Guest guest Posted April 23, 2008 Report Share Posted April 23, 2008 Today for you 36 new articles about earth's trees! (330th edition) Subscribe / send blank email to: earthtreenews- Weblog: http://olyecology.livejournal.com --British Columbia: 1) What saved the Pitt river, 2) Life with the Mcallister's, 3) Obfuscating Caribou extinction, 4) End of the industry begins, 5) BC Land Conservancy --Canada: 6) Why are Pew protection campaigns based in Seattle? 7) 50% cut in treeplanting funds, 8) Public consultations on our forests are starting soon, --UK: 9) Britain's most valuable tree worth £750,000, 10) Furniture recycling, 11) Targeting Unilever, 12) Unilever can't prove chain of custody, 13) Arnos Vale Cemetery, 14) Birds depend on coppicing? --EU: 15) Saving biodiversity limits wood harvest, 16) New guidelines for Firefighters, --Finland: 17) As many as 25,000 jobs may be lost to Russian tariffs --Turkey: 18) Forest of Istanbul's ancient water supply --China: 19) Endangered trees, endangered species --Singapore: 20) Smoking habit much like deforestation habit, 21) Bukit Timah Reserve, --India: 22) Resistance to Bauxite mine continues --Philippines: 23) Save John Hay forest as well as 2 other forests, 24) ASEAN Center for Biodiversity, 25) Political party's view of deforestation, --Borneo: 26) Legacy of Bruno Manser --Malaysia: 27) Kelau dam, 28) Forests always go into Taib Mahmud's pocket, --New Zeland: 29) 3500ha more trees were cut down than planted --Australia: 30) Logging shut down in Styx valley, 31) Cont. 32) Logging industry's slash burning is climate vandalism, 33) Banner hang: NO ANZ PULP MILL, 34) We want a new 18,400 hectare national park, 35) Students Against the Pulp Mill, 36) A3P distances itself from illegal logging, British Columbia: 1) After hearing from the company at the beginning of the meeting, it was the public's turn, led off by stirring speeches from river advocates Mark Angelo and Rafe Mair (Save our Rivers), followed by many others. Highlights from the meeting were broadcast across the country and it became clear that saving the Upper Pitt had captured the imagination of people in every corner of the province. The great public support on this issue was also due to an incredible 2-year campaign led by groups such as the Western Canada Wilderness Committee, The Burke Mountain Naturalists, Save Our Rivers, the River Alliance, the Outdoor Recreation Council, Watershed Watch, ARMS, the BC Wildlife Federation and many, many others, all working together! Individuals, such as lodge owner Danny Gerak, also played a key role. Not coincidentally, on March 26th (the day after the public meeting), the BC government made an announcement that, for all intents and purposes, killed the project. While there are many lessons to be learned from the Upper Pitt, perhaps the most important is that, in the end, the public can make all the difference when it comes to protecting local waterways. 2) They live on a roadless island with a population of 80 people. Their home is accessible only by boat. They rarely drive. They recycle. And they hunt and fish for the majority of the food they eat and also feed to their children, Callum, 5, and Lucy, 2. Ian, 38, earns money as a writer and a photographer to keep the family a float. " It doesn't cost much to live here, " he says. " We eat a lot of salmon. Candied salmon. Dried salmon. Jarred salmon. " The kids are home-schooled, but they also attend the local native school in nearby Bella Bella where they're learning the language of the Heiltsuk First Nations.The McAllisters are also big-picture people who were drawn to what has become known as the Great Bear Rainforest because, in their minds, it needs and deserves protection from trophy hunting, industrial forestry and pipeline developments. Due to the family's lobby and public awareness efforts, local politicians have committed to protect 30 per cent of this 50,000-square-kilometre area, which is rich with untouched ecosystems that include unique fur-bearing animals such as the Kermode or " spirit " bear, a white subspecies of the black bear. They have also drawn attention to a little-understood West Coast wolf pack -- an ochre-coloured, ocean-swimming pack of wolves who feed on the likes of shellfish, salmon and beached squid, seals and whales. To raise awareness about the plight of these elusive animals, Ian recently photographed and wrote The Last Wild Wolves: Ghosts of the Great Bear Rainforest (Greystone, $45). His book -- one of the loveliest and most important publications I've seen in a long time --deserves the attention it's getting nation-wide. The book has just been nominated for several awards, including the Canadian Book Association Libris Award for Non-fiction and the Banff Mountain Book Award. http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/reallife/story.html?id=ef89162d-caf2-42\ e8-b1fe-c302ec0f 0b8f 3) MLA Michael Sather, an NDP member strong on environmental protection, cornered Minister Bell on the scamming of the Central Selkirk Mountain Caribou protection and on the who Mtn Caribou plan. The exchange is in the Hansard for April 10, 2008: >M. Sather: I want to move on to the question of the 1 percent cap of timber-harvesting land base that was announced after the celebratory announcement in October. Groups like ForestEthics have expressed concern that that 1 percent cap on the effect on the forestry land base was announced afterwards. Could the minister tell us why it was announced after the celebratory event that happened here in October? > Hon. P. Bell: I want to touch on the first question, if I may, just for a moment. I think it really speaks to the integrity of the mountain caribou recovery plan. One of the key themes is, I think, that you need to be held accountable, and I think that you need to have a very transparent, open process for the activities. The member well knows that this was a very collaborative process, with ForestEthics and Wildsight representing ten different environmental organizations that have an interest in this area. Although there are some other environmental organizations that disagree with the decisions that have been made, I would suggest that when you bring ten environmental organizations on board in a collaborative process, you've done very well. I certainly have a lot of respect for ForestEthics in the work that they've done, and Wildsight - Candace Batycki and John Bergenske - deserve a lot of credit for being willing to be open and work with government. Part of openness and transparency falls to the progress board that's being established. I have every confidence in the world in Candace's ability and John's ability to speak up and say if they don't believe the government is meeting their objective. It would be foolish to think that we would appoint individuals from the environmental community to a progress board if we didn't want to be held to account. ...To the second question that the member asked, about the 1 percent cap on habitat of the THLB, 1 percent of the THLB in the region works out to 115,000 hectares, and the commitment was to 77,000 hectares. So the ability for us to deliver on the commitment of 95 percent high suitability winter habitat can be met easily within the 1 percent cap. There was no, to the best of my knowledge, formal announcement around that, but the 1 percent cap certainly gives us the ability to deliver on the criteria that were established. http://leg.bc.ca/Hansard/ 4) A former sawmill site near Chemainus is to be transformed today into a massive auction where the machinery that powered the once-mighty coastal forest industry will be sold off to the highest bidder. More than 450 pieces of equipment are to be sold regardless of price, said Jake Lawson, regional manager of Vancouver-based Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, the world's largest auctioneer of industrial equipment. " It's an unreserved auction, so everything is sold to the highest bidder on sale day regardless of the price, " Lawson said. Everything from grapple yarders, log loaders and road graders to pick-up trucks are going under the hammer at the fast-paced auction, he said. One bankrupt logging contractor, Munns Lumber, is selling 50 to 60 pickup trucks alone, along with grapple yarders and excavators. Another company, Ted Leroy Trucking, which is operating under creditor protection, is also selling off equipment. But other companies with equipment at the auction are simply downsizing, Lawson said. " There's lots of change out there right now. Companies are re-aligning their fleets to be more efficient, " he said. Loggers from the West Coast and from as far away as New Zealand, where similar logging methods are used, have been browsing the Chemainus site looking for buys, Lawson said. The auction is taking place at the site of an old Doman Industries sawmill adjacent to the Island Highway. Lawson said although the forest industry is down, there's still lots of logging going on, and there's still lots of local demand for the machinery. " We are sitting right on the side of the Island Highway here at Chemainus, and you can't count five minutes without another log truck going up and down the road. There's still lots of people working. Without a doubt, there's been some pressure on the industry, but there's still wood to be pulled out of the bush, " he said. " Lots of West Coast loggers will be here for sure. A lot of those guys will be here to upgrade. There's lots of late-model equipment. " Construction contractors, who can use the graders and excavators in their own industry, are also expected to be bidding, he said. http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=a1fabdca-a6ca-410\ f-adb2-9e5647255 425 5) " Once conservation lands have been protected, the ongoing management of those lands is always a challenge, " said Bill Turner, executive director of The Land Conservancy of British Columbia. " The government is to be commended for listening to the needs of the conservation groups and for responding with this new funding. It will make a difference. " The B.C. government has designated 23 wildlife management areas (covering 232,000 hectares) and has acquired administration and management of an additional 240 sites for fish and wildlife conservation purposes. Together, these conservation lands for fish and wildlife comprise approximately 258,000 hectares. The Ministry of Environment continues to work with many non-profit and government partners in acquiring and managing these conservation lands. The Nature Trust of British Columbia, along with other large non-profit conservation organizations in the province such as Ducks Unlimited Canada, the Nature Conservancy of Canada, The Land Conservancy of British Columbia and many smaller land trusts, continues to acquire and manage conservation lands. These presently include approximately 680 privately held conservation lands protecting about 43,000 hectares and a large number of conservation covenants, stewardship agreements, grazing rights and other interests that help to protect habitat values on a much larger scale. http://www.gov.bc.ca Canada: 6) It's one of the three great wilderness forests left, along with the Amazon and Siberian taiga. I was hired 10 years ago by the Pew Charitable Trusts' Environment Group to do forest conservation. We decided to make the boreal a priority because, of these three, it's the only one in a country with a tradition of conservation, so the most likely to be protected on a scale to preserve the ecosystem and yet allow people to benefit from the natural resources... Why a Seattle headquarters? Pew's based in Philly, and there's no boreal here. There's an enormous, slow, quiet movement of conservation groups to the Northwest. Not just regional but international efforts. It's easier to travel to Asia, the Far North, even South America than from the East Coast, which is so congested ... Plus, funny enough, people really wanted to come to Seattle for meetings. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/pacificnw/2004356030_footkallick20.html 7) When the government tabled its new budget last month, there was an unexpected 50-percent cut in silviculture funding, which means that the government is intent on planting fewer trees. The impacts of this decision are being felt in communities throughout the province. Communities that have been built on and around the forestry sector are now facing economic uncertainty. Families are now being forced to make difficult decisions about whether they remain in their homes or uproot themselves from the communities where they have spent their entire lives. The New Brunswick Federation of Woodlot Owners estimates that this single decision on silviculture will cost the province at least 1,000 jobs. I know of a company in the Miramichi area that has been planting and thinning trees for more than 15 years and which has 20 employees. The company is closing its doors and throwing everyone out of work because there is simply not going to be enough work as a direct result of these government cuts. These 21 families need not to suffer in this way! I have to wonder how on earth this decision to slash funding in half for a successful silviculture program, a callous cut that will negatively impact thousands of New Brunswick families, was accepted by the minister of natural resources. It is even more baffling to me that this minister would then pitch the idea to his cabinet colleagues and that the whole gang then supported the decision, with the exception of Local Government Minister Carmel Robichaud, who has publicly stated that she voted against the decision at the cabinet table. (Whatever happened to cabinet secrecy and solidarity?) Most worrisome is the fact that Premier Shawn Graham, who should have a better understanding of the forestry industry, voted to cut the program. Shawn Graham, of all people at that table, should have seen how devastating these cuts would be. He had been his father's assistant when his dad was minister of natural resources for so many years. Through his experience in dealing with those in the industry, Shawn Graham should have known better, but he still allowed the gutting of the program to go ahead. I have to wonder why the Premier has decided to turn his back on the forestry sector. Why he has decided to hurt thousands of families? Why he was willing to make such a poor decision, knowing exactly what the consequences would be? Essentially, the government has thrown an industry into even further turmoil with a decision to cut $4 million from the province's nearly $7 billion budget. Rather than make a choice to spend the $4 million on silviculture, the government has chosen to spend nearly $5 million on a new luxury aircraft and another $5 million on a golf course. http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/opinion/article/272447 8) Concerned about clearcutting? Worried about the forest industry? Want to shape the future of Nova Scotia's forests? Public consultations on our forests are starting soon. Voluntary Planning, an arms-length agency of the Nova Scotia government, will be traveling the province to document Nova Scotians' concerns and values on the future of FORESTS, MINING, PARKS and BIODIVERSITY. This is the time to speak up about our forests and forest industry. These consultations will help shape the government's new Natural Resources Strategy. See www.gov.ns.ca/vp and follow the link to Natural Resources to learn about the process. Consultations will take place from May 12th to June 12th throughout Nova Scotia. What's at Stake? Our Forest and Forest Economy Because of heavy cutting and land clearing over many decades, Nova Scotia's native, unique Acadian Forest is threatened. Our forest is degraded and the forestry industry is struggling. Mills are closing, forestry jobs are declining, the tourism industry is negatively affected and our forest is increasingly vulnerable to climate change. With progressive forest policy, however, we can promote a naturally diverse forest that provides wildlife habitat, clean water, a place to appreciate nature, and high-quality timber. With sensible management, we can promote a forest industry based on value-added manufacturing, providing diverse and stable employment. With intelligent fore-sight, we can best meet the challenges climate change will bring to our forest. http://spanishinhalifax.blogspot.com/2008/04/want-to-shape-future-of-nova-scotia\ s.html UK: 9) A plane in Mayfair has been valued at £750,000, making it Britain's most valuable tree. The valuation of the 6ft-wide tree, which has graced Berkeley Square since Victorian times, is based on a new system devised by local authority tree officers. It takes into account size, health, historical significance and the number of people living near by to enjoy it. This valuation system, known as the capital asset value for amenity trees (Cavat), is to be adopted by every local authority in the country to prevent the massacre of trees blamed for subsidence in buildings. In future, the high value of trees will demand extra engineering work by insurers to prove a link between a tree and subsidence. Other common causes for subsidence are broken drains and dry weather. Healthy mature trees are being felled by risk-averse insurers and councils because of suspicion that they are causing damage to neighbouring properties. In future a well-loved street tree will only be felled if an insurance company can prove that it is the real cause of the subsidence. There are many valuable oaks scattered throughout Central London. An oak in Southgate, North London, has been valued at £267,000 and a plane in Epping High Street £200,000. Most street trees are worth between £8,000 and £12,000. In the past five years London councils have chopped down almost 40,000 street trees, including some more than 100 years old. Some were just old or dying but 40 per cent were removed because of insurance claims. A report commissioned by the London Assembly challenged this figure and said that only 1 per cent of tree removals were justified. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article3792556.ece 10) Its formula for social betterment might start with a nondescript conference table. On reaching the end of its useful life with a FTSE 100 company, Green Works will take it, save it from the landfill and help the environment. The company will then sell it at a discount to any number of charities, materially aiding their operations, or will dismantle it and recycle its components. The truck carrying the table away from the large corporation's offices might be driven by an ex-homeless man; Green Works tries to recruit its workforce from marginalised communities and rehabilitate them in their day-to-day work life. Mr Crooks started the company seven years ago while working as an environmental consultant. " In environmental consulting, I found that the most difficult, immutable waste stream was from furniture, " he says, adding that an estimated 400,000 tonnes of furniture is dumped every year in the UK, clogging landfills. " At the same time I was a councillor for Lambeth - my night job, " he says. " Every community organisation I went to see had a desperate need for office furniture. Their chairs would be tattered and of bad quality, and some didn't even have a filing cabinet. " There was an obvious market opportunity. " Green Works, a recipient of a Queen's Award for sustainable development, is a social enterprise structured as a not-for-profit organisation. It receives public grants. But it also generates revenue. Last year, its turn-over was £2.1m, enough to break even. It makes money by charging clients - often City banks and law firms - to take away their furniture when they move offices. The priority for these companies, says Mr Crooks, is not resale value but prompt, efficient disposal - often of cubicles and chairs that number in the hundreds. When furniture reaches Green Works' warehouses, the company's carpenters often rework them. Chipboard cubicles become coffee tables, and cedar conference tables become bureaus. Any member of the public can buy such re-modelled furniture from the warehouse at competitive prices. " The furniture that offices use now is robustly made and will last a long time, but the ownership cycle has shortened - from 20 years to, say, five or 10, " says Mr Crooks. " Furniture has become like a fashion accessory, easily thrown away. It would be a travesty not to encourage people to re-use this. " http://facilities-manager.co.uk/total-fm/the-future-with-green-removals-policy.h\ tml 11) Environmental demonstrators targeted Unilever across Europe on Monday, entering plants and scaling walls, including those of its London headquarters. About 40 members of Greenpeace entered the multinational's factory in Wirral, Merseyside, while about a dozen dressed in orang-utan outfits demonstrated outside its London headquarters, with some climbing its front walls. About 20 demonstrated outside the Rotterdam offices of the Anglo-Dutch corporation, while protests also took place at smaller offices in Rome. They are demonstrating against the source of Unilever's palm oil, an ingredient in foods and soaps as well as a bio-fuel added to diesel for cars. Greenpeace says the peatland forests of Indonesia, one of the last remaining habitats of the orang-utan, is being damaged to provide palm oil. Greenpeace Executive Director John Sauven said: " Greenpeace is demanding Unilever publicly calls for an end to the expansion of palm oil into forest and peatland areas and stops trading with suppliers that continue to destroy rainforests. " The group says there are alternative sources of palm oil which it is urging Unilever to use. Unilever is a member of the multi-national Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). It owns many household name brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products and buys some 1.3 million tonnes of palm oil a year, making it, according to Greenpeace, the world's single largest buyer of the product. http://uk.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUKL2153984120080421 12) Unilever has admitted to Greenpeace that it can't trace the origin of palm oil supplied by firms operating in Indonesia. The relevation suggests that efforts to improve the sustainability of Indonesian palm oil have stalled as large tracts of rainforest continue to fall for the establishment of new oil palm plantations on the islands of Borneo, New Guinea, and Sumatra. " Unilever acknowledges that it has no idea where about 20% of its palm oil comes from, " states Greenpeace in a new report on palm oil production in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo. " Of the remaining 80%, it knows the group supplying the palm oil, but not necessarily the concession areas from which it originates. " " Unilever pretends to be a responsible company, but what it's really responsible for is profiting from rainforest destruction, " Tim Birch, Greenpeace International forests campaigner, said. " If they invested as much in sorting out their suppliers as they do on greenwashing their brand, they could fix this problem for good. " http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0421-greenpeace.html 13) Arnos Vale Cemetery is a great place to enjoy your own 'springwatch'. Recent woodland clearance in parts of the 45-acre cemetery has opened up more of the grounds and led to even larger swathes of the spring flowers. But in recent months the primroses' flowering pattern has also offered evidence of more worrying change - global warming. Mary Wood, Arnos Vale trustee and an ecologist, said the primroses did not seem to stop flowering this winter. She said: " The primroses don't seem to have been out of flower - some appeared in the autumn and have flowered ever since. " It is the first time they have been out for so long. " Usually they are dormant because it's too cold and there isn't enough light for them to flower during winter months, but that obviously hasn't been the case this year. " This does seem to be evidence of climate change. Luckily, it doesn't seem to be a problem for the plants and doesn't stop them growing in the future … and they do look beautiful at the moment. " Signs of spring came early to many other parts of Britain this year, with horticulturalists at Kew Gardens in London noting the first daffodils opened on January 16 - a week earlier than last year and 11 days earlier than the average for daffs in the last 10 years. Mary said: " Thinning out the woodland and encouraging more flowers to grow will, in turn, lead to more butterflies and insects in general. And climate change may also influence what we can see in Arnos Vale. For example, the red admiral butterfly is a migrant to this country but in recent mild winters some have remained and over- wintered here. http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=144913 & command=displayCont\ ent & sourceNode =231190 & home=yes & more_nodeId1=144922 & contentPK=20434468 14) Successful living space for several bird species in British woods has long depended on a traditional type of woodland management, many hundreds, if not thousands of years, old: coppicing. This means cutting trees down to ground level, and then letting new shoots grow back up from the resultant stumps, or stools. Coppicing provides a steady supply of long straight wood poles, traditionally used in fence making and for firewood, but for birds, it also provides, in its early stages, a dense shrubby layer, similar to the garrigue, the aromatic bushy landscape of Mediterranean countries, which is perfect for species such as nightingales and warblers to nest in. From about the middle of the 20th century, however, coppicing began to be abandoned. When that happens, the shrub layer disappears; but not only that. When the trees grow up, eventually the canopy closes, shutting out the light; and the rest of the undergrowth, the brambles and bushes and plants that form the layer of ground flora, where other bird species love to forage and breed, dies off. Undoubtedly the abandoning of coppicing has played a part in woodland bird decline. And unfortunately, its negative effects are being strongly reinforced by another factor: deer. Virtually all species of deer in Britain are steadily increasing in numbers, led by the muntjac, a pint-sized Bambi introduced from China, whose speciality is breeding all year round. In many of Britain's woods, the browsing of deer is now so extensive that it is causing large-scale structural changes to the vegetation: in effect, Bambi and his pals are eating the undergrowth to bits. http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/the-sound-of-silence-britains-lo\ st-birds-8093 31.html EU: 15) European biodiversity protection is impacting the supply of wood from the Continent's forests to the tune of 68 million m³ a year, a new study has found. The Impacts of Biodiversity and Landscape Diversity Protection on the Wood Supply in Europe report, published by the European Forest Institute, looked at the numerous felling restrictions in place across Europe and compared them to the varied demands from across the wood-based industries. It reported that around 29 million ha of forest is covered by protective measures, with 49% of the volume in forest areas protected for biodiversity unavailable for felling and 40% in forests protected for landscape diversity. This equates to 68 million m³, or the volume of roundwood produced by Germany and Italy combined in 2005. Biomass was one of the main markets that the authors said would be impacted by the biological and landscape protection. " Protection of biological and landscape diversity in forests clearly has an effect on potential supply of wood from European forests said authors Pieter Verkerk, Giuliana Zanchi and Marcus Lindner. " Forest biomass has become increasingly important for bio-energy production. Though there is a potential to substantially increase wood removals across European countries, limitations on wood supply set by biodiversity and landscape protection may conflict with these developments in the long run. " http://www.ttjonline.com/story.asp?sectioncode=17 & storycode=54929 & c=2 16) Around 600 firefighters from France, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Greece were concluding exercises on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, Italy, on Saturday -- using new guidelines drawn up in English. The training is a part of an EU Rapid Intervention Force (FIRE) initiative launched to combat blazes which devastate between 300,000 and 800,000 hectares (750,000 and two million acres) of forest and grassland in the region each year. During the exercises, French firefighters under Italian command followed instructions issued in English, in front of observers from Algeria, Malta, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Russia. Portuguese, Greek and Italian firefighters were also trying to work through English commands -- although with less enthusiasm, it seemed. " The important thing is to explain to the men what the Italian commander wants, " said Portuguese chief Elisio Oliveira. " The idea is that countries with different methodologies are able to work together. " However, according to the head of the Greek specialist unit, Antonis Panagiotakis, " the principal problem is communication between teams on the ground, and the main reason behind that is the language " . Different tactics also exist, for example the Spanish clear the perimeter around a forest fire with tools using very little water while the French go for " direct action " with engines carrying up to 10,000 litres (2,200 gallons) for fires which threaten to swallow up populated areas. The Sardinian exercise also simulated the evacuation by sea of around a hundred children. " It's a realistic scenario considering fires reach the water every year in Sardinia, and it's a situation we've also encountered in the south of France, " said Henri Masse, head of the French delegation. The World Wildlife Fund warned at a conference of climate change experts this week in Athens that forest fires similar to the 2007 outbreak which killed 67 and devastated large areas were set to become the norm due to global warming. http://www.terradaily.com/reports/EU_funds_multi-nation_forest_firefighting_exer\ cise_in_Sardini a_999.html Finland: 17) The Finnish forestry industry could face the loss of 25,000 jobs if wood export duties planned by Russia are put into force in full next year, the head of Finland's Forest Industries Federation said on Friday. Russia, a key wood source for Finnish paper producers, increased wood export duties from April to 15 euros per cubic metre from 10 euros, in a series of planned increases, and plans to hike them to 50 euros from the beginning of 2009. Finnish paper and pulp makers have warned they are being forced to cut paper and pulp capacity as the rising wood costs are hurting their already low profits. " With the multiplicative effects, the wood tariffs when put in force, could cause the loss of about 25,000 jobs, " said the federation head Jussi Pesonen, who is also chief executive of top magazine paper maker UPM-Kymmene. Finland is also home to the world's top paper and board maker Stora Enso and fine paper maker M-real. http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSL189173292\ 0080418 Turkey: 18) We are gazing down on Istanbul from one of the Forestry Department's helicopters. With us is Yüksel Yüksel, Director of Forest Protection. Below us lies a sprawling city so huge it appears endless, so busy it appears never to sleep. A city surrounded by forests on the north and water on the south. An historic metropolis that breathes through the tiny parks and groves it harbors within it. In a little while we will land deep in nature, in this enormous city's rarely seen green area with its endemic vegetation and flowers. But in terms of Istanbul's plant geography its true plant type is the forest. It is possible to see examples of pristine forest on both shores of the Bosphorus today. The Alemdað forests on the Anatolian side and the Belgrade forest on the European are damp, mixed-leaf forests. Their dominant tree species is the oak, three species of which - English oak, sessile or durmast oak, and Hungarian oak - are spread over a broad area. Oriental beech is observed in areas near the Black Sea coast. Other species entering into the mix in these damp forests include hornbeam, Anatolian chestnut, quaking aspen, alder, common hazel, hedge maple, beech-maple, smooth elm, field elm, broad leaf linden, goat willow and grey willow. At 5,442 hectares today, the Belgrade Forest is one of Istanbul's most important forested areas. The fact that, according to one view, it has supplied the city's water needs since 375-395 A.D. lends it a special significance. Far from supplying any water needs today, however, it is used more as a recreational area. Similar in structure, the Çatalca, Kanlýca and Alemdað forests continue to produce firewood and lumber. But the Istanbul forests are not limited only to these natural forests. Since the 1960's especially, various units of the forestry service have been experimenting with different types of reforestation with fast-growing exotic (foreign) species in the city's vast vacant areas. Reforestation with the maritime pine (Pinus pinaster), known throughout the world as a fast-growing industrial tree, has however unfortunately failed to produce the desired results. General Director of Forests Osman Kahveci, whose views we sought on the subject of such artificial forests, had this to say: " Istanbul is 44% forest. These areas are quite rich in tree species, herbal plants and wild life. http://www.turkishpress.com/travel/view.asp?id=226310 China: 19) Forty million years ago the dawn redwood was among the most abundant tree species growing in the Northern Hemisphere. Today about 6,000 trees remain in the wild, and all of them are in south-central China. Dozens of modern plant and animal species share a similar history—once widespread, they are now restricted to the booming Asian country. China is home to more than 31,500 plant species, about 10 percent of the world's total. Several species, including the dawn redwood and the maidenhair tree—also called ginkgo—are as old as the dinosaurs. But 20 percent of these plants are at risk of extinction due to human pressures, according to Peter Raven, director of the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis. " By the end of the century, over half the species in China could be extinct or at the verge of extinction, " he said. " That's a very serious problem. " Raven chairs the National Geographic Society's Committee for Research and Exploration. (The National Geographic Society owns National Geographic News.) The committee has funded more than a dozen grantees, many of them Chinese, to perform botanical studies in China. China's national park and nature reserve system is currently one of the most poorly funded per unit of land of any developing country, he pointed out. " That leads to a situation—especially if [the parks] are not well integrated with the needs of the local populations—where the forests and natural resources of the area can disappear more rapidly than you would think, " he said. Wen said increasing public awareness about the value of these plants is critical to the success of the plant conservation strategy. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/04/080416-chinese-plants.html Singapore: 20) In Singapore, every cigarette pack has a grotesque picture showing health related problems due to smoking. Yet most of the smokers remain indifferent towards the warning even though they know that the threat is genuine. Similarly, despite knowing that deforestation, which is defined as the conversion of forested land to non-forested land for human purposes, is linked to global warming and resource depletion, logging continues to happen in South-east Asia. This is presumably because of the insatiable need for resource, land and revenue fuels the force of deforestation.As mentioned earlier, deforestation is partially due to the never ending demand for raw materials that are derived from forest. Wood, which is one of the most abundant resources found in forests, has become necessities for every human society. In traditional civilizations, wood is primarily used as fuel and raw material for furniture. Whereas people nowadays extend its use to papermaking and even weapon making. And due to the increase in human population and urban development, demand for timber continues to rise. http://lch1471.blogspot.com/2008/04/academic-essay-cause-of-deforestation.html 21) Bukit Timah Nature Reserve (BTNR) is one of the two last remaining places in Singapore which contains areas with primary dryland forests, the other place being the Central Catchment Nature Reserve(CCNR). The BTNR primary dryland forests are of the hill dipterocarp forest type, of which the large dipterocarp trees, which are members of the meranti family (Dipterocarpaceae), are the most common tree species. Unfortunately, much of BTNR was actually covered by secondary vegetation, and primary vegetation only occupy about 24 percent of the area. At the edge of the reserve, patches of tiup tiup (Adinandra dumosa) can be found (must confess that the above tree was a roadside tree though... ). Usually found in secondary forests, the tiup tiup of the tea family is a small tree bearing alternate leaves with leathery, elliptical leaf blades and almost indistinct veins. The flowers are cream-coloured with a long style each, and never open fully. The flowers are often pollinated by carpenter bees, while the fruits are eaten by fruit bats. Interestingly, the tiny seeds eaten by the bats with the fruits are usually defecated and thus dispersed away from the parent plant about 10-15 minutes later when the bats are in flight, due to their short digestive tracts. Secondary forests dominated by tiup tiup are also called adinandra belukar, where " belukar " means forest in Malay. http://tidechaser.blogspot.com/2008/04/bukit-timah-nature-reserve.html India: 22) On one side sits the government of India, the state government of Orissa and the Indian subsidiary of Vedanta Resources Plc, a FTSE-100 British mining corporation. They are applying for permission to dig up the Niyamgiris - rich in bauxite, the base mineral used in the manufacture of aluminium - at the rate of three million tons a year and then pour them into a £400 million alumina refinery, which has already been constructed at the foot of the hills. This important work, Vedanta and its supporters in the Indian government argue, is vital for the development of the new Indian nation and will bring jobs and infrastructure to some of the poorest people on the planet. Opposing them is a coalition of environmentalists, social anthropologists, left-wing politicians and - perhaps uniquely - the court's own 'centrally empowered' fact-finding committee. Digging up the Niyamgiris will be a social and environmental catastrophe, they say, destroying rivers and streams on which tens of thousands of people depend to irrigate their crops, polluting rivers with the toxic 'red mud' that is a by-product of aluminium manufacture and - most importantly, according to the anthropologists - wiping out the Dongria Kondh, who worship the sacred hills named after their god, Niyamraja. The cause of the Dongria protesters is not without hope. Twenty years ago a similar alliance of tribal people, Dalits (formerly Untouchables) and Hindu activists succeeded in blocking plans to mine bauxite from the Gandhamardan mountain range in Orissa on environmental and religious grounds. Today only a derelict compound built for workers stands as a reminder of that victory, which was won after hundreds of protesters had endured police beatings as local women laid their children on the ground to stop the advance of the heavy mining plant. But today's protesters are fighting for their mountain in a more modern India - a country hungry for raw materials and ever mindful of creating a favourable investment climate for foreign investors and multinationals. Back in those lush hills, in the village of Gortha, the court's dry deliberations seem a world away. http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEQ20080419025236 & Page=Q & Title=ORISS\ A & Topic=0 Philippines: 23) The John Hay forest is one of three wooded areas in Baguio that is facing destruction to make way for high-profile development projects in the city. New building plans are in the pipeline to accommodate the investments of Ayala Corp., which recently joined the Fil Estate consortium that has been developing Camp John Hay. Eyes are focused on a forested area of Camp John Hay here, which could lose from 800 to 13,000 trees if the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) pushes through with its plan to clear the area for industry expansion. Peza leased 65,253 square meters of John Hay land from the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) in January 2007 to host the expansion of aircraft-parts manufacturer Moog Controls Philippines Inc. Samuel Peñafiel, Cordillera director of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, said Peza and BCDA officials relayed the information to him on Monday when they requested for information about how to process permits for clearing this forest. " They did not give me any numbers. They just said they will need to clear a substantial number of trees, " Peñafiel said. Foresters employed by the DENR, however, estimate that between 800 and 13,000 trees were likely to be cut in the expansion plan. The BCDA has started a new inventory of trees covered by the 300-hectare reservation, according to a BCDA official, who wanted anonymity because he was not authorized to disclose information. Only the " built-up areas, " covering 246.9 hectares of the original baseland, have been leased to the Camp John Hay Development Corp. (CJHDevco), the consortium developing the property. Tree-cutting permits of this magnitude would have to be brought to the DENR undersecretary for field operations, said Peñafiel.A technical team from the DENR Environmental Management Bureau is reviewing the project. " I wanted to find out the status of this property because this used to be classified as forest land. So why is an industrial entity coming in? " Peñafiel said. http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/regions/view/20080419-131315/Mass\ acre-of-trees-a t-John-Hay-looms 24) The ASEAN Center for Biodiversity (ACB) yesterday called for intensified environment conservation in Southeast Asia, as it declared a " red alert " for the region's rich biodiversity. The ACB noted that the ASEAN region, while occupying only three percent of the earth's surface, contains the natural habitats of up to 40 percent of all species on earth. The region also has one-third or 84,000 square kilometers of all coral reefs. However, the ACB also said that the region is home to seven of the world's 25 biodiversity hotspots. It pointed out that from the 64,800 known species, at least 1,300 are endangered, while 80 percent of its coral reefs are at risk due to destructive fishing practices and coral bleaching. " Without a concerted effort to protect and conserve biodiversity, Southeast Asia's 580 million people and the entire human race are in danger, " the ACB said. Fuentes said loss of biodiversity in Southeast Asia could be primarily blamed on forest conversion in the region. He said forest conversion is driven by large-scale deforestation for timber by commercial logging activities, shifting cultivation, large-scale mining, and agricultural expansion. He said these lead to loss of habitat for many birds, mammals and other animals; reduced pollinator activity; decline in species richness and populations and overall reduction in biodiversity. Meanwhile, the ACB said incidents of forest fires in the region in 1997-1998, 2002 and 2006, resulted in the population decline, and high infant and juvenile mortality in many animals, as well as reduced seedling and sapling population for many tree species. " Biodiversity loss could trigger enormous effects on food security, health, shelter, medicine, and aesthetic and other life sustaining resources, " Fuentes also said. Aside from forest conversion, the ACB said wildlife hunting and trade for food, pet, and medicinal purposes also contribute to biodiversity loss in the ASEAN region. Overall, it said, wildlife was extracted from forests at more than six times the sustainable rate. Moreover, the ACB said that increasing human population and poverty, climate change, and lack of financial resources likewise contributes to biodiversity loss. http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Headlines & p=49 & type=2 & sec=24 & aid=2008042088 25) She points to her party's pin on her lapel to explain her party's politics—three figures linking arms, each with a different color. Party-list Representative Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel of Akbayan explains, " Red is for socialist, green for environmentalist and purple for feminist. We have an environmental platform in our party that guides both our launching of and support for local campaigns as well as our legislative work here in the house. " Logging: " We pointed out what happened in Akbayan communities in Aurora and Quezon provinces because of the denudation in the mountain areas. When the storms came, there were flashfloods. It was a nightmare, " she recalls. Flashfloods in the Aurora-Quezon area and mudslides in Leyte in 2003 and 1991 killed at least 176, 200 people and 6,000 people respectively. Rampant logging in watershed areas led to both tragedies. Logging consistently dries up aquifers, streams and other sources for irrigation and drinking water. It also causes land erosion, river siltation and irreversible loss of soil fertility. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, less than 3 percent of the primary forest cover of the Philippines remains and secondary growth forests are being destroyed at 480 hectares a day. Deforestation threatens not only plant and animal species unique and endemic to the country, but also the food security and the access to potable water of Filipinos. " Together with the NTFP [nontimber forest product], we really have to preserve the timberlands. These have to be rehabilitated and protected from large-scale mechanized logging, " declares Rep. Hontiveros. " We have a bill to strengthen the EIA or environmental impact assessment system, especially what requirements development corporations must pass before large projects are implemented in environmentally critical areas, whether these are primary forests, watersheds or ancestral domain areas. This covers all environmental issues, " the congresswoman notes. http://blog.360./blog-OvqIBFQ5eqjRLpknBTwnExL_Zt4-?cq=1 & p=1005 Borneo: 26) The pictures are rare documentation of the nomadic Penan peoples from the Malaysian state of Sarawak in Borneo. Swiss environmentalist Bruno Manser proved an unflinching and passionate advocate for the Penans in the 1990s as their territory was increasingly deforested by industrial logging companies. Bruno Manser lived among the Penan peoples from 1984-1990, during this time he became intimately aware with their struggles. Deforestation was rampant in Borneo, destroying the rainforest along with the livelihood of the Penan people. Lukas Straumann, Director of the Bruno Manser Fonds, believes the photos to be an important legacy for Bruno Manser work. " They document the culture of South East Asia's last hunter-gatherers in a crucial moment when their culture came under pressure through large-scale systematic destruction of their ecosystem, " Starumann told Mongabay.com, adding that " apart from their socio-cultural value, the pictures could also become important evidence in land rights litigations for Penan communities who struggle to have their land rights legally recognized by the courts. " The non-profit organization, Bruno Manser Fonds, based in Basel, Switzerland, has spent three years preserving, digitalizing, and inventorying Manser's massive collection of photographs. Despite such setbacks—and the continuing destruction of the forest—Lukas Straumann is not without hope. He believes that some of the decade's worth of damage can be undone: " We should not forget that some of the secondary forests, which were logged in the 1980s, have regenerated and can still play an important cultural and environmental role. " He also sees new possibilities in the photos to reach-out to Malaysians and Southeast Asia in general. " I think these pictures will help raise global awareness on the Penan's struggle and their yet unresolved problems. The power of images can hardly be overestimated. By making them public on the internet, we also want to enable the Southeast Asian public to get access to them. The electronic media are in a position to break the monopoly of the Malaysian, and in particular the Sarawak print media, many of which are controlled or influenced by the timber industry. " The photographs will be available through the Bruno Manser Fonds website: http://www.bmf.ch/en/ - http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0417-hance_manser.html Malaysia: 27) The Kelau dam project involves the transfer of raw water from the Kelau river in Pahang to Selangor, by tunneling through the main range. Besides inundating forested land, the project also involves the relocation of the Orang Asli (indigenous minority peoples of Peninsular Malaysia) in Kampung Temir and Bukit Cenal. Watch the revealing video on the Kelu dam project at http://www.coac.org.my - http://www.wildasia.net/main.cfm?page=msg & messageID=1899 28) Since 1981 the Chief Minister has been Taib Mahmud, a man whose personal fortune, derived from logging, has made him one of the wealthiest men in Malaysia. According to a February 7, 1990 report in the Asian Wall Street Journal, " He lives in a well-guarded palatial home in Kuching, and rides in a cream-colored Rolls Royce. A dapper dresser, he is partial to double-breasted suits and sports a ring with a walnut-sized red gem surrounded by small diamonds. " That his office has been used for personal financial gain became clear during the run up to the State elections in April 1987. At a press conference on April 9, 1987, Taib Mahmud announced the freezing of twenty-five timber concessions totaling 2.75 million acres belonging to relatives and friends of the former Chief Minister Rahman Yakub. Estimates of the value of these holdings ranged from US$9 billion to US$22 billion. As it turned out, each of Rahman Yakub's eight daughters was the owner of a logging concession. In retaliation for these revelations, Rahman Yakub told the press the names of politicians, friends, relatives and associates connected to Taib Mahmud who controlled 3.52 million acres of concessions. Ironically the two antagonists were themselves related, Taib Mahmud being the nephew of Rahman Yakub. Between them, these two quarreling factions of the elite controlled 6.38 million acres, a figure that amounted to over half of all logging concessions and a full third of Sarawak's total forested land. So great is the potential for graft, and so high the financial rewards of securing government office, that politicians have been known to spend as much as US$24 million competing for the support of the 625,000 eligible voters in the state. " http://tbsbidayuh.blogspot.com/2008/04/born-to-steal.html New Zealand: 29) Carter Holt Harvey is reviewing the future of its coastal forestry land in the Nelson region but has no plans to reforest blocks where trees - some immature - have been felled and cleared. Nelson MP Nick Smith blames bad economics and government policy for record high levels of deforestation throughout New Zealand. Final figures won't be available until May but preliminary estimates suggest that 3500ha more trees were cut down than planted in Nelson during the last year, he said. " 2007 would have been the highest level of deforestation in Nelson's history, " he said. Carter Holt Harvey's Nelson-based land manager Phil Wright said he couldn't say exactly how much land the company had cleared. Felling was occurring on a " scattering " of blocks, he said. Carbon tax credits provided no incentive to retain the land in forestry because they only applied to forests that had been put into rotation or planted after 1990, he said. He wouldn't comment on speculation that the company was planning to plant vineyards and said all options were being looked at. Dr Smith said the return on forestry compared with dairying, lifestyle and pastoral farming meant other land uses were more economic. " There's huge uncertainties and liabilities associated with the Kyoto forestry rules, " he said. Clearing forestry land is expected to attract " huge carbon liabilities " of $13,000 per hectare. The Government intended to apply this tax from January 1 this year but the rules were still being debated in Parliament, Dr Smith said. " There's some element of people saying, `We'll have a crack at it and hope the legislation ends up in trouble'. " He raised concerns about New Zealand's ability to meet its Kyoto obligations as it was 24 percent over 1990 emission levels, with deforestation making matters worse. Under the protocol, countries are liable for emission credits and liabilities from January 1 this year. Dr Smith said blocks being felled in Nelson tended to be more lifestyle areas and he was confident about forestry's long-term future as one of four pillars - the others being fishing, fruit and tourism - underpinning the local economy. A 2007 survey found about 600ha of Nelson-Marlborough land was expected to be deforested between 2008 and 2020, the commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. The land was primarily being converted to lifestyle and grape use, it said. http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelsonmail/4484894a6510.html Australia: 30) Forest campaigners have halted logging in the Styx Valley this morning after staging a mock visit from Federal politicians in the Weld Valley near Huonville at the weekend. Activists from the Huon Valley Environment Centre paraded 6m-high cut-outs of Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett and Climate Change Minister Penny Wong in the Lower Weld Valley to coincide with Forestry Tasmania burn-offs in the area. Meanwhile, 11 forest activists halted logging in a forestry coupe near the base of Mount Mueller this morning to protest against the continued destruction of Tasmania's old growth forests. An activist is perched in a treesit high up in the canopy of the forest, which is located 100m from the boundary of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. " We are calling on Peter Garrett and Penny Wong to take immediate action against these ongoing climate crimes and protect Tasmania's irreplaceable old growth forests, " said Still Wild Still Threatened spokesperson Ula Majewski. " Some of our most significant carbon sinks are being destroyed and burnt at a disturbing rate, rendering Tasmania's forestry practices an international disgrace once again. " " The ongoing devastation of these unique ecosystems is a critical global issue. " " Protecting Tasmania's ancient forests is a simple, cheap and intelligent climate change solution. " http://www.news.com.au/mercury/story/0,22884,23572571-3462,00.html 31) A protester suspended in a tree-sit connected to forestry machinery has halted logging in Tasmania's Styx Valley. The action is part of a protest against the logging of old growth forest at Mount Mueller. Spokeswoman, Ula Majewski, says 11 protesters set up camp there early this morning. " We would just like to broadcast the message that in this era of dangerous climate change it is completely unacceptable that Forestry Tasmania, the Tasmanian Government and the Rudd Government continue to endorse the logging and burning of our ancient forest, " she said. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/04/21/2222828.htm?section=business 32) The Greens deputy leader Nick McKim has described Forestry Tasmania's annual burn-offs as climate vandalism. The burns take place every autumn. Mr McKim says the burns are not necessary and have a negative environmental impact because they release carbon into the atmosphere. He says the practice should be stopped, but the Greens are not against other burn-offs to reduce the danger of bushfires. " We have always supported fuel reduction burns if life and property is at risk, " Mr McKim said. " But I want to be very clear. The burns that are the cause of the nicotine stained skies around the entire state are not fuel reduction burns. They are part of Forestry Tasmania's harvesting activities, " he said. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/04/20/2221933.htm 33) Climbers today hung a 15 meter long banner reading " NO ANZ PULP MILL " from a light tower at the ANZ sponsored stadium at Homebush, prior to a NRL rugby game between the Dragons and the Sharks. The banner was dropped from the 30 meter high tower on the outside of the stadium with no interruption to the game. By hanging the banner, environmental campaigners highlighted the role the ANZ bank may play in financing the deeply unpopular pulp mill, opposed by a majority of Tasmanians. The ANZ are currently bankers for Tasmanian woodchipping giant Gunns, and are considering financing the pulp mill, projected to consume 4.5 million tonnes of wood each year. Logging needed to feed this mill would contribute at least 2% to Australia's greenhouse gas emissions, equivalent to adding an extra 2.3 million extra cars on the road each year. Gunns own figures show that the mill will dump up to 30 billion litres of toxic effluent into Bass Strait each year. " The ANZ bank has an opportunity to act in accordance with its environmental and social policies by refusing to finance this destructive project, " said Vica Bayley, spokesperson for the Wilderness Society. " Governments have let down the public by failing to adequately assess the pulp mill's impacts on the environment. The ANZ has a chance to do the right thing by the community of Tasmania by rejecting this pulp mill. " ANZ recently took over sponsorship of the stadium at Homebush, described on the website as " Australia's Home Ground " . According to its own website, the ANZ is the " number 1 bank for corporate responsibility on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index 2007 " . " 'ANZ Stadium' has a positive ring to it, but 'ANZ Pulp Mill' will sound less appealing, especially once the mill's polluting and forest-consuming impacts are felt. " " Financing a pulp mill which would destroy 200,000 ha of native forest, contribute to climate change and pollute Bass Strait will seriously undermine the ANZ's credibility in the eyes of the public, " concluded Mr Bayley. http://www.wilderness.org.au/campaigns/forests/tasmania/gunns_proposed_pulp_mill\ /MR050408/ 34) The creation of a new 18.400 hectare national park in south-west Victoria will provide vital protection for biodiversity and a boost for local economies, leading environment groups said today. The Victorian National Parks Association (VNPA) and The Wilderness Society (TWS) congratulated the State Government's announcement of the new Cobboboonee National Park and Forest Park near Portland. " The protection of the Cobboboonee Forest was a desperately needed addition to Victoria's National Park system. It is the highest form of protection we can give to our threatened Victorian flora and fauna,'' Wilderness Society Campaigns Manager Gavan McFadzean said. " This is a good result for the protection of a stunningly diverse natural area,'' VNPA executive director Matt Ruchel said. " National parks are great assets and this will provide an important legacy for future generations and a likely boost to the local economy.'' Mr Ruchel said increasing the level of protection for Cobboboonee " not only gives appropriate protection to that important area, but it also gives added security for the natural values of Lower Glenelg National Park''. " National parks protect wildlife and their habitat, indigenous values and water catchments, as well as promoting a range of activities such as camping, hiking, bird watching, bicycling and photography.''In the lead up to the November 2006 Victorian election, the Bracks-led Government made a promise to add most of the Cobboboonee to the existing Glenelg-Hopkins National Park and turn the remainder into a 'Forest Park'. Mr McFadzean said it was important that the 8600 hectare Forest Park was managed by Parks Victoria to give it the best conservation protection. " The Cobboboonee lies in a region so severely cleared of its original forests and grasslands since European settlement that less than 13 per cent remains. It provides critical habitat to threatened species such as the iconic Powerful Owl, Red-tailed Black Cockatoo, Spot-tailed Quoll, Southern Brown Bandicoot and Grey-headed Flying Fox. " We hope that this announcement is a sign that the Labor government intends to deliver on its other election promise to protect old growth forests in East Gippsland from woodchipping.'' http://www.wilderness.org.au/campaigns/wildcountry/national%20park/ 35) For Mel Barnes of the Tasmania-based group Students Against the Pulp Mill (SAPM) and Resistance, " young people have the authority to decide our future " , and they can inspire others to take action. Barnes was speaking at the Climate Change — Social Change Conference in Sydney, April 11-13, on a panel with other young environment activists. Barnes recounted how the student strikes, organised by SAPM, have inspired others, from different generations, to take action against the Gunns' pulp mill planned for the Tamar Valley in northern Tasmania. She argued that as bad forest practices and land clearing are Tasmania's biggest contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, the anti-pulp mill campaign is linked to the campaign against climate change. Simon Cunich, Newcastle Resistance organiser, took up the debate over strategies for winning. " While concern about climate change is high, this is not matched by a very high level of movement organisation. Because of this, some activists believe we can take shortcuts to stop the climate crisis: some say we should spend our time convincing politicians of the seriousness of climate change. Others believe that small groups can act on behalf of broader communities. " But really, the best chance to force real action on climate change is to work on transforming the high level of concern into widespread community action " , Cunich said. As the Your Rights at Work campaign showed, that's what scares the corporate polluters and their friends in government. http://www.greenleft.org.au/2008/747/38651 36) A3P CEO Mr Neil Fisher said " A3P is the only national industry organisation that currently has guidelines on stopping imports of illegally logged forest products into Australia. Mr Fisher was responding to a report from the Australian Institute of Criminology which found that 9% of all timber imports to Australia are coming from illicit sources. Mr Fisher said " Our guidelines recognise the problem of illegal logging and deforestation in many countries and provide a proactive response to bring these practices to an end. " Furthermore our guidelines provide A3P member companies with a practical framework for demonstrating legality and control within their supply chains including importers, Australian forest managers and Australian processors " , he said. A3P member companies create and sell more than $4 billion of product each year and employ more than 13,500 people. A3P is also the only Australian association to have endorsed the International Council of Forest and Paper Associations' (ICFPA) global CEO Leadership Statement addressing illegal logging and other sustainability issues. The statement was signed by 56 industry leaders representing forest products companies and associations from 25 countries, meeting in Rome, 2006. http://forestnewswire.com/index.php?option=com_content & view=article & id=125:a3p-s\ tands-alone-in -fight-against-illegal-logging & catid=1:latest & Itemid=58 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.