Guest guest Posted May 8, 2007 Report Share Posted May 8, 2007 Today for you 42 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) forest reform failings, 2) oldest land conservation group, 3) cathedral grove, 4) Leader of logging deregulation wins 'Gift to the Earth' award,--Washington: 5) More of Green River watershed protected, 6) Save Swift Reservoir,--Oregon: 7) Lomakatsi Restoration Project, 8) Spotted owl research --California: 9) $10 million in logging funding for Tahoe Basin --Idaho: 10) Sign petition to save 9.3 million acres--Iowa: 11) Save 150, 200-year-old oak trees--Pennsylvania: 12) Poconos used to be beautiful--Vermont: 13) Helping participants define their vision for their land --Kentucky: 14) Erik Reece on mountaintop removal--Georgia: 15) Okefenokee Swamp fire salvage--USA: 16) Nothing but good news about our depleted forestlands--Canada: 17) Bruce Hyer defends Wabakimi, 18) Same old story since 1837, --Syria: 19) 65 percent a desert wasteland--Lithuania: 20) Destruction of Klaipeda--Kashmir: 21) government has decided to import timber from Malaysia--Guyana: 22) FSC-watch, 23) Timber agreement suspended --Ecuador: 24) Defense of 75,000 acres of Ecuadorian Chocó Rainforest--Brazil: 25) Government needs more sustainable logging laws--Peru: 26) Selling indigenous land to oil companies--Madagascar: 27) Culture makes forest protection and destruction --Philippines: 28) Spirit of the Forest Festival unites tribes in defense of their land,--Malaysia: 29) money needed for forest restoration, 30) Logging creates disease--Indonesia: 31) Indonesian government plans to import timber, 32) Treeplanting protests, 33) Guinness World Record for deforestation, 34) $445 million for treeplanting,Half of Tanah Toraja destroyed, --Australia: 35) Gulaga Mountain under attack again, 36) Tasmania overview, 37) local wood furniture industry set to collapse, 38) Greenpeace banner hang, 39) Loggers say want people out of the forest, --World-wide: 41) World bank buys protection, 42) Getting $10mil from Swiss bank, British Columbia:1) New Democrat forests critic Bob Simpson has asked the auditor-general to investigate the government's initiatives to reform the forest industry, saying the 2003 plan is costing taxpayers an estimated $500 million but has not achieved its goals of revitalizing the sector. Instead, Simpson said Thursday, the province has increased corporate concentration, creating regional monopolies and oligopolies -- a market dominated by a small number of sellers -- that have resulted in fewer logs on the open market. Independent sawmills and value-added remanufacturers have been unable to get enough logs to operate, he charged. " People are telling us they can't get fibre. And if you can't get fibre, you can't get into the game, " he said in an interview. Forests Minister Rich Coleman is expected to announce a new round of policy reforms related to both the coastal industry and log export regulations before the end of the month. http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=86519931-da59-43ae-8610-23fa4898 dbb12) Population growth and increasing land prices have British Columbia's largest and oldest land conservation organization expanding its conservation efforts in the Kootenays. Over the past 35 years, The Nature Trust of British Columbia acquired 30 properties in the Kootenays to protect fragile ecosystems. The properties total 9,500 hectares, making the Trust one of the largest conservation organizations in southeastern B.C. Today, The Nature Trust of British Columbia expanded its conservation campaign in the Kootenay region with the addition of its 31st property, alongside the Bull River, 50 kilometres southeast of Cranbrook. The 82 hectare Bull River property is prime forest and wildlife habitat and is situated adjacent to two other conservation properties. In addition, The Nature Trust of BC has acquired the rights to manage a 593 hectare woodlot next to the property. The Bull River property sustains a key migration corridor for elk, deer and Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, and provides foraging, shelter and nesting habitat for small mammals, reptiles and birds. " The Kootenays has one of the largest and most diverse mammal populations in the province, " said Robin Wilson, the incoming chair of The Nature Trust during a tour of the region. " Our goal is to consolidate and expand more properties like this one, so our on-the-ground staff will be able to focus more on conservation excellence in a given area. " " This approach of 'doing more with what we have' is increasingly important given that, in the Kootenays, a considerable portion of the Rocky Mountain Trench is privately owned and is becoming more expensive and less attainable, " said Wilson, " In addition, the impact of population growth in this region, and throughout the province, requires a higher level of stewardship from all of us - conservation groups, governments, the private sector and the public. " http://www.naturetrust.bc.ca3) For the second time BC Minister of Environment, Barry Penner, announced in the Legislature that Cathedral Grove Provincial Park has been expanded. However, the numbers do not add up! Penner stated that the original park was 136 hectares. The addition, with the inclusion of land purchased by Nature Trust, is 144 hectares. Penner concluded that a total of 301 hectares is now protected as a class "A" provincial park. Doing the math you will realize that the old and new add up to 280 hectares, which leaves 21 hectares unaccounted for out of 301 hectares. It just so happens that 21 hectares is the size of the piece of land that was purchased by BC Parks to build a parking lot. This piece of land was excluded from the protection provide by the BC Parks act and has been the center of public contention for its protection. In the fall of 2005 Minister Penner announced that he had postponed plans to build a parking lot at that location. I have been in touch with the Minister's office several times since this recent announcement but the public relations people cannot seem to come up with an answer for my simple questions about the numbers of hectares. They do not have an answer to the question; "Will a parking lot be built in Cathedral Grove Park?" Scott Fraser, MLA for Alberni-Qualicum, will raise these questions in the legislative assembly while the government meets in Victoria. Flanking Cathedral Grove to the south and east, the Cameron valley has been entirely logged leaving behind a large farm of small trees which has been, protected by the recent park expansion. However, a large stand of giant old growth Douglas fir trees that grows between the highway and railway and cliffs to the west is scheduled for logging by Island Timberlands. A wide logging road has already been pushed into this pristine forest and helicopter logging dump sites have been prepared and are ready to extract the old growth trees on the slopes above. In the past few years heavy logging has decimated the forest on the tops of these slopes above Cathedral Grove. rcboyce4) Premier Gordon Campbell will be awarded a " Gift to the Earth " from the WWF Wednesday, following an international symposium on ways to manage the world's ecologically sensitive forests. The symposium, called Our Common Ground, is to be held at the University of B.C. May 7-9. It will highlight land-use lessons learned from the Great Bear Rainforest, Brazil's Amazon Basin, Africa's Congo Basin and Russia's Komi Model Forest. The Great Bear Rainforest was the subject of a landmark agreement reached in 2006. Under the deal -- negotiated by the B.C. government, first nations, forestry and environmental groups -- almost 1.2 million hectares of land stretching along 400 kilometres of wild forest on B.C.'s central coast will be developed into designated parkland, protected against logging and other development. Chris Elliott, WWF vice-president, Pacific region, said each of the four groups will be recognized for working together, increasing the number of B.C. parks and securing a $120-million conservation fund for sustainable development. " Being green is important but there has to be some economic viability as well. " About 200 government, industry, environmentalists and representatives from 19 different countries are expected to attend the symposium. The meeting, a world first, will draw from nations' common experiences such as how to manage conflicts and trade-offs; gain government and business support; provide opportunities for economic growth; and integrate the rights of indigenous peoples. http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=a899e8db-f98d-4ecb-9625-ccd 90d2fab37Washington:5) More than 1,124 acres of publicly owned forest in the Green River watershed – the source of most of Tacoma's drinking water – will be protected from logging and off-limits to recreational activity. On Tuesday in Olympia, the state Board of Natural Resources, which governs management of state trust lands, designated the property as a natural area preserve. Age of trees: 110 to 145 years old. Ecologists believe a fire or fires swept through the area before the existing timber stand was established. What's so special about this land? It is home to two distinctive plant communities native to Western Washington lowland forests. These groups of trees, shrubs and other plants are vulnerable to destruction and uncommon in other protected areas of Western Washington, officials said. The forest also is potential habitat for the rare northern spotted owl. Who owns the land? The public. Tuesday's action removed it from a trust managed to pay for school construction. How is the trust compensated? The Legislature authorized repayment as part of its $70 million trust land transfer program for 2005-2007. The property is valued at $17 million, including $15.8 million for the timber. http://www.thenewstribune.com/331/story/53723.html 6) STEVENSON - A crowd of close to 90 turned out for a public hearing Tuesday on the future of the Swift area, a hotbed of potential residential development in the shadow of Mount St. Helens. The Skamania County Planning Commission held the hearing to gather testimony on a draft comprehensive plan for the entire county and a separate draft plan covering about 89,555 acres north of Swift Reservoir. Development pressures in the Swift area prompted the Skamania County Commission to place a moratorium on new land divisions there last August. The moratorium was extended in February. Real estate speculators, who have invested heavily in private timberland with an eye to development of hundreds of new residential units, have pressed the county to lift the moratorium. Developers Dave Creagan and Jerry Sauer control at least three development companies in the Swift area and have spent " well in excess of $5.5 million " buying and clearing land there, according to their attorney. The draft plan for the Swift area follows closely a " vision plan " unveiled by the county last September. It proposes a near-tripling in the number of " recreational cabins " in the area, from 339 built or permitted today to a maximum of about 1,000 in 20 years, when the area is fully developed. Bruce Barnes said the plan for Swift area does not adequately protect elk and the threatened bull trout that inhabit the Pine Creek area, the site of a large development. A coalition of six environmental groups, led by the Gifford Pinchot Task Force, submitted testimony criticizing the level of development proposed for the Swift area. They predicted many owners of " recreational cabins " will choose to live on their property year-round, depending upon expensive new services. " It is a common misconception that taxes from these new developments will be adequate to pay for needed service delivery, " their statement said. For example, the county has no funding to maintain the forest service roads that provide access to the area if the forest service turns those roads over to the county, they said. http://www.columbian.com/news/localNews/05022007news134717.cfmOregon:7) Lomakatsi Restoration Project, the Ashland-based forestry and work-force training group, continues overseeing stewardship projects that employ local workers in the Tiller Ranger District of the Umpqua National Forest this spring and summer. The stewardship logging projects teach workers the skills to thin forests and treat unwanted habitat, such as invasive species, with improvements. The U.S. Forest Service has expanded the acreage of the Stewardship Demonstration Project within the Boulder Dumont Vegetation Management unit of the Tiller district. The Umpqua forest expects to release three stewardship projects based on the Boulder demonstration model. Through hands-on skills development, Lomakatsi is training and working with environmental groups, Tiller residents, veteran loggers, forestry workers and private landowners on the demonstration stewardship projects. For a training agenda or to visit a site and meet with trainers and participants, visit www.lomakatsi.org or call (541) 488-0208. http://www.oregonnews.com/article/20070503/NEWS/705030338) " We've got a much better understanding of what the birds are doing, " said Eric Forsman, a Forest Service biologist and Oregon State University professor who has studied spotted owls since graduate school in 1972. Owls like nesting in big old trees - the perfect site might be a Douglas fir with a busted crown and side branches that have grown up around it to provide a bit of shelter from the elements. They dine on flying squirrels, red tree voles and wood rats, depending on where in the Pacific Northwest they hunt. They have little fear of humans - " They look at humans the same as they look at elk: big lumbering beasts they ignore, " Forsman said. They don't travel far when looking for new spots to nest and breed; 10 to 20 miles is the norm. But if you'd asked Forsman about habitat in the 1990s he'd have said old growth, old growth and old growth. Today he knows the picture is a bit more complicated. In California, for example, research suggests the owls thrive where old growth meets open areas of younger trees or clear-cuts. Wood rats, their primary prey in that region, feed on the leafy greens of open spaces. Studies conducted on privately owned forests in California where the logging has been fairly heavy have shown owls holding their own in the disturbed landscape and younger forests, contrary to expectations, Forsman said. He attributes that surprising discovery to the fact that Northern California's warmer, wetter climate creates more complex forests of redwoods and hardwoods that develop canopies more quickly. " After 40 or 50 years, those stands have structure, " Forsman said. " Up here, when you clear-cut, what you get back is a conifer stand. " But for all researchers have gleaned over the years, there are still gaping holes in their arsenal of information. The biggest question mark hanging over recovery efforts is the influence of the barred owl. http://www.registerguard.com/news/2007/05/06/a1.owls.0506.p1.php?section=cityregion California:9) The U.S. Forest Service plans to spend $10 million a year while thinning or burning 3,800 acres of forest per year in the Lake Tahoe Basin. A local government, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, estimates that 76 percent of forest fires started in the basin could balloon into unpredictable and dangerous crown fires. "The areas around communities we are trying to treat 100 percent," said Dan Young, an assistant fire fuels and vegetation specialist. Altogether, the Forest Service plans to thin 38,000 of its 165,000 acres in the basin during the next decade, reports the Tahoe Daily News. http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20070506/NEWS/70506002Idaho:10) The state of Idaho contains over 9.3 million acres of national forest roadless areas - the most of any state outside of Alaska. New rules by the Forest Service may open these wild forests to commercial logging, mining, and road-building. The Forest Service is accepting public comments until May 10, 2007 on a proposal to reverse protections for roadless areas on Idaho's national forests. These roadless areas are of national and global significance. Idaho and the Northern Rockies are the last place in the lower 48 states where nearly all of the wildlife species that characterize the region can still be found. The variety of landscapes represented by these roadless lands is unmatched by any other state outside of Alaska. They represent some of the last of America's wild frontier. Currently these areas are protected under the Roadless Area Conservation Rule but the administration's new proposed rule threatens to undermine these protections. Tell the Forest Service to keep the protection for these wild forests intact. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/649687851?ltl=1178566777Iowa: 11) In Urbandale, the debate over whether residents can demand that a developer preserve 150 200-year-old oak trees will come to a head at Tuesday's City Council meeting. Many of the trees were on the land before Iowa became a state in 1846. Residents, who plan a rally for Sunday, say it isn't necessary for the property's owner to remove a majority of the trees on the 25-acre site called Village Centre, at the northwest corner of 142nd Street and Douglas Parkway. Randy Shima, a property co-owner, said 30 to 35 trees probably would be saved. " We're doing everything we can to save the oak trees, " he said. Randy Cook, urban forestry coordinator with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, said he knew of just one Iowa city with a tree preservation ordinance - Lambs Grove, a town of about 225 people just west of Newton. In Lambs Grove, tree steward David Raymond must personally approve the removal of each tree. The policy has caused few problems, probably because little development has occurred in the town, Raymond said. Paul Dekker, Urbandale's community development director, said he doubted a similar policy would work in Urbandale. " If they told me to draw (a tree preservation ordinance) up, I'd be hard-pressed to find the compelling reason to make a legally sustaining ordinance, " he said. http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070504/NEWS/705040334/1001/RSS01Pennsylvania: 12) After reading the disheartening letter about Brady's Lake and our great State Game Commission and Fish Commission letting logging companies clear cut our forest. I took a ride Sunday, April 29 out through Route 423 from Pocono Lake to Tobyhanna. It seems the great Game Commission is letting logging companies strip these forests also. It looks like bombs went off across what used to be pristine forest. And for what reason? They have let the roads to our parks fall apart; they have increased how much you pay to hunt and fish and for what? Just take the money that you should be making destroying our forest and invest it in these problem areas. The Poconos used to be beautiful. But thanks to our politicians and their agencies that are supposed to help protect our wildlife resources, we will have a nice ugly environment just like New York. Again thank you for what you have done. As they say you reap what you sow. It is past due time for new politicians to save our state. Big Ed Rendell only cares about Big Ed first. http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070505/NEWS04/705050304 Vermont:13) The two-day workshop, sponsored by the Vermont Woodlands Association, is intended to help participants define their vision for their land and create a plan to realize it. " We're trying to create an interest in the process of forest land stewardship, " said Paul Harwood, the association's vice president. " The idea is to make available to the people who attend the program the wide range of expertise and options and let them steer, within reason, what they want to get out of it. " Saturday's schedule will include presentations and time for questions and discussion. Harwood, a private consulting forester, will talk about how to conduct an inventory of a forest, assess its condition and develop a management plan. In a separate presentation, he will discuss timber harvesting and timber sale contracts. A presentation by the Department of Fish and Wildlife on healthy wildlife communities will include information about habitats such as travel corridors and deer wintering areas; foods (natural, planted and prohibited); shelters, including den trees and ground cover for birds and animals; deer and beaver problems; and how to develop a wildlife action plan. Former Olympic athlete John Morton, a professional Nordic trail designer, will talk about layout and construction of trails and access roads for recreation. Steven Sinclair, Director of Forests of the Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation, will discuss the impact of large pieces of forests being cut up into smaller parcels of land and provide information about state and county forestry services. Tree farmer Alan Robertson will talk about green certification and managing tree farms. http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070502/NEWS02/705020382/1003/NEWS02 Kentucky: 14) " Where once there were jagged, forested ridgelines, " writes Erik Reece for Harper's magazine, " now there is only a series of plateaus, staggered grey shelves where grass struggles to grow in crushed rock and shale. " Kentucky-born poet and essayist Reece went to Robinson Forest, a 10,000-acre second-growth forest in Kentucky, intending to write poems and to expose his students to some of the most diverse wilderness in the United States. To write about the forest he loved, he discovered, he must first write about the forces working to destroy it. He must first expose the radical practice of strip mining called mountaintop removal. A year of hopping fences, infiltrating restricted areas, nestling in trees to shoot photographs resulted in " Lost Mountain: A Year in the Vanishing Wilderness, " a book that describes in painful detail the systematic stripping away of a mountain. Reece writes: "Robinson Forest is an example of the mixed mesophytic - the most biologically diverse ecosystem in North America. And the streams of Robinson Forest have been tested as the cleanest in Kentucky." http://www.goupstate.com/article/20070506/NEWS/705060317/-1/BUSINESS Georgia:15) A vast fire that has burned about 90,000 acres of southeast Georgia forest and Okefenokee Swamp land in nearly three weeks is costing timber growers, who own most of the scorched land. The Georgia Forestry Commission estimates landowners could lose $30 million in trees being grown for lumber and paper products. The agency says as little as 15 percent of the burned wood may be salvaged, at cut-rate prices, before pine beetles and fungus render it worthless. More than 70,000 acres, or 109 square miles, of private land that has burned is owned by a mix of large corporations, individual timber farmers and nest-egg investors. Rayonier, a wood products company based in Jacksonville, Fla., has suffered the most timber loss _ about 26,000 acres or more than 40 square miles. Spokesman Mike Bell said the timber's estimated book value was $5 million to $7 million. Rayonier reported $207 million in timber sales worldwide in 2006. While larger corporations can absorb the loss, smaller growers and investors who own less acreage will suffer the most, said Tim Lowrimore, policy director of the Georgia Forestry Association. " People look at those trees as a retirement account or a send-your-kid-to-college account, " Lowrimore said. " They're going to suffer some economics that are going to be very painful. " http://www.accessnorthga.com/news/ap_newfullstory.asp?ID=91612USA: 16) " There is much good news to be shared about America's forests, particularly in regard to their abundance, the ecological services and recreational services they offer, the raw materials they provide, and the successful initiatives to sustain them. " The new report is a comprehensive, peer-reviewed analysis of a wide variety of data regarding forestland in the United States from a broad range of sources, including the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The report was authored by forestry expert Mila Alvarez, a professor at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute's College of Natural Resources and principal of Solutions for Nature, a natural resources management consulting firm. The release of The State of America's Forests comes on the heels of a United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization report in March that also found the United States had annual increases in forest area in the 1990s and through 2005. The U.S. National Academy of Sciences released a study in November 2006 that came to a similar conclusion, finding a widespread pattern of reforestation in the United States and calling the United States a world leader in forestland re-growth. http://sev.prnewswire.com/environmental-services/20070502/DCW00702052007-1.html Canada:17) WABAKIMI PROVINCIAL PARK, Ontario -- It wasn't until the canoes were strapped to a float plane and we started to rise above the water, that I finally understood the extent of the wilderness here. Sure, I had heard the hyperbole: that this thumbprint in northwestern Ontario was twice the size of those beloved canoeing routes Ontario's Quetico and Minnesota's Boundary Waters combined; that it encompasses 2.2 million acres, a number few can grasp until they're peering out a plane window onto uninterrupted forest for the duration of an hour long flight; that there are no roads, no houses, no boats, no humans, no signs of civilization. That is, until we land in the frontier town of Armstrong, where timber trucks career down logging roads and clear-cutting is ubiquitous. The smoke billowing from the pulp mills that border Lake Superior in the region's largest city, Thunder Bay, remind you that paper rules this roost. Yet, in something of a miracle, a Yank named Bruce Hyer has kept the number one industry away from Wabakimi these past three decades and helped preserve this mega-slice of greenery. The man bubbles over with confidence, and as we pass a brown bear rambling down the road, I begin to think that Hyer, a born outdoorsman, resembles the animal with his girth, grit, and unwavering sensibility. " We only get about 600 permit requests a summer, and there's, what , about 3,000 miles of passable waterways. You do the math, " Hyer chuckles, adding that most people in Thunder Bay don't even know about Wabakimi. http://www.boston.com/travel/getaways/canada/articles/2007/05/06/ontario_park_preserves_forest_critters_hyperbole/ 18) According to "Canadian Forest Policy: Adapting to Change," Ontario's current model was developed in 1837. It had three main elements. The forest would be owned by the Crown, the wood would be sold to logging companies, and the money would go into general revenue in Toronto. These features haven't changed for 170 years. They are the three pillars of Northern Ontario underdevelopment today. We should probably ignore the fact that Toronto didn't have jurisdiction over Northern Ontario back in 1837 – the government of Upper Canada certainly ignored the fact. It started selling off timber rights in Northern Ontario even before it had treaties with the people of Northern Ontario. When northerners objected, their leaders were invited to hand over the land to the government and to live on reserves for the rest of their lives. That strategy is still in place, by the way. Those of us of Aboriginal descent have federal reserves and the rest of us have provincial reserves called municipalities. These days Toronto makes forestry companies consult the locals about some details of the forest management scheme. Toronto also requires companies to consult Toronto residents, of course. In Northern Ontario, majority rule tends to mean that Toronto rules. There is no consultation about the three basic principles. The forests of Northern Ontario still belong to the Crown. The government in Toronto still decides who gets the timber, and it still keeps the money it takes in. Forest tenure diversification is just a polite way to say community control. Ontario is the only major forestry province that has not begun experimenting with real community control. http://www.nob.on.ca/columns/Robinson/05-07-forest.aspSyria:19) Rising heat, dwindling rainfall and soil erosion threaten to reduce some 65 percent of Syria's territory into a desert wasteland, a Damascus-expert has said, contradicting official reports that desertification threatens 18 percent of the country. " The temperature increase, together with erosion are killing plant-life and causing fertile topsoil to disappear, as is the squandering of water resources and inadequate irrigation practices, " the expert, speaking on condition of anonimity, told Adnkronos International (AKI). According to the expert, rising salt levels are threatening the fertility of 50 percent of land lying along the banks of the River Euphrates with some 6,000 hectares of land a year becoming not suitable for agricultural production due to illegal irrigation. The authorities are failing to modernise the irrigation systems that would help curb the desertification process, she said. Encroaching desert due to drought is one of the main challenges facing Syria, admits Muhammad al-Oudat, a senior environmental researcher with Syria's national nuclear energy entity. " Deforestation, the illegal construction of roads in rural and suburban areas as well as uncontrolled grazing as well rising temperatures, " are the main causes for desertification, al-Oudat told AKI. The government is working with the United Nations Development Programme to develop projects aimed at safeguarding the environment and to offset the desertification threat, he said. http://aleppous.blogspot.com/2007/05/syria-desertification-threatens-65.html Lithuania:20) My friends and I have always enjoyed the forests and open areas around Klaipeda, and it is one of the main reasons I moved here. For years, we've enjoyed walking through the forests for exercise, having outdoor barbecue and shish-kebab parties, mushroom and wild berry gathering, and just plain enjoying the tranquil atmosphere. One of the great things about Klaipeda is that you can get out of the city and into an open and peaceful area within minutes from almost anywhere in the city. On one recent weekend we threw our barbecue equipment into our car and drove out to one of our regular spots. It was one of our favorites, located in a nice clearing among the trees, and it had been lovingly used by ourselves and other visitors. As we came around the curve in the forest path leading to our spot, we were shocked – the whole area had been devastated. Several hectares of forest had been cut down, and the remaining bare land looked as if it had been raked over by the hands of giants. Deep ruts, pits and stumps of trees were strewn across the area. It looked horrible. We drove around a bit, and found that there were quite a few areas like this. What was happening to the forest? Did the cutting and clearing have sinister economic motives? Was the wood being cut down for sale to Western Europe? We decided to try to find out what had happened. As it turns out, there was no conspiracy. Most of the forested areas around Sernai are government-owned and maintained. The section we visited is only a small part of what is now called the Kretinga Forestry Region. It stretches from the south of Klaipeda all the way across the northern coast of the city, and then up to the border with Latvia. We spoke with Stanislovas Mazeika, the Forestry Department official for the areas we were familiar with. Mazeika, who has maintained the forest here for 45 years, gave us a history lesson about the area and explained that the cutting of the various areas within the forests was a normal part of forestry maintenance and restoration. A major part of the work of the Lithuanian Forestry Department, we learned, is concerned with making sure that the forests remain healthy. As some "old forests" become choked, overgrown, and unhealthy, they become breeding grounds for disease. They are partially cleared and cleaned up for newer and healthier growth. http://www.baltictimes.com/news/articles/17789/Kashmir:21) The Jammu and Kashmir government has decided to import timber from Malaysia, Russia and Germany for construction purposes, a move aimed at checking massive deforestation in the state that had taken place during the past 18 years of turmoil. Sources said the timber would be imported from Malaysia, Russia and Germany to Jammu and Kashmir through the State Forest Corporation (SFC), a government undertaking. They said till now the timber used to be imported to the state through private companies. ''But, now it will be done at the official level,'' the sources added. They said rapid deforestation and timber smuggling had been taking place at various levels in the Kashmir valley since the outbreak of violence in 1989. The sources said Deodar, also known as Green Gold, and Kail trees had been the worst-affected during the period while Fir, found mainly in upper reaches, had escaped the wrath of smugglers. To compensate the loss and save the forests, they said the government has entrusted the job to the SFC to import the timber to Jammu and Kashmir. ''This will help meet the local demand for construction purposes and minimize the pressure on the remaining forests of the state,'' the sources said. http://www.greaterkashmir.com/full_story.asp?Date=3_5_2007 & ItemID=8 & cat=5 Guyana:22) Back in January, FSC-Watch reported that the largest FSC certified tropical logging operation (Barama, in Guyana) had had its certificate suspended. One of the interesting aspects of this was that WWF had been working closely with the company for some time, providing technical advice and helping the company to get its certificate. This was clearly an embarrassment for WWF, who had only 9 months earlier breathlessly exclaimed that the certificate was a " record-setting accomplishment for tropical forest conservation in South America " . In February, WWF US's senior forest programme officer Bruce Cabarle joined representatives of Barama in an urgent meeting with FSC's Executive Director in an effort to have the certificate reinstated (which the FSC Secretariat rightly resisted). In a new twist to the story, following a field inspection in March, WWF has now 'discovered' that Barama's logging operation does indeed suffer a number of inadequacies that render it uncertifiable. In the short report of its inspection (available below), WWF found that there are 'questions' about the silvicultural aspects of Barama's operations, workers' living conditions, health and sanitation " remain wanting " , that environmental impacts assessments " have not been fully implemented " , and that there is actually not even a management plan for one of the formerly certified logging compartments. Far from Barama's certificate being the historic milestone of a only a year ago, WWF have now warned that " Continued WWF support to [barama] towards the reinstatement of its FSC certificate will be considered in light of [barama's] response to the above challenges. WWF has reiterated its call to both Barama and its parent company, Samling, to make a high-level commitment to responsible forestry according to the rigorous standards of FSC. " http://www.fsc-watch.org/archives/2007/05/04/WWF_decides_that_biggest_tropical_logging_certifica te_was_not_such_a_good_thing_after_all23) The government yesterday announced that the Timber Sales Agreement (TSA) awarded to Jaling Forest Industries Inc (JFII) has been suspended because of non-compliance with undertakings. Jaling's sanction comes just over two weeks after another Chinese-connected company Bai Shan Lin was banned from exporting round logs and amid an intense campaign by NGOs and letter writers over transgressions by Asian logging companies. In a release yesterday, the Ministry of Agriculture said that JFII was awarded a Timber Sales Agreement for 25 years beginning in January 2005 after it had fulfilled all the requirements for a State Forest Exploratory Permit (SFEP). This process entailed the preparation of a forest management plan and the implementation of an environmental and social impact assessment. After the TSA was conferred, the Ministry said that the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) noticed that implementation of key aspects of JFII's business plan such as the construction of a sawmill, a kiln drying complex and other value-added activities were significantly behind schedule. http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/article_general_news?id=56519765Ecuador: 24) In response to unprecedented levels of clear-cut logging, leaders of indigenous Chachi, Épera, and Afro-Ecuadorian communities gathered in late April for the Constitutional Assembly of the Association of Ecological Organizations of Northern Esmeraldas (AOENE.) This new organization unites more than a dozen communities from three nationalities, representing approximately 75,000 acres of Ecuadorian Chocó Rainforest and the brave, remaining groups who have refused to sign logging contracts on their land. Part of the Tumbes-Choco-Magdalena International Biodiversity Hotspot, the Chocó Rainforest is home to more than 11,000 species of vascular plants and 900 species of birds, many of which are endemic. In the Ecuadorian province of Esmeraldas, the vast majority of remaining forest is located on private and ancestral land, which receives neither protected status nor conservation priority from the Ecuadorian Ministry of Environment. Most logging contracts in the area are signed through third-party intermediaries, using coercive tactics including bribes and death threats for community leaders who refuse to cooperate. In an attempt to intimidate local authorities, logging intermediaries burned down the government forestry control (INEFAN) offices in the nearby town of Borbón in January of this year. Immediately following this event, logging increased in the area to such an extent that in one community alone, a local women's group counted 15 tractors working at one time. These events have made community leaders come to realize that they cannot rely on authorities to protect their ancient forests, but must make a stand themselves against unwanted commercial logging by forming the environmentally focused organization, AOENE. http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/view_press_release.php?rID=27985Brazil: 25) A new paper published in Frontiers in Ecology. However, successful implementation of sustainable timber production will require overcoming significant biological and political hurdles, suggest the authors. Noting that South American rainforests will continue to be logged for the foreseeable future, the authors, led by Michael Keller of the International Institute of Tropical Forestry in Puerto Rico, say that the Brazilian government should aim for sustainable timber production, which would provide income for local people while at the same time preserving ecosystem carbon stocks and watershed protection. Doing so will be a challenge, though one that can be surmounted through collaboration between policy makers and biologists. " Although there are many hurdles ahead, well-designed government programs may be the key to realizing the goal of ecosystem protection through sustainable timber production from natural tropical forests, " the authors write. " The challenges to the successful implementation of sustainable timber production programs in South America fall into two broad categories: (1) inherent biological limits related to forest diversity and productivity and (2) economic and policy limitations that control the forest sector. " The authors say that a system utilizing private land-holdings of already marginalized forest could be key to slowing deforestation in the Amazon. " The total smallholder area on one stretch of the Trans-Amazon highway from Marabá to Itaituba, for example, has the capacity to supply 1.75 million [cubic meters] of roundwood per year, or about 6% of the roundwood production in the Brazilian Amazon, " they write. " If the timber industry were given incentives, or at the very least had existing barriers removed (eg information, legal title on smallholder lots, government requirements and bureaucracy), then private land use could potentially hold back deforestation and provide an engine for economic development at the frontiers. " http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0506-amazon.htmlPeru:26) Raised in palm huts deep in the Peruvian Amazon, Gregorio Torres never imagined that below his home was something called natural gas. Now his Machiguengua Indian settlement in this rain-forest river clearing has solar-powered radio gifted by an international oil company, corrugated tin roofs, T-shirts with company logos, and a shelf of Western medicine. But this incipient natural-gas boom is bringing new worries, too " We want oil companies to leave the rivers and the forests like they found them, " says Mr. Torres. The Peruvian government is increasingly pushing an oil and gas boom through some of the world's most biodiverse rain forests. In 2006, 70 percent of the country's pristine Amazonian rainforest was zoned for oil and gas, up from just 13 percent in 2004, according to a study by groups including Environmental Defense and Oxfam. This year the country is tendering an additional 22.2 million acres – an area larger than the state of Maine – the report states. And as ethnic Amazonian natives are increasingly lured by hydrocarbon development but threatened by contamination, disease, and culture shock, international supporters are working to press governments, companies, and banks to develop the rain-forest regions in low-impact, sustainable ways. " There is now 75 to 80 percent of Peru's rain forest under concession for oil and gas, and there doesn't seem to be much planning on how to do that sustainably, " says John Sohn, senior associate with World Resources Institute. Lily de Torre, director of the indigenous rights group Racimos de Ungurahui, says semi-nomadic indigenous groups such as the Nahua, Nanti, and Kirineri are increasingly threatened by fatal illnesses caused by contact with oil workers. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0507/p04s01-woam.htmlMadagascar:27) Sacred rites protecting " taboo " forest and unofficial land ownership agreements are helping regenerate large areas of tropical forest in southern Madagascar, say researchers. Thomas Elmqvist at Stockholm University in Sweden and colleagues studied satellite images of 5500 square kilometres of tropical dry forest in southern Madagascar, taken between 1984 and 2000. Overall, the researchers found that the forest declined by 7% over this time. But focusing on the more recent years, they were surprised to find that the forest appears to be recovering – total forest cover increased by 4% between 1993 and 2000. " The Madagascar dry forest is listed as one of the 200 most important ecological regions in the world, " says Elmqvist. Around 95% of plant species found here are endemic to the area, meaning they originate from it. Yet it is also one of the least protected forests in the island state, which is also home to wet and moist forest. To find out what was driving the forest's regeneration, in May 2002 and January 2004, Elmqvist's team went to the area studied using satellite images. " We were surprised to find that areas that were suffering most from deforestation had the lowest population density and were far from markets, " says Elmqvist. Areas with stable forest cover, meanwhile, were heavily populated. Elmqvist explains that although most of the land in Madagascar is theoretically owned by the government, in practice, villages control how the land is used. " If an outsider wants to use the forest, the only way to get permission is to marry into the clan, " he says. Interviews and inventories of these clan-owned parcels of land revealed that deforestation was primarily occurring in areas with insecure property rights. For instance, areas once occupied by a clan that had emigrated, because of drought or famine, are taken over in " grab and take " policies. This means neighbouring clans seeking to take over the parcels stake them out by cutting down the largest trees and planting a cactus – the local way of sign-posting property rights. " One prediction from climate change research is that we will see more and more migration because of changing ecosystems. If governments do not prepare, we will see large scale deforestation, " warns Elmqvist. Incorporating sacred or taboo forests in conservation policies could prove a cheap way of ensuring the forest's future, Elmqvist adds. Taboo forests are protected by unspoken rules, which even defend them from people wishing to gather medicinal plants. " If someone violates these rules, they have to pay one cow, which is very expensive for an ordinary Malagasy, " says Elmqvist, noting that in the area that his team studied there were hundreds of taboo forests. http://environment.newscientist.com/article/dn11771-madagascan-forests-regenerate-against-expe ctations.htmlPhilippines:28) Higaonon translates to " forest people " . Mr Kiama said his people lived in 700 villages and eight river clans around the forest. Illegal logging was the greatest threat to the forest on which the Higaonon tribal people in the Philippines relied, one of their leaders said this week. Visiting Canberra to take part in the Spirit of the Forest Festival at Michelago today, Mama Kiama said logging and mining had shrunk the rainforest on Mindanao island to a 10th of its size over recent years. Lowland people were also encroaching on the forest because it was fertile land. Officially, logging in the Higaonon tribal region had stopped but illegal activities continued. " The forest is our mother, our supermarket, hospital and church. It is everything, " he said. He was their ambassador, telling the world that it could not afford to lose any more rainforest. He said he recognised that his people would need to move forward from hunter-gathering to farming, but the vast majority of his people wanted to ensure the last virgin forest would be preserved. Proceeds from the Forest Festival will go to the tribe and the south-east region forest campaign. Mr Mama said in order to gain the position of tribal leader, he had had to go through a traditional six-month testing period. This usually involved a period alone in the forest when he feared being eaten by animals. http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?class=news & subclass=general & story_id=581962 & category =GeneralMalaysia:29) Malaysian authorities need 200 million ringgit (US$58 million; €42 million) to replant trees and restore heavily logged forests that are home to thousands of orangutans on Borneo island, a news report said Sunday. Forest rehabilitation efforts will focus on 4,000 hectares (10,000 acres) of logged jungles that are considered the " crown jewels " of environmental diversity in Malaysia's Sabah state in Borneo, Sabah Forestry Director Sam Mannan was quoted as saying by The Star newspaper. An environmental restoration and management plan for the Ulu Semaga-Malua forests will be finalized by the end of 2007, requiring at least 200 million ringgit of funds from the federal government and private donors, Mannan added. Conservationists say rain forests in Malaysia and neighboring Indonesia have increasingly shrunk in recent decades because of the spread of the timber industry and palm oil plantations. Malaysian officials have played down these concerns, saying that the clearing of forests is monitored and controlled under environmental protection laws. The key objective of Sabah's forest rehabilitation plan is the conservation of 3,000 orangutans in Ulu Semaga-Malua, which also contains a wide array of wildlife and plants, Mannan reportedly said. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/05/06/asia/AS-GEN-Malaysia-Protecting-Forests.php30) Much has been said about the environmental degradation caused by indiscriminate deforestation. Chopping down trees, however, means much more than just that. Everyone knows deforestation takes away the natural habitat of all kinds of jungle animals and drives them closer to human habitats. What most do not know is that these animals put us at more risk from all kinds of diseases. Studies done in 1986 suggest dengue viruses are maintained in a primate cycle involving monkeys and vectors of the aedes (Ae) niveus group. This raises the possibility that the Ae albopictus mosquito may introduce the sylvatic (primate) virus to humans now that these primates live close to people in the urban areas, said Dr Indra Vythilingam, a research officer and former head of the Parasitology Unit, Institute of Medical Research. Dengue is a viral disease that is transmitted to humans by two types of mosquitoes, Ae aegypti and Ae albopictus. First reported in Malaysia in 1902, dengue affects 100 million people worldwide. Dengue cases had more than doubled from 17,368 in 2001 to 39,654 in 2005. The fatality rate showed a similar trend over the same period, increasing from 50 to 107, according to Health Ministry statistics. Malaysia has one of the best dengue control programmes in the region and yet cases of dengue fever and dengue haemorrhagic fever are increasing, said Dr Indra. http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Monday/National/20070507081308/Article/index_html Indonesia:31) The Indonesian federal government is planning to import timber to assist the local timber industry in various parts of the country that has collapsed due to a shortage of raw materials, according to Made Subadya, an official from the Ministry of Forestry. He said that a number of countries with surplus stocks of timber have been narrowed down as potential suppliers, including China and Malaysia. Conservation and law enforcement against the traffic of illegal felled logs are said to have contributed to a shortage of timber raw materials in the country. -- ITTO's Tropical Timber Market Report http://www.ihb.de/fordaq/news/Indonesia_timber_14909.html32) As Saturday's tree-planting commenced, 65 villagers armed with banners and posters aired their grouses. They also handed a strongly-worded memorandum to Sabah-based Japanese Consul General Koichi Morita, who was also present. The project, covering a total of 300 hectares in Balai Ringin and Apeng, involves the planting over a period of 10 years from 2007 of local hard-wood species such as kapur bukat and engkabang jantang which the Japanese say is part of their contribution in dealing with global warming by putting the forest cover back. The idea was initiated by the Japan-Malaysia Association and sponsored by Kinoshita Group, one of Japan's biggest housing construction companies. It is supported by the Sarawak Forestry Department. The Bidayuh landowners from three nearby villagers - Mongkos, Mentu Tapu and Paon Gahad - carried a huge banner which read: 'We are the land-owners. Get our permission to plant trees/consult us'. Another banner read: 'Plant trees in Japan. Respect indigenous land rights in Sarawak'. Japan is one of the biggest buyers of Sarawak logs and timber products used mainly in its housing construction sector. http://www.bmf.ch/en/news/?show=4933) The Guinness World Records had approved a proposal by Greenpeace that Indonesia's forest destruction be included in its 2008 record book to be published in September this year, said Greenpeace Southeast Asia campaigner Hapsoro. Displaying a replica of the certificate from the global authority of records, he said the citation from the publication would read: " Of the 44 countries which collectively account for 90 per cent of the world's forests, the country which pursues the highest annual rate of deforestation is Indonesia with 1.8 million hectares of forest destroyed each year between 2000-2005. " Indonesia has lost 72 per cent of its intact ancient forests and half of what remains is threatened by commercial logging, forest fires and clearances for palm oil plantations, Greenpeace said. The group urged the Indonesian government to impose a temporary ban on commercial logging in natural forests nationwide, accusing authorities of failing to control lawlessness and corruption in the forestry sector. International demand for timber and paper as well as commodities such as palm oil was driving the destruction of the country's forest, currently covering 120.3 million hectares, it said. http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4047151a7693.html34) Indonesia plans to rehabilitate 59.2 million hectares (146 million acres) of damaged forest throughout Indonesia, according to Malam Sambat Kaban, Indonesia's Forestry Minister. The International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) reports that the country has set aside $445 million for 2007 to finance the planting of 2 billion seedlings on 2 million hectares of land along 318 rivers in all provinces in the country. The minister said that the plan would help revitalize the country's most degraded forests, which have been heavily logged and are increasingly cleared for agriculture, especially oil palm plantations. Should the ambitious plant prove successful, it would sequester large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Indonesia did not specify whether the seedlings would be native tree species. Between 2000 and 2005, Indonesia has the world's highest rate of forest loss. http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0507-indonesia.html34) Makassar - Some 65,000 hectares or almost half of Tanah Toraja`s 138,101 hectares of forests have been destroyed by illegal logging activity, an envirmentalist says. " Illegal logging activity in Toraja has reahed an alarming level and could threaten the environment of Toraja, which is a famous tourist resort, " Luther Sambolinggi, executive director of Wahana Lestari Persada (Walda) Foundation, said here on Monday. Some parts of the forest areas had turned into barren land, while actually the areas used to be `water reservoirs " for several rivers flowing through South Sulawesi such as the Saddang and Pareman rivers, he said http://www.antara.co.id/en/arc/2007/5/7/half-of-tanah-torajas-forest-area-destroyed-by-illegal -logging/Australia:35) Guboo Ted Thomas RIP stopped the loggers and their bulldozer in the 1970ies on sacred Gulaga Mountain on behalf of his people. I met him a few years ago and he told me " you're on the right track " trying to stop the woodchippers logging our native forest cultural and natural heritage. Now the loggers are back over the memory of this great warrior for the environment. Logging of compartment 3046 of Bodalla Forest (Gulaga Mountain) is scheduled to start tomorrow, 7 May. If you are interested in joining the campaign against this logging, see the campaign website at: http://www.tilbalogging.com People may recall that this area, important to the local Aboriginal people, was scheduled for logging a year or so ago, but was deferred until after the election. CHIPSTOP campaign against woodchipping the SE forests, PO Box 797 Bega NSW 2550 Australia, http://www.chipstop.forests.org.au36) In Tasmania, an island the size of Ireland whose primeval forests astonished 19th-century Europeans, an incomprehensible ecological tragedy is being played out. Recent calls from Britain to boycott Tasmanian goods and tourism are not going to end logging. But in an Australian election year, with the forests emerging as a major issue, they form part of a chorus of international condemnation that shows Australians that the forests are not just a natural resource, but are globally significant wild lands. Rainforest is being clearfelled and then burnt with napalm. The world's tallest hardwood trees, eucalyptus regnans, are being reduced to mud and ash. And the monocultural plantations that replace the old growths soak up so much groundwater that rivers are drying up. Compound 1080, a lethal poison, is laid to kill off native animals that might graze plantation seedlings. In the resulting slaughter, wallabies, kangaroos, possums, and protected species such as wombats, bettongs and potoroos, die in slow agony. The survival of extraordinary creatures such as the giant Tasmanian freshwater crayfish - the largest in the world - is in doubt because of logging. Scientists warn that numerous insect species still unrecorded are disappearing in the conflagration. Local people are finding their water contaminated with atrazine, a potent weedkiller. Logging is an industry driven solely by greed. It prospers with government support and subsidies, and it is accelerating its rate of destruction, so that Tasmania is now the largest hardwood chip exporter in the world. And Gunns, the largest logging company in Australia with a monopoly in Tasmania, is making record profits selling these forests as woodchips, which are in turn made into paper and cardboard. But the woodchippers are destroying not only Tasmania's natural heritage, but also its parliament, its polity, its media and its society. The close relationship which leading Tasmanian politicians enjoy with Gunns, goes beyond sizeable donations to both major parties; it has given rise to a political culture of bullying, cronyism and threats, a culture that allowed the state's electoral system, under a 1997 Liberal-Labour deal, to be altered to minimise Green representation. Because of the forest battle, a subtle fear has entered Tasmanian public life; it stifles dissent and is conducive to the abuse of power. To question or to comment is to invite the possibility of ostracism and unemployment. http://sydneyalternativemedia.com/blog/index.blog?entry_id=1684172 37) WA's native timber furniture industry will collapse and the State Government will be forced into bail-out strategies if there are any further changes to the wood supply, major players have warned. The State Government has agreed to review WA's native timber harvest amid growing concern not enough quality timber is being made available for industry. Timber Communities Australia suggests more Government-funded rationalisation, the Forest Industries Federation advocates better access to quality timber under the State's current rules, while Federal Forestry Minister Eric Abetz wants WA to resume old-growth logging. Mel Princiotto, owner of Australia's biggest native timber furniture manufacturer Jamel Industries, said native timber costs had risen more than 50 per cent in six years while serious drops in quality had halved yields. He had been able to pass only one of the last four price rises on to customers, who were increasingly tempted by cheaper imports, and feared any further harvest reduction or cost rises would put jarrah and marri beyond ordinary Australians and reduce WA's native timber furniture industry to a boutique player. If that happened, furniture-makers would fight for compensation similar to what the native timber industry received when old-growth logging first stopped. http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=77 & ContentID=27782 38) The unfurling of a giant Greenpeace banner protesting against global forest destruction has signalled the start of an international tropical timber conference in Port Moresby. Two Greenpeace activists yesterday morning abseiled down the front of the Crowne Plaza Hotel, in the Papua New Guinea capital, to unfurl the bright yellow banner bearing the words " Stop Forest Destruction " . The two activists were later spoken to by police but were released without charge before the conference began in the hotel ballroom. Inside, PNG's Prime Minister, Michael Somare, in a keynote address to the council of the International Tropical Timber Organisation, defended his country's reputation over logging. He said PNG had sound policy and laws to manage its forest resources in a sustainable manner. Mr Somare said that the often-unfounded allegations of illegal timber trading were of growing concern to his government. Greenpeace spokesman Tiy Chung said the protest was to highlight the need for a balance in forestry between environmental sustainability and trade. Mr Somare said his government had taken a lead to reduce carbon emissions from deforestation in developing countries. http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?class=international%20news & subclass=general & story_i d=582542 & category=General39) The timber industry says safety could be put at risk if the Queensland Government relaxes access to state forests. The Government will allow four-wheel drivers and riders of motorbikes, bikes and horses to enter the forests without obtaining a permit. But Rod McInnes from Timber Queensland says log trucks and heavy equipment work in the forests and it is difficult to keep visitors away from working areas. " The harvesting is not all confined to one particular area, [it] could mean that the log trucks hauling the logs out are travelling over roads which are many many many miles away from where the actual harvesting occurs, " he said. " It's pretty well impossible to quarantine an area of a working forest to ensuring the safety of the public who might be roaming around in there. " But Environment Minister Lindy Nelson-Carr says recreational users of state forests have always had to abide by safety guidelines and that will not change. " If work is going ahead we have to ensure roads are safe, " she said. " Roads may be closed when there is bad weather or risk to commercial activity, there will be signage which will clearly state that users have to give way to timber trucks and comply with closed roads signs. " http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200705/s1915925.htmWorld-wide:41) The World Bank is in talks with Papua New Guinea, Costa Rica and Indonesia, and regional bodies in Brazil and the Democratic Republic of Congo to fund forest protection, said Warren Evans, the Bank's head of environment. The World Bank had previously done deals with Chinese chemical plants to destroy greenhouse gases in exchange for tradeable carbon credits and the rainforest project will follow that approach. The aim is to cut the contribution to climate change of clearing and burning rainforests, responsible for about one fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions. " Governments have approached the bank in the past six months, " Evans told Reuters, speaking on the fringes of a carbon trading conference. " We'll pilot over the next three years. The Amazon would be a great pilot, " he said, adding that that would depend on Brazilian state approval. The Bank wants to sign deals with three to five countries by 2009 or 2010 to agree to limits on national carbon emissions from deforestation, in return for some $250 million investment. Evans was unable to comment on what acreage of forest the scheme would protect. http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL0311858.html42)Groups representing indigenous peoples in Guyana, Cambodia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea on Thursday urged the Swiss bank Credit Suisse to pay them 10 million dollars (7.0 million euros) in compensation because of its links with a Malaysian timber company. The company, Samling, retained Credit Suisse as an adviser during its stock market flotation in February, along with HSBC and Australian bank Macquarie. The indigenous peoples claim that Samling's operations have damaged their communities by cutting down forests and in some cases, polluting sources of drinking water. " We're slowly dying, " a representative of the Penan people from Malaysia told journalists at a press conference here. " We are asking that Credit Suisse give back the profits generated by the stock exchange debut, 10 million dollars, to the indigenous peoples harmed by Samling, " said Lukas Straumann of the Swiss environmental group, the Bruno Manser Fund. Samling operates in 3.9 million hectares (15,054 square miles) of forest across Malaysia's Sarawak peninsula and Guyana in Latin America alone. The company rejected allegations of a cavalier attitude towards indigenous peoples and said it always operates within the law. " Before we begin operations, we always consult with the local communities to get their feedback and come to amicable agreements before we carry out harvesting work, " Samling said in a statement on its website. The Bruno Manser Fund and another Swiss group, the Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV), said they had met with Credit Suisse on February 23 but the talks proved fruitless. http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Indigenous_Groups_Seek_Millions_From_Credit_Suisse_Over_Timbe r_Deal_999.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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