Guest guest Posted December 18, 2007 Report Share Posted December 18, 2007 Today for you 34 new articles about earth's trees! (269th edition) Subscribe / send blank email to: earthtreenews- Weblog: http://olyecology.livejournal.com --Alaska: 1) Corporate enviros are elitist, proud, snobby, and esoteric, --British Columbia: 2) Langford prepares to take out treesits, 3) Native archeology not surveyed enough in Langford, 4) Waste wood for electricity, --Washington: 5) OFC restoration work, 6) OFC still challenging road repairs, 7) Weyco, --Oregon: 8) Timber trade power fading away, --California: 9) Sierra Pacific to use CCAA to squirm out of ESA rules, 10) Muir woods, 11) Clearcuts create the most carbon emissions, --Idaho: 12) Nature Conspiracy: new survey says we need to protect farming /timbering, --Montana: 13) A River Runs trough finally gets watershed analysis --Colorado: 14) Computers analyze fires risk --Minnesota: 15) A working forest is not a real forest --Illinois: 16) Black Locust killing in Braidwood Dunes and Savanna Forest Preserve --Pennsylvania: 17) 11% of Allegany proposed for wilderness --USA: 18) Wal-Mart susatainability plan ignores illegal wood procurement --UK: 19) Old maps help find old trees, 20) Products from preserves, 21) Mammoth extinction caused by trees, 22) applying to fell 300 trees in a historic park, --Italy: 23) Eight out of 10 trees dying from high temperatures --Finland: 24) High price of Russian logs reels industry --Panama: 25) 58% forested plus history of forests --Brazil: 26) Lots of problems, but no solutions --Pakistan: 27) City declines under rampant tree cutting --India: 28) Wild animals forest logged and they all flee to the city --Sri Lanka: 29) Save Sinharaga rain forest --Australia: 30) Destroying Native forest reduces emissions? 31) Blockade-Treesit north Yarra Ranges National Park, 32) Tahune Managed Forest is home to the last largest tree, 33) Tasmanian Pulp mill challenge gives up, --World-wide: 34) UN adopted an international agreement for forests, Alaska: 1) Environmentalists, the corporate kind, like to sound smart. And, the problem is, sometimes they do. They sound elitist, proud, snobby, and esoteric. I heard them, the good old boys, lay out their plan for the Tongass National Forest a while back. They sat in a conference room, glasses of water on front of them on a round table with a white tablecloth, briefcases at a knee. It was the Nature Conservancy convening the group this time, a group that included sallow-faced government types, men representing the logging industry who appeared tired, and a couple of business owners. " I'm concerned there is not enough Native representation, " said the sole Alaska Native, a Tlingit woman, in the group of thirty-one. There were others, sitting on the sidelines, who also complained about being excluded. They live in Southeast Alaska communities and wondered, like me, who voted for these people to represent us. The panel, with the dubious title, " Tongass Futures Roundtable, " is a " stakeholders " group attempting to reach concord among all the special interests feeding on the forest. The self-appointed group wants to help the Forest Service revise its plan for the Tongass. The agency bungled the plan so badly in its last attempt (it erroneously doubled the projected market for timber) a court shut down all sales. Beleaguered by lawsuits, politicians pushing the " jobs " smack, and by the insatiable appetite of the woodcutters, the Forest Service is a junkie looking for a fix in its largest forest. But the fix isn't going to come from astute environmentalists who pretend to speak for the rest of us. It has to come from the communities. Yet, for whatever reasons, the people who play the game, the power trippers who routinely fly to Washington D.C., have a hard time accepting local and grassroots decision-making. (Where did the " Tongass Futures " group hold their inaugural meeting? Bothell, Washington.) And the Tongass National Forest belongs, obviously, to every American. Who down South, when asked if they want their old growth, remote forests protected from clearcutting, wouldn't say, " of course? " When told that the leveling of their forest has cost taxpayers more than $1 billion since 1982, even the most conservative of our country people would raise their eyebrows. Still, the corporate environmentalists speak, in their pompous way, of compromises, of " HCAs " and " RODs, " of allowing cutting here and there, but not there. They bring out their elaborate maps, where they have certain areas shaded in, and speak into their cell phones to someone, a funder perhaps, when they feel close to making a deal. http://www.insurgent49.com/wuerth_092906.html British Columbia: 2) As many of you may know, the city of Langford has publicly declared on their website that they intend on beginning development this December. There have been two events at the sit recently that lead us to believe that THIS IS NOT A BLUFF! Two uniformed RCMP came by the camp to assess what and who is there, and to gather the intelligence necessary to have the sit removed. Within days of that a work crew showed up with chain saws and tried to remove a banner from the side of the highway. They were stopped by the sitters and gave up easily but they documented the process and thus gathered evidence that they will likely need in order to have an injunction granted for them to have the sit removed. These two events follow exactly the time line described by city officials and therefore we must assume that they are preparing to move SOON to have the sit taken away and construction begin. http://treesit.blogspot.com/ 3) Victoria resident Ingmar Lee — one of a group staging a tree-sit to block construction of the interchange — says Golder missed a number of important archeological features inthe forest. " The assessment says right up front that archeology is part of the parameters of the analysis, " Lee said. " They missed culturally modified trees around the site. " Culturally modified trees — those with bark removed, chopped for pitch, scarred from plank removal or de-limbed for wood as part of First Nations traditional use of the forest — are living artifacts protected under the Heritage Conservation Act, he said. He questioned how a prestigious outfit like Golder can miss culturally modified trees. " The thing about Golder is they're so ubiquitous in massive developments all over B.C., " Lee said. " They have a responsibility to identify potentially show-stopping features in an assessment. In this case, they failed to do that. " Tim Stevens, a private consultant hired by the City of Langford to manage the Spencer interchange project, said Golder's report was accurate and thorough. " We are happy with them, " said Stevens, who commissioned both the environmental and archeological assessments. Although Golder did take notice of the cave, they failed to identify " significant " karst features of the site, Lee said, including numerous sinkhole depressions. " They are indicative of significant subterranean karst features, " said Lee, who has spent a lot of time in the area since he helped build the first tree-sit in April. " The forest floor looks like a bomb site full of craters. " What's problematic for Lee is that Golder is the same firm that missed Spaet cave during its assessment for the Bear Mountain project. " They failed to respect the incredible potential for archeological, historical and biological resources, " Lee said, pointing out Spaet Cave was destroyed for the development. " When you dig into caves on the Island you may find Grizzly or marmot bones that can tell a lot about the history. " While karst caves aren't protected under the Heritage Conservation Act, the cave near Spencer's Pond became so important that the interchange was realigned. " Now, the interchange avoids the cave, but plows through karst sinkhole depressions, " he said. http://www.bclocalnews.com/vancouver_island_south/goldstreamgazette/news/1248665\ 6.html 4) A key part of that plan is tapping the power potential of wood left behind by logging operations – a pile that's only going to get bigger as the province's record pine beetle infestation runs its course. Over time, beetle-killed trees warp, dry and split, making them less valuable or useless as lumber. " We're looking at whether we need to form a new tenure on the land base that would allow us to go ahead and [issue] up to a 20-year minimum tenure for wood waste because you need the security of supply in order to go ahead and make the investment in a power plant, " Mr. Coleman said in an interview last week. Currently, such debris or " slash " – left behind by logging companies because it would cost more to process it than they would get from selling it – is burned or left to rot. Would-be users can't just go collect it, as it typically is piled up on Crown land. " In B.C.'s forest sector, the drive to create another line of business hasn't been there, " Mr. Coleman said. " There are jurisdictions that use the waste; in B.C., we burn it in the forest in the off-season, and we shouldn't be doing that. " B.C.'s push to tap its forests to help keep the lights on dates back at least to February, when the province unveiled an energy plan that requires all new electricity projects to have zero net greenhouse gas emissions. The plan also calls for energy self-sufficiency for the province, and flagged the potential to use beetle-killed wood as fuel for electricity plants. http://www.globeinvestor.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071216.wrwaste1216/GIStory/ Washington: 5) Olympic Forests Coalition (OFCO) -- What follows is an update of current restoration activities in the Forest, mostly involving road decommissioning projects such as closure of old logging roads and returning those sites to more natural aquatic and soil conditions): 1) Brown Creek road: In the South Fork Skokomish watershed, 4.7 miles of road are being put to bed for the benefit of threatened bull trout. 2) Wynoochee River road spurs: Two projects, one to the south near Anderson Creek, and another to the north at the confluence of the West Branch, would prevent illegal off-road vehicle use on sensitive river bars. 3) Sams River system: Quiet as a mouse, the Forest Service, in collaboration with the Quinault Tribe, has removed nearly the entire road system from the Sams River drainage (a major tributary of the Queets River), effectively rewilding this remote valley adjacent to Olympic National Park. If OFCO had medals of honor to bestow, we'd be handing them out with the utmost gratitude for this extended project. 4) North Fork Calawah/Sol Duc: As part of the mitigation activities associated with the Clavicle timber sale, 2.1 miles of road will be decommissioned along the Calawah/Sol Duc divide. 5) Goodman Creek: In a major tributary of the salmon-rich Sol Duc River, 4 miles of road will be removed for both aquatic health and to discourage off-road knuckleheads. 6) Slab Camp road: Derived from a stewardship collaboration project facilitated by OFCO, this project will – once and for all – take out the grotesque extension of Forest Service Road 2875 south of Slab Camp, a major intrusion along the peripheries of the Buckhorn Wilderness and Quilcene Roadless Area. 7) Little Quilcene spur road: In the Olympic rainshadow, just east of Mount Townsend, 1.4 mile of road is being removed. 8) Mount Crag/Tunnel Creek: On the slope west of Mount Crag, above Tunnel Creek, 5 miles of road will be decommissioned to benefit threatened summer chum salmon. 9) Tunnel Creek road: The Forest Service had originally planned to convert the final 2 miles of the main Tunnel Creek road to trail and remove constraints to the North Fork of the creek, but guidebook author Seabury Blair, Jr. mounted a letter-writing campaign in opposition to the project. Mr. Blair apparently values vehicle access and modern conveniences more than the integrity of the wild country around him. http://www.olympicforest.org/161.htm 6) The Forest Service, National Park Service, and federal highway administrators have already announced that the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) on repairing the Dosewallips Road will not look at the option of trail conversion. The rock and hard-place options the agencies have left are reconstructing the road through critical spawning habitat in the river or building a bypass road up an excessively steep side hill and through a spectacular grove of ancient forest (which has come to be known as the Polly Dyer Grove). Both options would access two primitive campgrounds (that are well-used now by hikers and bicyclists), and two trailheads. Neither option makes much sense. But both reflect a Bush administration obsession with motorized access coupled with an utter disregard for the environment, wildland protections, or federally listed species. Threatened chinook salmon, steelhead, northern spotted owls and marbled murrelets all come into play in this decision. Unfortunately, what won't come into play in the DEIS is a sustainable solution for the Dosewallips Valley, one that would involve a new trailhead, parking area, and planning for a downvalley campground. A similar solution for the Carbon River Valley at Mount Rainier received strong support from park users and local communities. The Dosewallips Road DEIS is now expected in January. http://www.olympicforest.org/163.htm 7) Nearly 3 ½ years ago, Weyerhaeuser asked state officials for approval to clear-cut 106 acres on a steep mountain slope fronting on Stillman Creek in Lewis County. This was a slide-prone drainage. But a Weyerhaeuser geologist found " no potentially unstable areas " in the area to be harvested and the state approved the logging. Earlier this month, the huge storm that enveloped Southwest Washington triggered numerous slides on this slope. Slides crashed into Stillman Creek, a major tributary of the South Fork of Chehalis River, adding to the destructive mix of mud, wood debris and floodwaters that inundated homes and farms in the Boistfort Valley west of Chehalis. This slope captured the eye of Seattle Times photojournalist Steve Ringman as he made a helicopter flight over dozens of slides in the Stillman Creek drainage. His photograph, first published last Sunday, offered a stark view of the storm's effects on a tract of heavily logged lands. The photo raised concerns at Weyerhaeuser, the timber giant that has sought to cultivate an image of solid environmental stewardship. In recent days, corporate officials did their own flyover, scouting landslides there and elsewhere in the Northwest, where Weyerhaeuser owns more than 2 million acres. " This storm was a catastrophic event, a natural disaster, " said Frank Mendizabal, a Weyerhaeuser spokesman, noting that a Stillman Creek gauge recorded nearly 20 inches of rainfall in a 24-hour period. " That said, what I can tell you is that we are going to look at this particular unit and others, and see what effects the storm had, and see if we need to make any changes in our practices. " The damage also will be investigated by the state Department of Natural Resources, which regulates logging practices. Rod Rector, a Weyerhaeuser employee whose home was flooded, attacked state rules that require standing trees to be left alongside streams and some logs to be left in them. The slides and floods then carried some of that wood downstream. Others find fault elsewhere. A few days after the floodwaters receded, Paul Richied, a 37-year resident of the Boistfort Valley, parked his truck beside a farm field full of silt and debris. " When you log off the whole damn hillside, you get into trouble, " said Richied. " You got to leave some trees behind. " http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004076111_weycologging16m.html Oregon: 8) Oregon's timber trade, once the economic engine of this state, is ailing. If it doesn't get help soon, it could just fade away. For decades, timber barons regarded the forestry board as their private club. They carefully vetted commissioners, making sure forest policy sails were trimmed to their liking. Need a reminder of how effectively they exercised their clout? Two years ago, Kulongoski wanted Les AuCoin -- few Oregonians' idea of an actual tree hugger -- to steer the forestry board toward a brave new world of sustainable forestry. The timber industry treated the former Democratic congressman's prospects to a clear-cut. It may have been their last hurrah. The time has come for a new era of Oregon forestry. Catastrophic fires continue to threaten vast areas of our forest. And catastrophic unemployment rates continue to haunt many rural communities. Too many watersheds continue to be degraded. And too many endangered species continue to lose habitat. Meanwhile, uncertainty over timber supply from federal lands, in tandem with federal tax policy, has created a huge shift to timber production on private lands. Tree owners who long regarded the resource as a sustainable asset are being spurred to capitalize it as a one-time crop. Forestry currently contributes about 10 percent of the Oregon economy, and that slice of the pie is shrinking. Many mills have closed. The state has lost production of pulp and paper. Railroads that carry both logs and finished products teeter on the brink of bankruptcy. If the industry loses its critical mass of efficiency, economic oblivion will follow. That's how it goes in the modern world of global markets. First you lose momentum, then you die. http://www.oregonlive.com/editorials/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/editorial/1197679\ 97857180.xml & col l=7 California: 9) California's leading private forest landowner today announced it has applied for a Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances (CCAA) with the U.S. of Fish and Wildlife Service that will enhance habitat for the fisher, a forest-dwelling mammal. Under the agreement Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI) will increase habitat for the fisher on approximately 160,000 acres of SPI's private lands in Butte, Plumas and Tehama counties. The voluntary 20-year agreement calls for implementation of conservation measures that will improve the overall status of the fisher species. In addition, successful completion of the CCAA would clear the way for a potential re-introduction of the species by the California Department of Fish and Game. Though not listed as a " threatened " or " endangered " species, fisher -- similar to pine martens, weighing 4 to 13 lbs. with a long body, short legs and bushy tail -- have declined in the region over the past 150 years due to factors including trapping, mining, past-era logging, and wildfires. Fishers are known to live up to 10 years in the wild, and are considered a " candidate " species under the federal Endangered Species Act. " This CCAA will result in increased amounts of denning/resting habitat and enhance the potential to increase the distribution of fishers in the wild, " said SPI biologist Steve Self. " The potential reintroduction of the species on our forest land in this area could begin a new sustainable population, possibly becoming a vital link between northern and southern fisher populations that are now isolated. http://www.pr-usa.net/index.php?option=com_content & task=view & id=51218 & Itemid=9 10) It is difficult to imagine a time when anyone would contemplate chopping down the magnificent redwoods in Muir Woods, let alone drowning the valley under hundreds of feet of water. Those scenarios were actually being contemplated 100 years ago, until one of the Bay Area's first conservationists stepped forward. U.S. Rep. William Kent, the heir to a Chicago meat-packing fortune, had purchased what was then the last stand of old-growth redwoods in the Bay Area. He donated it to the federal government just as a local water company was preparing to condemn it and build a dam. This month marks the beginning of a yearlong celebration of the 100-year anniversary of the establishment of Muir Woods as a national monument. Kent's decision to thwart industrial progress is now considered one of the most courageous acts of land preservation in U.S. history, and it will play a major role in the events planned over the next year by the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy and the National Park Service. " It was the beginning of citizen activism to protect our land, " said Greg Moore, executive director of the parks conservancy, which was established in 1981 to encourage public involvement in the national parks. " William Kent was really the first to stand up and put action with his words. " The centennial events will begin with a night of speeches and entertainment Friday, the winter solstice, and include a huge birthday celebration Jan. 9, the anniversary of the day President Theodore Roosevelt declared Muir Woods a national monument.Other events, including several days in which entrance to the park will be free, are planned throughout 2008.But, for many environmentalists, the anniversary is a call to arms. Protecting the oldest and biggest trees left in the world and preserving the ecosystem that supports them is an ongoing project, according to park officials and biologists. " When I started working here, we thought we were protecting a beautiful grove of redwoods, but we have since realized it is an entire ecosystem, " said ranger Mia Monroe, the longtime Muir Woods park supervisor who started working for the Park Service in 1976. " Hopefully, the next 100 years will be a time when we learn a lot more about our forests. " http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/17/MNSBTS7AC.DTL & type=p\ rintable 11) Increasing numbers of people in our community are becoming alarmed by the fact that forests in Shasta County and throughout the forested areas of California are being clear-cut by large timber companies such as Sierra Pacific Industries and Roseburg Lumber. Clear-cutting consists of cutting virtually all the trees in 20 or 30-acre areas. After the trees are harvested, the area is replanted with densely spaced small trees of the same age consisting of one or two species. A diverse forest of many species and many ages of trees and shrubs has been replaced by a tree plantation. Many problems result from this process. They include the loss of habitat for wild animals, the use of herbicides to kill competing plants which then pollute our waterways, increased fire danger from tree plantations, and the loss of the beauty and recreational opportunities that forests provide. But the most irreversible and catastrophic aspect of clear-cutting is its contribution to global warming. Carbon dioxide is one of the major greenhouse gases; when it is released into the atmosphere in larger quantities than can be absorbed, it causes global warming. Trees store carbon dioxide in their branches, trunks and roots, keeping it out of the atmosphere. The timber industry claims that clear-cutting followed by planting tree farms actually stores carbon dioxide rather than releasing it, thus helping to prevent global warming. The grain of truth in this argument is that young trees absorb carbon from the atmosphere and store it more quickly than older trees. But this is like looking at one frame of a movie to try to understand the entire film. To understand the meaning of the entire film, however, we need to look at another frame: what happens when tree plantations are planted. After clear-cutting, the soil is prepared for replanting by the use of heavy machinery that rips open the soil, allowing organic matter in the soil to rot. That rotting process releases more carbon into the atmosphere than plantation trees will absorb during their first 10 years of growth, according to research cited by the U.S. Department of Energy. Tree plantations contribute to global warming in another way: They are highly vulnerable to forest fires, and fires release more carbon into the atmosphere. http://www.redding.com/news/2007/dec/16/to-stop-global-warming-lets-stop-the-nee\ dless/ Idaho: 12) A coalition of Idaho agricultural, sporting and conservation groups today announced the results of a poll that shows overwhelming support for incentives keeping farmers, ranchers, and forest owners on the land. Of those polled, 83% would support tax incentives for landowners who agree to keep their land in farming, ranching and forestry, in order to protect clean water and wildlife habitat. Bob Moore of Moore Information, who conducted the poll, presented the information on Thursday in the Owyhee Plaza. The poll was funded by The Nature Conservancy on behalf of the coalition. As more people call Idaho home, the coalition believes it is important to work together to ensure we protect what makes Idaho special. The poll found that by wide margins people want to ensure the protection of working farms, ranches and forests, clean lakes and rivers and wildlife habitat. " You think about what people in Idaho value, they value wildlife, " says Margaret Soulen Hinson, an Idaho sheep and cattle rancher. " They value large open landscapes, they value the ability to be outdoors and have room to recreate. It's hopeful that Idahoans recognize that farms, ranches and timberlands protect all of those values. " More than 75% of respondents would be inclined to support legislative proposals that protect farms, ranches, forests and wildlife habitat. By wide margins, those polled indicated concern about unplanned growth and the loss of family farms, ranches, and forest lands. " If you look at the Tetons and see the rolling foothills in front of them, those lands are farm and forest lands, " says Emma Atchley, an Ashton potato farmer. " If you cover them with houses, we will never have that wide open view again. It's gone forever. Those are the lands we want to preserve. " Recently, a diverse coalition of Idaho business owners and conservationists joined together to explore ways to help landowners stay on the land. The coalition includes farmers, ranchers, forest landowners, and sportsmen. http://www.imperialvalleynews.com/index.php?option=com_content & task=view & id=517 & \ Itemid=2 Montana: 13) " Based on the limited data we have for nutrients, the summertime concentrations appear to be significantly high, " Byron said of the middle stretch of the Blackfoot River, immortalized in the classic Norman Maclean novel " A River Runs Through It. " " But we don't have a great seasonal distribution of analysis results; most of the testing was done at the end of the growing season, so there's not a lot of information as to the base flow concentrations, like in the winter. " Stream temperatures also are elevated, he noted. The plan calls for voluntary measures, like keeping cattle out of streams and bank restoration work — planting trees or other woody vegetation — to reduce the amount of sediment flowing through the stream, as well as to provide more shade to lower temperatures. In the middle stretch of the Blackfoot, the U.S. Forest Service owns about 52 percent of the property, Plum Creek Timber owns 20 percent and other private entities own 16 percent of the land. The state and federal government make up the remaining landowners. In Nevada Creek, about 60 percent of the land is privately owned, primarily for agricultural purposes. Other large landowners include the Forest Service (17 percent); the Bureau of Land Management (15 percent) and Plum Creek Timber (5 percent). The Middle Blackfoot-Nevada Creek planning area is in Powell and Missoula counties and encompasses 1,430 square miles from the mouth of Nevada Creek downstream to where the Clearwater River enters the Blackfoot River. The planning-area waters are used for drinking, eating and food processing after conventional treatment, and swimming, recreation and agriculture. They support a variety of aquatic life, as well as wildlife. This water quality restoration plan is part of an ongoing statewide effort to look at what's contributing to stream degradation in Montana, and eliminate those items that are causing concern. http://www.helenair.com/articles/2007/12/15/montana/c011215_02.txt Colorado: 14) A one-of-a-kind computer modeling project, its mission is to give land managers, community leaders and the public a way to analyze fire risk and assess options as never before. What if a fire breaks on a particular slope? How many homes are within one mile? What will be the expected chemical signature of the ash and the smoke, and the likelihood and projected impact of fire debris reaching an important water source in the next 48 hours? What evacuation routes should be chosen, or ruled out, based on the predictions of the fire's movement, the weather and other variables? The United States Forest Service is supplying data on soil moisture. The Civil Air Patrol, the civilian air-rescue arm of the Air Force, is sending images from its training flights. Ash from the fires in California is being analyzed in Colorado and will be used to help project Grand County's expected ash composition from fire. The researchers say that if ever there was a place to see what fire science can achieve before a fire actually erupts, Grand County is the candidate. The population and number of second homes are growing rapidly, and the forest that tucks in around the new homes is dying, attacked by beetles that are killing lodgepole pines in numbers that scientists say they have never seen. About three million people in the Denver metropolitan area draw at least part of their water supply from the county's reservoirs, and millions more depend on the Colorado River, which has its headwaters a few miles away in Rocky Mountain National Park. Lodgepole-dominated forests, even when they are healthy, burn furiously, but rarely, with ground-clearing fires that happen only every few hundred years. The lodgepoles here are overdue. A big fire in 1851 scorched part of the area, but some places have not burned for 500 years or more. " I think the role that science can play is limited, " said Jacqueline Vaughn, a professor of political science at Northern Arizona University who teaches environmental policy. Professor Vaughn recently visited burned areas in California and concluded that community response and self-defense measures had been crucial and had varied widely. " Some people get it, and some people just don't, " she said. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/15/us/15fire.html?_r=1 & th & emc=th & oref=slogin Minnesota: 15) I continue to be amazed at how many problems can be solved by cutting down trees. A Dec. 11 commentary ( " Who owns the forest? It's no small matter " ) pleads for public subsidies to lower the price of wood pulp for global paper companies through the guise of protecting our wild heritage. In their eyes a " working forest " is a logged forest, and these so-called conservation easements require commercial logging in perpetuity. Readers should know that this industry, while soliciting tax dollars to pay a king's ransom to prevent harmful habitat fragmentation and to preserve public access to forests now owned by Wall Street, ferociously fights for fragmentation of our public forests through clear-cutting and road-building. It also tries to sweet-talk families who own forestland into " farming pulp " by logging frequently and favoring fast-growing types of trees. It's sad to see how easily the money of the Blandin Paper Co. foundation has seduced the University of Minnesota and some well-known conservation groups to implement this strategy. We need hunters to keep the deer population down for highway safety and to protect our long-needle pines and tender cedars from disappearing from browsing. But we should not manipulate our northern forests, where deer are nonnative, to maximize the deer population. We already have lost more than 96 percent of our old-growth forests to logging. Taxpayer funds would be best used to bring old-growth back up to its natural share of the landscape, not to create more unnatural pulp farms that native wildlife can't call home. http://www.startribune.com/opinion/letters/12518631.html Illinois: 16) A large sign along Illinois Route 113 east of Braidwood informs passersby that the felling of trees and clearing of brush is a restoration project in the Braidwood Dunes and Savanna Forest Preserve. The 7.2 acres of woods along the highway have been overrun by an invasive species. The black locust is native to the U.S.—even as close as southern Illinois—but it has been introduced outside its native range, including here, where other woodland trees and understory can't compete with its rapid growth and overshadowing. " That area has been overrun " by the black locust, said Bruce Hodgdon, spokesman for the forest district. " These non-natives spread so quickly we are trying to deal with it now before they spread further through the preserve, " he said. The 325-acre site includes " a pretty rich diversity ... a mix of sand savanna, woodlands and wetlands. " - " Prairie People " volunteers have helped with the restoration. Employees of the contractor, Natural Resource Management of Beecher, expect to be working through the end of December, cutting out the black locust. " This is pretty much what we do all winter, " said John Plank of Oak Forest, interrupted while chain-sawing a locust log into movable lengths. Owner Doug Short of Beecher said he employs 5 to 12 people, depending on seasonal work, and expects the firm to grow. In addition to the Will County forest district, he does restoration work for the Kankakee Valley district, municipalities, park districts, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, homeowners associations and private owners, including projects arranged by the local soil and water conservation districts. In addition to woodland management, the firm does prairie and wetland restoration and management, prescribed burns, erosion management and more, he said. http://www.prairiestateoutdoors.com/index.php?/pso/article/braidwood_dunes_resto\ ration/ Pennsylvania: 17) A grassroots group in Northeastern Pennsylvania is asking that 54,460 acres, or 11 percent of Pennsylvania's only national forest, be congressionally designated as wilderness, meaning it can't be logged and can only be used for passive recreation. The proposal upsets other groups in the area, where timbering is a major industry, who feel the designation would permanently " lock down " land that could provide future economic benefits. U.S. Rep. John Peterson, a Venango County Republican who has drawn more than $131,000 in campaign donations from the forestry industry since his election to the House in 1996, says constituents are lobbying him as the debate heats up again. Although he hopes for a compromise, he wouldn't place a timetable on concluding the six-year debate. " I represent the best hardwood forest in America, and so it's a major industry, " Peterson said. The forestry industry is " a part of my district and I understand their issues and so they support me (financially). " But my decision to cut down a tree isn't made by them. " Wilderness areas must meet various guidelines regarding their distance from roads and buildings. Logging and the use of motorized vehicles are prohibited. Such restrictions prevent large-scale plantings or other management of the forest. They can be used for passive recreation, such as bird-watching, hunting, canoeing and hiking. Peterson said he is trying to strike a balance between the Friends of Allegheny Wilderness's request that eight tracts of the forest be designated wilderness and the Allegheny Forest Alliance's desire to have no more of the forest become wilderness. Both groups claim to have the endorsement of dozens of organizations, ranging from watershed councils to loggers. Because a wilderness designation requires an act of Congress, the final say on which areas of the forest are considered for wilderness essentially rests with Peterson. http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_542804.html USA: 18) Last month, Wal-Mart released a 59 page " Sustainability " progress report, in which the company said " we want to provide our customers with the assurance that not only are they getting value and quality, but they are getting a product that was produced in a socially responsible manner. " But the retailer's wood procurement policies are basically all bark, and no bite. Wal-Mart does not ask its suppliers where their wood comes from, and the retailer's 'don't ask' policy " is having particularly dangerous consequences for the high conservation value forest of the Russian Far East and the endangered species dependent on them, including the world's largest cat, the Siberian tiger. Roughly 84% of Wal-Mart's wood products, like cribs and toilet seats, are sourced from China, and much of China's lumber is imported from Russia, where as much as 50% of the logging is illegal. EIA undercover investigators met with 8 Chinese manufacturers that supply Wal-Mart with wood. EIA asserts that Wal-Mart is focused only on price, and " has not concerned itself with the origin of the timber used for its products. " Wal-Mart's supply chain " will contribute to the depletion of Russia's 'protected' forests unless concerted changes are made, " the EIA warns. One supplier EIA examined makes over 200,000 baby cribs for Wal-Mart every year from Russian poplar and birch. EIA employees, posing as wood buyers, learned that Wal-Mart suppliers admitted to paying protection money to the Russian mafia, and to illegal logging. Almost comical is the fact that logs coming into China from Russia have to be offloaded from the railcars, and reloaded onto Chinese railcars, because the Russian train tracks are a different size than the Chinese. When Wal-Mart customers buy these wood products, they are supporting " criminal timber syndicates, " the environmental group says. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/al-norman/walmarts-forest-crimes_b_76964.html UK: 19) Maps more than 200 years old are being used to help find and protect Britain's natural treasure house of ancient trees. Historical maps help reveal how landscapes once looked when vast swathes of the country were covered in forest. As well as showing how much woodland we have lost they can also help pinpoint the ancient survivors. The Woodland Trust, the UK's leading woodland conservation charity, launched the Ancient Tree Hunt last summer to find, record and preserve our oldest trees. The project aims to create a database of at least 100,000 ancient trees by 2011 and is relying heavily on the public to scour their own areas for suitable candidates. More than 4,000 ancient trees have been recorded and verified since the launch of the project six months ago. Now the Trust has teamed up with digital mapping company Landmark Information Group, to provide historical maps so tree sites can be plotted online. " People joining the Ancient Tree Hunt can step back in time and see online the former landscapes of parks, gardens and tree lined avenues. This gives people strong clues to follow up as well as a fascinating glimpse of local history. " Groups of ancient trees are extremely important habitats, and the old maps show us exactly where larger concentrations of trees once stood. We can use this information to target our current searches for remaining clusters of ancient trees. " Because of its legacy of royal hunting forests established at the time of the Norman Conquest - the UK has more ancient tress than any other country in Europe. Ancient trees also provide a home to thousands of species of plants and animals, including many rare and threatened species. As the trees get older, they develop holes, nooks and crannies, as well as dead and rotting wood, providing perfect homes for insects, bats and birds. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/12/17/eatrees117.xml 20) Dartmoor National Park, Blackdown Hills and Tamar Valley are some of the protected areas offering chips, pellets, briquettes and seasoned logs from trees felled as part of a woodland management programme. The participating 10 Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (ANOBs) are part of the Co-ordinated Woodfuel Initiative, which encourages individuals and organisations to install wood fuel heating systems, which are better for the environment than oil-fired systems. The scheme, led by Bristol-based charity the Centre of Sustainable Energy (CSE), has already advised more than 500 people throughout the region. It is estimated 25 wood fuel heating systems will be in place when the programme ends in March, reducing local carbon emissions by some 850 tonnes a year. Dr David Clubb of CSE said rural areas would benefit from a growing wood fuel industry, which could improve sustainable management of woodlands and support livelihoods. He said: " By bringing together the AONBs and National Parks it has demonstrated the strength of acting in concert to provide far greater benefits than could be obtained by acting independently. " Don't miss the 24dash.com audio bulletins for the latest news and information - http://www.24dash.com/podcasts 21) Woolly mammoths were among the biggest mammals to have walked the earth, but it appears they were driven into extinction by nothing more dangerous than trees. A leading expert on the ice age will claim this week that, rather than being wiped out by human hunters, the giant creatures were doomed by the spread of forests around the world at the end of the last ice age 10,000 years ago. Professor Adrian Lister, a palaeobiologist at University College London, has found that the extensive areas of frozen grassland on which mammoths thrived were gradually replaced by forests, leaving the animals nothing to eat. Analysis on the DNA extracted from hundreds of fossils has revealed that the genetic differences between individual mammoths were so slight that the animals were unable to adapt to the changes in their environment. It contrasts with previous theories that humans hunted the woolly beasts into extinction or that rising temperatures left them unable to cope. Prof Lister will present his findings at the annual meeting of the Palaeontological Association in Sweden on Monday. He will reveal a detailed picture of how mammoths first evolved about seven million years ago in tropical Africa, migrated north and adapted to the cold that allowed them to thrive in the ice age before dying out. " In the middle of the last ice age, around 30,000 years ago, there were millions of mammoths roaming over a huge area, " said Prof Lister. " Around 20,000 years later there were hardly any left. " As the forests moved in, the mammoths were pushed out of their normal habitat. These animals are mostly governed by vegetation rather than climate and so they were squeezed into very small populations as the forests took over the cold grasslands. " I don't think that people played a major role in wiping them out, although they may have pushed those final populations over the edge. The major impact factor was the change in the vegetation from grassland to trees. " http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/12/16/scimammoth11.x\ ml 22) Dare to apply for permission to fell a tree and you can stir up the most passionate of responses. Dare to apply to fell more than 300 in a Grade I-listed historic public park and you have a full-scale battle on your hands. Such is the case in the leafy environs of Chiswick House, in west London, where the trees in question are due to be cut down as part of a large-scale restoration project that could be given the go-ahead by Hounslow council's planning committee tomorrow. Concern about the fate of the trees is just one of a host of objections to the plans drawn up by the embattled custodians of Chiswick House. Among the interested parties are dog-walkers, ecologists (who value the estate's bat and bird populations), and devotees of the 1950s cafe in the grounds, which is to be demolished and replaced. Architectural and garden historians, meanwhile, are querying plans to erect an entertainment marquee for four months of the year on a site almost adjacent to the Grade I-listed house itself. The fate of Chiswick House, and particularly its gardens, has long been a cause célèbre in heritage circles – on a par with the heated dispute that raged, a decade ago, about English Heritage's felling of trees around Kenwood House, in north London. One of the fundamental issues here – as in other such cases – is whether the guardians of Chiswick House owe their allegiance to the visionaries of the past who built the house and developed the park, or to the 1m-plus visitors who use them today. Nobody disputes that the park, created in the early 18th century by Lord Burlington – a friend of Handel and Alexander Pope – and his designer, William Kent, is of world-class standard. Surrounding a quintessential palladian villa, it is a pioneering example of the English landscape park, one of Britain's most influential contributions to international art. Nor is there any doubt that it has suffered neglect and deterioration in recent decades. For local residents, the 65 acres of wooded walks, streams, statues and lawns around the villa are a place to relax, picnic, walk the dog or climb trees. Some like it just the way it is, with an air of elegant decay. http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/gardens/article304\ 5166.ece Italy: 23) " It's a climate change hot spot, one of the areas where we actually see the change happening " Dr Giorgi said that in the next decades temperature rises in Europe during the summer months could be 40-50 per cent higher than elsewhere. A report represented to the Italian government said that eight out of 10 trees across Italy's varied ecosystems were already suffering from the effects of rising temperatures and diminishing rainfall. The warning echoes fears that the Mediterranean, and Italy in particular, is proving highly vulnerable to climate change Climatologist Dr Filippo Giorgi of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, told a major environment conference in Rome in September that the Mediterranean was warming up faster than the rest of the world. Of the six major droughts to occur in Italy in the last 60 years, four have occurred since 1990. The average temperature has increased by 0.4ºC in the north in 20 years and by 0.7ºC in the south. The regions of Tuscany, Umbria, Abruzzo, Puglia and also the islands of Sicily and Sardinia were being hard hit by rising temperatures, with several species of oak and beech tree in particular under threat. Lack of rainfall was proving the biggest threat to woodland in the Alpine north of the country. In Sicily and Sardinia, cork trees, the evergreen Holm-oak and even some compact Mediterranean tree species were threatened by the increasingly arid conditions. In response to the report Environment minister Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio said: " Fewer woodlands mean, among other things, reduced capacity to absorb carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. " He said that to " break this vicious ciricle " his government had set aside £110m to tackle degradation of forests and woodlands. Like other Southern European countries, Italy has also lost considerable areas of woodland to forest fires, which although fanned by hot winds, are often started deliberately. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/12/17/eaitaly117.xml Finland: 24) " The Forest industry has come to a turning point in Finland and in many other countries. The industry must not come to a halt – we must ensure that a successful forest cluster is active in Finland even decades from now, providing jobs and prosperity through the sustainable and diverse exploitation of a renewable raw material. " The price of energy affects the competitiveness of the forest industry much more substantially than is the case in many other branches of industry. It is possible to increase the production of bioenergy, as long as this is done sustainably and cost-effectively. The amount of wood suitable for processing is finite, which is why it should be directed towards use in the manufacture of high value-added products that satisfy the needs of consumers. Energy can be generated by burning wood that is unsuitable for processing. Market-economy principles should form the basis for promoting bioenergy production, " Pesonen reminded. Increasing the efficiency of operations, streamlining structures and developing new businesses and products will safeguard the industry's competitiveness and establish a strong foundation for future, " said Jussi Pesonen, Chairman of the Board ofs of the Finnish Forest Industries Federation and President & CEO of UPM, at the Federation's Annual Autumn Meeting in Helsinki today. " In future, the forest industry will be a very different sector from what it is today. http://www.lesprom.com/news/31856/ Panama: 25) Historically, Panama rainforest had been seriously affected by the Panama Canal construction at the beginning of the 1900s. Large swathes of the rainforest had been flooded for the purposes of the canal's construction, and, as a result, the country sustained significant losses of biodiversity and forest cover. Currently, the forest covers around 58% of the total land area of Panama (4.3 mln. ha, or 16,500 square miles). The Caribbean coast of Panama hosts typical tropical rainforests with year round rainfalls, whereas forests of the Pacific coast have distinct dry seasons. Panama is also home to many islands covered with forest. One of them, Barro Colorado Island, was formed after its nearby area had been flooded for the construction of the canal. The island is almost completely forested and is probably the most famous part of Panama rainforest. Currently, Barro Colorado Island, together with the five neighbouring mainland peninsulas, forms the Barro Colorado Nature Monument. Another Panamanian island worth mentioning is Coiba. It is located in the Pacific Ocean and is the biggest island in Central America. Around 75% of Coiba's territory is covered by the rainforest a large tract of which is still in pristine condition. http://www.tropical-rainforest-animals.com/Panama-Rainforest.html Brazil: 26) There are lots of problems, but no solutions, in the new DVD release " CNN's Planet in Peril " . The program examines various problems facing our civilization, including mass extinction, species loss, habitat destruction, deforestation, water pollution, climate change, chemical pollutants, overpopulation, etc. One of the most gripping stories was of a nun who traveled from Ohio to the rain forest of Brazil to help a village learn to live sustainably within the forest. The nun began receiving death threats, because she was helping the village to protect their land from illegal logging. One day, on her walk home from the village, two young man confronted her and shot her to death. After being caught, they confessed to the act, and admitted that their motive was money, some $25,000 provided by the owner of the local logging company. This is where the program loses a golden opportunity to educate the public to the actual issue that is facing our civilization, the failure of our global economic system: the tragedy of money. The two young men were clearly saddened about the choice they made, but why did they do it. Perhaps they needed the $25,000 to live, or to help their family live. In this way, their motive is general regarded as " good " . After all, what would you do if your child would die without an expensive medical treatment? Would you kill to save your son or daughter? Would you kill in " self-defense " in order to protect yourself, your family, or your property? If so, then the only difference between you and these two young men is that they were actually in the situation, and they were presented with the solution. One solution could be to help everyone on the planet to follow the commandment " Thou Shall Not Kill " , no matter what fate may befall oneself or one's family. This seems utterly unrealistic in the short term, so let's look more deeply at this case. The young men would not have had a motive to kill, had it not been for the ample funding from the lumber company owner. Was his behavior unethical? Perhaps he too was motivated by the need to sell more lumber, least he lose his company, be put out of business, and be unable to care for his family. Or, perhaps, he just became accustomed to a certain lifestyle. Whatever the reason, his values were also flawed, because he was willing to pay to have someone killed. http://valuesystem.livejournal.com/28708.html Pakistan: 27) Vast chopping of trees, heavy traffic and dust due to under-construction of roads is increasing pollution and gradually ending natural beauty of the capital. Greenery is being replaced with the newly constructed roads and traffic increased manifold. Though pollution is a global problem but it was noticed that somehow Islamabad remained greenish and was not affected by this menace in the past, but now scenario has tragically changed. Immense razing of trees has been seen for the last few months in almost every sector. New roads are being made for the security of high officials. This huge destruction of trees has not only affected the environment but has also increased pollution. An official of the Meteoric Department informed The Post Sunday that for the last one year, pollution had increased from 40 to 45percent which would grow, if the authorities did not take any action to stop it. This threatening increase of pollution spreads lungs and skin deceases. A doctor of the Dermatologist Department said that pollution could put several damaging effects on their health. " It can irritate eyes, throats and lungs, and burn eyes, in fact, people can react very differently to air pollution, " he said. " Citizens are confused on the current polluted environment because they never underwent through these circumstances before. But there is one other generator of the pollution and it is the unstoppable increase of vehicles in the city which are springing up everyday. These vehicles, where on one end, pursuing authorities to build new roads whereas on other end it makes both; the signal and the traffic police busier all the time. http://thepost.com.pk/IsbNews.aspx?dtlid=134467 & catid=17 India: 28) Wild animals have been straying into cities from Mehangrowal, Chak Sadhum Chohal, Manguwal and Dholwaha villages located in Hoshiarpur and Una districts on Punjab and Himachal Pradesh every winter for the past five years, said Jalandhar divisional forests officer (DFO) Satnam Singh who looks after three Doaba districts of Jalandhar, Kapurthala and Nawanshahr with the additional charge of Ludhiana district. The number of the straying wild animals into Punjab cities had increased a lot this winter, he said, adding that reports of sighting at least two wild animals were received every day from the four districts making it difficult to catch them for the ill-equipped Forest Departments already facing an acute shortage of staff. Interestingly, six sambars were caught from different areas of Jalandhar, including Aadampur, Dhogri and Goraya, on a single day, on December 14. They had also been found on different dates in Samrala, Jagraon of Ludhiana district, thickly populated Ekta Nagar of Jalandhar city and Khajrula village of Kapurthala. While DFO Satnam Singh denied deforestation in the lower hills as one of the main reasons of the straying of wild animals into the cities, highly placed sources confirmed that human population increasing day by day had resulted in deforestation and reduction in the natural habitat for wild animals. Interestingly, Satnam Singh attributed the increase in the straying incidents to the increase in the population of wild animals. http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20071216/main8.htm Sri lanka: 29) The Sinharaga rain forest is the largest rain forest rescue in Sri Lanka. In 1989 UNESCO included the Sinharaga forest in the world heritage list, as the first National Heritage in Sri Lanka. The Sinharaga forest is a home to many rare animals, birds, butter flies, insects, reptiles and trees. Sinharaga varies between 35 to 40 metres. Some trees are above 50 metres. Studies have recorded 147 species of birds and also 45 varieties of reptiles. But today this natural kingdom is facing many threats from man. In 1936 the Sinharaga forest area was 25 000 hectares and it decreased to 11187 in 1994 and at present it is only about 8864 hectares. The main reason for decreasing the land area of Sinharaga forest is the harmful activities of man. With the increasing of the population the people around Sinharaja forest started to clear the land and settle around Sinharaga and this became the main reason for the decreasing of Sinharaga land area. Conservation of Sinharaga is of vital necessity.If ensures the maintenance of water resource. Two rivers which are nourrished from the Sinharaga forest are river Kulu and Nilwala and also small streams which are originated from Sinharaga nourishes many plants and animal species. Sinharaga also stands as a buffer against floods which is a constant threat due to heavy rainfall in this area. It is our duty and responsibility to protect this natural rainforest of maintain the beauty of our motherland Sri Lanka. http://buddika.wordpress.com/2007/12/16/sinharaja-rainforest/ Australia: 30) The recent call by Greens senator Christine Milne for Australia to " tackle our forestry emissions by stopping logging in Tasmania and Victoria " highlights the need to clearly differentiate between the damaging climate change implications of tropical deforestation and the benefits of sustainable Australian native forest wood production. (sic) Deforestation in developing countries involves permanently removing forest cover in favour of some other agricultural land use. While it can produce wood, it is mostly conducted illegally and so represents an unregulated and unsustainable supply. The release of carbon from clearing and subsequent burning of vegetation, coupled with the loss of future carbon sequestration, led the 2006 Stern review to conclude that tropical deforestation is responsible for 18% of the world's carbon dioxide emissions. Conversely, Australian wood production is best described as managed harvesting and regeneration, with the aim of maintaining native forest cover and wood supply in perpetuity. It is a legal, highly regulated and sustainable arm of forest management or forestry. Sustainable wood production makes a positive contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by transferring carbon from forests into storage in the community in an array of wood products while creating space in the forest for replacement trees to sequester more carbon. (sic) http://business.theage.com.au/sustainable-logging-doesnt-add-to-global-warming/2\ 0071217-1hmc.htm l 31) Conservationists are blocking access to a logging area near the Yarra Ranges National Park, north of Melbourne. Platforms are being erected in the treetops to prevent access to the Armstrong catchment area. Forest campaigner Luke Chamberlain says allowing logging in Melbourne's water catchment areas during a time of drought is irresponsible. He says the State Government must put an end to the practice. " Our water catchments basically give us the best yields and quality of water and by logging the catchments, we reduce the quality and the yield of our water, " he said. " During a time of drought, it is just insanity that we allow the logging of the catchments. " http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/16/2119975.htm 32) About ten minutes south of Hobart one is back in tight windy roads though farm and forest. An hour and a half later is the Tahune Managed Forest, home to the largest tree in Australia and the Tahune Airwalk, among other forestry feats found on foot. The Tahune Airwalk area has several miles of hiking trail including a couple of nicely suspended foot bridges but the highlight is the quarter mile or so of elevated walkways which are lofted some 150 feet or so through the tops of the Eucalyptus old growth. Heights petrify me so the going was slow, but pretty. http://jaflyfishing.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!FAD37FCB1DA1EBEC!158.entry 33) A conservationist group has decided not to take its legal fight against the Tasmanian pulp mill to the High Court. The Wilderness Society said the estimated $500,000 in legal costs would be better spent battling the mill elsewhere. " We made a tactical decision that there were more important campaign initiatives, " society legal coordinator Greg Ogle said. " We were looking at potentially half a million dollars required to fully cover costs on a High Court challenge and we think it's better to spend that money on other forms of campaigning and awareness-raising, " he said. The Federal Court last month upheld an earlier ruling against the group's challenge to the federal government's environmental approval process for the mill. Former federal environment minister Malcolm Turnbull in September gave timber company Gunns Ltd the green light to build the mill in the Tamar Valley with the support of the then Labor opposition. Another legal challenge to the mill was launched last week by a group called Lawyers for Forests. The lawyers are seeking a Federal Court review of Mr Turnbull's decision, arguing it was invalid because he did not meet obligations set out under commonwealth legislation. Mr Ogle said other campaigning against the mill included targeting Gunns' chief lender the ANZ Bank and its shareholders and customers. http://news.theage.com.au/no-high-court-battle-over-tas-pulp-mill/20071214-1h4p.\ html World-wide: 34) Fifteen years after discussions began on a global approach to protect the world's forests, which are disappearing at an alarming rate, the General Assembly today adopted a new landmark international agreement to safeguard this critical natural resource. The agreement, entitled the " Non-Legally Binding Instrument on All Types of Forests, " was negotiated in April within the UN Forum on Forests and transmitted to the Assembly following its approval by the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Hailing today's action by the Assembly, the Director of the Forum's Secretariat, Pekka Patosaari, said it " significantly advances efforts to monitor the state of the world's forests and secure long-term political commitment to sustainable forest management. " While not legally binding, the agreement sets a standard in forest management that is expected to have a major impact on efforts to reverse the loss of forest cover, reduce deforestation, prevent forest degradation, promote sustainable livelihoods and reduce poverty for people dependent on forests for their survival. " There is much more to this instrument than just protecting trees, " Assembly President Srgjan Kerim said at a special event following the adoption of the Instrument, emphasizing the growing recognition of the role of forests in stabilizing climate change, and protecting biodiversity and ecosystems. " And let us not forget that today, over 1.6 billion people depend on forests for fuel, food, medicine and income. So protecting forests really means fostering sustainable development, " he said. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=25099 & Cr=forest & Cr1= Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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