Guest guest Posted May 21, 2007 Report Share Posted May 21, 2007 Today for you 34 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) The Last Spotted Owls --PNW: 2) Spotted Owls in the US --Oregon: 3) More Spotted Owl info, 3) Save 2 million roadless acres, 4) Propaganda, --California: 5) Texas Spider Timber Sale shut down, 6) Sierra National Forest logging, --Arizona: 6) Mexican spotted owl protector gets jail for endangerment --North Carolina: 7) keepers of vast forest resources, 8) ruining it by making it a park, --USA: 9) Insurance agents make demands of wildfire dwellers, 10) An era of restoration, --Canada: 11) Logging in Algonquin Provincial Park --Azerbaijan: 12) Ministry can provide and not provide an expert judgment on any law --Russia: 13) Excessive illegal deforestation, 14) Country's biggest pulp and paper plants, --Colombia: 15) Herbicide drug war, --Brazil: 16) Illegal logging bust, 17) Shamanism and forests, 18) Cuban expedition --Ecuador: 19) Pay us to save our forest! --Peru: 20) Laughable regulations for mahogany loggers --Guyana: 21) Industry uses conservation to thwart competitors --China: 22) reports on China's illegal logging abroad as " unrealistic " --India: 23) Women forest defenders, 24) More Women forest defenders, 25) Loss of Trees producing cotton, 26) Bids for degraded forest land, 27) 200 hectares taken over by encroachers, 28) Benandoor forest committee, 29) Failure of Environment Ministry, 30) detailed report on encroachment demanded, --Japan: 31) Trends of Forest and Forestry --Australia: 32) Save Gulaga protests, 33) public employee campaign for more logging, --World-wide: 34) FSC shenanigans British Columbia: 1) Endangered spotted owls in British Columbia have fallen to such critically low levels that the provincial government has been advised to capture all the remaining birds in " a triage approach to conservation, " so that a zoo-based breeding program can be started. A report provided to cabinet by a science advisory team recommends the government spend $3.4-million over the next five years capturing and breeding the birds before the species vanishes from B.C., the only province in Canada with a population. If the project is launched, it would be the first attempt in the world to breed spotted owls in captivity with the objective of reintroducing their offspring into the wild. Other wild birds, including the burrowing owl, have been successfully bred in captivity for reintroduction and a few spotted owls have been bred in U.S. facilities, indicating the project is feasible. Last year, the government announced a proposal to capture some birds, move others, provide winter feed and protect habitat in nine key areas. The final science team report, however, calls for an urgent capture program that could see all the birds placed in existing or specially created breeding facilities. One option suggests half the population, that is, all the single birds, could be captured, while wild pairs are left in the wild. Environmentalists say captive breeding may work, but they are shocked that the report, by the Spotted Owl Population Enhancement Team, makes no recommendations for protecting the rapidly disappearing old-growth forest habitat on which the birds depend. " What they are saying is put the birds in a zoo and keep on logging their habitat, " said Joe Foy, a director of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee. " The danger, " added Gwen Barlee, another WCWC director, " is that once they have bred some birds in captivity they will have nowhere to release them, except into clear-cuts. " http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070517.BCOWL17/TPStory/Nation\ al PNW: 2) If it wasn't for bad luck, these days the northern spotted owl wouldn't have no luck at all. Seventeen years after the owl was listed as a threatened species, 13 years after the federal government adopted the Northwest Forest Plan to protect it – along with marbled murrelets, wild salmon, and hundreds of other old-growth-associated plants and critters — the trend lines all point down. Spotted owl population numbers are plummeting; larger, more aggressive barred owls are muscling into spotted owl territory; new plagues threaten the birds' long-term survival; owl habitat is still disappearing; and the Bush administration is still trying to pave the way for more logging in owl habitat. Nobody expected all this. The Clinton administration created the Northwest Forest Plan in 1994 to protect the owl and stop the owl wars. Three years before, U.S. District Court Judge William Dwyer had permanently enjoined federal timber sales in western Washington and Oregon, noting " a deliberate and systematic refusal by the Forest Service ... to comply with the laws protecting wildlife. " Virtually no one was entirely happy with these decisions. The forest products industry complained that the plan went too far, environmentalists that it didn't go far enough. But most people assumed it would go a long way toward stopping the owl's decline and ending the constant round of lawsuits and injunctions and political posturing. http://crosscut.com/animals-wildlife/2948/ Oregon: 3) Recovering the owl is certainly one of the region's most significant conservation challenges. Demands on regional natural resources have never been greater, and we can expect them to increase as our human population grows. Federal land managers work hard to balance the needs of the owl with the needs of society, and we have made great progress. But no amount of habitat protection will save the northern spotted owl if we don't address the biggest threat it now faces: competition with the barred owl, which has invaded the Northwest. Given the urgency of this threat, the draft recovery plan lays out an aggressive research program that likely will include a barred owl control strategy. The varied nature of the major threats facing the spotted owl - barred owl competition, habitat loss, fire - stresses a critical point: Recovery of the species will require a long-term, concentrated effort by many partners committed to finding solutions that balance myriad competing interests. We need a recovery plan based on adaptive management, a plan that identifies recovery needs and provides the context for federal land managers to plan for both recovery of the spotted owl and the other benefits expected from federal forests. We believe the draft plan does this. The draft recovery plan differs from the Northwest Forest Plan in that it specifically defines actions needed to recover the northern spotted owl to the point where it no longer needs federal protection. The recovery plan is a road map to help protect adequate habitat and ensure a large, well-distributed population that can withstand natural catastrophes. To generate the broadest discussion about recovering owls and their habitat, the draft recovery plan presents two alternatives for conserving spotted owl habitat, both based on the same sound science. One method identifies areas where specific actions will be taken to promote recovery. The other method provides federal land managers with a set of rules for designating areas where the same actions would be taken. This recovery planning effort has been a scientifically rigorous process, and equally important, it will fully engage the public before completion. We invite the public to review the draft plan at www.fws.gov/pacific, give us your comments and attend one of the public meetings. http://www.registerguard.com/news/2007/05/18/ed.col.owlplan.0518.p1.php?section=\ opinion 4) Two million acres of pristine roadless forest in Oregon and 58 million acres nationwide could receive permanent protection thanks to the National Forest Roadless Area Conservation Act of 2007. This important bill would essentially legislate the 2001 Roadless Rule, one of the most supported and important conservation measures of our time. This bi-partisan bill has support from 4 of Oregon's 5 members of the US House of Representatives, and senators in California and Washington. But Oregon's US Senators have not yet voiced their support for this important piece of legislation. The support of Senators Ron Wyden and Gordon Smith is critical to passing this bill and protecting Oregon's roadless forests. Please click here to ask them to support the National Forest Roadless Area Conservation Act of 2007. http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/oregonwild/campaign.jsp?ca\ mpaign_KEY=11413 5) More than half of Oregonians don't know that private woodland owners must replant trees after logging or set aside stream buffers, according to a study funded by the Oregon Forest Resources Institute. To educate the public about the state's forestry laws, OFRI has launched a print and television advertising campaign that highlights aspects of the Oregon's Forest Practices Act, which requires reforestation and stream protection. " There's not growing skepticism, there's just ignorance, and I attribute that to a lot of new people living here, " said Leslie Lehmann, OFRI's executive director. " We can't just stop educating folks. " The portion of Oregonians who think the state doesn't mandate replanting has increased a slight degree: 16 percent, up from 14 percent in 2002, according to OFRI's 2006 study. More people also mistakenly believe the state doesn't require stream buffers: 11 percent, up from 9 percent in 2002. However, the greatest increase has been in the percentage of people who simply answered, " Don't know " with 38 percent in regard to replanting, up from 30 percent in 2002, and 44 percent in regard to buffers, up from 34 percent in 2002. " The need to keep them informed is never-ending, " said Dave Odgers, OFRI's director of communications, noting that Oregon has transformed into a largely urban state with a diminished reliance on logging. " There are not that many opportunities to know much about their forests, so that's part of our mission. " OFRI's $900,000 campaign pays for television spots in the Portland area and print ads in daily papers throughout Oregon. The campaign started in late March and will run through June, said Odgers.http://www.capitalpress.info/main.asp?SectionID=94 & SubSectionID=801 & Artic\ leID=32324 & TM=8 3218.77 California: 5) On May 10, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld our challenge to the East Fork-Texas Spider Timber Sale. The sale occupies more than 2,000 acres on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest south of Highway 36 and east of the South Fork Trinity River. It's a bittersweet victory. After the Forest Service violated an agreement to delay logging until our legal challenge could be heard, the purchaser (Trinity River Lumber of Weaverville) started logging the project. Because the courts refused our repeated requests for injunctions, approximately 40 percent of the sale units have now been logged. The court ruled the sale illegal on two fronts. First, the appellate panel held 2-1 that the Forest Service failed to consider a reasonable range of alternatives to its proposed action. The Shasta-Trinity only analyzed its own proposed action, rejecting our requests that they look at diameter limits and options other than a commercial timber sale. The court said that " did not amount to the 'full and meaningful consideration' of alternatives that NEPA [the National Environmental Policy Act] requires, " and noted that " USFS may not define the goals of its projects so narrowly that only its preferred alternative will meet those goals. " Second, the court ruled unanimously that the Forest Service's refusal to take seriously the potential impacts of the project on the Pacific fisher, an imperiled forest predator that depends on dense, closed-canopy forests, failed to " provide for diversity of plant and animal communities, " as required by the National Forest Management Act (NFMA). The court wrote that " USFS neither analyzed the acreage needed by the Pacific fisher nor analyzed how much suitable fisher habitat would remain in the planning area after the project was completed. The [Environmental Assessment]'s reliance on anecdotal evidence about the distribution of the fisher in the planning area does not reasonably ensure that a diverse population of wildlife will be maintained after the project is completed. Likewise, the biological assessment…does not provide any analysis of the project's effects on the fisher's habitat. " http://www.wildcalifornia.org/pages/page-177 for more details on the fisher. http://www.wildcalifornia.org 6) Conservation groups announced today that they have submitted a challenge to the United States Forest Service's approval of the Kings River Project (KRP), a massive logging experiment in the Sierra National Forest. The Bush administration approved the logging project despite widespread opposition from leading scientists and wildlife biologists concerned about the experiment's significant adverse impacts on forest health and wildlife. The complaint charges that in approving the project, the agency violated the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Forest Management Act. " This aggressive logging experiment ignores new scientific information, and fails to achieve the project's stated goal of restoring a healthy forest and conducting meaningful research, " said Craig Thomas, Executive Director of Sierra Forest Legacy. The Kings River Project proposes to conduct logging operations and herbicide treatments on 131,500 acres in the Sierra National Forest over the next 25 years. Phase I of the Project, which is the initial portion approved by the Forest Service, authorizes the treatment of 13,847 acres, which includes the logging of large trees. Numerous experts from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the University of California have expressed concern that the Kings River logging experiment would devastate the dwindling Pacific fisher population, which is dependant on old-growth forests. http://www.earthjustice.org/news/press/007/conservation-groups-take-action-to-pr\ otect-southern- sierra-forests-and-wildlife.html Arizona: 7) An environmental activist who strung cables across motorcycle trails near the San Francisco Peaks has pleaded guilty to three counts of endangerment. Seventy-three-year-old J-D Protiva could face up to six years in prison as the result of his quest to keep motorcyclists out of the forest. Protiva has admitted to the charges as part of a plea deal. He says the trail illegally entered nesting areas of the federally protected Mexican spotted owl. In addition to the cables, Protiva logged trees and built dirt mounds to discourage motorcyclists from riding the trails. His cables are known to have injured at least one motorcycle rider. A Coconino County grand jury indicted Protiva on six felony charges in December. As part of the plea deal, prosecutors agreed to drop aggravated assault and endangerment charges, along with several charges of illegal logging and construction in the forest. http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0518flagstaffactivist18-on.html North Carolina: 8) Private landowners and farmers are the primary keepers of North Carolina's vast forest resources. Together, they control 67 percent of the 18.4 million acres of forestland in the state. If future generations are to share in the beauty, diversity and productivity of today's forests, many landowners will need to manage all of their forest resources in harmony. Do you own a large area of land and want it to be a renewable resource? Are you getting ready to plant your land in trees following a recent harvest, land purchase or inheritance? Maybe you are interested in turning your land into a wildlife preserve - safe havens for all types of critters - or just leaving your land as open space. The more our cities encroach into rural areas; natural habitat is degraded and often eliminated leaving all types of organisms without a home. Stewardship forests are more than just a stand of trees. Stewardship practices do not need to be expensive to be beneficial. In fact, many landowners already practice good stewardship in many of their management activities. By planning how we want to use our land, we can weigh alternative opportunities to benefit ourselves and the environment. Simple changes in planting design can benefit wildlife, timber and plant diversity ... and your bottom line. Your rewards can last for decades; all it takes is a little planning before the first tree goes into the ground. There are many economical ways to use land. Traditional agriculture practices include producing short-term crops, raising livestock and harvesting timber. http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_Basic\ Article & c=MGArt icle & cid=1173351227290 & path=!localnews & s=1037645509099 9) Just up the street from our Asheville home is an urban oasis — heading up toward the mountains, past where asphalt turns to dust and gravel, just beyond the reach of the hustle and bustle, and a world away — there is a well-worn trail that will take you to the highest point in the East if you decide to go that far. My favorite treks on this old trail are always when my 2-year-old son comes along — my favorite hiking companion. Watching the forest unfold before his eyes — gathering the sights and sounds a forest presents — opens up an exciting new world for both of us. I especially treasure the creekside lunches, animal sightings and my attempts to answer his never-ending inquiries — " what's that? " These snapshots of our walks into the woods will carry me long into my years and will hopefully give him an understanding of how valuable the natural world is to his well-being. I can tell by this well-trodden path that I am hardly alone; millions of Americans enjoy spending time in these special places. But while we are enjoying this wonderful gift, we seldom think about how it came to be here for us. How did the recreation areas in and around our communities come to be? Most people would be hard-pressed to say. In many instances, they were paid for with money from a key program: the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). LWCF is authorized by Congress to receive up to $900 million annually from offshore drilling royalties paid by the oil and gas industry. Despite being relatively obscure, the LWCF is the nation's premier land conservation program. It has helped support more than 40,000 projects to acquire open space for parklands or to develop outdoor recreation facilities around the United States. It also enhances the lives of many of those from Asheville and the region every day. Despite how essential these programs have become to so many citizens, they and the lands we all depend on for outdoor recreation are under assault from multiple fronts. You just need to look out your window to realize that the Southeast region is experiencing significant population growth. Forest Service reports, as well as other independent studies, rank the Southeast as the area of the country that is losing valuable open space at the fastest rate and whose forest resources are most at risk. http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20077051508 USA: 10) Spooked by devastating wildfire seasons, the nation's top insurers are inspecting homes in high-risk areas throughout the West and threatening to cancel coverage if owners don't clear brush or take other precautions. The inspections have angered homeowners and watchdog groups that accuse the companies of trying to cut risk at the expense of customers, even while industry profits soar. The complaints echo concerns raised after Hurricane Katrina, when many insurance companies increased rates or dropped policies along the Gulf Coast. " It certainly isn't fair for these insurers to be dumping these last-minute requirements on homeowners, " said Carmen Balber of The Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights. " It does make sense to require homeowners to take reasonable precautions, but some of the excessive demands that we've heard from homeowners are over the top, " she said. The requirements can range from clearing brush to cutting down trees or even installing a fireproof roof. Insurers and industry groups counter that making people take responsibility for living in the highest-risk fire areas makes good business sense. " Insurers are in the business of measuring and attempting to put a price on risk, " said Candysse Miller, executive director of the nonprofit Insurance Information Network of California. " We are encroaching further and further into hillsides and areas where we should not build, and insurers have to take a look at that. " Catastrophic fires, including wildfires, caused $6.4 billion in insured losses between 1986 and 2005, with more than $2 billion of that amount stemming from massive firestorms in 2003 in Southern California, said Loretta Worters, a spokeswoman for the Insurance Information Institute. In California alone, more than 6 million homes stand in wildfire red zones, and the number of homes built in remote " wildland communities " is expected to increase by 20 percent during the next decade. Yet a survey conducted last year by Allstate Corp. in California's most high-risk communities found that more than three-quarters of homeowners thought it was somewhat or very unlikely that their homes would burn. http://news./s/ap/20070520/ap_on_bi_ge/wildfires_cutting_losses 11) As forest management moves into an era of restoration, federal agencies need to increase their efforts to work with communities to strengthen the ability of local businesses, nonprofit groups, and workers to plan and implement forest restoration treatments, the nation's oldest citizen group told Congress in recent testimony. Collaboration between federal agencies and local communities is a valuable tool that should not be treated merely as a means to reduce federal spending, American Forests said in urging increased funding for key programs of the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. Deborah Gangloff, executive director of the national nonprofit, testified before the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives where she described American Forests, formed in 1875, as " a strong and consistent proponent of collaborative forest restoration. In recent years we have expressed concern about the Administration's tendency to treat collaboration as if it were simply cost-reduction—letting the private sector or state and local governments take on greater financial responsibility for activities such as providing assistance to communities and nonfederal forest landowners, community-based planning, and rural development, " she said. http://www.americanforests.org/news/display.php?id=167 Canada: 12) Titled Lightening the Ecological Footprint of Logging in Algonquin Provincial Park, the report makes three key recommendations: expanding the park's protection zones from 22 per cent to 54 per cent, implementing best management practices to reduce the impacts of logging, and beginning a pilot project to improve the accuracy of wood supply analysis and enhance forest management planning. " I would like to thank and commend the members of the Ontario Parks Board for their hard work and dedication in producing this report, " said Ramsay. " I encourage the public to review the recommendations and provide comments to the ministry. " The report will be posted on the Environmental Registry for the next 45 days at http://www.ontario.ca/environmentalregistry registry number 010-0445. Public comments are welcome. At the end of the posting period, the ministry will review the comments and determine an appropriate course of action, which may include beginning a process to amend the Algonquin Provincial Park Management Plan that would involve full consultation with the public, aboriginal communities and stakeholders. The resulting plan would guide the forest management planning process. http://www.huntsvilleforester.com/1179325416/ Azerbaijan: 13) Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan has not sold even an inch of forests, the Minister, Hseyngulu Bahirov said on 18 May. He was commenting on accusations voiced against the Ministry at the meeting of the Permanent Parliamentary Commission on Agriculture Policy. According to Bahirov, on the contrary the Ministry has submitted over 300 cases regarding illegal occupation of forest territories so far. The Minister reported that the Azerbaijani legislation does not allow sale of forest resources. In accordance with the legislation the ministry allotted 70,000 hectares of lands covered by forest to municipalities. Instead, it obtained municipal lands not covered by forests. " The Ministry is not responsible for sale of the forest strips allotted to the municipalities, " Bahirov noted. He added that people who accuse the Ministry are the directors of the corresponding trade organizations who are trying to satisfy their own interests. He noted that the ministry stuck to neutral position as to adoption of the Law on Sate Lands. " The ministry can provide and not provide an expert judgment on any law. The adoption of laws is the authority of the parliament. From the other hand, if the judgment of an expert does not suit MPs it is not the reason to put the activities of the ministry under doubt, " Bahirov said. During the meeting of the permanent parliamentary commission on agriculture policy held a few days ago several MPs accused the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of illegal sale of forest zones. http://news.trendaz.com/cgi-bin/readnews2.pl?newsId=927961〈=EN Russia: 14) Overall, Primorye has a total of six woodland zones which are territories with restricted forest exploitation. Such territories, which have the densest of cedar and broadleaf forests, are aimed to preserve the trees for the needs of man and animals. This February, inspectors from Russia's agricultural watchdog found a large area showing signs of excessive illegal deforestation. The area was five kilometers from the town of Vostok located in the county's high north and hidden by sopkas, or high hills. With a five-kilometer road leading to the location, the spot is a wretched sight. According to inspectors, the volume of wood cut was several times higher than what was stated in permissive documents. Instead of the 17 cubic meters of wood allowed to be chopped to clear the road leading to the cutting area, a final harvest of about 300 cubic meters had been cleared. " The cutting had nothing to do with making the road, " commented Denis Smirnov, director of the forest program for the Far eastern branch of Russia's WWF (World Wildlife Fund). According to him, 17 cubic meters would mean only a few mature trees chopped. In the cutting area, a total of about 2,000 cubic meters of wood was chopped, as compared to the 521 cubic meters permitted in the documents. According to experts, the estimated damage brought by the woodcutters amounts to hundreds of millions of rubles. What would be considered an act of barbarism in any other country here is a common thing, local forest-guards said. However, finding out about the wrongdoers is not easy, since officials are not eager to comment on this issue. It is no secret that timber is a large source of income, even for those who are supposed to keep the woods preserved. In the county's northern territories, which are literally a forest of profit, it is difficult to resist the opportunity. For the past four months, about 20 timber-loaded trucks have daily passed a local road police post leading to the exploited woodland zone, a fact which speaks for itself. http://vn.vladnews.ru/issue569/Environment/Timber_cutting_destroys_taiga 15) Visiting the Syktyvkar Forest Processing plant, one of the country's biggest pulp and paper plants, Mr. Ivanov said to newspaper Vedomosti that " the state has to set the general rules " and " increase customs fees on exports of round timber, and create conditions for private business – Russian or foreign – to construct high-tech companies on forest processing " . Mr. Ivanov, one of the contesters for the next Russian presidency, added that " forest, in contrast to oil and gas, is a renewable raw material, and we have to conquer the markets not with cheap round timber, but with quality furniture, excellent paper and other processed forest products " . The Russian government has the last months repeatedly warned that it will increase export taxes on round timbers. Reactions have been harsh in Finland, where a major part of the paper and pulp industry is dependent on Russian raw materials. Also in the Russian East, and especially along the border to China, the round timber exports are significant. http://www.barentsobserver.com/index.php?id=507152 & showforumform=1 & noredir=1 Colombia: 16) On a regular basis, planes fly over the forests and farms of Colombia, dropping their payloads of herbicides to get rid of a dangerous crop: coca. Middlemen and drug dealers make billions of dollars on the final product—bricks of cocaine for sale in the U.S. and around the world—from coca grown primarily by poor farmers. The U.S. considers those plane flights to be necessary in its " war against drugs " and the glyphosate mixture used for the eradication of coca bushes to be a lesser evil. But concerns over the environmental and human-health impacts of the pesticide have reopened a debate on the toxicity of glyphosate, tying scientific uncertainties to political disputes over how best to proceed in getting rid of coca. In a recent attempt to reach consensus on the issue, a group of researchers who are outsiders to the eradication program reviewed the application of glyphosate in Colombia. As the key component of Monsanto's main product line Roundup, glyphosate kills plants by blocking the shikimic acid pathway that produces enzymes necessary for biosynthesis of aromatic amino acids. The chemical homes in wherever growth occurs, generally in leaves and root tips. That focused biochemical activity makes it harmless to mammals, says Charles Helling, a retired U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) researcher who has spent two decades studying glyphosate and other herbicides and has been a U.S. observer of the Plan Colombia program. But for glyphosate to do its work on the hardy coca plant, the herbicide has to be mixed with more toxic chemical surfactants. These added components break through the waxy, oily barrier on coca leaves, allowing the glyphosate to enter the plants' cells. Those surfactants could also increase toxicity to other organisms, including frogs—a theory that researchers are examining. While the scientific debate rages, politicians and activists have voiced concerns about the downstream effects of the spraying on humans. Ever since Plan Colombia started, activists, scientists, and politicians have been watching it carefully, and their conclusions rarely mesh. Part of the problem is a lack of data on the ground, plus a potent mix of anecdotal health data and political sovereignty issues. Several years ago, Ecuador asked Colombia to suspend its spraying program near its borders because of concerns over drift. Colombia complied, leaving a 10-kilometer zone at its border with Ecuador until last December, when encroaching coca fields in that buffer led Colombian president Alvaro Uribe to approve the resumption of spraying. http://pubs.acs.org//journals/esthag-w/2007/may/science/nl_cocaine.html Brazil: 17) Brazilian police on Wednesday broke up a suspected illegal logging ring involving Indians, environmental officials, ranchers and businessmen believed to have felled and sold around 2,000 truckloads of logs from an Indian reserve in the Amazon. A police statement said 17 people had been arrested and dozens more suspects were being hunted in four states. Those detained included three leaders of the Trumai Indian tribe who lived in the Xingu National Park and four officials of the environmental protection agency IBAMA who had issued permits authorizing logging in prohibited areas of the reserve. About 1.4 million cubic feet (40,000 cubic metres) of wood, equivalent to 2,000 truckloads, were extracted from Xingu over an unspecified period of time and transported and sold to lumber businesses, the police said. The Xingu National Park covers 11,000 square miles (28,000 sq km) in Mato Grosso state in the southern Amazon basin and is home to about 4,000 Indians from 14 tribes. Officials tracking the destruction of the world's largest rain forest estimated that about 6,500 square miles (16,700 sq km) of forest -- an area about the size of Hawaii -- could have been lost legally or illegally in the year to July 2006. Corruption inside IBAMA, which was reorganized last month, has been part of the problem. Dozens of IBAMA officials have been arrested in recent years for similar schemes. http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N16259592.htm 18) " I had a patient who was HIV positive and had been in hospital a fortnight " , said Javier. " That night we drank [ayahuasca, and] I saw in my vision that HIV was like the devil destroying him and that he was getting worse. " He stuck to the [ayahuasca] diet for two months [and] he also took bitter tasting herbs which cure internal wounds. After three times [three ayahuasca sessions] he was better and, when tested, proved HIV negative " 3. The Pulitzer Price-nominated author, John Perkins, who has written extensively about ayahuasca usage among the Shuar Indians of Ecuador, has confirmed other 'miraculous' healings. " During the ten years we have been taking people to meet the shamans, there have been a number of remarkable stories " , he says4 – among them, cures for deafness, depression, weight loss, as well as endless accounts of life changes and new visions for a different personal and social future.Against this backdrop of radical and positive change, it is depressing for Javier to reflect that the rainforest, home to so many healing plants – millions of them still unknown to Western medicine – is being destroyed so quickly by the 'developed' nations, with so little consideration of the consequences of this action. Every three seconds in the Amazon rainforest, one entire species is wiped out forever as a result of this development in order that Westerners might eat more burgers and drive more cars – the very things (pollution and fast food) which are, in many cases, causing disease in the first place. People create such 'madness' as a result of confusion and to be noticed, says Javier. Ultimately, they are searching for love and belonging but, in the West, they believe this comes through status, rather than the more direct route of loving intent. Javier's point was underlined a few years ago, when he worked with a group of Westerners of which I was a member. Immediately prior to the ayahuasca ceremonies, Javier asked the group what they really wanted from their lives. http://www.content4reprint.com/religion-and-spirituality/plant-spirit-shamanism-\ how-ayahuasca-he als.htm 19) Cuban experts who participated in the " The Amazon to the Caribbean by Canoe " expedition, in recounting that experience, believe that one of the problems they identified 20 years ago – deforestation – is more present than ever on the continent, and has become a serious threat to the survival of humanity. Doctor Leda Menéndez Carrera, a botanist, feels the same sorrow and indignation as 20 years ago as she recalls how the expedition traveled through Peru, Colombia and Brazil and witnessed the felling of colossal trees hundreds of years old by transnational corporations for use as lumber, with no concern over the damage they were causing to those enormous but fragile ecosystems that she recorded. At this point, if human beings continue plundering at that rate, many of the species collected, with the help of natives, by now-deceased Cuban expert and scientist Polidoro Pinto, to form two herbariums (one in Havana and another in Colombia) will probably no longer be seen in their natural environments. The Amazonian dream of the researcher from the National Center for Biodiversity, fostered by her reading of two travel books written about the region by Baron Alexander von Humboldt, also has its infernos. Antonio Núñez, the now-deceased doctor in geographic science Jiménez, who headed the expedition, left evidence of this tragedy in the book he published in 1989, in which he narrates, among other episodes, his arrival in Shapajal on the banks of the Napo River in Peru on a ferry from which tractors and bulldozers were being unloaded to cut a road among the dense forest. Now, however, in addition to the old, unresolved problems, others are being added that continue to perpetuate deforestation, with its terrible consequences, and that could also lead to the death from starvation of millions of people in the region, as Cuban President Fidel Castro warned in his reflections published recently in this newspaper. The production of ethanol (a biofuel for transport) based on crops like soybeans and corn, as promoted by President George W. Bush during his tour of several Central and South American countries, could lead to a disaster on the continent. http://www.granma.cu/INGLES/2007/abril/vier27/17canoa.html Ecuador: 20) Ecuadorian officials told an international meeting this week that their government would ban exploitation of huge oil reserves if it was compensated for its effort to save the natural habitat of the Amazon region. The untapped oil reserves are located in the heart of the Amazon, considered by scientists to be one of the most bio-diverse rainforests in the world. If explored and developed, the fields are expected to deliver more than 900 million barrels of oil. " If the world truly is interested in saving the planet, " said Ecuador's representative Lourdes Tiban, " the government has decided to sell the oil, but keep it in the ground. " Tiban added in her statement that Ecuador would need financial assistance from the international community in exchange for the decision not to exploit the oil. The country will wait up to a year to determine if there has been an adequate response. " I call on the U.N. agencies, member states and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to consider our proposal, " she said at the sixth annual meeting of the world body's Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Her appeal came nearly two months after the energy ministry in Ecuador declared that it was ready to leave the oil in the ground because it did not want to harm an area of " extraordinary biodiversity " . But ministry officials warned that they would be able to implement this decision only if and when the world community delivered " at least one-half of the resources " likely to be generated by oil extraction. http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=37794 Peru: 20) Last month Inrena, Peru's environmental agency, implemented regulations for mahogany loggers that will now require forest concession holders to replant ten times the logged amount of trees, reports the International Tropical Timber Organization's (ITTO) Tropical Timber Market Report. Overall, the initiative calls for the production and establishment of one million of mahogany plantlets over 5 years. " The replacement of the species 10 times more than the logged amount will be a condition for the approval of a yearly plan of operations. In addition, permit holders will have to demonstrate the maintenance of the mahogany plantations for the renewal of the logging rights, " noted the ITTO. Separately, Juan Carlos Vasquez, a representative for CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), said that Peru is meeting international commitments regarding mahogany. He added that the efforts have produced a decline in illegal logging. Environmentalists and indigenous rights' groups have long cited the illegal mahogany trade as a substantial driver of deforestation and land rights' violations. Gaining control over mahogany logging is seen as an important step in moving towards more sustainable forest management. http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0516-peru.html Guyana: 21) General Manager of the logging company Barama Company Ltd (BCL) Girwar Lalaram has " locked horns " with forest conservation activist Janet Bulkan over what he says has been a deliberate and sustained attempt on her part to discredit the company internationally and to undermine its access to international markets. He disclosed that Barama was currently holding 15,000 cubic metres of plywood which it was unable to sell on the international market as a result of what he said were Ms Bulkan's well-publicised criticisms of the company's timber harvesting policies. Janet Bulkan is a member of the well-known Guyanese business family - the Bulkans - who own and operate Bulkan Timber Works and Precision Woodworking Company, one of the outstanding success stories in the export of locally produced furniture to Europe and the Caribbean. Precision has been an aggressive public advocate of responsible forestry practices and of adding value to locally harvested timber in preference to exporting logs. However, in his statement, Lalaram claimed that Ms Bulkan's criticisms of Barama and particularly of its timber harvesting policies, were driven by what he described as " a family vendetta " arising out of an earlier invitation to Barama by Precision to invest in the operations of the furniture manufacturing company. http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/article_business?id=56520529 China: 22) A senior forestry official yesterday described some foreign media reports on China's illegal logging abroad as " unrealistic " . " China abides by the rule of mutual benefit when logging in other countries, " said Cao Qingyao, spokesman for the State Forestry Administration (SFA) at a regular press conference. " It always cracks down on illegal logging firmly and has gradually co-operated with some countries. " He called for joint efforts to curb illegal logging, saying that both producing and importing countries should strengthen administration and supervision. Cao said in 2005, the country's supply of timber, 329 million cubic meters, had met domestic demand, which was 326 million cubic meters. Also in 2005, China recorded a surplus of $3 billion in forest trade, suggesting China exported more timber than it imported. He said that in 2005 about 60 percent of China's timber products were exported to the United States, Japan and Hong Kong. The United States accounted for nearly 38 percent. And China imported most of its forestry products from Russia, the United States and Indonesia. " Forestry trade is part of international trade, " Cao said. " China has made its contribution to push forward international trading by carrying on forestry trading. " The spokesman said China's forestry gross products have kept a two-digit growth annually since 2001 and exceeded 900 billion yuan ($115 billion) in 2006. Last year, China produced about 64 million cubic meters of boards and produced more than 90 million tons of fresh and dried fruits. It also produced about 130 million pieces of furniture. In the three fields, the country took the lead in the world. Last year, China's foreign trading volume in forestry products was $47 billion, maintaining a favorable balance. China will hold its third wood exposition in Mudanjiang, Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province from August 16 to 22, Cao said. Mudanjiang, the Sino-Russian trading center, is also the largest timber import center in China. In 2006, the city imported more than 7 million cubic meters of timber from Russia, accounting for more than 20 percent of the country's total import volume. It has nearly 2,000 wood product companies. And a wood processing industry strip is under construction. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-05/17/content_874267.htm India: 23) It may not be exactly another chipko movement, but members of the Mahila Mandal, Chohatgarh of Ropa village in Mandi district, are becoming a front to mobilise other Mahila Mandals of the state, to spearhead a campaign against illicit felling of forest trees by the so-called timber mafia. Pradhan of the Mahila Mandal, Sonam Dolma, told TOI that whereas the poor and needy people of the state were being deprived of timber for their use under the timber distribution rights to save the forests, the timber mafia were having a field day and were felling trees in large numbers. " During the last four months, we have been patrolling the forests adjoining our villages and have informed the forest department staff of the trees that have been felled, which have then been taken to the Forest Corporation depots. As many as nine to 10 truckloads of timber has thus been saved from the clutches of forest mafia, " she said. She said ever since Mahila Mandal members had started patrolling forests, the timber mafia had become inactive in the region and illicit felling curbed to a great extent. They now wanted that the other Mahila Mandals to also become proactive in the move. Asked how they became aware of illicit felling, Dolma said when she and other womenfolk of the villages went to the forests to get fodder for their cattle, they would see trees that had been felled and were surprised. For, whenever they approached the forest officials for timber under the timber distribution rights to undertake repairs of their houses, they were informed that the high court had put a ban on it. " We were surprised that when there was a ban on felling of green trees and the high court had stopped giving timber under the timber distribution rights, then who was felling the trees. It then dawned on us that it was the timber mafia, making a quick buck, " she added. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Women_take_on_mafia/articleshow/2062394.cms 24) The lush green surroundings of the Kechobahal Village in Orissa's Jharsuguda District today owes its existence to the Van Suraksha Samiti (Forest Protection Committee) formed by local tribal women here. Around fifty tribal women have united themselves to prevent the rampant deforestation being caused by the timber mafia. The otherwise docile-looking members of the Van Suraksha Samiti roam around the village and forests armed with sticks. At times, these women would snatch axes or fight with the goons of forest mafia to protect their forests. " We decided to guard the forests. Initially, we got together and formed a committee. Around 40 to 50 women got together and we started taking care of the forest. Most of the mafia fled and those left were apprehended and handed over to police by us. When we asked for help, young men and forest officials extended a helping hand to us, " said Shanti Pradhan, Van Suraksha Samiti's secretary. Forest officials said that the tribal women were largely responsible for saving the forest cover in the region. " Earlier, the women used to cut trees and were involved in illegal mining which were destroying the forests. When told that if nothing was done to save the forests, the future generations would suffer immensely, the women formed a committee to save the forest from the jungle mafia. And, it has been due to the efforts of these women that illegal cutting of woods have nearly stopped, " said Upendra Kishore Majhi, a forest official. The women have formed small teams that work in turns guarding the area. They have also helped afforestation in 60 hectares of land, which once stood barren. http://www.newkerala.com/news5.php?action=fullnews & id=30291 25) NILPHAMARI - Trees producing cotton (Shimul), used in making pillows and mattresses, and found in almost every village of the district, are gradually disappearing. These trees are now seldom found in Nilphamari, as these are being frequently sold to the wood traders. The traders again sell the trees to match factories, because the trunk of a cotton tree is very soft and suitable for making match boxes and match sticks. Presently, pillows and mattresses are being prepared from artificial cotton, made of small and unusable cut pieces of fabrics, collected from the ready-made garment industries (RMGs) of Dhaka and Chittagong. On the other hand, at present there is no initiative taken by the government or any other organisation to plant the tree, which was used as a traditional source of valuable cotton. A cotton tree can produce 50 kg of cotton, and a kg of cotton is being sold at Tk 150. The concerned local people have demanded that cotton trees should be planted in a planed way across the district, and the Forest Department should take effective measures to ensure their proper growth. http://www.financialexpress-bd.com/index3.asp?cnd=5/19/2007 & section_id=7 & newsid=\ 61557 & spcl=no 26) The government intends to invite bids for degraded forest land, areas with a tree cover of less than 10%, under a contract to industries to " farm " trees which can be used as raw material. The proposal has been framed in the backdrop of hectic lobbying by the paper pulp industry which has been seeking to access forest lands. On previous occasions, industry has requested the government to open up 1.2 million hectares of degraded forest land to such " partnerships " . On the face of it, the proposal has been presented as a win-win deal. The ministry believes it will help generate investment in increasing India's forest cover to 33% by 2012. The industry is looking at an assured source of raw material. Those who live off the land are expected to benefit from being employed as labour by industry and whatever else they can negotiate with the industry. 27) An extent of more than 200 hectares of land enjoying `vested forest' status has already been taken over by the encroachers in this area. The Forest officials who are trying to check the encroachments are receiving scant support from the Government. On the contrary, they are facing the ire of the local unit of the Communist Party of India (CPI), the party holding the portfolios of Forests and Revenue in the Government. In a report to the Conservator of Forests on May 11, Mannarkkad Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) K.V. Uthaman says these forests have become the target of powerful encroachers. Their modus operandi is to first get these tracts registered in their names through fraudulent means and then fence off the boundaries. In December last, he had drawn the attention of the District Registrar to the operation of the land-grabbers, stating that the Forest Department's efforts to evict them from Government land would encounter problems in the court if the encroachers were freely allowed to get documents registered. In his letter, he had told the District Registrar that to prevent alienation of Government land, the Registration Department should crosscheck with the Forest Department before allowing documents to be registered under certain specific survey numbers. The Attappady `mandalam' unit of the Communist Party of India (CPI) held an agitation before the Mannarkkad Forest Division Office on May 11 in protest against the DFO's request to the District Registrar. According to Mr. Uthaman's report to the Conservator of Forests, the grievance of the local politicians is that " the Forest Department is causing unnecessary hardship to ordinary people who want to get their documents registered. " http://www.hindu.com/2007/05/17/stories/2007051708020400.htm 28) The high court which heard an appeal made by the Benandoor forest committee in Bhatkal Taluk, has issued an order restricting the bullock carts from entering into the forest for collection of dry leaves and firewood. There was a controversy between the Benandoor forest committee and the owners of the Bullock cart. Many a times there have been some oral fights between them. It has been practice since long that the bullock cart owners would collect the dry leaves and firewood from the forest near the Benandoor, Hellari and Hanjaley villages of Bhatkal Taluk. On this pretext the bullock cart owners were found to have cut valuable trees including the Rosewood and Teak clandestinely, resulting in huge lose to the forest property. The forest committee in this context has urged the forest official to stop this illegal activity. The forest officials on their parts were content with the imposition of fine against the erring bullock cart owners. So the forest committee of Benandoor village went for an appeal before the high court to restrain the bullock carts from entering into the forest. While the bullock cart owners have staged protest against the committee, and had alleged the committee that the committee itself is causing harm to the forest. The high court then issued the notice to the forest officials of Bhatkal on Feb. 28 this year asking them to take legal action against erring bullock cart owners. The village forest committee approached the high court again, complaining against the forest officials that they are not taking any action for prevention of the forest tree smuggling by bullock carts owners. The high court which took serious note of the complaint ordered the official to appear before the court on the date fixed by it. The High court issued the order preventing the bullock carts entering the forest. The court has also asked to the forest to take stringent action against those bullock cart owners who violates the court order. The court has also warned the forest official also that, the concerned would be held responsible in case they fail to implement the court order properly. http://www.sahilonline.org/english/coastalnews.asp?nid=2969 & sid=457286372 29) In the three years of Raja's stint at the Environment Ministry, key posts remained vacant. There was no National Board for Wildlife, Forest Advisory Committee and CITES Management Authority. Also missing were Director General of Forests, Inspector General of Forest Conservation, Director of the National Forest Academy and Wildlife Crime Bureau. Now as he faces a new challenge, the question is how will Raja handle the Telecom Ministry, a job where he needs to grapple with changing technology and varied lobby groups everyday. " T R Baalu is involved in Sethu Samudran project and a lot of other things. So I think it was he who was the natural choice, " opines Editor of Tughlaq Cho Ramaswamy. On the eve of his taking over, Raja too professed ignorance. " This is not a question of happiness or anything else. Whatever is the order of the High Command – the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu – I will have to obey it, " he said. http://www.ibnlive.com/news/politics/05_2007/maran-successor-no-success-must-do-\ whatever-it-tak es-40669.html 30) BANGALORE : Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Wednesday gave the Forest Department three months to prepare a detailed report on the status of encroachments in forests in Chikmagalur, Hassan, Kodagu, Uttara Kannada, Dakshina Kannada and Shimoga districts. A committee comprising officials from the departments of Forests, Revenue, Panchayati Raj and Public Works will be set up to compile the report. At a meeting of elected representatives from Uttara Kannada and other districts to discuss various pending issues, Mr. Kumaraswamy took the Forest Department officials to task for being insensitive to forest-dwellers' problems and emphasising more on implementing anti-people forest laws, ostensibly to comply with Supreme Court directives on evicting people who have encroached upon forest lands after the cut-off date of 1978 in violation of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980. " I have been one of the most liberal Chief Ministers, never interfering in officials' daily work. Instead of showing results, all you seem to have done is ensure that the forest dwellers, who have been living there for centuries, are constantly harassed, " he said. Instead of going after timber smugglers and illegal mining, the officials were targeting these poor dwellers who could not afford one square meal a day or have tiny holdings of a few guntas or an acre, Mr. Kumaraswamy said. In December 2002, the Karnataka Government said that since April 1978, 98,978 hectares of forest land had been encroached upon by 112,554 families. The extent of encroachments in " revenue/protected forests " (forests on government land that are not under the control of the Forest Department) is yet to be accurately assessed. http://www.hindu.com/2007/05/17/stories/2007051710170100.htm Japan: 31) According to the Annual Report on the Trends of Forest and Forestry prepared by the Forestry Agency, the total output of the nation's forestry in 2005 was worth 41.68 billion yen, less than 40 percent of the peak achieved in 1980. The self-sufficiency ratio, which was around 90 percent in 1955, came down to around 70 percent in 1965 and then to 18.4 percent in 2004. But it climbed back to 20 percent in 2005. It was Japan's reliance on cheap wood imports from Asia and North America that lowered the self-sufficiency ratio. The latest rise in the ratio is caused by various factors. A lower yen value and increased shipping costs due to rising oil prices have pushed up import prices. The overseas supply has also become tight because of construction booms in China, the Middle East and the United States. The tight supply overseas should be used as a chance to increase domestic wood production. The forestry cycle now is such that sugi (Japanese cedar) planted immediately after World War II are in a stage suitable for felling. But the white paper says that even though such trees are entering a suitable period for felling, many forest owners refrain from felling them because of declining profitability. The government needs to secure a sufficient number of young forestry workers, which have been decreasing in a long run. An encouraging sign is that the Forestry New-Employment Training Project, which started in fiscal 2003, added 5,300 new workers in three years. Of the nation's private forest areas, 24 percent is owned by people living elsewhere. The central and local governments and forestry associations need to cooperate in helping such forest owners become interested in forestry and take good care of their forests. http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ed20070518a2.html Australia: 32) Protesters took to the streets of Batemans Bay this week to demand an immediate halt to logging in State Forest surrounding Gulaga Mountain. About 75 people walked from North St to the Forests NSW office in south Orient St, chanting " hands off Gulaga " as traffic was stopped by police. " It's to bring attention to the fact the Forests NSW are logging in a compartment of forest that's in the foothills of Gulaga, a sacred spiritual mountain, " said one of the organisers, Ros Barr of Mystery Bay. Up to a dozen police officers monitored the protest, with several posted directly outside the entrance to the offices. While the local area commander informed organisers the protest was illegal, he gave them a full police escort through the streets and half an hour to remain outside the building. There was no hint of violence, however, as the group joined hands in a circle and sang, while representatives entered the office to speak with forestry officials. Long-term activist Elizabeth Cook, of Moruya, said she had marched in the Bay over the same issue in 1984. She said subsidising the woodchipping industry was effectively giving the trees to other countries. " They're raping native forest all over the world, but here in Australia they should have more sense. " Representative Shaun Burke emerged from the talks to say he had expressed concerns over the logging of Compartment 3046 and questioned whether adequate consultation had taken place with environmental groups and the Aboriginal people. " I have asked that a stay be put on the current operation. He expressed that he probably wouldn't be able to get that but he would take that concern forward, " he said. Mr Burke told the Bay Post he believed the protest and discussions had made an impact. " I believe the awareness of people of what's happening will grow from this; as will the awareness of State Forests. " http://batemansbay.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?class=news & subclass=general & story\ _id=586421 & ca tegory=general 33) Julian Armstrong of Narooma (NNW 16/5) has written in support of logging the beautiful spotted gum forests at the foothills of Gulaga Mountain. He has a right to do so, but I think he also has an obligation to tell us that he is an employee of Forests NSW. Forests NSW spends $1.5 million a year on propaganda, which should be more than enough. Its employees should not be writing to the media as private citizens in their spare time without declaring who is paying them. Yours sincerely, Harriett Swift Convenor CHIPSTOP campaign against woodchipping the SE forests, PO Box 797 Bega NSW 2550 Australia, http://www.chipstop.forests.org.au To see Julian's Letters: http://sydneyalternativemedia.com/blog/index.blog?entry_id=1692728 World-wide: 34) Up until a few years ago, FSC's accredited certifiers were prohibited from certifying for other forest certification schemes, because of the obvious conflict of interest that this would represent. But, as has been the way of things in the FSC, such a ban represented an obstacle to the increase of the certifiers' profits, and was therefore duly done away with. (One of the more bizarre justifications offered for this profound weakening of the FSC's rules, from the now Chair of FSC's Board, Grant Rosoman, was that, if the certifiers were prohibited from 'moonlighting' for other schemes, then they would simply set up nominally separate organisations to get around this rule. So much for the notion that FSC's certifiers are required to work to the highest ethical standards...) The FSC-accredited certifiers are now able to certify for whichever other schemes they want, whether or not this represents a real or potential conflict with their role as certifiers for the FSC. In open letter to SmartWood, a long term supporter and member of FSC raises with Rainforest Alliance SmartWood concerns about its imminent plans to start a 'Legality Verification' certification scheme. The author's worries are perfectly valid - though they will surely cut no ice with SmartWood, which has been the most aggressively expansionist of all the FSC-accredited certifiers. In fact other schemes such as 'legality verification' are a direct challenge to the FSC, and to efforts to encourage 'sustainable forest management'. Encouraged by high profile campaigns against 'the illegal timber trade', some governmments, companies and other agencies have been quick to realise that if they can show that they are only importing or trading in 'legal' timber, then hopefully the public will therefore think that the 'forest problem' has been 'solved'. Increasingly, 'legal' is being equated with 'sustainable', though of course this completely overlooks the reality that it is perfectly possible for timber to be legal but totally unsustainable - as is the case with almost every stick of 'legal' timber coming out of the tropics. Some FSC certifiers anyway have a lamentable record in detecting illegalities in timber operations, as various postings on this website have shown. http://www.fsc-watch.org/archives/2007/05/17/Hard_up_certifier_seeks_job__on_the\ _side_ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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