Guest guest Posted November 24, 2007 Report Share Posted November 24, 2007 257 - Earth's Tree News Today for you 38 new articles about earth's trees! (257th edition) Subscribe / send blank email to: earthtreenews- Weblog: http://olyecology.livejournal.com --British Columbia: 1) An ETN correction, 2) Tsilhqot'in First Nation wins, 3) Bad news in new forest stewardship plan on Sunshine coast, 4) Exploiting Beetle kill, 5) Strict eco-standards on public lands are a joke, 6) --Pacific Northwest: 6) Not enough money for timber sales 7) Salmon stream regs saved, --Oregon: 8) More onWOPR, 9) Securing city watershed, 10) WOPR madness, --California: 11) Tahoe fire aftermath --Montana: 12) New series on NF announced, 13) Part 1: Timber issues complicated, --Colorado: 14) Spruce Creek thinning comments sought --Southwest US: 15) FS unilaterally revises wildlife protection guidelines, --Virginia: 16) Restorative forestry --Vermont: 17) Population explosions and population busts --Canada: 18) 10 million hectares protected, 19) Save Scarborough Ravine, --China: 20) Saving the Yunnan monkey, 21) 175 million hectares of forest, --Tibet: 22) Dalai Lama says we must Save Tibet's forests, --North Korea: 23) Forests destruction leads to floods and famine --Philippines: 24) Suspension of logging in Samar --Papua New Guinea: 25) Palm Oil nightmare --India: 26) Save Ponmudi hills --Indonesia: 27) Forest conservation is part of Islam, 28)Stop issuing mining concessions, 29) Japan to fund forest rehabilitation, --Solomon Islands: 30) Former Minister of Finance selling illegal logs --New Zealand: 31) Massive log glut due to Kyoto tax loophole --Australia: 32) Stop burning waste wood, 33) Plantations up by 60% in 10 years, 34) More on election's take over by the timber industry, 35) Controlled burns, 36) Gunns, --World-wide: 37) $11.1 billion to stop deforestation, 38) Biomass accumulation based on diversity, British Columbia: 1) Earth Tree News tries to post the most accurate information possible. If you ever have questions or concerns about any items posted please email me at deane or call 360-789-7843. Recently a couple BC posts about forests in Galiano Island were not meant to be shared and they have been deleted from the weblog… Also here is the correction that the person who objected to the posts has asked me to run: " A previous item regarding forest issues on Galiano Island in BC was not submitted by the person whose email address appears at the end of the first paragraph - Msmith. This person's email address at the end of the item is an error. Messages should not be sent to Msmith. The second paragraph was originally sent to a specific group of individuals and was not intended for circulation to anyone else. Only residents of the Gulf Islands were asked to send messages to the Islands Trust. " --M Leichter mleichte 2) After a courageous and epic struggle, a small Tsilhqot'in First Nation that took on the governments of Canada and British Columbia to protect their land and way of life has been victorious in Court. In a major precedent-setting decision, Justice David Vickers of the British Columbia Supreme Court ruled today that the Tsilhqot'in (Chilcotin) people have proven Aboriginal title to approximately 200,000 square hectares in and around the remote Nemiah Valley, south and west of Williams Lake, British Columbia. Although Justice Vickers declined to make a declaration of title based on technical issues, he found that the tests for evidence of title were met in almost half the area claimed. The trial lasted 339 days during which 29 Tsilhqot'in witnesses gave evidence, many in their native language. 604 exhibits were entered with Exhibit 156 alone containing over 1,000 historical documents. The Judge received about 7,000 pages of written submissions from the lawyers on all sides. " The court has given us greater control of our lands. From now on, nobody will come into our territory to log or mine or explore for oil and gas, without seeking our agreement, " said the Plaintiff, Chief Roger William. " The court recognized that we have proven title in about half of the Claim Area - and from today we accept our renewed responsibility and powers of ownership of those lands. " Justice Vickers made a number of important findings that will impact future relations between the governments of Canada and British Columbia and First Nations, including: 1. The Tsilhqot'in people have aboriginal rights, including the right to trade furs to obtain a moderate livelihood, throughout the Claim Area. 2. British Columbia's Forest Act does not apply within Aboriginal title lands. 3. British Columbia has infringed the Aboriginal rights and title of the Tsilhqot'in people, and has no justification for doing so. 4. Canada's Parliament has unacceptably denied and avoided its constitutional responsibility to protect Aboriginal lands and Aboriginal rights, pursuant to s. 91(24) of the Constitution. 5. British Columbia has apparently been violating Aboriginal title in an unconstitutional and therefore illegal fashion ever since it joined Canada in 1871. http://www.fonv.ca/ 3) A new forest stewardship plan in the Stillwater lands on the Sunshine Coast no longer addresses the full range of values that were determined through public input and involvement, according to a newly released Forest Practices Board report. " Given the effort that members of the public put into the Stillwater Pilot Project, they reasonably expected that government would ensure that commitments made under the pilot planning agreement would be effectively and faithfully transferred and officially sanctioned under B.C.'s new forestry legislation, " said board chair Bruce Fraser. The investigation resulted from public complaints about the new plan, prepared under the Forest and Range Practices Act (FRPA). The earlier plan was produced under the Forest Practices Code as part of a pilot project government set up to test a results-based approach to forest regulation. Since the original Stillwater plan was approved by government, the forest licence has changed hands twice and the legislation governing forest practices changed from prescriptive to results-based. The complaints that prompted the board investigation were about the difficult format of the new forest stewardship plan, changes made to the membership of the local community advisory group, and the loss of objectives that were in the pilot plan. While the board noted that both the licensee and the forest district had made efforts to make the new plan more accessible, it also found that the planning requirements have changed under FRPA from providing clear, detailed information about proposed forest practices and community values to providing broad and more general objectives. This made it difficult for the public to interpret and provide meaningful comment on the forest stewardship plan or to track existing commitments. The plan also covered all of the licensee's coastal operations including Vancouver Island, the Queen Charlotte Islands and the mainland, which added to the difficulty. http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/recap?game_id=29355 & displayPage=tab_recap & season=2\ 007 & week=REG12 4) We bumped and weaved our way down the pebbled track, searching either side of the path for red pine trees. " Watch out for logging trucks, " said my guide. " They won't have time to stop. " We turned a sharp bend. A large stand of red trees stood in front of us. We stopped the car and ran over. Using a key, I peeled off the bark and revealed a dozen tiny beetle boreholes. " So these are the little blighters, " I thought to myself... The Mountain Pine beetle is smaller than a grain of rice, yet it has killed more than 50% of the mature pine trees in British Columbia. The way its population is mushrooming, 80% of the pine trees in BC will be dead in five years. And think about this: It's estimated that Canadian highways will host an additional 100,000 truckloads of logs a year thanks to all the beetle-kill being hauled to regional sawmills. As an investment analyst, I love crises like this. Where you find crisis, you find opportunity. By traveling to Canada, touring the infested region, and interviewing the locals, I identified several fantastic ways to profit from this situation... http://www.dailywealth.com/archive/2007/nov/2007_nov_19.asp 5) S. Fraser: Yesterday the minister of forests told this house that private managed forest land can only be harvested under, I think it was, " the strictest of environmental standards. " The minister should get out a little more, I think. The Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District in April sent a letter to this government, including 20 photos. It's a photo journey from hell on private managed forest land. The lands around Port Alberni were devastated. To the minister: is that environmental devastation what the people of Jordan River can expect? Hon. R. Coleman: The member opposite knows that the people that operate on private forest land in British Columbia are governed under legislation and the environmental stewardship that is required to be on those lands with regards to setback, protection of water and reforestation, and they are actually covered under the Private Forest Land Act. The member opposite can continue, I guess, to demean these people that are actually trying to harvest logs in these communities, to run them through mills, to create jobs on the coast of British Columbia. I don't accept that. I actually welcome the investment of forest companies in British Columbia, whether it be on private lands or public lands, because they're important to the people of the coast of British Columbia. S. Fraser: I think he welcomes the investment in the Liberal party. That's what happens here. Yesterday the minister suggested that these sellouts would somehow protect jobs. Well, tell that to the people of Port Alberni. When this government handed Weyerhaeuser 77,000 hectares of land out of Tree Farm Licence 44 in 2004, forest workers were made the same promise — protect jobs. Well, the exact opposite happened, and this government couldn't do anything about it because they gave them away. They washed their hands of it. It's no longer in the purview of the minister. Given what happened in Port Alberni, why should the people of Jordan River trust what this minister has to say around private managed forest lands? http://www.westcoaster.ca/modules/AMS/article.php?storyid=3063 Pacific Northwest: 6) A Bush administration effort to boost logging in Northwest national forests to its highest level in years has hit a snag: The U.S. Forest Service is running short of money to draw up new timber sales. The shortfall is related to the national housing slowdown, which has depressed lumber prices about as low as they have ever been, federal and industry officials say. That means the Forest Service -- like private timber owners across the Northwest -- is earning far less money for the timber it sells, so less money is flowing into accounts that help pay for future logging projects. " We didn't know this was going to happen, " said Peggy Kain of the Forest Service's regional office in Portland. " The market hasn't been this bad in a very long time. " Lumber prices have fallen by nearly half since their last peak in 2004, said Kevin Binam of the Western Wood Products Association. Many Western sawmills are curtailing operations. " It's probably as bad as it's ever been -- maybe worse, " Binam said. Unless Congress and the administration supply extra funds to help the Forest Service mount sales, national forest logging will begin dropping off again -- hampering efforts to thin crowded and flammable timber. The problem validates concerns that some national forest managers expressed in April, when the administration sent Northwest forests nearly $25 million -- twice the previous year's amount -- to plan and carry out more logging. The managers immediately scaled up spending and staff to meet ambitious new logging targets, but some questioned whether there would be enough money to keep up the pace in coming years. The Forest Service counted on some logging revenues, plus federal money allocated by the president and Congress, to pay for the accelerated logging. The cash covers costs of plotting timber sales, environmental reviews and other preparatory work. What the Forest Service did not count on was how sharply timber prices would fall, for how long, and how much that would reduce revenue. http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1195791959239780.x\ ml & coll=7 7) The Bush administration has abandoned efforts pushed by the timber industry to allow more logging around salmon streams on Northwest national forests. The administration's motion to withdraw an appeal of a lawsuit brought by salmon advocates to reinstate what is known as the Aquatic Conservation Strategy of the Northwest Forest Plan was approved Tuesday by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Last April, a federal judge ruled that the Bush administration illegally suppressed and misrepresented the views of scientists who objected to revising the salmon protections. " It's a victory for salmon protections against years of efforts by the Bush administration to roll them back on federal lands, " said Glen Spain of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations. Under the conservation strategy, before federal agencies could approve logging, road-building or other projects, they had to determine that the projects would not harm salmon streams. It had held up logging on 4 million acres. The revision speeded consideration of logging projects, and called for protecting watersheds as a whole, rather than individual streams. The Northwest Forest Plan was adopted in 1994 to resolve lawsuits demanding protection for old growth forests where the northern spotted owl lives. It cut logging by more than 80 percent. http://www.oregonlive.com/newsflash/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-22/11956112501\ 54940.xml & stor ylist=orlocal Oregon: 8) The WOPR puts at risk over 100,000 acres of trees over 100 years of age. All those old-growth trees would be gone in a decade if the Bush plan goes through. Not only that, but streamside buffers would be drastically reduced, causing erosion and mudslides that could degrade the quality of our drinking water and decimate salmon runs. You might be noticing that the Bush administration isn't thankful for the same things that we are. They are more thankful that big trees exist so they can help big campaign donors in the logging indsutry cut them down. But this Thanksgiving, we can do something about this awful plan. We can tell the president that we're carving up turkeys this year, not our publicly owned forests. And we've got just the man to help us, Congressman Peter DeFazio. If you live in the Eugene area, you might already have seen our ad today in the Eugene Weekly (click on the picture to see a bigger version). The ad calls for everyone who cares about protecting Oregon's century old trees to call Congressman DeFazio at (541) 465-6732 and urge him to lead Congress in stopping the plan to cut old growth. Not in Congressman DeFazio's district but still want to make a difference? Have no fear, just click here to get contact info for your senator or congressperson. You might be thinking, " Wait a minute, this is an email alert. I signed up for this so I could do things the new-fangled, internet savvy way. Phone calls take too much energy and too much time. " If you are thinking this, you have a lot on your mind, and you are right. Phone calls do take more time, but they also can make a bigger difference. That's why we are asking all of you to make that extra effort. Congress is on recess this week, so calling today can have an even greater impact. http://www.oregonwild.org/oregon_forests/old_growth_protection/o-c-lands/congres\ sional-contac t-info 9) JACKSONVILLE — The City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a strategic plan to secure control of its watershed, called Forest Park. Stepped up police patrols, a property exchange with the Motorcycle Riders Association, gating of a road through the watershed, creation of a park master plan and interim management techniques are among the goals for short- and long-range objectives. Past managed and unsupervised activities in the 1,800-acre watershed have damaged the environment. Logging, off-highway vehicle use, neglect and vandalism are cited as reasons for the damage. Restoration efforts would aim to improve water quality, fish habitat and recreational opportunities. MRA wants to repair and improve trails, water crossings and other features, but the city has prevented such work, Lexow said. He also noted the group has experience securing grants for park land improvements. " There's so much we want to do on Jacksonville's land, and they need it, " said Lexow. As proposed, the land swap would give the city 40 acres at the base of the watershed in exchange for land higher up that would connect MRA's Lilly Prairie area with Bureau of Land Management acreage. Complicating the exchange is $140,000 worth of parking improvements on the lower site that were funded by state OHV fee grants. State regulations require that any exchange include an equal OHV value. " If the MRA takes another section of land in trade .... a staging area is not required, " said Ron Price with Oregon Department of Parks and Recreation. " The negotiation is between the MRA and the city. " http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071122/NEWS/711220332 10) Commissioners Mike Propes (Polk County) and Sam Brentano (Marion County) weighed in on the Bureau of Land Management's recent WOPR plan for clear-cutting our forests in Western Oregon. I realized I had heard their arguments before. They are the same ones the logging industry wants us to believe. Namely, that we can cut down the scarce old-growth we have left, scar hillsides, muddy streams and reap huge financial rewards. The commissioners want you to believe that when we clear-cut forests, habitat improves, streams get cleaner and money falls from the sky. What they don't tell you is what happens when all the trees are gone, salmon runs are further depleted and our recreation-based economy has nothing to stand on. How do we fund county services then? I was struck by how much it sounded like regurgitated logging industry/BLM talking points. And then came the kicker: The commissioners said they supported " the preferred alternative (plan number three). " If they even gave a cursory read of the WOPR document they would realize the preferred alternative is number two. So the question is, why are Commissioners Propes and Brentano parroting timber talking points when they can't even get it straight which plan they support? --Sean Stevens, Portland http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071121/OPINION/7112\ 0063 California: 11) The ashen earth will eventually return to manzanita, snow brush and tall conifers as part of a cycle integral to the Sierra Nevada since long before humans arrived. That recovery is not only important for the natural beauty that brings people to the Truckee-Tahoe area, but also affects future fires and other natural disasters. But how the forests return to their former state has become a matter of heated debate. Foresters, such as those with the U.S. Forest Service, draw from a long-standing tradition of carefully cultivating forests to quickly regenerate timber ready for logging, as well as using those techniques to now accelerate forest recovery to a resilient state. " Back when the Forest Service took large cuts of trees they would go back and plant, then in a couple years go back and spray with herbicides and the trees would release, " says Scott Conway, east side forester on the Tahoe National Forest. " We realized we could use the same techniques after fires in our ecological approach. " Bringing forests back to health faster makes them more resistant to future fires, pests and drought, he said. On the other hand, there are biologists, ecologists and conservation groups that question the need for man to meddle in the natural recovery of a forest after the flames. The human hand, they argue, hinders biodiversity and forest health. " The Forest Service system is 100 percent for getting commercial timber as soon as possible. It's not an ecological approach, " says Chad Hanson, director of the John Muir Project. The opposing views often find the two parties on opposite sides of legal battles. But despite these seemingly incompatible approaches, both sides really want the same thing — a healthy forest after the fire. http://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/SS/20071123/NEWS01/71123001 Montana: 12) Over the past three decades, the national forest timber harvest has crashed. Some blame environmental regulation. Others blame overharvest in the 1970s and 1980s. Still others point to supply-and-demand economics, and an emergent international import-export lumber business. But most agree the U.S. Forest Service's Northern Region - where harvest has been reduced from 1.2 billion board feet to just 114 million - could produce far more logs if the market would bear them. How to get at that timber, however, remains a point of considerable controversy. Today, the Missoulian begins a four-day series looking at timber cutting in western Montana. http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2007/11/22/news/local/news02.txt 13) About a month ago, a brand-new Bitterroot Valley-based group rallied up in Hamilton, calling for more trees to be cut from national forests. A whole lot of people turned out. At the same time, the Flathead National Forest offered up for sale 3.4 million board feet of timber, trees already cut and lying right there alongside a road. Not one bid was submitted. That you can get the people to rally but you can't get the mills to bid " proves that public-land timber management is more complicated than some people think, " said Denise Germann, a spokeswoman for the Flathead forest. " We offered the trees, and nobody came to the table. The mills just didn't want it. " Trouble is, timber management isn't simple math. If it were, foresters could figure out how many board feet grow on the forest each year and then cut that exact amount annually, ensuring a sustainable future. In a perfect world, that production would match consumer demand and prices would remain robust. But basic arithmetic falls apart rather quickly when you factor in watersheds, wildlife and world economies. Fact is, the timber harvest equation is tangled with science and big business and politics and shifting social values, among many other things. It includes variables such as laws and regulations and commodity markets. And on the Flathead National Forest, where all that wood went unwanted this month, the equation must factor in a national subprime mortgage crisis, the resulting drop in homebuilding and a decreased demand for lumber. Prices have dropped, and in this case the markets - not environmentalists or industry advocates - are driving the demand for western Montana's timber supply. That's not to say that demand for domestic timber is entirely gone. The U.S. Forest Service is looking to stewardship and salvage sales, for instance, that emphasize values beyond board feet. There are many, many reasons explaining how the Forest Service came to be delivering just a fraction of the timber it once did - from 231 million board feet in the Flathead to an all-time low of 2.6 million in 2000, for example. http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2007/11/22/news/local/news02.txt Colorado: 14) SALIDA - The U.S. Forest Service is hoping to move forward with the Spruce Creek Hazardous Fuels project southwest of Poncha Springs in Chaffee County. The project proposes to treat approximately 730 acres of public lands using a combination of salvage logging, thinning and prescribed fire to reduce hazardous fuels. The decision is subject to appeal pursuant to forest service regulations. To appeal the decision, a person must submit a written appeal to the appeals deciding officer within 45 days. Copies of the decision memo are available for review at the U. S. Forest Service, Salida Ranger District or on the Web under Projects and Plans, FuelsTreatment Projects at: www.fs.fed.us/r2/psicc/projects/ . Additional information about the project may be obtained from Sam Schroeder at 719-530-3969. http://www.chieftain.com/metro/1195804298/5 Southwest US: 15) Rejecting a decade of restoration-based forest management, the U.S. Forest Service has unilaterally revised its guidelines for management of wildlife on national forests in Arizona and New Mexico. On November 19th, the Coconino National Forest agreed with conservationists that the first major logging project under the new guidelines required additional environmental analysis. But the agency stopped short of agreeing that the new wildlife guidelines required independent environmental review and public consideration. " The Forest Service illegally amended every forest plan in Arizona and New Mexico by failing to involve the public and state agencies prior to weakening important wildlife protections for national forests, " said Taylor McKinnon of the Center for Biological Diversity. " The new guidelines spell disaster for southwestern wildlife and old growth. " The new guidelines significantly weaken wildlife protections and could lead to dramatically increased logging of large, old-growth trees. The amended guidelines could signal a new round of timber wars in the Southwest.On October 19th the Center for Biological Diversity and Forest Guardians objected to the first project explicitly implementing the new guidelines, the Jack Smith/Schultz project northeast of Flagstaff, which would log more than 8,000 acres, including an undisclosed number of large, old-growth trees. The Coconino National Forest on Monday agreed with conservationists on eight objection counts, requiring additional analysis and a second objection period prior to the project moving forward. The Arizona Department of Game and Fish submitted comments on the Jack Smith project that were critical of the agency's changes to the Northern Goshawk Guidelines, recognizing that the change " has the potential to significantly reduce the amount of forest cover within treated areas, " and could lead to the Forest Service not meeting habitat requirements for the northern goshawk and its prey. " There's broad agreement that good forest restoration requires careful public and scientific review, " said McKinnon. " It's both illegal and counterproductive for the Forest Service to unilaterally change wildlife-protection rules across two entire states without consulting anyone. " http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/press/jack-smith-11-20-2007.html Virginia: 16) I work with a small " treeroots " organization that promotes " restorative forestry " , Healing Harvest Forest Foundation. http://healingharvestforestfoundation.org We call it " restorative " because we know the quality of the forest products produced conventionally on a per tree and log basis is declining. So we don't think we can sustain a decline. We think that in order for any natural resource management or extraction to be sustainable it must be restorative. You may ask: Restorative to what? Restored to a forest that is as similar to a virgin forest of North America as possible. " Restorative Forestry " imitates nature and only takes the worst trees first and allows the best trees to remain to grow as large, old and profitable as possible. This is a long term approach that is gaining acceptance equal to the understanding of it by the public, particularly environmentally aware consumers. Our approach is one of being " carbon positive " in our actions of addressing human needs for forest products. This means we use a power source that doesn't burn fossil fuels which contribute to global warming, but instead process, digest and convert captured solar energy in the form of hay and grain into a biological power source of working animals. We log with horses, mules and oxen, animal power. That's the anthropological culture side which supports the silvicultural approach. Our methods leave the biggest, best and healthy trees in the forest which stores more carbon in their large bodies and yet increases carbon sequestration buy promoting some new growth to replace the lesser and declining trees that are harvested. This method and group are the most " green " producers in the country - maybe the planet. http://restorativeforestry.blogspot.com/2007/11/please-help-support-carbon-posit\ ive.html Vermont: 17) Over the past two centuries, the state of Vermont has had both population explosions and population busts. First settled by farmers, loggers and hunters, Vermont lost much of its population as farmers moved west into the Great Plains in search of abundant, easily tilled land. Logging similarly fell off as over-cutting and the exploitation of other forests made the state's forest less attractive. Although these population shifts devastated the state's economy, the early loss of population had the beneficial effect of allowing the land and forest to recover. The accompanying lack of industry has allowed the state to avoid many of the ill-effects of 20th century industrial busts, effects that still plague neighboring states. Today, most of the state's forests consist of second-growth. Of the remaining industries, dairy farming is the primary source of agricultural income. http://commercialrealestatebrokers.wordpress.com/2007/11/18/vermont-economy/ Canada: 18) I am sending you this special News Flash, because I wanted you to be amongst the first to hear of a great conservation victory. Today, it was announced by the Government of Canada that over 10 million hectares of pristine wilderness in the Mackenzie River Basin have been protected from industrial development, an area nearly one and a half times the size of New Brunswick. This withdrawal of land and water from industrial activity was made at the request of local First Nations. WWF-Canada has been assisting with these community-initiated protected area proposals in the Northwest Territories (NWT) for over 10 years. Our President Emeritus, Monte Hummel, has been deeply involved in WWF's northern work for nearly 30 years, and led this work. We have also received invaluable help from our many supporters (like you) and our conservation partners in the North. This is excellent news, as these areas are culturally significant to the First Nations who call this area home and are critical to the wildlife in the region, including barren-ground caribou, wolves, lynx, grizzly bears, moose and huge populations of migratory ducks, geese, swans, shorebirds and loons. The interim protection granted, for a period of four to five years, will allow local people to plan areas for permanent protection around Great Slave Lake and along a northern stretch of the Mackenzie River in the NWT. Thank you, to all our supporters, for helping to make this happen. It is a victory that we should all celebrate together! http://www.wwf.ca/AboutWWF/WhatWeDo/ConservationPrograms/MackenzieValley/Akaitch\ o.asp 19) Wood Green Ravine was in full fall glory two weeks ago. Sorry I missed it. My last chance. Wood Green Ravine is doomed. An exasperated Don York calls me up. " David Miller wins, the environment loses. " Don, 70, is leader of local resistance to the destruction of 2,000 trees on five acres atop the Scarborough ravine. He phones because the bulldozers are coming and he's trying to rally his troops to stop them. I wrote of Wood Green Ravine in March. Miller had just announced his green plan. Yessiree, our mayor was a poplar guy. All over town, weeping willows went " whew. " Was there hope for Wood Green's birch, locusts, Manitoba maples and old apple trees? Surely, City Hall would reconsider surrendering the five acres for " affordable housing. " AM640 did a whole morning show from the ravine, near Lawrence Ave. E. and Manse Rd. Still, when the media left, orange construction fences circled the little forest. But I figured they'd be gone by summer so local humans, young and old, could mingle as always with white-tail deer, rabbits, foxes, finches, woodpeckers and mallards. I forgot about the yellow-bellied sapsuckers. City Hall has held its ground. Surveyors checked stakes on Monday. Crews were to spend two weeks starting yesterday to clear the trees before winter deepens. Surprised, Don musters 30 protesters at dawn to block the cul-de-sac leading to the woods. Cold, hard rain keeps the bulldozers away. It also makes for a miserable picket line. Emily Trivers, 16, shivers with her mom Sharon, 50. " One walnut tree saved. A forest axed. City councillors are nuts, " says Emily's sign. It refers to City Hall's refusal to let a Scarborough woman chop down a tree whose nuts keep bonking passersby on the head. That decision wasted more than half an hour of debate, ending in a 29-13 vote. Good thing that ol' black walnut does not live in Wood Green Ravine. " A travesty, " says Jo Davison, 32, dropping Brittany and Christopher at Heron Park school, across from the pickets. " The city is teaching our kids how to destroy the environment. It makes me want to cry. " http://torontosun.com/News/TorontoAndGTA/2007/11/22/4675789-sun.html China: 20) " If I rest, I rust. " It's not quite clear how actress Helen Hayes's piece of potted wisdom reached the ears of Cun Yanfang, a member of the indigenous Naxi people from one of southwest China's more remote villages. " But that is quite true for me, " the diminutive, apple-cheeked Ms. Cun adds with a laugh. " I cannot stop. " Her restless energy has brought Cun a long way. Born 31 years ago to an unschooled mother in Yunnan Province on the banks of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, she is now just one English exam away from entering a master's program at Cornell University. But today, her mind is on a more immediate task. At a gathering of local worthies in this grubby one-horse town, 12 miles from paved roads, Cun is wrapping up the program she runs to help save one of the world's most endangered species, the Yunnan golden monkey. The subdued atmosphere does not faze Cun, whose surname rhymes with " soon. " Barely 5 feet tall, she bounces into the middle of the room and launches into her pitch about the value of the work her listeners have done over the past three years to promote environmental values. The Yunnan golden monkey, which ranges over a wide variety of habitats, is their standard bearer for the effort. Just 1,500 to 2,000 of those monkeys are thought to exist - split into small, probably genetically unsustainable, groups by loggers who have denuded hillsides. " We used to get everything from nature but we used it ourselves, " says Cun. " Now it's the demand of the market and the requirement to get rich. " So villagers have ignored the law and cut down trees on the forested slopes above their homes where the golden monkey once lived, hunted animals for their pelts, and dug up prized matsutake mushrooms to get the last little bits, rather than leave stalks to grow again. Cun's campaign, funded by two US groups, The Nature Conservancy and Rare, has not only installed biogas feeders and solar panels to reduce local villagers' need for firewood. It also has aimed to change attitudes. " We want to use people's pride in their hometowns to make them responsible for their own places, " explains Cun. " It shouldn't be because of law enforcement. " So Cun has traveled village to village trying to drum up that kind of pride and teach people how conservation can make economic sense, using commercial marketing techniques adapted to social issues. http://axcessnews.com/index.php/articles/show/id/13162 21) Statistics show that China has 175 million hectares of forest, including 53.26 million hectares of fast-growing artificial forest, and forestry officials are planting more at a rate of 6 million-10 million hectares every year. However, poor management of the country's forest resources has left them vulnerable to damage. Twenty percent of the country's forests are afflicted by disease or pests. Lack of biodiversity and poor distribution are also problems. Wu Bin, Party chief of Beijing Forestry University, said " the rule of nature " should be applied when planting artificial forests, otherwise the effect will be moot. In Beijing, many forests in hilly areas are unhealthy, Gan Jing, an official with the Beijing landscape and forestry bureau, said. However, the capital has also had some successes. For example, the Beijing Badaling forest project jointly run by China and the US has been singled out as a preliminary success. Under the Badaling forest project, 52 monitor stations have been set up to keep track of disease and pests. And 1,500 personnel have been trained in modern forest management skills. Similar projects are also being conducted in Jiangxi, Guizhou, Shannxi and Yunnan provinces. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-11/21/content_6267981.htm Tibet: 22) The Dalai Lama called Wednesday for special care to preserve Tibet's ecosystem, saying that corruption among Chinese bureaucrats was worsening deforestation. Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, who is on a visit to Japan, said that as the Tibetan plateau was high in altitude and dry, " once you damage the environment, it will take a long period to recover " . " Therefore, we need special care, " the Dalai Lama said. Because major rivers originating in Tibet feed into South Asia, " special care of the Tibetan ecology is not only the concerns for six million Tibetans, but also the concerns for millions of people, " he said. But some people from China " have no knowledge of ecology. They are only concerned about industries (with) no idea of ecological consequences, " he said. The Chinese government has begun to impose " some restrictions on deforestation in some parts of Tibet. However, unfortunately now in China, sometimes restrictions can be easily ignored through pocket money, corruption, " he said. " Some Chinese businessmen still can carry out deforestation and also they exploit natural resources with poor care for the ecology, " he said. The comments came as China's state Xinhua news agency said climate change was causing more weather-related disasters than ever in Tibet. China's director of the Tibet Regional Meteorological Bureau, Song Shanyun, was quoted as saying " natural disasters, like droughts, landslides, snowstorms and fires are more frequent and calamitous now " in Tibet and " the tolls are more severe and losses are bigger " . http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5h9g460BnVOoBY2nA83rSDtvaS11Q North Korea: 23) In some parts of the world, floods and famine are acts of God. In North Korea, they're acts of government. For decades, the late North Korean dictator Kim Il Sung mobilized vast work teams to fell trees and turn the mountainsides into farmland, allowing rainwater to wreck roads, power lines and agricultural fields. Following Kim's death in 1994 — just before a flood- linked famine gripped the nation — his son and successor Kim Jong Il continued the sacrifice of forest cover until 2000, when he began encouraging reforestation. But the shift hasn't reversed the damage, and some analysts warn that another famine, close to the scale of the 1990s disaster that may have killed millions of people, might occur as soon as next year. " Next year's food situation is quite serious,'' said Kwon Tae Jin, a researcher at the Korea Rural Economic Institute in Seoul. The famine risk is greatest starting next spring, after the current harvest is used up, he said; North Korea's best hope may be for more food aid from abroad as a result of its agreement to begin dismantling its nuclear-weapons program. Floods in August and September left 600 people dead or missing by official count, and 270,000 homeless. " Corpses were dug out of the silt'' still clutching vinyl-wrapped photos of the Kims, the official Korean Central News Agency reported. http://www.nkeconwatch.com/2007/11/21/kims-clear-cutting-of-korean-forests-risks\ -triggering-fam ine/ Philippines: 24) Environment Secretary Lito Atienza has ordered the suspension of a new permit issued by his predecessor to a big-time firm to resume logging in more than 50,000 hectares in Samar province. Atienza hastily issued the order on Nov. 17 to stop Basey Wood Industries (Baswood) from resuming operations on the island after an 18-year moratorium on logging. Then Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes issued the order, dated June 21, allowing Baswood to resume cutting trees in the area covered by its timber licensing agreement (TLA). The order, however, was received by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources regional office only last week. " We are [very] concerned about climate change and I can't find any logic why we should allow the cutting of trees on such a massive scale, " Atienza said over the phone Sunday. " Here we are encouraging everybody to plant trees, climbing mountains, going to the remotest barangays (villages), then we hear something like this. This is alarming. How do we educate the people if they hear about the DENR cutting trees? " he said. Atienza, who took over Reyes' post in August, said that he would strictly implement the selective log ban earlier enforced in Samar and elsewhere. " Not in my administration will that (tree-cutting) happen. I'm going to put out the general intention of the log ban. We will strictly enforce it to the letter. We have a law, let's implement it to the fullest,'' he said. http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/regions/view_article.php?article_\ id=101738 Papua New Guinea: 25) FAR above the treetops, in Indonesia's remote Papuan provinces, the spotter planes are circling. They are looking for a place to strip the forest and produce the big cash crop of the moment: palm oil. And if not palm oil then jatropha, cassava or sugar cane, all of which can be used as either food or biofuel. With the price of oil so high these crops have become known as green gold, and they are being sought in some of the last remaining tracts of virgin rainforest in Asia. Few of the Papuan tribesmen who live in these forests have any idea what the planes up above are doing. Nor do they realize that the future of their land for ten generations could well be determined by the people flying them. On one side, the Indonesian government wants to become the world's biggest producer of palm oil and seems ready to sign a number of multi-million hectare concessions—lasting up to 100 years—on Papuan land. The contracts are worth around $8.5 billion. Opposing them are many governments around the world, who worry about the carbon emissions such deforestation would invite. And on another side still is the regional Papuan government, which has its own ideas about what should be done with the land. In the middle of all this are the people who actually live in the forest. Nobody seems quite certain what they want. In this situation, it would come as no surprise if the environmental NGOs arrived on their flaming green steeds to argue that locals don't want their forest cut down. That may indeed be true. But wouldn't it be better if the locals could say what they wanted for themselves? http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10161744 India: 26) THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The hundred acres of land on the Ponmudi hills that is proposed to be handed over to the Indian Space Research Organisation to set up the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) campus, qualifies as a forest. Hence, it requires the Central government's clearance for diversion for non-forestry purposes, an analysis of the relevant facts show. Moreover, it comes within the definition of ecologically fragile land though the government has not notified it as such. On account of its status as forest, the government decision to earmark the land for the campus may run foul of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. However, Forest Minister Benoy Viswom denies this argument. He maintains it is indeed revenue land and hence would not attract the provisions of the Act. The decision has been taken in the best interests of the State, he told The Hindu here on Thursday in answer to a query. The Minister has taken action against the Divisional Forest Officer N. Balakrishna Pillai who had reported that the area is a forest and might fall within existing forest boundaries. (Mr. Pillai was transferred and the Chief Conservator of Forests (Vigilance) had been asked to hold an enquiry). http://www.hindu.com/2007/11/23/stories/2007112350050100.htm Indonesia: 27) The Indonesian archipelago contains about 10% of the world's tropical rainforest, which plays a critical role in regional watershed protection as well as in global efforts to conserve biodiversity and to sequester carbon. To combat deforestation, a new project led by Stuart Harrop and Matthew Linkie from the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE) at the University of Kent is aiming to improve conservation by raising awareness of Islamic teachings about conservation. Islamic philosophies underpin biodiversity conservation in a number of ways principally through the doctrine of Khalifa (stewardship). Furthermore other traditional belief systems similarly hold a wealth of practices and beliefs that further conservation strategies. They believe these belief systems can enhance positive community attitudes toward natural resource conservation. Professor Harrop said: " This project presents a unique opportunity to work with Indonesian Islamic leaders in national Islamic religious institutes and their subsidiary colleges in rural areas, who have been prominent in promoting Islamic ideas and teachings. Working with communities in this capacity provides an ideal opportunity to increase their support for biodiversity conservation through integrating key religious concepts and traditional conservation approaches into conventional management plans and conservation strategies. " http://indosnesos.blogspot.com/2007/11/using-islam-to-combat-indonesian.html 28) Environmental groups urged the government Tuesday to stop issuing concessions for mining companies at protected forests, to avoid further forest conversions. The groups said the government's commitment to participate in global efforts to minimize the effects of climate change, including reducing CO2 emission through reforestation, was dubious because at the same time it continued to give new concessions for mining companies in protected forests. The groups consist of the Mining Advocacy Community Network (JATAM), the Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi) and Indonesian Center for Environmental Law. " The government has neglected the fact that our country has the world's highest deforestation rate of two million hectares per year and continue to issue new concessions, " Siti Maemunah of JATAM told a media conference. " At the same time, the government tells global forums that it is committed to taking part in any efforts to handle climate change effects including through the reduction of carbon emission resulted from forest destruction. " The groups also criticized the government's plan to implement a policy on allowing forests to be converted into mining areas but obliging the companies to give compensation in form of non-tax revenue. Torry Kuswardono of Walhi said, " the plan shows the government's weakness to uphold its commitment in environmental efforts when it comes to business interests. " The non-tax revenue policy will replace the current policy of obliging mining companies to substitute the converted areas with other land. " If the conversion of protected forests into mining areas continues, Indonesia will be condemned by international community for failing to reduce carbon emission since mining is a major contributor of deforestation and carbon emission, " Torry said. http://www.thejakartapost.com/misc/PrinterFriendly.asp 29) Japan will provide financial assistance on forest rehabilitation and protection in Indonesia, Governor of Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) Koji Tanami said here Tuesday. After meeting with Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla at his office, the governor told a press conference that the assistance would be channeled through JBIC on the recommendation of the Official Development Assistance (ODA). Tanami said that Indonesian Vice President welcomed the plan. " Because the global issue of environment is very important, the JBIC vowed to be ready for helping Indonesia persistently in this field, and Jusuf Kalla was very glad, " he said. Tanami said that the assistance would be directed to the forest protection and rehabilitation in Indonesia. " Indonesia needs rehabilitation of its forest and JBIC will help, " he said. But Tanami declined to elaborate on the amount of the aid, saying that it would depend on how much Indonesia needs. " Kalla said Indonesia has a large tropical forest and its destruction is persistent. And the Indonesian government would continue rehabilitation, " Tanami said. Forest fire and illegal logging are to blame for the forest destruction in Indonesia. In 2006, forest fire swept over 35,000 hectares of land across the country, sending smokes to neighboring countries and incurring criticism from ASEAN member countries. The government plans to plant 100 million threes by 2009 to recover the burned lands. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-11/20/content_7115728.htm Solomon Islands: 30) Landowners of Kolombangara have criticised former Minister of Finance Gordon Darcy Lilo following recent revelation of his involvement in a shipment of logs in the area. A spokesperson for the landowners Lily McKay said as a leader Mr Lilo should abide by the law instead of working against the law. Chairman of the Government Caucus Nelson Ne'e yesterday claimed that Mr Lilo has illegally ordered the release of the banned shipment of logs in Western Province early this year. Mr Ne'e said Mr Lilo also instructed the Commissioner of Police to order Gizo police officers to release the shipment bound for an overseas market. Ms McKay said Mr Lilo has deceived his people because he had released the banned shipment despite widespread protest by landowners. " He is making use of people's resources for his own benefit and leaving us the resource owners empty handed, " a disappointed Ms McKay said yesterday. She said she knew the logging companies in the area were operating illegally from advise of the Department of Forestry. " I then approached the company telling them not to enter my land (Heribangara Ridge), as it is a virgin forest - not to be touched, " she said. " However that wasn't to be the case as only a few days later they totally ignored what I said and went on to cut down the trees in my land. " She claimed when to protest to police she was told that this must continue on the advise of Mr Lilo. " The police also showed me a court order allowing the operation to continue, " Ms McKay said. " But I later found out that the company's license was only to operate within the Viuru area not others. " Operations like this are what affected people in our areas as they have caused division among families. " She said six barges full of logs were banned but later released by Mr Lilo. " He had stole our logs leaving us with nothing. So now we want him to compensate us for cutting our trees. http://www.solomonstarnews.com/?q=comment/reply/16020 New Zealand: 31) Clear felling in Canterbury and the central North Island has created a massive backlog at pulp mills as forestry and farm owners try to avoid carbon charges which come into effect on January 1. Brian Trott, finance manager for local government authority Environment Bay of Plenty, said there is a year's backlog of timber at mills such as Kinleith. Forestry investment adviser Roger Dickie said deforestation was causing " a massive glut " . Forestry and land owners are seeking to avoid charges that apply for each tree that is not replanted, Trott said. Each hectare of trees felled and not replanted attracts a carbon charge equivalent to 800 tonnes of CO2, said Forest Owners Association environment spokesman Peter Weir. With the government and industry talking about carbon costs of between $25 and $30 a tonne from next year, companies face a bill of up to $24,000 a hectare, Weir said. He estimated the wood processing backlog was six months to a year, providing ample incentive to fell now. Wood Processors Association chief executive Peter Bodeker confirmed mills faced a big backlog from the clear felling but was unable to provide details of wood volumes. " We have had deforestation, no doubt about it. It's not an insignificant amount felled. " The logjam at mills " could be three months or six months or a year " , he said. However, Bodeker contended the primary reason was conversion to dairy, not carbon charge avoidance. While land suited to pastoral applications was being denuded, areas more suitable for forestry, such as Nelson and Napier, were being replanted, he said. Dickie said the felling has " created an artificial depreciation of the market " at a time when forestry was already under pressure. http://www.stuff.co.nz/4281910a23399.html Australia: 32) Burning " waste wood " from native forests is neither clean nor renewable and definitely not " green, " according to The Greens candidate for Eden-Monaro, Keith Hughes. Mr Hughes was commenting on an announcement that the Eden chipmill, which sources native forest logs from Ulladulla to East Gippsland, was planning to generate power from burning wood. Mr Hughes, an economist, said that the fact that Australian woodchip exports were priced in $Australian while their international competitors tradedin $US may be pricing them out of the Pacific woodchip market. " While the South East Fibre Exports plan makes it look as if they are getting their foot in the door with pine, I am confident that once they have their infrastructure, regulatory regime and their markets stitched up, they will get on with plundering native forests, " he said. " To describe this wood as 'waste' is a perversion of the language. We are talking about living, breathing, native forest, home to native animals, reservoir for water and, most importantly, a store for carbon. " To call this 'waste' is preposterous. " http://bega.yourguide.com.au/news/local/general/burning-forest-is-not-green/1089\ 200.html 33) The area under plantation timber in Tasmania has increased by more than 60 per cent in the past 10 years, according to the annual State of the Forests report. The report is prepared by the Forest Practices Authority. It says there's been a four per cent decrease in the size of the state's native forests since 1996. About 124,000 hectares of native forests have been changed to other uses since 1996 - including plantation timber and agriculture. Under the Regional Forest Agreement, the overall size of native forests must be maintained at at least 95 percent of 1996 levels. The Forest Practices' report also shows there's been a 9,000 hectare increase in the total area of the state's forests in the previous 12 months. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/11/21/2096564.htm 34) Earlier this year Labor mimicked the Government's pledge not to lock up any more old-growth forests in Tasmania, after former leader Mark Latham's policy to end logging in 240,000 hectares of old-growth forest was blamed for the loss of the Tasmanian seats of Bass and Braddon. Forestry Minister Eric Abetz yesterday chose Tasmania's Wielangta State Forest — where logging has been banned following a Federal Court battle brought by Greens leader Bob Brown — to stress that the Howard Government would " maintain its strong support " for the forest industry if re-elected. " Australia's forestry industry and the workers and rural communities that depend on it deserve the certainty that only the Coalition Government is offering, " Senator Abetz said. Senator Brown said both major parties had adopted " appalling, chainsaw-led " forestry policies. He said this was out of sync with what Tasmanians wanted and would not give either party political mileage. " It's a big negative, it will turn voters off in Tasmania and across Australia, " Senator Brown said. " They don't get it — it will affect votes in Victoria because Victorians see Tasmania as their wild country. This is one of the reasons why the vote is growing for the Greens — we are seeing extraordinary figures like 18-20% support for the Greens in Bass, which is just unprecedented. " http://www.theage.com.au/news/federal-election-2007-news/logging-lifesaver-itsel\ f-safe/2007/11/ 19/1195321694833.html 35) People have been lighting fires in the forests. It's OK, they're not arsonists, they're public servants and the fires might just prevent homes and properties from being destroyed by bushfire. However some people are asking: at what cost? The season for burning off may be coming to an end, but the debate over how and where those burn-offs should take place continues to be volatile. The small town of Walpole lies near the western edge of Australia's south coast. On one side of the main street sit the general store, police station, pub, bakery and the tourist-oriented cafes and gallery. On the other side is a small visitor's centre, set in front of thick forest. The scene is idyllic but potentially dangerous. The town's population of 500 people live sandwiched between dry coastal heathland and dense temperate forest. Between the pub and the general store is a small wooden building, home to the local branch of the Department of Environment and Conservation. There Donna Green works as the Frankland District Fire Coordinator, overseeing the department's program of prescribed burns. It's no small task. " We've got about 30,000 hectares this spring and then about 11000 hectares proposed to burn in autumn, " she says. " We burn a range of vegetation types from along the coastal heathland, which dries out obviously earlier on in the season, through the Jarrah, Marri and then Karri Tingle forest. " The department uses a range of burning techniques. " We have small hand burns, which may be just ground ignition by guys walking through with a drip torch, " says Donna. In larger areas incendiaries are dropped from an aircraft, with back burns conducted beforehand to ensure that the fire is contained to the desired area. http://www.abc.net.au/southcoast/stories/s2095160.htm?backyard 36) The logging industry is led by a single, voracious company called Gunns, that is the real power in Tasmania. Their interests spread into all walks of life. The state government seems to exist only to support their interests rather than those of the populace at large. A process was set up to review the viability and environmental credentials of Gunns' proposed new pulp mill, however the commission entrusted with this review started asking too many questions. The state government promptly changed the law to take them out of the process - a process that is in fact a sham, a farce with a guaranteed outcome. A sawmiller that spoke out against old-growth logging was virtually bankrupted by Gunns before being targeted for takeover. Living here is like living in a feudal, oppressed state. No one dare speak out for fear of a 'red-neck' in a truck coming around to smash up one's place. The state and federal governments doggedly support a marginal industry - already being out-competed by plantation timber from elsewhere in the world - which employs a tiny percentage of Tasmanians, makes a handful of people very rich and denies Tasmanians the tourist wealth it could be reaping. Because Australia is a western, democratic nation, the world thinks we exaggerate and turns a blind eye, but the destruction and corruption here is as bad as any in the third world. I believe the only way our forests can be saved is by greater international exposure of what is happening. http://www.worldlandtrust.org/news/2007/11/old-growth-logging-in-tasmania.htm World-wide: 37) It will cost at least $11.1 billion to stop deforestation in developing countries, and activities aimed at halting logging could bump up timber prices and drive some workers into unemployment. The warnings came from LucaenTacconi from the ANU's Crawford School of Economics and Government, who is calling for governments to support the inclusion of the prevention of deforestation and forest degradation in a post-Kyoto agreement, to create a market for carbon credits from these activities. In a climate change policy paper released yesterday, Associate Professor Tacconi says land use change and forestry contribute 17 cent cent of total greenhouse gas emissions. Deforestation mostly occurs in tropical, low-income countries, which often have " challenging governance conditions " , he says. " Only five of the top 20 deforesting countries are classified as 'free' - that is, they have functioning democracies. " The other countries have outright dictatorships or democratic systems that are not functioning well, " he says. This presents significant challenges to initiatives aimed at reducing deforestation through financial incentives, the paper says. Countries that donate funds should consider support for forest governance reforms. In March, the Howard Government announced a $200million global initiative totackle deforestation in developing countries. In another policy paper released by the ANU yesterday, Will Steffen, the director of the Fenner School of Environment and Society, lists a number of policy challenges for governments attempting to deal with climate change. " The challenge for the policy process is that no matter how vigorously we reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the next two decades, it will virtually have no effect on the extent of climate change that we experience during this period, " Professor Steffen says. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22800459-30417,00.html 38) A study, published November 8 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U.S.A., indicates that the extinction of plant species diminishes the total amount of biomass in natural habitats by as much as 50%. The take-home message: diversity matters greatly if we are to maintain critical benefits from nature, the researchers say. Experiments at Cedar Creek, Mich., show that biomass production plummets in natural plant communities when species are removed Scientists investigating the effects of declining diversity on ecosystems are generally divided into two camps. One group holds that it's the loss of highly productive dominant species that is important in biomass loss; the other contends that dwindling numbers of species in unique and complementary niches are to blame. Following up on previous work, ecologist Bradley Cardinale of the University of California Santa Barbara and his colleagues analyzed 44 experiments that manipulated species numbers in plant communities to simulate extinctions. The experiments encompassed the global gamut of habitats, from tundra to tropical rain forest. Each included an average of 15 species and lasted on average 2.5 years. For each experiment, Cardinale's team compared the amount of biomass produced in the most diverse plant assemblage (i.e., the " natural " community) with the least diverse one (typically a monoculture). The analysis showed that, reduced to a minimum of species, natural communities forfeited on average about 50% of their productivity. Strikingly, the effect increased over time. " Because research generally is funded for short time periods, it's difficult to assess how long it takes to reach the maximum impact of diversity loss, but clearly we've underestimated the effects, " Cardinale says. Perhaps more important, the analysis revealed that losing dominant, highly productive species accounted for just 34% of the biomass loss. The remainder was attributable to the departure of suites of complementary species. " Whether that's because the species facilitate each other's growth or because each occupies an irreplaceable niche isn't clear, " Cardinale says. But, he warns, " as large areas around the world are being converted to monocultures, it behooves us to understand we may be compromising nature's capacity to provide ecological services critical to humanity. " http://pubs.acs.org//journals/esthag-w/2007/nov/science/np_speciesextin\ ct.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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