Guest guest Posted November 1, 2007 Report Share Posted November 1, 2007 Today for you 35 new articles about earth's trees! (248th edition) Subscribe / send blank email to: earthtreenews- Weblog: http://olyecology.livejournal.com . --British Columbia: 1) Caribou agreement, 2) Coastal Forest Plan failings, 3) Economics, --Oregon: 4) Western Oregon Plan Revision, 5) Mt. Hood NF travel plan, --California: 6) Stopping Maxxam's plans, 7) SPI sell out, 8) Old-growth forest genetics? --Vermont: 9) An ecologically wounded and scarred landscape --New York: 10) Conservation logs the heart of the Adirondacks --USA: 11) Congress's sign on letter for planning rules, 12) Selling forestland for profit, 13) Ban logging on public lands, --Canada: 14) Big timber's carbon-credit fiasco, 15) Emissions in Boreal is fire-based, --UK: 16) Save Sherwood forest, buy a lottery ticket --Poland: 17) 5th Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe --Peru: 18) Malaria running rampant again due to logging and climate change --Brazil: 19) Norway to spend $24 Million on forest conservation --Nepal: 20) Deforestation in Kalika Community Forest in Jhalari --India: 21) Bauxite in Sacred Niyamgiri hills in Orissa --Kashmir: 22) Our duty to check deforestation --Taiwan: 23) International Workshop on Global Environmental Governance --SE Asia: 24) Ag expansion main cause of Mangrove loss --Papua New Guinea: 25) Forestry development at a crossroads --Sumatra: 26) Restoring peatland forests, 27) Something wrong with FSC? --Malaysia: 28) Bakun dam's water catchments being deforested --Indonesia: 20) Eco groups demonstrators perform skit, 30) Diversification events, 31) Ecolabelling Institute, --New Zealand: 32) Maori blockade Metahi Valley Road --Australia: 33) Clearing Native trees makes droughts hotter, 34) Australian Rainforest Foundation, 35) Former premier Bob Carr has returned to speak for the trees, British Columbia: 1) About the New Caribou agreement: If I were you, I wouldn't pop the champagne corks just yet. It appears that you only have commitments for broad, general PROMISES of what this Government says it will do....which we all know does not have a stellar record of doing what it says it will do...or, has an even better record of morphing promises into bad realities never before imagined. You must know you really have NOTHING because the details are yet to come. And, having spent most of my environmental career on saving caribou habitat (about 140,000 ha) all since 1991, I know that you really don't have ANYTHING until the details are written on paper and signed by all. Is there no commitment for a transparent process in the developing of the nuts and bolts of the plan? All of you had better dust off your Prayer Beads because there is no guarantee that any of YOU will be included or even have a VOTE as to what gets written in the final draft. Yet, Government already has your name, group and approval to use how it sees fit, throughout the process, for all those sound bytes on Global News and that final draft signing photo op. It really doesnt appear that any of you know anything more specific than whats stated in the key items. Isnt that something like signing on to a document such as a LRMP, celebrating the fact that there is going to be a LRMP document and how wonderful its going to be without ever having worked out the details, without facing the snowmobilers, the hunters, the timber interests, the trappers, the skiers, the ATVers, and more important, before the Govt has fessed up to what it WONT be putting in the final draft? –--Judy Stratton 2) The forest industry supports the plan, which promises regulatory changes to promote an efficient sawmilling industry around second-growth timber and an old-growth industry focusing on higher-valued products. But the plan contains nothing to protect B.C.'s forest dependent communities or old-growth forests said critics, who wondered why it took Forests Minister Rich Coleman two years to develop it. Coleman told the Vancouver Sun editorial board last May that the plan would lead to a reduction in old-growth harvesting. But Ken Wu of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee described the plan Monday as being " as brown as a clear-cut. " " They haven't made any new commitments to put restrictions on old-growth harvesting, all they are going to do is ramp up second-growth harvesting, " Wu said. Coleman said he wouldn't be surprised to see log exports from Crown lands cut in half once the new rates come into effect. " No other government has ever had, for lack of a better description, a temerity to say let's step up and do something different, " Coleman said. New Democrat forests critic Bob Simpson said the raw log tax applies only in the southern portion of the coast, where much of the harvesting is on private land. " The minister once again proves he does not have a clue what he is talking about when it comes to forestry in this province, " Simpson added. The Coastal Forest Action Plan is a 10-page document that lays out in general terms the blueprint to develop two very different forest industries on the coast: 1) An old-growth harvesting sector north of Vancouver Island where eco-system-based management governs logging practices with the wood going to value-added manufacturers who can afford the higher-priced timber. 2) A second-growth harvesting sector, on Vancouver Island and adjacent mainland where intensive forest management and shorter harvesting rotations would provide low-cost logs to new lumber mills. - It also includes a commitment to enhance the competitiveness of the coastal industry through strategies to reduce harvesting costs and increase the value of hemlock and balsam, which accounts for 60 per cent of the timber on Crown lands. http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=ad9833d4-3e89-46e\ d-9110-8c0f51bb 8a4d 3) The weak housing market in the United States and the high value of the Canadian dollar could eventually lead to less logging activity on the islands, but not for now. That's the view of Duncan Kerr, chief operating officer at Western Forest Products, which operates the largest Tree Farm Licence on Haida Gwaii. " In the very short term, there's won't be much of an effect at all, " Mr. Kerr said. However, he said that the company is facing an entirely " new world " than the one it was in before the United Steelworkers strike began in July. The Steelworkers returned to work last week, under very different market conditions. The Canadian dollar is at a 33-year-high, housing starts have plunged in the US, and construction lumber is selling at a low price, Mr. Kerr said. But for now, WFP will be logging at a normal pace, trying to resupply customers whose orders went unfilled during the three-month strike, and replenishing its inventories, as well as preparing for the traditional mid-winter slowdown. In the long term, the company will have to find new markets or manufacture new products, Mr. Kerr said. " The impact, if we do run into issues, will be early in the new year, " he said. Meanwhile, in Sandspit, Teal Jones Group forester Bryan Fraser said the company will be concentrating on timber sales in the Port Clements area as the loggers head back to work. Operations in Sandspit won't be starting up for now while Teal Jones harvests those timber sales. The high value of the Canadian dollar is not good for the entire forest industry across the province, he said. For Teal Jones operations on the islands, however, the impact will not be felt for now. " That will not affect operations here because the strike has put us so far behind our production schedule for the year, " Mr. Fraser said. " We'll be operating as much as we can. " http://www.qciobserver.com/Article.aspx?Id=2961 Oregon: 4) They're not much, as Douglas firs go. This little patch on U.S. Bureau of Land Management forest in the Coast Range west of Lorane is young — 10-year-old trees in a section that was logged from 1996 to 1998 and then replanted. But this is no standard clear-cut. Interspersed among the saplings are bigger, older trees, eight to 12 per acre, that were left behind to create a more structurally complex stand than the dense single-age trees on nearby privately owned timberlands. Because of the older trees, this neck of BLM woods has the potential to become suitable habitat for old-growth-loving northern spotted owls more quickly than if all the trees had been cut, said Richard Hardt, a BLM forest ecologist. Yet the BLM soon may move away from this type of compromise between logging and wildlife habitat. In its new Western Oregon forest management strategy, in draft form and expected to be finalized by December 2008, the BLM calls for clear-cutting — leaving no live trees behind in areas designated for timber harvest. Hardt was on the team that developed the Western Oregon Plan Revision that could almost triple logging in coming years on the BLM's 2.2 million acres. The forests can handle that increase, Hardt said. " We're not mortgaging the future at all by doing this, " he said. " We've modeled it out for 400 years. " http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/dt.cms.support.viewStory.cls?cid=1165\ 9 & sid=1 & fid=1 5) Aside from Halloween, the most important thing happening this week is the travel plan comment deadline! Make sure you let the Forest Service know by Thursday, November 1st that you value quiet recreation opportunities, improved salmon and wildlife habitat, and clean drinking watersheds. The Forest Service's current approach to travel planning is ignoring these larger issues and only focusing on creating six new areas for ATVers, motorbikers and off-road vehicle users totaling 50,000 acres or 4.5% of the forest! For the past few months, Bark has worked with a coalition and diverse group of concerned citizens to start creating a vision that will lead to a future for Mt. Hood National Forest that balances long-term ecosystem health with diverse opportunities for world-class recreation. The best way to achieve this vision is for the Forest Service to include an alternative proposal that simultaneously addresses the impacts of off-highway vehicle (OHV) use AND the crumbling road system on ecosystem health and all recreation access. Send a letter to the Forest Service and let them know that you care about the future of the forest go to Bark's travel plan campaign: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1810/t/3801/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=15904 California: 6) On October 9th the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to impose a temporary 45-day suspension on residential development on Timber Production Zoned (TPZ) lands, as an urgent response to Maxxam's plans to develop 22,000 acres of Pacific Lumber's timberland into private 'kingdoms' with trophy homes, golf courses and a lodge. Maxxam was able to propose its project specifically because of Humboldt County's historically lax interpretation of State law regarding residential development on TPZ lands. The interim suspension had a dramatic effect on the bankruptcy court in Texas, clearly communicating that Maxxam's plan was not in the interest of the local community. Now the Supervisors are seeking to restore people's property rights, but in a way that is consistent with State law. The Supervisors have directed staff to bring forward an ordinance that would require either an administrative permit or a Conditional Use Permit for homesite development on TPZ lands. Under the policies being proposed, anyone with legitimate needs to build a house on their timberland would be able to get an over-the-counter administrative permit with a minimum of hassle, and no discretionary review. Anyone whose proposal does not meet the defined terms for the administrative permit would still be able to seek a Conditional Use Permi at the discretion of the Board of Supervisors. This approach would weed out the speculators and 'bad actors,' with a minimum of inconvenience to those with legitimate needs. If approved, the new ordinance would not take effect for 30 days. The interim suspension will expire on November 22nd, meaning that there could be a gap of up to a month which would allow Maxxam to move its plan forward, and would allow a filing frenzy by speculators who would take advantage of the County's lax policies. To prevent this from happening, the Supervisors will need another 4/5 vote to extend the interim suspension, just until the new TPZ ordinance takes effect. http://northcoastwaternetwork.org/ 7) Thousands of acres of forest throughout the Sierra Nevada will go to the highest bidder next month in an auction that has become a regular occurrence for Sierra Pacific Industries, California's largest private landowner. Among the nearly 5,000 acres the logging company has put up for sale this year is a 338-acre tract of Nevada County land along the upper reaches of the South Yuba River west of Truckee. Other parcels include properties near the Feather River north of Sierra Valley. The properties represent a minute fraction of the timber company's 1.7 million acres of ownership in the state. The company said it chose the parcels because they don't fit into the logging giant's future plans. " We have a series of these properties that are isolated, " said company spokesman Mark Pawlicki. " They don't sit near where our mills are. " The Nevada County property is close to recreation and far removed from other timber land, said Pawlicki, making it a natural candidate for the auction block. And, despite a variable California real estate market, auctioneers say demand for the fairly remote, wild and undeveloped land is still high. John Rosenthal, the president of Realty Marketing Northwest, a Portland, Oregon-based company that has handled property auctions for Sierra Pacific Industries over the last 16 years, said he expects multiple bids to come in by the Nov. 14 deadline, promising a competitive price for the land. " There's still a strong demand for rural properties, " Rosenthal said. The collection of 18 California properties for sale run up and down the spine of the Sierra Nevada mountain range as well as on the North Coast — from Tuolomne County in the south to Trinity County in the north. " This is probably one of the larger [auctions] we've offered in terms of number of tracts, " Rosenthal said. All but one of the properties are designated as " Timber Production Zone " — a zoning that exempts timber harvesters from paying taxes on the property's real estate potential while it is used for logging. It typically takes 10 years to convert a property from " Timber Production Zone " to another zoning, without paying back taxes — a conversion that a county's board of supervisors must approve. Rosenthal said the properties generate interest from people who want to extract the timber, and also from " someone who has made money in the stock market and wants to put it into some dirt. " http://www.sierrasun.com/article/20071028/NEWS/71028006/-1/rss01 8) David Millarch, co-founder of the Champion Tree Project, said: " We can rebuild our old-growth forests when we use old-growth forest genetics. " The group will grow the cloned trees until they reach two to three feet in height, then plant them in various locations in California's coastal region. The group will ensure genetic diversity by planting new growth with 80% seedlings and 20% clones. The group will create the clones by sending climbers high into the trees. The climbers will collect tissue samples from the tips of branches, then ship the samples to a lab where they will be raised using one of four different growth techniques. Some have questioned whether cloning is the proper method to restore the forests. Ruskin Hartley, executive director of Save the Redwoods in San Francisco, says that the group's methods are unnecessary and inappropriate. Hartley believes cloning could muddy the gene pool due to regional differences in the species. He also points out that the forests naturally reproduce using clones already, and that many of the forests damaged by logging are now beginning to show naturally grown young redwoods. According to Hartley, " The only way that you can really go about restoring the ancient forest is waiting a really long time—that's the essence of the oldness of these forests. " http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/?p=399 Vermont: 9) Despite the continuous forest cover, when I walk through these New England woodlands, I see an ecologically wounded and scarred landscape. One obvious difference is a loss of structural diversity that is characteristic of unlogged forests. In Vermont's relatively young forest stands there is an obvious deficiency of big trees. In pre-settlement forests, disturbance was rare, and usually consisted of the death and/or toppling of individual tree or small groups of trees. Even the clearing of forests by Native Americans was concentrated in small patches near their villages. As a consequence the vast majority of forested stands had older trees. The trees that dominate Vermont's forests today are mere sticks and ghosts of the past glory. Ironically the largest individual trees I see in Vermont and elsewhere in New England now grace the yards of old farm houses or urban parks where logging and/or farming hasn't occurred for centuries. Other indications of a sick, though perhaps not mortally wounded landscape, includes the lack of big old snags in the forest, limited numbers of large fallen logs on the forest floor, reduced micro topo relief created when large tree root wads have been pulled from the ground when trees fall in storms to create a pit and mound topography, and a general shortage of big logs in streams. Most Vermonters now believe that their forests are " recovered " . In fact, some are worried that the forests are declining in health. I recently attended one public meeting convened to discuss the future of the state's woodlands where person after person advocated more management of the forests. Finally one man stood up and began to express his views. He started by asserting that Vermont's forests were facing an " old growth crisis " . Ah, I thought to myself, finally someone who understands the real problem. But he disappointed me when he went on to rant that the real problem with Vermont's forests is that the trees were getting too old. Too many trees, he said, were " overmature " and " decadent " . http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/wild_forests_and_landscape_amnesia/C38/L38/ New York: 10) Late in the year, when the campers are gone but the hunters have not yet arrived, timber trucks rule Boreas Road in the heart of the Adirondacks, barging through the morning mists with 70,000 pounds of fresh-cut fir and spruce strapped to their backs. " That's one of ours, " said Michael T. Carr, a 44-year-old bear of a man driving a green S.U.V. headed west on Boreas Road as one of the timber trucks barreled eastward. That is a jarring statement coming from Mr. Carr, who is not a lumber man, or paper company executive, but executive director of the Adirondack chapter of the Nature Conservancy, one of the world's biggest environmental groups and, since June, the owner of 161,000 acres of highly prized Adirondack wild lands. The conservancy entered the timber business when it purchased the land from Finch, Pruyn & Company, which had held it since the Civil War. As part of that $110 million deal, the conservancy agreed to continue logging to supply wood to the Finch Paper mill in Glens Falls, N.Y., for the next 20 years. The Finch, Pruyn (pronounced Prine) lands, considered the last remaining large privately owned parcels in Adirondack Park, are an ecological marvel, containing 144 miles of river, 70 lakes and ponds, more than 80 mountains and a vast unbroken wilderness that only loggers and a few hunters have ever seen. The property also contains unmatched natural features like the blue ledges of the Hudson River Gorge, OK Slip Falls and Boreas Pond, with its stunning views of the Adirondack high peaks, which naturalists have dreamed of protecting for decades. Environmentalists cheered when the conservancy swooped in to buy the Finch holdings, but a stark reality is now setting in. Not all 161,000 acres will be preserved as public wilderness. The terms of the pulp supply agreement are confidential, but foresters with knowledge of the deal said the conservancy could cut at least 65,000 tons of pulpwood trees a year for the mill — which is about 15 percent less than Finch cut in the Adirondacks last year. In addition, maples and other hardwoods could be cut under strict certified forest management guidelines. The conservancy expects eventually to sell much of the land to the state. But to pay the enormous debt it incurred and the $1 million in annual property taxes, the group will, in the near term, have to sell some portion of the property to private owners. While those buyers will not be allowed to build on the land, they will be able to keep out the public.http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/29/nyregion/29adirondacks.html?_r=1 & ref=ny\ region & oref=sl ogin USA: 11) On October 19, sixty-eight Members of the US House of Representatives sent a letter to Undersecretary Mark Rey expressing their serious concerns with the 2007 proposed National Forest Service Land Management Planning Rule and asked that the proposed rule be withdrawn. The forest planning rule would determine how the 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands develop their individual forest plans to manage activities ranging from habitat protection to recreation and logging. At the heart of the Representatives' objections was the premise that the individual plans of each national forest ought to be subject to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements, which would ensure that the public has a say in the way our national lands are managed. The letter states, " the public involvement and environmental analysis requirements of NEPA are critical to providing balanced use of our federal forest lands. " Thank You Calls Needed Click here http://www.americanlands.org/documents/1193153645_National%20Forest%20System%20L\ and%20Manageme nt%20Planning%20Rule%20Letter.pdf to see if your Member of Congress signed on to this important letter opposing the Bush administration's proposed forest planning regulations. If so, please call your Representative and thank him or her for signing on to the letter supporting strong national forest planning. You can reach your Member of Congress at 202-224-3121. americanlandsalliance 12) The panel, " Identifying Investment Opportunities and Increasing Returns in U.S. Timber Investments, " will be held on Monday, Oct. 29, 9:45 AM, as part of the 3rd Timberland Investing World Summit being held this week at the Westin New York at Times Square. The white paper, " Positive Dynamics for U.S. Timberland Investing, " is available to the public from Forestweb at no charge. According to panel moderator and white paper author Reid Carter, managing partner of Brookfield Asset Management, " There is a projected capital inflow of more than $4 billion into the timberlands asset class in the next three to five years, representing a ten percent increase in the $35-$40 billion currently invested in that class. Impetus for timberland investments is occurring despite dramatic declines in U.S. housing starts, which suggests that investors are looking at the long-term value. Timberland investments preserve capital while acting as an inflation hedge, and provide long-term, predicable and sustainable cash flows. " Monday''s panel will address historical cycles and patterns in U.S. timber markets, sourcing fair value opportunities for pooled and commingled funds in a seller''s market, due diligence for investments in a changing market, and balancing long and short-term investment expectations. Panelists include Thomas Urban, president and CEO, Cellfor; Chris Zinkhan, managing director, The Forestland Group; Dick Molpus, president, Molpus Woodland Group; and Mike Clutter, dean, The Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia. Carter leads the Timberlands Investment Management Organization for Brookfield Asset Management, one of North America''s largest Timber Investment Management Organizations (TIMO), with 2.5 million acres of high quality timberlands in North and South America representing assets in excess of $3 billion. The Carter white paper, " Positive Dynamics for U.S. Timberlands Investing, " is available at http://www.forestweb.com - http://usstock.jrj.com.cn/news/2007-10-29/000002848726.html 13) For my prospectus I will argue that with all of the environmental problems happening today that logging in the national forests should be banned. I plan to research the information provided by the National Forest service and also the opposite view of the logging companies. I plan on showing that the benefits of preserving or even expanding our national forests far outweigh the rewards. With pollution at an all time high and threats of global warming on the rise the need for national forest is huge. Carbon Dioxide is the main cause of global warming and the natural plant material that grows in theses national forests uses carbon dioxide to grow, they will suck up this harmful gas and help reduce the green house effect. Most people have gone to or enjoyed one of the national parks in America. If logging is allowed in these forests it will not only effect air quality but water and soil quality. All are factors in the US's environmental health. The national parks have been a symbol of America's beauty for years harvesting wood from them to turn a profit would be a crime. There are millions of people who go out ad enjoy nature every year in the national forests and by logging them you significantly decrease their beauty. Logging is not a short-term process; trees that are old enough to produce wood have to be almost 50 years old before they are any good. Assuming that the logging company re-plants trees it will take almost half a century to get it back to the way it was before. Logging companies argue that by properly logging the forests it can help prevent forest fires by lessening the availability of wood to burn. This is a very useful tool and can help preserve many fires but some argue that by doing this they are stopping nature's process. With forest fire comes rebirth and can actually be very beneficial to a forest. Forest fires leave rich nutrients on the ground and allow for overgrown forests to be rejuvenated. But with logging it leaves behind old roads and marks of civilization in a place that was once wild. I will be writing this paper as a web site aimed at getting support for the prevention of logging in national forests. http://frankpa.livejournal.com/5847.html Canada: 14) " We're not planning to do it by paying someone else to give us permission to pollute. So we're not buying offsets by asking some guy in Ecuador to plant a tree for us or trying to hide the carbon dioxide in a hole in the ground. . . . We're actually going to be carbon neutral intrinsic to our industry. " But despite the challenges of going further, Lazar said the industry wants to do more since it's the right thing to do. " Our view is if you wait for regulation, you're just never going to get the job done, " he said. " All governments -- Liberals, Conservatives, provincial governments -- have been making aggressive noises about this stuff for 15 years, while we've been making reductions. " The industry is sometimes criticized by environmental groups that have questioned whether some logging practices are destroying Canadian forests, but it has formed a new partnership with the World Wildlife Fund Canada to help it achieve its new climate change goal. Lorne Johnson, the Ottawa bureau director for WWF Canada, said his group is endorsing the new industry initiative, calling it the first announcement of its kind for an entire sector. But he stressed that the new partnership wasn't an endorsement of unsustainable logging practices. " What we're talking about are the emissions from manufacturing, the emissions from the products that end up in landfills, from transportation, etc. from the sector, " he said. " Of course, some people in the public may think [we're saying that] they're all green and everything's good. That would be unfortunate to reach that conclusion. We're not making that claim. What we're saying is they are making a leadership commitment on greenhouse gas emissions and climate change as a sector and we're supporting it. " Johnson said he doesn't expect an industry such as the energy-intensive oilsands industry in Alberta to eliminate their carbon footprint by 2015, but he believes they should follow the forest products companies by stretching to meet targets beyond their comfort zone. http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=07fe3a92-f528-4dd\ 6-8943-43c23724 935b 15) Forest ecologists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are studying how environmental factors such as forest fires and climate influence carbon levels in this forest system. In the new study, Gower and his colleagues used a computer model to simulate the carbon balance of one million square kilometers of the Canadian forest over the past 60 years, to determine the relative impacts of climate and disturbance by wildfire. The group found that the effects of carbon dioxide and climate - temperature and precipitation - varied from year to year but generally balanced out over time and area. Instead, forest fires during the 60-year period had the greatest direct impact on carbon emissions from the system. " Climate change is what's causing the fire changes. They're very tightly coupled systems. " The researchers believe that fires shift the carbon balance in multiple ways. Burning organic matter quickly releases large amounts of carbon dioxide. After a fire, loss of the forest canopy can allow more sun to reach and warm the ground, which may speed decomposition and carbon dioxide emission from the soil. If the soil warms enough to melt underlying permafrost, even more stored carbon may be unleashed. A trend toward hotter and drier conditions is likely to exacerbate the effects of fire by increasing the frequency, intensity, and size of burns. " All it takes is a low snowpack year and a dry summer, " Gower says. " With a few lightning strikes, it's a tinderbox. " Historically, scientists believe the boreal forest has acted as a carbon sink, absorbing more atmospheric carbon dioxide than it releases, Gower says. Their model now suggests that, over recent decades, the forest has become a smaller sink and may actually be shifting toward becoming a carbon source. " The soil is the major source, the plants are the major sink, and how those two interplay over the life of a stand really determines whether the boreal forest is a sink or a source of carbon, " he says. http://www.physorg.com/news113059204.html UK: 16) Even Hollywood actor Brian Blessed is backing the campaign for the ancient woodland - the home of Robin Hood - to win the Big Lottery Fund windfall. The forest is home to Europe's largest collection of ancient oaks, some of which are thought to have stood for about 1,000 years. And it is considered as unique and ecologically important as the rainforests because it is home to several endangered species which are found only in this kind of rare habitat. But it is currently under threat and at the current rate of loss, the ancient oaks could be lost forever by 2050. However, the project Sherwood: The Living Legend aims to protect and revitalise the forest for future generations over hundreds of years to come. The development is expected to generate £20m a year for the local economy and create 700 jobs. It would see 250,000 trees planted over an area the size of 400 football pitches. Pockets of woodland, heathland and wetland across the county would be reattached to bring the forest back to its former glory. It would also create better access to 250km of walking, riding and cycling routes - 95km of which will be new - and establish community schemes celebrating the links of 50 local villages to the forest. It will also build an iconic 60ft-tall tree-like visitor centre with interactive educational facilities, treetop walkways and a restaurant overlooking the canopy. http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=253122 & command=newPage Poland: 17) " Polish Market " talks to Professor Jan Szyszko, Minister for the Environment, about forest management in Poland. Q: Poland is the host of the 5th Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe. What are the aims of the conference and what hopes do you attach to the debate of government ministers who will visit Warsaw? A: For me as a forester it is very important that such an important conference takes place in Poland. It is an expression of respect for the work of generations of Polish foresters, and for the principles of forest management applied in Poland. Polish forestry management is regarded as a model by a number of countries, which make use of Polish experiences of how to sustain the quality of forests and their biodiversity, while at the same time maintaining high levels of production of top-quality timber. The main focus of the conference is the role of forests in the world's balanced economic development, given the growing demand for energy from renewable sources and counteracting adverse climate change. Shortages of drinking water and water quality will also be given attention. In general, the idea is to highlight the role of forests in shaping the living conditions of contemporary societies and their influence on the future of the planet. Poland is an active player in world politics in this respect, because it can rely on its vast experience and knowledge. http://www.polishmarket.com.pl/index.php?p=/current_issue/ & a=15357 Peru: 18) " I feel bad, very bad, pain all over my body, fever, high fever, shudders, " he says. " I have malaria; this is the 17th time so far. I don't know what to do any more. " The mosquito-borne illness has returned to the many villages only accessible by boat in the Peruvian Amazon, inflicting on the inhabitants days of fever, permanent anaemia and - in the worst cases - death. In Peru, malaria was almost eradicated 40 years ago, but this year 64,000 cases have been registered in the country, half in the Amazon region. It is thought there are many more unregistered cases deep within the massive and humid rainforest, where health authorities find it almost impossible to gain access. Climate change and deforestation are behind the return of malaria in the Peruvian Amazon. Off-season rain is altering the pattern of mosquito development, leaving puddles containing the lethal larvae in areas where malaria had been nonexistent. And deforestation is having a similar effect, forcing the mosquito to move to new areas and spreading the disease to places where people are not aware of the disease, where villagers lack the means to get hold of mosquito nets and preventive medicines, and where health authorities have no presence. " Every time we fight the mosquito, we feel we are fighting against a much more evolved and adaptable one, one that can easily migrate to areas that were clean of malaria before and that are very hard to access, " said Mr Pacheco. http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2201460,00.html Brazil: 19) Norway said Tuesday it would donate 130 million kroner (17 million euros, 24 million dollars) to help protect the Amazon rainforest, the deforestation of which is leading to rising greenhouse gas emissions. Norwegian Environment and Development Aid Minister Erik Solheim announced the donation, to be paid over three years, following talks in Oslo with his Brazilian counterpart Marina Silva. " The felling and burning of tropical forests is a significant cause of greenhouse gases, " Solheim said in a statement. " The actions necessary to put an end to deforestation will be an important theme during the upcoming climate talks in Bali in December, " he added. Deforestation currently accounts for 20 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions. The Bali conference, to be held from December 3 to 14, is tasked with setting a negotiation roadmap for a new deal on deepening emissions cuts when commitments run out under the Kyoto Protocol in 2012. Norway will contribute 60 million kroner to two projects run by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and an additional 70 million kroner to a special rain forest fund. According to Brazilian authorities, 27,429 square kilometers of Amazon rain forest were destroyed between August 2003 and July 2004. http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jtWX2HXzD-VF_zU8a74yZjQxfNnA Nepal: 20) The deforestation taking place in the name of landless people in Kalika Community Forest in Jhalari VDC of Kanchanpur district for the past one year, has not stopped yet. Locals of Jhalari, Dekhatabhuli and Krishnapur, have intensified cutting down trees saying themselves as landless people, said Members of the Community Forest. Five hundred huts have been constructed after cutting down trees in 700 hectares of forest area belonging to the community forest and national forest. Locals are cutting down trees with the help of workers, said Harka Bahadur Air, Secretary of Kalika Community Forest. After cutting down trees, with the help of smugglers, the trees are being exported to India, locals said. Some people, who are involved in the deforestation also possess land ownership certificate distributed by the Commission for Landless. However, the place has not been mentioned in the certificates. District Survey Office informed that the office does not have the maps of the land mentioned in the certificates. Some persons are also selling the land by photocopying the certificates, said Dilli Bahadur Chaudhari, Chairman of the Community Forest. Warrants have been issued to arrest 15 persons, who are involved in the deforestation, said Devesh Mani Tripathi, an officer of the District Forest Office. Although the warrants have been issued, none have been arrested yet. The district-based seven parties have decided to cancel the land ownership certificates, said Members of the Community Forest. http://www.gorkhapatra.org.np/content.php?nid=29310 India: 21) India's Supreme Court set new conditions on Britain's Vedanta Resources and its Indian unit on Friday before allowing it to mine bauxite in sacred, forested hills in the east of the country. Vedanta wants to dig open-cast mines in the Niyamgiri hills in Orissa state to feed an alumina refinery it has already built in the area, as part of an US$800 million project expected initially to produce 1 million tonnes of alumina per year. At an earlier hearing, Vedanta had promised to invest 1.12 billion rupees (US$28.4 million) to develop the poor region, but a three-judge bench said it wanted this commitment to be made by the firm's Indian unit, Sterlite Industries. " What is Vedanta?, " the bench said. " Vedanta is not listed in India. So let Sterlite give an undertaking. " Thousands of tribal people say the mine will destroy hills they consider sacred, force them from their homes and destroy their livelihoods, which are based on farming millet, hunting and collecting fruits and spices from the forests. Environmentalists say the open-cast mine would also wreck the rich biodiversity of the remote hills and disrupt key water sources that supply springs and streams in the area and feed two rivers that irrigate large areas of farmland. The court asked Sterlite to pay five percent of its annual profits from mining throughout India to the state government to be ploughed into developing the region. It also asked the company to deposit 500 million rupees with the state government, and specify how many local people would be employed in the project. http://forests.org/articles/reader.asp?linkid=86857 Kashmir: 22) Minister for Agriculture and Cooperatives Abdul Aziz Zargar has said that rapid degradation of forests had caused environmental hazard and recession of water resources. He was speaking at a 3-day conference on Environmental and Livelihood Security through Resources Management of northern states held at Chandigarh Monday. The conference was inaugurated by Minister of Agriculture Government of Punjab Sucha Singh Longah and attended by Agriculture Minister of six northern states, President Indian Agriculture Soil and Water Conservation, Dehradoon and scientists from various parts of the country. Zargar said Jammu and Kashmir had become a victim of un-realistic exploitation of natural resources particularly forest wealth during turmoil. He said standing trees in most of the forest compartments had been cut by unscrupulous person and smugglers causing environmental imbalance in the region. The Minister said that rise in temperature due to deforestation had affected glacier wealth leading to less availability of water for agriculture purposes causing reduction of food grain production in the state. He said it is our duty to check deforestation as it is the main cause of environmental hazard and scarcity of water. He said our government had taken several steps to save the forests and ensure livelihood security to the common masses. He said non-availability of water to the agriculture fields had reduced our agriculture production which had affected the economy of farmers. http://www.greaterkashmir.com/full_story.asp?Date=30_10_2007 & ItemID=19 & cat=21 Taiwan: 23) Several academics called Monday for significant action to be taken in Taiwan in terms of environmental protection, urging the public to " establish a new relationship with the forests. " The academics made the appeal on the first day of a two-day 2007 International Workshop on Global Environmental Governance being held at the Transworld Institute of Technology in Yunlin, southern Taiwan. Chang Tze-chien and Chen Tai-an, both professors at the institute, have initiated an action plan to protect rainforests in Indonesia and organized the conference to call international attention to the excessive deforestation taking place in Southeast Asia. Chang said they are promoting international cooperation in this regard and are planning concrete actions. Cheng Hsien-yiou, dean of the College of Environmental Sciences and Ecology at the National University of Tainan, southern Taiwan, stressed that governments, businesses and regular citizens around the world have paid a heavy price for the blind and excessive development that has occurred at the expense of forests. He called for the establishment of a new relationship between people and the forests to break the " impasse that exists between humanity and nature. " Cheng suggested that countries around the world put the brakes on excessive deforestation and over-consumption, devote more resources to the study of forests, and encourage members of local communities to participate in forest administration and the establishment of the rule of law. The conference is focusing on global experience sharing on environmental administration, with several reports being released on the situation of the forests in Sumatra, Indonesia, the preservation of endangered species of birds, the possibility of Taiwan-Indonesia technology cooperation in organic agriculture, as well as green consumption. http://www.taiwanheadlines.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=93061 & CtNode=39 SE Asia: 24) Agricultural expansion rather than shrimp farming is the major factor responsible for the destruction of tropical mangrove forests in the tsunami-impacted regions of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka, according to a new study published in the Journal of Biogeography. Giri and other researchers used more than 750 Landsat satellite images to identify the remaining mangrove forests of the region, to quantify the rates and causes of change from 1975 to 2005, and to identify deforestation 'hot spots,'. Landsat is the world's longest continuously acquired collection of space-based land remote sensing data. The study found that the major factors responsible for mangrove deforestation in the study area include agriculture encroachment (81%), aquaculture (12%), and urban development (2%). However, shrimp farming is on the rise in Indonesia and Thailand. Time-series analysis of historical data from the Landsat archive also suggests that the tsunami-impacted region lost 12% of the mangrove forests from 1975 to 2005, much lower than estimated mangrove loss in Asia, which ranges from 25 to 50%. According to Giri and the other researchers, mangrove loss varies according to country and time period. Their study found that the annual rate of deforestation was highest in Burma (~1%) and lowest in Sri Lanka (0.1%) from 1975 to 2005. In contrast, mangrove forests in India and Bangladesh remained unchanged or gained a small percentage during the period. Similarly, net deforestation peaked at 137,000 ha during 1990-2000, increasing from 97,000 ha during 1975-1990 and declining to 14,000 ha during 2000-2005. Data and information generated from this study can be used to identify potential rehabilitation sites, set conservation priorities, and quantify the role of mangrove forests in saving lives and property from natural disasters such as the Asian tsunami. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-10/bpl-tio103007.php Papua New Guinea: 25) PAPUA New Guinea's approach towards forestry development is at the crossroads unless foresters adjust themselves to the changing trends in the domestic and global timber trade and climate change. National Forest Service division manager field services Ben Taupa sounded this warning yesterday at the opening of the PNG Forest Authority New Guinea Islands regional workshop in Kokopo, East New Britain. He said given the changing trends in the domestic and global timber trade and climate change, the way foresters were approaching forestry development in PNG would need to change. " Trading of forest products in the last 50 years will not be the same in the next 50 years and foresters must accustom themselves with these changing trends and initiate changes in our forest policies, legislation, standards and practices. " Mr Taupa said foresters must be sensitive to the changing behaviours of landowners, the environmental issues and impacts that arise as a result of timber harvesting. Landowners are better aware and educated than in the last 40 to 50 years. " In recent times, the forestry sector had come under very heavy scrutiny by non-governmental organisations and international friends. They claim most if not all the logging operations in PNG were illegal, " he said. Mr Taupa said last year, the Forest Authority, with the assistance of the International Timber Trading Organisation, held a seminar to clarify the question of legality because of the regional and international negative perception of PNG's forestry sector. He said internationally, the timber markets and trade were changing in response to customers needs and climatic change. This could be seen in the trends with traditional log markets like Japan and South Korea, which were now low takers of PNG logs. He said the 2007-2012 corporate plan that was recently launched by the Forestry Minister was for the PNGFA to be in tune with the changing Government development policies and aspirations. Mr Taupa said in response the National Government's 2005-2010 MTDS to improve the economy, the Forest Authority had committed to 10 impact projects which to date, had signed eight. http://www.thenational.com.pg/103007/Nation%2017.htm Sumatra: 26) Our volunteers and local forest communities have halted the destruction of an area of swamp forest in Sumatra, Indonesia. They are building five dams across three-metre deep canals used in logging and draining peatland for conversion into a commercial palm oil plantation. Destroying the forest there would not only breach Indonesian regulations for forest protection, and an Indonesia's Presidential decree, but would also lead to the release of large quantities of greenhouse gases. Thick layers of peat underlie most of Indonesia's swamp forest. Over time, the peat layer has locked up millions of tonnes of carbon. Once forests are cleared, peat swamps are drained and decompose to release the stored carbon as carbon dioxide. Forests are often also burned, prior to the planting of palm oil saplings, further compounding the climate problem. Such is the scale of forest destruction across Indonesia that the huge amounts of greenhouse gases being emitted have made the country into the world's third largest climate polluter, behind the US and China. http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/indonesian-forest-destruction291007 27) " If they [APP] can get an FSC accreditation, there must be something wrong with the system, " Nazir Foead, director of the Indonesian-species program at the Geneva-based World Wildlife Fund, told The Wall Street Journal. SGS, the auditor paid by APP to win certification for the eco-label, claims that the moves will hurt the FSC's client base. An inquiry by The Wall Street Journal prompted the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), an environmental body that runs a widely accepted " green " labeling system for forestry products, to effectively revoke certification for a Singapore-based Asia Pulp & Paper Co. (APP) project on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The admission by the FSC, which has come under fire of late from environmentalists for relaxing its certification standards to the point at which APP could qualify for the eco-label despite a poor environmental record, threatens to undermine the credibility of its labeling scheme. " Companies are free-riding on our name, " Andre de Freitas, head of operations at the FSC, told The Wall Street Journal. " I feel bad about it. " Environmentalists charge that APP has destroyed a Delaware-size area of Sumatran rainforest that provides critical habitat for endangered orangutans, tigers and elephants. Several large paper purchasers, including Ricoh and Office Depot, canceled contracts with APP after word leaked about their activities on Sumatra. APP has disputed the accusations. In response to inquiries from the newspaper, the FSC this month proposed stricter rules for certification. The regulations would ban any company known to be destroying rainforests or engaging in illegal logging from using the FSC's label. http://news.mongabay.com/2007/1030-fsc.html Malaysia: 28) While the tussle for the energy continues, one concern has been ignored: the power-generating potential of the RM8bil hydroelectric facility. Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) warned that Bakun's viability has been compromised as its catchment has degraded substantially. Some 320,000ha of forest has been carved out for oil palm and forest plantations, potentially accelerating siltation of the Balui river basin and jeopardising the dam capacity. Penang-based SAM revealed in June that the state had issued three plantation licences within the catchment between 1999 and 2002, and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) reports for the projects were approved between 2000 and 2003. One licensee, Shin Yang Forest Plantation (155,930ha), has begun planting oil palm. The other two, Bahau-Linau Forest Plantation (108,235ha) and Merirai-Balui Forest Plantation (55,860ha), are owned by RH Forest Corporation, a subsidiary of logging giant Rimbunan Hijau, and will establish pulp and wood tree monocultures. " This is clearly in breach of prudent land-use policy within the catchment area, as recommended by the Bakun EIA. We have written to relevant authorities on this matter but have not gotten an answer, " said SAM council member Mohideen Abdul Kader. He added that the government has broken its promise to gazette 1.5million ha of the catchment to ensure the feasibility of the dam.The Bakun EIA recommended controlled logging to reduce sediment from reaching the reservoir and to secure unpolluted water for the turbines. A source familiar with the dam development cautioned that with changing rainfall patterns linked to global warming, there might not be enough water during dry seasons to maintain the volume for electricity generation. . http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2007/10/30/lifefocus/19134807 & se\ c=lifefocus Indonesia: 29) Indonesian environmental groups on Sunday performed a skit depicting disappearing rainforests and Sumatran tigers, and urged Taiwanese to do their bit to protect the rainforests and help save endangered species from extinction. Sumatra environmental activist Bhiksu Nyanaprathama told a press conference at the Tien Cultural Foundation in Taipei that, " rainforests host the world's most extensive planetary gene pool, " adding that, " they are also crucial for regulating weather. " Losing vast tracts of rainforest will lead to a decrease in genetic diversity, which will in turn increase the rate of extinction of all life on Earth, he warned. The group is asking Taiwan to commit technology and human resources for their cause. Indonesia is home to the third largest rainforest in the world, but it is losing the equivalent of 10 football fields per minute because of global warming and extensive logging, Nyanaprathama said, adding that the country is also losing 30 to 40 Sumatran tigers per year. At this rate, Sumatra tigers will be extinct within the next 10 years, he said. Rainforests are characterized as having annual rainfalls between 1,750mm to 2,000mm. The largest tropical rainforests are found in Central and South America, equatorial Africa and Southeast Asia. Nyanaprathama, founder and chairman of the Bodhicitta Mandala Foundation (BMF), is on a campaign to save a 4,000 hectare rainforest in Sandean, in the south of Sumatra. http://www.taiwanheadlines.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=92842 & CtNode=39 30) Any economic plan regarding avoided deforestation must consider the diversification effects of avoided deforestation and its ability to mitigate risk while improving returns for the country's economy. At this point, for this article, I will define avoided deforestation as an energy product that functions as a proxy for the following equation: Growth in GDP yields growth in energy yields growth in carbon emissions. The limiting factor is the carbon emissions which need to decrease over time to prevent the most damaging effects of global warming, such as Indonesia losing more than 2,000 islands plus drought and disease. Thus we need to mitigate and adapt to anthropogenic global warming increases, so markets will seek out carbon sinks that can function as an effective hedge to increasing use of carbon-based fuels. Everyone wants gross domestic product to grow. Everyone needs more energy to drive the GDP growth of their local economies. Indonesia's natural environment contains one of the wealthiest and least explored possible global hedges, which is the means to protect against a financial loss. This is avoided deforestation. http://www.thejakartapost.com/misc/PrinterFriendly.asp 31) The Indonesian Ecolabelling Institute (LEI) said it was working toward better managing the increased demand for ecolabel-certified timber products from Indonesia. Indonesia's furniture and handicraft group (Asmindo) and furniture maker PT Setyamitra agreed on the weekend via a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to work together with LEI. By signing the MOU, all groups have committed to preserve the environment, market products made from certified forests and to improve the quality of timber products using available new technologies. LEI said it would ensure Setyamitra would supply high-quality seedlings for reforestation programs and would use modern wood-turning technologies. " The MOU shows our commitment to boosting the growth of certified community forests, " LEI executive director Taufiq Alimi said in a press statement. " We are confident this cooperation and a certification program on community forests will mean we are able to protect community forests, improve the community's welfare and improve our furniture exports, " Taufiq said. LEI had also helped find enterprises in Wonogiri, Central Java, to partner Setyamitra in its new focus on ecolabel-certified, export-quality products, he said. The furniture company said it would open a marketing office in Yogyakarta and a furniture outlet in Kemang, South Jakarta. Asmindo chairman Ambar Tjahjono said his association had been interested in Setyamitra's green program because it was committed to use timber from well-managed industrial forests. " We want all furniture companies and those using forest products as raw materials to follow Setyamitra's example in preserving the environment and rejecting the use of illegal logging, " he said. Alimi said Indonesia's forested areas had declined to 90 million hectares. He said only 1.1 million hectares were managed in accordance with the sustainable development program. " We expect to certify community forests along the southern part of Java, " he said. " And we are pushing certification for customary forests in Sui Utik village, Kapuas Hulu in West Kalimantan. " There are some major forestry firms currently in the process of certification. " Hopefully, some 3 million hectares of forest will get LEI certification by 2009 " , he said. http://www.thejakartapost.com/misc/PrinterFriendly.asp New Zealand: 32) Eastern Bay of Plenty Maori have declared the Metahi Valley Road into the Ureweras is closed to the public. It is partly a fight over ownership of the land with a logging company. Beyond the road are camping grounds at Te Urewera National Park and a multi-million dollar forestry block, but from the day after tomorrow, it's strictly off limits. Tuhoe hapu Omuriwaka say Matahi Valley Road will be blocked to all except residents, emergency services and authorised possum hunters. They have done it before to protest their claim to the land, but this time it is a pointed response to the recent police raids. ''There is a national emergency going on here there's terrorist up in the hills so we want to safeguard the public over the Christmas holidays so there's no danger to them,'' Omuriwaka spokesman Riki Orupe told 3 News. Omuriwaka own a stretch of land along Matahi Valley Road. The problem is, a 300 metre public road runs through that land. Whakatane Mayor Colin Holmes says the hapu wants to use it as leverage. ''We have consistently said we will either buy that piece of land or we'll pay for an easement or something like that but in actual fact they don't want a solution.'' The council says the roadblock is a major blow to development in the region. The Matariki Forestry Consortium, part-owned by American timber giant Rayonier, has postponed harvesting logs indefinitely. Police are meeting with Omuriwaka this week to see if they can find a way forward acceptable to all. http://www.tv3.co.nz/News/Story/tabid/209/articleID/38046/Default.aspx Australia: 33) Extensive clearing of native trees is making Australian droughts hotter and is an under-recognised factor in climate change, research shows. The study by researchers from the University of Queensland and Queensland's Department of Natural Resources and Water shows that land clearing made the 2002-3 drought in eastern Australia 2°C hotter. The research, published online in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, also found average summer rainfall has decreased by between 4-12% in eastern Australia and by 4-8% in southwest Western Australia because of land clearing. These are historically the regions in Australia that have been most extensively cleared of native vegetation. Dr Clive McAlpine, of the university's Centre for Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Science, says about 13% of the Australian continent has been cleared of native vegetation since European settlement in 1788. However, in many agricultural areas in eastern Australia and southwest Western Australia more than 90% of native vegetation has been cleared. " This study is showing Australian climate is sensitive to land clearing, " he says. " And our findings highlight that it is too simplistic to attribute climate change purely to greenhouse gases. " Protection and restoration of Australia's native vegetation needs to be a critical consideration in mitigating climate change. " http://abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2007/2073363.htm 34) The Australian Rainforest Foundation - which uses state and commonwealth grants to buy and preserve privately owned blocks in the region - is seeking $1.3 million in compensation to hand over " high-conservation " land to the neighbouring Daintree National Park. Queensland Environment Minister Andrew McNamara yesterday said the ARF should just give the land to the national park instead of attempting to " double dip " into taxpayer monies to improve its bottom line. " The foundation now wants taxpayers to pay again for the same properties through this immoral compensation claim, " he told The Australian. " This makes a joke of the Australian Rainforest Foundation's purported conservation philosophy, and puts at risk protection of Daintree rainforest. " The land, neighbouring the World Heritage-listed national park, is among more than 800 titles opened up for tourism and housing in the 1970s. Since 2002, the ARF has received more than $6 million in state and commonwealth funds to buy 171ha of land in the Daintree region. The ARF operates under a " revolving land " funding agreement, in which it buys and then merges neighbouring freehold blocks, with the aim of cutting development by reducing the number of owners and putting conservation covenants on the consolidated titles. http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22662946-2,00.html 35) FORMER premier Bob Carr has returned from the political wilderness to protect his environmental legacy by helping to save forests in the state's southeast from logging. Mr Carr this week went bushwalking with environmental activists from The Wilderness Society (TWS) through the forests of Deua National Park and Dampier State Forest near Moruya on the NSW South Coast. Hugely proud of the 350 national parks gazetted during his 10-year tenure as premier, Mr Carr has agreed to help TWS protect 18,000ha of " icon " forests he, as premier, closed to logging. The areas have now begun to be cleared under Premier Morris Iemma's leadership. Mr Carr, accompanied on the walk by The Daily Telegraph, would not directly criticise his successor's environmental credentials, but is set to help TWS in its mission. " (I'll) consider their submission and, if convinced, will take it to the State Government, " he said during the walk. He also admitted he did not want to see his work saving important bushland undone. " No, I don't, " he said. The move is a slap in the face for Mr Iemma, who is under fire over pitiful public hospital conditions and for going soft on minor crime. Prior to the 2003 NSW election, Mr Carr placed an informal moratorium on logging across 24,000ha of old growth and high conservation-value forests in the southeast. In 2004, he agreed to protect 6000ha of that at Monga, Murramarang and Deua. Now TWS wants the remaining 18,000ha safeguarded, but 13 of the 66 compartments encompassing the forest areas have this year been placed on the logging schedule. http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22666937-5006009,00.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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