Guest guest Posted July 19, 2007 Report Share Posted July 19, 2007 Today for you 40 new articles about earth's trees! (213th edition) Subscribe / send blank email to: earthtreenews- Weblog: http://olyecology.livejournal.com . --British Columbia: 1) Treaty rights --Washington: 2) Tripod fire salvage in E. Washington, 3) Skamania Homes, --Oregon: 4) A view of the Biscuit fire salvage project five years later --Nebraska: 5) Invasives removed for Riparian Forests --Vermont: 6) An additional 42,000 acres of wilderness in the Green Mountains --Pennsylvania: 7) 10-acre clearcut honors civil war, 8) White Rocks saved, --Tennessee: 9) How Elkmont became wilderness, 10) Bankhead NF mapping canyons, --South Carolina: 11) urging land owners to keep trees, --Maine: 12) Paper industry is dying --Canada: 13) Misuse of scientist's work, 14) still opportunities? --Ireland: 15) Forest policy review accepting comments --Dominican Republic: 16) Terrorists and homeless are reasons for street tree cutting --Haiti: 17) Mountains washed away and many lives lost --Barbados: 18) Batts Rock ancient forest cut down, --Ecuador: 19) Nature & Culture International --South America: 20) Preserving and enhancing a holistic environment --Brazil: 21) FSC is an outrageous lie, 22) Indian troops smuggling logs, 23) Landslides, --Japan: 24) Miyakejima island recovers from volcanic gasses --Cambodia: 25) Corruption summary, --China: 26) Forest consumption stats, 27) Reforestation stats, --Myanmar: 28) Despite ban, mountains of logs to China every day --Malaysia: 29) Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade --Borneo: 30) Indigenous, 31) Mining company to destroy great ape's forests --Indonesia: 32) Government not responding to genocide --Australia: 33) Forest Defense overview up to Gunns, 34) Tree chop protests continues, 35) Tasmanian Plantations up by 40%, --World-wide: 36) Forest stats and petition, 37) Forest Ethics on carbon and forests, 38) forest stats, 39) Berrypickers more economically viable than loggers, 40) Tropical Timber Organization seeks to organize world's local forest dwellers before enviros do. British Columbia: 1) Native elders -- anyone age 60 and older -- will collect $15,000 apiece " shortly after " voting day, presuming the treaty is approved. The treaty is mainly intended to benefit the whole community in the long run. Whereas the up-front cash payment, " is to ensure that our elders, who have waited so long, have a chance to enjoy some of the benefits before it is too late, " the guide says. Some 20 members are currently eligible but as others cross the age threshold, they, too, would be able to collect. Members would have to accept some trade-offs in return. " We settle for little in the way of wildlife and forestry resources in exchange for extremely valuable land, the ability to service that land with water and sewers, and access to other resources such as fish and crab, " the guide says. The natives would also give up their current tax exempt status. " No one likes to pay taxes, " the guide says, in a welcome-to-the-real-world tone. Trade-offs of any kind area tough sell in native communities. Aboriginal people figure they have already given up far too much since the arrival of the Europeans. The package is valued at $120 million or about $350,000 for each member of the band. The terms include cash, resources, other forms of funding, and services. But the key -- as is likely to be the case with most treaty settlements -- is land. More than 400 hectares will be " returned to the Tsawwassen First Nation, " about half of it land that will be removed from the provincial agricultural land reserve. The land is valued at $67 million, but it could easily turn out to be worth a great deal more, depending on what the natives choose to do with it. Still, the question remains: " Is it enough? " Band members get to answer for themselves on voting day July 25. http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=d2493cce-e733-4592-b1cf-91\ 987ecd8307 Washington: 2) In the summer of 2006, the Tripod fire blazed across more than 160,000 acres in the north-central Washington Cascades. The fire burned in varying severities across the landscape, leaving a mosaic of burned and unburned patches of forest. While the fire was still smoldering, Conservation Northwest participated as part of a collaborative team to design a non-controversial post-fire timber sale that benefited local mills while minimizing harm to wildlife habitat, soils, and water quality. Our proposal, developed jointly with community interests and local timber mills, avoided lynx habitat, targeted the smaller trees, and helped protect soils from damage by logging over snow: all while still generating $1.5 million in timber value. The project needed quick action and endorsement; unfortunately it received neither from the Forest Service. Instead, in May 2007, the Wenatchee-Okanogan National Forest released a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) with a preferred alternative that would log nearly 3,000 acres of forest land with inclusion of two controversial points: logging of large trees and lynx habitat. The government proposal does nothing to focus on the high priority work of protecting communities and critical habitat from future fires. It also does nothing to sustain and restore critical watersheds and wildlife habitat in the north-central Cascades. Cutting large trees ignores the sound science that informed regulations limiting the cut of larger diameter trees in the first place. The large remaining trees in this forest, both live and dead, are a crucial legacy for the recovering forest, soils, and wildlife. Forest Service modeling used in current forest planning illustrates that the forests in the Tripod area are already deficient in snags larger than 20 inches in diameter. There is no knowledge that a sufficient number of large ponderosa pine snags exist on this landscape, yet big old pines are proposed for logging especially in the Ramsey Creek area. Please send a letter through our online action system to the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. Ask them to drop entry into lynx habitat and logging of trees over 21 inches in the proposed Tripod timber sale. Avoiding logging of big trees would reduce the timber sale volume by only 18% - a reasonable price for the health of our forests. http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/Conservationnw/campaign.js\ p?campaign_KEY=1 2107 3) Over 100 attended two public hearings before the Skamania County Planning Commission to show opposition to a draft zoning plan that would allow over 1,000 homes three to eight miles south of Mount St. Helens. Thank you! Following the public hearings, the Planning Commission decided to recommend to the Skamania County Board of Commissioners a slight reduction in the amount of housing allowed under the county's draft plan. The Planning Commission will recommend that land near the Marble Mountain sno-park be zoned as commercial forest land rather than the 10 and 20 acre lot developments proposed under the county's draft plan. This would reduce the amount of new homes allowed under the plan by approximately 100, bringing the total build out in the area over the next 20 years to just over 900 homes. No other significant changes were made to the county's draft plan. While this recommended change is an improvement on the original draft plan and reduces development in an area important for wildlife habitat, the plan still allows new development in the Swift Creek and Muddy River watersheds, which is important habitat for threatened bull trout. In addition, the plan still allows a total build out of more than 900 homes, which would have too large of an impact on area habitat. The county Board of Commissioners is expected to consider the Planning Commission's recommendations in late July or early August. We'll keep you posted For more information on this issue, please visit the Gifford Pinchot Task Force web site: http://www.gptaskforce.org or contact Ryan at 503-221-2102 ext. 101 or ryan Oregon: 4) ANDY STAHL: " There's no question there's a scientific consensus that salvage logging is not necessary for forest restoration, and in fact impairs forest restoration in many cases. The Forest Service, rather than standing up for the public interest, grabbed and bent its ankles for the White House, and proposed a much more ambitious logging plan that extended logging into some of the most fragile, environmentally sensitive areas in southwest Oregon that had never seen logging before. And that was a real tragedy. http://kuow.org/DefaultProgram.asp?ID=13091 Nebraska: 5) " The Russian Olive is spreading up and down the Republican and North Platte rivers, " Josiah said. Josiah is a member of Governor Heineman's Vegetarian Task Force, created after the enactment of LB 701, a comprehensive water law introduced by State Senator Mark Christensen, whose district includes part of the Republican River Basin. The law provides about $2 million a year to destroy vegetation, especially in the Republican River basin, as part of an effort to meet the requirements of the Kansas–Nebraska compromise of 2002. " Forestry can really help solve the water issues facing the state today, " Josiah said. " Riparian forests are extremely valuable in Nebraska. " A forested corridor along streams, rivers and lakes (known as riparian) helps maintain clean water and may yield a variety of products. Trees along rivers as a filter for fertilizers, sediment, and pesticides and help provide stability for stream banks and reduce erosion. Riparian trees are different from invasive species, such as phragmites, which grow in shallow waters and islands. Phragmites, also known as ditch weed, send out runners that kill native grasses and guzzles precious water. Other invasive species choking waterways include salt cedar trees and the Russian Olive tree. http://www.nptelegraph.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18593041 & BRD=377 & PAG=461 & dept_id\ =601696 & rfi=6 Vermont: 6) The US Forest Service is preparing to remove five miles of roads an illegal camp as part of the plan to create an additional 42,000 acres of wilderness in the Green Mountain National Forest. So far only 1 of the 15 Forest Service roads has been closed to the public since President Bush signed legislation last fall creating the additional wilderness. Forest Service Wilderness Coordinator Scott Haas says officials are going to talk to the 18 towns that will host new wilderness to make sure everybody understands. The wilderness designation means there can be no motorized activity or logging in that section of the forests, but it remains open for hunting, fishing, hiking and other non-motorized uses. http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=6793212 & nav=4QcS Pennsylvania: 7) It won't be the sounds of battle re-enactments that folks in Gettysburg will be hearing this week. Instead, it will be " timber. " The National Park service is cutting down 10 acres of trees. The trees are located near the McMillian House and Devil's Den. The tree trimming is part of an effort to restore the battlefield to how it looked during the Civil War. http://www.whptv.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=ecfabd3f-1d98-4d57-8844-5a\ b8ac5160fb 8) The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy purchased an 875-acre tract of land known locally as White Rocks in Georges Township, Fayette County. It then turned the parcel over to the state bureau of forestry, which will keep it open to the public for recreational use. The conservancy first became interested in the site in the 1960s when logging and mining activity were negatively affecting the site. It wasn't able to get it until just recently, however. The Pennsylvania Game Commission had been interested in buying the site a few years ago, too, but never could complete a deal -- at least in part -- because of limitations on how it could spend its Growing Greener money. The bureau of forestry, as a part of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, faced no such limitations. The site is best known -- and named for -- its White Rocks, a large bleached sandstone outcrop on the north face of the site. It is home to Allegheny Woodrats, timber rattlesnakes and copperheads. It has also been known to hold green salamanders, a state-listed endangered species. http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/dailycourier/news/s_517504.html Tennessee: 9) Today the former town of Elkmont, TN in the heart of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a magnet for lovers of the synchronous firefly display, which just ended several weeks ago. But in the early 1930s nature's display was being outshone by political sparks flying in all directions. The previously bucolic summer haven for the socially prominent and wealthy members of Knoxville, Maryville, and Chattanooga was about to be changed beyond recognition, and tempers were high. A dedicated conservationist, Wright believed the area would be contaminated by hoards of crowds. He thought the area would be best protected if classified as a national forest. In the end, the national park idea won out. Colonel W. B. Townsend had years earlier purchased 75,000 to 80,000 acres in the surrounding area in order to create the Little River Lumber Company. Now, by agreeing to sell 76,500 mountain acres to the state, which would then be transferred to the Federal Government, he became the linchpin in creating the new park. He agreed to give up his lumbering empire. The town was facing its demise, for the public was not allowed to reside in national parks. Logging operations were stopped and the government began to buy the homeowners' property. Great opposition arose from the residents and members of the Appalachian Club, a well established local sportsmen's group. They hired James Wright to defend their rights in court. http://appalachianhistory.blogspot.com/2007/07/today-former-town-of-elkmont-tn-i\ n.html 10) Sweat drips down his face and glasses as he trudges through thick leaves to the top of a ridge near Montgomery Creek in Bankhead National Forest on a humid Monday morning. His T-shirt is already soaked with sweat; his thick brown pants covered in briars and seeds. More than 180,000 acres of wilderness stretch in front of him — acres packed with ticks, poison ivy, briars and snakes. Through dense leaf cover, he struggles to make out the lay of the land. His conquest? Not an eight-point buck or champion turkey. Kolinski's prey doesn't move. It lies silent, hidden in Bankhead's expanse of trees and undergrowth. The great canyons of Bankhead lurk there, known only to the few who have grown up in these woods. Armed with a hand-held Global Positioning System, a walkie-talkie, a voice recorder and enough food and water for at least seven hours, Kolinski is determined to find the canyons and map them. Kolinski's hunt is part of a canyon mapping project launched by Moulton-based environmental watchdog group Wild South, in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service. Once the canyon areas are identified, they can be placed under a new, increased level of protection. While 100 miles of Bankhead's canyons are mapped, an estimated 300 to 400 miles are still out there unidentified. That is, until Kolinski finds them. Kolinski, whose background is in forestry, began working for Wild South when its grant money doubled 11/2 years ago and his part-time position was created. Funding for the project is provided by the National Forest Foundation, the Curtis and Edith Munson Foundation and the Fund for Wild Nature. The " desired future condition " — a term used by the U.S. Forest Service in its restoration plans — of the canyons and their surrounding areas is to return the areas to old growth forests. A new, specific " canyon prescription " for Bankhead's unique canyons was included in the forest service's 2004 restoration plan. http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/livingtoday/index.shtml South Carolina: 11) Real estate agents and environmentalists say they are urging developers and property owners to keep the trees on their lots because the vegetation can add value to the property and contribute to the overall health of the ecosystem. The Georgetown County land, which is on high ground near the Santee River, has a variety of native vegetation, such as loblolly pines and longleaf pines, said real estate broker Don Morris. The sight of that vegetation sparks conversation with those considering buying the property, he said. " They say, 'What kinds of trees are those?' " he said. " There are not a lot of hardwoods, but it is a pretty stand of timber. " Trees absorb carbon dioxide, prevent erosion and can add the kind of beauty to a neighborhood that comes with the preservation of mature trees. " We're trying to inspire people not to bulldoze them down carelessly, " said Rusty Nelson, spokesman for the National Arbor Day Foundation. " By learning what trees to protect, they end up with a subdivision already graced with mature trees. " The practice of leaving trees on lots that will be future neighborhoods or commercial development is gaining popularity among local developers, including Cravens Grant, The Oaks and South Island Plantation in Georgetown County. " It's something that I've focused on for a long time, " he said. " One of the things I would love to see is folks to take a look at a timber management program from the beginning. I think the smart developers preserve the trees as much as possible. " A 300-year-old tree might add up to $10,000 value to a lot. That's what people are buying into. They are buying into that Lowcountry lifestyle. " http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/news/local/story/128948.html Maine: 12) " It's not true that the paper industry is dead or dying, but it could be in jeopardy if we don't find enough young people to take these jobs, " said John Richardson, the state's commissioner of economic development. " The bad news is that we've just begun to address the problem. " On the streets of Lincoln and across this poor and rural state, where painful memories of shutdowns and layoffs are still fresh, the optimistic talk has not dispelled deep skepticism. Industry leaders say they must change the dim view taken by most Mainers about the future of paper making, or else it will hurt future growth. The average mill worker in Maine is almost 50, and more than 2,000 of them are expected to retire in the next decade, said Michael Barden , director of environmental affairs for the Maine Pulp and Paper Association. At the same time, enrollments in pulp and paper science programs at Maine colleges have fallen sharply, despite efforts to lure students with scholarships and recruitment programs. Almost 100 students took courses in the two-year pulp and paper technology program at Kennebec Valley Community College in Fairfield in 2000. By last year, the number had dwindled to a dozen. " All they've heard for the last decade, every time they turned on the TV or picked up a newspaper, was more bad news about the paper industry, " said Dumont Henderson , coordinator of the program. Guidance counselors at Mattanawcook Academy, the public high school in Lincoln, said they do not know a single student who is considering a career in paper. As recently as a generation ago, graduates took it for granted that they would work at the mill at some point. " I think their parents have ingrained it in them: 'Even though the mill is back, and I have a job, you need to look elsewhere,' " said William Chubbuck , a guidance counselor. http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/07/16/maine_youth_losing_faith_in\ _paper_mills/? p1=email_to_a_friend Canada: 13) A recent study by Ken Caldeira and colleagues entitled " Combined climate and carbon-cycle effects of large-scale deforestation, " was mischaracterized by industry-linked Fox News reporter Steven Milloy, seemingly in an effort to ignite public debate over the role of forests in global warming. The study has also been misconstrued in other publications as supportive of logging in northern forests. " Global warming is an issue at the top of the public's mind right now, so it's no surprise that industry has gone on attack in an effort to slow the debate, and more importantly, stall taking meaningful action. " said ForestEthics' Strategic Director, Tzeporah Berman. " There is no question that forests right here in North America from the Boreal to the west coast temperate rainforests store enormous amounts of carbon and that the large scale industrial logging of these forests contributes to global warming. " In fact, the co-author of the report that has sparked this public dialogue, Ken Caldeira said today, " I am concerned about our study being misapplied as an excuse to chop down the forests in the name of saving the environment. The stories suggesting existing Boreal forests should be cut down to help mitigate climate change are a complete mischaracterization of our work. http://www.forestethics.org/ 14) A new report commissioned by the company that puts out Victoria's Secret catalogues says there are still opportunities to protect vital forests in the Alberta foothills. Late last year, Limited Brands bowed to an environmental campaign that objected to their use of pulp from " endangered forests " in Alberta. When the sawdust settled, West Fraser in Hinton lost a two-year contract worth an estimated $100 million. Limited Brands had committed to using more environmentally acceptable sources of pulp. Limited Brands then commissioned a study by the Conservation Biology Institute to understand if their sourcing of paper from the region was harming wildlife in the area. http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=6201ce08-2182-45e2-a0f8\ -73beac097d08 & k =5057 Ireland: Woodlands of Ireland is conducting a review of the Heritage Council's forestry policy. The review group is requesting input from experts about a wide range of issues relating to forestry, including links to biodiversity, protection of water and soil and research needs. Overall, they want to know what your vision for forestry in Ireland is. Comments are requested by 21 August. http://ecologyandpolicy.blogspot.com/2007/07/future-of-irelands-forests.html http://www.forestryheritagereview.com Dominican Republic: 16) So when, without any public debate or notice, a city chain-saw crew showed up in late May and began felling the stately trees of her favorite park in the Colonial Zone, the 50-year-old clerical worker felt her last nerve snap. " Those trees belong to the people, not the government! " fumed Filmont. " They are the air we breathe and the only natural thing we have to enjoy here. " Appalled by local officials' plans to replace the European and African vegetation introduced by conquistadores 500 years ago with " native species, " Filmont joined other angry residents in the capital who lashed themselves to the threatened trees. The assault on the shade trees has become a lightning rod for the pent-up frustrations of legions of the urban poor, tired of feeling that authorities consider them a blight on their own landscape. Thousands of towering trees with long branches and copious foliage have been felled in the last two months along the city's traffic-clogged thoroughfares. Stumps protrude like giant stubble from the steep slope of the park overlooking the port. Skinny adult palms plucked from forests have been set in the holes created by excavated shade trees, buttressed by braces in soil cleared of verdant ground cover. But the protests appear to have halted the felling, at least in the leafy splendor of the historic Colonial Zone. In a May manifesto, about 100 founding members of the grassroots alliance Santo Domingo Is All of Us accused the city's top elected official, Roberto Salcedo Gavilan, of seeking to drive the poor out of public spaces. Salcedo, a mayorlike trustee of the capital's governing council, has persuaded the council to ban vendors from the stone walkways of the Colonial Zone, claiming they were a deterrent to tourists. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003789852_treepeople15.html Haiti: 18) PORT SALUT- Dardy Saint-Jean gazes at the rock-strewn river coursing through his village and shakes his head in disgust. " Look at this river -- it's filled with stones from the mountains, " said Saint-Jean, referring to decades of erosion caused by the deforestation that has stripped Haiti of much of its green cover. The destruction is blamed on necessities of daily life here in this poor Caribbean nation, where the majority of the populace subsists on less than one dollar a day and public utilities are unreliable and far from universal. With few sources of fuel for cooking and bathing, most people burn charcoal made from trees. More than 70 percent of the energy usage in Haiti is derived from wood and other biomass. Over the last several decades, this system has left the country's once lush countryside decimated, leading to serious problems with soil erosion. Daily rainstorms during the summer hurricane season often lead to flash flooding and the dumping of massive amounts of silt and stones into the country's streams and rivers, blocking water sources. Replanting efforts by local and international organisations have proven unable to keep pace with the mass consumption of wood. The consequences of deforestation can be deadly. In September 2004, Tropical Storm Jeanne swept through the city of Gonaives, unleashing walls of mud and water that killed more than 3,000 people and destroyed homes, livestock and businesses. Earlier that same year, floods killed a similar number of people on Haiti's southern border with the Dominican Republic. Erosion coupled with pollution has also muddied the once fruitful fishing waters of Haiti, forcing fisherman to cast their nets further out to sea. Hoping to reverse that trend, Haiti is looking to alternative energy sources such as biofuels in hopes of curtailing the rampant deforestation, Haitian Prime Minister Jacques-Edouard Alexis told IPS. http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38569 Barbados: 18) The destruction of the trees and the entire landscape at Batts Rock is an atrocity that fills me with anger. I cannot understand how a country and a Government that talks about protecting the environment, that has legislation protecting trees, that has a Town and Country Planning Department, and whose minister in charge is the Prime Minister could have allowed the destruction of one of the few remaining acres of virgin " forest " in the country. I have written this piece in tribute to the trees at Batts Rock, which I hope you will publish. You come to me, a virgin, like my sisters and brothers, all one family living and watching the sun go down on a shining sea, watching the moon go down on that shining sea, and you put your steely part against my body and you push and push, and I am torn apart. And my arms and limbs, reaching for the sky are useless against your might, and my tears, dropping from my eyes, falling down my body like the raindrops falling, soothing my body and cooling my very roots, my roots, my roots. I am torn from mother Earth, which nurtured me. Your screams rise in intensity as my brothers, older, larger and stronger resist you, but they too are helpless. We cry out as each one falls with a sound like a rifle shot in the stillness of the early morning beneath the sky, the clear blue sky, which tries to comfort us. And still you rape us, tear us apart, expose us… http://www.nationnews.com/editorial/296280826474171.php Ecuador: 19) " I was flying over the Andes at 30,000 feet, and for 31/2 hours, all I remember seeing were log roads and forest fires, " Gayler said. " I cried because I saw the last great ecosystem on this planet disappearing before my very eyes… Facts and figures demonstrate that Ecuador loses 5 percent of its remaining forests annually, and at that rate, they could disappear in less than 20 years, " Gayler said. " I believe my generation is the last on this planet to save the variety of life. " The state of endangered South American terrain inspired Gayler in 1997 to create Nature & Culture International. The Del Mar-based nonprofit group works to create and help manage parks and reserves, provide research and education programs, and assist communities with conservation plans in the Andean rain forests. Known for developing and then selling the upscale Del Mar Plaza for $36.1 million in 1989, Gayler and his partner, David Winkler, still oversee operations at Del Mar Partnership, the company they founded more than two decades ago. But Gayler, 54, prefers to make a living managing a portfolio of real estate while promoting land conservation. His focus is southern Ecuador and northern Peru, where the snowcapped peaks of the Andes rise up from the plains of the Amazon River Basin, and the combination of varying climates, elevation and rainfall has created an explosion of biodiversity. " The most threatened ecosystem in the world – and the most valuable by many estimates – are the tropical mountain forests of the Andes, " Gayler said. " The speciation is so extreme that it's hard to imagine. Ecuador has more than 1,600 bird species, and it has over 4,000 plants that occur nowhere else in the world. And It's not enough to preserve places; we must contribute to people's lives, " Gayler said. " If I went directly to local conservation groups and funded a local organization, they could begin to dream their own dreams of conservation. " That has been the ongoing goal of the nonprofit group Staffed primarily with Ecuadoreans and Peruvians, Nature & Culture International has offices in Loja, Ecuador, and Sullana, Peru, as well as in Del Mar http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/20070715-9999-lz1mc15devel.html South America: 20) Speakers from the Amazon Conservation Team and from the Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy say it's about preserving and enhancing a holistic environment by accepting as wise guardians the indigenous peoples of each forest. They says they're the ones who long ago learned to live in harmony with their respective habitats through appropriate diet, natural medicines and customs and codes of behaviour that remained in sync with the particular contours and rhythms of nature and now find them under threat. Attendees heard speakers from the Amazon Conservation Team explain what that organization is doing to combat the assault on the Amazon rainforest that straddles Brazil, Colombia, Suriname and Venezuela through an unparalleled pace of development. Using demonstrations and power-point presentations, team members Liliana Madrigal, Luciano Mutumbajoy, Doris Jacanamijoy and Julio Cesar Paiguaje explained how they are following their mission to work in partnership with indigenous people in conserving biodiversity, health and culture in tropical South America. The team's work turns on the central belief that conservation is a moral issue. That belief runs as a theme through eight core values and objectives: Developing processes of research, interdisciplinary study and consensus to achieve the integration of culture, nature and health. Preserving biocultural diversity. Strengthening shamanistic knowledge systems and their transmission to the generations to follow. This includes the spreading of shamanistic traditional apprenticeship programs and shaman gatherings, a code of ethics for indigenous medicine, health brigades, gardens for healing plants and construction of traditional ceremonial houses. The study, recovery, protection and dissemination of traditional health systems. Intercultural dialogue between indigenous wisdom and western science knowledge systems. Supporting the rights of indigenous peoples. Holding up the intrinsic value of nature. Promoting environmental responsibility. They are also working on the establishment of two hospitals, using both western and traditional medicine, with the support of the Ministry of Health in Suriname. http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?contentid=613316 & c\ atname=Local%20N ews & classif= Brazil: 21) We are taking the liberty of reproducing here a powerful personal insight into the proposed FSC certification of Brazilian eucalyptus plantation company, Veracel: How does one understand certification of TREE PLANTATIONS? Well, it is not as simple as it would seem. This does not involve native trees from the ATLANTIC RAINFOREST biome where I was born and raised. Where I lived through various cycles of destruction, but nothing compares with this: monoculture eucalyptus plantations! I saw the forest felled to give way to eucalyptus plantations! I SAW IT. I saw rivers, streams and springs dry up! I saw a rural worker, a country man who did not know how to read or write and who had only learnt how to work the land, with his ten or eleven children coming to the city in tears, fearing an uncertain fate. Presently, the older children are selling drugs on street corners, some of them have even been to prison, and the eldest was killed by a police officer. A very dangerous bandit! Just imagine. And the father in tears, repeating as if to convince himself that he was not to blame - I didn't teach my son to steal or to kill. I taught him how to plant and to harvest, I taught him the crop cycle, what to plant in each season. And he learnt, he was very good at it, but the land was missing. The younger ones and the grandchildren, the children of the dead son, have gone to the Recovery House SOS Life, to recover from serious under-nutrition caused by the lack of food. And now I receive a text from the newspaper " Valor Econômico " under the heading " Veracel is taking up arms against the factory's opponents, " that states: Veracel, a company with a pulp mill located at the extreme south of Bahia, today disseminated a study indicating that it is already responsible for 15 % of the agricultural GDP in the region. He explained that one of the reasons for preparing the study undertaken by the Project Division of the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) was to obtain concrete data to counteract the opinion of people contrary to the pulp mills. " There are ideologically-motivated non-governmental organizations and other groups lacking technical arguments who are opposed to our type of activity, " alleged Gueron. I am part of the group that, according to the director of the company, is ideologically-motivated and does not have any technical arguments. So I suppose that what I see is not reality, it has not been scientifically proven http://www.fsc-watch.org/archives/2007/07/16/Worthy_of_the_FSC_logo__Dispossessi\ on_and_misery_in _Brazil_s_plantation_industry India: 22) In occupied Kashmir, the forests of Nowgam in Handwara are under threat of extinction as Indian troops are involved in the smuggling of the precious natural resource. A band-saw mill is running in the area under the tutelage of the troops for making household items and other furniture out of the chopped off forest wood. The locals though aware of the business are helpless to initiate any action against the forces' personnel. The forest area of Nowgam was rich in cedrus (Deodar) but the same is now on the verge of extinction. In the area, civilians cannot move at all. The civilian population adjacent to Nowgam, during the good old days planted walnut tress there, but these too have been recklessly felled by the troopers. The timber and walnut wood from this area is being used for making beds, boxes and other house hold items. A three-ton Indian army truck was seized in Baramulla in April and the furniture items loaded on it were the product of the forest wood. The army post in the area is out of bounds for the civilians. Hundreds of deodar trees have been felled by the Indian troops. The band saw mill is used to finish the products and hundreds of feet of timber are lying around the band sawmill. A villager from Lawoosa said that he had planted many walnut trees 25 years ago in the area but now they have been felled ruthlessly. http://www.kmsnews.org/Kashmir%20News%20Archive/17/News170707-03.htm 23) Landslides have emerged as a major disaster in the city, claiming lives with alarming regularity over the past few years. At the root of the problem, however, is the rapid degradation of the hills in and around the city, thanks to rampant encroachment, deforestation and earth-cutting. The death of two persons in Friday's landslide at Katahbari has once again brought to the fore the wanton destruction being perpetrated on the hill ecosystem. In spite of imposing bans on earth-cutting on the hills, the administration has failed to curb the menace due to lack of strict enforcement. The landslide-related toll has been quite high. The decade from 1993 to 2003 witnessed the death of 58 people. In 2004, 22 people died, while 12 and 15 were killed in 2005 and 2006 respectively. The toll so far this year is five. As per a survey by the State Soil Conservation Department, the population of the city hills was 1.7 lakh in 2000, which, incidentally, was the total population of the city in 1970. And the present population in the hills would be over 2.5 lakh. According to scientists in the department, the hills can withstand the load of a population of up to 30 per cent on the hill slopes, provided the constructions observe soil and water conservation norms. " But the situation has worsened alarmingly, as not only have the hills saturated their capacity to sustain the permissible limits of population but the existing 'residential areas' in the hills hardly adopt any anti-erosion measures, " a scientist said. http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=jul1607/at05 Japan: 24) The wild birds circling overhead and the undergrowth sprouting below can mean only one thing: the ecosystem of Miyakejima island, devastated by the 2000 eruption of Mount Oyama, is finally re-emerging through the detritus of nature. Exactly seven years after a series of eruptions sprayed volcanic ash across the island 180 kilometers south of Tokyo, forcing the small population to evacuate, the twittering of birds can be heard again around the Tairoike pond in the south of the island. On a recent morning, a pair of akakokko, or Izu Thrush--designated a national treasure by the government and considered a symbol of the island--could be seen perched on a tree, feeding their chicks. In February 2001, only about 50 birds were seen on the 1-km path around the Tairoike pond. That's according to a survey by environmental preservation experts from the University of Tokyo's Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences led by professor Hiroyoshi Higuchi and associate professor Kazuhiro Katoh. But from around May 2002, when hundreds of caterpillar moths emerged, the number of birds began to increase. By May 2006, the two researchers spotted 110 birds. But a continuous flow of volcanic gas is suffocating the once lush forests across the island, which forms part of the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park together with other islands in the Izu Island group. Many trees, including cedar and sudajii--or castanopsis sieboldii--have died and turned white. More and more dead trees can be seen in the east and southwestern parts of the island, where winds spread the poisonous fumes. Some trees had sprouted buds in the first year after the eruption, according to Takashi Kamijo, who teaches vegetation science at the University of Tsukuba's Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences. However, within another two to three years they began to die. At low altitudes, even tall trees are starting to perish. In the Miike district, an eastern part of the island where entry is restricted due to the density of volcanic fumes, the devastation is total. At the same time, grass plants that are less vulnerable are beginning to emerge. The yunomineshida, a type of fern, and hachijo-susuki, or miscanthus condensatus, are among them. http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200707160056.html Cambodia: 25) Global Witness published the report Cambodia's Family Trees, which revealed that leading figures in Cambodia's government are involved in large scale illegal logging, and have been implicated in kidnappings and the attempted murder of atleast 2 activists. Dubbed the forest mafiosi, one example of the illegal logging is the rampant exploitation of the Prey Long forest -- which is critically important to the lives of some 256,000 people living in 340 villages. Actively exploited, much of the remaining forest has been reduced to a mere 4 concessions. One of those now in the planning phase, will convert tens of thousands of hectares into rubber plantations. Cambodian authorities have not taken this report lightly. They have banned it in Cambodia (confiscating what copies they can find) and have even threatened and harassed journalists and Global Witness staff. The Prime minister's brother even threatened that " if they [Global Witness staff] come to Cambodia, I will hit them until their heads are broken. " Global Witness has been recently focusing on international donors, whom give and average of US$600 million a year to Cambodia: " Cambodia's donors have been staggeringly complacent, " said Global Witness Director Simon Taylor, " If their mission is to help Cambodia's long-suffering population, rather than just cosying up to its kleptocratic government, donors must start insisting on tangible actions to combat corruption and impunity. As an immediate first step, they should demand a thorough investigation and prosecution of the mafiosi profiled in this report. " http://intercontinentalcry.org/the-green-deal-in-cambodia/ China: 26) China alone more than doubled its imports of forest products in seven years, climbing from US$6.4b in 1997 to US$13b in 2004. CFEs now manage 370 million hectares of forest, about 10% of the world's total. They are expected to jump to 700-800 million hectares in 2015 and reach 50% by 2050, according to estimates from the World Resources Institute (WRI). A growing consumer preference for materials produced in a socially and environmentally sustainable fashion offers a new area for growth, as does interest in services that help the world to combat climate change. " The market for such services offers new perspectives for equitable payment to local communities involved in the conservation of watersheds and carbon sequestration, " said Chinchilla. " But we need the means to develop this enormous social and environmental potential. And we need people, particularly in the richer countries, to start paying for these global services, " added Sobral. " The benefits in terms of poverty alleviation, forest conservation and community development could be huge. " http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Report_Finds_Forest_Enterprises_Stifled_By_Red\ _Tape_Putting_ Forests_And_Incomes_At_Risk_999.html 27) Volunteers have planted 49.2 billion trees in the past 26 years, and the total amount of area covered by artificial forests has reached 54 million hectares, which is more than in any other countries in the world. Meanwhile, the establishment of more than 2,300 nature reserves has preserved the country's natural forests as well. The total area of land covered by forests has reached 175 million hectares, representing 18.2 percent of the country's territory. These trees absorbed some 500 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2004, 8 percent of the total amount released. These figures show that planting trees and preserving forests are important parts of efforts to slow down and finally reverse global warming. This is in addition to reductions of greenhouse emissions. As the world's most populous nation, and with its rapidly growing economy, China is very cautious when it comes to how wood is used. China's imports of large quantities of waste paper from overseas every year are an example of how the country contributes to the preservation of wood. It is said that by importing waste paper the country has saved 54 million tons of wood in recent years. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-07/18/content_6392193.htm Myanmar: 28) Environmentalists in Myanmar have expressed their shock at seeing mountains of logs being transported on trucks across the border into China despite efforts to halt the trade to save the country's forests from total destruction. " I was shocked to see mountains of logs and big timber trucks " heading from Laiza into China, the spokeswoman for one local environment group, the Pan Kachin Development Society (PKDS), said. On condition that she not be named, she told AFP she had counted up to 80 trucks crossing the border each day during a visit to the town in April. Stacks of teak, tamalan and other woods lined the roads waiting to go, she said. " It seems they have set up sawmills in the forest and chopped the trees to be easier to carry, " she said. " Some logs were only about one and a half feet (0.45 metres) in circumference, " although China usually wants trees nearly twice that size. " That means that people even cut small trees because there are no more big trees left, " she said. The trade endures despite China's efforts to stop it because of a complex mix of interests. For Myanmar's junta, timber is one of its major sources of desperately needed foreign currency. Two main ethnic Kachin groups who have partial control over the region also see the timber trade as a key source of income and have shown varying degrees of willingness to stop it. Local Chinese authorities along the border have not consistently enforced the year-old ban, creating pockets where timber still flows across the border. http://www.france24.com/france24Public/en/administration/afp-news.html?id=070715\ 224746.kdwpm94l & cat=null Malaysia: 29) Malaysia entered the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) negotiation in January following a European Union delegation visit to Sarawak. However, Malaysian ministers are uneasy with the broad definitions of legality as suggested by British Biodiversity Minister Barry Gardiner in the G8 Illegal Logging Dialogue. A sticky point for Malaysia is the unresolved conflicts in timber concession areas between indigenous communities and state-licensed logging companies, particularly in Sarawak. Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid said the national law confers power to the authorities to issue logging licences and hence, the operations should be deemed lawful. He also challenged G8 to fulfil its pledges to eradicate poverty. " When people are poor, you can't stop them from felling trees, " he said. Centre for Orang Asli Concerns co-ordinator Dr Colin Nicholas said it was regrettable that Azmi did not recognise the rights of the indigenous people of Sabah and Sarawak. Land laws of both states recognise native customary rights. " The regrettable effect of this perception is that the ordinary people lose their rights and lose their livelihoods, while the rich and the powerful get rewarded for their plunder and inhumanity, " he added. Nicholas pointed out that industrial logging in Malaysia is carried out by rich timber companies and not by the poor. He said states where the most logging were conducted were the ones with the poorest citizens. While supporting the VPA move, Deputy Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities Datuk Anifah Aman complained that the " goal post " of sustainable timber was being moved again. He said Malaysia was the first tropical timber producer country to develop a certification scheme via the Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC). " We're being disadvantaged (by these new development) but we're always willing to comply, " he said, lamenting that MTCC timber did not enjoy the promised premium. http://forests.org/articles/reader.asp?linkid=80212 Borneo: 30) It is all too easy to romanticise indigenous peoples, to invest them with nobility or conjure images of paradise before the fall. The Penan are not angelic or mystical. What makes them engaging is their humanity, a gentleness which is not common in our age. Padang told me that he regarded the jungle as his mother and father. And he said this without artifice, without the calculation of the professional spokesman. And he spoke like one who is bereft, for the forest is shrinking. The loggers who serve the world's insatiable appetite for timber are cutting swathes through Sarawak's rainforest. The Penan have tried to stop them with blockades and now lawsuits conducted on their behalf by human rights groups. But in the face of powerful loggers and their political backers, the Penan seem to be on the wrong side of what is called " development " . They are not a belligerent people. A local told me the Penan were the only tribe in the region who did not engage in head hunting in the old days. They disdained physical violence. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6897252.stm 31) The world's biggest mining company, a supporter of the BBC's Saving Planet Earth campaign to protect orang-utans, is planning to raze some of the great apes' rainforest habitat. Documents obtained by The Sunday Times reveal that the Anglo-Australian group BHP Billiton plans to exploit mining rights across swathes of Borneo's tropical forests in southeast Asia. It has lobbied for the protected status of some of these areas to be lifted so it can clear the trees and dig for coal. Details of the proposed open cast mines in the region, known as the Heart of Borneo, have outraged environmentalists and wildlife experts. The company promotes its green credentials and supported work to help save Borneo's orang-utans, shown on Saving Planet Earth, presented by Sir Richard Attenborough. Less than two miles from where the orang-utans were released BHP Billiton has plans for a vast open-cast coal mine that conservation experts warn will cause huge damage to the island's wildlife and ecological systems. It is one of seven " forest mines " the company has secured rights to exploit. David Chivers, of the Wildlife Research Group at Cambridge University, said: " This is going to be a belt of mines right across rainforest. It will drive out wildlife and will be a disaster for the island. " BHP Billiton would not comment on its lobbying to remove the protected status of some of Borneo's rainforest but said it would develop any mining operations in close consultation with the Indonesian government and conservation groups. A statement issued by the firm said: " BHP Billiton is mindful of its environmental responsibilities and any development will be in compliance with Indonesian law. " http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article2076562.ece Indonesia: 32) Nine village chiefs from one of the last nomadic tribes in Malaysia showed up at the World Rain Forest Music Festival in Sarawak over the weekend, claiming that their land was being destroyed by illegal logging and the encroachment of oil palm and acacia plantations. The Sarawak Penan Association (SPA) had expected the government to look into their concerns, but instead they had largely ignored the complaints, referring them back to local community officials, implying that the Penans no longer had any land rights, he said. Bujang said the village chiefs had brought their protest to the World Rain Forest Music Festival in a bid to alert media representatives to their grievances. Ajang Kiew, president of the SPA, said the Penans were demanding the state government stop issuing logging and plantation forest licences " over our native customary land, " and bring a halt to large-scale commercial oil palm and acacia plantations " on our territory. The rain forest of Sarawak interior is now very critical due to the logging, " he said, adding: " We bring a message to the Festival, saying people need to be aware and concerned about the forests and the plight of the native communities. After all, once all the forests are gone, l don't think you will be having any Rain Forest Music Festivals any more, " he said, when declaring the forests and the Penans had to be protected. While you enjoy the sounds of the Rain Forest, remember we now hear only the sounds of chainsaws and tractors, " said leaflets handed out by the village chiefs. They claimed that more than 100 cases affecting over 200 communities, including the Bidayuh, Iban, Kayan, Kenyah, Lun Bawang, Malau, Melanau and Penan were being fought in the courts. " Malaysian voices on illegal logging and encroachment are met with silence and indifference from politicians and the media. As our forests disappear, they are being replaced by oil palm and acacia. " These forests cannot give us food, water, a home or medicines. Without our forests and lands, we become poor, we lose our homes with no hope of good jobs and our children are robbed of their future and their heritage. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/worldhotnews/read.php?newsid=30041229 Australia: 33) At the end of the '90s public consciousness clashed with native logging and turned to violence when Wattle Camp, a female protestors' site in WA, was raided by balaclava-clad forest workers brandishing baseball bats, sledgehammers and axes. Dr Ajani warns: " There has been a shift in peoples' attitude. Climate change is now of great concern to ordinary people, not just so-called environmentalists. " Forests have made the election shortlist in two of the last four Federal elections. " Australia's long-unresolved forest conflict has been the make-or-break factor in Federal elections for the last few decades, with both parties often arguing that the four-decade-old forest conflict has no practical solution, " she says. " They are wrong. " Greens' Senator Bob Brown agrees. Speaking of Gunns' proposal to build the $1.4bn pulp mill he said: " The mill's direct impact will revolt voters not just in Bass, but elsewhere across the nation. " Gunns is Tasmania's largest hardwood (native) producer, operating three veneer factories, (in Tasmania and NZ), five sawmills and four woodchip export ports in Tasmania. It exports eucalyptus woodchips produced from sawmilling residues and residual pulpwood, " a small amount " of which comes from old-growth forests. Executive chairman John Gay says: " We have worked with the world's top engineers to design the mill, we contracted Australia's best toxicologists to analyse any environmental effects, we engaged a leading university to model economic impacts and we have employed international pulp experts to join the Gunns team on a permanent basis. " Gunns owns 185,000 hectares of freehold land and manages in excess of 110,000 hectares of plantations. It employs about 1700 people and has a turnover around $700 million a year. http://www.citynews.com.au/news/Article.asp?id=5975 34) One group leader has reportedly claimed: " First day, Sunday we chopped down one tree, second day Monday, we chopped down two trees and so on until we get some action from either Premier Beattie or Morris Iemma… " Illegal land clearing across eastern Australian and particularly NSW continues to be a major environmental problem. Land clearing: 1) Destroys habitats 2) Kills wildlife 3) Causes salinity, 4) Boosts greenhouse gas pollution - Meanwhile, a small fringe group of landholders are undertaking a bizarre publicity stunt by chopping down trees in protest against land clearing laws. This small minority are destroying the reputation of farmers and causing environmental harm in full knowledge. Although this minority group are grandstanding, the development shows that the NSW Government needs to crack down on environmental vandalism and introduce tougher penalties for illegal land clearing. Fringe farming groups members have boasted that thousands of trees have already been cut-down as a 'protest' against laws which ban land clearing in Qld, NSW and Victoria. This is environmental blackmail. At a time when climate change means we need to be protecting our bushlands more than ever, we should be stamping out all illegal land clearing. The NSW Government has a poor track record of enforcing laws against illegal land clearing. The Wilderness Society has been campaigning for stricter monitoring and enforcement and improved. All our efforts could be reversed if the Iemma government does not get serious about clearing or gives ground to this blackmailing. https://www.wilderness.org.au/cyberactivist/cyberactions/07_07_landclearing_cybe\ raction.php 35) Tasmanian timber plantations on private land have grown by 40% in the past five years, figures from Private Forests Tasmania reveal. As of December 31, 2006, there were 150,407ha of plantation forests on private land in Tasmania, equating to 4.4% of the country's total forest cover and 2.2% of its total landmass, with hardwoods accounting for 129,853ha and softwood 20,554ha. The Private Property Plantations in the Landscape in Tasmania report also showed that native forests remained the country's biggest forestry asset, covering 3.1 million ha or 33.3% of Tasmania's total forest cover, and that the country as a whole is home to 13.9% of Australia's total plantation estates. http://www.ttjonline.com/story.asp?sc=50358 World-wide: 36) Every 20 minutes, another species is pushed to extinction as more than 1,200 acres of forest are destroyed, according to a new action alert issued by Conservation International. It's a catastrophe on a global scale, perhaps Earth's next great extinction event. You can be a part of the solution by signing the petition to save forests and 'Stop the Clock' on species extinction. Conservation International will deliver the petition to the leaders of 189 countries at the international summit on climate change in Bali on December 13. By signing the petition, you're telling government leaders to incorporate forest protection into their national policies on climate change for the good of our species and our climate. Did you know that with every acre of trees cleared, more than 150 tons of carbon dioxide is pumped into the atmosphere? Protecting forests is a critical part of the global solution to climate change, and it is vital to the survival of life on Earth. http://sohigian.blogspot.com/2007/07/stop-clock-on-species-extinction-by.html 37) As the debate rages over how to combat global warming, one critical factor is often overlooked: the protective role that forests play by absorbing carbon dioxide from pollution. On March 13, ForestEthics released a report which details how logging Canada's Boreal Forest is escalating carbon dioxide emissions and contributing to global warming. The report led to a backlash from FOX News, which suggested that cutting Boreal Forests could actually decrease global warming. They referenced a six-month-old scientific study to support their outrageous claim, which was quickly repudiated by the study's own scientist. http://www.forestethics.org/ 38) The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations estimates that 50,000 square miles of forest -- more than three times the size of Switzerland -- are lost each year because of clearing and degradation. The threat is particularly acute in the more tropical areas of South America, Africa and Southeast Asia. Cambodia, for example, lost nearly 30 percent of its primary forests from 2000 to 2005, according to FAO. Vietnam lost close to 55 percent of its primary forests, FAO found. And Nigeria lost nearly 56 percent of its primary forests over the same period, the worst rate of forest loss in the world, according to FAO. The destruction of the Earth's oldest and richest forests is not a new phenomenon, but the rate of destruction has increased in recent decades. " Worldwide, one-half of all forests we've lost in the last 10,000 years has occurred in the last 80 years. Half of that was destroyed in the last 30 years, " says Scott Paul, Forest Campaign Coordinator for Greenpeace. Paul says the chief driver of forest destruction is the buying and selling of forest products and farm products in the international market, not to meet local needs. " The timber market, and also for agriculture, mining: When it plugs into the international economic system, that's when you've got to watch it, " he says. Paul would like to see a certification system so that consumers know the source and conditions under which the product they're consuming was harvested. " If you buy wine and cheese, we can tell the region and the year. But forest products have always been cut in remote and distant areas and thrown in a pipe and spit out on the other side. There is no way to determine if something came from a well-managed forest or an illegal forest where there is slavery, murder, drug trade, etc., " he says. http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/07/11/habitatloss.overview/index.html?iref=\ newssearch 39) Small community projects for picking fruits and nuts are the best way to alleviate poverty and protect the Amazon and other tropical forests, but are largely ignored by governments, a study showed on Monday. Communities harvesting natural products generate more long-term income than many national parks or big timber companies, said a report by the International Tropical Timber Organization, or ITTO, released at a forestry conference in northeastern Brazil. " Someone depending on a forest for income and habitat will look after it, " said Andy White, one of the report's authors. " We need people in forests. " The 200-page report is based on 20 case studies on three continents, ranging from raising bees in Africa to making bamboo chopsticks in China. The ITTO, an intergovernmental group promoting the conservation and trade of tropical timber, says communities living in the forest have a " longer time horizon for resource management " than big timber companies. For example, in Nepal, the extraction of juice from the Bel tree by local communities is rejuvenating degraded forests and helping prevent unsustainable timber extraction, the report said. Community forest management has increased in recent years with political decentralization and the recognition of historic land tenure rights in several countries. But such efforts must overcome red tape, competition from big business and government indifference, the study said. In Brazil, local forest communities are often displaced by loggers, farmers and miners, and many lack the infrastructure to bring products to the market. http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=80192 40) A new study reports that community forest enterprises represent an invisible investment of US$2.5 billion in management and conservation in some of the planet's richest forest habitats. This is more than governments in tropical regions spend directly on forest conservation. However, these enterprises are being side-lined in the international forestry arena, putting forests at risk the world over. The report was commissioned by the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), an intergovernmental NGO based in Yokohama, Japan. The report was released today at a conference in the capital of Acre, one of eight states that comprise the Brazilian Amazon. Employing more than 110 million people worldwide, such community forest enterprises harvest wood on a sustainable basis, and collect bamboo, rattan, fibers, nuts, resins, medicinal herbs, honey, wood for charcoal and other natural products to increase local wealth. At the same time, they are having an important impact on conservation of natural resources, according to the new report, " Community-based Forest Enterprises in Tropical Forest Countries: Status and Potential. As the fastest growing segment of the global forest sector, community forest enterprises (CFEs) have the potential to lift millions of forest communities out of poverty, " said Andy White, Coordinator of the Rights and Resources Initiative, and a co-author of the report. " But only if they are given secure rights to forest resources and assistance with removing the red tape that impedes progress in almost every tropical region. 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