251 - Earth's Tree News

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Today for you 39 new articles about earth's trees! (251st edition)

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Weblog: http://olyecology.livejournal.com

 

--British Columbia: 1) Bear Mtn. Treesit continues, 2) Koksilah

River's ancient forest, 3) Coastal Forest Action Plan fails, 4) More

on Real Estate scandal, 5) Industry vanishing,

--Washington: 6) The Entrepreneurial Forester? 7) Big state land

exchange approved,

--Oregon: 8) Measure 49 wins! 9) Save Your World's goal, 10) Forest

Climate event,

--California: 11) Plumas fire restoration? 12) 4% of remaining

redwoods isn't much, 13) Epic's 30th anniversary, 14) 500 people set

up a treesit on UCSC campus,

--New York: 15) Taking Tree photos

--Virginia: 16) Will Hemlocks survive in Shenandoah?

--Maryland: 17) More strict forest protection laws needed

--USA: 18) School-based science curricula

--UK: 19) Large-scale felling in Strathspey woodland, 20) Ancient wood

ceremonies,

--Portugal: 21) 12th century laws protect cork forests

--Romania: 22) Deforestation and urban development a threat to bears

--South America: 23) Tribes using GPS tracking and Google Earth

--Brazil: 24) Selective logging threats go undetected, 25) 40 Syngenta

gunmen kill and injure landless workers, 26) Set a fire to get rid of

your neighbor, 27) Science fires,

--India: 28) Meetings show support for forest dwellers

--Madagascar: 29) Introduced Lemurs surviving in Betampona Reserve

--Papua New Guinea: 30) 24 new species need protection, 31) Save the

last forests,

--Sumatra: 32) 50,000 people live in 15 year old town in Sumatran jungle

--Malaysia: 33) Save the mangroves

--Indonesia: 34) Frances J. Seymour, 35) Palm oil is a Climate Bomb,

36) Greenpeace report on corporate palm oil users, 37) A string of

controversial acquittals, 38) Forest Defenders Camp Satellite Station,

--Australia: 39) Link between land-clearing and climate change

 

 

British Columbia:

 

1) Local environmentalists aren't going to give up the fight over a

new interchange in langford, which is slated to begin construction in

the new year. A lively protest took place over the noon hour in

downtown Victoria -- more than one hundred people showing their

disgust with plans for the Spencer road interchange -- more commonly

known as the bear mountain interchange. They rallied outside the

downtown Victoria offices of the B.C. ministry of transportation, next

to the central library branch. Activist grandmother Betty Krawczyk

whipped up the crowd, saying her efforts to block a highway project at

Eagleridge bluffs on the mainland is similar to the Langford

situation. " Everything that has to do with equality, that has to do

with love for the environment, for each other, " Krawczyk says, " every

institution that we have has been put there by somebody before us who

loves enough to commit civil disobedience. " Krawczyk has spent many

months in jail for her own civil disobedience on plenty of fronts --

and Tuesday's crowd seems to indicate many young people are willing to

follow her lead. " They're not going to put everybody in jail, " she

says, " not now. not when the Olympics eye is on this area. "

Construction on the $32-million interchange is set to begin by January

-- and is scheduled for completion in 2010. The city of Langford is on

record as saying the project will proceed in the new year, no matter

how much protest occurs. There have been people perched in the trees

near the proposed interchange site since April, as a show of support

for the anti-development movement.

http://www.cfax1070.com/newsstory.php?newsId=3735

 

2) A spectacular area of old-growth forest near Shawnigan Lake is a

step closer to becoming a park. The Koksilah River ancient forest is

under consideration for next year's list of areas the province would

like to acquire and protect. However, supporters of preserving the

old-growth stands of Douglas fir are warning they're not out of the

woods. " It's certainly a step forward, but that doesn't mean it will

definitely become park, " said Bill Turner of the Land Conservancy,

which is interested in helping acquire the property for use as a park.

The property, which belongs to TimberWest, would have to be bought or

acquired through a land swap and Turner said the province's budget for

land acquisition is small. TimberWest representative Steve Lorimer

said the company has received expressions of interest from the

province, but nothing has been decided. " We've had some people come

out and take a look at the area and that's where it stands, " Lorimer

said. " There's nothing definitive in terms of any further process, " he

said. The giant trees first came into the spotlight in 1989, when

fallers with Fletcher Challenge, a defunct multinational corporation

from New Zealand, refused to cut the massive trees, which include an

81-metre Douglas fir and a 71-metre grand fir.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=407c3a04-9aa\

a-414d-97d7-b

536bb555c09

 

3) North Coast MLA Gary Coons is taking the axe to the provincial

government's new " Coastal Forest Action Plan " , released last week by

Forests and Range Minister Rich Coleman. Mr. Coons said the plan does

nothing to help residents of the Charlottes or northern BC, and will

not rebuild the manufacturing sector in this region. He was most

critical of the plan's loosening of log export rules in the north, and

he tied the growing amount of log exports to mill closures and job

losses on the north coast over the past decade. " Log exports exchange

short-term gain for long-term pain, " Mr. Coons said. " The expansion of

log exports to the Queen Charlottes coupled with the continuation of

old-growth logging will lead to the devastation of our vulnerable

coastal forests. This plan once again offers little hope for workers

and communities and we need to press for the necessary transition

programs and funding for both workers and communities. " The plan's new

rules for log exports from crown land, which take effect on Feb. 1,

divide BC into a northern region and a southern region, with the two

regions treated very differently. In the southern zone, rates are

going up, and will be linked to lumber export charges. In the northern

zone, by contrast, the government says it will extend the existing

orders-in-council that allow up to 35 percent of harvested logs to be

exported, and the export fees on these logs will be lower than in the

south - just 5 percent, compared to up to 20 percent in the south

(southern rates differ according to species). The export of cedar logs

from crown land is currently banned and that ban will be maintained,

the government said, because cedar is a high-value, unique species.

The Ministry of Forests says log exports play " an important role in

the coastal economy by providing jobs in the logging and

transportation sectors. " The northern and southern zones are treated

differently because in the north, the ministry says, logging costs are

higher and there are few manufacturing facilities. Skeena-Bulkley

Valley MP Nathan Cullen said he was having a hard time understanding

the government's logic. " The idea that raw log exports are somehow a

good idea is perplexing to me, " he said. " Increasing raw log exports

is increasing the export of jobs. "

http://www.qciobserver.com/Article.aspx?Id=2977

 

 

4) This started in 2004. Weyerhaeuser asked the government to take

90,000 hectares out of its tree farm licence. Ministry staff told Mike

de Jong, then the forest minister, it was a bad idea. The company had

already been compensated for including the land; the tougher

environmental and replanting standards were worth continuing; and the

agreement ensured the land stayed as forest. Communities saw this as

an important social contract, staff reported. And if the government

let the company take the land out of the tree farm licence, it would

have to negotiate compensation, staff said, and that would be tricky.

But de Jong over-ruled the ministry's non-political staff and said OK

to the company's request. He got nothing in compensation for

taxpayers. Within months Weyerhaeuser began negotiating its sale to

Brascan, which agreed to pay $1.4 billion. Much of that value was due

to De Jong's decision, which meant a $500-million windfall for the

company. Brascan executives said that getting the lands out of the

tree farm licence meant an extra $18 million to $24 million a year in

profits for the company, now called TimberWest. And for the first

time, the company could sell the land for development instead of being

obligated to keep it as timber to ensure the future of the Island

forest industry. That meant a huge increase in the land's value. The

company now says it has identified 38,000 hectares it wants to take

out of forest use. They're worth $300 million to $450 million as is,

" with a significantly higher valuation potentially achievable through

value-added development activities. " De Jong could have said no;

nothing bad would have happened and the company had no case for

demanding the gift. And, more importantly, freeing up 70,000 acres for

sale and development, including waterfront west of Victoria used by

surfers, campers and tourists and land adjacent to provincial parks.

It's a gold mine for the company. And the government got nothing for

the public - not money, investment commitments or a single acre

protected as a park. Coleman didn't consult anyone - politicians or

public - from any of the communities. It was astonishingly arrogant. A

developer has already bought the Jordan River property. He won't

commit to public access to the surfing beach and camping area.

http://willcocks.blogspot.com/2007/11/liberals-betray-public-with-forest-land.ht\

ml

 

5) There was a time that growing up in communities nestled along the

Fraser River meant that a person's first " real " job was in some way

connected to the forest industry. Pulp and sawmills dotted the

landscape, and the wages to be earned in them were impressive. I

remember my first " real " job was at Scott Paper in New Westminster,

and I received the rather eye-popping wage of $7.11 an hour (this was

the mid-'70s, of course), which made me one of the wealthiest

teenagers in my social orbit. Back then, times were booming in B.C.'s

forest industry. It was still a giant sector, still carrying lofty

memories of pioneers and tycoons of the woods, such as H.R. MacMillan

and Gordon Gibson. But now, those days seem very distant indeed. The

industry is hemorrhaging jobs, and few young people gravitate to the

forest industry for even seasonal work, let alone as a possible

lifelong career. Every week brings new evidence of this seismic shift.

Just last week, Forests Minister Rich Coleman released his

long-awaited Coastal Forest Action Plan, which some had hoped would

lay out a plan to breathe some life into the moribund industry. But it

was only nine pages long, and few of its main points are expected to

have any dramatic impact. There will be a gradual shift to harvesting

second-growth forests, a reduction in raw log exports in the south

part of the province and encouragement for harvesting hardwood species

instead of softwood stands.

http://www.canada.com/burnabynow/news/community/story.html?id=b31df6ad-391c-4ff7\

-ac71-b67183b3

643b & k=16434

 

Washington:

 

6) Welcome to The Entrepreneurial Forester! Each issue of The

Entrepreneurial Forester provides information on current forestry

news, innovative forest management, certification, value-added

processing, niche marketing, small business case studies, and other

useful resources. If you have newsworthy items or information

resources you would like to share with other landowners through The

Entrepreneurial Forester, please submit them to: kirk. For

subscription information or to , please see the bottom of

the page. For more information on Northwest Certified Forestry, please

visit our website at: www.nwcertified.org.

 

7) Huge blocks of prime hunting and wildlife habitat land in Yakima

and Kittitas counties went from checkerboard ownership to state

control with the approval of a land swap between an Idaho-based timber

company and the state Department of Natural Resources. The land

exchange, believed to be the biggest trade of private land for

state-managed land in state history, will put into government

ownership 82,548 acres previously owned by Western Pacific Timber. The

timber company will receive 20,970 acres -- appraised at just over $56

million, virtually the same amount as the larger land mass going to

the state -- in smaller parcels spaced throughout 15 counties. The

exchange, approved Tuesday by the state Board of Natural Resources,

helps clear the path for another much-anticipated land swap between

the DNR and the state Department of Fish and Wildlife that would

involve large chunks of the L.T. Murray and Wenas wildlife areas.

" Those two exchanges are stand-alones, but this certainly provides a

keystone for our continued efforts to swap with Fish and Wildlife, "

said DNR assistant regional manager George Shelton. The swap with

Western Pacific, he added, helps " fill in a lot of the holes " of

previously private ownership between the DNR and state wildlife lands

being considered for the next exchange.

http://yakima-herald.com/page/dis/290245743874438

 

Oregon:

 

8) I was pleased to hear that a significant majority of Oregonians

voted to protect farm and forest land from development. Measure 49 was

a fix for the faulty Measure 37 passed by voters in 2004 As the Yes on

49 Campaign stated in thier release today, " Oregon voters have said

loudly and clearly that they think farmland, forests and areas where

groundwater is limited should be protected from inappropriate

development. At the same time, Oregonians have clarified rules to

allow longtime landowners to develop a few homes on these lands " . The

passage of 49 is a good thing for those that care about the future of

Oregon. Those that will be dismayed by the results of yesterday's

election care little about the fate of lands that make our state

special and more about how much money they can make by selling off and

destroying our natural resources. Today is a good day for Oregon. And

although this is a victory, opponents of land preservation will return

again with more schemes to destroy all what makes Oregon special. One

thing is for sure, we will all have to stay diligent in opposing those

who seek to wreck Oregon's farmland, forests and groundwater

http://dharmavision.typepad.com/blog/2007/11/oregonians-vo-1.html

 

 

9) Save Your World™, the first company in the United States to launch

a personal care product line infused with organic yerba maté and

organic aloe vera, has saved 120,000 acres of rainforest from logging

and other destructive development for one year in Guyana, South

America. The company, whose " green " business model is One Product =

One Acre of Rainforest Saved for One Year™, is helping to save the

rainforest through a unique and innovative leasing program, one of the

first of its kind in the world. Through contributions and product

sales, Save Your World™ helps pay the annual royalties and fees

required to maintain Conservation International's agreement with the

Guyana Forestry Commission to protect the rainforest in its pristine

state. Save Your World's goal is to help preserve 200,000 acres of

Guyana rainforest via this renewable 30-year agreement – a

conservation concession rather than a timber concession. " Save Your

World is committed to protecting our world's natural resources, "

explains Scott Cecil, President of Save Your World. The South American

rainforest project is on the world's oldest geological rock formation

and is one of the richest areas for plant and animal biodiversity.

Rainforests contain about half the planet's 5 to 10 million plant and

animal species, and harbor 70% (2000) or more of the plants identified

as having anti-cancer characteristics by the U.S. National Cancer

Institute. For additional details about Save Your World™, Save Your

Skin™, Save Your Hair™, Save Your Rainforest™, pure Organic Yerba Maté

and pure Organic Aloe Vera, visit http://www.saveyourworld.com.

 

 

10) Burning fossil fuels - petroleum, coal and natural gas - is not

the only cause of global warming. Clearcutting forests also disrupts

the climate. Join expert scientists and environmental leaders for a

groundbreaking one day conference to bring together citizens concerned

about climate change and about forest protection. Presentations from

this conference will be posted on this website for local, bioregional

and global distribution. Background information on these connections

will continue to be added to increase public awareness of the need to

protect native forests and stop clearcutting to protect the climate.

http://www.forestclimate.org

 

 

California:

 

11) The roads into the Moonlight Fire area are busy with logging

trucks as employees with the Plumas National Forest and special

recruits work to prevent more damage to the heavily impacted

landscape. September's fire burned nearly 65,000 acres - small

compared to the total acres lost in Southern California's run of

October fires. But the Moonlight Fire affected some of the forest's

major watersheds. These are watersheds that could impact the state's

water resources if they're not immediately treated to prevent further

damage and assist nature's recovery timeline. More than 24,800 acres

or 36 percent of the burn area is classified as severe, and another

23,800 acres sustained modern severity. Hoffman explained that fire

severity refers to what's happened to the soil. Fire intensity refers

to the amount of vegetation destroyed or impacted. Without taking the

appropriate emergency steps, further damage to the impacted areas, as

well as the threat of flooding and erosion, would take place. Rehab

work on this burn is all interrelated. If the watershed isn't fixed,

the land erodes, roads wash out and the area doesn't stand a chance of

recovering quickly, or in some cases the scars remain for generations.

One of the early jobs in the process addresses the 140 miles of

fireline. In efforts to contain the fire, dozer lines were etched

across the landscape. Of the total number of acres burned during the

Moonlight Fire, more than 18,000 acres were on private land. Sierra

Pacific Industries and Beaty and Associates own the largest chucks of

land in that area. Taylor said that the state makes it relatively

easy, regulation wise, for private landowners to begin salvage

operations. The many trucks found on area highways and roads are

coming down from the private property loaded with logs, most blackened

from the fire. http://www.plumasnews.com/news_story.edi?sid=5646

 

12) In the 1970's, only 15% of the Californian redwood forest's

original range remained, thanks to logging and development. Today, a

shocking 4% is all that remains! And the logging continues! Sometimes

it's hard to visualize a figure like 4%. Here are some examples that

illustrate the magnitude of what has happened to our redwood forest:

1) The estimated 2007 US population is 303,111,027. If there were 4%

remaining, that would be only 12,124,441. That would be like only the

populations of New York City and Los Angeles remaining! 2) There are

30 Major League Baseball teams, each with a 25-man active roster.

That's 750 players. If only 4% remained, the league would consist of:

The Boston Red Sox, and the 5-man starting rotation of the Colorado

Rockies. 3) That Grande (16 oz.) cup of Starbucks coffee you rely on

every morning? Well, sorry, but you're getting just 2 teaspoons now!

Drink up. 4) During the daytime, you can expect to catch a subway in

New York City approximately once every 5 minutes. Uh oh…if there's

only 4% of trains remaining, you're going to have to wait 2 hours for

the next train! 5) Eggs now come in cartons of 1/2 egg. 6) The phrase

24/7/365 now only applies from January 1st through 14th. Sorry, you're

going to have to call Dell next year to get your laptop fixed. 7) Good

golly, the average adult penis size is less than a quarter of an inch!

--- Well, that was shocking, wasn't it? Then it should be equally

shocking that so much old-growth redwood forest has disappeared! And

what about that drop from 15% remaining to 4% remaining since the

70's? That happened during my lifetime! Some of these trees are over

2,000 years old! http://www.kevindanenberg.com/blog/archives/36

 

13) EPIC's work began with resistance to aerial spraying of herbicides

by timber companies, and then expanded to aid valiant Whale Gulch

residents in defense of the Sally Bell Grove, which led to the

establishment of the Sinkyone State Wilderness and the Inter-Tribal

Sinkyone Wilderness. EPIC defended Headwaters Forest, Owl Creek Grove

and other ancient forests on Pacific Lumber land with many lawsuits

and mass demonstrations in the 1990s; the organization is currently a

member of the Creditors' Committee overseeing the PL bankruptcy

proceedings. Here EPIC acts to help secure the interests of all

creditors-a position we view as entirely consistent with our long

advocacy of sustainable operations for PL. The 30th annual membership

meeting will begin at 5:30 PM, followed at 7:00 by an awards banquet

created by Chef René Pineda of Garberville's " House of B " . A slide

show of historical photos will be shared. Our 6th annual Sempervirens

award will be given to the original co-founders of EPIC, Ruthanne

Cecil and Marylee Bytheriver, and Robert Sutherland (Woods) who

incorporated EPIC. They all helped to shape the course of EPIC's work

in the early years, which led to our precedent-setting litigation and

environmental advocacy programs that continue today.

http://www.wildcalifornia.org

 

14) A demonstration against UC Santa Cruz's new Biomedical Sciences

Facility and growth plans began peacefully this morning, but turned

violent around 12:30 p.m., shutting down some upper campus roads and

prompting a response from area law enforcement agencies. At least one

person was arrested as activists hoisted platforms into two redwood

trees on Science Hill this morning. Onlookers said officers used

pepper spray and nightsticks on protesters to prevent them from taking

down barricades around the trees. Officers from UCSC, Santa Cruz

police, the Sheriff's Office tactical unit, State Parks and a private

security company worked to control the crowd, which had about 500

people at its peak, according to onlookers. Details on how many people

arrested were not immediately available. Emergency dispatchers said an

ambulance was staged on campus, but had not been called for use by 2

p.m. About 200-300 protesters remained at the protest site and some

were helping the tree sitters ferry gear and supplies into their

arboreal posts, according to onlookers. The demonstration began around

11 a.m. with about 200 people rallying at the Bay Tree Plaza - the

center campus.Tree sitters said in a press release prior to the

demonstration that they are opposed to the planned addition of 4,500

full-time students and the development of 120 acres of upper campus

forest. UCSC plans to develop the occupied site into a new Biomedical

Sciences Facility, the first project under the university's new

Long-Range Development Plan.

http://www.mercurynews.com/education/ci_7396673?nclick_check=1

 

New York:

 

15) I've always been fascinated by trees, the way their arms dance

through the air and the way their leaves dapple the light on the

ground. I'm particularily drawn to them, especially when I have a

camera in hand. There is so much movement in their steady poses and

each tree has a life of its own. In the spring they are beautiful and

green and in the fall, majestic and full of colors. I love this time

of year in the northeast, if only for going to see the leaves turn

colors. Unfortunately, NYC has been lacking with colorful leaves this

fall, most of the trees in central park are still very much green. But

I had luck this weekend in finding a few trees that stood out,

shockingly beautiful in their vivid oranges and yellows. Then winter

comes and their stark, naked silhouettes stand out in stark contrast

to the snow on the ground. My pictures today are from my day spent in

the park yesterday and most, ironically, focus on the many different

trees I found while wandering. You can see the marathon going on in

the background of some of the shots, an event I haven't before

witnessed in ny and was glad to see in person. And when I say in

person? I literally ran across 5th ave, across all the runners because

I found myself on the wrong side of the marathon than my apartment. I

hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I did! It was such a beautiful

weekend.

http://notthelifeiordered.wordpress.com/2007/11/05/in-the-land-of-trees/

 

Virginia:

 

16) " The long-term prognosis for eastern hemlock survival in

Shenandoah is uncertain, " says park biologist and Forest Pest Manager,

Rolf Gubler. " At this point, there are no large contiguous blocks of

hemlocks left in the park. " With more than 274 cultivars of eastern

hemlock in use in landscaping, the adelgid is affecting more than the

park's hemlocks. Hemlocks are not the only trees in eastern forests

that are under attack by foreign invaders. The European gypsy moth

(Lymantria dispar L.), which has been plaguing eastern forests since

it first arrived in 1869, likes to eat the leaves of a variety of

trees but is particularly fond of oaks, especially white oaks. White

oaks are an important part of oak-hickory forests-which have the

largest range of any of the Eastern Deciduous Forest communities. On

its way to our area from the Midwest is yet another insect pest: the

emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire). An Asian cousin of

our native ash borer, this small, bright-green beetle targets ash

trees exclusively. Its larva feed under the bark, disrupting the

tree's nutrient and water transport system. Infestations of this pest

have destroyed 20 million ash trees so far. Gubler projects the

infestation will probably arrive in our area within five to ten years.

A website set up by several states fighting this pest

(www.StopTheBeetle.info)warns, " If it is not contained and eradicated,

the impact of the emerald ash borer on the ash resource in North

America will be similar to that of chestnut blight and Dutch elm

disease, which devastated woodland and urban forests in the 20th

century. " Forest pests thrive when tree health s already compromised

by other stressors-from other biological assaults to air pollution,

acid rain, and increasing cycles of drought. Drought can be a

particular problem, since many of the species that help control pests

are more susceptible to drought than the pests are. The loss of any

species of tree can mean the loss of other species that depend on it,

which eventually can lead to the collapse of the entire ecosystem.

http://www.timescommunity.com/site/tab4.cfm?newsid=19000417 & BRD=2553 & PAG=461 & dep\

t_id=506087 & rfi

=6

 

Maryland:

 

17) Our remaining forests are disappearing — not just here in

Montgomery County but all over the world. Nothing can replace forests

and trees for holding soil and soaking up stormwater. Their canopies

cool streams, shield the ground, and disperse rainwater. Now we know

forests also sequester carbon, making them the foundation of the

Earth's defense against climate change. When a property owner cut

55,000 square feet of forest on a steep slope overlooking the C & O

Canal in 2004, it created outrage and then a growing awareness of the

inadequacies in our current Forest Conservation Law. In response to

the public outcry, U.S. Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) set up a

Task Force that recommended to a receptive County Council that there

was a need to add criminal penalties to the FCL as well as much higher

fines. Legislation was passed in December 2005 that made it possible

to send someone to jail for illegally cutting forest. But that was the

easy part — it didn't require opening the codified version of the FCL.

Since then, recognition that the law is not fulfilling its stated

intent to preserve forest has given rise to two separate efforts to

amend the law. Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission

(M-NCPPC) has just completed a revision that smoothes the

implementation process but does little to incorporate major changes.

http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=90110 & paper=70 & cat=132

 

USA:

 

18) School-based science curricula have been developed to teach

children about the prospects of global warming, the destruction of the

rainforest, and the movement of pollutants through the food web while

at the same time they do not teach children about the natural wonders

in their own backyards. Children as young as first grade are taught

about rainforest ecology and the loss of habitat in which they learn

that in the time between recess and lunch " tens of thousands of acres

of rainforest will be cut down in order to make way for fast-food

'hamburgerable' cattle, " as Sobel puts it. There are several problems

with this approach to teaching about the environment. To begin with,

small children need hands-on instruction in science. When a person has

been on the planet only six or seven years, he has had little chance

to experience the vacant lot next door or the woods outside of town,

let alone be required to worry about the end of nature. Most of them,

in North America at least, have never seen a rainforest and they have

little idea of where one is or what it might look like. Secondly, the

science of ecology requires the student to understand a large number

of complex biological interactions that happen at the organismal,

community and ecosytem levels. These interactions between species, and

between species and the environment require a basic understanding of

non-biological concepts such as energy, and laws of conservation. And

you can't see or touch these interactions. Although there are probably

a few, highly gifted first and second graders who could imagine these

large ideas, most little children would be better off without them for

a while longer. Does this mean little children cannot learn about

ecology and the environment? Not at all. But why not go local? For one

thing, it is right in front of us. Take the kids out and show them how

the bees and butterflies pollinate flowers, which develop into fruits

that we can eat.

http://ragamuffinstudies.blogspot.com/2007/11/loss-of-awe-and-ecophobia.html

 

UK:

 

19) A LARGE-SCALE felling operation that will affect a number of

popular footpaths in the vicinity is to start later this week in a

popular Strathspey woodland. Non-native tree species are to be removed

from Beachen Wood which forms part of the Glenbeg Estate, owned by

Fergus and Scilla Laing, near Grantown. Mr Laing said that there would

be some disruption for walkers and other users of the woods but added

that the planned regeneration of native aspen would improve the

habitat for local fauna and flora in the longer term. The operation

which will take place throughout the winter will entail felling most

of the non-native conifers in the eastern and southern parts of the

woodland amounting to 18.7 hectares of felling and 3.9 hectares of

Scots pine thinning. Mr Laing said: " There will be some localised

disruption especially during the harvesting phase. In order to

safeguard the public, a 'rolling' closure system will be used where

only the sections specifically relating to the harvesting site will be

temporarily closed. " When it is safe to do so the path will be

reopened. All paths will be open when harvesting machinery is not

operating and any damage to footpaths will be reinstated when

harvesting is complete. " Significant areas of Beachen Wood have been

identified as Ancient Semi Natural Woodland (ASNW) and are home to red

squirrels and several species of bats. The wood contains one of the

largest remnants of aspen dominated woodland in Britain; and with its

hazel understorey could well be unique according to Mr Laing. It is

the only know location of Ectatia christieii, a species of fly that

breeds specifically in rotting aspen wood. Mr Laing said: " Aspen, as

native woodland is ten times more scarce than Caledonian pine and

Beachen Wood is part of the largest single aspen dominated woodland in

Britain.

http://www.strathspey-herald.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/2114/Footpaths_to_'fel\

l'_force.html

 

20) The site consisted of an outer ring comprising fifty-five small

split oak trunks forming a roughly circular enclosure around 7m by 6m.

Rather than being placed in individual holes, the timbers had been

arranged around a circular construction trench. Their split sides

faced inwards and their bark faced outwards (with one exception where

the opposite is the case). One of the trunks on the south western side

had a narrow Y fork in it, permitting access to the central area.

Another post had been placed outside this entrance, which would have

prevented anyone from seeing inside. The timbers were set in ground to

a depth of 1m from the contemporary surface although how far they

originally extended upwards is not known. In the centre of the ring

was a large inverted oak stump. It is possible to date the creation of

Seahenge very accurately through dendrochronology since the rings on

the trees can be correlated with other overlapping tree ring

variations; the date of felling the oaks was found to have been in the

spring or summer of 2049 BC. The upturned central tree stump was 167

years old when it was felled. Between 16 and 26 different trees were

used in building the monument with palynological evidence suggesting

they came from nearby woodland. Analysis of axe marks on the timbers

indicates that at least 51 different axes were used in working the

timbers. The largest axe was used to cut the central tree and not any

of the other timbers. The excavators interpret each unique axe as

representing a different individual, and thus consider it likely that

Seahenge was a community endeavour. Holes in the central stump

indicate that it was pulled onto site by rope. Pieces of the rope,

made from honeysuckle stems, were found under the stump.The site was

discovered because of the actions of the tide on Holme Dunes, which is

gradually wearing away the peat layers to reveal the landscapes laid

down many thousands of years ago. In this instance the wooden posts

and stump had been preserved in the peat and were revealed at low

tides. In the early Bronze Age, the site was probably a saltmarsh

environment, between the sea and the forest before the ocean

encroached to form the modern coastline.

http://islesproject.com/2007/11/07/2049bce-contoversy-of-heritage-seahenge/

 

Portugal:

 

 

21) In Portugal itself, national and regional laws – some dating back

to the 12th century - protect the cork forests and forbid the

unauthorised selling of cork. The laws impose heavy fines for damage

or improper management of cork trees and lay down strict rules

governing their stripping and maintenance. A tree may not be stripped

until it has reached a minimum of twenty five years of age, a diameter

of at least 70 cm and a height of 130 cm. They also state that bark

cannot be stripped above a height equal to twice the width of the

trunk for the first stripping. It is absolutely forbidden to harvest

cork more frequently than once in every nine years, even if an

individual tree is ready to be harvested before this time. The result

of all these is that Portugal's cork forests are on the increase, with

72% of the current stand consisting of growing saplings and young

trees. The cork industry is truly unique for its eco-efficiency.

Through the entire manufacturing process cork byproducts, from the

manufacture of cork stoppers, are transformed into other useful

products like floor panels, paving, decorative articles for the home

and office, art and design materials, shoe soles, footwear, gaskets

for the motor industry and many more. However, despite the variety of

cork products, it is the bottle stoppers that drive the cork industry;

they represent almost 70% of the cork market value.

http://www.wine.co.za/news/news.aspx?NEWSID=10949 & Source=News

 

Romania:

 

22) Deforestation and urban development in Romania is threatening the

survival of the country's bears, a local wildlife expert has warned.

Christina Lapis has spent her life trying to protect Romania's bear

population. She explained to the ABC news website that recent reports

that bears were leaving forests and foraging for food in towns and

villages indicated that the creatures were under threat. She is

currently working in the central city of Brasov. " For the bears in

Brasov I should prefer to take them in another place to release them

and to let them live free, " she told the site. " It's very stressful

for them, they are coming for food. " They find here easy food, but for

this they pay with their behaviour - now they are used [to it] and

they have a different behaviour. " Earlier this year, a rare Slovenian

bear, reintroduced into the wild in 2006 as part of an EU conservation

scheme, was killed in a car crash in France.

http://www.iar.org.uk/globalnews/articles/2007/11/deforestation_forces_bears_int\

o_contact_with_

people_212.html

 

 

South America:

 

23) Amazonian tribes have been using high tech devices like GPS

tracking and Google Earth in an effort to reclaim and defend parts of

the rainforest. And here we thought brown people just banged on rocks

while yelling in order to communicate. Oh, gosh, this is just like

Ferngully: To avoid getting steamrollered by developers, ranchers,

loggers, miners, oilmen, and biopirates, tribes across the Amazon

Basin have begun acquiring high tech tools to defend themselves. Much

of the help in this effort has come from the Amazon Conservation Team,

a Virginia environmental and cultural preservation organization, which

provided equipment, cartographic expertise, and financial assistance.

But do these tribes really have more of a claim to this land than

loggers and miners? Of course, just because the tribes have mapped the

lands doesn't mean they control all the legal rights to them. But it's

a step in that direction. Suriname now uses maps generated by the Trio

and other groups as official government documents. In Ecuador, the

Shuar tribe, long embroiled in a struggle with American oil companies,

was recently granted title to its communal lands, as mapped by GPS.

http://guanabee.com/2007/11/wired-discovers-amazonian-trib-1.php

 

Brazil:

 

 

24) While the mention of Amazon destruction usually conjures up images

of vast stretches of felled and burned rainforest trees, cattle

ranches, and vast soybean farms, some of the biggest threats to the

Amazon rainforest are barely perceptible from above. Selective logging

-- which opens up the forest canopy and allows winds and sunlight to

dry leaf litter on the forest floor -- and 6-inch high " surface " fires

are turning parts of the Amazon into a tinderbox, putting the world's

largest rainforest at risk of ever-more severe forest fires. At the

same time, market-driven hunting is impoverishing some areas of seed

dispersers and predators, making it more difficult for forests to

recover. Climate change -- and its forecast impacts on the Amazon

basin -- further looms large over the horizon. Few people understand

these threats better than Dr. Carlos Peres of the University of East

Anglia, a native Brazilian who grew up in an Amazonian city with the

rainforest as his backyard. Through affiliations with a roster of

universities, Peres has worked extensively in the Amazon on topics

ranging from surface fires to wildlife ecology to sustainable

development. He has been honored by Time Magazine as an

" Environmentalist Leader for the New Millennium " (2000), published

more than 150 papers, and recently co-edited a definitive book on

tropical deforestation (Emerging Threats to Tropical Forests).

http://news.mongabay.com/2007/1107-interview_carlos_peres.html

 

 

25) Two weeks ago, pro-agri-business henchmen bankrolled by Syngetna

Corp raided a campsite being used by the Via Campesinos and the

Landless Workers' Movement (MST). Witnesses report that more than 40

gunmen entered the campsite, armed with machine guns, and opened fire

on the campesinos. They appeared to be targeting the movement's

leaders. Two of the leaders were pursued and fired upon, but escaped.

A third, Valmir Mota de Oliveira, a young activist and father of three

children who was known to his friends and comrades as Keno, was shot

twice in the chest, point-blank, and executed. His crime? Speaking up

for the rights of landless workers over the rights of transnational

mega-corporations. At least 6 other workers were seriously wounded in

the attack. Isabel Nacimiento de Sousa was gravely wounded, left

comatose, and lost an eye. One of the attacking gunmen was also killed

in the assault, though it is unclear whether he was killed by

campesinos in self defense, or by his fellow attackers. This was one

more in a long series of corporate assassinations carried out in the

service of the so-called " free market. " You should know about this,

because you need to understand the connection between the corporations

that you interact with, and the worldwide fallout that is the price of

their profit margins.

http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2007/11/367929.shtml

 

26) It's common in the frontier here for squatters or land grabbers to

set fire to land to force owners off, especially when land title is in

dispute. If they can show the owners aren't developing that land in

the first place, it's theirs. Sometimes these fires rage out of

control. Carter says squatters set fire to his neighbor's ranch and it

spread to his. Now, his pastures and forests are a blackened

wasteland. Carter learned cattle ranching in his native Texas. He was

a paratrooper in the first Iraq war, then married a Brazilian and came

here. His ranch covers 22,000 acres. He says more than 90 percent of

it has just burned. And fires are still consuming what's left.

Carter's ranch hands managed to save his farmhouse. Among them was

Sebastian Fonseca dos Santos, who fought the fire for days. Dos Santos

says the fire was huge and brutal. It came over a hill and crossed a

swamp, heading for the main house. Dos Santos used bulldozers to clear

around the house so it wouldn't burn down. Carter isn't the only

victim of these burning duels. These fires put millions of tons of

carbon into the atmosphere, which makes global warming worse. They're

also drying up the Amazon. Carter wants to protect Amazon forests and

started a local environmental group to do so. But for the moment,

climate change isn't high on his worry list. He's angry. He loads a

pistol and sticks it in a backpack and drives out to see the damage.

Dark plumes of smoke punctuate the horizon like exclamation points.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16018097

 

27) A patch of isolated forest in the middle of a giant soybean farm

on the southern edge of the Amazon basin was set aside just for this

experiment. Ecologist Dan Nepstad of the Woods Hole Research Center in

Massachusetts is the project's mastermind. He has a theory. " Fire

begets fire, " he says. " Once a fire goes through a forest, trees die.

It becomes more susceptible to further burning. " And further burning

eventually destroys the forest. But there's much more at stake than

just these forests. What happens to them affects both the local and

the Earth's climate. Nepstad says the more the forests burn, the more

carbon goes up into the atmosphere. That contributes to global

warming. At the same time, global warming seems to be making the

Amazon drier and more prone to burning. And Nepstad says the world

can't do without these forests. " The Amazon is like a giant air

conditioner, " he says as his crew starts lighting the leaf litter

along the edges of the fire lines. It's like the way people sweat when

they're hot. Moisture is drawn up through the trees and leaves and

then into the air, which cools the atmosphere. But the forest can't do

that very well during droughts. And global warming could make droughts

worse. After three days, it's clear the fires are burning hotter and

faster than ever before, especially in a plot that was burned once

three years ago and then left alone. Nepstad is pleased with the

results — as much as he can be as he watches a forest burn. Fire

begets more fire, just as he suspected. And one reason is the grass.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16024346

 

India:

 

28) A meeting of the tribal students, civil and human rights bodies in

Manipur Monday called upon the Central government and the Manipur

government to cease undermining community control over forest lands in

the hill areas. They also unanimously decided to extend their support

to the ongoing struggle for the scheduled tribes and other traditional

forest dwellers (Recognition of forest rights) Act, 2006, and called

on the government to explain the repeated efforts to dilute and delay

this key legislation. Apart from the United Naga Council, the Naga

Women`s Union, Naga People`s Movement for Human Rights, the Human

Rights Lawyers and other interested citizens participated in the

meeting which was held at the Centenary Hall of the Manipur Baptists

Convention, Imphal. Participants raised their protest against forest

department`s use of ambiguous and extra-legal terms like " unclassed

state forests " when describing community forest lands, according to a

joint statement of the leaders of the organizations after the meeting.

After the Supreme Court`s rulings in recent cases, these terms can be

used to claim that these lands are actually government forests, and

hence are subject to the Central government`s control under the Forest

Conservation Act, 1980, they observed. This would mean that any

" non-forest " activity, such as jhum cultivation, would need permission

from Delhi and all activities would need to pay money for compensatory

aforestation, that is planting trees to replace those felled, Shanker

Goplakrishnan, a member of the Campaign for Survival and Dignity said.

http://www.kanglaonline.com/index.php?template=headline & newsid=39925 & typeid=1

 

Madagascar:

 

29) Seven-year-old brothers Tany and Masoandro are there too, in the

steep and steamy rainforest of the Betampona Reserve in northeastern

Madagascar, a large island off the southeast coast of the African

continent. Lemurs are prosimians, distant primate cousins of humans

with binocular vision, nimble five-fingered hands and a social

disposition. They live only in Madagascar, which faces huge pressures

toward deforestation and habitat loss. Despite heart-breaking early

losses of unsophisticated lemurs to some worldly-wise predators, the

effort to reinvigorate black and white ruffed lemur populations in the

Betampona Reserve has been a qualified success. The Duke-born animals

survive in 5,000 acres of relatively undisturbed rainforest. In fact,

their presence has helped protect the habitat from further

devastation. The well-publicized restocking a decade ago and the

irresistible appeal of these primates built support and excitement for

the entire Betampona reserve. " In concentrating on that one species,

the whole area was protected, " said Charlie Welch, a Duke Lemur Center

research scientist. He and his wife Andrea Katz, a staff specialist at

the Lemur Center, first proposed the reintroduction program in 1992.

They had found just 35 black and white ruffed lemurs, lyrically named

Varecia variegata, in an area of Madagascar that could support far

more. The forest of the reserve was relatively undisturbed, but for

long-term survival a population needs at least 50 adults to prevent

inbreeding and maintain genetic diversity. The Duke Lemur Center,

formerly known as the Primate Center, had been breeding lemurs since

1968 with the hope of one day reintroducing them to the wild. But it

would be easier said than done. Reintroduction would be risky and

expensive, and the setting had to be just right.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071107100715.htm

 

Papua New Guinea:

 

30) The discovery of 24 new species of plants and frogs in the

highlands of Papua New Guinea has forced scientists to call for the

protection of the biodiversity of the remote Kaijende Highlands in

Enga province. Of the 24 species, 16 were new plants and the rest were

new types of frogs. They were discovered by a group of scientists from

Conservation International in 2005. " A management plan needs to be

developed to reduce threats posed by climatic changes, increasing fire

frequency and hunting, " Conservation International said. The findings

were revealed in a report tabled at the 8th Pacific Islands Conference

on Nature Conservation and Protected Areas, underway in Alotau, Milne

Bay province. In 2005, an expedition consisting of scientists and

representatives from Papua New Guinea's Department of Environment went

to the highlands to assess conservation needs when they stumbled to

these new species. The vast near uninhabited Kaijende Highlands boasts

some of Papua New Guinea's most pristine and scenic habitat, but

little was known about it despite mining in the area, Dr Steve

Richards of the South Australian Museum, who led the expedition, said.

" Our findings will be used in future conservation activities in the

area, " he said. In total, the group documented 643 species, including

the new plants and frog species. " One of the frogs probably represents

a new genus, " a statement from Conservation International said. Also,

a spectacular bird of paradise known as the Ribbon-tailed Astrapia,

which has the longest tail feathers in relation to body-size of any

bird, was found to be in abundance than other areas of Papua New

Guinea. Conservation International is working with local authorities

and communities to have the region formally declared as a protected

area. http://www.thenational.com.pg/102607/Nation%208.htm

 

31) Green Co-Leader Russel Norman and Green MP Metiria Turei are today

campaigning in Papua New Guinea and Dunedin to save the last of the

tropical rainforests of PNG. Metiria is in Port Moresby drawing

attention to the proposal to destroy most of the remaining rainforest

on Woodlark Island, PNG, and to convert it to palm oil plantation.

Russel is in Dunedin at a colourful protest outside ANZ banking group

calling on them to stop financing the destruction of rainforests in

PNG. " We are fighting the battle to save the last of the great

tropical rainforests of the world. In Papua New Guinea illegal logging

is destroying the rainforest and converting it into kwila furniture

and palm oil plantation, " says Dr. " Landowners are trying to stop the

logging companies felling their forest but are fighting a losing

battle and they need our help. " ANZ are providing financial services

to Rimbunan Hijau, a Malaysian based logging company that is deeply

involved in the destruction of the rainforests of PNG. The World Bank

has stopped its involvement in logging projects in PNG because of the

high level of illegal logging, but ANZ remains involved with Rimbunan.

" In a separate development, Woodlark Island faces destruction of its

rainforest. The island is home to a vast array of endangered plants

and animals including the Woodlark Cuscus, a marsupial adapted to life

in the forest that lives on Woodlark Island and faces an uncertain

future if the rainforest is cleared from most of the island's 85,000

hectares. Palm oil plantations are replacing tropical rainforest

across Asia and the Pacific.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0711/S00105.htm

 

Sumatra:

 

32) I am in Kerinci, a town of 50,000 people carved out of the

Sumatran jungle in the past 15 years. The first sign of what Kerinci

is about came within a few hundred metres of the town's airstrip.

Bouncing down the road I was confronted by a road train, a huge truck

and trailer unit with 44 wheels and weighing, I was told later, 32

tonnes unladen. Laden it was over 130 tonnes. These beasts are so

heavy and dangerous – especially in the clouds of dust that they churn

up and make them invisible – that they are not allowed on public

roads. But that's no problem because this is a company town, with

company roads and company land all around. And the road trains lined

up on the highway are carrying timber out of the forests to a lumber

yard. The lumber yard, which is itself the size of a small town,

receives 22,000 tonnes of timber a day cut from the forests of central

Sumatra. It feeds what locals claim is the world's largest pulp mill.

Output: 2 million tonnes of pulp a year, for making into bleached

white paper. The logs on the trucks are all identical sticks of

acacia. This is because the natural forest here is largely gone now.

So the company that owns the mill – Asia Pacific Resources

International Holdings or APRIL – grows its own forests, endless

monocultures of acacia that are 25 metres tall when they are harvested

every 5 years. Yes, you read that right. Timber here grows that tall

in just five years. No wonder that the APRIL mill and its rival down

the road, the equally large Asia Pulp and Paper, are bankrupting

established paper and pulp industries from Vermont to Finland.

http://www.newscientist.com/blog/environment/2007/11/freds-footprint-paper-giant\

s.html

 

Malaysia:

 

33) The Perak Environment Association wants action to be taken, and

not mere explanations on why mangrove trees in Pantai Remis are dying

out. Its president Abdul Rahman Said Alli said that the association

had sent a letter to Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Tajol Rosli

Ghazali office on Oct 17 requesting that action be taken to save the

mangrove trees. " After receiving our letter, the Mentri Besar's office

sent a response to the Perak Forestry Department on Oct 25 and carbon

copied a letter to our association, " he told a press conference here

on Tuesday. The response, he added, was " unsatisfactory " as it only

asked the department to furnish the association with an explanation on

the matter. " We do not need just an explanation of words. What we want

is action to save the dying mangroves. " In any case, the department

has yet to furnish an explanation, " he said. It was reported in

September that villagers of Kampung Sungai Batu in Pantai Remis, some

90km from here, were unhappy that the almost 100ha of the mangrove

trees bordering their village had been slowly dying over the past two

years. The mangrove trees, located within the Tanjung Burung Forest

Reserve, are a part of a 500m buffer zone along the coastline that

shields the village from the open sea.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/11/6/nation/20071106140050 & sec=n\

ation

 

Indonesia:

 

34) With her friendly face and familiarity with forest conservation

issues, Frances J. Seymour, the director general of the Center for

International Forestry Research (CIFOR), immediately inspires

confidence and trust. The first woman to head CIFOR's office in Bogor,

West Java, in 1993, Seymour, who was born in North Carolina, U.S., in

1959, has served the Bogor branch for just one year. Previously, she

was institutions and governance program director of the World

Resources Institute (WRI), Washington D.C., from 1998 to 2006. A

fluent speaker of Indonesian, French, Spanish and German, Seymour

graduated from the University of North Caroline at Chapel Hill in May

1981 with a Bachelor of Science. In June 1986 she earned a Master's in

Public Affairs from Princeton University. " I'm interested in forestry

because I like nature. As a child I frequently trekked through the

woods, admiring the scenery. It was only when I grew up that I really

understood the important connection between nature conservation and

people's welfare, particularly forest communities. When I visited

Nepal in my college years, I further realized it's not a technical

matter of wildlife management. The economic and political aspects of

reconciling conservation with community interests are involved, " she

said. Asked about the effect of forest destruction in Indonesia on the

world environment in the form of global warming, Seymour said: " The

whole world has been aware of the link between forest fires and global

warming for the last few years, and Indonesia has the same status as

other countries with vast forests and fairly high rates of

deforestation, let alone its possession of around 26 million hectares

of peatland. http://www.thejakartapost.com/misc/PrinterFriendly.asp

 

35) The environmental group warned of a potential " climate bomb " and

called for the clearances to stop. Palm oil is an ingredient in foods

and a bio-fuel added to diesel for cars. It is already controversial

because it is often grown on rainforest land in South-East Asia, says

the BBC's environment analyst Roger Harrabin. But Greenpeace's

" Cooking the Climate " report investigates the cultivation of the crop

in Indonesian peat swamps, thought to be one of the most valuable

stores of carbon in the world. In normal rainforest there is much more

carbon stored in microbes in the soil than in the leaves and branches

of the trees. In peat wetlands that is magnified with soils many

metres deep. But these wetlands are fast being cleared and drained,

causing large quantities of carbon dioxide to be emitted. According to

the report, every year 1.8bn tonnes of carbon dioxide - a major cause

of climate change - are released by the destruction of Indonesia's

peat wetlands. " Unless efforts are made to halt forest and peatland

destruction, emissions from these peatlands may trigger a 'climate

bomb', " Greenpeace warned. Indonesia is looking to become the world's

top producer of palm oil. But in July, environmental groups said a

huge project planned for Borneo would cause irreparable harm to the

territory and culture of indigenous people.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7084306.stm

 

36) Unilever, Cargill, Nestlé, Kraft, Procter & Gamble, as well as all

leading UK supermarkets, are large users of Indonesian palm oil, much

of which comes from the province of Riau in Sumatra, where an

estimated 14.6bn tonnes of carbon - equivalent to nearly one year's

entire global carbon emissions - is locked up in the world's deepest

peat beds. More than 1.4m hectares of virgin forest in Riau has

already been converted to plantations to provide cooking oil, but a

further 3m hectares is planned to be turned to biofuels, says the

Greenpeace report Carbon is released when virgin forests are felled

and the swampy peatlands are drained to provide plantation land. The

peat decomposes and is broken down by bacteria and the land becomes

vulnerable to fires which often smoulder and release greenhouse gases

for decades. If the peatlands continue to be destroyed to make way for

palm oil plantations, this will significantly add to global climate

change emissions, the report says. Nearly half of Indonesia's 22m

hectares of peatland has already been cleared and drained, resulting

in it having the third-highest man-made carbon emissions, after the US

and China. Destruction of its peatlands already accounts for nearly 4%

of all global greenhouse gas emissions. The peat soils of Riau, which

are eight metres deep in areas, have the highest concentration of

carbon stored per hectare anywhere in the world. " This huge store is

at risk from drainage, clearance and fire, " the report says. " The area

of peatland is relatively small, but destroying it would be the

equivalent of releasing five years' emissions from all the world's

coal and gas power stations. "

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/nov/08/climatechange.biofuels?gusrc=r\

ss & feed=network

front

 

37) In the latest and most significant case in a string of

controversial acquittals, an Indonesian timber baron has walked away

from illegal logging charges, prompting an outcry from

environmentalists. The release of Adelin Lis undermines Indonesia's

bid to have December's United Nations climate change conference in

Bali support a multibillion-dollar program to prevent deforestation.

Because of logging, land clearing and forest degradation, Indonesia is

the world's third-largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. It

wants the Bali meeting to endorse Indonesia piloting the new program

to become part of a renegotiated Kyoto Protocol. Forest Minister Malam

Kaban, who this week urged governments and international organisations

to support the program, had tried to intervene in the police

investigation of Mr Lis. A letter from Mr Kaban presented to Mr Lis'

trial claimed that the logging by Mr Lis' companies was not a crime

but " a mere administrative violation " . Police have seized millions of

logs cut illegally in Sumatra, but Mr Kaban has complained that this

is harming the province's large pulp and paper industry. Mr Lis fled

police investigators for six months before being arrested while trying

to renew a visa at Indonesia's Beijing embassy last year. At the time,

the Government described Mr Lis as an " environmental destroyer " . When

Mr Lis was escorted to a Beijing hospital for treatment a gang of 20

thugs tried to free him Companies connected to Mr Lis allegedly logged

timber worth more than $30 billion outside concession areas in Sumatra

between 1998 and 2005. Prosecutors requested that he receive a 10-year

jail sentence.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/timber-baron-acquitted-over-illegal-logging/\

2007/11/06/1194

329223202.html

 

38) Greenpeace activists are calling Jakartans to have a better look

at the diminishing beauty of Riau forest at its makeshift camp in the

heart of the capital. " We initiate the construction of this Forest

Defenders Camp Satellite Station in Jakarta to better inform the

public here about forest and peatland destruction, especially in

remote areas such as Riau, " said one of Greenpeace South East

Asia-Indonesia campaigners Nur Hidayati Nur was speaking at the camp's

launch in National Monument Park on Saturday. The satellite camp is a

similar construction to the original camp in Kuala Cenaku village,

Indragiri Hulu, Riau, and is set to be opened until November 11. It

features photograph exhibitions and short film screenings about forest

and peatland destruction, art performances and opportunities for

Jakartans to sign a petition for saving the Indonesian forests,

particularly in Riau, as well as to become participants in the

Greenpeace activities. Greenpeace has so far collected some 20,000

signatures for its petition to save the Indonesia's forests. The

forest defender camp in Riau was built on October 9 and stands on

approximately 1,000 square meters of land owned by the villagers. It

is set to operate until mid December, in concurrence with the United

Nations' 13th annual Conference on Climate Change in Bali. Greenpeace

regards the conference as an opportunity to push the government to

show its commitment in handling deforestation in Sumatra, Kalimantan,

and Papua, and other climate change issues. Artist and

environmentalist Rieke Diah Pitaloka was also at the launch and said,

" The government must be able to save its forests with or without

foreign aids mainly by enforcing the law " . She said since 2005 there

had been 137 suspected cases of illegal logging, 96 suspects on the

run and 18 cases tried with no conviction. " This should not continue

to happen, " she said.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/misc/PrinterFriendly.asp

 

Australia:

 

39) Major new research has found a direct link between land-clearing

and climate change, and that land clearing triggers hotter droughts.

Areas throughout southern Queensland cleared of native vegetation were

found to have lost 12 percent of their summer rainfall and to have

experienced an average 2C rise in temperatures. The study found that

land clearing was just as significant in terms of climate change as

greenhouse gas production from fossil fuels. Should these findings

hold up and are found to be generalized throughout Australia and other

areas globally clearing remaining natural vegetation, it would suggest

a major revision in climate change policy-making is due. It is not

enough to just focus upon greenhouse gas emissions, but maintaining

natural vegetation through preservation, conservation and restoration

may be an equally important policy response if global heating is to

stopped. While reducing industrial emissions is critically important,

we must also stop deforestation, which accounts for roughly 20 percent

of all global emissions. Brazil's Amazon, for example, contains 70

billion tons of carbon, but activities such as cutting and burning

make Brazil one of the largest carbon dioxide emitters in the world.

http://inthegreen.typepad.com/blog/2007/11/protecting-fore.html