Guest guest Posted July 2, 2008 Report Share Posted July 2, 2008 --Today for you 33 new articles about earth's trees! (365th edition) --You can now RSS tree news in a regional format at: http://forestpolicyresearch.org --To Subscribe / to the world-wide email format send a blank email to: earthtreenews- OR earthtreenews- In this issue: Asia-Pacific-Australia Forest-Type / World-wide Index: --Russia: 1) Cathay's private logging roads / 45% of Japan's wood from Russia --Bangladesh: 2) Wild animal decline in human-filled Modhupur forests --India: 3) Power company caught cutting, 4) Forest smell of sandalwood all but gone, --Vietnam: 5) New paper plant will consume 200,000 tons of pulp per year --Philippines:6) Forest Faces: Hopes and Regrets in Forestry, 7) Declare illegal logging a heinous crime, 8) Value of uncut forests needs to be included in management law, --Indonesia: 9) Save the dipterocarp forests: stop Asia pulp & Paper, 10) Call to stop all forestry deals in Papua, 11) Gov. again lies about no more oil palm expansion, 12) Plan to build massive highway will rip the heart out of Papua, --Malaysia: 13) Gov. lies about no more oil palm expansion, 14) Jungle train no longer travels through jungle, just oil palm, 15) Ulu Muda reserve logging plan in state of Kedah get loads of media attention, 16) Cont. --New Zealand: 17) More on treaty's handover of Whakarewarewa Forest, 18) Novel log shipping method contaminated with bugs, --Australia: 19) UN may help with protecting Tassie forests, 20) Gov. refuses to analyze logging phase out in Upper Yarra, 21) Bartlett just as corrpupt as Lennon when it comes to Gunns, 22) Senators oppose more tax breaks for forests as Carbon sinks, 23) Gov promises that enviro protection authority with only one staff member will have teeth? 24) Indigenous values of 18 Wet Tropics rainforest tribes, 25) Victoria to protect 75,000 hectares for rare possum, mouse and frog, 26) 75% of Tassies want Gunns deal killed, 27) Rainforest at Woolgoolga Creek is now protected, 28) Forest and Ag not hit as hard as thought, 29) Protest to Rudd written in Japanese, --Tropical Forests: 30) New satellite-based maps measure deforestation rates --World-wide: 31) We are huge force in this global ecological devolution, 32) An annual 70 million of the world's wealthiest participate in eco-tourism, 33) Wood underwater can store carbon for thousands of years, Russia: 1) Cathay's report finds that in an effort to begin harvesting operations, all major phases of infrastructure construction are on or ahead of schedule. Harvesting activities are expected to commence in the third quarter of 2008 with annual production projected to reach approximately 300,000 cubic metres by the end of 2009. The report also shows significant advantages with Cathay's strategy of creating and using an in-house road construction unit as Cathay is better able to control construction costs and quality. In addition, ownership of machinery allows multiple uses across future projects. The access road construction is completed and the logging road is in progress and expected to be finished ahead of original schedule. The Indufor report identified Japan as the most attractive wood market in Asia. 45% of all logs imported into Japan are sourced from Russia due to strict Japanese quality standards. Japan will continue to rely heavily on Russian wood exports as Japanese industry continues to shift towards using softwood plywood. Russia also continues to be leading exporter to China and wood prices in the region have been increasing significantly over the past 2 years. Indufor also recommends that Cathay constructs a sawmill facility in Russia in order to achieve higher profitability as it will allow wood exports to bypass recently enacted and future export tariffs on un-processed roundwood. http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/1716434/ Bangladesh: 2) With shrinking of forest areas, wild animals in Modhupur forests in Tangail district are decreasing. Shortage of food, poaching and negligence of duties by the forest department officials are also responsible for the imperilment of wild animals in the forests. Many kinds of wild animals including leopard, wild buffalo, wild cow, wild hog, wild cock, peacock, spotted deer, jackal, wild cat, mongoose, wild goat, red mouth monkey, black mouth baboon, porcupine, squirrel, hare, pangolin, wild cat and bobcat etc were seen in Modhupur forests only three to four decades ago, said Forest Department officials and indigenous residents of Modhupur. Besides, a large number of different varieties of birds including hawk, kite, vulture, mynah, nightingale, swallow, owl, pigeon, dove, skylark, sparrow, woodpecker, parakeet, parrot, different varieties of martin, dove and kingfisher were available in the forests. There were also different varieties of reptiles and snakes including python and poisonous cobra, different varieties of frogs, numerous varieties of environment friendly worms including earthworm, ant and white ant, many varieties of butterflies in Modhupur forests. Land grabbers have occupied total 20,000 acres out of 45,565 acres of forestland in Modhupur region by using forge documents. The grabbers, most of them local influential people, have raised different orchards including banana and pineapple cutting and destroying forests, they said. There is also 17,436 acres of forests under Modhupur Garh region in Mymensingh district. The government raised a National Park covering 30,000 acres of forestlands in Modhupur region in 1962. Massive destruction of forests still continues while steps taken by the local administration and forest department are too ineffective, locals alleged.Most of the wildlife of Modhupur forests including leopard, wild buffalo, wild cow, wild hog, peacock, wild goat, porcupine, hare and pangolin have already gone lost due to shrinking of forests, shortage of foods and poaching by a section of local residents. Thousands of red mouth monkeys, black mouth baboons, hares, squirrels, wild cocks, jackals and hundreds of spotted deer were seen in Modhupur forests several years ago. But the number of these wild animals has greatly reduced following food crisis due to unusual decrease of trees and plants in Modhupur forests. Often wild animals are seen moving near residential areas due to shortage of their foods in forests. Over 70,000 people including 25,000 indigenous people living in forests under Modhupur Garh region in Tangail and Mymensingh districts, depend on the forest resources for their livelihood, forest department sources said. http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=42931 India: 3) The forest department of Himachal Pradesh has booked Trident Power System Ltd for axing trees in violation of the Forest Conservation Act, official sources said Tuesday. The company, executing the 5-MW Uhal hydroelectric project in Mandi district, has been asked to stop the construction work, a forest officer said. The forest department had accused the company of dumping debris in a tributary of river Beas and cutting trees in the forest area. The company had axed 18 trees in violation of a ban imposed by the state government, Kunal Satyarthi, Mandi's divisional forest officer, told IANS. He said the project authorities claimed they had the permission to cut the trees.Even " if they had the permission, then the state forest corporation can cut the trees on their behalf " , Satyarthi said.The project authorities had not even demarcated their area, according to the officer. These violations came to the notice of the forest department during the demarcation process in May. However, the company has denied violating the ban. " The forest department directed us not to cut trees, so we have moved the high court in this regard. No trees have been damaged by us, " said Rajinder Sharma, an official of the power project. http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/power-company-accused-of-illeg\ al-axing-of-tr ees-in-himachal_10066412.html 4) There was a time when if you walked into the forests of Kollegal, you could literally smell the sandal. It was called Gandhdhagudi or the fragrant forests. Today, the name seems like a joke as not a single sandalwood tree in sight. In fact, NDTV's search for a tree leads it on a desperate journey across the vast forests. So what happened? How did the sandal disappear? ''In the last 30 years, dacoits like Malayoor Mamooty and Veerappan began felling trees. And it's reached such a stage that there are no trees left not only in the forest, even outside it. It's difficult to find even a single tree,'' said Rajendra Kollegal, a conservation activist. As per the Karnataka Forest Department, between 1972 and 1997, Veerappan alone was responsible for smuggling more than 10,000 tonnes of sandalwood from these forests, which earned him more than $22 million. His final capture and death in 2004 should have made these sandalwood forests safe. But there is another shocking truth. Sandalwood smuggling has actually become much worse. Smaller smugglers, who had stayed away from the sandal in fear of Veerappan, now have a free for all. ''After Veerappan's death, the sandalwood smuggling has become diversified and many smugglers have come into play. The number of trees that are removed are much more,'' said Dr M Munireddy, additional principal chief conservator. What's more is the Special Task Force to combat Veerappan and sandalwood poaching no longer exists. And the countless new Mini-Veerappans have pushed up smuggling by 430 per cent. As per data by Union Ministry of Environment and Forest, in between 1970 and 1980, 412 metric tonne was smuggled. In between 1980 and 1990, it increased to 1918 metric tonne while during 1990 and 2000, it was 3340 metric tonne. And now, in between 2000 and March 2008, it is 14,338 metric tonne. It was surprising to see a man, who as per the police has been absconding for 10 years with 44 cases of sandalwood poaching, sit comfortably outside his house in Sheshadripuram. http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080055131 Vietnam: 5) Tran Duc Thinh, general director of Tan Mai Paper Company, said construction of the plant will begin this year, with the facility scheduled to come into operation in 2010. The plant, to be equipped with an automatic production line, will turn out 200,000 tons of pulp a year. Tan Mai has so far planted 10,000 hectares of forest in Lam Dong Province to supply its paper production. The company last month was greenlighted to build a VND900 billion ($54 million) ecotourism resort and golf course in Lam Dong's Di Linh District, where it is also implementing a $30-million afforestation project. The Kala Lake Resort, covering nearly 4,000 hectares on the shores of Kala Lake, will include an 18-hole golf course, a luxury hotel and restaurants. It will additionally host a craft village where visitors can enjoy gong performances and local artisans making handmade products. Visitors to the resort complex will be able to climb mountains, row canoes on Kala Lake, go camping or visit ethnic villages in nearby forests. http://www.thanhniennews.com/business/?catid=2 & newsid=39714 Philippines: 6) Forest Faces: Hopes and Regrets in Philippine Forestry is published by the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Environmental Science for Social Change (ESSC) at the Ateneo de Manila University. " In few countries has forest management's successes and failures been played out so dramatically as in the Philippines, " writes FAO's He Changchui. " The scale of forest loss… irrevocably altered the identity of many Filipinos… " This book " gives a face " to the interplay between Filipinos and forests. " Not all embrace the value and indispensability of trees and forests, " it says. " Currents of regret for what has gone before and cautionary notes for what has yet to come " resonate throughout. " Forestry is not about trees, " the legendary forester Jack Westoby taught. " It is about people. " And Forest Faces hews to Westoby's insight through striking photographs and interviews. These were arranged by FAO's Christopher Brown and Patrick Durst with ESSC's Peter Walpole. Interviewees include " the weak and the powerful, unknown as well as most influential " Filipinos. Among them are lumads (indigenous persons), rebel commanders, forest guards, a climatologist, a cardinal, a European Union diplomat and policymakers. " No more dirges for Philippine forests, " songwriter Joey Ayala insists. In Mount Banahaw's forests, he gathered material for his songs. Ayala " dreams of a time " when his songs and poems will no longer be elegies of treasures we lost as a people, but rather hopes turned real. " Hunger defines our lives, " says South Cotabato's T'boli leader, Timbang Tungkay. His photo, with a mop of silver hair and firm lips, is superimposed on a satellite montage of deforested Mindanao gullies. This graces the book's cover. Tungkay's people used the mountain forests down to the Allah River — until lowland migrants shoved them off the land. Tungkay, his Hilongo wife and 24 children recall gutom (hunger), stretching over months. His family was not spared from high infant death rates that chronic hunger spawns. Now, gutom is seasonal. http://globalnation.inquirer.net/cebudailynews/opinion/view/20080626-144909/From\ -regret-to-hope 7) BUTUAN CITY- Environmentalist group Caraga Watch today expressed support to former President Estrada's proposal in urging Congress to declare illegal logging as a heinous crime. Caraga Watch, a multi-sectoral group formed not only to combat illegal logging but illegal mining as well, in their press statement suggested that since illegal logging activities only succeed in a mafia-like syndicated operations which includes alleged participation of scalawag DENR personnel, it called on for a thorough lifestyle check of all DENR personnel directly link to illegal logging activities. " Illegal logging and illegal mining to succeed requires full nod sometimes unseen but manipulative participation of DENR officials and subordinates by making illegal logging or wood smuggling look like legal through manipulation of documents " Leonardito Q. Flores, Executive Director of the Caraga Watch said. Flores alleged that said acts have been associated for so long on the unabated illegal logging and now illegal mining activities in Caraga Region destroying not only the region's last remaining forest through unabated cutting of trees but also deprived national government of revenues worth billions of pesos in the past. Flores has been calling for total revamp in the entire DENR bureaucracy of Caraga Region but allegedly some powerful elective officials most of them Congressmen even wrote letters to DENR officials in Manila not to transfer at least six Community Environment and Natural Resources Officers. In the past, the group called for a no none sense investigation and real inventory of lands, surveyed, titled and distributed by the DENR claiming most of its beneficiaries were allegedly relatives, close associates even sons, daughters, wives, nephews with some also friends and associates of politicians. http://www.mindanao.com/blog/?p=3910 8) A mechanism for valuing and paying for the ecological services provided by forests should be incorporated into the Sustainable Forest Management Law. Forests are valuable in themselves. Their continued existence is necessary for maintaining life and sustaining environmental stability. The SFM law should provide a mechanism for valuing these services. If this is done, activities in forests such as mining and logging will be not be considered solely for the monetary benefits that they bring from permits and licenses and employment opportunities. Biophysical and environmental services that are lost when a forest is exploited should be considered in analyzing their true costs and benefits. Thus, the law should incorporate a provision on scientific resource valuation and the use of fair and objective economic tools for valuing and paying for the ecological services provided by forests. Commercial logging and mining in protection forests should be banned completely. Deforestation and degradation of forests in the last five decades brought about by persistent logging, and a policy environment that has significantly reduced the forest cover of the Philippines. Although current statistics show that the area recognized as forestlands is very extensive (i.e. about 50 percent of the country's total land area), the area actually covered by forest is much less. In reality, only 5.39 million hectares or 17.9 percent of the total land area is covered with forest (Edwino Fernando, Restoring the Philippine Rainforests, Haribon Policy Paper No. 2, CY 2005, Haribon Foundation). Moreover, these statistics could be misleading because of the loose definition of forests used in obtaining these figures. Considering that very little forests are left, it is necessary to impose stricter measures to protect forests. Commercial logging and mining should, therefore, be totally banned. There should be no harvesting in our remaining natural and restored forests, even those that have secondary growth and residual forests. Under government policies, there is a total log ban in forested areas (see DENR A.O. 24, s. 1991) at elevation 1000 meters and higher with 50 percent slope, where montane and mossy forests occur and the trees are small and not commercially viable. Most harvesting happens in lower elevations (see lowland dipterocarp forest) where trees are bigger and there are remaining patches of secondary growth (i.e. logged-over areas). Ecologically, this is not wise since different species occur at different elevations and kinds of forest. All natural and restored forests regardless of their location must be designated as protection forests that must be protected and restored. http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/june/28/yehey/opinion/20080628opi6.html Indonesia: 9) Indonesia's magnificent dipterocarp forests, a hardwood valued for its timber, have been in retreat for decades. They're almost entirely gone on heavily populated Java. In the 1990s, Sumatra lost 35 percent of its forests and Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo) lost 19 percent—much of it lowland forest rich in iconic creatures like the Sumatran rhinoceros and the orangutan. In the forestry component of Yale and Columbia's Environmental Performance Index, Indonesia comes in last with a score of zero. (Brazil, more infamous for rain-forest destruction, scores an 82.) Although much of the loss was initially due to harvesting for timber and forest products, particularly plywood, in recent decades illegal logging has been more widespread. The rapid spread of oil-palm plantations is a relatively new threat. Palm oil has recently been recognized as a source of biofuels. From 1990 to 2005, 56 percent of the expansion in oil-palm plantations in Indonesia occurred at the expense of biodiversity-rich forests. Another disturbing trend is the conversion of peat forests, which hold huge amounts of carbon, into plantations by international companies, China's Asia Pulp & Paper principal among them. Once the forest is cut, the peat dries out, releasing its carbon and raising the risk of fires, which can smolder for years. Many efforts are underway to stem the deforestation. Emil Salim, Indonesia's first minister of the Environment, created protected areas and laws and regulations to control logging. Conservation International is working with coffee producers to maintain upland forest in Sumatra. Of particular promise is the innovative Samboja Lestari project on Kalimantan, which uses income from sugar palm (a biofuel source) to wean locals from logging. http://redapes.org/news-updates/indonesia-scores-a-whopping-zero-on-the-green-in\ dex-for-forestry / 10) There is a call in the Indonesian region of Papua for a halt to all new forestry deals until laws have been passed to protect the rights of indigenous Papuans. A coalition of 65 groups has come together to lobby the government on the matter. At least 3 million hectares of forest in Papua have been converted to oil palm. Jago Wadley from the Environmental Investigation Agency says forests are key to the survival of many Papuans. " Papuans have an expression that the forest is their mother and also the forest is like a supermarket. Under the current activities happening in Papua large areas of forest will be cleared into monoculture plantations whether that be timber or oil palm or biofuel, so obviously the situation would dramatically impact on local Papuans. " http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read & id=40569 11) The government will not allow the clearing of forest areas for any new oil palm plantations, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said yesterday. He said this was avoid accusations being made by some western parties that the opening of oil palm plantations was destroying the forest and ecosystems. " We realise there are campaigns being carried out by some non-governmental organisations in the west to spread negative news about us as they think that the oil palm plantations are a result of forest clearing which is also endangering the existence of orang utan, " he told reporters here. Abdullah, who is also Finance Minister, said the existing oil palm plantations were enough to cater to current demands and there was no need for the opening of new plantations at the moment. There are currently 4.3 million hectares of oil palm plantation land in the country. " We don't have to reduce the protected forests to increase new oil palm plantations. We have proof. With more effective management of the plantations and new technologies, production can go up by 30 per cent, " he said after chairing the meeting of the cabinet committee on the competitiveness of the country's oil palm industry. He said continued research and development would also result in value added products in the industry. On the expansion of the biofuel industry, he said: " This will depend on the investors, on whether they want to produce palm oil as a fuel material. The high price of world crude oil will be a major determinant on whether they produce oil palm-based fuel. " On whether he was concerned with the increasing palm oil price, he said: " As far as we are concerned, price of oil (palm oil) is our wealth. As for cooking oil, it is a controlled food item. " http://redapes.org/news-updates/malaysian-prime-minister-no-clearing-of-forests-\ for-oil-palm-pl antations/ 12) Papua - An Indonesian plan to build a highway through the forests of Papua risks opening the door to massive deforestation in the jungle-clad half-island, environment groups said Wednesday. The 4,500 kilometre (2,796 mile) Trans-Papua highway between the provinces of Papua and West Papua would lead to an explosion in palm oil plantations and allow easy access for illegal loggers, Greenpeace and Papuan NGOs said in a statement. The planned road " would not only result in irreversible biodiversity loss and consequent ecological disaster, it will have a devastating impact on the lives and livelihood of the Papuan people, " Greenpeace campaigner Bustar Maitar said. The NGOs urged the government to properly consult local Papuans before going ahead with highway, which is the cornerstone of a 2007 plan by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to develop the resource-rich but impoverished provinces. The plan comes as Indonesian officials eye Papua's vast wilderness as a potential site for more palm oil plantations to cash in on voracious global demand for the crop. Palm oil plantations could be created on between three and four million hectares (up to 9.8 million acres) of suitable land in the two provinces, an agriculture ministry official told AFP in May. Indonesia, the world's largest palm oil producer, also has one of the highest levels of deforestation, with weak law enforcement and widespread corruption allowing illegal landclearing and logging to flourish. http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gICUEyfICWM1rFoJQDP6NmwDPATA Malaysia: 13) Despite a prime minister's directive banning conversion of forest reserves for oil palm plantations, the Malaysian state of Sarawak will continue to open up forest land for oil palm plantations, reports the New Straits Times. Speaking to the press Saturday, Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud said that the move will not go against the prime minister's directive because " it did not apply to the state, " according to New Straits Times. Taib said the land targeted for new plantations " were not permanent forest reserves but land targeted for agriculture since the 1950s. " He added that orangutans were " safe " in the state due to the establishment of a sanctuary. He said the state had also set up a 30,000 hectare (75,000 acre) reservation for the Penan and other indigenous nomadic tribes that live in the rainforest. " There are no reasons for us not to continue opening up more land, " he said. Taib's comments shortly after a month-long protest by the indigenous Kenyah over illegal logging on their communal lands. The blockade of logging roads was broken up by Malaysian police earlier this month. Researchers say that growth of the Malaysian palm oil industry has come partly at the expense of natural forests. A study published in the journal Conservation Letters showed that 55-59 percent of oil palm expansion in Malaysia between 1990 and 2005 occurred on forest land. Environmentalists say the loss of forests threatens biodiversity and has diminished important ecosystem services including water regulation and carbon storage. The palm oil industry has responded by noting that palm oil is used mostly in food products — not for biofuels — and has a higher yield than other oil crops, including soy and rapeseed. The industry says that palm oil has been a driver of rural development in Malaysia and that much of the forest converted for oil palm had previously been logged or zoned for agriculture. http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0630-palm_oil_sarawak.html 14) Just before sunrise, Malaysia's predawn sky is painted in dreamy hues of purple and pink. A train chugs southwards across paddy fields from Kota Bahru to Gua Musang — stopping at some stations that are no more than a wooden shack and a derelict signboard, occasionally picking up traders with bags of local food and vegetables from the jungle. A 70-year-old woman with a head of curly, shiny white hair in a shirt and batik sarong hauls five bags of homemade tapioca chips onto the train for sale at Kuala Krai, two hours away. At other stations, elderly women in headscarves and robes travel alone, selling their wares. Schoolchildren hop on and off. Young guys in jeans loiter around, flirting with young women in headscarves, quite unperturbed by the threat of khalwat, the Islamic prohibition against close proximity between unmarried persons of the opposite sex. This is Malaysia's Jungle Train, rumbling 526 km through remote rural towns down the country's east-coast states of Kelantan, Pahang and Negeri Sembilan. The landscape in Kelantan shifts between paddy fields, water buffaloes, grazing sheep, small banana and sugar cane plantations and giant palm oil and rubber estates. But there is very little left of the jungle. The world's oldest tropical rainforest, which dates back 130 million years, is nearly gone from this northern state bordering Thailand. " When we first logged here, we could find huge trees. The biggest that I've seen is about 90 (inches in diameter). Now we just have some good trees, very few grade A's and mostly just low quality wood, " a logger who has been in the industry for over 30 years told Asia Sentinel on a cleared hilltop in the jungle around Gua Musang, the state's logging capital. Over the last five decades, in the name of poverty eradication, the government has aggressively pursued agro-conversion turning forests into palm oil and rubber estates, which cover about 13 percent, or 4.2 million hectares, of the country's total land mass. Oil palms, which are productive in as little as two years, are preferred over rubber, which can only be tapped after about five. Each productive year lost translates into billions of ringgit as the crude palm oil (CPO) price hit an all-time high of RM4, 486 per metric ton in March but is expected to drop to about RM3, 000 in the second half of the year. Perilously, logged primary forest is classified as secondary forest, which allows it to be cleared for agriculture. http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content & task=view & id=1293 & Itemi\ d=34 15) Menteri Besar Azizan Abdul Razak is defiant about cutting trees in the Ulu Muda forest reserve. " Now, even if the Federal Government gives us the RM100 million compensation, we will still cut down the trees, " he said. Azizan told his critics that they should not be too obsessed with caring for the environment " like parents who are extremely obsessed with their offspring " . " The child is so pampered that he does not need to go to school. The child does not want to leave home. " This is like our forest. We are too obsessed with preserving the trees that we don't cut them " We leave the trees till they get old and rot. The trees die and fall and affect the growth of others. " As for Kelantan counterpart Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat's advice on the matter, Azizan said that the Pas spiritual leader might have misunderstood his plans to chop down the valuable timber trees in the water catchment area, which is about twice the size of Singapore. It was reported yesterday that Nik Aziz was concerned there would be shortage and pollution of water if the forest reserve was logged. Azizan's other critic was Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng who was concerned that logging in the forest reserve would deplete the water supply to Penang. Some 63,000 padi farmers also protested against Azizan's plan. Others included the Penang-based Sahabat Alam Malaysia, and the Kedah branch of the Malaysian Nature Society. Azizan, when reminded that he had strongly opposed a logging plan for the forest reserve when the former Barisan Nasional state government had proposed using helicopters to fell timber trees in 1992, said the circumstances were different then. He said when he was the state opposition leader, he was not well informed on the matter. " Just like many now, I had thought then that the entire water catchment area would be logged. " Then, Kedah did not have many financial problems and the proposed logging was just to add more funds to our coffers. http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Wednesday/Frontpage/2276773/Article/index\ _html 16) The Malaysian Nature Society has described the state government's plan to log timber in the Ulu Muda forest reserve as " a cruel act against nature " . Its Kedah branch chairman, Phang Fatt Khow, said the logging, if carried out, would also displace tens of thousands of padi farmers under the Muda Agricultural Development Authority. " It is simply a very bad plan to earn money for the state. " The logging would destroy the rich bio-diversity of the forest reserve and cause many people to suffer, " he said when asked about Menteri Besar Azizan Abdul Razak's plan to allow logging in the forest reserve, a gazetted water catchment area that supplies water for irrigation, domestic and industrial use to Kedah, Penang and Perlis. Phang said there were still many other avenues the state government could look to for funds for Kedah. He suggested that the state government seriously consider eco-tourism in the forest reserve as a win-win situation for man and nature. " Ulu Muda is a very big forest reserve. We have not made any serious efforts to explore its potential in every aspects. " However, we feel that the forest reserve should be preserved as a national heritage. " We should carry out environmentally-friendly activities like research and other studies on the forest. " Ulu Muda could also be a money-spinner for the state if we carried out sustainable activities. " The Ulu Muda forest reserve is a huge water basin which collects water in three dams - Pedu, Ahning and Muda. In 2002, the then Barisan Nasional state government had proposed to remove valuable timber in the forest reserve using helicopters. Under the system, a felled tree would be lifted up vertically from the forest to ensure minimum damage to the surrounding areas. In May 2003, the cabinet decided not to allow any logging in Ulu Muda to preserve water quality in the area. Azizan claimed the federal government promised to give the state RM100 million in compensation for sparing the forest reserve. But since taking over the running of the state, Azizan, who had sung a different tune as an opposition MP, had cited a shortage of funds for reviving the logging proposal. http://news.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Malaysia/Story/A1Story20080625-72815\ ..html New Zealand: 17) Recreational users of the Whakarewarewa Forest will still be able to use it despite its handover to new owners with this week's historic Treaty of Waitangi signing. But exact details, including whether access will continue to be free in future, have not been confirmed. The forest land is part of the $400-million plus Treelords deal struck between the Crown and seven iwi, including Ngati Whakaue and the affiliate Te Arawa iwi and hapu. As part of the settlement, the Central North Island Collective has agreed to access to the forest for recreational users such as walkers, cyclists and horse riders. Once the settlement becomes law, it will mean the collective will negotiate with Timberlands and Rotorua District Council over how the forest will be managed. Timberlands manages the cutting rights to the trees on behalf of forest owners Harvard University and the New Zealand Superannuation Fund. Speaking to The Daily Post from Chile, Rotorua MP Steve Chadwick said the forest's land owners had changed but it was still " business as usual " for Rotorua's recreational users. " The collective has agreed that the forests would remain accessible to walkers, cyclists and horse riders, " she said. Rotorua Mountain Bike Club advocacy manager Dave Donaldson said the club, which had created 100km of mountainbike trails throughout Whakarewarewa Forest, viewed the settlement as a " positive " for Rotorua.He hoped the club would be a part of any future discussions between the collective and the council over the forest's value to Rotorua as a recreational asset. While welcoming the assurance that public would continue to have access to the forest, Mr Donaldson said it had to be free. " I would urge the collective to think carefully about that. We won't get any charitable funding to create trails on privately-owned land that the public is charged to access and those trails will revert back to an overgrown jungle in no time at all. " http://www.dailypost.co.nz/localnews/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3776960 & thesection\ =localnews & th esubsection= & thesecondsubsection= 18) The problems began last month after an innovative decision by the businessman to send logs to China in containers. The contract was worth nearly $2 million a month. Logs are fumigated for up to 16 hours with Methyl Bromide, a deadly poison that should kill all bugs and insects. But Chinese authorities say when a shipment of logs reached China, there were still live larvae and even live Huhu grubs still attached to the logs. In a letter from the Chinese importer to the New Zealand Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, they say that they found many dangerous pests including live beetle larvae. But MAF say the consignment wasn't just rejected because of pests. " On arrival in China, those logs didn't have the correct documentation that China required from the New Zealand Government, and so those logs were rejected, " says Peter Thomson, acting Director General MAF Bio Security New Zealand. However Leon wood says what's happened to him is a systemic failure and is laying the blame with New Zealand Bio Security. " The service provider is supposed to re-check the container after it's fumigated to ensure that all the bugs are killed that hasn't happened, " he says. Wood says he is now seeking $10 million in compensation from the government for lost opportunity. http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/413551/1862455 Australia: 19) Environmentalists are hopeful recommendations around greater protection of Tasmanian forests will be made when the UN World Heritage Committee meets in Quebec this week. Earlier this year, the committee sent a delegation to Tasmania to tour forests on the boundary of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. The trip followed concerns about logging in areas surrounding protected forests. Vica Bayley, from the Wilderness Society, is hoping the committee will move to further protect Tasmania's forests. " These forests are threatened, they've got world heritage values and we're looking for recommendations that the boundary of the world heritage area is actually extended to include these forests of world heritage value, " Mr Bayley said. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/06/29/2289046.htm 20) Angry environmentalists are boycotting the State Government review into logging in Upper Yarra water catchments. The green groups claim the Government has pre-empted the Wood and Water review's finding by refusing to consider phasing out logging in water catchment areas. " We are dismayed that from the outset, the Victorian Government has dropped the option to phase out and protect Melbourne's water catchments from logging and wood chipping, " Australian Conservation Foundation national forest campaigner Lindsay Hesketh said. Sarah Rees, of the Central Highlands Alliance which has been leading local protests against logging in the Armstrong Creek catchment near Cambarville, said logging reduced water yields. " The State Government's own studies show logging reduces water supplies by 50 per cent and it takes 150 years to produce the same amount of water as before the forest were logged, " Ms Rees said. The issue of logging in Upper Yarra water catchments erupted last year when Yarra Ranges Shire Cr Samantha Dunn drafted a resolution against logging in water catchments. Cr Dunn said the shire shared the environmental groups concern. " We wrote to the Government requesting the immediate ending of logging be part of the mix in April, " she said. " We've yet to hear back from the Government. I have a meeting with them on July 10 at which I will strongly be advocating the inclusion of this option. " However, timber groups have dismissed the environmentalists' claims, with Healesville-based Timber Communities Australia state manager Scott Gentle accusing the green groups of creating a " stunt " . " It (ending logging immediately) was never an option in the terms of reference in the first place, " Mr Gentle said. " This is purely a stunt. It is disappointing they have done this, instead of working with the process to deliver the best result for communities environmentally and economically, " he said. Leader is still awaiting a response from Environment Minister Gavin Jennings' office. http://www.lilydaleyarravalleyleader.com.au/article/2008/06/30/38217_lev_news.ht\ ml 21) The Tasmanian Greens today said that David Bartlett has proved the same as Paul Lennon in doing Gunns' bidding by acquiescing to Gunns' demand for a five month extension to the controversial sovereign risk agreement on native forest wood supply, although Mr Bartlett has exhibited a greater level of deviousness by leading Tasmanians to believe he felt the government had already done enough to help the company and its pulp mill project when he has now endorsed doing more. Greens Opposition Leader Peg Putt MP said that this is not about the next five months, but is really about the next twenty years, and the profoundly anti-democratic attempt to lock in future governments to controversial logging via this agreement to penalise the public purse of millions of dollars should change on logging high conservation value forests occur. The Greens also believe that this is an extremely short-sighted decision in view of the release this Friday of the Garnaut report on climate change and the Australian government's upcoming green paper on an Emissions Trading System, both of which could change the prospects for retaining native forests for carbon sequestration such that it may be a more profitable way to go. " David Bartlett has just flunked the test of whether he is any different to Paul Lennon on Gunns pulp mill and forest protection, " Ms Putt said. " He's exactly the same in policy terms and has led Labor in once again acceding to Gunns' controversial and deeply unpopular demands for special treatment at taxpayer expense. " " The difference between Bartlett and Lennon is that Lennon was upfront about the extent to which he would put government at Gunns' beck and call, whilst Bartlett has been devious in leading people on to believe he had decided on no more deals because government had 'done enough' for this company, when clearly this was calculated to deceive the many people anxious to believe that things would be different. " http://tas.greens.org.au/News/view_MR.php?ActionID=3132 22) The senators opposed to the new scheme of tax breaks for forests have warned investors not to put any money in, even though the law has been passed. The scheme gives a tax deduction for new forests which are intended to be carbon sinks. But the Greens say it is flawed and they are working with the Nationals and Liberal Senator Bill Heffernan to have it overturned. They say people should not invest yet because the scheme might not last. Nationals Senator Ron Boswell says he is happy to work with the Greens to try to convince other Liberals and Labor to over turn the scheme. He says his concern is that it will mean productive farming land is taken over for trees. Senator Boswell says he does not usually agree with the Greens. " As far as the Greens are concerned, we don't very often agree, in fact I think I've only ever voted with them once or twice in years and years in the Senate, " he said. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/06/27/2287298.htm 23) The Environmental Protection Authority has only one permanent staff member and will have limited scope to police the forest industry. The State Government has promised the independent EPA will have the teeth to follow-up environmental breaches by industry, including the proposed Gunns pulp mill. More than $60,000 has already been spent on television ads promoting the new body. During a Budget estimate hearing yesterday Greens MHA Nick McKim asked whether it was true that the body was simply a clone of the Environmental Management and Pollution Control board it replaced, with no investigative staff of its own. Environment Minister Michelle O'Byrne responded: " It is a little unfair to say it is just a board, it is an independent board with its own budget and staff. " The EPA will get $2.5 million each year. But it will have only one full-time staff member -- a secretary to oversee administration, Ms O'Byrne confirmed. In contrast four full-time staff are employed on the Pulp Mill Steering Committee. Ms O'Byrne said about 40 existing investigative and regulatory officers from the Environment Division will answer to the EPA in addition to their day-to-day duties. But the body will have limited powers to oversee environmental breaches in the forest industry, which is still largely the responsibility of the Forest Practices Authority. http://www.news.com.au/mercury/story/0,22884,23924622-5007221,00.html 24) Indigenous values of 18 Wet Tropics rainforest tribes from Townsville to Cooktown were priority-listed by Mr Garrett for inclusion on the National Heritage List, the first step towards the World Heritage list. Yidinji traditional owner Henrietta Marrie, who chairs the Wet Tropics cultural heritage intellectual property committee, said rainforest tribes had been fighting for cultural recognition since the area was World Heritage-listed in the 1980s. " It is only now that there's been a breakthrough, " Ms Marrie said. " At last we've got the Government to the first stage of recognising its cultural values. " This is the last bit of rainforest we have left in Australia where the indigenous people are still participating in its management. " The cultural values range from key sites such as sacred springs and waterholes, walking tracks and cave paintings, to stories, songs and dances depicting how the tribes traditionally lived in the rainforest. The Aboriginal Rainforest Advisory Committee, which comes under the Wet Tropics Management Authority, took control of the listing process after the former Aboriginal Rainforest Council went into liquidation in April owing $100,000. http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2008/06/28/5011_local-news.html 25) The State Government of Victoria is to set aside 75,000 hectares to help protect 3 of Victoria's most endangered wildlife species, including Leadbeater's possum, the state's faunal emblem. The Government is expected to announce the plan on Monday. It will include a 30,000-hectare reserve in central Victoria for the possum, 40,000 hectares in East Gippsland and the state's north-east to protect the long-footed potoroo, and 5500 hectares to protect the most significant habitat of the Baw Baw frog. " This package is a powerful way of protecting the habitat of endangered species and ensuring their future protection, " Environment Minister Gavin Jennings said. He will also announce a plan, including an in-depth study to be completed by 2010 to protect Victoria's remaining rainforests and help prevent the spread of the fatal plant virus myrtle wilt. The plan has won the support of key environment groups, which have spent years lobbying the Government. " Any new reserves that enable endangered species greater protection is always welcomed by environment groups, " said Sarah Rees, spokeswoman for MyEnvironment Inc. " For Victoria's only native frog, this is the best action the Government could take to secure its future. " The Baw Baw frog has all but disappeared, with the population falling to a few hundred, from about 15,000 in 1994. It is on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's red list for critically endangered species. The population of the tiny nocturnal Leadbeater's possums has been reduced by half to about 2000 since it was listed as critically endangered in 1996, despite a decade-long joint federal and state plan to save it. http://www.moving-to-melbourne.co.uk/news/?p=60 26) Tasmanians overwhelmingly oppose further state or federal government funding for the Gunns pulp mill, a new poll has found. The EMRS poll of 1000 voters commissioned by activist group GetUp found 75 per cent of respondents didn't want any more taxpayer money spent on the mill. Opposition to further handouts was strong in both genders, all age groups and all regions of the state -- with 72 per cent of those in the North and 69 per cent in the North-West declaring their opposition, compared with 80 per cent in the South. GetUp campaigns co-ordinator Ed Coper said the result came after a poll a week ago found 61 per cent of Australians opposed the mill. " The Bartlett Government has an unequivocal statement from the Tasmanian people -- do not use our taxes to fill the coffers of a corporation that has already benefited from disproportionate government support, " he said. " The costs of this mill are blowing out -- Gunns themselves fast-tracked the approval, only to now find themselves well behind schedule. " This, coupled with the poll results showing the community opposition, should ring alarm bells for a government considering extending support beyond the terms of their original agreement. " Gunns has requested an extension of the mill's sovereign risk agreement beyond the June 30 expiry because of delays in starting construction of the $2 billion project. Cabinet is meeting today to determine its response. The $15 million agreement comes into effect only if a future parliament makes a decision that interrupts the wood supply to the mill. http://www.news.com.au/mercury/story/0,22884,23943976-5007221,00.html 27) " And today we also celebrate the future and thank those who had the dedication and foresight to establish these conservation reserves as a legacy for future generations. " Mr Ray was joined by NPWS staff, the Garby Elders, Yarrawarra Aboriginal Corporation and members of the Woolgoolga Creek Landcare Group for the cutting of the ribbon. The upgrade includes a section of raised walkway and bridge over a dangerous and slippery area; a viewing platform at the waterfall; and extensive weed control and bush regeneration. The large, colourful information display features the local community's involvement in the area and identifies some of the native plants and animals visitors may see. " The 78-hectare Woolgoolga Creek Flora Reserve was added to Sherwood Nature Reserve in 2003 and volunteers from the Woolgoolga Creek Landcare Group and National Parks staff have worked tirelessly to repair the magnificent rainforest, " Mr Storrie said. " For those not familiar with the area, it was previously heavily infested with lantana and other environmental weeds associated with disturbance. " We still have some way to go in restoring the rainforest and any new volunteers are very welcome. " Mr Storrie said the rainforest at Woolgoolga Creek was now protected as an Endangered Ecological Community under the Threatened Species Conservation Act. Visitors now have a stable path all the way to an inspiring view of the waterfall and can enjoy the natural beauty of the area. http://coffsharbour.yourguide.com.au/news/local/news/general/new-natural-attract\ ion-for-the-c offs-coast/798061.aspx 28) Sales figures released by more than half a dozen of the listed forestry-oriented scheme sellers yesterday showed much higher sales than had been forecast in recent weeks. Industry watcher Shane Kelly, managing director of Adviser Edge, cheerfully admitted his estimates of $900 million to $1 billion had been " blown out of the water " , with total MIS sales in agricultural and forestry projects estimated to have hit $1.14 billion — a fall of only 10% over 2007 levels. MIS schemes are attractive to investors because they offer upfront tax deductions, enabling people to offset taxable income. It was expected that uncertainty in the industry, due to a tax office cloud over the future of non-forestry schemes, and lower demand because the falling sharemarket had reduced capital profits in the past year, would eat into sales. Industry leaders Great Southern and Timbercorp both reported falls in their sales, as did Futuris Corporation which flagged last week the downturn would hit earnings — a disclosure in part responsible for the departure of its chief executive, Les Woznickza a day later. Mr Kelly said the interesting outcome of the year's sales was three of the smaller companies — Forest Enterprises Australia, Willmott Forests and sandalwood grower TFS Corporation — managed to boost their shares of sales from 17% to 37% in the year. FEA also revealed that it had doubled its nearly doubled its finance facilities from $130 million to $250 million, matching the 93% increase in MIS sales to $116 million. http://business.theage.com.au/forests-land-the-late-money-20080701-303j.html 29) ANTI-PULP mill protesters in Tassie's Tamar Valley are so sick of having their letters to Kevin Rudd ignored they wrote to him in a language they hoped would catch his eye. " We apparently have a Prime Minister who doesn't understand English, " Tasmanians Against the Pulp mill spokesman Bob McMahon says. " Therefore we have written to him in Mandarin, a language in which he is reputedly fluent. " But the clever stunt may have come to nothing. The letter was sent by priority post on June 2 and, as yet, there has been no reply. All previous letters have met with forest-industry and pulp-mill propaganda, but no reply from the PM and his ministers. The outpouring of emotion over the untimely death of Jane McGrath, the gutsy wife of cricketer Glenn, was clearly evident in federal parliament yesterday when virtually everyone in the chamber during question time was sporting a pink ribbon in remembrance of McGrath's battle against cancer. On Tuesday, however, there was only Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson and one or two others sporting a pink ribbon in memory of McGrath, who died on Sunday. The exhibition honouring our World WarI prime minister, Billy " The Little Digger " Hughes, that opened in Canberra's Old Parliament House yesterday highlights just how pollies' lives have changed through the years. One of the centrepieces of the exhibition is a formal wooden chair that Hughes crafted during his time as PM. Hughes loved woodwork and found it a relaxation away from politics. Today's incumbent in the exalted office keeps himself so busy he barely has time to sit down, let alone break out his Japanese saw, spirit level and chisels. Kev08's predecessor, John Howard, only had time for a daily walk. The last PM who really took time off from the job was Bob Hawke, who occasionally snuck away for a round of golf. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23922967-25090,00.html Tropical Forests: 30) A map of the world's tropical forests has revealed that millions of hectares of trees were cut back to make way for crops in recent years. Created from high-resolution satellite images, the map shows the extent of deforestation in the tropics with unprecedented accuracy. Between 2000 and 2005, at least 27.2m hectares (68m acres) of tropical forests were cleared to make way for farming. Almost half of the deforested land was in Brazil, nearly four times more than the next most deforested country, Indonesia, which accounted for 12.8% of cleared land. Scientists led by Matthew Hansen at South Dakota State University created the map to help inform conservationists and politicians about the state of the world's forests. While figures on deforestation are already compiled by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, they are based on unverified estimates submitted by individual countries, and rarely describe where in a country forests are being cleared. Recent estimates by the UN suggest that around 13m hectares of the world's forests are lost to deforestation each year, with South America alone losing more than 4m hectares a year. " We wanted to be able to pinpoint exactly where deforestation was happening, because that gives you much more information for policy makers to act upon, " said Fred Stolle at Conservation International in Washington DC. The scientists collected images taken between 2000 and 2005 by Nasa's Modis satellite network, which photographs the surface of the Earth every one to two days in 500m-wide snapshots. The researchers used the images to identify deforestation " hotspots " in the tropics, and then created a detailed map using a second satellite network called Landsat, which is accurate to within 30m. According to the map, over the five-year period, Brazil lost 3.6% of its forest cover, Indonesia 3.4%, Latin America 1.2%, the rest of Asia 2.7% and Africa 0.8%. The study appears in the US journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The map showed that deforestation in Indonesia was largely concentrated in just two regions, and that much of it was peatland. " The peatlands are essentially all carbon, so if you clear it and fire it, an enormous amount of carbon will be emitted into the atmosphere, " said Stolle. " Without a precise map, we would not know that level of detail. " The researchers hope to produce annual updates of the map to show trends in deforestation. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jul/01/forests.conservation World-wide: 31) The conversion of forest lands by means of human desires and actions denotes one of the huge forces in global ecological revolution and one of the great leads to biodiversity extinction. Its impact on people has been profound and remains to be intense. Forests are turned to barren lands, tarnished and shattered by log harvests, transformation to agricultural lands, road constructions, human made catastrophes, and in many other inexplicable ways. People view forests as a means of total transformation in societies, lands and even businesses. The rate at which it is growing is totally unstoppable that global deforestation came to be a big impact for the survival of lives in this planet. If the number continually rises, more and more sources of life will be totally depleted. The world will not only suffer from the untoward effects of the environment but other outcomes as well such as ailments, social fights and poverty. Currently, if the evil doers think that development is the key to saving the population, then they might consider thinking twice. Even though how far advanced the development may be, nothing can save us from the turmoil if the earth hits back at us. It is a scientific fact that trees help minimize pollution through elimination of carbon dioxide. Forests then are condensed of enormous amounts of carbon dioxide since trees are the ones responsible for absorbing them. In cases of deforestation however, the burned trees give off the polluted gas back to the atmosphere, thus leading to an immense amount of pollution in the air. The evil acts of global deforestation accounts for one-third of the carbon dioxide emissions from all over the earth. The remaining values are caused upon by other factors such as car air pollutants. When much of the earth is going to be removed, expect that the air that we breathe can turn out to be more than just 50% of the toxic carbon dioxide. http://deforestation.blogminisites.com/can-global-deforestation-really-cause-an-\ impact-in-our- environment.html 32) " About 70 million people each year travel to places with fragile eco-systems and cultures under what you might call eco-tourism, " Tensie Whelan, executive director of the green group Rainforest Alliance, told AFP. According to the Washington-based group The International Ecotourism Society (TIES), global eco-tourism has been expanding at rates of between 20 and 34 percent a year since 1990 -- and in 2004, the business grew three times faster than the tourism sector as a whole. The typical eco-tourist is likely to be an experienced traveller aged 40-plus with higher education and in the top earning brackets, says TIES. The Worldwatch Institute, a US green group, defines eco-tourism as " responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the welfare of local people. " Under this broad umbrella comes a wide range of activities. They can operate on a scale that ranges from the personal to the mass market, and their green benefit is highly variable. Projects include tiny groups of people who accompany conservationists into the Amazon to document wildlife or who are given a close-up look at chimpanzees in ancient forests in Africa. At the other end of the numbers scale, South Africa's well-run National Parks plough fees from visitors into sustaining and policing the reserve. Energy efficiency, water conservation, transport and renewable resources are big features in eco-tourism. Asking environmentally-sensitive guests to re-use their towels is not enough. To win credibility with this upscale, demanding slice of the market, hotels and lodges have to offer such things low-flush toilets, bicycle hire, solar-powered water heating and solar-powered electricity, intelligent lighting or air conditioning panels. Many pledge donations to preserve the local nature reserve or promise to help the local community with good jobs or locally-sourced materials. Another inducement in eco-tourism is carbon " offsets " to compensate for the pollution of the client's holiday. " Offsets " are schemes by which a polluter buys into a project elsewhere that will compensate for the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) resulting from his trip. http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jganLTRiohyPfONh_R7ui0ScOkpA 33) Researchers at the Missouri Tree Ring Laboratory in the Department of Forestry discovered that trees submerged in freshwater aquatic systems store carbon for thousands of years, a significantly longer period of time than trees that fall in a forest, thus keeping carbon out of the atmosphere. " If a tree is submerged in water, its carbon will be stored for an average of 2,000 years, " said Richard Guyette, director of the MU Tree Ring Lab and research associate professor of forestry in the School of Natural Resources in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. " If a tree falls in a forest, that number is reduced to an average of 20 years, and in firewood, the carbon is only stored for one year. " The team studied trees in northern Missouri, a geographically unique area with a high level of riparian forests (forests that have natural water flowing through them). They discovered submerged oak trees that were as old as 14,000 years, potentially some of the oldest discovered in the world. This carbon storage process is not just ancient; it continues even today as additional trees become submerged, according to Guyette. While a tree is alive, it has a high ability to store carbon, thus keeping it out of the atmosphere. However, as it begins to decay, a tree's carbon is released back into the atmosphere. Discovering that certain conditions slow this process reveals the importance of proper tree disposal as well as the benefits of riparian forests. " Carbon plays a huge role in climate change and information about where it goes will be very important someday soon, " said Michael C. Stambaugh, research associate in the MU Department of Forestry. " The goal is to increase our knowledge of the carbon cycle, particularly its exchange between the biosphere (plants) and atmosphere. We need to know where it goes and for how long in order to know how to offset its effects. " This could be a valuable find for landowners. Although it is not yet common in North America, emissions trading has been gaining popularity in parts of Europe. Also known as cap and trade, emissions trading works to reduce pollution by setting a limit on the amount of pollutants an organization can emit into the air. If they exceed that number, the group is required to obtain carbon credits. http://munews.missouri.edu/news-releases/2008/0626-guyette-oak-trees-carbon.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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