Guest guest Posted September 29, 2007 Report Share Posted September 29, 2007 Today for you 34 new articles about earth's trees! (237th edition) Subscribe / send blank email to: earthtreenews- Weblog: http://olyecology.livejournal.com . --British Columbia: 1) Value of Powell River's standing forests, 2) Jean-Pierre Kiekens, --Oregon: 3) Save the Wild Rogue --California: 4) Cutting trees for a better view in Yosemite --Montana: 5) Agreeing on basics of forest restoration --Arizona: 6) Exploitation jeopardizes $2.2 Billion in forest value --Missouri: 7) Old oak trees to be cut for better view of corporate retail stores --South Dakota: 8) Another 60,000 acres to be logged in the Black Hills --Wisconsin: 9) County plan for housing developments in forestlands --New Hampshire: 10) White Birch decline --Canada: 11) End all logging of old growth, 12) Buying protected forest for his kid, 13) Amnesty International claims Weyco genocide in grassy Narrows, 14) Sears Catalogs destroy forests, 15) More on Weyco genocide, 16) Greens praise destroyers, --Russia: 16) burning the forest and calling it research --Mozambique: 17) Chinese thieves are everywhere --Kenya: 18) Artists take action to save Ngong forest, 19) 10,000 plan curse to save trees, --Congo: 20) China buys Congo forest for $5 billion loan --Senegal: 21) Chimpanzees try to survive without enough trees --Uganda: 22) Floods are a result of careless felling, 23) Army stealing trees from Sudan, --Brazil: 24) Michelin's Biodiversity Research Centre --Peru: 25) False claims of saving 1.5 million hectares of rainforest --Guyana: 26) Internal probe not good enough --South Korea: 27) Long live the Diamond Pine --Bangladesh; 28) New locals in Naikkhangchhari like to log --Nepal: 29) 80,000 hectares lost in past 20 years --Malaysia: 30) Fined for illegal logging, 31) Palm oil destroys biodiversity, --Indonesia: 32) Selective harvests have no place in carbon deals, 33) Pulp mill, --World-wide: 34) 13 million hectares lost each year British Columbia: 1) A former Powell River resident has completed a preliminary study measuring the value of Powell River's standing forests. Caila Holbrook conducted the research for an internship with Eco-Care Conservancy, an environmental organization promoting community forests and eco-tourism. The internship is a requirement for her master's degree in international nature conservation. The degree is offered by Lincoln University in New Zealand and Georg-August University in Germany. The study measures the value of three forests in the Powell River region and attempts to take the whole value of the forests into account, their worth as carbon sinks (their ability to trap greenhouse gasses) and the other benefits they provide. Holbrook found two American studies that gave estimates of forest worth for Pacific boreal temperate forests. She used those figures to determine the values of the three local forests. " I believe the true estimates to be higher because of inflation, and some specific attributes of the forest around Powell River which are not accounted for in such a broad estimate, " Holbrook wrote in an email. Holbrook estimated a 16-hectare (40-acre forest) on property belonging to Martin Rossander and the estate of his brother Victor, to be worth $5,251 per year for its environmental benefits as an intact forest. The area has the ability to store 6,000 to 12,000 tonnes of carbon and trap four tonnes per year. She estimated its value as a carbon sink to be $281 per year. Holbrook estimated the 7,105-hectare (17,559-acre) Powell River Community Forest to be worth $2.2 million per year as a standing forest. It has the ability to store 600,000 to 1.2 million tonnes of carbon--101 tonnes per year. Holbrook estimated the forest is worth $28,142 per year as a carbon sink. The Sunshine Forest District, a 1.6 million -hectare (3.8 million-acre) area, is worth $504 million per year as a standing forest according to Holbrook's rough estimates. It stores .64 billion to 1.15 billion tonnes of carbon and can trap 386,544 tonnes per year. The forest is worth $27 million annually as a carbon sink. http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18862373 & BRD=1998 & PAG=461 & dept_id=2215\ 83 & rfi=6 2) Jean-Pierre Kiekens says Canada used to be an environmental leader but we've lost our voice. He's the founder, president and editor of Forest NewsWatch. He also acts as a consultant in forest policy, and has led several strategic consulting assignments for the European Commission, and the French, Dutch and Canadian governments. On the academic side, Jean-Pierre Kiekens was a lecturer in economic development and agricultural economics at the University of Brussels for seven years. He holds degrees from the University of Brussels in Belgium and from the University of Oxford in the UK. Click on the link in the " Listen to This " box to hear Mark Leiren-Young talk to Jean-Pierre Kiekens about how the world sees Canada's trees, the importance of tree huggers and why rocket science is easy compared to running our forests. http://thetyee.ca/Views/2007/09/28/RocketForestry/print.html Oregon: 3) The " Save the Wild Rogue " campaign is a coalition that environmental groups, rafters, anglers, businesses and various and sundry others have gotten together to try to save the wild river. The other conservation groups in addition to CWP and KS Wild include Oregon Wild, the Siskiyou Project, American Rivers and American Whitewater. There are 46 businesses involved, including nine from the Eugene-Springfield area. Lesley Adams of KS Wild, a straightforward and upbeat self-described river lover with " a fire in my belly, " has been expending seemingly limitless time and energy on the campaign, trying to save the river. According to Adams, this campaign to save the Rogue has been around in some form or another since the 1970s. It started with the Oregon Wilderness Coalition, a network of small wilderness groups around the state. The current campaign got under way in 2002 when the BLM proposed to log old growth in the area, she says. The " Save the Wild Rogue " coalition is proposing to add almost 60,000 acres to the Wild Rogue Wilderness. They want to add almost 100 miles of Wild and Scenic designation to seven creeks that feed into the Wild and Scenic Rogue: Kelsey, Whisky, Dulog, Big Windy, East Fork Windy and Howard Creeks. The proposal would stop the proposed Kelsey-Whisky timber sale (imaginatively named for the nearby Kelsey and Whisky creeks it would muddy). If it isn't stopped, the sale would mean the clearcutting of old-growth forest in the Zane Grey Roadless area, says wiry and energetic Josh Laughlin of Eugene's CWP. Laughlin predicts if logging is allowed, salmon-bearing streams such as Kelsey and Whisky creeks will become choked with sediment which would then wash into the Rogue, killing the salmon and turning the clear water to a murky brown flow. The WOPR, which calls for increased " regeneration harvests " (BLM-speak for clearcutting and then replanting with a tree plantation) and opens the formerly somewhat protected O & C lands to voracious logging, endangers the future health of the Wild Rogue as well as forests close to Eugene, says Laughlin.Vaile, the campaign director for KS Wild, adds to Laughlin's comments. " Even the supposed protected areas under the WOPR are in danger, " he says. http://www.eugeneweekly.com/2007/09/27/coverstory.html California: 4) One of the most iconic views in the American West - Yosemite Valley framed by El Capitan, Bridalveil Falls and Half Dome - draws millions of people every year to a wide spot in the road at Yosemite National Park known as Tunnel View. Now, after little change since its construction in 1933, the celebrated overlook two miles west of Yosemite Valley is about to get an overhaul, even a tree-cutting. The National Park Service is finalizing a $2.3 million plan to expand public viewing areas, install new interpretive signs and improve traffic safety at the spot, whose panoramas were made famous by photographer Ansel Adams. Construction is scheduled to begin in the spring and finish by next fall. " Tunnel View is probably the most well-known view in the park, " said Yosemite National Park Superintendent Michael Tollefson. " What we're trying to do is make the traffic flow better and safer, and improve the viewing area so that the visitor has a better experience. " Potentially the most controversial part of the plan calls for cutting down about 20 ponderosa pines and other trees that have grown to block the celebrated view for the 3 million tourists who visit every year. So far, however, even the Sierra Club supports cutting the trees. " I suppose there will be some people who think they should never cut a tree. But those iconic views are important, " said George Whitmore, chairman of the Yosemite Committee of the Tehipite Chapter of the Sierra Club, which includes the park. Whitmore noted that stewards of the park, which was first protected by Abraham Lincoln in 1864, have cut trees for years to preserve views. " Unless people can see the natural wonders and the beauty - the reason why the park was established in the first place - they might say 'all I see is a bunch of bushes and trees. What's so special about Yosemite?' " he said. " If you can't see it, you're going to lose the political support for protecting it. " http://origin.mercurynews.com/news/ci_7023986?nclick_check=1 Montana: 5) For months, a diverse group of conservationists, timber industry officials, forest users and government leaders met in an effort designed to stem the tide of lawsuits filed against forest restoration projects. Finally, on Thursday, the group announced a set of 13 principles that might guide future restoration work on the Bitterroot and Lolo national forests. And because those principles are the result of a time-consuming consensus process, the hope is that restoration projects will move ahead more quickly, be less likely to spawn litigation and, most important, be good for the ecosystems they're designed to restore. " This type of collaborative work is not easy, " said Tom Tidwell, regional forester for the Forest Service's Northern Region, headquartered in Missoula. The effort started in the frustrating wake of a post-fire restoration project in the southern Bitterroot Valley. The project became embroiled in litigation, and prompted many on both sides of the debate to wonder if there wasn't a better way to approach such projects. " How can we move beyond that? " Ekey said. Not long after that, a group of about 35 gathered at the Lubrecht Experimental Forest for a meeting that eventually evolved into the Montana Forest Restoration Working Group. Over the next months, they worked to find what they characterized as a " zone of agreement, " a place where everyone could accept what a successful restoration project ought to look like. The zone eventually grew into a preamble and set of principles. That preamble notes the importance of scientifically sound, ecologically appropriate restoration work, but it also factors in the importance such work can have on surrounding rural communities. The principles include: 1) Restore functioning ecosystems by enhancing ecological processes. 2) Re-establish fire as a natural process on the landscape. 3) Consider social constraints and seek public support for reintroducing fire. 4) Engage community members and interested parties in the restoration process. 5) Improve terrestrial and aquatic habitat and connectivity. 6) Establish and maintain a safe road and trail system that is ecologically sustainable. 7) Integrate restoration with socioeconomic well-being http://www.montanarestoration.org Arizona: 6) Mining, logging, and oil/gas drilling in Arizona's national forests jeopardizes $2.2 billion per year in Arizona business from transportation, lodging, equipment, and licenses for activities such as fishing, hunting, and wildlife watching, according to a new report released today by Environment Arizona. The Environment Arizona report on the value of recreation, water and wildlife, " Worth More Wild: The Value of Arizona's Roadless National Forests, " analyzes data from a national survey done by the United States Fish & Wildlife Service. Key findings of the report include: 1) In 2006, 1.2 million Arizona residents participated in fishing, hunting, and wildlife watching, and these recreationists spent $2.2 billion in Arizona on transportation, lodging, equipment, licenses, and other related items. The economic strength of this outdoor recreation relies on pristine and intact forestland. 2) Annually, more than $200 million worth of freshwater comes from the Southwestern Forest Service region, which encompasses Arizona. 3) Undeveloped national forests provide critical habitat to Arizona's native wildlife, and at least 27 of the state's endangered species would be even more threatened without the protection of roadless areas. - " Pristine forests boost local economies, provide unique outdoor opportunities, preserve wildlife, and protect watersheds, but a major portion of our national forestland is defenseless against logging and mining, " said Erik Magnuson, Program Associate for Environment Arizona. Dave Baker owner of the Summit Hut in Tucson added, " I see the economic benefits of our wilderness everyday. However by business is only a fraction of the economic value generated from roadless areas. Local businesses including hotels, restaurants and many others see the ripple effects of the tourism that our roadless areas attract. " http://www.uspirg.org/news-releases/americas-wild-places/americas-wild-places/wo\ rth-more-wild- the-value-of-arizonas-roadless-national-forests-is-2.2-billion Missouri: 7) The Liberty City Council heard robust debate recently on the fate of several mature oak trees on the site of the former Clayview Country Club at the corner of Kansas and Conistor streets. Most of the decades-old trees would have to be removed when the site elevation is raised to accommodate the demands of tenants on the site, said John Davis, a developer with Star Development Corp., the site owner. " National retailers have expectations for their properties, " Davis told the council. " They want to be at highway level, and they want great visibility. Unfortunately, the existing site does not lend itself to that without adding four or five feet of fill, which essentially will lead to the demise of a few of the old-growth trees throughout the middle of that site. " To preserve the sentiment garnered by the oaks, Davis said his company is looking into using the timber to create benches or some other public feature. http://www.kansascity.com/115/story/292489.html South Dakota: 8) The Forest Service plans to conduct two logging projects next year to thin ponderosa pine on about 60,000 acres of the Black Hills National Forest in South Dakota and Wyoming. The Moskee Project is 14 miles southeast of Sundance, on the Wyoming side of the Black Hills. The Citadel Project is about two miles southwest of Spearfish. They join more than 30 similar ongoing projects to thin dense stands of pine scattered throughout the 1.2 million acres of the Black Hills National Forest. Since 2000, the Forest Service has thinned - by logging, noncommercial thinning or prescribed burns - about 340,000 acres, national forest spokesman Frank Carroll said. Carroll estimated that Mother Nature had thinned another 200,000 acres of federal land, either by wildfires or mountain pine beetles. About 540,000 acres of 1.2 million acres have been " treated, " one way or another. " We're about halfway there, " Carroll said. The Moskee and Citadel projects, like all the rest, include commercial timber sales, noncommercial thinning and prescribed burns. The Forest Service said forest thinning improves wildlife habitat, slows insect infestation and reduces the threat of catastrophic fires. http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2007/09/28/news/wyoming/42-logging.txt Wisconsin: 9) According to the Vilas County Year 2020 Comprehensive Land Use Plan, " Vilas County is at a critical juncture in its history. The counties of Vilas and Oneida together hold one of the highest concentrations of inland freshwater lakes in the world. The area is also located in the heart of Wisconsin's beautiful Northwoods. Due to the abundance of lakes and forests, residential growth trends over the last ten years lead many areas of the state. As land use developments increase, so do pressures to maintain the county's Northwoods atmosphere. " In their land use plan, Vilas County listed " key terms and ideas that most local vision statements highlighted. " These included, among other things, " Northwoods character, rural character and rural identity, lakes, streams, rivers and waters, forests, lakeshores, natural resources, density, shorelands, outdoor recreation and tourism. " Vilas County's vision statement talks about the county's rural character as defined by " its world-class lakes and abundant rivers, streams and wetlands; its small towns and large hospitality. " In the past few years hiking and biking trails have connected communities and recreation areas all around the Northwoods. These trails have become part of the economic and recreational portrait of the area. The Oneida County Forest Comprehensive Land Use Plan details the access control and history of the Oneida County Forest, " Since the forest is large and diverse, a broad network of access routes have developed. A combination of geography, soils, vegetation, surface waters, seasons of the year, presence/absence of roads or trails, ownership of adjoining lands and public regulations interact to control access to any part of the forest. " http://www.rhinelanderdailynews.com/articles/2007/09/28/entertainment/enter01.tx\ t New Hampshire: 10) First of all, as many readers know, the White Mountain forests have undergone both radical and subtle changes caused by human and natural events. One era that has had lingering effects on our forests is the logging boom of the turn of the century where most every log of marketable size was cut, limbed and railroaded out of here to fuel the industrial revolution. What was seen in its wake was an area, once left untouched for several decades, that was able to rebound to its previous glory, with some changes of course. The most significant changes were the species of trees that grew to dominate the forest landscape. From historical records we learn that the timber of value was red spruce. What grew in its place were a combination of white birch, maple, cherry and beech depending on elevation. These species are fast growing, short lived and relatively intolerant of shade making up what we call a successional forest. Eventually balsam fir and red spruce also grow up in the forest and begin to compete for sunlight with the faster growing species. Okay, but why does it appear that all of the birches are dying at once? White birch has a life span of 75-90 years, so the first successional trees after the logging boom are reaching their age limit. Older trees are also more susceptible to environmental stressors such as disease and disturbance. The Ice Storm of '98 coated trees with an inch layer of ice. The sheer weight of the ice snapped thousand of branches off healthy trees allowing insects and disease a pathway to move in. http://amcnaturenotes.blogspot.com/ Canada: 11) Stop all logging in what little remains of old growth forests in Canada. Science has determined that forests are extremely important to the life cycles and functions of this planet. Trees filter air by taking carbon, nitrogen, phosphates, and other airborne chemicals in the atmosphere and fixing them into the soil where they can provide nutrients, in turn producing vast amounts of oxygen. Rainforests redistribute water, functioning as huge sponges to retain water and pumping vast quantities of water back into the atmosphere. Large tracts of intact forest help to stabilize weather patterns both locally and globally. Biologists have also determined that a 'healthy forest' is made up of trees that are multi-aged, multi-species, multi-sized, and multi-layered. These types of variations are only found in old growth forests and are not found in tree plantations. In fact scientists have determined that the rainforests found in the low valley bottoms on the west coast of Vancouver Island have a biomass greater than anywhere on earth, meaning that the density of living organisms per square meter surpasses even the famous Amazon rainforest. On Vancouver Island less than 10% of the original old growth forests remains, they must be protected. It is time that our federal government gives priority to protecting the environment. I encourage you to act as do most of the people that I know. Sincerely, Richard Boyce, BFA, MFA Errington, British Columbia 12) Frank MacEachern wanted to give his son something special for his 13th birthday. But he couldn't think of anything. " Isaac had everything he needed to get along in life. He had boxes of toys and clothes, " says the Charlottetown man. So after pondering it, MacEachern decided to spend $30 and buy his son a piece of P.E.I. woodland. " I wanted to do something that would mean something to him. I also wanted to bring his attention to global warming, " says MacEachern a participant in a program partnered by Island Nature Trust and Trees In Trust. In exchange for a donation, the latter organization provided him with a mapped piece of forest and a dedication certificate instantly, via the Internet. When MacEachern gave the documents to his son for his birthday, Isaac was thrilled. " As soon as I saw the certificate, I went online to the land registry website and put in the plot number to see what it looked like. I was very impressed, " says the Queen Charlotte intermediate school student. The property, protected by Island Nature Trust is located on the Selkirk road. It's entirely forested in Acadian forest species. " The woodland is completely covered by beautiful hardwood trees and scattered softwoods such as the huge and uncommon Eastern Hemlock. " Sugar and red maple, American beech and yellow and white birch trees also dominate the property, " says Jackie Waddell, executive director of Island Nature Trust. The property was obtained through a web-based system which re-packages forest conservation as a gift, memorial or carbon offset project, says Andrew Lush of Trees In Trust. He started the organization to make a real difference in native tree preservation. " I had been thinking of buying a piece of land, splitting it up and selling dedications. Then someone gave me the idea of using Island Land Trust land — land that is already protected — and helping the organization to raise money to buy more forest land, " says Lush, who is involved in several environmental organizations. When he approached Waddell with the idea about a year ago, she was positive. http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/index.cfm?sid=65597 & sc=100 13) Clearcutting vast swaths of northern boreal forest in the traditional territory of a Canadian indigenous tribe violates the rights of its members and should stop, says Amnesty International Canada. Amnesty is calling on the Ontario government to respect a moratorium on logging declared by the people of Asubpeeschoseewagong, or Grassy Narrows, until " free, prior and informed consent " has been given. " The Province of Ontario has long failed to uphold its responsibility to respect indigenous rights, " the report states. " The province did not carry out meaningful consultation before licensing large-scale logging activities. And it has ignored clear calls from the community to stop the logging and other industrial development until consent is given. " Canadian Supreme Court rulings require meaningful consultation and accommodation of aboriginal concerns and, in some circumstances, the consent of the affected people before government undertakes activities that impact indigenous land use, the report points out. But all too often, federal and provincial policies and regulations fail to conform to what is required. Amnesty sent a mission to Grassy Narrows in April to look into the rights violations, only the second such investigation in Canada's history. While Grassy Narrows was chosen because a history of catastrophic disruptions makes the situation there particularly urgent, the report says it is not unique. Rather, " it's a powerful illustration of the great harm that can be caused by the exercise of arbitrary and unchecked state power over the lands and lives of indigenous peoples. " The report received scant media coverage, even though it was released in the middle of the current Ontario election campaign in which indigenous concerns are an issue because of several high-profile occupations and blockades. One aboriginal occupation of a proposed subdivision on disputed land has lasted 19 months. " Aboriginal disputes are not on the wavelength of many editors unless they erupt into violence, in which case it fits their news values, " John Miller, journalism professor at Ryerson University in Toronto, said in an interview. http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/sep2007/2007-09-25-02.asp 14) Did you know that Sears Holding Corporation sends out 425 million catalogs a year, enough catalog paper to wrap the Sears Tower six times a day? Sears is the largest catalog company that has refused to take significant action to ensure that their catalog paper is sustainable; instead their catalogs are made from Endangered Forests! I recently joined ForestEthics' campaign to get Sears to stop destroying Endangered Forests for catalog paper. I'm writing to ask you to join me and ForestEthics in asking Sears to use sustainable catalog paper. Our Endangered Forests are paying the price, and it's time Sears changes the way their catalogs are made. Tell them its time to protect our Endangered Forests! To find out more and take action go to http://www.catalogcutdown.org 15) Spending last summer inside a tent in the Whiskey Jack Forest, about 1500 miles northwest of Toronto, I became very aware of my mortality. Judy DaSilva, a clan mother of Grassy Narrows First Nation, took me to a section of the woods where she used to come with her family to pick herbs and berries, to hunt and to trap. That spot is now a field of dust: small evergreens planted in neat rows by university students mark the spot where the forest used to be. (Because of pesticides in the saplings, planters are warned not to take the job if they're planning on giving birth within the next few years.) No moose, or deer or even chipmunks are in sight. But it's not just the wildlife that's dying. Every year, it becomes more difficult for people from the surrounding community to live in the area. As the past is hacked away, those living on reservations are forced either to move away from their cultural communities to urban centres, or to risk dying off like the plants and animals that had once surrounded them. Judy finds it hard to step up to the podium, before the crowd of more than 200 people at Queen's Park last Friday. She clings to her wobbly cane. Steve Fobister's teeth have vanished. The Grassy Narrows Band Councilor responsible for forest issues, Steve jokes that he wants shark teeth as replacements. A cotton ball is taped to one of his arms and a yellow plastic hospital band dangles from the other. The after effects of mercury poisoning from pulp and paper mills are clearly visible from the marks on Steve's skin. Judy says tests done on the lake sediment last year still show high levels of mercury from when the mills contaminated the rivers and lakes in the '70s. The chemical gets passed on to Judy and Steve through the wild fish that they eat. The changes in their aging bodies are representative of a broader global devastation. Floods, hurricanes, and tsunamis were the big headlines in the last few summers. http://www.rabble.ca/news_full_story.shtml?x=62705 16) The forestry business's achievements have been praised by no less a demanding critic as Green Party leader Elizabeth May as an example for business to follow. The moral of the story, said the Green Party's Camille Labchuk (who spoke for May, who is recovering from hip-replacement surgery), is that " you can get there from here. It is not an impossible task, as is so often repeated. " But as good as all this is, it does not solve the woes besetting Canada's pulp-and-paper business: The dollar at par represents a 54-per-cent jump in just five years; softwood shipments to the U.S. are subject to an export tax; lumber prices have dropped because of the housing and mortgage lending crises in the U.S.; the cost of cutting trees is higher than anywhere else in the world in this global industry; its highly regulated operations compete with illegal - and, therefore, much cheaper - logging in Brazil, Indonesia and Russia; Canadian taxes on investments are among the highest in the world; transportation costs - read CN - are excessive because the railroad is a quasi-monopoly; and - Lazar skated around this issue - political considerations, notably in Quebec where swing ridings are in outlying regions, make it practically impossible to shut down inefficient sawmills for fear of losing votes. It's not all one-sided, though. As Lazar conceded, the industry also must take its knocks for clear-cutting old-growth forests, for instance, and for having lagged so badly and for so long on making new investments to improve its own competitiveness, notably against the Scandinavians, who grasped the coming green issues decades earlier. So is it time to pack it all in and bid farewell to one of Canada's earliest industries? Hardly, Lazar said. In spite of it all, Canada remains " the most successful forest-product exporting nation in the world. " A little " give-and-take " from governments - ending the institutionalized inefficiency by penalizing shutdown of old sawmills would be one way - and others would do wonders. http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/editorial/story.html?id=d5079e69-ca37\ -4dbe-be8c-0b7c 99071da1 Russia: 17) In July, as temperatures soared during a heat wave in eastern Siberia, scores of large fires flared through the region's dense pine forests. For 500 kilometers along the Amur River northwest of Lake Baikal, thick smoke blanketed the wilderness. Officials with Russia's famous airborne forest fire fighting service, Avialesookhrana, were tracking the wildfires at an airbase here in Kodinsk, a small city on the Amur. They were tense. To them it seemed bizarre that a team of international scientists had received permission to burn a patch of nearby forest. Even with every local helicopter and plane conscripted to serve their firefighting crews, millions of dollars' worth of timber was going up in smoke in wildfires. " It's not as though we don't have enough to worry about already, " mused Oleg Mityagin, the overtaxed local Avialesookhrana boss. " We're in no position to help them if they lose control. " Some Russians have complained of being arrested and undergoing harrowingly long interviews, says Anatoly Sukhinin, a remote-sensing expert who joined FIRE BEAR after a career in the Soviet military. " I still spend a fair amount of my time explaining our work to the police, " complained Sukhinin, sitting in his laboratory in Krasnoyarsk, which NASA helped equip to receive and interpret Siberian fire data beamed from American and Russian satellites. " It doesn't help that we're doing these experiments in a region which was until recently secret and still remains heavily militarized. " Despite the hassles, the partnership seems to be paying off. In recent years, says Amber Soja, a research scientist with the U.S. National Institute of Aerospace, currently resident in the Climate Dynamics branch of NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, FIRE BEAR papers have widened knowledge of Siberian forest fires and their global atmospheric effects. A 2004 paper by Soja, along with McRae, Sukhinin, and Susan Conard of the USDA Forest Service, concluded that disparities in the amount of carbon stored in different forest types and the severity of fires within them can affect total direct carbon emissions by as much as 50%. This is why they need specific data on larch fires, which emit less carbon than pine. http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/317/5846/1854 Mozambique: 17) Huge quantities of logs were exported on Monday from the central Mozambican port of Beira, on board a Chinese ship, in flagrant violation of government policy on the export of unprocessed wood. According to a report in Wednesday's issue of the Maputo daily " Noticias " , some of the logs came from tree species the export of which is banned by law. The Chinese vessel, the " Huan Gian " , moored in Beira on 12 September and began loading its cargo two days later. When all the logs were on board, the ship left Beira, apparently to return to China, on Monday. This operation was authorised by the Nationalate of Land and Forests (DNTF), in a dispatch dated 14 September. This extended the period during which logs could be exported, at the request of some logging companies, and apparently on the proposal of the Sofala provincial government. A second Chinese ship has now arrived in Beira, and " Noticias " writes that it intends to pick up 5,854 logs, in an operation that appears to be completely illegal. A document from the DNTF reads that " taking into account that this measure (the ban) will restrict exports in the 2007 felling season and that some operators did not export all their producton from 2006, it becomes necessary to take some transitional measures under which all operators must declare all the stocks they had until 15 January 2007 " . http://allafrica.com/stories/200709260854.html Kenya: 18) For the past two weeks, Ngong Forest has been the site of an artistic rescue effort. Eighteen artists have gathered here for the second annual Art in the Forest workshop, secluding themselves amid the endangered woods for the sole purpose of creating whatever art they can from the materials provided by nature. The products of their imagination (all biodegradable) will be unveiled tomorrow for a free public show aimed at promoting the arts while raising awareness of the ecological damage taking place in Nairobi's backyard. " It's a way of showing that art isn't just a white phenomenon confined to galleries and museums, " says Danda Jaroljmek, the event's organiser who also runs the artists' collective Kuona Trust. She notes that over 1,000 people came to see last year's Art in the Forest, making it one of the most successful art shows in Kenya. This year she hopes even more people will make the trip down Cemetery Road for the rare chance to take in some world-class art while strolling through the forest. It's equally an opportunity for the artists themselves to expand their creative horizons. " Workshops like these are happening all over the world, " Jaroljmek adds. " They give artists a chance to get out of their studios and mix creatively with colleagues from other countries. " This year's group was recruited from Ethiopia, Sudan, South Africa, Lebanon and the UK, as well as well as a dozen prominent Kenyans. " I'm amazed at the sophistication and depth of experience I've seen in the Kenyans I've met here, " says Cape Town's Janet Ranson, taking a break from the elephant she's constructing from mud, grass and tree branches. " There's a real sense of professionalism here. " The only materials the artists were allowed to bring in are some paints, a few strands of string and carving tools. But amid the diversity a common theme emerged this year, which nearly all the artists expressed in one form or another: concern over the rampant poaching of Ngong Forest's trees, in particular the rare Silver Oak. " This year everybody seems to be in a morbid mood, " says Michael Soi, a local artist who helped to organise the event as well as contribute to the works in it. He says there has been a noticeable and distressing increasing in the number of fresh stumps in Ngong Forest since last year's event.http://allafrica.com/stories/200709281180.html 19) At least 10,000 members of clans neighbouring a sacred hill are spoiling for a strange fight before the year ends. The eco-warriors have resolved to use a curse to drive out forces they claim are profaning Karima Hill. The members of four clans surrounding the hill have organised a cursing ceremony to save the forested hill in Othaya, Nyeri South District. Karima Hill, which is a water catchment area, boasts of two shrines, which have already been gazetted as a national monument. The two shrines were in the past used by community elders for worship. It is also at the shrines where they offered sacrifice to God. The envisaged cursing ceremony is expected to attract people from outside the country. Spiritualists who will conduct the ceremony are being sought outside Kenya. As part of preparations, the 10,000-plus residents have started contributing a shilling each to buy beads, shukas and other gifts for the spiritualists. A Nairobi-based lobby group on cultural and environmental issues - Porini Trust - which has been assisting the locals with resources, including indigenous trees, says it will ensure the extraordinary ceremony is successful. " We have sent out letters to our partners in Uganda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Mozambique, asking them to help us identify the most powerful indigenous spiritualists who are capable of placing an extremely effective curse on a person or institution, " said Mr Kariuki Thuku, the Porini Trust coordinator. He added: " We want to deal with those whose past record of performing successful cursing rituals is totally unquestionable. It will be historical and we hope it will be of great importance to the locals. " At least 20 spiritualists, who will include some Kenyans from other parts of the country, are set to converge at the hill for the historic ceremony. The trust will cater for the entire cost and that of local elders who will witness the occasion. http://allafrica.com/stories/200709270096.html Congo: 20) Democratic Republic of Congo has just agreed a loan for $5 billion - not much less than its average annual gross domestic product over the past few years. You may not be too surprised to hear the money's being lent by China. Congo wants to use the cash to build some 6,400 kilometres of railways and roads, hospitals and health centres, two universities and government housing units, reports Howard French in the International Herald Tribune. Not to be sniffed at in a country with few decent roads, rampant tropical diseases and " no education system worthy of name " . If the Chinese move at their usual lightening pace, Congo will see more progress in three years - the time needed to complete most projects - than in 47 years of independence, French says. Naturally, China has an economic interest in trying to revive Congo. The country will pay off the loan by granting China mining concessions, as well as toll rights for the roads and railways constructed with the borrowed money. Besides extracting resources, China is also " redrawing the economic map in central and southern Africa " , French says. Congo's southern copper region will be linked with the Atlantic and the rest of its mineral-rich areas with Chinese-built networks in Angola and Zambia. But for all China's expertise in infrastructure and its business-like approach, French believes sustainable progress may not be possible in Africa without " big strides in political development " and stronger civil societies. " What is the good of a university without books, or hospitals without medicines? " he asks. If the Chinese projects succeed, it's to be hoped they bring benefits for the Congolese people, unlike some existing arrangements with Western mining and logging companies, as John Vidal reports in Britain's Guardian newspaper. http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/1265/2007/08/27-154102-1.htm Senegal: 21) The Mt. Assirik study area is remarkable in that 55% of the habitat is open grassland, only about 37% being woodland of varying density and only 3% being more dense forest (the remaining area being made up of bamboo forest and isolated trees). Such open spaces allow some of the major Carnivora of Africa to live in close proximity to the chimpanzees; Lions (Panthera leo), Leopards (Panthera pardus), Wild Dogs (Lycaon pictus), and Spotted Hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) are all frequently seen in the area. As if having so many predators at their doorstep were not enough, the Mt. Assirik area seems to have fluctuations of food that aren't correlated with seasonal changes, and in the dry season water is the most prized of any resource. The apes are not entirely helpless in the face of such pressures, however, and they've been behaviorally adapted in some very interesting ways. Given a choice, the Mt. Assirik chimpanzees prefer to spend their time in the denser areas of forest, but shifting food resources sometimes require them to move across large expanses of open grassland in order to find nourishment. Wandering out onto the open plains alone is so dangerous as to nearly be suicidal, and the apes form large mixed groups when they have to move across the plains. During this time they are at their most vulnerable, especially since they would be unlikely to outrun any of the major predators (especially those that hunt in packs), and they are extremely alert when undertaking such a journey. What is perhaps most striking of all, hearkening back to Raymond Dart's " Savanna Hypothesis, " is the fact that the chimpanzees sometimes stand up to get a better look at their surroundings, potentially spotting predators before they get too close, although such an observation should not be taken as a sweeping vindication of Dart's ideas of human evolution. The presence of just one tree or a few trees spaced far apart doesn't help the chimpanzees much either; mothers with children and individuals spent much less time in the sparser woodland areas than in the forest, mixed groups seemingly having to issues with the woodlands. Why should this be so? Well, leopards can climb trees (and often do so to stash their kills), as well as lions, and so simply climbing a tree does not equal escape. Lone chimpanzees are far more comfortable in a habitat where they can climb a tree and move through the canopy out of reach of their assailants, something that is not possible in woodlands. http://laelaps.wordpress.com/2007/09/25/the-chimpanzees-of-mt-assirik/ Uganda: 22) Uganda, being a country of many lakes, rivers and streams; and heavy rains - always had floods. The same places where there are floods now, are the same areas I grew up around: Lango, Teso and Acholi. And even then, there were, many times, floods - some times even bigger than the one we are now witnessing there. Then, roads were flooded and villages and communities were cut off or separated - but, there was no hunger. And there wasn't the kind of misery and deprivation, that seems to be there now. Many, will say it's due to the increase in population, but then: .....experts point at El Nino and La Nina to explain the unusually heavy rainfall, deforestation and climate change have exacerbated the problem. Trees absorb the water and protect the soil from erosion. The mudslides in the Elgon region, which have already killed people and blocked roads, are a direct result of the careless felling of trees - for charcoal, wood, or to clear land for agriculture. Trees also absorb carbon dioxide emissions, released from industrial activities, vehicles and burning of bushes. The more deforestation, the more carbon dioxide accumulates in the atmosphere, causing global warming and erratic weather patterns.But there is more. Greenhouse gases also contribute to flooding, a study published by the journal Nature has found. Higher atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide reduce the ability of plants to suck water out of the ground and " breathe " out the excess. As a result, less water passes through the plant and into the air in the form of evaporation. http://omar-basawad.blogspot.com/2007/09/uganda-land-of-plenty.html 23) Uganda's Minister of State for Defense says she is shocked by accusations that soldiers in the Ugandan army have been illegally logging valuable timber from southern Sudan, and taking it back to Uganda. The allegations were made earlier this week in a detailed report by the independent Swiss-based research group, Small Arms Survey. VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu has the story from our East Africa Bureau, in Nairobi. Monday's report by the Small Arms Survey is largely based on interviews with eyewitnesses, who say that Ugandan soldiers have been clearing teak forests in southern Sudan since they arrived in the area, in March 2003. The report says [that] army officers, described as being business-minded, are supervising the illegal logging. In one forest near Uganda's border with Sudan, witnesses say, as many as 200 trees were cut down before local authorities could be notified. The trees, they say, have been hauled away by trucks to Uganda. Teak is durable wood, mainly used in shipbuilding and for manufacturing outdoor furniture. It is resistant to warping and to insect and water damage, making the wood valuable and highly prized around the world. The Ugandan soldiers are in southern Sudan taking part in Operation Iron Fist, a Sudan-approved military operation aimed at flushing out fighters from the Ugandan rebel Lord's Resistance Army, who moved their bases from northern Uganda to southern Sudan in 1994. In an interview earlier in the week with Uganda's Daily Monitor newspaper, an Ugandan intelligence officer, Colonel Charles Otema, acknowledged that the army has known about the allegations of illegal logging in Sudan for quite some time and even launched an internal investigation. Colonel Otema says [that] the investigation failed to prove any wrongdoing. http://platform.blogs.com/passionofthepresent/2007/09/ugandan-army-ac.html Brazil: 24) Set in the middle of a largely unknown jungle, one that happens to produce lots of rubber trees, the waterfall is the centrepiece of Michelin's Biodiversity Research Centre in this remote Brazilian area about 200 kilometres south of Salvador, near the Atlantic coast. When the waterfall wasn't drowning out conversations, its misty fog soon soaked visitors who ventured out on a narrow observation dock to witness its power close up. The falls marked the spot where, in late 2003, Michelin went from being a rubber producer in the Bahia province, to a community builder of the area, one of the poorest in Brazil. That's when Michelin embarked on its Ouro Verde co-operative, literally " green gold, " a project that encompassed developing new low-cost housing and medical facilities for the plantation's workers and families, furthering advanced research into a unique type of rubber tree " cancer " that is globally feared outside its native South America, and promoting scientific study of the Atlantic rain forest, the virtually unknown southern neighbour of the famed Amazon rain forest. Three-thousand hectares of the Atlantic rain forest is a natural reserve that Michelin has protected with security forces from poachers, and opened up to study by scientists from all over the world. It promises new discoveries of plant life and even small mammals, as well as its own local ecological research efforts. The plantation also is organizing some leading-edge social development efforts for both Michelin employees and others contracted to local rubber producers, many of whom are now partners with Michelin, which supports them with loan guarantees and tree-farming research. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070927.WHMICHELINBRAZIL27/TPS\ tory/Environment Peru: 25) Earlier this month, the Latin Business Chronicle published an article titled, Peru Energy Project Saves Rainforest, which credits the Camisea Project with saving 1.5 million hectares of Peruvian rainforest. The article, written by the InterAmerican Development Bank's Roger Hamilton, is reprinted from the IDB's own IDBAmerica magazine. In the article, a wide-eyed development-bureaucrat-turned-rainforest-explorer, IDB's Joseph Milewski, points to a map made by CEDIA (Center for Development of Indigenous Amazonians) showing the extensive network of reserves, protected areas, and indigenous territories that CEDIA, the local communities, and other non-governmental organizations fought for years to establish - and takes credit for it all. The inaccuracies of this article could be written off as lousy journalism if they were not so offensive to the many dedicated people who have literally protested the IDB and the Camisea companies in order to get any protection whatsoever for the Amazon. http://camiseaproject.blogspot.com/2007/09/department-of-propaganda-energy-proje\ ct.html Guyana: 26) The Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) says the announcement on Tuesday by the Ministry of Agriculture of an internal probe by the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) into under-pricing and false declarations of timber is an inadequate response to allegations of irregularities taking place in the sector. According to the human rights body in a press release yesterday, two minimum conditions for the credibility of the investigation are the temporary suspension of Forestry Commissioner James Singh and the appointment of independent investigators. In addition to under-pricing, the release said, the past decade has seen a catalogue of dubious and illegal mismanagement, including over-logging of prime species, 'land-lording' of concessions, non-payment of revenues, labour exploitation of indigenous people, reverse buy-outs disguising true ownership, preference for foreign over Guyanese labour, and destruction of national and Amerindian forest assets. The human rights body said that Singh has presided over a key statutory body over the period of years this catalogue of accusations has accumulated, while the announced probe is not the result of internal GFC zeal but external pressure from national and international agencies and activists " outraged by the plundering of Guyana's forests. " http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/article_general_news?id=56529693 South Korea: 27) Tired of the hustle and bustle of busy urban life in South Korea? Ever feel disappointed by the grey color of all the same looking buildings and apartments in Seoul? Just want to get away from it all for even just a day? Then here is a good place for relaxation. In the remote, mountainous area in Uljin, South Korea is the forest of South Korea's finest pine trees. It has a forest with Korea's most famous pine tree: The Diamond Pine Tree. The pine tree forest in Sogwang-ri or Sogwang Village in Seo-myon is stretched as large as 1,610 hectare. One hectare equals 10,000 square meters, which is the same size as 4.8 million pyeong. One pyeong is tantamount to 3.3 square meters. There are about 200 species of pine trees in the world and they mostly live in the Northern Hemisphere. Among the scores of pine trees in Korea is the Diamond Pine Tree; the best of its kind in the nation. In Sogwang-ri the age of pine trees ranges from 10 to 520 years. The average age is 150 years. The stately Diamond Pines are as tall as 35 meters. The average height is 23 meters. Their average diameter is nearly 40 cm. Some are more than one meter in diameter. Diamond Pines are the stately and straight Korean pine trees found in Gwangwon Province, Uljin and Bongwha areas of North Gyeongsang Province. The quality of the Diamond Pine trees were so good that traditionally they were favored as the materials for building palaces or for the coffins of royal families. During Japanese occupation of the Korean Peninsula (1910-45), countless numbers of Diamond Pine trees in Sogwang-ri were cut down and shipped to Japan. It is regrettable that Korea's Diamond Pine was introduced to the Western world as " Japanese Red Pine " during the colonial era. Its official name is " Pinus Densiflora Forerecta Uyeki " The pine tree is so loved by the Korean people that it represents the identity of the Korean folks.Traditionally Korean scholars and artists adored pine trees for their fortitude and integrity. Still Koreans make popular rice cake by using pine needles on the occasion of autumnal Chuseok (Full Moon) holiday. They survived by eating the inside of the pine tree skin during hard times.Folklore scholars argue " Korean culture is pine culture " by saying that Korean people are born under the pine trees, live with them and die under them.http://theseoultimes.com/ST/?url=/ST/db/read.php?idx=5697 Bangladesh: 28) After establishing themselves as locals in Naikkhangchhari, illegal Rohingya people are now setting up villages in the district town and sadar, Lama and Alikadam upazilas as administration remains oblivious of their presence. Local people alleged that due to insufficient administrative initiative to check employment of illegal foreigners, the size of Rohingya inhabitation has grown bigger day by day. Lack of administrative monitoring and easy employment have encouraged Rohingya settlement in the area. They are now infiltrating and living around the district and upazila headquarters, municipality areas, different markets and riversides, the locals said. They told The Daily Star that not less than 30 Rohingya villages have already sprouted in Lama and Alikadam upazilas and Lama municipality areas. " Employing Rohingyas has created an extra pressure on us while we are already facing unemployment, " a local said, adding that they are losing work to Rohingyas as they can be hired for lower wages. Sources said Rohingyas are very much interested in working in the reserve forest as woodchopper and timber merchants are employing them instead of local workers for long terms at lower payment. Random employing of the Rohingyas has resulted in massive felling of trees in the Toin and Matamuhuri reserve forests, which has caused deforestation in the region. Sources at the Forest Department told The Daily Star that a powerful racket of timber merchants has grown in the region with the help of terrorist groups. However, locals alleged that staffs of the upazila administration and the Forest Department are also directly involved with this deforestation activity. http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=5871 Nepal: 29) More than 80,000 hectares of forest area has been encroached in Nepal during the last 20 years. According to the Department of Forest Research and Survey (DFRS), 80,635 hectares of forest was occupied in two decades with 2,000 hectares of forest area was transferred to private ownership last year. The Department said that the encroachment had been increasing in the recent years. " The encroachment is continue. If it is not be checked soon, it will have a ominous impact on ecology, " Keshav Kanel, director general of DFRS said. The Department said that the forest in inner-Terai and Terai was the primary target of the encroachers. Dang, Banke, Bardiya, Kailai, Kanchanpur, Bara, Parsa, Chitwan, and Rautahat districts are in high risk, the source mentioned. " It is hard to control the encroachment of forestland. We retrieved 203 hectares of encroached forestland during the last year, " Kanel said. Prakash Jwala, member of parliamentary Natural Resource Committee, claimed powerful politicians were involved in deforestation in the name of rehabilitating the freed Kamaiyas and landless squatters. DFRS informed that it was going to set up four forest security posts in Kailali, Rupandehi, Kapilvastu and Rautahat districts for the conservation of forest and wild animals. The posts will be manned by forest guards and Armed Police Force (APF) personnel. " We have shortage of human resource and monetary means. We had demanded for Rs. 3.2 million, but the Ministry of Finance has not responded to our demand, " Kanel said. The government has set aside Rs. 2.31 billion for Forest Ministry in this fiscal year's budget. " Due to indifference on part of the concerned agencies, both the money as well as the forest resource are going to waste, " Ghanshyam Pandey, president of Federation of Community Forest Consumers Nepal said. Different NGOs and INGOs are spending lots of money in the name of forest conservation. However, encroachment of forest and deforestation have not stopped. The figures show that 39.7 per cent of the total landmass in the country is covered with forest. Consumers groups, Nepal Army, Armed Police Force and other organisations are working to preserve forest. http://www.gorkhapatra.org.np/content.php?nid=27643 Malaysia: 30) A businessman was ordered by Magistrate's Court here on Wednesday to pay the maximum fine of RM50,000 for being in possession of illegal logs last month. Tan Say Han 55, admitted before Magistrate Mohammad Nasruddin Mohammed to have in his custody 720 logs (1,434.40 square metres) without approval and non-payment of royalty to the Foresty Department. The offence is framed under Section 30(1)(g) of the Forest Enactment 1968, punishable under Section 30(2)(b) of the same Enactment which carries a fine not exceeding RM50,000 or six months jail on conviction. Prosecuting officer Peter Maurice Lidadun told the court that on Aug 21, this year a team of officers from the Forest Department's office in Nabawan headed by Desmond Foo Kim See conducted an inspection in Mukim Sepulut Forest Resereve. He said the officers found 720 logs in an open space area of a land but inspection showed that there was no logging activities in the area. Further investigations revealed that there was no marking on the logs that royalty had been paid. Lidadun told the court that as there was no logging activities in the area and that the timber trees in the area were still young, the forest officers suspected that the 720 logs were felled from other areas. In mitigation, Tan pleaded for leniency saying that his business was now facing a slowdown. Lidadun, however, urged the court to impose a deterrent sentence as timber theft were now becoming rampant. In the same court, two other businessmen Chong Vun Vui, 41, and Stanley Joseph Sotiar, 45, were fined RM35,000 each for being in possession of 1,686 logs without approval and royalty not paid to the Forest Department. They admitted committing the offence on Aug 21, this year at the Mukim Sepulut Fotrest Reserve. http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=52953 31) The palm oil industry is thriving and oil palm monocultures now dominate the landscape of South-East Asia. But while it grows, the industry is becoming aware that it needs to prove its sustainability and curb destructive growth, such as cutting down biodiversity-rich forest to make way for plantations — which are poor at supporting biodiversity. In November, industry officials will meet to discuss voluntary schemes to minimise biodiversity loss. And a report to be presented at the meeting delivers a clear warning: unless deforestation due to palm oil expansion stops, further biodiversity will be lost. The study analyses biodiversity within and around palm oil plantations. In Sumatra, Indonesia, for example, less than ten per cent of birds and mammals native to the area survive where palm oil plantations are located. And the report highlights how proactive management can help reduce the problem by, for example, salvaging areas of native forest within plantations. http://www.scidev.net/gateways/index.cfm?fuseaction=readitem & rgwid=2 & item=Featur\ es & itemid=651 & language=1 Indonesia: 32) Selective logging diminishes primary and old-growth forests' carbon stores, ecosystems, and biodiversity; and has no place in proposed carbon market payments for rainforest and climate protection. http://www.savetheorangutan.co.uk/?p=666 33) We are writing with deep concern regarding your involvement or potential involvement in the newly launched Hong Kong-based Abax Global Capital hedge fund which – as one of its first actions – has announced a plan to provide US$225 million in support for the controversial US$1.2 billion United Fiber System/PT. Marga Buana Bumi Mulia pulp mill in Satui, South Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. There are overwhelming and amply documented environmental, social and financial risks associated with United Fiber System's (UFS) Kalimantan projects, many of which are detailed in the memorandum and appendices accompanying this letter. According to the World Bank, as much as two-thirds of Indonesia's timber harvest appears to be " undocumented " or illegally logged and there is already massive overcapacity in the forest industry sector. Thus, new forest industry capacity is highly likely to involve illegal logging. A recently enacted Indonesian law has now defined illegal logging as a predicate offense for money-laundering charges, providing prosecutors with a new suite of tools for the scrutiny of financial backers of Indonesian timber industry operations.[ii] In addition to environmental concerns, the UFS suite of projects has triggered international attention due to the involvement of convicted felons, and Suharo-era Indonesian generals and former Indonesian first family members. It is to be expected that their participation would trigger heightened due diligence requirements under anti-money laundering laws. Public and private financial institutions including the World Bank Group, OECD bilateral export credit agencies such as Austria's Oesterreichische Kontrollbank Aktiengesellschaft (OeKB), and private sector institutions including J.P. Morgan and Deutsche Bank[iii], have refused involvement in UFS projects or have pulled out of previous arrangements with UFS. http://www.times.org/abax/abax.html World-wide: 34) For centuries it has been believed that native forest cover reduced the risk and severity of catastrophic flooding, but there has been strong scientific debate over the role of forests in flood mitigation. Forest loss is currently estimated at 13 million hectares each year, with 6 million hectares of that being primary forest previously untouched by human activities. These primary forests are considered the most biologically diverse ecosystems on the planet, but this realisation has not halted their immense rate of loss. A recent scientific paper published in the journal Global Change Biology and highlighted in Nature magazine has finally provided tangible evidence that there is a strong link between deforestation and flood risk. Using data from 56 developing nations in Central/South America, Africa and Asia, researchers from Charles Darwin University in Australia and the National University of Singapore, correlated information on flood frequency and severity with country-specific forest data. After controlling for differences in rainfall, elevation, soil moisture and degraded areas, flood risk was strongly correlated with increasing deforestation. The models constructed predicted a 4 – 28 % increase in flood frequency with only a 10% increase in deforestation. " An important additional finding was that only the amount of native forest was correlated with reductions in flood risk – plantation forests had the opposite effect " said lead investigator, Dr. Corey Bradshaw. " This has huge implications for governments of developing nations trying to save lives and reduce expenditures. Promoting native forest conservation also has the added benefits of slowing climate change by storing huge quantities of carbon, reducing wildfires, and conserving species. " The study also investigated how deforestation affects the severity of flooding. Dr. Bradshaw and his team examined flood duration as an index of damage potential, as well as direct measures such as the number of people killed and displaced by floods, and the total estimated damage measured in dollars caused by powerful flood waters. " Although the correlations were not as strong, we found real evidence that deforestation also leads to more intense and devastating floods that kill more people and damage more property " , Dr. Bradshaw explained. http://www.cdu.edu.au/newsroom/story.php?nID=2302 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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