Guest guest Posted September 2, 2007 Report Share Posted September 2, 2007 Today for you 35 new articles about earth's trees! (228th edition) Subscribe / send blank email to: earthtreenews- Weblog: http://olyecology.livejournal.com . --British Columbia: 1) Mistletoe another reason to clearcut, 2) protect the ancient forests of Vancouver Island, 3) Save West Thurlow Island, 4) Nadleh Whut'en may blockade, --Oregon: 5) Logging the city's water supply --Canada: 6) Save Ogoki Forest, 7) Pine Beetle maniacs sets forest on fire, 8) Caribou, --Poland: 9) Save Rospuda Valley --Sicily: 10) Mafia using flaming cats to set forests on fire --East Africa: 11) Coastal Forests are a biodiversity hotspot --Senegal: 12) Mr. Diame is Mr. Mangrove --Kenya: 13) Last remaining portion of the once-vast Guineo-Congolean Forest --Cameroon: 14) Every 100,000 hectares of forest is felled --Zimbabwe: 15) Crippled economy turns to firewood for fuel --Malawi: 16) Save Zomba Mountain --Uganda: 17) President says parks must be protected at all costs --Mauritania: 18) Forest Defender Interview --El Salvador: 19) 1st world wages sent home to families have slowed deforestation --Guyana: 20) Breach of log export procedures --Ecuador: 21) Paying to keep the oil in the ground --Uruguay: 22) Controversial pulp and forest products terminal at Nueva Palmira --Peru: 23) Contrary to recent news there is a marked increase in forest disturbance --Brazil: 24) The land at the heart of modern day gold rush --Japan: 25) Securing forest in other countries --Vietnam: 26) Save the Sua wood trees --Indonesia: 27) Proposal for 8 rainforest countries to be included in climate talks --Solomon Islands: 28) 65% of foreign earning come from logging --Sumatra: 29) Elephant population declines by 35% since 1992 --Borneo: 30) Asia's last bastion resisting rainforest destruction --Malaysia: 31) 10,000 acre clearings, 32) 542 convicted and 71,526 logs seized since 2003, 33) Mel Gibson cheers protection efforts, 34) Maybe we'll stop palm oil expansion, --Australia: 35) Last islands of remnant forsests studied British Columbia: 1) It's great for kissing under during the holiday season, but mistletoe can suck the life out of B.C. forests. B.C. Timber Sales has tendered a contract for the central part of the province in an ongoing effort to eradicate the pest that can consume up to 40 per cent of the volume out of a forest. The problem is very widespread in B.C.'s lodgepole pine forests, which is the most widespread tree in the province. " Lodgepole pine dwarf mistletoe is the big problem, " said forest entomologist Leo Rankin. And while the pine beetle is the most devastating pest in B.C.'s forests, mistletoe adds to the devastation. The pine beetle kills the mature trees, while the mistletoe attacks the young trees. Rankin said it leaves experts with a dilemma. " It's a green stand, but it's very unhealthy. Then we've got to make a decision...it's too small to log, it's too big to really knock down and it's expensive. " Rankin said there are many forest stands like that in the province. The contract for the Williams Lake, B.C., area would see any tree above half a metre in pine clearcut areas removed. " Basically we're just killing all the residual stems that might be infected, " Rankin said. " You start over with a clean slate. " The plant spreads easily, shooting seeds from the ends of its branches thorough a buildup of pressure. Rankin said the sticky seed can actually fly five to 10 metres, latching on to other trees. " That's one reason why we have to get infested stems out of a young stand. If you have some infected trees in there they can affect all the trees around them. " http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5h8efxvDK-S2wpZ78jGRdqTfoOcHw 2) Vancouver Island is home to some of the Earth's most spectacular, ancient temperate forests, including the world's largest Douglas fir tree (the Red Creek Fir) and western red cedar tree (the Cheewhat Cedar). The 32000 square kilometer island's forests are diverse: from wet rainforests with towering, mossy Sitka spruce trees and gnarly red cedars with trunks wider than a car's length; to dry East Side forests with contorted Garry oak and arbutus trees and massive Douglas firs; to high elevation, slow-growing yellow cedars and mountain hemlocks covered in beard lichens. The Western Canada Wilderness Committee is calling on the BC government to protect the ancient forests of Vancouver Island by immediately banning logging in the most endangered old-growth forest types and quickly phasing-out old-growth logging from the rest of Vancouver Island by 2015, with a rapid transition to second-growth logging at a slower, more sustainable rate of cut. The most recent photo analysis based on 2004 LandSat satellite images shows that: 1) 73% of the original productive old-growth forests of Vancouver Island have been logged. ie. 27% remained by 2004. 2) 87% of the original productive old-growth forests on southern Vancouver Island, south of Barkley Sound/Alberni Canal, have been logged. ie.13% remains. 3) 90% of the low elevation (less than 300 meters above sea level), flat (less than 17% slope) ancient forests, such as the valley bottoms, where the largest trees grow and the greatest biodiversity resides, have been logged. ie. 10% remains. 4) Only 6% of Vancouver Island's productive forest lands are protected in our parks system. 5) Only 1% of the original old-growth Coastal Douglas fir zone is protected. 6) Less than 1% of the original very dry eastern Coastal Western Hemlock forests are protected. 7) Only 2% of the original very dry western Coastal Western Hemlock forests are protected. http://www.wcwcvictoria.org/vipetition/ 3) Logging planned near a popular tourism destination has at least one West Thurlow Island resident concerned. " We have a fair number of people coming here and it's going to be visible, " said Stephen Wheeler, who is working at the island's marina this season. Interfor is planning to log some of the trees on West Thurlow Island in the Johnstone Strait, north of Campbell River. Some of the logging is planned to take place near Blind Channel, home of the Blind Channel resort, a popular stopover for boating tourists exploring the waters around northern Vancouver Island. The island features Interfor-built trails winding through the forest, including one that passes by the " big cedar, " an 800-year-old tree 16 feet in diameter. The ancient tree has recently been visited by high-profile tourists such as B.C billionaire Jim Pattison, media personality Oprah Winfrey and Laura Bush (wife of U.S. President George W. Bush) as well as by most of the other boaters who visit the resort. While Interfor plans to log in the area, it doesn't plan on disturbing the trails it built over 10 years ago. Wheeler is concerned about the effects the logging will have on the trails through the forests, on the wildlife and on the tourists. " First of all, the logging will supposedly be taking place on the northern slope facing the resort, which presents many potential problems due in part to the appearance of the potential nearby clearcut, " he said. The last time some parts of the area were logged was over a century ago, when loggers didn't have machines to take the trees on the steep slopes. Some of the trees left behind are over 12 feet in diameter and centuries old, Wheeler said. Now, with heli-logging techniques, those trees could be taken along with the second-growth forest, he said. Wheeler is also concerned about the environmental impacts on the water supply for the island's few residents, and about the impact removing ancient trees will have on wildlife. There are marbled murrelets in the area, he said, endangered birds which make their homes in old growth forests. Their numbers are in decline and the birds have been used by environmental groups to show why more forests should be preserved. http://www.campbellrivermirror.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=6 & cat=23 & id=10534\ 22 & more=0 4) The Nadleh Whut'en Indian band near Prince George wants non-native forestry contractors off its traditional territory and is threatening a blockade beginning at midnight tonight in an attempt to get the province to renegotiate a money-losing forestry licence agreement. Chief Martin Louie said that since the band signed a forestry and range agreement with the province in 2005, the venture has lost money and small-scale logging operations in the Fraser Lake region west of Prince George are undercutting its prices. The FRAs are granted by the provincial government to native communities as one- to five-year logging contracts on their traditional lands. The agreements also allow other loggers into the area. The plan was conceived as an interim measure between the Ministry of Forests and aboriginal communities until final land treaties are negotiated. Around 120 agreements have been signed in British Columbia since it was introduced by the Gordon Campbell government in 2003. The Nadleh Whut'en has a licence to log 150,000 cubic metres of timber a year for five years until 2010. They have managed to sell only 125,000 cubic metres to two companies: Canfor and West Fraser. Mr. Louie said the smaller, non-native firms that have licences in the area are undercutting their prices, with massive amounts of wood being harvested and sold locally as a result of the mountain pine beetle infestation. The chief said the band wants financial help from the province to sell its lumber outside the immediate area, where prices are higher. Mr. Louie said the agreement created about 20 jobs, but the band's revenue-sharing grant of $196,000 per year is being whittled away by costs of about $55,000 per year for the licence and other expenses. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070831.BCFORESTRY31/TPStory/T\ PNational/Briti shColumbia/ Oregon: 5) Corvalis - The loaders are quiet now, but the paths they left in the woods are less scarred earth and more tree limbs and debris. . " This is really the start of a much more intensive management program, " said Steve Rogers, public works director. " We're most oriented toward wildlife and forest health, and less toward income production, " said Scott Ferguson of Trout Mountain Forestry, a Portland forestry firm hired by the city to manage its watershed. The logging operation is the first part of a forest management plan for a 2,350-acre tract of land on the northeast slopes of Marys Peak. The land primarily buffers a reservoir that collects water from the Rock Creek Municipal Watershed, which provides about half of the city's water supply. Late last year, the city adopted a formal watershed stewardship plan which, in addition to selective logging, includes guidelines for protecting streams and fish habitat, controlling invasive species and monitoring water quality Logging had taken place under the supervision of the U.S. Forest Service until the mid-1980s, when concern over spotted owls and water quality brought timber harvest here to a halt. The Forest Service still owns and manages an adjacent 7,500 acres upslope from the city's property. A two-part bidding process for the job of cutting timber on this remote 30-acre site asked loggers to first outline how they might minimize impact through technique and equipment. Once those qualifications were met, the city looked for the lowest price. " Everything is dropped, limbed and bucked out in the woods, leaving debris to go back into the soil, " Ferguson said. " We tried to leave a lot of snags, little trees and older trees to mix it up. " Rogers said just 20 to 25 percent of this stand was thinned, producing 80 loads of logs. Depending on where the logs are milled, the harvest could bring between $240,000 and $400,000 for city coffers. " Not too many towns have a resource like this, " Ferguson said. " The real difference is not the logging; it's that they've taken a holistic look at it. " http://www.gazettetimes.com/articles/2007/08/31/news/community/3aaa02_logging.tx\ t Canada: 6) The Ogoki Forest, covering 10,876 square kilometres, is being logged for the first time, pushing cutovers north, farther into Ontario's Boreal Forest than they have ever gone before. The area, about 400 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, is prime habitat for woodland caribou, which are designated by the federal and Ontario governments as threatened – destined to become endangered and then extinct if current trends don't change. So, before turning to the Ogoki, here are things people should know about woodland caribou: Their survival strategy is to spread out in the forest. This makes it impractical for wolves to hunt them, because there are far too few caribou in any one area to sustain a pack of wolves. Consequently, woodland caribou need vast territories in which to disperse, without roads or other pathways for wolves. A recent study led by Liv Vors, a graduate student at Trent University in Peterborough, found that caribou need a median range of 9,000 square kilometres of undisturbed habitat, surrounded by a 13-kilometre buffer zone, to maintain local populations. Several officials from Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources, participated in the study. It was published in the Journal of Wildlife Management in June. It points out that Woodland Caribou Provincial Park, at 4,500 square kilometres, and Wabakimi Provincial Park (which borders on the Ogoki Forest), at 8,920 square kilometres, may be too small by themselves to sustain caribou. The study also says there is no evidence that caribou have ever returned to a cutover area after trees have regrown. After a cutover, the study says, caribou retreat about 13 kilometres and stay that distance away for about 20 years. Then they retreat further to a distance of 50 kilometres. The reason for the second retreat, the study says, is that moose move into the cutover, peaking in numbers 15 to 40 years after logging – and with the moose come wolves. Finally, the study says that caribou range is receding in Ontario's Boreal Forest by about 34 kilometres every 10 years. In an earlier study, Professor James Schaefer, also of Trent University and a member of the Liv Vors study, calculated that at current trends there will be no caribou left in Ontario by 2094. http://www.thestar.com/sciencetech/article/252128 7) MOUNT SHARK — The tiny and determined pine beetle wants to get into southern Alberta's Rocky Mountain forests badly and the province is preparing to torch valleys to stop it. A full-scale epidemic raging in neighbouring British Columbia is threatening to destroy 80 per cent of mature pines, and Alberta is frantically trying to slow the insect's voracious march eastward. One of the first key steps is one of the largest planned forest fires ever in the region. In all, 1,300 hectares are targeted near Mount Nestor, south of Canmore, Alta., an area that straddles Banff National Park and the provincial Spray Valley park. If weather conditions are dry, the fire will be ignited later this fall, killing some beetles in its path, but more importantly taking out a good stretch of 'host trees' andcreating a natural barrier, much like the way forest fires are controlled. " This is the battle line, the border, right now, " says Rob Harris with Alberta's Sustainable Resource Development, pointing westward from a mountaintop to the British Columbia boundary. " You skip right over those mountains there and 'Pow,' you're in beetle country. " Patches of red in the green blanket of forest in one of Alberta's most popular mountain recreation areas are tell-tale signs that the beetles are on the move - catching wind currents that carry them hundreds of kilometres over mountain ranges and funnel them down the valleys. It's easy to see where they've come from. The view from a helicopter flying west shows the green soon turning to red. Next come the areas that have been clearcut. Instead of trying to contain the insect and halt its advance, crews are resorting to 'salvage logging' and are extracting whatever economic value is left in dead trees before they're too dry and cracked to go through the mills. " British Columbia is measuring mountain pine beetle impacts by the millions of hectares and Alberta is still counting single trees, " says Dr. Allan Carroll, one of Canada's top mountain beetle researchers with the Canadian Forest Service. Put another way, Alberta figures it has upwards of three to four million trees afflicted, while B.C. has 14 million hectares of pine forest in some level of infestation - about four times the size of Vancouver Island. http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070829/pine_beetle_070829/\ 20070829?hub=S ciTech Poland: 9) As some of you may already know, the Polish Prime Minister decided at the last moment not to start the fight with the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and instead halted the logging of the trees in the protected area of the Rospuda Valley. But it's not the end of the story and the wildlife of Rospuda Valley can't feel safe! The Polish goverment still wants to build this bypass and annouced that the works on the sections which do not cross the protected areas will be continued. This is one of the ways to blackmail the EU institutions and disregard the European law. Although it may seem unbelievable, they still want to build this most absurd road in Poland! We cannot let them get away with it now! Please, appeal to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland to stop the construction work in the Rospuda Valley entirely and commence the process of building the road along an alternative route which is not destructive for the unique plants and animals in this wildlife-rich place. So far 641 people have sent the letter to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland. Join them! Thank you for your support! http://write-a-letter.greenpeace.org/266 Sicily: 10) " Forest fires have become an entrepreneurial activity. In short, the Mafia's strategy is quite simple: the organisation burns down forests so their own companies will be awarded money by the state or regional government to replant trees in the area. " Cosa Nostra's techniques for setting bush fires are cruel in themselves, often using live cats to get the blazes going. The cat is soaked in petrol and set on fire. It then starts to run and lights the undergrowth. occasionally a long burning rope is attached to the tail. The Mafia, which is also fire-raising to clear land for building, has also been setting fires in a way that creates a barrier around small towns and communities near the chosen woodland. This makes evacuation and rescue efforts very difficult. The female owner of a house in the province of Palermo lives near a wooded area that was recently set ablaze. she said: " I saw with my own eyes first one fire start, then another, and then another. Three blazes a short distance away from one another to guarantee that the fire would surround us. " The Italian government has now decided to send armed forces to the region to deal with the situation and some are calling for them to take the place of forest rangers in the coming years to ensure the arsonists are penalized. n past weeks the arson has spread beyond Sicily to Calabria at the southern-most tip of the mainland. It is evident the Calabrian Mafia, the N'dragheta, is the cause of these blazes. http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/foreign/display.var.1657879.0.0.php East Africa: 11) The Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa is a biodiversity Hotspot identified by Conservation International, and stretches along the eastern edge of Africa, from small patches of coastal (riverine) forest along the Jubba and Shabelle Rivers in southern Somalia, south through Kenya, where it occurs in a relatively narrow coastal strip of about 40 kilometers in width, except along the Tana River where it extends about 120 km inland. The hotspot stretches farther south into Tanzania (where some outlying forest patches occur about 300 km inland), and along nearly the entire coast of Mozambique, ending at the Limpopo River (south of which is the Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany Hotspot). The hotspot also includes the offshore islands, including Pemba, Zanzibar, Mafia and the Bazarruto Archipelago off Mozambique. The hotspot's vegetation is a complex mix of moist forests and dry forests, with coastal thicket, fire-climax savanna woodlands, seasonal and permanent swamps, and littoral habitats that include mangrove vegetation along some parts of the coast. Trees dominate the coastal flora, but lianas are also common as are shrubs, herbs, grasses, sedges, ferns, and epiphytes. Coastal forests are found up to 500 meters above sea level, although in Tanzania they occur up to 1,030 meters on Handeni Hill, though this is unusual. The climate is largely tropical, though some of the southern areas are almost subtropical. Rainfall ranges from about 2,000 millimeters/year on Pemba and Mafia down to about 500 millimeters/year in northern Kenya, although average rainfall in most of the coastal forests is between 900 and 1,400 millimeters/year. Although the remaining forests scattered throughout the hotspot's 291,250 km2 are typically tiny and fragmented, they contain remarkable levels of biodiversity. These forests also vary greatly in their species composition, particularly among less mobile species; for example, forests that are only 100 kilometers apart may differ in 80 percent of their plant species. Within the hotspot, the region of highest endemism stretches from northern Kenya to southern Tanzania, possibly also including northernmost Mozambique. Two important subcenters of endemism are also recognized: the Kwale-Usambara subcenter of endemism on the Kenya-Tanzania border, and the Lindi subcenter of endemism in southern Tanzania. http://www.eoearth.org/article/Biological_diversity_in_the_coastal_forests_of_Ea\ stern_Africa Senegal: 12) " The mangroves were a barrier against the water, " explains Abdoulaye Diame, peering down at the old man's illustration. " When the mangroves started dying, the water started rising. " Mr. Diame, a Senegalese scientist, is a liaison between Fayako and the mainland. But in this part of Senegal, he is known mostly as a tireless advocate for the mangrove tree – one of the earth's vital and unheralded natural resources. With their thick copses and interconnected roots, mangroves are essential for purifying sea water, regulating the tides, balancing underwater ecosystems, and mitigating the effects of floodwater damage. For many West Africans, they are also a source of fuel and a support to marine life. They are regarded locally with almost spiritual reverence. But they're disappearing rapidly. By most estimates, more than half the world's mangroves have already been destroyed. The remaining plants, which grow in tropical and subtropical zones from India to Southeast Asia, die at a rate of 1 to 2 percent a year – largely because of pollution and the increasing salinity of some coastal waters. In Fayako, a town located deep in Senegal's verdant Sine Saloum Delta, the effects are clearly visible. As the mangroves have vanished, locals are finding fewer fish to eat and no firewood to burn. More ominously, the tide rises a bit higher each year. So Diame is trying to halt the destruction through a combination of reforestation and grass-roots activism. Each week, he pilots a boat around the serpentine tributaries of the delta, stopping at small towns to inspect progress on planting sites and help residents manage the remaining mangroves. He harangues village elders about proper tending. He works to introduce new agricultural techniques. If he turns out to be successful, his program could become a model for other mangrove conservation efforts around the globe. Diame is a tall man with broad shoulders and a steely stare that reflects the deeply personal nature of his work. He maintains roots in the region, where he was born and where he graduated from high school. In 1993, he traveled to Russia to attend Moscow State University, earning degrees in physical oceanography and geography. When he returned to Senegal, he set about using his new skills to help solve some of the delta's most pressing ecological problems. Chief among them: the precipitous drop in the mangrove population, caused in part by the polluting runoff from luxury resorts in the area. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0830/p20s01-ussc.html Kenya: 13) This rainforest is the last remaining portion of the once-vast Guineo-Congolean Forest, which at one time stretched all the way across Central Africa. Increasing population pressure and fragmentation have diminished it down to a paltry 23,000 hectares (roughly 90 square miles). In Isecheno, about an hour (by public " transportation " ) from Kakemega Town, nearly everyone is poor and unemployed. Most survive by practicing subsistence farming and utilizing the forest for their basic, daily needs (firewood, vegetables, medicinal plants, water). At one time, firewood collection would have been a sustainable practice, but in light of natural resources misuse and over-exploitation for centuries, (mostly by colonial powers and the Kenyan government), the future of the forest is looking grim. On top of this, most people are sick: with malaria, TB, and common, treatable ailments. Many have AIDS, but no one will talk about it. I worked for a locally-run NGO called the Kakamega Environmental Education Programme (KEEP), which was started over 10 years ago by forest guides who saw the detrimental effects of these unsustainable practices on the forest. They seek to educate the community about the importance of forest conservation, and have a number of sustainable income-generating projects that attempt to improve community members' lives and livelihoods. While I learned a myriad of things about the rainforest and sustainable development at KEEP and spent the majority of my time working on a report and learning to navigate through frustrating and uncomfortable situations, life at my host family's compound taught me the most about Kenyan culture. Even more than culture, it taught me about resilience, about acceptance, about what is possible.There seemed to be a general sense of openness and a desire on the part of Kenyans to include me in their culture. Everyone greeted me, or replied kindly to my " Habari " (How are you?). Many sought a cultural exchange, sharing pieces of their culture with me and asking me about mine. Even the Sunday when I went to church for the first time in my life, the preacher greeted me personally and all the churchgoers expressed their delight at having a visitor. The sign on the wall said, " All Are Welcome. " And that's how I felt. http://www.thehoot.net/?module=displaystory & story_id=2091 & format=html Cameroon: 14) Every year, over 100,000 hectares of Cameroon's forest is felled. Experts in the sector say the major cause is logging. This activity is carried out by both local and foreign companies. The logging focuses on some specific and economically viable tree species. Of particular interest to exploiters are: Sapelli, Ayous, Iroko, Azobe, Tali, Moabi, Movingui and Ngollon. These species are being exported overseas to Europe, Asia and the rest of the world. The proliferation of the activity is said to be accentuated by the inability of the administration to enforce its own regulations. Of the 100,000 hectares logged each year, at least 40 percent of them are illegally deforested. Logging companies regularly exceed their concessions and export as much as they can with no oversight from the authorities. Malpractice has also occurred in some protected areas. Logging companies are responsible for the vast majority of deforestation in Cameroon: slash-and-burn agriculture, for example, is not a problem. In the east of the country, where the worst deforestation is taking place, there are only between one and three people per square kilometre. These people are farmers, and they stay in the same place for many years. The logging companies, on the other hand, have five-year permits to exploit enormous areas. After five years, nothing is left. Legal forest exploitation is done within the framework of a valid exploitation title licence granted according to the procedures provided for by the law. There are four types of exploitation licence: exploitation contract, sale of standing volume, forest exploitation permit and personal logging authorisation. Apart from conniving with some authorities to obtain some of these licences, owners of certain licences violate their precincts and exploit with licences which they do not have. http://allafrica.com/stories/200708271137.html Zimbabwe: 15) The misrule of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe is legendary and has been in the news recently due to hyper-inflation that is crippling the society's economy and health. But it has had another, hidden, toll: The nation's trees. Already in peril, having lost 21% of its forest cover between 1990 and 2005, Zimbabwe's rate of deforestation doubled in the past year, according to a Deutsche Presse-Agentur story. A full 1 million acres of forests are being laid to waste each year now, in a land rich in biological diversity — including savannah landscapes filled with Africa's characteristic lions, hippos and elephants. The increased rate of deforestation comes as a domino-effect result from the misguided economic policies in the country. Money is so tight that the power supply around the country is cut for hours at a time, forcing more people to rely on fire wood for cooking. From a global perspective, this has two effects on greenhouse gas emissions. Clearing forests removes a " sink " that would otherwise absorb atmospheric carbon and store it, and burning wood releases large amounts of that long-stored carbon into the atmosphere, where it helps to trap heat near the earth's surface. So this story is another example of political, social and economic forces being intertwined inextricably from environmental consequences. http://www.thedailygreen.com/2007/08/30/1-million-acres-of-trees-destroyed-in-zi\ mbabwe/6038/ Malawi: 16) Zomba Mountain is being ruthlessly stripped off its clothes. And pathologists fear it may be bloodied hereafter. The rather bumpy tarmac road from Blantyre leads the traveller into the cool, revitalising shadows of the Zomba Municipality; a town snuggled in the arms of the mountain. Fastened together by belts of exotic plantations, the indigenous tropical forests that harbour a diverse animal and plant life wrap, the skin of the mountain. The fire tested Sunbird Ku Chawe stands at the pinnacle of the mountain just like a pink ribbon securing a beautiful woman's well-treated hair. The enigmatic Chingwe's Hole maintains its awe, a legendary shrine for rich poetry metaphors and riddles of the past of political deaths and disappearances into Namitembo River that surges at the bottom of the abyss. Briefly, it's a resplendent garment the mountain is dressed in, silk of premier and costly grade. Not too long ago, government reportedly gave a concession to timber giant Wood Industries Corporation (Wico) to harvest from the pine plantations in the mountain. One of the conditions of the agreement was that Wico, which has a mill in the mountain, would be replanting the lots it would harvest from. Wico's Production Director Aman Kunje said in an exclusive interview his company was complying. " We harvest 50 hectares, we replant 50 hectares. We're conscious about the importance of sustaining the environment in the mountain. So far we have replanted over 500 hectares, " Kunje said. According to Thomas Mankhambera, Assistant Forestry Director in the Ministry of Energy and Mines, Wico has replanted about 200 hectares. Other timber merchants such as Raiply, Leopard Matches Limited and Chinese Engineering are also taking part in unveiling the nakedness of the mountain. These do not have any special deal with government, suggesting that they do not have to replant. They're just buying timber from the plantations. " It is normal practice to have the plantations cleared to sustain activities of these companies in serving the nation. But everything is under control so far to protect the environment, " Mankhambera assured. http://www.dailytimes.bppmw.com/article.asp?ArticleID=6453 Uganda: 17) President Yoweri Museveni has declared that national parks and gazetted forests would be protected at all cost. " We must maintain the protected areas and deal with the pressures from the population, " the President told a meeting, organised by the Leadership for Conservation Africa, in Paraa, Murchison Falls, on Sunday. The meeting attracted conservationists and businessmen from Africa, Europe and the US. " It is important to conserve and I think we will be doing a mistake if we do not maintain the national parks and the forests. " Mining of minerals and oil was good, the President noted, but such resources would get exhausted one day. " Tourism is better because it is sustainable and can go on for a long time. " He said tourism contributed over sh340b to Uganda's earnings and was on the increase, while revenues from coffee were going down. " What we get from tourism is a clear indicator that Uganda makes profit from wildlife. The earnings have surpassed other sectors of the economy. " With population growth, he said, the land holdings were becoming too small and this made growing crops like coffee unsustainable. " That is why some people are migrating to other parts of the country. " He called upon the participants to attract businesses and build factories so that peasants could shift from subsistence farming. " Peasants are not doing much except destroying land, " Museveni said. " The population is increasing and we need a strategy to change the society. It is important to create industries because this draws more people from the countryside to the urban areas. " Mauritania: 18) IPS: What actions to fight desertification are you most proud of? ML: Mauritania has chosen to integrate the fight against desertification in a…process of sustainable development for the country that includes technical, socio-economic, legal and institutional aspects. This has led to the development and implementation of a Guiding Plan to Combat Desertification, the development and implementation of a Multi-sectoral Programme to Fight Against Desertification (and) the ratification of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification…Mauritania has also adopted the National Programme of Action for Combating Desertification. IPS: And what have been your biggest failures? ML: It is indisputable that a number of constraints still have to be overcome in Mauritania. This has to do, for example, with the absence of a formal framework for dialogue between the different actors in the fight (and) the lack of involvement of certain spheres…such as the private sector, academic circles and political parties. IPS: In your view, is the Mauritanian government sufficiently committed to the fight against desertification? ML: Mauritania is one of the Sahelian countries most harshly affected by consecutive droughts during the last 30 years. These climatic hazards have tragic consequences, such as food insecurity, environmental degradation and general socio-economic conditions that are unfavourable for the country… Mauritania has undertaken to…win the fight against desertification, to work for the promotion of improved stoves, the promotion of butane gas use, for more reforestation…and for the training of national officials in the techniques of combating desertification. IPS: Do you find that non-governmental organisations and communities are conscious of the danger posed by desertification? ML: Yes, civil society and local communities are aware of the danger that desertification represents for their daily life…(and) they are engaged in the fight against desertification through initiatives carried out in co-ordination with all stakeholders. http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38875 El Salvador: 19) A study in the September issue of BioScience presents novel findings on how globalization, land policy changes, and monies sent to family members by emigrants have transformed agriculture and stimulated woodland resurgence in El Salvador. The study, by Susanna B. Hecht and Sassan S. Saatchi, employed socioeconomic data, land-use surveys, and satellite imagery to monitor changes in woody cover in El Salvador since peace accords were signed in 1992. Most analyses of forest cover in Central America have focused on the loss of old-growth forests. In drawing attention to the regrowth of woodland in a country that was extensively deforested during the 1970s, Hecht and Saatchi call for a renewed examination of social and economic influences on agricultural practices and of the implications for forest extent. New-growth forests, often in a mosaic alongside agricultural land, buffer declines in biological diversity and are widely used by old-growth species. War drove many people to flee El Salvador during the 1980s and early 1990s, which led to the abandonment of many farms. Thereafter, the country experienced a net increase in tree cover. Hecht and Saatchi found a 22 percent increase in the area with 30 percent tree cover, and a 6.5 percent increase in the area with more than 60 percent tree cover. Policies that encouraged sustainable farming techniques contributed to the increase, the authors maintain. Strikingly, the authors also found a strong link between forest resurgence and capital remittances from family members in other countries. More than a sixth of El Salvador's population left the country during the fighting, which helps explain why remittances now exceed direct foreign investment more than eightfold. Apparently, households receiving remittances felt less need to maintain existing fields, and also cleared less land. Conservationists should be more cognizant of the power of remittances and agricultural policies to benefit forest regrowth, according to Hecht and Saatchi, who suggest several measures that conservation-minded financial institutions, transnational organizations, and individuals, among others, can undertake to aid the recovery. http://luterano.blogspot.com/2007/08/remittances-and-deforestation.html Guyana: 20) Disciplinary action has been taken against two Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) employees, as well as external stakeholders involved in the breach of procedures regarding the export of forest produce from Guyana, a press release from the commission has stated. The statement said that the action was taken after the commission had completed " its detailed investigation " into the matter. The export of unprocessed logs had been in the spotlight recently. None of the persons against whom the action was taken were identified nor was the type of action taken outlined. The breaches committed by the officers were also not disclosed. Efforts to contact Commissioner of Forests, James Singh for a comment on the matter proved futile as Stabroek News was told that he had left the office. The statement said that the two GFC officers were disciplined in accordance with the Commission's Human Resources Policy Manual adding that " disciplinary action has also been taken against the external stakeholders who were involved in the identified breach of procedures " . The GFC said that it wishes to remind all staff and stakeholders that there are established procedures governing the export of forest produce from Guyana which must be complied with adding that any stakeholder who is unsure of these procedures can obtain a copy from the nearest GFC forestry station. http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/article_general_news?id=56527832 Ecuador: 21) Long before you reach the site the jungle changes. Birds and insects fall quiet, streams turn inky and trees become stunted, their leaves blackened and scrunched up, like fists. The trail turns wider and muddier, for vehicles come here, and there is an unfamiliar sound, a sort of whooshing, followed by crackling. And then you see it: fire dancing over the tree tops. The flames seem to lick the canopy in great billowing tongues, as if the Amazon were burning. It is a trick of perspective. As you get closer you see that the blaze comes from a 15-metre (50ft) metal tower in the middle of a clearing and that it shoots the flames skyward in controlled bursts. It is a technique to burn waste gas, one of countless flares dotted across the forests of eastern Ecuador, and it is a stark display of the extraction of oil from the lush heart of South America. Oil has been pumped from here for almost four decades and the result, say environmentalists, is 1,700 square miles of industrial contamination, with rivers poisoned, wildlife wiped out and humans falling sick. But now, mindful of the environmental and political cost, the state has made a startling proposal: if wealthy nations pay Ecuador $350m (£174m) a year - half of the estimated revenue - it will leave the oil in the ground. Supporters say it is an idea whose time has come, a logical step forward from carbon offsetting in which rich polluters in developed countries compensate for environmental damage caused by their consumer habits. Since it was first floated in June there have been promising signals, said Alberto Acosta, a former mining minister and close ally of President Rafael Correa. The German and Norwegian governments have expressed interest, as have parliamentarians from Italy, Spain and the European Union. " This could be a historic accommodation, " he said. Donors could pay. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/aug/31/1 Uruguay: 22) The Uruguayan president Tabaré Vazquez has inaugurated a controversial pulp and forest products terminal at Nueva Palmira, despite efforts by the Argentine government and environmentalists to block it. The port, on the Uruguay River which is the border between the the two countries has been enlarged to facilitate the pulp deliveries and its warehouse is one of the largest in Uruguay. In addition to pulp deliveries, the harbour is already an important export hub for fruit and other products. The Argentines claim the development will have adverse environmental effect and contravenes a treaty over the use of the river. A new pulp mill owned by Metsä-Botnia is due to start operations in September. The pulp comes from a mill at Fray Bentos and will be transported by barge 70 km downstream to Nueva Palmira. In the harbour there is 30,000 m2 covered warehouse space, able to store 100,000 tons of pulp. In Nueva Palmira the pulp will then loaded into ocean shipping transporting it to customers in Europe and in China. http://www.mgn.com/news/dailystorydetails.cfm?storyid=8046 Peru: 23) Using high resolution satellite data from the Peruvian Amazon, a team led by Stanford University scientists found a marked increase in forest disturbance and clearance for the 2004-2005 year. Forest degradation for the year -- including 1,174 square kilometers of forest cleared and 1,070 disturbed -- was about 175 percent of the mean for the six-year period examined. The researchers say that new logging concessions appear to have been a factor in the increase in forest disturbance between 2003 and 2005. Higher commodity prices for agricultural products may have also played a part. The research nonetheless revealed some positive results. " Overall, only 2% of the forest disturbances and 1% the deforestation detected in the entire study area occurred within the boundaries of natural protected areas. Furthermore, territories occupied by indigenous communities contained 11% and 9% of the total forest disturbance and deforestation, respectively, " wrote the authors. " These results clearly show that these two forms of land-use allocation can provide effective protection against forest damage. " Peru has some 661,000 square kilometers of tropical forests—an area a little larger than France—and one of the lowest annual deforestation rates in the Amazon basin. http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0830-peru.html Brazil: 24) Buried deep in Brazil's Amazon rainforest, in the state of Amazonas, is what has been dubbed Eldorado do Juma, the site of Brazil's biggest gold rush in decades. As always with gold rushes, word of mouth has drawn people in. But here, for the first time in history, the word has spread on the internet. The mine was started in mid-2006, but it exploded in size after a schoolteacher-turned-miner posted his findings – and since December, between 3,000 and 10,000 hopeful people have joined him. The jumping-off point for the mine is the small town of Apui in the southern Amazon. This is ranch land, where men on horseback herd beef cattle on ranches that can extend over more than 250 square miles. The gold rush has added considerably to the town's fortunes. Apui is crowded with gold-buying shops; in fact, all of its shops now seem to cater for the ubiquitous miners – selling hammocks, spades, gold pans and other essentials. Few opportunities are missed, and even transport to the mine is organised. Local drivers run trucks and taxis on the two-hour, 45-mile journey on the rutted red-dirt road to the edge of the Rio Juma, at a cost of about 20 reals (£5). From the edge of the river, boats line up, taking miners and boatloads of provisions the final 30 minutes up the river to the mine. The total cost of the journey from Apui is about 40 reals (£10); roughly the equivalent of a day's findings, about 1 gram of gold. To get to Apui, which lies on the so-called Trans-Amazonian Highway, most people take the bus. The 450-mile journey from Porto Velho takes the skilled drivers 18 hours over the mud road, washed out in places. Alternatively, Apui Aero Taxi does the 90-minute flight from Manaus for 455 reals (£115), one-way, a fare boosted to exploit the demand of the gold rush. As the boats make their way upriver, the first hint of the mine is the sight of plastic rubbish bags hung as canopies on twigs, under which hammocks are slung. Stepping off the boat, a mud area, cleared of forest, extends back from the water, its paths lined with makeshift bars, shops and gold buyers in a latterday incarnation of the Wild West. Bottles of 51, Brazil's biggest-selling brand of cachaça (a sugar-cane-based spirit), are everywhere. It's said that the miners spend most of their findings, on a normal day, on cachaça and prostitutes. http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2915435.ece Japan: 25) To ensure sufficient wood chip supplies for making paper, major Japanese paper-manufacturing companies are keen to secure forested land and tracts of land suitable for afforestation in other countries. This trend comes amid sharp increases in global demand for wood chips and pulp fueled mainly by the rapid economic growth of newly industrializing countries. Some forecasts say that serious worldwide shortages of timber resources for making wood chips and pulp will emerge in the not-too-distant future. As things stand, Japanese paper manufacturers are expected to have a tough time competing for timber resources with U.S. investment funds that have intensified their moves to acquire wood plantations on the strength of their financial muscle. Amid a vast expanse of forests and pastures in southwestern Canada, one of the largest wood pulp factories in North America can be found just a two-hour bus ride to the north of Edmonton, the provincial capital of Alberta. http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/business/20070901TDY04002.htm Vietnam: 26) By order of the Ministry of Agriculture, the exploitation of dalbergia tonkinesis wood, also known as sua wood in Vietnamese, must be stopped temporarily nation-wide until the ministry issues new instructions concerning both wild and cultivated sua trees. The Ministry also insists on a temporary cessation of sales and consumption of sua wood. The decree was issued after a series of illegal logging incidents occurred in the capital, forcing the Ha Noi Party Committee to request relevant offices to verify and determine proper punishment. An official at the Ha Noi Transport and Public Works Department said that current measures were not strong enough to protect the precious trees in the city. At present, a fund has been allocated to trim branches, assign numbers and plant new trees. No money is spent on protecting the trees when night falls. Sanctions imposed on violators who chop down green trees in Ha Noi remain too slight. Current punishment is mainly educational. Nguyen Vu Huu Thanh, director of Ha Noi Green Park Company warned that illegal loggers would not give up their lucrative practice so easily. Thanh believes that it will take more than an official document asking officials such as people's committees, forest rangers, transport and public works departments to protect sua trees. According to the office manager of Viet Nam Forest Products and Wood Association Office Trinh Vi, sua is listed among rare and precious trees in Viet Nam's red book. The State prohibits the exploitation and use of this tree for commercial purposes. Statistics released by the Ha Noi Transport and Public Works Department show there are about 1,250 sua trees on 360 streets in 9 inner districts. Their ages span from 8 to 50 years old. The biggest tree is 60cm in diameter, and the smallest is between 5cm and 7cm. Almost half of sua trees measure 30cm and upward in diameter. The Ha Noi Green Park Company, in collaboration with police forces also buckled down to protect the existing population of sua in Ha Noi. The company said it would move small trees to a nursery to protect them. http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=02SOC310807 Indonesia: 27) Indonesia has proposed that eight countries home to some 80 percent of the world's tropical rainforests join diplomatic ranks amid rising climate change concerns, a senior official said Saturday. " This is the initiative of our president, in order that they be able to play an important role in the diplomacy of global warming, " the spokesman for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told Agence France-Presse. " It's important for the eight countries to have a joint consensus on their contribution to efforts to control global warming, " spokesman Dino Patti Djalal said, adding that the group would look at how forest conservation can happen in tandem with economic development. Indonesia will open a meeting of the eight countries on September 24 in New York in parallel with the UN's annual plenary session, he added. The eight countries are Brazil, Cameroon, Congo, Costa Rica, Gabon, Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea, but more could join, Djalal separately told the Jakarta Post. " The point is that we, the rainforest countries, want to ensure that we will have full ownership of our forests, " Djalal was quoted as saying. He said that " the initiatives on rainforest conservation with regards to climate change have always come from developed countries... http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/world/view_article.php?article_id=8602\ 1 Solomon Islands: 28) " Currently forestry provides around 65 to 70 percent of Solomon Islands' foreign earnings, directly employs five thousand people and pays millions of dollars in wages. But Mr Kemakeza warns that at the current rate of depletion the forests will be gone in eight years. He says the government has to aggressively pursue alternative sources of revenue, while also ensuring that the country is getting the best return it can from the logging industry through legislation, compliance measures and political will power. Mr Kemakeza says as part of the government's rural development process it has launched the National Forest Plantation Programme, which will support small holding community groups, families and individuals to grow trees on their land. He says his ministry will provide support through genetically superior seeds, basic tools and officials to provide advice. " http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read & id=34819 Sumatra: 29) The population of Sumatran elephants (Elephas maximus sumatranus) in 2007 is estimated to reach between 2,400 and 2,800 heads, or a decrease by 35 percent from the figure in 1992 when there were 5,000 heads, according to an NGO activist. Some factors which caused the elephant population to drop included deforestation, poaching and human encroachment to the animal`s habitats, Elisabet Purastuti, coordinator of the Elephant Conservation Program of the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature)-Indonesia, said here on Friday. Sumatran tigers (Panthera tigris sumatrae) were also on the brink of extinction on Sumatra Island, and its population was only around 400 heads currently. Apart from the Sumatran tigers, Indonesia used to have two other subspecies of tigers, namely Java tiger and Bali tiger, but both have already been extinct, Hariyo T Wibisono, Tiger Program Coordinator of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) said. Both Purastuti and Wibisono said that the survival of the Sumatran elephants and tigers crucially depended on the protection of the remaining forests on the island. An analysis of Citra Satellite`s data indicated that around eight million hectares of forest areas on Sumatra Island had gone over the period of 1990 to 2000. The deforestation had caused losses of flora and fauna species and conflicts between animal and local villagers, they said. Between 2000 to 2007, conflicts between people and elephants had killed a total of 42 people and 100 elephants on Sumatra Islands. A national workshop on Sumatran tiger and elephant protection was held in Padang, West Sumatra, from August 29 to 31, 2007 to draw national plans of action and strategies. The workshop was attended by around 120 people representing the governments and NGOs from Indonesia and abroad. http://www.antara.co.id/en/arc/2007/8/31/elephant-population-in-sumatra-down-35/ Borneo: 30) Unknown to many people, the country of Brunei Darussalam in the island of Borneo, is Asia's last bastion resisting rainforest destruction, thanks to a government policy and a strong political will that pursues a no-nonsense and pro-environment stand unmatched by many countries. At 743,330km the third largest island in the world and home of the oldest tropical remaining rainforests on earth, Borneo is predicted by environmental experts of World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to lose all its forests by 2010. This is because millions of hectares of Borneo forests at the Malaysian and Indonesian territories are being raped and plundered by loggers, oil palm and rubber tree growers, illegal coffee growers and recently by highly controversial biofuel plantations at a rate of 1.3 million hectares per year. Only in the Brunei part of Borneo are the rainforests still intact. The rainforests of Australia, Tasmania, Philippines and Papua New Guinea as well as those in Myanmar and other parts of Indochina are suffering from widespread logging, mining, dam construction and land clearing for cattle ranching and farming. Under Brunei's Five-Year National Development Plan, no timber from its 235,520 hectares of forests is to be exported but, instead, it is to be developed for self-sufficiency. More importantly, the forests are managed for their inherent protection and conservation values. These include the protection of the natural life-support systems, maintenance of environmental amenities, promotion of scientific endeavours and nature education, and perpetuation of the national patrimony. http://www.bruneitimes.com.bn/details.php?shape_ID=42023 Malaysia: 31) Exclusive In the movie 'Signs', a Pennsylvanian family discovered huge crop circles on their cornfield, left there by aliens. Malaysia, too, has one such 'sign'. This one, however, is the work of humans, and instead of circles, it is an oblong square. The 'sign' is revealed in satellite images obtained by malaysiakini of a virgin forest given to the ruling Umno party in Pahang that has been systematically logged over the past years. What is left now is a huge oblique patch - about 60 sq km in size - visible from space. The bright green plot, as seen in the satellite photos, is what was once 10,000 acres of virgin peat swamp forest in southeast Pahang, which had been methodically clear-felled. On paper, the Umno Pahang land should be about 40 sq km, but it appears to be closer to 60 sq km in the satellite images. Industry sources said this could be because loggers might have encroached into the neighbouring forest reserve and wiped out a large slice of the protected wetland. The images were taken by Landsat - a satellite launched by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) - from an altitude of approximately 700km. Collaborating images were acquired from the French Space Agency's Spot satellite, which orbits at around 800km up. One close-up image shows the controversial Umno plot crisscrossed with straight lines which industry experts say are canals. These canals run deep into the forest and are used to transport the logs as building roads would be too costly. Bulldozers tugged the felled logs into the canals, and from there the logs were drawn by barges to waiting trucks near the outskirts of the forest. The close-up image also depicts bulldozer tracks, represented by faint fine lines branching out from the canals. http://naturealert.blogspot.com/2007/08/satellite-photos-confirm-widespread.html 32) " The opportunity came on Aug 6 when a team of forest rangers found evidence of logs at the mill site for which documentation or markings could not be provided to prove their legality, " he said. A total of 4,653 illegal logs were seized. Mannan said the second case was detected by the ACA on Aug 10 and subsequently handed over to the Forestry Department four days later for further investigation. There, a total of 405 illegal logs were seized. The third case, involving 22 log-laden lorries, is awaiting the DPP's approval for further action. Mannan said all the logs were legal but the lorries were not issued with night-towing passes when checked by the department on Aug 10. " Consequently, the logs from the lorries were released. " " Due to the absence of the night towing pass, the respective licensees (log owners) will be penalised with the consent and approval from the DPP, after having scrutinised the investigation papers, " he said. Mannan said between 2003 and 2006, 542 people were convicted for various forestry offences along with the seizure of 71,526 logs and 707 pieces of equipment, including machinery. http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Wednesday/National/20070829081233/Article\ /index_html 33) Oscar-winning actor and director Mel Gibson sprang a surprise when he attended a sponsorship-signing ceremony here yesterday for conservation of the rainforest. The event was the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Petra Group and the Royal Society South-East Asia Rainforest Research Programme (SEARRP). Petra will sponsor the latter's rainforest ecology research programme in Sabah (StarBiz: Petra plays its part in conservation) Gibson, who last directed Apocalypto, which was set in an ancient Mayan jungle settlement, is on a two-week vacation in Malaysia. He was at the ceremony to lend his support to Petra Group's participation in the research programme on how to conserve the rainforest. " I'm really proud and happy to be a witness to an agreement such as this. I've backed a lot of good causes – environmental and humanitarian, " he said. He also cited a similar rainforest conservation project in El Mirador, Guatemala, which he strongly supported. Petra Group president and chief executive officer Datuk Vinod Sekhar said the group had also " contributed in a small way " to the Guatemalan project. Gibson also backs Green Rubber Global, a Petra Group unit in the United States that will operate a tyre recycling plant in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He expressed his intention to visit the local rainforest and Danum Valley Field Centre, where the SEARRP programme is undertaken. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/8/29/nation/18725131 & sec=nation 34) The government of Malaysia's Sabah State is ready to stop the clearing of forests for new plantations for palm oil in the near future even though global demand for the oil is growing, a minister of the state told Kyodo News on Tuesday. Masidi Manjun, tourism, culture and environment minister of Sabah State, said, " We are ready to say 'no' to further expansion of the plantation, " as the state is committed to conservation of the forests as well as wildlife there. Although the state is committed to sustainable forest management, in which it tries to balance economic growth and environmental protection, indiscriminate logging is no longer a choice in a land so rich in biodiversity, he said after a press conference with journalists attending a workshop on sustainable forest management. The threeday workshop is being hosted by the Organization of AsiaPacific News Agencies. Malaysia is the world's largest palm oil producer. Together with its neighbor Indonesia, the country is rushing to increase production of palm oil amid rising demand for biofuels, the use of which is believed to curb greenhouse gas emissions. But wildlife conservation groups have claimed that native species such as the orang utan and Sumatra rhinos are threatened by the clearing of forests for the development of the plantations. Malaysia and Indonesia produce nearly 90 percent of the world's palm oil output. http://www.savetheorangutan.co.uk/?p=602 Australia: 35) In temperate Australia, sustainability of biodiversity in poorly-reserved woodland remnants within agricultural landscapes is a priority. Cornerstone species, such as those comprising the tree overstorey, are essential as a seed source for regeneration and for microclimate amelioration, soil erosion prevention and habitat provision in woodland ecosystems. However, trees within many woodland remnants are rapidly deteriorating in health. This has been attributed to several causes, including three decades of below average rainfall in temperate Australia. However, instances where trees are healthy and declining on either side of a management boundary indicate a key role of management in the condition of woodland remnants. We investigated the effects of past management on soil properties and vegetation understorey, and linked these with overstorey tree health across 49 sites within the agricultural Midlands of Tasmania, Australia. Sixty percent of the variation in overstorey tree health was associated with the cover of native shrubs, litter, moss and lichen in healthy sites and with cover of exotic pasture species in declining sites. Soil attributes explained 72% of the variation in tree health, with healthy sites having lower soil total nitrogen and pH, and higher soil organic carbon. A combination of soil and understorey vegetation attributes entirely separated healthy, declining and poor sites in a canonical analysis. Regression tree analysis indicated that grazing history (fencing, grazing frequency and intensity) was the primary management history factor in separating healthy and poor sites, whilst patch size, fire frequency and wood gathering were secondary, but significant, factors. Sites that were only lightly, if at all, grazed, had a fire frequency >10 years, and did not have coarse woody debris removed were healthy, indicating that the drying and warming climate of the past three decades is within the bioclimatic envelope of the species examined. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL & _udi=B6V5X-4PJD9V7-1 & _user=1\ 0 & _coverDate=0 8%2F31%2F2007 & _rdoc=1 & _fmt= & _orig=search & _sort=d & view=c & _acct=C000050221 & _versio\ n=1 & _urlVersion =0 & _userid=10 & md5=471f48b0521011fb3b648763ccb1e431 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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