Guest guest Posted May 29, 2007 Report Share Posted May 29, 2007 200th / 2 year anniversary edition! To celebrate this occasion I'm launching a sampling of news items from each edition of Earth's Tree News as a MP3 / Podcast which can be downloaded or streamed via http://www.archive.org/details/EarthTreeNews Today for you 37 news items about Earth's trees. Location, number and subject listed below. Condensed / abbreviated article is listed further below. Can be viewed on the web at http://www.livejournal.com/users/olyecology or by sending a blank email message to earthtreenews- --British Columbia: 1) New approach to logging? 2) Saved old trees threatened again, --Oregon: 3) Old roads need funds unless we want to drink roads --California: 4) Rancho Guejito, 5) Mountain Thin, 6) Defending Santa Cruz county, --Montana: 7) Second annual DeBorgia Community Wildfire Protection Work Week, --Colorado: 8) Beetle-infested pine trees are being shredded instead of lumber, --Pennsylvania: 9) Comments on the Brush Hollow Salvage Project --USA: 10) ESA back in court, 11) Kids in the Woods program, 12) TIMO's own 5%, --UK: 13) woodland enjoys exploitation renaissance, 14) Muir homes cuts forest, 15) plan to restore 1,200-acre Wharncliffe Wood, --Armenia: 16) Teghut copper-molybdenum mine to destroy 357 hectares of forest --Turkey: 17) 30,000 hectares of new forest growth claimed --Tanzania: 18) Poor management and corruption in its forestry sector --Uganda: 19) More on governments abandoned plans to log --Mexico: 20) Forest defender shot and killed, --Dominican Republic: 21) Forestry Agency lacks resources to stop logging --Thailand: 22) Royal Project Foundation to save their forests --South Korea: 23) Buildings removed for 840-year-old ginkgo worshipped by residents --Vietnam: 24) Ancient trees in the forest are so sacred no one cuts them --India: 25) Save the tigers and their forests, --Malaysia: 26) No choice but to allow the logging contracts --Indonesia: 27) Comprehensive action plan to counter anti-palm oil activists --Philippines: 28) Defeated mayor uses city trucks to steal forest --Fiji: 29) Community-based sustainable forest management --New Zealand: 30) 1/3 of commercial forest are harvested is not replanted --Australia: 31) 12 more arrests in Bodalla, 32) Seven more arrests in Gullaga, 33) Natives serve eviction notice on government in Bodalla State Forest, --World-wide: 34) IBM and Nature Conservancy partner to save world's great rivers, 35) WWF is the world's largest ancient forest logging apologist, 36) Enviros are weak and fearful, 37) Global Carbon Project, British Columbia: 1) In a meeting with The Vancouver Sun editorial board, Coleman said a new approach is needed because of environmental pressures on the coast's remaining old-growth forests and the need for the depressed coastal industry to invest in mills that can process smaller second-growth logs. He said the new policies, to be released within the next two weeks, will encourage these goals by clamping down on exports of second-growth logs and shifting his ministry's priorities away from harvesting coastal old-growth forests. Further, he said he wants the coast to move closer to the kind of intensive forest management now in place in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. Some of the policy changes, such as log export restrictions, will be imposed immediately. Others, specifically a shorter rotation of harvesting in second-growth stands and more intensive management practices to increase growth rates, will take time. He described the policies as a major shift for his ministry, which has operated on the understanding all the old-growth would be harvested before the transition to second-growth. Old-growth logging will not end, he said, but the coming introduction of ecosystem-based management means it will be reduced with the timber likely heading to specialty markets. " It will be controversial for some people who are in the log-cutting business, " he said. " The old-growth forest is under stress anyway. We should understand that and the amount of it available to the marketplace is going to shift even more. " The move out of old-growth is long overdue, said Valerie Langer, director of the coastal program for the environmental group ForestEthics. " This is the kind of move that should have been made 20 years ago. Much of the old-growth is already fragmented, " she said. http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=8c364e85-0491-489a-871b-15\ 570bff5fa1 & k=160 3 & p=2 2) Almost two decades ago Dan Hughes, a faller with Fletcher Challenge, put down his chainsaw and refused to cut the majestic Douglas firs and huge grand firs in the picturesque grove beside the Koksilah River. " We looked around and said 'boy, isn't this a beautiful stand of fir,' " said Hughes, remembering the start of the battle with his employer in May 1989. " It's more beautiful than Goldstream and we thought if the company could put a little to one side, people could enjoy it. " The highly publicized fight to save the trees by Hughes and three logger colleagues ended with Fletcher Challenge agreeing to set aside the area as land reserve. But yesterday, returning to the area off the Renfrew logging road near Kampoor Hill for the first time in years, Hughes is wondering if the battle is about to start all over again. Today, the area is covered with logging tape and metal tags, said local environmentalist Warrick Whitehead, who alerted Hughes to the apparent change. Trees were marked with spray paint and logging boundary tape surrounded the area, Whitehead said. The trees include an 81-metre Douglas fir and a 71-metre grand fir, which make them among the biggest trees on Vancouver Island, Whitehead said. However, Steve Lorimer, spokesman for TimberWest, the company that now owns the area which is on private forest land, said the company plans to save the four hectares where the majestic trees stand. " We will not even be selective logging in that area, " he said. The company has put the grove in a land reserve, Lorimer said. " That means they are not in our current harvesting plans and we have no plans for harvesting them in the future ... We are aware of the interest in that particular area. " Lorimer did confirm, however, that TimberWest is planning to do some logging in the area, adding the area around the periphery of the grove will be selectively logged by helicopter, minimizing disturbance on the ground. Areas further away, which are largely second growth, will be logged in a more conventional way, Lorimer said. http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/capital_van_isl/story.html?id=6\ 65debc4-c58e-4e 5b-8dea-03bf776fbbbb Oregon: 3) I hope you had a chance to read last week's Oregonian series on all-terrain vehicles. Off-roading is a fast growing past-time for many Americans and if you didn't encounter any on your last Mt. Hood back country adventure, chances are you will soon. The story you likely didn't see, however, was the State of Washington's Department of Ecology, conservationists, and local tribes asking the federal government to provide funding for either fixing or decommissioning the 22,000 miles of roads in the state's National Forests. Congressman Norm Dicks (D-WA) said it best, " If we do not fix our roads, we will have to drink our roads - after they slide into our streams. " Here in Oregon, Mt. Hood National Forest alone has nearly 4,000 miles of old roads, and provides drinking water to over one million Oregonians. So I have one question for you, Do you want to drink roads? The Forest Service is holding two meetings next week on roads and off-road vehicles in Mt. Hood and they want to hear from you...kind of (see Howls and Growls below). Hope to see you there, --Alex P. Brown, Executive Director http://bark-out.org/content/article.php?section=feature & id=374 California: 4) Miles of chaparral and clusters of stately oaks. A mountain that Native Americans considered a deity. This was Xanadu and it belonged to Coates. The Pennsylvania-born businessman collected property the way others accumulate Hummel figurines. He owned a Manhattan office building, a hunting estate in Scotland, a Swiss chalet, apartments in Paris, New York and Tokyo. But above all else, he prized Rancho Guejito, Southern California's last undivided Mexican land grant. Shielded from view by ridgelines, with only one road leading to a locked gate and a security guard, the ranch is a time capsule from 1845, when Mexico's California governor awarded the core of it to San Diego's customs inspector. Since then, a series of wealthy men ran cattle and used Rancho Guejito (pronounced Weh-HEE-toh) as a private playground. Coates was the last. It was the jewel of a billion-dollar-plus fortune the 86-year-old aristocrat planned to pass down to generations of heirs with instructions that it never be developed. Then, in 2004, he died. Soon, neighbors in Valley Center, a once-rural enclave tilting toward suburbia, noticed surveyors around the land. An attorney for Coates' daughter floated vague development ideas. The mere suggestion that any part of Rancho Guejito could be paved over has mobilized environmentalists. A request to tour the ranch for this story was denied. Seen from the air, Rancho Guejito is a startling contrast to the jumble of housing tracts and commercial strips that inch closer with each year. That one man owned this much of Southern California — a spread five times the size of Griffith Park — is nearly unimaginable. The 8,000-square-foot hacienda-style home Coates built is on a ridge at the ranch's southern end. Its U-shaped courtyard and swimming pool overlook the property — a dozen miles long, 3 across. A broad mesa stretches north flanked by two pine-studded valleys that converge in a vast meadow fed by Guejito Creek and its numerous tributaries. Cows munch grass that is 2 feet high in places. Everywhere are stands of Engelmann oaks. Over the lush hills are more mesas, valleys and creeks. A maze of rugged mountains anchors the ranch's northern end. In the early 1970s, the state nearly bought it all for use as a park. Coates, who already owned a Hemet ranch that once belonged to John Wayne, scooped it up for about $10 million. Over the years, he fought attempts to take parts of it for a reservoir and an airport but rejected offers to sell it for preservation. http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-me-rancho24may24,1,5120167.st\ ory?coll=la-new s-environment 5) After more than seven years, over 1,000 of pages of environmental review and supporting documentation, hundreds of hours of public hearings and several environmental challenges later, the US Forest Service Mountain Thin project has moved into the thinning stage with crews harvesting trees, cleaning the forest floor for fuels reduction and chipping the slash for biomass fuel. Mountain thin is primarily designed to provide a defense against a catastrophic fire along the western side of the city of Mount Shasta. The project encompasses 13,000 acres that ranges for 10 miles from Black Butte to Highway 89. Approximately 3,200 acres will be treated for fuels reduction by clearing the forest floor of brush, thinning trees and pruning limbs from trees to an appropriate height so a ground fire won't climb up the trees to the canopy. Approximately five million board feet of lumber will be harvested including 46,000 tons of biomass fuel. The USFS has contracted with Timber Products Company to do the work. The company will harvest trees for its Yreka plywood vernier mill and use the wood chips for the boiler to heat the logs for the vernier process. USFS district ranger Mike Hupp said the Forest Service and the company work closely together to ensure the project is done correctly. Although generally praised as a fire defense against the city, the project has not been without controversy as opponents of certain aspects of the project filed appeals claiming harm to wildlife and late successional trees. In each instance, the appeals were found to be without merit and were denied. http://www.mtshastanews.com/articles/2007/05/23/news/area_news/areanews01.txt 6) Santa Cruz County Supervisors created the toughest logging rules in the state Tuesday by limiting the size of properties on which owners can cut trees. Supervisors voted 3 to 2 to prevent owners of parcels smaller than 40 acres from rezoning their land for timber production - a requirement that essentially bans logging on those properties if they are not approved for timber harvesting by Jan. 1. Supervisors Mark Stone, Neal Coonerty and Jan Beautz voted for the ban, while supervisors Ellen Pirie and Tony Campos voted against. For Stone, the vote was one for local control over logging, something he felt was stripped away by the state Supreme Court last year. In that case, justices ruled that county leaders could use zoning to regulate where logging occurs, but could not tell foresters how to do it. The ruling was a blow to local officials who might want to tighten regulations for environmental reasons. As a result, supervisors earlier this year were forced to approve all zoning applications for more than 3,000 acres that met state logging standards. " The issue is the state's mandate on our zoning process, " Stone said. The supervisors' decision will affect up to 1,500 parcels and almost 19,000 acres around the county, according to the county Planning Department. Most of the land is concentrated in the Santa Cruz Mountains between the Forest of Nisene Marks and Castle Rock state parks. Tuesday's vote gives the county the strictest logging limitations in the state. No other county requires property to be zoned for timber harvesting before owners can cut their trees, and no other county sets size limits on property for logging. But others, like real estate agent Carol Carson of Boulder Creek, pumped their fists in celebration at the supervisors' decision. " Most people go over the hill for jobs. There are not that many loggers left, " Carson said. The number of timber professionals remaining is not enough to justify preserving the profession, she said. http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_5967556?nclick_check=1 Montana: 7) What do you get when you mix together a Missoula environmental group, a local logging crew, the volunteer fire department and all-you-can-eat smoked ribs and homemade apple pie? Good times, hard work and the second annual DeBorgia Community Wildfire Protection Work Week of course! That's exactly what happened May 12th to 15th as the WildWest Institute, West End Volunteer Fire Department and a fuel reduction crew from Wildland Conservation Services used " Firewise " principles to create defensible space on private land around the DeBorgia community through education, action and fellowship. The DeBorgia community sits about 85 miles west of Missoula along I-90 and is surrounded by lush, diverse forests of pine, fir, larch, cedar and yew. A fair number of the residents in the area are elderly, meaning that the arduous task of reducing fuels around their homes isn't something that they can easily accomplished on their own. That's where the community wildfire protection work week comes in. This year, a total of seven properties were treated during the work week courtesy of a grant that the WildWest Institute secured through the National Forest Foundation and the Liz Claiborne Art Ortenberg Foundation. The work varied from place to place and based on the preferences of each landowner, but generally included thinning small trees and brush, pruning braches and clearing fallen trees and branches from near homes. The WildWest Institute's Jake Kreilick – who was busy trimming limbs from larger trees using the " saw-on-a-stick " – explained, " Given the historical role of fire in shaping both the forest communities and the human communities out on the west end of Mineral County, this work week is vital to ensuring that home owners are putting 'firewise' principles into practice. " Larger trees were bucked up for firewood, with nearly a dozen cords of firewood created during the week, which will certainly be appreciated come winter. Two of the landowners even had enough sawlogs cut from immediately around their homes to deliver a load of logs to a local mill. http://www.newwest.net/index.php/citjo/article/smoked_ribs_apple_pie_and_fuel_re\ duction/C33/L33/ Colorado: 8) In Summit County and throughout Colorado, tens of thousands of beetle-infested pine trees are being shredded rather than used for lumber because there is little timber industry remaining in the state. Despite pioneering efforts at burning the wood as fuel for biomass- heating systems or turning it into beautiful products through boutique log-furniture and log-home companies such as Dayton's, the pine-beetle epidemic is so widespread and the costs of limbing, shipping and sawing the trees in far-flung mills are so high that most high-country logging companies are opting for the quick-and-cheap approach of chipping. " The timber industry has really been hammered over the last 30 years because there's no market for the wood, " said McRae Huszagh, head of Enso Energy, which is seeking to establish a combination lumber mill, wood-pellet manufacturing operation and heat-and-power facility somewhere in the western United States. Currently, the economics of transportation require logging companies to haul only the biggest, most valuable trees to a mill in Montrose or out of state, leaving the rest for chips. But because a century of fire suppression has left many lodgepole-pine stands unnaturally dense, typically more than half of the " red and dead " trees targeted by the projects are too thin for productive use, said Rick Newton, the Dillon district ranger for the U.S. Forest Service. Another problem, Huszagh said, is that the long-term supply of trees is limited, and opening a viable mill requires a substantial investment that must be paid off over years of operation. " The timber inventory is high on the front end, ... but then it diminishes substantially, and there's not a lot there after the first few years, " Huszagh said. " You need long-term sustainability. " His proposed facility would require between 15,000 and 20,000 board-feet of timber each day, or the equivalent of as much as 45,000 acres of trees each year, and it would need an additional 300 tons of branches and other fiber each day to produce enough power for 6,000 homes. http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_5962782 Pennsylvania: 9) The Marienville Ranger Station is taking comments on the Brush Hollow Salvage Project. " This project proposes to salvage harvest 434 acres of dead and/or dying trees ... Reforestation treatments are proposed for 426 acres; eight acres will not have reforestation treatments. These trees were windthrown or damaged in the July 2003 windstorm. Salvage in MA 2.2 would restore a diverse seedling and sapling component improving forest structural conditions within an area managed for complex late structural forest conditions. Salvage in MA 8.6, the Kane Experimental Forest, will further long term research. Salvage in MA 3.0 will allow for the establishment of early structural forest stands, which are characteristic of this management area. " I would expect a stronger grasp of ecology from the Forest Service. Such salvage projects strip forests of dead and dying trees, removing habitat for animals and fungi, and removing what will quickly become rich soil. Basic ecology shows that dead and dying trees are crucial to an ecosystem's health; they create the living soil that the whole forest grows up out of. By stripping them out, the Forest Service is ripping the floor right out from under a forest trying to heal itself. They've apparently forgotten basic ecology, and public comments are tallied and taken into consideration, so take a moment to what they should already know. For more information on how this kind of salvage operation hurts forest ecologies, see " Managing for Forest Ecosystem Health: A Reassessment of the 'Forest Health Crisis' " by Robert L. Peters, Evan Frost, and Felice Pace, and " Salvage Logging: The Loss of Ecological Reason and Moral Restraint, " by Chris Maser. You can mail comments to: Marienville Ranger District HC #2, Box 130 Marienville, Pa. 16239 ATTN: Brush Hollow Salvage Project, Rob Fallon http://anthropik.com/2007/05/political-actions/ USA: 10) On May 30th, a decade old battle over the fate of our nation's endangered plants, fish and wildlife will be heard by D.C. Federal District Court, Judge Sullivan. At stake is the future of over 850 various listed species and 135 MILLION habitat acres nationwide subject to guaranteed " Incidental Take Permits " that are issued by U.S. Interior, Fish & Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service. Since 1984, the Endangered Species Act has had an exemption clause that allows non-federal landowners a process to obtain permits to harass and kill federally listed endangered species. A grassroots non-profit group of Native Americans and wildlife conservationists, Spirit of the Sage Council, witnessed the " No Surprises " assurances being given to a multitude of Southern California developers and counties. " It was alarming! Instead of endangered species receiving the guarantee of recovery under the law, it was turned upside down. Developers were calling the shots. Whole counties had teamed with the building industry and conservation had become voluntary instead of required. They were creating maps and plans to allow more than 50% of endangered species habitat to be bulldozed and paved., " Stated Leeona Klippstein, executive director of the Sage Council. In 1996, Klippstein and the Sage Council challenged U.S. Interior's " No Surprises " policy. U.S. Interior settled, agreeing to provide public notice in the Federal Register and an opportunity for public comment. In response, over 800 scientists, educators, conservationists and tribes wrote their opposition to giving " No Surprises " guarantees to land owners. Renowned conservation biologists, Dr. Reed Noss, Dr. Michael Soule and ecologist, Dr. Kenneth " Shawn " Smallwood, all agreed that the use of " No Surprises " could push endangered species further towards extinction. " Nature is full of surprises " stated Dr. Smallwood. Spirit of the Sage Council sued U.S. Interior a second time. Again, the Sage Council prevailed and Federal District Court, Judge Sullivan, remanded the " No Surprises " rule and the entwined " Permit Revocation Rule " (PRR) back to Interior to make a new rule that considered the scientific needs of the species, rather than just the " desires " of private landowners. During this time, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service could no longer give " No Surprises " guarantees. leeona 11) The $1.5 million " Kids in the Woods " program is aimed at a growing problem among American schoolchildren: a lack of direct experience with nature that specialists say can contribute to childhood obesity, diabetes, and even attention deficit disorder. The program also is intended to nurture future environmental scientists and other Forest Service workers -- an acute need for an agency with a graying workforce, said Forest Service Chief Gail Kimbell. " We can help address troubling declines we see in the mental and physical health of our children. At the same time, we can inspire future conservation leaders, who can perpetuate the critical role forests play in the quality of life for Americans, " Kimbell said at a news conference yesterday. The grant program includes 24 projects in 15 states, mostly in the West. More than 23,000 children are expected to participate in the program, which is supported by a host of private groups as well as state, federal, and local agencies. The Forest Service is providing $500,000 in grants, with another $1 million provided by partners including the US Fish and Wildlife Service, New York Botanical Garden, and the Gates Foundation. In one project, students from the Harlem Link Charter School in New York City will explore forests and wetlands in the New York region, including the botanical garden and the Meadowlands Environmental Center in New Jersey. In the Pacific Northwest, scholarship assistance will help 800 children attend educational programs at Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument in Washington . The program also will provide overnight trips for students in the Seattle area to learn more about conservation and environmental stewardship. Author Richard Louv, whose book " Last Child in Woods " helped draw attention to the gap between children and nature, applauded the Forest Service program. Louv called nature as essential to children's health as nutrition and adequate sleep. http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/05/23/program_to_educ\ ate_children_o n_forests/ 12) According to industry estimates, financial institutions now own nearly 5 percent of the forests of loblolly pine, Douglas fir and other widely harvested trees in the United States, and that percentage is expected to widen. A significant portion of the timberland is held through privately run timber investment management organizations, or TIMOs. Twenty-five or so years ago, their exposure was virtually nonexistent. Why the interest in this asset class? For one thing, returns have been, well, solid and growing. Timberland produces revenue from sales to lumber and paper companies, with uses ranging from home building to disposable-diaper production, along with long-term gains from the value of the property itself. At the Hancock Timber Resource Group, a TIMO with $6.6 billion in assets and 3.8 million acres under management worldwide, returns after fees averaged 13.8 percent, annualized, from its inception in 1985 through last year, according to Courtland L. Washburn, the chief investment officer. The National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries Timberland Property Index, meanwhile, rose at an annualized rate of 15.09 percent from its inception in 1986 through the first quarter of this year, and over the last three years through the quarter it returned 14.63 percent, exceeding the 12.25 percent annualized gain of the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index over the same period. Timber is also seen as a hedge against inflation and the fluctuations of most financial securities; analysts say it has a low correlation with stocks and bonds, meaning that its returns may well be rising when securities prices are falling. " People are looking for that extra yield, " said Maria Maslovsky, an analyst at the real estate finance group of Moody's Investors Service who has seen increased interest in alternative investments like timber in the last five years. " It will become more mainstream over time. " Joel B. Shapiro, the chief executive of Timbervest, a TIMO based in Atlanta that manages more than 650,000 acres of timberland nationwide, agreed. He said that " if there ever was a true hedge-fund investment, timberland is it. " " Your investment becomes more valuable even if the investments are down, " he said, " because the trees themselves are growing more valuable. " http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/27/realestate/commercial/27sqft.html?_r=1 & ref=bus\ iness & oref=slo gin UK: 13) An ancient woodland is enjoying a renaissance as charcoal burners and craftsman return to the historic 95 acre plot. A coppicing cycle has been established at Stony Hazel at Rusland. It follows a five year campaign by the Lake District National Park Authority which owns and manages Stony Hazel. The coppicing cycle will allow old skills to return to a once thriving area. Like many old woodlands, Stony Hazel, which houses the remains of a 17th century forge, was once a hive of activity. But after years of decline, a new chapter has been written. LDNPA forester Alex Todd said: " We now have the rare situation of three separate charcoal burners operating in the same wood, probably for the first time in half a century. " Nibthwaite oak swill basket maker Owen Jones has been an enthusiastic backer of the coppicing work, which involves cutting trees and shrubs to ground level allowing vigorous re-growth and a sustainable supply of timber. " Local coppice workers and apprentices have done a great job and wood has been produced for craftspeople making baskets, hurdles, birch besoms, bobbins and furniture. " As well as charcoal, firewood is also being supplied. " Over 900 metres of dilapidated boundary walls have been repaired and deer-proofing introduced. " It's important to keep all stock out to allow new growth to succeed. " Stony Hazel is ancient semi-natural woodland and was managed for centuries. It still has a number of charcoal burning platforms and the remains of old workers' huts. Mr Todd said: " It has a reputation among retired coppice workers for producing good quality oak for making swill baskets. " The area's few remaining skilled and trainee coppicers now have a good raw material source. " The project has been supported and part financed by the Forestry Commission through the Woodland Grant Scheme. http://www.nwemail.co.uk/news/viewarticle.aspx?id=501609 14) OUTRAGED residents in the Cherrybank area of Perth could only watch with incredulity and anger yesterday as workmen felled trees at a popular area of natural woodland beside the Craigie Burn. Kirkcaldy-based Plummer Brothers were contracted to clear the site, which is owned by housebuilders Muir Homes. " This is complete devastation, " said local resident Dr Jamie Mulherron. " There was an enormous amount of birdlife in the trees. To clear this area is bad enough, but to do it in the nesting season is criminal. " Another local resident, Alison Cunningham, said the destruction of the woodland came out of the blue: " We had no notification about this. We heard this racket at about 8.30am and I saw that huge machines had been brought in with squads of guys who set about destroying this wildlife habitat. Why are they destroying trees at this time of the year? " Why do these housebuilders want to build on every green bit of land in Perth? People want to live here because they perceive it as a charming small town, but the developers are destroying what is unique to Perth. " One furious local man described the situation as " terrible. " He added: " These workmen are just decimating what was a lovely area and one which was rich in wildlife. It seems that housebuilders just have a licence to kill in this area. " A spokesman for Dunfermline-based Muir Homes told the PA that the site was cleared " to get to the hogweed and kill it off. " He continued: " As owners of the land we have a responsibility for the control of hogweed. " http://icperthshire.icnetwork.co.uk/perthshireadvertiser/news/tm_headline=fury-a\ s-trees-felled & m ethod=full & objectid=19176108 & siteid=88886-name_page.html 15) The Forestry Commission is working on a first ever design plan to restore 1,200-acre Wharncliffe Wood, between Barnsley and Sheffield, back to nature as a totally broadleaf woodland. Wharncliffe Wood was totally native broadleaf trees when it was first planted more than 400 years ago but over the past 100 years non-native conifers have been added. Now the plan is to gradually get rid of the pines and spruce trees and replace them all with native trees Experts say ensuring the wood goes back to its origins and getting rid of the conifers will create a massive long-term boost to wildlife and plants. It will also help the bluebells which are flowering in Wharnliffe Wood to spread as they thrive alongside oak trees. Forester Albin Smith said: " Bluebells are not just pretty, but they often show that a wood's roots date back centuries. " This project will mean many more oak trees at Wharncliffe, so we can look forward to even more sensational spring bluebell displays. " The design plan will set out the key dates and felling schedules that will deliver a totally broadleaf wood by about 2045. However, the change will be gradual, using the natural regeneration of existing trees to help the wood regain its ancient vigour. " Conservation organisations and the public will be given chance to comment on the draft plan when it is finalised in a couple of months. http://www.sheffieldtoday.net/news?articleid=2905532 Armenia: 16) Gagik Arzumanian stated that the exploitation of the Teghut copper-molybdenum deposit will make a serious contribution to the increase of economic might of the country and its competitiveness on the world copper-molybdenum market. According to Arzumanian, in the project documents the company has provided for a number of nature-conservative measures, directed to soften the negative influence on the environment. What concerns the deforestation, the realization of the given program provides for deforestation of a territory of 357 hectares at the volume of about 58 thousand cubic meters, and at the first stage (in the course of 12 years) the territory, subject to deforestation, will make 157 hectares with the volume of 25 thousand cubic meters. " Aiming at softening the consequences, we came forward with an initiative to hold equivalent reforestation works " , Gagiks Arzumanian stressed. At that, he noted that according to the data of ecological organizations, illegal deforestation in Armenia makes 1mln cubic meters of wood per year – about 8 thousand hectares of forest. http://www.huliq.com/22426/armenia-becoming-a-leader-in-copper-production-and-ex\ port Turkey: 17) Despite rumors to the contrary -- and fears of the impact of summer wildfires both past and future -- the extent of Turkey's forests continues to expand, according to General Directorate of Forestry head Osman Kahveci. " When we survey Turkey's forests we see that each year there is an increase of around 30,000 hectares, " he told the Anatolia news agency yesterday, adding: " According to our records, during the past 30 years our forest areas increased by 1 million hectares. Turkey is one of those rare countries that have an increasing area of forestland. " Explaining that forests represent a national resource for Turkey and that everyone should strive to be alert to the need for their protection, Kahveci said the Turkish people had set an example with the solidarity they have displayed in this. " When we say, 'There is a fire in the forest; we need this and that,' our people, media, every public institution and organization mobilizes like there is a war going on. When we say, 'There is a fire; we need this machinery or equipment' no one answers, 'I have work to do; I can't send my equipment there', " he said. " We are a society that sees fighting [forest] fires as being equal to defending our homes, " Kahveci explained, thanking society, the army, official local administrations, public institutions and organizations for their sensitivity and enthusiams in protecting the nation's forests, sentiments which he described as being " equal to those of the Turkish forest rangers, " crediting it with the success in the expansion of Turkey's forests. http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay & link=112110 Tanzania: 18) Tanzania is losing millions of dollars a year because of poor management and corruption in its forestry sector, an international conservation group said on Friday. A study conducted in 2005 in southern Tanzania by Traffic International and the Tanzanian government showed that over half of 28 export companies studied had some form of link with senior Tanzanian or foreign government officials. Bribery, nepotism and cronyism were rampant in the sector, it said. " Of greater concern than bribery were apparent high levels of direct senior government involvement in timber harvesting from southern Tanzania, " the study said. The report said Tanzania lost $58 million in timber royalties during 2004 and 2005 alone. " Income from a sustainably managed timber industry should be assisting national development ... not ending up in criminals' bank accounts, " Steven Broad, Traffic International's executive director, said in a statement accompanying the report. Methods used to evade paying taxes and sneaking timber out of the country include cutting trees in unauthorised areas, using bogus export documents and transporting logs at night in violation of traffic rules. The study cites an example of how China imported 10 times more timber from Tanzania than is documented by Tanzania's export records, implying a 90 percent loss of revenue in 2004 and 2005. http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L2596916.htm Uganda: 20) The Ugandan government abandoned plans to log thousands of hectares of rainforest on Bugala island in Lake Victoria for a palm oil plantation, Reuters reported Saturday. President Yoweri Museveni has faced violent protests and global condemnation over proposals to allow private firms to convert protected forests into farmland. The announcement comes just days after a plan to clear Mabira Forest Reserve for a sugar cane plantation was also shelved. Reuters reports the government will not give Bidco, a Kenyan company, permits for clearing additional forest on Bugala. The firm, which has already cleared thousands of hectares of forest on the island, was seeking to convert another 2,500 hectares to add to its 4,000 hectares of palm plantation. In light of bad press, in January Bidco had expressed reservations about the plan. The firm said that the " negative publicity " was jeopardizing its credit rating. Bidco Uganda director Kodey Rao told Reuters the company never ask for rainforest, but that's what the Ugandan government offered. " We never asked for the reserves, neither are we interested in taking forest reserves, " he was quoted as saying. " The government is supposed to give us land. We signed, so we are waiting for that land. " Critics of the proposal said that forest clearing would worsen soil erosion into Lake Victoria, affecting fisheries. They also noted that Bugala's high biodiversity would be at risk by the venture. http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0527-uganda.html Mexico: 20) I'm very sad to inform you that the son of one of our indigenous allies against illegal logging in the Great Water Forest [in Mexico] was murdered last week by four loggers. On May 15th at 18:30 hours Aldo and Misael Zamora were ambushed by four people in Santa Lucia Ocuillan in the State of Mexico. They were traveling with three of their relatives who were unharmed. The Zamora brothers were indigenous people who fought against deforestation. Their attackers have been identified as the sons of illegal loggers. Please send a message to the Mexican government demanding justice for these killings and better protection of forest activists. Yesterday we had a press conference with Ildefonso Zamora, father of Aldo Zamora. During the conference we called upon Felipe Calderon, president of Mexico, to act to arrest Aldo's killers and to guarantee the security of Ildefonso, his family and all the people of the community (San Juan Atzingo). I would like to ask your help to pressure the Mexican Government to act immediately to grant justice to Aldo, Misael (Aldo's brother, who was also injured) and his family. Thank you very much for your support. Remember to complete your signatures at the end of the letter. http://weblog.greenpeace.org/makingwaves/archives/2007/05/activist_murdered_in_m\ exicao.html Dominican Republic: 21) Constanza - The mayor of this Central Mountain city said yesterday trees have been cut down indiscriminately for over a year in this municipality " as never before seen, " with the complicity of forest rangers whom are often bought " with a gift. " Joaquin Gomez said the municipality's Forestry Agency lacks resources to confront the situation, which he said is an emergency. Sanchez said the Valle Nuevo protected area is being violated, where the people who build homesteads have again ravaged the river. He said the people who are doing the damage aren't even from Constanza. " They take the wood and have neither planted it, nor saw it grow, nor know what it's for. " Sanchez said soil degradation is another problem that affects Constanza. He said farmers are only allowed to cultivate land whose gradient is not greater than 15 degrees, which is now being done on soil with as much as 90 degrees. The official said Constanza needs a well structured environmental plan to confront the people who are destroying the forests. Sanchez is also president of Commonwealth of the Waters, an environmental movement that groups the Constanza, Jánico, San José de las Matas, Jarabacoa and Monción City councils, the region which supplies 85% of the water in the entire country. He said if measures aren't taken to protect those municipalities more strictly, water production will fall in next the 10 years from contamination and the cutting of trees. For today Friday and until Sunday, representatives from those municipalities and organizations from around the country will host the " Celebration of Water " to stress the need for more effective conservation programs in the Central Mountain Range. http://www.dominicantoday.com/app/article.aspx?id=24058 Thailand: 22) Villagers are pinning their hopes on the Royal Project Foundation to save their forests which have so far lost 75% of their area to illegal logging and farming. The foundation was called in last year by a group of villagers led by monk Phra Somkid Jaranathammo in Pong Kam village as deforestation showed no signs of abating and its impact, including drought and mudslides, was mounting. ''Nan forests are nearly gone,'' foundation chairman HSH Prince Bhisatej Rajani said, recalling what he saw during an aerial survey of the forests from a helicopter last year. Forests in Nan have shrunk rapidly. They accounted for 45% of the total area in 2004 and now only 25% of them remain, according to the Highland Development and Research Institute. The institute was set up under the deposed Thaksin Shinawatra government as a coordinator of state agencies to oversee royally-initiated projects. The forests are a major water source for the Nan river, which feeds farmland in Nan and nearby provinces. Without forests, villagers said, they have no protection against water run-off and mudslides. Last year, floods killed many people in the province. The Royal Project Foundation started its afforestation programme in June last year in Ban Pong Kam in Santisuk district. HSH Prince Bhisatej said the foundation first educated villagers, mainly maize farmers, about appropriate farming methods. They convinced the farmers not to encroach on forest areas and to rely less on pesticides and fertiliser that left harmful chemicals in the soil and water. ''We found toxic substances in their bodies. Monks also bore the brunt because they ate vegetables and fruits grown by the villagers,'' he said. Farmers were encouraged to grow short-lived plants to avoid cutting down trees. They were also taught to grow vanilla plants which are creepers and drape themselves over trees to realise the importance of keeping the forests. http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/24May2007_news09.php South Korea: 23) Two apartment buildings in South Korea's crowded capital will be torn down to save an 840-year-old ginkgo tree worshipped by residents, a newspaper said Thursday. The oldest tree in Seoul is venerated by residents in Dobong district who bring fruit and other offerings to it once a year and pray for their safety. It also attracts pregnant women due to a folk belief that praying under the branches or nibbling on the leaves can help them have a boy. The tree, 25 meters (82.5 feet) tall, overlooks the tomb of King Yeonsan, a tyrannical Chosun Dynasty ruler who was dethroned in a coup 500 years ago. The Seoul government in 1968 designated it as the first tree in need of protection but its health has been damaged by development. With approval from the residents, the district government will spend four billion won (US$4.3 million) to demolish two apartment buildings whose foundations were interfering with its root system, the JoongAng Daily said. A park will be built around the tree. " Some people said we are spending too much money to save the tree, " Ahn Jung-Ho, a district government official, told the newspaper. " But it is not just saving the tree but also preserving a cultural asset and creating a retreat for residents. " http://www.chinapost.com.tw/asiapacific/110577.htm Vietnam: 24) " Trung Son Village has a long history of fighting against invaders as well as a long standing culture " , he says. The ancient trees in the forest are so sacred that no-one from the surrounding community can cut them down or hunt animals living around them without permission from the village elders. If consent is given, all profits from the act must be used to restore the old temples and shrines in the area, are any miscreants fined. The reason for these rules is that, for the villagers, the forest belongs to them all and is a place echoing with mystery and superstition. Stories resound about families who insulted the spirit of the village being brought to ruin or people striking it rich after moving their ancestor's graves to Trung Son Mountain. But especially poignant, considering many of the villages older residents are ex-soldiers, are stories about the American War. One in particular sticks in local people's minds. In 1965 American soldiers landed in the village to attack a post held by northern soldiers and guerillas concealed in their copious underground tunnels in the area. The US troops set up camp to sleep in the Am Linh Shrine but many never woke up. They died from causes no-one has been able to identify. From that point on, the American army abandoned their attempts to control the mountain. Although the Ministry of Culture and Information had previously said they were going to carry out a study to appraise the cultural significance of the forest, in August 2006, the Management Board of industrial and export processing zones of Da Nang City made an oral announcement saying they were going to carry out clearance of the whole village in order to widen Hoa Khanh Industrial Zone. http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=04SOC230507 India: 25) India's national symbol, the tiger, is rapidly disappearing from the country's central states, according to a recent survey conducted by India's Natural Resources Institute and organizations dedicated to protecting tiger populations. Survey results released Wednesday confirmed that only 500 tigers remained in the four central Indian states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh, or half the number that roamed the area in 2003. The report's authors concluded that the main reason for the decline has been the destruction of local forests by loggers and poaching. Experts said the new survey is far more accurate than past investigations, which relied primarily on indirect evidence of a tiger's presence, in that hidden cameras are now deployed widely to calculate their number. http://en.rian.ru/world/20070523/65987654.html Malaysia: 26) The Forestry Department has no choice but to allow the logging contracts at Ulu Segama and Malua to run its full course before it can take over the area for Sustainable Forest Management (SFM). Forestry Datuk Sam Mannan admitted that the logging activity in Ulu Segama was " a disaster " , hence the reason the State Government wanted to give the area to the department quickly. Sam was responding to concerns that on-going logging activities at Malua and Ulu Segama would cause further damage to Sabah's already depleted forests, which had been earmarked by the State Government for SFM and conservation last year. Earlier, he said the agreements to log in Ulu Segama and Malua were entered long ago but would be phased out by end of this year. He said Yayasan Sabah could not force the contractors to stop the felling activities there because it would involve legal issues. Ulu Segama borders Danum Valley on the southern side while Malua is on the northern side of the valley. The Ulu Kalumpang Forest Reserve is located in the Tawau region, which is a vital catchment area. Sam said in Malua the situation was " a bit under control " since they used the Reduced-Impact Logging (RIL) method. He was also asked the reason for the logging activities by Yayasan Sabah in its concession area, claimed to have been done in the conservation area near Imbak Canyon. Sam who is also a Board Member of Yayasan Sabah assured that there was no way the Government would allow logging in Imbak Canyon and that the issue cropped up due to non-transparency on the part of the Yayasan Sabah conservation unit. " I have problems because they are not transparent...this is not the first time. They are doing things quietly behind us. When we enter (the place earmarked for logging) suddenly we find they are carrying out research there. http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=50225 Indonesia: 27) Malaysia and Indonesia have agreed on a comprehensive action plan to counter anti-palm oil activists in Europe and North America who are getting increasingly aggressive and deceitful. Both countries agreed to jointly tackle the growing anti-palm oil campaigns in the Western world. The agreement was reached following a meeting between Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui and Indonesian Agriculture Minister Dr Anton Apriyantono as well as senior officials from their respective ministries in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. Dr Anton was in Malaysia for the second joint Malaysia-Indonesia meeting on bilateral cooperation on commodities. " These anti-palm oil campaigns affect both Malaysia and Indonesia because we are the main producers in the world market, " Chin told The Star in a tele-interview here after his meeting with Dr Anton. " These campaigns are spreading very fast. Those behind such campaigns are resorting to lies and distorting issues. " They are no more just saying that palm oil is harmful to health. They are telling the Western world that Malaysia and Indonesia are ravaging the forests and committing genocide against animals, particularly the orang utans because of our oil palm projects. " These activists are harping on issues that are sensitive to the Western population, They want to stir up emotions so that consumers there would boycott our palm oil and the downstream products. " Their campaigns are getting widespread, affecting restaurants, supermarkets, food outlets and households throughout Europe and North America. " We (his ministry and the Indonesian Agriculture Ministry) will be carrying out a series of campaigns of our own in cities in Europe and North America to show the people there that we do not destroy our forests or kill animals in our development of oil palm projects. http://www.savetheorangutan.co.uk/?p=393 Philippines: 28) SABELA CITY, Basilan –- Officials in a remote barangay here have uncovered the cutting of trees allegedly perpetrated by followers of a defeated mayoralty candidate in the watershed area of this city. The fallen trees, already in lumber form, were being transported at night time aboard a city government-owned dump truck to avoid detection from concerned authorities. So far, a total of 13 mahogany trees of more than 40 years old were cut down in two areas of the watershed area located in Barangay Maligue, 16 kilometers west from the city proper. Maligue Barangay council members Cecilia Lasik and Teresita Bais said the cutting of trees started last Saturday allegedly on orders of outgoing Isabela City Mayor Rody Tan. Accordingly, they have secured a permit to cut down the trees from the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro) in Zamboanga City, the two barangay officials said. Lasik said the residents in the area noted about the incident after they saw heavy equipment, particularly a bulldozer, going into the 342-hectare watershed area. " The people bringing the bulldozer said they are going to open a road in preparation for treasure hunting in the area, " she said. " But when we verified, what we saw were cut trees, " she said. She said it was the first time that trees were cut down in the watershed area of this city. Isabela Cenro sub-office forest ranger Angelita Felicitas said she has already reported the incident to her superior for proper action. Aside from the City Government dump truck, the residents of Maligue also sighted the Lite Ace van allegedly owned by the outgoing mayor, Lasik said. Incoming Isabela City Mayor Cherry Santos-Akbar said she wanted a full-dressed investigation to be conducted over the cutting of trees in the watershed area. http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/zam/2007/05/27/news/cutting.of.trees.within.isa\ bela.city.waters hed.uncovered.html Fiji: 29) Drawa villagers in the interior of Vanua Levu count themselves lucky to be part of a community-based sustainable forest management initiative by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) and the Pacific-German Regional Forestry Project (GTZ). Today, the villagers are reaping the benefits of this community-based initiative in terms of knowledge and skills gained through training and the added income from logging and farming. SPC coordinator Steven Hazelman said during discussions with the villagers in 2006, they asked for dalo planting material to help in food security and as an alternative source of income. " Instead of just supplying the planting material for the villagers, we decided to run training for them on the process of growing quality taro that will meet export requirements, " he said. Drawa Village is located in the district of Wailevu, in Cakaudrove Province. The road to Drawa, however, originates from Lutukina district (past Seaqaqa) in Macuata Province. Getting to Drawa Village means crossing the Macuata-Cakaudrove border through some of the most rugged terrain on Vanua Levu. Mr Hazelman said the idea then was to start a model taro farm in Drawa that would give the villagers the opportunity to have a " hands-on-training " on all the recommended practices of producing export quality taro and to see first-hand how the quality can be affected through poor management practices. http://papgren.blogspot.com/2007/05/villagers-learn-best-practices-from.html New Zealand: 30) The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry said yesterday that in the year to March 2006, 12,900ha, or a third of the commercial forest area harvested, was not replanted. The previous year 7000ha, or 17 per cent of the harvested area was not replanted. These deforestation rates represent a jump from the historical pattern when typically all but 3 to 5 per cent of the forest harvested was replanted in trees. The figures for new planting compound the trend. MAF official Paul Lane said the ministry estimated 5000ha of new forest was planted last year compared with 6000ha in 2005 and 10,000ha the year before. New Zealand is expected to fall short by some 41 million tonnes of carbon dioxide of its target under the Kyoto Protocol. The target is to reduce its net emissions of the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming to 1990 levels, on average, between 2008 and 2012. The Treasury currently estimates the potential liability for the five-year period at $557 million. That assumes 21 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from deforestation. But if the average level of deforestation for the past two years - 10,000ha a year - continued through the 2008 to 2012 period, emissions from deforestation would be about twice that. Other elements of the Treasury's calculation of the Kyoto liability also look fragile. The carbon price it assumes is only about a third of that prevailing in the most liquid carbon market, the internal European one, and the exchange rate assumed is the current very high one. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/3/story.cfm?c_id=3 & objectid=10441933 Australia: 31) Forests New South Wales says it is surprised that the anti-logging movement had not flagged a far south coast forest as a " hot spot " before harvesting began this month. More than 12 protesters have been arrested in connection with demonstrations in the Bodalla State Forest, near Tilba, over the past fortnight. Protesters are claiming the logging is illegal because a promised review of Regional Forest Agreements has not begun and that the operations are encroaching onto Aboriginal ceremonial land on Mount Dromodery. However, forestry spokesman Bill Frew says anti-loggers had never asked for the area to be excluded from harvesting. " There is nothing particular to distinguish this harvesting operation from the other I referred to. There have been areas that have been listed by some groups as icon areas to go into the reserves system under the Regional Forest Agreement and a great many of those did and there were subsequent areas that were listed for potential addition, " he said. " As it happened this wasn't one of them. " Yesterday, Forests Minister Ian Macdonald ruled out a halt to the logging operations in the Bodalla forest, saying that talks on the review are expected to begin next month and the review process does not involve a re-negotiation of the southern forests agreement. http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200705/s1931701.htm 32) Gulaga blockade: Another successful day at the blockade with a mass walk in to the logging compartment. Seven arrests with 6 of those refusing bail conditions, so they were taken to Batemans Bay and an immediate court appearance. Two of these brave souls were also subject to the Mathie injunction. Estimates of the number present were about 70, but it was very difficult to be sure with people coming and going all the time. An enormous police presence (10 cars, a bus and police rescue from Sydney) enabled the first loaded trucks to go out. The 3 Mathie trucks were kept busy all day taking loads from about 300 logs stockpiled over the past week. Some were huge. A very sad sight. harriett CHIPSTOP campaign against woodchipping the south east and east gippsland forests PO Box 797 Bega NSW 2550 Australia 02 64923134 0414908997 http://www.chipstop.forests.org.au 33) On May 23, a group of traditional landowners of the Yuin people served an eviction notice on Forests NSW, demanding the immediate cessation of logging in the Bodalla State Forest. Spokesperson and traditional landowner Arthur Ridgeway said: " We have taken this act to signal our protest at the cultural damage that will be created by any further logging of this area. " He explained that " Gulaga is of unique cultural significance to the Yuin people and all who live around her " and argued that Forests NSW " has not properly consulted our community " . http://www.tilbalogging.com http://www.greenleft.org.au/2007/711/36941 World-wide: 34) IBM and The Nature Conservancy today announced that they are collaborating to conserve some of the world's great rivers by meshing extraordinary computing power and science-driven conservation. Working through The Nature Conservancy's Great Rivers Partnership, the two organizations will build a new computer-modeling framework that will allow users to simulate the behavior of river basins around the world, helping inform policy and management decisions that conserve the natural environment and benefit the people who rely on these resources. Thousands of decisions are made every day that affect the health and quality of rivers and the people, wildlife and economies that depend upon them. This partnership will help answer important questions such as: What impact will development have on water quality for a village downstream? Will clear-cutting a forest in the upper part of a river's watershed imperil fish stocks local people depend on for food? The proposed system will provide access to wide-ranging data on climate, rainfall, land cover, vegetation and biodiversity and enable stakeholders to better understand how policy decisions impact water quality and ecosystem services. The partnership will create simulation, three-dimensional visualization, and scenario forecasting tools to facilitate more sustainable management of the world's great rivers. The project will initially be implemented in the Paraguay-Paraná river system in Brazil in cooperation with key partners and stakeholders. In the coming months, the Conservancy will conduct extensive outreach to identify issues of critical importance to the long term health of the river. The goal over the next two years is to replicate the decision support system in the Yangtze River in China and the Mississippi River in the US and eventually other river systems throughout the world. http://www.nature.org/wherewework/greatrivers/press/press2952.html 35) WWF is the world's largest ancient forest logging apologist; actively promoting questionable " certified, sustainable " logging in Guyana, Russia and -- and may be the World's greatest threat facing endangered ancient forests http://www.rainforestportal.org/alerts/send.asp?id=wwf_ancient_forest_logging For many years the international conservation group WWF has supported Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification that first-time logging of ancient primary and old-growth forests is " sustainable " . Millions of hectares of intact, large rainforest ecosystems have been and are being heavily industrially logged for the first time with WWF and FSC's stamp of approval. Ecological Internet (EI) recently reported upon Samling of Malaysia's activities in Guyana under the name of Barama, which received significant international bank financing based upon assurances provided by WWF and an FSC certificate of good forest management. Sadly, WWF's partnering with this particular rainforest destroyer in Guyana is not at all unique. Similar large-scale, often illegal and highly socially and environmentally destructive logging of ancient forests in the Congo basin countries, Russia, and Indonesia continue with the blessing of WWF and FSC as their official policy. WWF's greenwashing, and propagation and subsidizing of the myth of " sustainable ancient forest logging " , may be the greatest threat to the world's remaining ancient forests. http://freepage.twoday.net/stories/3766520/ 36) Environmental Destruction proceeds apace in spite of all the warnings, the good science, the 501©3 organizations with their memberships in the millions, the poll results, and the martyrs perched high in the branches of sequoias or shot dead in the Amazon. This is so not because of a power, a strength out there that we must resist. It is because we are weak and fearful. Only a weak and fearful society could invest so much desperate energy in protecting activities that are the equivalent of suicide. For instance, trading carbon emission credits and creating markets in greenhouse gases as a means of controlling global warming is not a way of saying we're so confident in the strength of the free market system that we can even trust it to fix the problems it creates. No, it's a way of saying that we are so frightened by the prospect of stepping outside of the market system on which we depend for our national wealth, our jobs, and our sense of normalcy that we will let the logic of that system try to correct its own excesses even when we know we're just kidding ourselves. This delusional strategy is embedded in the Kyoto agreement, which is little more than a complex scheme to create a giant international market in pollution. Even Kyoto, of which we speak longingly - " Oh, if only we would join it! " - is not an answer to our problem but a capitulation to it, so concerned is it to protect what it calls " economic growth and development " . http://billtotten.blogspot.com/2007/05/idols-of-environmentalism.html 37) Protecting tropical forests will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect the environment, new research published in the journal Science has stated. Dr Pep Canadell, from the Global Carbon Project, has published research that says that deforestation will release between 87-130 billion tonnes of carbon over the next century – more than will be released by the use of fossil fuels over the next 13 years. However, he has said that cutting tropical deforestation by half by 2050 would stop 50 billion tonnes of carbon emissions being released into the atmosphere, the equivalent of six years of fossil fuel use. " The new body of information shows considerable value in preserving tropical forests, such as those in the Amazon and Indonesia, as carbon sinks, " said Dr Canadell. " This study ensures we have a sound scientific basis behind the consideration of deforestation reduction. " Scientists from the UK, US, Brazil and France compared 11 climate-carbon computer models to generate the results, which also showed that tropical forests were less useful as carbon sinks at higher temperatures, further evidence of the need to negate global warming, according to Dr Canadell. http://www.ttjonline.com/story.asp?sc=49120 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.