it is an easy hike and close to

Chilliwack. "It's like it's in our backyard," she said. Chief Jim

George, president of the tribal society's forestry arm, the

Ch-ihl-kway-uhk Forestry Limited Partnership (CFLP), said the society

has no intention of destroying the trail, and is making "every effort"

to preserve it because his people have used it to access other trail

routes to the interior for thousands of years. "These trails in the

mountain valleys are just as important (to the Ch-ihl-kway-uhk)," he

said. "It was our highway, these trails." The woodlot licence is not

intended to permit intensive logging, but to create a sustainable

revenue source for the eight bands in the Ch-ihl-kway-uhk tribal

society. The licence is part of a five-year forestry agreement signed

with the province in 2004 giving the tribe access to timber in their

traditional territory. "We've not been given direction to destroy the

valley, but to manage it in a sustainable way so our children's

children can benefit," CFLP forester Matt Wealick said Sunday. Chief

George agreed a compromise with the trail users is possible, but he

pointed out the trail does not have legal status and the CFLP is not

legally bound to protect it. http://www.theprogress.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=39 & cat=23 & id=969465 & more=

Washington:3)

RAN's Old Growth Campaign pressured Weyerhaeuser on their home turf of

Seattle, Wash., last week. The week began with Amnesty International's

fact-finding mission in Grassy Narrows, the aim of which was to

document the impact of logging on the community and convince all

parties to respect the call by Grassy Narrows' leaders for a moratorium

on all industrial development on their land without prior consent. On

Wednesday morning, RAN activists scaled Quadrant Homes' headquarters in

Bellevue, Wash., and unfurled a gigantic banner reading: " Weyerhaeuser:

Human Rights Abuser. " Quadrant Homes, a Seattle area home-builder, is a

wholly owned subsidiary of Weyerhaeuser. Traffic stalled on the 90

freeway as commuters slowed to get a look and local news helicopters

rushed in to cover the story. On Thursday, about 20 RAN activists and

proxy shareholders attended Weyerhaeuser's Annual General Meeting in

Federal Way, Wash., to back a resolution requesting " a feasibility

assessment to suspend wood procurement from Grassy Narrows' territory

until the free, prior and informed consent of the community has been

established. " The campaign against Weyerhaeuser is heating up, and

Weyerhaeuser and Quadrant Homes need to feel the pressure! Click on the

link below to take action now and send an email to Peter Orser, CEO of

Quadrant Homes. Demand that he take responsibility and tell him to stop

building new homes from wood stolen from Grassy Narrows. http://ran.org/media_center/news_article/?uid=23334)

Nearly 2,170 miles of primitive roads meander through the Olympic

National Forest, but poor maintenance and inadequate funding have left

nearly half of those roads one big storm away from a washout. The state

Department of Ecology, environmental groups and tribal leaders say the

problem is pandemic throughout Washington's six national forests. They

fear washouts and gradual erosion could flood rivers with sediment,

harming fish habitat and water quality. Now, they're asking Congress

for a tenfold increase in funding for the Forest Service to either fix

or decommission the 22,000 miles of Forest Service roads in the state.

On April 19, spokesmen for the groups testified during a meeting of the

Interior Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, which is

headed by Washington Congressman Norm Dicks. They have scheduled

meetings with Western Washington representatives and staff from the

offices of Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray. "If Congress

designates $30 million per year for the next decade, we can really fix

this problem," says Jay Manning, director of the state Department of

Ecology. "We are delivering a shared message to Congress — provide

adequate funding to fix national forest roads and restore Washington's

watersheds." The budget shortfalls began when logging on National

Forest land was effectively ended in the 1990s. Road maintenance was

financed primarily from National Forest Service timber sales, and when

logging decreased by 90 percent in the wake of the spotted owl

set-asides, so did funding. http://www.thedailyworld.com/articles/2007/04/25/local_news/03news.txtPacific Northwest:5)

Northern spotted owls, already beaten down by longtime logging of their

old growth forest habitat, now face an accelerating threat from

invading barred owls that are driving them out of house and home. Under

a draft recovery plan for spotted owls released Thursday, federal

officials proposed an experimental program to lure barred owls with

recorded calls and decoys and blast them with shotguns. The goal is to

control barred owl numbers in strategic areas to see whether spotted

owls can retake the ground. More than 500 barred owls could be killed

in 18 study areas across Oregon, Washington and Northern California,

according to the plan announced by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

While the strategy may sound extreme, the outlook for the spotted owl

is increasingly grim as barred owls compete with spotted owls for food

and space and, in some cases, attack and kill them. That jeopardizes

the benefits of past owl protections, which caused emotional upheaval

across the Northwest as they nearly halted logging on federal lands " If

we don't get this threat under control, no amount of habitat protection

will save the spotted owl, " said Dave Wesley, deputy regional director

of the Fish and Wildlife Service and leader of the team that developed

the new recovery plan. http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/117764254644340.xml & coll=7

6)

A save-the-owl plan proposed by a panel of Northwest-based federal and

state wildlife officials, environmentalists and timber-industry

scientists would set aside specific blocks of old-growth forest to

protect the imperiled owls. But the D.C.-based officials added a second

possibility that would not reserve any land for the owls' recovery.

They would leave those decisions to the U.S. Forest Service and the

U.S. Bureau of Land Management -- agencies that do not specialize in

helping imperiled species. Under the bureaucrats' option, more than

700,000 acres of habitat suitable for the threatened owls could be left

unprotected, according to one simulation included in the documents

unveiled Thursday. Records also show that the D.C. group ordered the

Northwest panel to " de-emphasize " the landmark Northwest Forest Plan

adopted under the Clinton administration to save spotted owls and other

species that thrive in old-growth forests. " We're faced with a document

that doesn't measure up to one of the key provisions of the Endangered

Species Act, which is that the recovery plan must be based on best

available science, " said Dominick DellaSala, an environmental scientist

tapped by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the Northwest-based

owl recovery team. " The political interference in the science derailed

the (Northwest) team from meeting that objective, " he said. " This

administration has manipulated the process. " After the Northwest-based

team came up with its proposal for large swaths of protected owl

habitat last fall, something unusual happened. Fish and Wildlife

assembled a " Washington Oversight Committee. " Records state that the

group included Mark Rey, the agriculture undersecretary in charge of

the Forest Service who previously served as a timber-industry lobbyist,

and Julie McDonald, the deputy assistant Interior secretary trained as

a civil engineer who sparked controversy last year by overruling Fish

and Wildlife scientists on which species deserve legal protection. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/313299_owls27.htmlCalifornia:7)

Ebbetts Pass Forest Watch (EPFW) is making it easier for citizens to

access two new Timber Harvest Plans (THPs) submitted by Sierra Pacific

Industries (SPI) to the California Department of Forestry (CAL FIRE).

Typically exceeding 100 pages in length, these documents have formerly

only been available by ordering copies from CAL FIRE for a fee of ten

cents per page. Now the THPs can be downloaded from EPFW's web site

(www.epfw.org) or accessed through local libraries. EPFW is placing a

printed copy of the THPs at the Arnold Library along with CDs of the

THPs in each Calaveras Library for citizens to review. The two THPs

comprise nearly 2,000 acres of forestland. If approved, the South Rim

THP would allow SPI to log 1,769 acres within the Lower Panther Creek

watershed in the Mokelumne River drainage. Spanning both Amador and

Calaveras Counties, the proposed harvest area is located approximately

four miles east of West Point. It includes 231 acres of clearcuts and

much of the rest would be logged by a method called shelterwood

removal, which removes the mature, larger trees that provide shade to

trees in the understory. SPI has typically implemented the shelterwood

removal method to generate even-aged timber stands by removing large

trees in a series of cuts over a period of time to encourage tree

reproduction in the stand resulting in trees are of similar age and

size in a stand. SPI is proposing to conduct cable yarding and

helicopter logging as part of this THP. In the SPUR 11 THP, SPI

proposes to log 214 acres adjacent to Blue Creek, approximately 1½

miles east of the CDF Fire Station at Hermit Springs and about 17 miles

east of West Point. The majority of the area would be clearcut,

resulting in more tree plantations in the greater Mokelumne River

watershed. If approved, SPI plans to complete these timber harvests

within the next 5 years. To see the effects of previously approved THPs

in our area view aerial photographs at http://www.epfw.orgColorado:8)

Ranger Rick Newton Friday announced final approval for the Dillon

Reservoir forest health project. The first phase targets about 1,400

acres in areas hardest hit by mountain pine beetles. The overall

project calls for forest health and fuel reduction projects on 3,300

acres through 2018, including 290 acres of defensible space treatments

along the wildland-urban interface. The Forest Service will begin

preparations for tree-cutting and put out bids for the project this

summer, but no trees will likely be cut in 2007, said timber management

specialist Cary Green. He doesn't expect the contracting to be

completed until September of this year, so the logging will actually

start next spring. "By the time we do our field work, we're probably

looking at '08," Green said. The areas targeted first include the

hillsides around Wildernest and Ruby Ranch, extending toward the

Maryland Creek area, as well Lake Hill (on both sides of I-70 between

Frisco and Dillon) and Heaton Bay, Green said. After that, the focus

would shift toward Keystone and the Frisco peninsula. Green said the

Forest Service is expecting another big flight of beetles this year,

with no real slowdown in the spread of the infestation. "It's looking

like another big year," he said. Newton said the forest health project

won't stop the mountain pine beetle epidemic, but will help speed the

process of re-establishing a new, young forest in the area, as well as

helping to reduce wildfire threats to residential areas and

infrastructure in the area. http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20070427/NEWS/70427012Ohio:9)

A 2005 woodland census by federal officials shows that more than 45

percent of the state's largest trees, the century-old grandfathers of

the forest, drop acorns. It has been this way for thousands of years.

But there's simply no next generation of oak waiting to take over the

woodland skyline, according to researchers like Roger Williams, an

associate professor of forestry at Ohio State University. " Walk around

in the woods and look at the young trees, " Williams said. " Oak's just

not there. " Officials trace the decline back about 80 years, to when

efforts to suppress forest fires took root in the country. The periodic

blazes that once routinely swept through the timberlands aided the oak

by killing competitors - such as the red maple - and opening the

overhead canopy to allow the sun-loving species to prosper. (The oak's

thick bark and deep root system make it somewhat fire-tolerant.) As

fires dwindled through prevention programs, better monitoring and

improved response, the oak lost a competitive advantage, Williams and

Yaussy said. Species such as the red maple took advantage. Its

helicopterlike seeds landed and sprouted unfettered on the forest

floor. Red maples grow well even in the shade, meaning the increasingly

cluttered forest did not hamper their steady progression skyward. The

numbers increased exponentially year after year. A forest made up

mostly of red maples is what Williams termed a " climax forest, " or the

end of the line. The dense canopy blocks sunlight from reaching the

ground, erasing much of the green flora. This, in turn, reduces food

sources for numerous animals. Mike Bowden of the Ohio Division of

Forestry called a red maple woods stark and sterile. " You don't even

hear birds, " he said. The phenomena can be seen in the hardwood region

that stretches across the eastern United States, from southern New

England down to the Carolinas and west into Texas, Yaussy said.

Research into the historic shift started more than a decade ago. Fire

quickly emerged as one of the methods to encourage oak regeneration.

(Foresters also use selective harvest to thin the woods, as well as

herbicide treatments.) In Ohio, the number of forest acres burned

annually rose from just a few hundred in 2001 to more than 5,000 last

year, an area roughly the size of Cleveland Heights. Most of the fires

take place on government-owned property - such as Wayne National Forest

- in the state's southern half. http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/117774973241450.xml & coll=2 & thisp

age=3Pennsylvania:10)

Pennsylvania's Allegheny National Forest is home to some of the

nation's best wild country and unique areas including the largest tract

of old-growth forest between the Great Smoky Mountains and the

Adirondacks. But the Forest Service has proposed too little protection

in its recently released final management plan, leaving the forest's

largest roadless area unprotected. Please take a moment now to contact

your Senators and Representative to urge them to work to have more

areas in the Allegheny National Forest designated as Wilderness. You

can write and send your letter using this link:http://action.wilderness.org/campaign/allegheny_pa/ieebd8540t6wwwk?North Carolina:

11)

A new environmental report says North Carolina will lose at least 2

million acres more of forests and farmlands by 2027, including 124,700

acres in Western North Carolina, if current development rates continue.

The report from Environment North Carolina, "Losing Our Natural

Heritage: Development and Open Space Loss in North Carolina," comes as

no surprise to local farmers. North Carolina lost 1,000 farms in 2005.

"I see it personally right next door — land that used to be farmland

that's gone now — and it is disturbing to me," said David Snelson, a

fifth-generation farmer in the Leicester area. "The average age of

farmers is getting up in the high 50s, and about the only retirement

plan they've got is the land — to sell it." The report found that

developed land in mountain counties and those in the Hickory-Morganton

area increased 44 percent over the past 20 years, from 591,000 to

852,000 acres. ENC is urging the General Assembly to adopt the Land and

Water Conservation Bond Act, which would authorize $1 billion in bonds

to protect open spaces. Development projections were based on data and

trends over the past 20 years. "We feel that the predictions for the

future are quite conservative," said Elizabeth Ouzts, ENC's director

and the report's main author. The full report is available at http://www.EnvironmentNorthCarolina.org

http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200770425153Kentucky:12)

The Forest Service wants too much logging and burning in the Daniel

Boone National Forest, two environmental groups say in a lawsuit filed

in U.S. District Court in Lexington. The suit by Heartwood and an

unaffiliated group, Kentucky Heartwood, alleges that the 2004 plan that

guides the 700,000-acre forest violates federal laws and puts

endangered species at risk. " These grassroots groups have exhausted all

of the avenues made to them by the Forest Service, to no avail, " said

Lexington lawyer Joe Childers, who filed the suit Wednesday. " Their

members decided to bring this lawsuit to protect a public resource that

is highly valued by the vast majority of Kentuckians. " Marie Walker, a

Forest Service spokeswoman, said Friday that the agency had not seen

the suit and had no comment. The 2004 plan called for more logging than

has been seen in the previous decade, but not a return to the levels of

the 1980s. The Forest Service intends to log more than 12,500 acres

scattered across the northern end of the forest. The agency says the

logging is necessary to repair widespread damage from a February 2003

ice storm (the same storm caused widespread tree damage and power

failures in Lexington). The suit particularly targets logging planned

near Morehead, which the groups maintain is illegal and ill-considered.

The management plan also called for burning thousands of acres each

year. The Forest Service said the burning is necessary to encourage

oaks and pines while controlling less-desirable species. But some

experts from the University of Kentucky, the Kentucky chapter of The

Nature Conservancy and Eastern Kentucky have questioned the widespread

use of fire. In the 1990s, a lawsuit by the environmental groups halted

logging in the Daniel Boone for two years. http://www.kentucky.com/181/story/54630.htmlSoutheast Forests:13)

Another 100,000 acres of Ozark timber will disappear this year, some to

make room for grass and cattle, and some for more development. We'll

harvest billions of feet of oak trees for hardwood flooring in the huge

cities around our country. We will have a big new ethanol plant in the

Ozarks which will reach down into the bowels of the earth to withdraw

millions of gallons of water, because the water table available to them

100 years ago is gone. It isn't anything to concern those people that

big springs which once flowed in the Ozarks, are now dry, small creeks

once remembered as swimming holes by our ancestors are gone, never to

hold water again. Make no mistake about it, practices which destroy our

water will bring more money to the Ozarks, and none of us are going to

stop driving automobiles. Bottle water will be affordable at local

stores, so let's get on with it. Today, there are so many of us we

can't do anything but do harm to the basic earth which sustains us.

Some estimate there will be 100 million immigrants coming to our

country in the next 20 years. And those millions we are bringing in

from other countries are alike only in God's eyes. The last thing they

are worried about is what is happening to the earth, or the beauty the

Ozarks once held. They are concerned with surviving, with acquiring the

plentifulness we have, the food they can obtain for their children —

and those families are not small. Happiness is not so much what a

Mexican peasant is concerned with, it is survival. And he is not the

villain. The men behind companies who hire them so they can profit from

their misery may answer to God someday for their actions. They

certainly will not answer for it here. http://www.baxterbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070428/SPORTS/704280322/1006

14)

Forest Service researchers have developed an adaptive strategy to help

natural resource managers in the southeastern United States both

prepare for and respond to disturbance from major hurricanes. In an

article published in the journal Forest Ecology and Management, John

Stanturf, Scott Goodrick, and Ken Outcalt from the Forest Service

Southern Research Station (SRS) unit in Athens, GA, report the results

of a case study based on the effects of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. In

early fall 2005, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused what may be the

most costly natural disaster in U.S. history, with over 5.5 million

acres of timberland in the coastal states of Texas , Lousiana ,

Mississippi , and Alabama affected. Using available data on the damage

from these storms, the researchers constructed an adaptive strategy

that distinguishes event risk (hurricane occurrence) from the

vulnerability of coastal forests and outcome risk (hurricane severity).

" There really isn't any way for managers to reduce the risk of a

hurricane occurring or the severity of a hurricane when it hits, " says

Stanturf. " The long-term focus of managers should be on reducing the

vulnerability of coastal ecosystems, particularly in those areas with

higher event risk. " The researchers developed an approach that

considers all the potential disturbances in an area--the threat

matrix--then assesses the risks of severe hurricanes within this

context. Activities following a hurricane event are divided into those

dealing with immediate outcomes (short-term) and those managing the

recovery (long-term). Vulnerability can be lessened by converting to

species that are less susceptible to hurricane damage, by controlling

stand structure, and by dispersing harvesting and thinning operations.

The authors simulated the potential damage to 9 theoretical stands of

pine trees, looking at how each would react to hurricane wind speeds,

to make recommendations for different situations. " Our simple

simulation of stem breakage potential suggests that stand spacing and

tree height can be manipulated to reduce risk, and provides a start for

managing forests for hurricane risk, " says Stanturf. " Additional

research is needed on the effects on vulnerability of fragmentation,

harvest systems, and other aspects of stand structure. " http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070423100903.htmNew York:

15)

The Rainforest Alliance, a leader in the sustainable certification of

agriculture, forestry and tourism operations worldwide, marked its 20th

anniversary this week, announcing that sales of Rainforest Alliance

Certified sustainable coffee, bananas and chocolate surpassed $1

billion in 2006. The New York-based international nonprofit

organization cited sustained, rapid growth of its coffee, forestry and

other current certification programs, and announced it would create new

certification programs in strategic sectors, such as livestock and

biofuel crops. Twenty years after its founding in 1987, the Rainforest

Alliance is working with thousands of producers, from small

cooperatives to Fortune 500 companies including Kraft (coffee),

Chiquita (bananas), Expedia (sustainable tourism), Goldman Sachs (green

building and sourcing) and many other household names. It creates

billion-dollar impacts on global markets, moving them toward

sustainable practices. The Rainforest Alliance has currently certified

some 10,000 farms in 14 countries on 600,000 acres of land, benefiting

more than a million farm workers and their families, as well as

certifying more than 110 million acres of forestland. http://www.ewire.com/display.cfm/Wire_ID/3866Maine: 16)

Plum Creek Timber Co. introduced its latest plan on Friday for what

would be northern Maine's largest development project. The company's

revised proposal for the Moosehead Lake region calls for fewer

waterfront lots and more donated conservation land. It also would

increase the amount of land zoned for development and the number of

resort accommodations that could be built near the western shore of

Moosehead. The plan, submitted to the state's Land Use Regulation

Commission, is the second revision that Plum Creek has made since it

first proposed the massive development two years ago. The Seattle-based

company, one of the largest timberland owners in Maine and the country,

has focused attention on the value and the future of Maine's 10

million-acre North Woods. The revised plan still includes 975 house

lots and two resorts, but the revisions would reduce shoreline

development on Moosehead Lake and nearby ponds and lakes by 40 percent,

said Luke Muzzy, Plum Creek's senior land asset manager. The plan

probably will meet some opposition, Muzzy said, but it also should ease

concerns. " We're not going to make everybody happy, on both sides, " he

said. " I hear all the time from some people saying there shouldn't be

anything up here, and other people saying we should be able to do more

development down the road. " Jym St. Pierre, Maine director of RESTORE:

The North Woods, said the plan would double the amount of land on which

the project would be developed, from about 10,000 acres to more than

20,000. It also proposes to increase, from 500 to 800, the number of

housing units -- houses, condominiums or hotel rooms -- allowable in

the project's Big Moose Mountain resort. While the plan contains

improvements from the previous one, it's still out of scale for the

region, St. Pierre said. " What they're saying is, 'We've made

improvements, so you should be happy,' " he said. " If you're hitting

your head against the wall 100 times and then hitting your head against

the wall only 80 times, I guess that's an improvement. " From the start,

the plan has been opposed by environmental groups that say the

development would be inappropriate for the largest undeveloped tract

east of the Mississippi River. Regarding land conservation, Plum Creek

is proposing to increase the amount of land it puts into conservation

from 70,000 to 90,000 acres once the plan is approved, Muzzy said. It

also plans to sell conservation easements and land totaling 341,000

acres to The Nature Conservancy and other groups.http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/state/070428plumcreek.html17)

The Rainforest Alliance, an international non-profit conservation

organization, has granted a new responsible logging certification

called SmartLogging to a program in Maine managed by the Trust to

Conserve Northeast Forestlands, a non-profit organization formed by

logging contractors that aims to enhance the health of the state's

working forests and develop market-based incentives for responsible

forestry. The Maine Master Logger Certification Program (MLC), the

first third-party logger certification program in the country, has

earned the first SmartLogging certification and will be audited

annually by the Rainforest Alliance to ensure continued compliance with

a rigorous set of environmental and social standards. SmartLogging is

intended to complement Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification

and recognize responsible harvesting practices. To earn certification,

loggers must meet standards that include harvesting in compliance with

laws and regulations, the use of a landowner-endorsed harvesting plan,

and the application of logging techniques that protect soils, water,

wildlife habitat and workers. " SmartLogging is a new approach to

greening the forest products supply chain by improving logging

practices, " said Richard Z. Donovan, chief of forestry at the

Rainforest Alliance. " Logging can have a significant impact on the

environment, and loggers are the fabric of forest-based communities.

SmartLogging certification sets an important global benchmark for

recognizing the professionalism of loggers in terms of environmental

and social performance. For too long, loggers have only been seen as

the problem rather than as a part of the solution. SmartLogging offers

them the opportunity to increase their influence on the quality of

forest management practices around the globe. " http://www.enn.com/net.html?id=1934 & ref=rssUSA: 18)

The rich are accumulating open spaces across the U.S. much as they have

with vacation homes, automobiles and paintings in the past. As urban

areas have grown, some well-off city dwellers have purchased spreads in

remote places, thousands of miles from the typical playgrounds of the

wealthy. " It's like rare art, " says Jim Taylor, president of Hall &

Hall, a Billings, Mont., real-estate firm, that has worked with CNN

founder Ted Turner, among other land buyers. In West Texas, for

example, Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos has acquired several

ranches in recent years totaling about 300,000 acres, making him No. 23

on The Land Report's list of the nation's top 100 landowners (Mr.Bezos

declined comment for this story). A study published in the journal

Society and Natural Resources said between 1990 and 2001 only about a

quarter of those who bought parcels of 400 acres or larger in 10

Montana and Wyoming counties were traditional ranchers. While the

typical land buyer these days is looking for a remote piece of

wilderness or ranchland for outdoor sporting activities, or simply to

admire the beauty of the landscape, the top landowners tend to be

driven by more varied interests. But the concentration of land in the

hands of a privileged few could yield a backlash. Ms. Quimby, who sold

Burt's Bees in 2002 to private equity firm AEA Investors LLC for $177

million (she retained 20% ownership in the company), wants to assemble

about 100,000 acres to help realize a decade-old dream among Maine

conservationists to create a national park. She says she has amassed

80,000 acres so far. But some locals in the town of Millinocket were

outraged when Ms. Quimby proclaimed that her land would be off-limits

to logging, hunting and motorized vehicles, including snowmobiles. Now

they sport " Ban Roxanne " T-shirts. " Our way of life is being

threatened, " says Jimmy Busque, a member of the Millinocket town

council and a steam plant operator at the local paper mill. No. 100 on

The Land Report list, Ms. Quimby agreed to allow a year of hunting and

motorized access on her latest purchase, the 25,000-acre Sand Stream

Sanctuary, which came last September. But she is unapologetic about her

plans for her newly acquired property, much of which she has purchased

from logging companies. " I don't have to argue the environmental merits

of anything, " says Ms. Quimby. " I own it. " http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117745643239981202.htmlCanada:19)

Just days before Kimberly-Clark's annual general meeting, Greenpeace

today criticized the company's sustainability report, calling it deeply

flawed and wholly inadequate on key elements of its environmental

policy. The new report contains an updated procurement policy, adopted

in response to growing concerns about the company's reliance on fiber

from ancient forests. The policy represents no significant improvement

and offers no real protection for globally significant forest areas,

including Canada's Boreal Forest, the loss of which will greatly

accelerate global warming. " This policy will not stop Kimberly-Clark

from destroying Canada's ancient Boreal Forest, " said Christy Ferguson

of Greenpeace. " It represents a tragic missed opportunity for

Kimberly-Clark and falls incredibly short of numerous recent

procurement policies adopted by companies such Williams Sonoma,

Victoria's Secret and others. " Unlike these other respected companies,

Kimberly-Clark developed its policy in virtual isolation, refusing

meaningful input from environmental groups or other stakeholders.

Kimberly-Clark has steadfastly refused requests to meet with Greenpeace

to discuss issues pertaining to sustainability. According to

Greenpeace, the fiber procurement policy treats any and all forest

management certification schemes as equal and acceptable despite major

substantive differences. The policy also fails to establish timelines

or set goals for increasing the amount of responsibly-produced fiber in

its products and includes no measurable commitment to increase use of

recycled fiber. Finally, supposed safeguards for protecting endangered

forests and wildlife are ambiguous and unenforceable. " The intentional

ambiguity and non-quantifiable goals in this policy are exceedingly

frustrating to see " , said Allen. " Their refusal to engage in meaningful

dialogue to improve their sourcing practices leaves us little choice

but to ramp up our campaign against the company. " http://www.kleercut.net20)

Biodiversity is the focus of a new study being launched by Time Inc.

and UPM in cooperation with the University of Moncton, the New

Brunswick Department of Natural Resources, Bird Studies Canada and the

Nature Conservancy of Canada. Using bird species as indicators of

biodiversity in managed forests, the study is expected to contribute to

the further development of best forestry practices for the Acadian

forest of New Brunswick and Canadian Boreal forests. Time Inc. is the

world's largest magazine publisher and UPM is a global leader in

magazine paper production. " We share a commitment to sustainable

development in forest management and operations, " said David Refkin, of Sustainable Development, Time Inc. UPM has instituted a

global biodiversity program for the development of best practices in

the company's forest operations, as well as monitoring systems to

follow progress. That program fits well with the new joint biodiversity

study in Canada. The study will utilize publicly-owned land and some

owned by UPM in New Brunswick. In both cases, the forest land is

managed and operated by UPM. The study team aims to develop a

methodology which would become a model for future biodiversity studies

in other Canadian forests. The findings will contribute to national and

international discussions on biodiversity research, forest

certification, policy development and forest legislation. " The project

is unique in that it combines extensive bird surveys and intensive

monitoring of the nests of several bird species, " explained Dr.

Marc-Andre Villard, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Landscape

Conservation at the University of Moncton. Several songbird and

woodpecker species will be evaluated as bio- indicators, and their

reproductive performance will be monitored in treated and control

areas. " The aim is to measure bird responses to different forest

management treatments in order to help develop harvest plans and

logging methods compatible with the conservation of healthy

populations, " said Dr. Villard. " Presence and successful reproduction

of these species in post-harvest stands or landscapes would indicate a

good potential for ecological resilience. " http://sev.prnewswire.com/paper-forest-products-containers/20070426/AQTH50026042007-1.html

North America:21)

In 2006 there were over 280 mergers and acquisitions (M & A) with a

value of nearly US$26 billion in the global forest, paper and

fibre-based packaging sector, according to 'Branching Out' from

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). North America remained at the forefront

of forest, paper and packaging M & A activity, with a two-thirds

share of deal values in 2006. The second largest forest products

company deal in 2006 occurred in Canada—Domtar Inc's acquisition of

Weyerhaeuser Co's fine paper business and related assets for US$ 3.3

billion. Cascades Inc.'s acquisition of 50% of Norampac Inc. for US$476

million and West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd's purchase of 13 lumber mills

from International Paper Co. for US$325 million ranked among the ten

largest deals in North America. The average deal size in 2006 increased

to US$169 million from US$90 million in 2003, a good indicator of

growing and recovering deal confidence over the four year period. The

momentum behind deal activity looks set to continue with opportunities

still existing for consolidation as the transformation of traditional

value chains in forest, paper and packaging continues. "The global

forest, paper and packaging industry continued to face challenges in

2006 – foreign exchange fluctuations, increased energy and

transportation costs, waning demand and the impact of emerging markets

on global competition," said Craig Campbell, partner, PwC Global

Forest, Paper and Packaging practice, based in Vancouver. "In spite of

these challenges, M & A activity has risen, with companies selling

off underperforming and non-core businesses. The leading players are

also seeking to extend their reach globally." Campbell added that the

forest, paper and packaging industry remains fragmented regionally and

globally. This fragmentation is expected to drive more M & A activity

going forward. http://www.forestnewswire.com/index.php?option=com_content & task=view & id=77 & Itemid=26

Sweden:21)

The Swedish Parliament has established 16 environmental quality

objectives, such as " Clean Air " and " Good-Quality Groundwater " , to

guide Sweden towards a sustainable society. The 16 environmental

objectives will function as benchmarks. …Sustainable Forests: The value

of forests and forest land for biological production must be protected,

at the same time as biological diversity and cultural heritage and

recreational assets are safeguarded. The outcome within a generation

for this environmental quality objective should include the following:

The natural production capacity of forestland is preserved. The natural

functions and processes of forest ecosystems are maintained. Natural

regeneration is practised wherever the land is suitable for this

method. The forests' natural hydrology is protected. No remedial

measures are taken against the effects of forest fires. Care-demanding

forests with valuable natural and cultural assets are managed in such a

way as to preserve and enhance these assets. Forests where there is

great variation in the age of the trees and the composition of tree

species are protected. Cultural monuments and environments are

protected. Importance is attached to forests as sources of nature

experiences and recreation are taken into account. Endangered species

and natural ecosystems are protected. http://www.internat.naturvardsverket.se/Netherlands:22)

A staggering 80% of the world's ancient forests have already been

destroyed or degraded and what remains is mostly under threat from

illegal and destructive logging. EU member states play a key role in

fuelling the international demand for illegal and destructive timber

and they must legislate to ensure that it is not sold in Europe's DIY

stores, furniture shops and wood yards. lllegal plywood from forests in

Papua New Guinea is being imported for three companies in the

Netherlands through Belgian trader Altripan. Two of the companies had

promised last year to stop trading in the illegal plywood, but recent

Greenpeace investigations found that they were still stocking the

stuff! Read the Crime File to find out more. This week in the

Netherlands, Greenpeace felt that enough was enough and decided to take

a stand against the sale of wood made from 100% crime. A Dutch timber

trader Emmerik, was found to be in possession of a large stockpile of

Red Canarium and Bintangor plywood that was made in China, supplied by

companies trading in illegally logged timber from Papua New Guinea. At

9am on Monday morning I arrived in Nijmegen at Emmerik's offices and

wood storage yard along with several other activists. Firstly we

demanded that Emmerik hand over its stockpile of illegal timber to us

and replace it with FSC plywood that we offered to them. We brought

this wood to them on a truck and parked it outside their office while

we stood by their wharehouse waiting for them to make a decision. In

the end they refused to take our wood but they said they would send

their illegally logged wood back to the trader in Belgium. We went

ahead and spray painted it with " 100% crime " to make sure they would

not be able to sell it. http://weblog.greenpeace.org/makingwaves/archives/2007/04/dutch_government_and_companies.html

Brazil:23)

International ArborGen, the most important forestry biotechnology

company in the world, has obtained a license to plant genetically

modified eucalyptus trees in Brazil, which confirms the intentions of

the company's planting transgenic trees in the Latin American market.

The license is more permissive than that of the United States, where

these practices are prohibited. The announcement was made through the

local press after an expert from the University of North Carolina (US),

Vincent Chiang communicated that he has developed a technique by which

the trees can be genetically modified to facilitate obtaining

cellulose. The discovery consists in modifying the gene that controls

the production of the tree's lignin to reinsert it in a geminative

tissue of the tree. According to Chiang, this technique permits the

control of the production of lingin in the tree. He pointed out that

this system can be used to produce more paper and, above all, more

ethanol, seeing that the production of bio-fuels, a market on the rise

in recent years, could stimulate the proliferation of transgenic trees.

Producing trees with less lignin reduces the cost of extracting the

cellulose from which ethanol is made. The experts are working to avoid

the possible contamination of natural trees by pollination.http://www.ambientum.com/boletino/detalle.asp?ID=36439Belize:24)

The country suffers from a crippling debt, high unemployment and few

developed sources of income. It's main earning comes from tourism. In

1996 the government permitted Malaysian-backed companies, led by

Atlantic Industries Limited, to log selected areas in the Columbia

River Forest Reserve for the next 20 years, 103,000 acres of limestone

hills and low mountains, nearly all covered by pristine old-growth

tropical forest. Many Mayan people are against the logging as this

activity has disrupted their way of life, which depends heavily on the

forest. More about the Maya here. They have organised themselves around

Toledo Maya Cultural Council who have appealed to their government and

international organisations to re-think the logging concessions. A

decade on their concerns have fallen on deaf ears. The Columbia River

Forest Reserve logging concession is one of a number of concessions

given out to logging companies by the Belize government. This is

causing many problems for the Maya people which are summarized well

here. The modern approach to deforestation involves the elites of a

country dealing with the international logging companies and ignoring

the local peoples directly and negatively affected. In the 18th century

British logwood cutters overcame the indigenous population and imported

black slaves. http://environmentdebate.wordpress.com/2007/04/27/rainforest-destruction-in-belize-a-case-study/

Chile:25)

Native forest species in Chile's southern Region X have been depleted

by 23 percent during the past 30 years, according to a new study

published by the journal Global Ecology and Biogeography. The study

predicts that by 2020, 35 percent of the region's native forests will

be lost. The study analyzed satellite photos of the southern Lakes

Region taken over the past three decades by the U.S. space agency NASA

and concluded the region was subject to a constant process of

deforestation, with long stretches of forest constantly fragmented and

reduced in size. "The fragmentation of forests is one of the most

pervasive changes found in land-based ecosystems," said Cristían

Echeverría, the principal author of the study. "It brings about

deforestation and changes the land use for agriculture." Echeverría

said the process generates a proliferation of younger trees, while

decreasing older hardwood varieties like coigue and tepa trees. The

study detected 51 fragmented forested areas. "We are talking about

hardwood species that once dominated the landscape facing a serious

risk of extinction. They are being replaced by other species." He

warned that smaller forests are more susceptible to microclimatic

change in their ecosystems, like the invasion of a foreign plant

species moving towards the center of the forest. "By dividing and

fragmenting the forests, they lose their connectivity, and this impacts

many plant species. The animals see a reduction in their hunting areas,

and tend to disappear as well," said the study. These forest fragments

eliminate the natural biological corridors that are essential to the

wellbeing of many species of animals. http://www.tcgnews.com/santiagotimes/index.php?nav=story & story_id=13566 & topic_id=15

China: 26)

In a surprising move, China has developed guidelines for the

establishment of sustainable forest plantations abroad by Chinese

firms, according to the International Tropical Timber Organization's

(ITTO) April 1 Tropical Timber Market Report. The move comes as China

faces increasing criticism from environmental groups for pillaging the

world's forests to feed its rapidly growing economy. The State Forestry

Administration will soon begin the process of selecting companies to

implement the guidelines, which include bans on illegal logging and

clearing of natural forests for plantations, on a " trial basis, "

according to ITTO. The guidelines are significant as China plays an

increasingly important role in resource extraction in forests around

the world. Chinese firms are aggressively investing in oil palm

plantations in Indonesia and logging operations throughout Asia and

Africa. The sustainable forest plantations initiative follows the

announcement of a government " green buying " policy last December.

Starting in 2008, the policy will prioritize purchasing of

environmentally friendly products and services. by state and provincial

governments. http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0425-china.html27)

Due to rapid economic development, China has experienced one of the

greatest rates of change in land use/land cover during the last two

decades. This change is mainly urban expansion and cultivated land

reduction in urban growth regions, both of which play an important role

in regional climate change. In this paper, the variation of the urban

heat island (UHI) caused by urbanization has been evaluated with an

analysis of land use change in China. First, meteorological observation

stations were grouped by different land cover types (dry land, paddy

field, forest, grassland, water field, urban, rural inhabitable area,

industrial and mineral land, and waste land) throughout China. These

stations were subdivided into urban and non-urban classes. Then, a new

method was proposed to determine the UHI intensity from the difference

between the observed and the interpolated air temperature of urban type

weather stations. The results indicate that the trends of UHI intensity

in different land use change regions are spatially correlated with

regional land use and its change pattern. During 1991–2000, the

estimated UHI intensity has increased by 0.11?°C per decade in the

spring and has fluctuated in other seasons throughout China resulting

from land use change. http://www.springerlink.com/content/q663v27418wtr364/?p=78b71421d976467296425804345b44dfπ=0

Asia:28)

It's not as simple as it seems. Mr. Ashton, an eminent professor of

forestry and former director of the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard

University, has just won $415,000 from a Japanese foundation for a

lifetime of work in Asian rain forests. He wants to sponsor a new

generation of botanists to build on his ground-breaking study in forest

ecology. His wife has other ideas. It all began in World War II when,

as a schoolboy, Ashton wandered through the less exotic woodlands of

southern England, marveling at clouds of butterflies that had migrated

from the wastelands of Normandy. Today, Ashton notes sadly, the areas

of pristine Asian rainforest are almost exclusively restricted to

legally protected parks and sanctuaries. If it isn't protected by law

(and sometimes even when it is), it is cut down. Particularly

vulnerable is the Dipterocarp family of trees (known collectively as

red mahogany to most), which dominate the canopy of lowland Asian

forests. These, Ashton notes, are the trees that have produced more

than half the timber for global markets for the past couple of

generations. " And, needless to say, " he adds, " there aren't many left. "

Ashton isn't against logging per se. But his life's work has been to

understand how different trees in the rain forest perform so that

humans can harvest them sensibly and sustainably, rather than just

tearing them down and moving on. " If you want to sustainably manage a

forest for timber production, you have to know your trees: How fast

they grow; what soils they grow on, " he says. " The forest needs to be

handled in different ways. It needs to be felled with different

intensities and treated afterwards in different ways. " When he first

stepped into a rain forest, in Brunei in March 1957, little was known

about the trees that grew there. These forests thrum with diversity.

" Species rich, " scientists call them. Just how rich, Ashton was about

to find out. Ashton spent five years documenting trees for the Sultan

of Brunei, disappearing into hostile terrain for weeks at a time. But

it was the academic, not the physical, challenge that initially

bewildered Ashton. " There are around 35 native tree species in Britain,

around 350 to 400 in the United States. In Brunei, " which is less than

half the size of Connecticut, " there are around 3,000. How do you

manage 3,000 trees? " Ashton aimed to find out. He set up small plots to

establish which kinds of trees thrived where. He documented 30,000

trees from almost 1,000 species. He returned to write up his findings,

teach at Aberdeen University in Scotland and at Harvard, and ponder how

to set up something more ambitious. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0426/p13s01-sten.htmlRussia:28)

"Preserve disappearing Russian forest" – is the main idea of

International Conference, planed by West-Siberian Branch of

V.N.Sukhachev Forest Institute, Novosibirsk, Russia. Conference will be

held July 30-August 4, 2007 in Altai (city of Barnaul). In order to

discuss the current problems of preserving the Russian forest are

invited 85 Russian and foreign (USA, Canada, Norway, Finland, Germany,

Italy, Hungary, Belarus', and Kazakhstan) experts in forestry, forest

genetic, climate, economic, and other fields. The basic problem

includes disappearing of Russian forest due to destructive economical

politics, oriented mostly to resources use and billion customer market

of China. From 1990s was cut the best wood and destroyed the best seed

foundation in best part of Russian forest in south. Especially

non-sustainable position has Siberian forest. Tempos of restoration of

Siberian forest are too slow, that type of forest is inappropriate for

big scale of industrial cut. At the same time many areas of South

Siberia and Russian Far East represent main refuges for survival not

only for trees, but also animal, species. Endangered species as

Siberian Tiger, Amur Leopard, Himalayan and Sailyugem bears, Musk Deer,

and the others survive basically in Russia. Russia has around 1/4 of

the world forest, and around ¾ of boreal forest. But from 1990s it

loses yearly around 160 millions of cubic meters of the best wood. In

that process illegally involved even zapovedniks – mentioned in law as

strongly protected areas. If genetic foundation of world important

Russian forest will be significantly weakened, it will be critically

influence the reducing of wood and biodiversity resources of the

planet. Global warming consequences will be much more severe, when

gigantic territories became free from forest and permafrost will be

melted. email tarhan8Thailand:29) The amount of

forest in Thailand has decreased due to deforestation. With less work

in the forests there is no longer much logging work for the domestic

elephants which had been their main occupation for many years. A

domestic elephant eats up to 200kg of food a day and this must be

provided by her mahout. They live around 65-70 years so must be cared

for throughout the mahouts life and the elephant needs support if

anything happens to him. Without forests there is less wild food in the

forests available and the mahouts need to find another source of income

in order to take care of their elephants. Some mahouts bring their

elephants to big cities like Bangkok and try to make money from

tourists by begging on the street. However, the Bangkok streets are

dangerous for elephants because of the numerous cars. Also it is not

always easy to find enough food everyday. Elephants can also damage the

roads and can be dangerous for citizens. Their mahouts are not always

friendly, as some elephants are being kept under horrible

circumstances. They are jabbed with knives and spears, overworked and

overdosed on amphetamines to increase their stamina. The Thai

government has taken action, banning elephants from cities. However,

this has not provided a solution to the problem as several elephants

removed from cities - and therefore unble to beg - have died of

starvation. Tourism appears to provide a solution to guarantee a good

future for the domestic elephants in Thailand but it needs to be well

controlled. At the moment, almost 70% of the baby elephants working in

tourism are believed to have been poached from the wild. Poachers often

kill the mother in order to get the calf. For the future, the situation

is improving, as most National Parks who have wild elephants are well

protected and many programs have been set up in order to ensure the

survival of the wild elephant. http://realtravel.com/thailand-trips-i4391687.htmlAustralia:30)

While the main forest workers' union, the CFMEU, has been putting

pressure on Mr Rudd not to jeopardise the jobs of any Tasmanian

workers, there are also significant Labor forces that want the party to

strengthen its environmental credentials. When Mr Rudd went to Burnie

in December, he pledged to " get it right " on forestry policy at this

year's federal election. " Last time around we got it wrong, " Mr Rudd

said, referring to the 2004 federal election when then Labor leader

Mark Latham made a last-minute decision to ban all logging of

old-growth forests, costing Labor the two marginal north Tasmanian

seats of Bass and Braddon. " I'm listening and consulting closely; we

intend to get it right when it comes to the future of the forest

industry in this state. " This may mean a commitment to stop logging in

controversial high-conservation forests such as the Upper Florentine

near Maydena, or the Weld Valley near Geeveston in Tasmania's far south

Alternately, it could include a commitment to phase out the logging of

all high-conservation native forests within a certain timeframe. http://www.news.com.au/mercury/story/0,22884,21628821-5007221,00.html

31)

Australia's iconic koalas face an uncertain future as their fragmented

habitats shift in response to climate change, fire, and drought, an

ecologist said. For example, St. Bees Island off the coast of

Queensland is changing from " a koala-friendly forest to a

koala-unfriendly forest, " said Alistair Melzer, an ecologist at Central

Queensland University. Melzer has studied koalas for nearly 20 years

and the St. Bees Island koalas for 8 years. Koalas exclusively eat the

leaves of eucalyptus trees. There are more than 700 species of

eucalyptus, but the marsupials prefer the leaves of only a handful. As

the favored eucalyptus species disappear from the forest, St. Bees

Island will eventually become unsuitable for the koalas and the

resident population will likely go extinct. Until recently, the St.

Bees population had been considered unusually stable, and was intended

to serve as a model for helping struggling populations elsewhere in

Australia. But the island's habitat shift is a new twist for land

managers to consider as they set the nation's conservation priorities,

Melzer said. They have to ask, for example, " Do I try to go in there

and manage these areas—effectively garden them for koalas or another

target species. Or do I simply say, Well, that's life, and let them

go? " http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/04/070427-koalas.htmlTropical Forests:32)

Recent research published in the journal Biotropica addresses

commercial hunting in the tropics, including its direct impacts on

vertebrates and indirect impacts on plants. Using more than 100 forest

sites scattered across the Amazon, the authors show that most large

game birds and mammals have been severely reduced to a small fraction

of their original population densities, often just 1–5 percent of the

densities of the same species in similar protected forests. Seed

dispersal depends entirely on vertebrates for plant species with large

seeds encased in fleshy fruits. Thus, hunting invariably alters

relative seed dispersal distances among different plant species.

Hunting is already changing plant species composition of tropical

forests worldwide. As the composition of plant species changes, they

may not provide the fruits and seeds necessary to sustain populations

of frugivorous and granivorous vertebrates. In tropical Asia,

commercial hunting for large-scale regional trade in wild animals has

replaced traditional subsistence hunting. Most species are being hunted

illegally at unsustainable levels and enforcement is weak in many

areas. Reductions in the current rates of deforestation and logging

will not be enough to save many of the region's animals from

extinction. Ending the trade in wild animals and their parts should be

the number one conservation priority in tropical Asia. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070425095736.htm33)

We know that a majority of the world's species live in rainforests,

from many flagship species like elephants, tigers and chimpanzees to

smaller species like insects and algae. Some play a role in curing

human diseases, or may in the future. These forests are threatened both

by large-scale commercial exploitation and by rapidly increasing

numbers of poor people who are destroying the forests to make charcoal

or to open the land for subsistence agriculture. Some of the other

effects of climate change predicted by the IPCC, such as drought and

food insecurity, will only exacerbate the plight of these people. The

tropical rainforests of Africa, Latin America and South Asia are

particularly important in this regard. Tropical deforestation

contributes 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere

annually, compared to approximately 6 billion tons from burning fossil

fuels. Saving these forests would not only prevent the release of

carbon currently stored in them, but it also would allow them to

continue absorbing carbon in the future. While population pressures

cannot be quickly reversed, nor the businesses of logging and mining

phased out, there is much we can do to save these forests. The core of

a successful strategy involves working not only with national leaders,

but also, and most important, with local people to raise living

standards, especially in the areas near the forest preserves. By

providing technical assistance to farmers to raise their incomes,

education to young people, healthcare to families and economic

investments in ecotourism, these rural communities can become the

custodians of the forests, not their destroyers. These strategies have

other benefits as well: They promote local stability and security.

Rural prosperity, education and effective public-health systems serve

as natural defenses against outbreaks of pandemic disease, war,

terrorism and political instability. By working with local people to

save forests, we help to create stable communities that will surely

improve global security. http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/04/23/684/