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--Today for you 33 new articles about earth's trees! (377th 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 edition:

 

BC-Canada

World-wide

 

Index:

 

--British Columbia: 1) Today's the day the timber wars start again? 2)

Cont. 3) SE protections for caribou, 4) TimberWest real estate

rip-offs, 5) Without sufficient regard for the public interest, 6) 48

municipal and regional govs. demand an end to big timber's real estate

rip-offs, 7) Cariboo-Chilcotin Beetle Action Coalition wants to head

off total economic collapse, 8) It's logging as usual, 9) New forest

minister's 4-point strategy out of touch with reality, 10) Using

native people to push industry agenda in Clayoquot, 11) Cont. 12) Stop

work order for sub-dividing bulldozers in Jordan river, 13) Darkwoods

saved! Logging will continue? 14) More on Doyle report, 15) Canada's

West Coast Trail, 16) Mushrooms pickers and loggers meet in Tlell, 17)

Release from Tree farm obligations leads to massive increase in

logging, 18) Prince George's largest tree-removal program yet, 19)

Queen Elizabeth Park cuts 70 trees & nary a whimper of protest, 20)

Save the Leech river, 21) Grave risks to globally rare Douglas fir

forests, 22) Web-based maps prepared by the province and local forest

companies, 23) More on Jordan river destruction, 24) First Nations

forestry trade mission to China,

 

--Canada: 25) Meeting of the 2010 Biodiversity Indicators Partnership,

26) N.B. gov asked to Stop Exporting! 27) Joggins Fossil Cliffs is a

" coal age Galápagos, " 28) Logging not counted by gov as global warming

impact, 29) 545 eco-signatures against Ontario's new Endangered

Species Act, 30) Temporary ban on development in and around Nahanni

National Park is about to end,

 

--World-Wide: 31) World Bank routinely overstates its commitment to

eco-issues, 32) No greater industry than forest industry when it comes

to negative eco-impacts, 33) Proposal from Terrestrial Carbon Group,

 

Articles:

 

British Columbia:

 

1) We could find out as early as today whether one of the most

celebrated battlegrounds in B.C. environmental history will play host

to a new war in the woods. Environmentalists are threatening the

return of blockades and international boycotts unless logging halts in

the Hesquiat Point Creek of Clayoquot Sound.The Friends of Clayoquot

Sound joined with four other groups -- Sierra Club, Greenpeace, the

Western Canada Wilderness Committee and Forest Ethics -- and mailed

their environmental concerns to Coulson Forest Products, setting today

as the deadline for a reply before the groups up the ante with

blockades or other political actions. In 1993, the eyes of the world

were on the sound, where 800 protesters were arrested and hauled away

in an ultimately successful bid to slow logging in the environmentally

sensitive area. Now, environmentalists are targeting Coulson Forest

Products and MaMook Natural Resources -- owned by the Ahousaht,

Hesquiaht, Ucluelet, Toquaht and Tla-o-qui-aht bands -- and promising

to ramp up the pressure unless Hesquiat Point Creek is spared. While

logging jobs disappeared, the international attention gained enormous

free advertising for Tofino, which now sees more than a million

visitors a year. The new battle also represents different adversaries.

In the 1980s and 1990s, environmentalists and First Nations squared

off against logging companies; now, environmentalists are pitted

against loggers and their new allies, the First Nations, who have

their own forest licence logging contracts. Clayoquot Sound was

designated a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve in 2000.

http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=fdd47925-ae34-44e\

0-94a3-00838dc0

f02b

 

2) B.C. could see a return to protests and blockades in world-renowned

Clayoquot Sound as a forestry company prepares to log an old-growth

forest in the Hesquiat Point Creek watershed -- the first time a

company has begun logging in such a " pristine " valley in nearly 20

years. And this time, first nations and environmentalists -- allies in

the 1993 protests -- are on opposite sides. Since the early 1990s,

forestry companies have continued logging in the sound but have

limited their activities to " developed " areas that had already been

logged, staying out of about a dozen intact watersheds untouched by

human development for more than 10,000 years. But in March,

first-nations-owned MaMook Natural Resources Ltd. and their partner

Coulson Forest Products began building a logging road into one of

those untouched valleys -- Hesquiat Point Creek -- with plans to start

logging as early as this fall. Maryjka Mychajlowycz, a campaigner with

Friends of Clayoquot Sound, said if the companies start removing

trees, it will be the first logging in an untouched valley since 1991.

Mychajlowycz said the valleys are some of the few remaining examples

globally of complete ecosystems untouched by humans. " All the

environmental groups have been very clear ... that these intact

valleys are ecologically precious, " she said. " That's the line in the

sand. " In 1993, 800 anti-logging protesters were arrested on blockades

set up by the environmental movement, drawing worldwide attention to

the region's old-growth forests. Following those protests, a voluntary

moratorium was placed on logging in the sound's untouched valleys

while a scientific panel reviewed how the areas could be logged in an

environmentally sustainable way.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=42fe88e9-704d-4a0f-9bcf-27\

3e4e8ffa3f

 

3) An endangered population of mountain caribou is expected to be the

focus of an announcement today billed as " a conservation initiative of

global significance, " and said to involve a large tract of wilderness

in southeastern British Columbia. Environment Minister John Baird and

John Lounds, president and CEO of the Nature Conservancy of Canada,

are to attend a joint news conference at the Pan Pacific Hotel in

Vancouver for the announcement, which is thought to involve more than

55,000 hectares of private forest land. Neither the government nor

officials from the Nature Conservancy would comment, but sources in

the Kootenay region said they expect to hear that a huge area of

private forest will be set aside. Sources said the Nature Conservancy

and the federal government have been seeking " a big chunk of land " to

help protect the South Selkirk mountain caribou population, one of 12

endangered herds in B.C. The South Selkirk population is found mostly

in the mountains south of Nelson and west of Creston, just above the

U.S.-Canada border. The area contains thick forests, alpine meadows

and pristine mountain lakes. In a study several years ago, the

Valhalla Wilderness Society identified a 55,000-hectare section of

private forest land in the area as being " the best of the last

wilderness " available anywhere in Southern B.C. " This must be what

they got. The Nature Conservancy was negotiating for it. That's a big

chunk of land and it's very important for mountain caribou, " said a

source involved with mountain caribou studies. B.C. has virtually the

world's entire population of mountain caribou, a subspecies of the

more widespread woodland caribou, and numbers have been dropping

dramatically. Mountain caribou, which are dependent on old-growth

forests, have declined by about 25 per cent since 1992, to 1,900

animals. Historically, there were about 10,000. A series of studies in

B.C. have identified the fragmentation of habitat as one of the

biggest threats to mountain caribou. " There appears little time left

to act before options for mountain caribou conservation are ultimately

forfeited, " the B.C. Forest Practices Board stated in a 2004 report.

" Current science suggests that if older forests continue to be

fragmented and mountain caribou continue to be lost to predators, the

final opportunity to restore mountain caribou populations in the

province will soon be lost. "

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080724.wbcland24/BNStory/Na\

tional/home

 

4) TimberWest has reached a significant milestone with the completion

of the rezoning of 166 hectares of land near the Campbell River

airport. The parcel - which is adjacent to the entrance of the airport

- is now zoned industrial and will be targeted for a wide variety of

potential uses. " We expect local, provincial and even international

interest in this property from aerospace, distribution and other

industries, " said John Hendry, Vice President, TimberWest Real Estate.

" These lands have the benefits of being next to an expanding airport,

having utilities in place, and being located in a very

cost-competitive location like Campbell River, which itself is part of

one of the most attractive destinations in the world - Vancouver

Island. " TimberWest was successful in its application to exclude this

marginal agricultural land from the Agriculture Land Reserve (ALR) in

exchange for putting 480 hectares/acres of higher quality agricultural

land into the ALR. " The land that we have added to the ALR has a prime

rating of Class 1 to 3, while the land that was excluded had

agricultural capability ratings of Class 4 and 5, " added Hendry. " This

is an excellent example of how we can use our landholdings to increase

the ALR and make available greenfield sites for industrial development

that brings with it new jobs, infrastructure and investment. " Today's

announcement is the culmination of three years of work and owes a

significant amount to the due diligence of the ALC's process and

TimberWest's close working relationship with the City of Campbell

River. http://www.islandlife.tv/?p=172

 

5) Here is a quote directly from the report by John Doyle, Auditor

General: " Overall, the report concludes that the removal of private

land from TFLs 6, 19 and 25 was approved without sufficient regard for

the public interest. The report notes that: the decision was not

adequately informed — it was based upon incomplete information that

focused primarily on forest and range matters and the interests of the

licensee, with too little consideration given to the potential impacts

on other key stakeholders; consultation was not effective and

communication with key stakeholders and the public about the decision

was not transparent; and the impacts of previous land removal

decisions were not monitored to help inform future decisions. " Much

media attention has been given to the land around Jordan River, just

west of Sooke, where 28,273 hectares of land was taken out of the

publicly owned tree farm by the Ministry of Forests and given to WFP

without any financial compensation. However that only accounts for

lands privatized within TFL25 while lands privatized in the other TFLs

have gone mostly unnoticed. TFL19 is much larger and is located around

Gold River, Tahsis, and Zeballas while TFL6 lands are located around

Port McNeil, Port Alice, Coal Harbour, and Winter Harbour. The market

value of ocean side property in these areas will equal massive profits

for WFP and will alter the landscape forever. The intention of the

Tree Farm License system was to legally bind the timber to the land so

that logging companies would be obliged to provide work in those areas

for generations to come. The spiraling downturn in the forestry

industry is as a direct result of these obligations being altered by

the current BC government. Raw log exports, mill closures, and

privatization of land are allowing logging companies to profit without

putting back into local communities for the future. At the heart of

this controversy is the fact that Minister Rich Colman's older

brother, Stan Coleman, works for Western Forest Products where he is

their Manager of Strategic Planning. Public outcry has been growing

since this story first surfaced. As a result, Premier Campbell

shuffled Rich Coleman from his cabinet position as the Minister of

Forests, Range, and Housing to the Ministry of Housing and Social

Development on June 23, 2008. --Richard Boyce – Islands Lens #105

 

6) In a letter obtained by The Globe and Mail, a group representing 48

municipal and regional governments is calling on the Premier to review

his government's decision to significantly deregulate forestry on

20,000 hectares of private timberlands on Vancouver Island by removing

them from the tree-farm license system. " Local governments on

Vancouver Island have expressed profound concerns that these lands

were removed without adequate consultation, " states the July 17 letter

from Barry Janyk, president of the Association of Vancouver Island and

Coastal Communities. Mr. Janyk, who is also the mayor of Gibsons, said

the issue is generating anger well beyond the affected communities.

" The provincial government ignores local government at their peril, "

he said. " An attack on one constituency is an attack on everyone. ...

They are playing with fire. " Earlier this month, B.C. Auditor-General

John Doyle found the most recent deal, worth $150-million to Western

Forest Products, was made without due regard for the public interest.

Mr. Doyle said the government should have examined the impact of

previous changes before granting the request of Western Forest

Products, paving the way for an ambitious real-estate project around

Jordan River despite opposition from the regional government. Jordan

River is a tiny community between Sooke and Port Renfrew.The largest

of the previous changes took place four years ago in the Port Alberni

valley, where almost 90,000 hectares of land were removed from managed

tree-farm licences. Port Alberni Mayor Ken McRae said the change,

which he learned of only after the deal was signed, has had an impact

on the city's water supply and on jobs. He's disturbed by the amount

of waste wood being left on the privately managed forest lands, which

he sees as lost jobs for his struggling community.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080728.BCTREES28/TPStory/TPNa\

tional/BritishC

olumbia/

 

7) In a report released yesterday, the Cariboo-Chilcotin Beetle Action

Coalition called on the federal and provincial governments to help the

area head off a total economic collapse in which mills could close,

4,000 jobs could be lost and entire communities could face

depopulation as people leave in search of work. Donna Barnett, 100

Mile House mayor and coalition chair, said that with government help

the area hopes it can avoid the worst-case scenario. " What we're

looking at is getting beyond that, " she said of predictions of what

could happen if the forest industry has a meltdown and there is no

plan to mitigate damage. " We know we'll have a forest industry, we

just don't know what it will look like, " Ms. Barnett said. " With this

blueprint, we believe we can soften the blow quite a bit. " Ms. Barnett

said the Cariboo-Chilcotin " is in unknown territory " in trying to

figure out how to deal with the pine-beetle epidemic. But she believes

that with proper planning the region can survive. She said Community

Development Minister Blair Lekstrom accepted the executive summary of

the 3,000-page report yesterday and promised a response within 30 to

60 days.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080723.wbcbeetle23/BNStory/\

National/?page=r

ss & id=RTGAM.20080723.wbcbeetle23

 

8) The lamentations began even before B.C.'s sweeping report on the

state of its natural environment was released last week. The usual

leaks from organized critic groups to friendly media laid the spin

down for the city folks: nice scientific work and pretty maps but no

endangered species law, so it's logging as usual. The poster animals

for the environmental movement are well known: spotted owl, mountain

caribou. A closer look at those reveals the complexity of the issues

involved. Spotted owl habitat was set aside in 1997, but despite that

the numbers in B.C. have fallen so low that a captive breeding program

was set up. Green activists say 'it's the logging, stupid,' but in

fact one of the key problems found in a decade of intensive study is

that the owls haven't chosen to occupy some of the protected areas.

One reason is barred owls pushing them out. And it's not often

mentioned that B.C. is actually the extreme northern fringe of

continent-long natural range for spotted owls. Shifting protected

areas is one delicate issue ahead; " managing " barred owls is another.

That will be criticized by the same activists who give this species

disproportionate attention. Mountain caribou are probably B.C.'s most

intensively studied animals, and here at least we have most of the

world population. Key areas were protected in 2007 after the

population fell below 2,000 and two small herds disappeared, but land

clearing has shifted the whole predator-prey balance, and B.C. is now

resorting to " managing " cougars and wolves and relocating herds to

maintain viable breeding populations.

http://forestaction.wordpress.com/2008/07/19/protecting-species-is-everyone%e2%8\

0%99s-job/

 

9) After taking over the forestry portfolio a month ago, Prince

George-North MLA and Forest and Range Minister Pat Bell has developed

a four-point strategy. And he says rural B.C. can really benefit from

it. " This is about incorporating new products and markets with old, "

Bell said Wednesday. Bell's four key themes are based on a month of

traveling around the province, meeting with industry executives, First

Nations, silviculturalists and union leaders. " Everywhere I went,

everyone I talked to, they all say we need to send the same message –

'forestry is here to stay and it does have a strong future,' " he said.

The plan points to the need for reforestation incentives. Bell said

industry is really good at " making round logs into flat boards, " but

need to turn their attention to growing and planting the tiny

saplings. Bell highlighted the need to improve utilization standards,

stating he knows firsthand there's product waste. " We need to capture

full utilization, " he said. " We need to minimize waste. " Number three

and four on Bell's list are the opportunities of Chinese market

expansion and breaking into the wood construction of commercial

institutions. http://www.bclocalnews.com/news/25925789.html

 

10) The fragile economies of five first nations in Clayoquot Sound

would be dealt a crippling blow if major environmental groups go ahead

with plans to disrupt logging this summer. " Every time we start to get

on our feet, someone wants to knock us off, " said John Frank, deputy

chief of the Ahousaht Nation. Native-run logging companies provide the

only meaningful employment left in many of the villages scattered

throughout the sound, he said. " Our economic engine has died, that was

the fishery, " he said. " We had 140 fishboats with three men to each

boat. " When the fishing economy collapsed, unemployment shot from 10

per cent to 70 per cent, he explained. Local first nations have

founded their own logging companies to ensure their people benefit

from the bounty of their land. Frank said it should be up to the

owners and the stewards of the land to manage those resources and

first nations are no longer willing to be bullied by outsiders who

want to tell them how to manage their affairs, and that includes

governments, multinational corporations and environmental groups.

Environmental groups have set a July 28 deadline -- next Monday -- to

obtain an agreement with logging companies for a two-year moratorium

on logging in pristine valleys of the remote region on the west coast

of Vancouver Island.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=9414d9b5-a2f\

e-4a80-87d0-f91

b27f8510f

 

11) Environmental groups have set a July 29 deadline to obtain an

agreement with logging companies and the provincial government to halt

logging permanently in the old-growth forests of Clayoquot Sound

before they execute their " Plan B " -- a campaign of disruption. " The

activist landscape has changed a lot, and with the Internet we can

take this fight global and into the marketplace in a heartbeat, " said

Valerie Langer of environmental group Forest Ethics. The groups, which

include Greenpeace, Forest Ethics and the Wilderness Committee, have

not yet met with the companies that plan to begin logging in an

untouched watershed this fall or with the provincial government to

discuss their demands. In March, first nations-owned logging company

MaMook Natural Resources and its partner Coulson Forest Products began

cutting trees to build a logging road into the Hesquiat Point Creek

watershed. Construction was halted in May when environmentalists

complained about the incursion into pristine forest. No old-growth

forest has been cut in Clayoquot Sound since 1991. Greenpeace hopes to

influence governments and consumers around the world and suggested the

taint could engulf the entire province, according to spokeswoman

Stephanie Goodwin. Forests Minister Pat Bell dismissed the July 29

deadline, saying it is not the role of the province to interfere with

local land-use decisions and that logging is taking place within very

strict guidelines.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=ba4800cf-2dba-47b5-bbdd-b5\

d7519b3bbe

 

12) Western Forest Products has been told to stop building roads

around Jordan River and Shirley in an area the company wants to

subdivide. The Capital Regional District has sent a letter to the

forest company saying the road building contravenes development permit

rules. Bob Lapham, CRD planning manager, said the main concerns are

steep slopes and environmentally sensitive areas. " They cannot alter

the land without permits, " he said. No reply has yet been received

from the company and, if they persist with the work without applying

for permits, the CRD will go to court, Lapham said. WFP has applied to

the provincial Highways Ministry approving officer to build 319

acreages in the oceanfront and ocean-view areas of Vancouver Island's

southwest corner. The land was formerly private forestland included in

a tree farm licence, but last year former forests minister Rich

Coleman gave WFP permission to pull private lands out of the TFL. The

company then put the land on the market and provisionally sold it to

developer Ender Ilkay. But after a public outcry, the CRD rezoned the

former forestry and resource lands to 120-hectare minimum lot sizes.

The controversial subdivision application takes advantage of a delay

in the province approving the new CRD zoning bylaws. The delay allowed

WFP to apply under the old rules, with one year to obtain subdivision

approval and complete preliminary layout work. That 12-month period is

up in April. WFP chief operating officer Duncan Kerr has said that

roads are being built only in areas where they can be used for logging

if the subdivision application is turned down.

http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=d9a1493c-fc4a-4b3\

6-bb3a-0544f990

bd8f

 

13) Darkwoods, a spectacular 55,000-hectare sweep of mountains,

forest, streams and more than 50 lakes in the Kootenay region, has

been bought for $125-million by Nature Conservancy Canada, with help

from the federal government. The land – prowled by 30 to 40 grizzly

bears, wolf packs, moose and an endangered herd of mountain caribou –

was bought by His Royal Highness Duke Carl Herzog von Wurttemberg 40

years ago, on the eve of the Soviet takeover of Czechoslovakia that

left Europe shaken. The Nature Conservancy of Canada announced on

Thursday that it bought Darkwoods, 550 square kilometres of remote

valleys, mountains and lakes in south-central British Columbia.

(Nature Conservancy of Canada) " The duke bought it in 1967 as a safe

haven for his family. It was the height of the Cold War and the

Russian tanks were rolling through Prague and it looked like Germany

was not a safe place to stay. So he acquired the property as an escape

for his family, " said Christian Schadendorf, general manager of

Darkwoods Forestry. " Why did the duke decide to sell? He's over 70

years old now, the Cold War is history, it's safe to live in Germany

for now and there are increasing risks and costs associated with

climate change on the property, " he said. " The beetle infestation has

hit us hard, just like everywhere else in B.C., and there's way more

frequent forest fires occurring … but the final straw was the regional

district decided to increase property taxes by 35 per cent. " The

property, which lies on the west side of the south arm of Kootenay

Lake, was part of a land grant to the Nelson & Fort Sheppard Railway

in 1897. It went through several owners before the duke bought it and

set up Darkwoods Forestry. Although Darkwoods has been extensively

logged, with some 55,000 cubic metres removed annually, forest crews

have operated under strict instructions to " take care of the land "

first. As a result, Darkwoods has remained in remarkably good shape

ecologically, with 50 per cent of the area still wilderness, virgin

forests with trees more than 500 years old and a diversity of

wildlife, some of which are remarkably unafraid of humans because

there has been no hunting allowed for 40 years. Mr. Schadendorf, a

forest economist who immigrated to Canada from Germany in 1994, and

two professional foresters have been hired by Nature Conservancy

Canada to help manage the land. He said logging will continue but the

focus will be on environmental management, not profit, and mostly will

involve removing trees attacked by pine beetles.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080724.wBC-park25/BNStory/N\

ational/?page=rs

s & id=RTGAM.20080724.wBC-park25

 

14) John Doyle is BC's new Auditor General. His report on removing

private land from tree farm licenses

<http://bcauditor.com/pubs/subject/forestry.asp> is so hot that it is

still smoking. In the course of preparing it, he put a complaint

before the BC Securities Commissions regarding unusual trading in

Western Forest Products, as well as a complaint before the Conflict of

Interest Commissioner regarding potential conflict of interest under

the terms of the Members' Conflict of Interest Act. The release of

28,000 hectares of private land from three coastal tree farm licenses

held by Western Forest Products occurred on January 31, 2007 when Rich

Coleman was the responsible minister. Coleman has been shuffled to a

new super-ministry. If the CBC website

<http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/07/16/bc-tree-farm-report.\

html>

is correct, his successor, Pat Bell used exceptionally harsh and

undiplomatic language to personally attack the Auditor. The CBC site

quotes Bell as saying: " It is, in my view, unprofessional - lacking of

integrity. We are offended by this report. We think it is totally

inappropriate and if Mr. Doyle thinks that this is how we do business

in Canada, he's dead wrong. " Bell's comment refers to Doyle's

Australian origin from where he was recruited and unanimously selected

by an all party committee of MLAs, a majority of whom were government

MLAs. It is traditional for ministers to simply thank the Auditor for

his report and commit to doing better. I cannot find another example

in BC history of a minister personally attacking the Auditor General.

In describing his report in a three page covering letter, Doyle wrote:

" Overall, the report concludes that the removal of private land from

TFLs 6, 19 and 25 was approved without sufficient regard for the

public interest. The report notes that: 1) " the decision was not

adequately informed - it was based upon incomplete information that

focused primarily on forest and range matters and the interests of the

licensee, with too little consideration given to the potential impacts

on other key stakeholders; 2) " consultation was not effective and

communication with key stakeholders and the public about the decision

was not transparent; and 3) " the impacts of previous land removal

decisions were not monitored to help inform future decisions. "

http://www.StrategicThoughts.com

 

15) The next, seconds later, seems a lot closer as I lie unprotected

in a bivvy sack. Then another, and another, thwack, thwack, thwack. I

yell to the guides who have camped a few metres away on slightly

higher ground and are packing away their bivvy sacks for another day

on Canada's West Coast Trail, " Hey, that's a bit close for comfort. Do

you want me to get up? " " It's not us, " they protest. " It's a

squirrel. " Thwack, thwack, thwack. By now cones are landing on my

bivvy sack and I grab a hat to protect my head. A spruce cone is light

with papery scales, the shuttlecock of the cone world, but these

things are falling from 60m above and they sound like rocks landing. I

pack quickly while cones rain down. Eventually the barrage ceases; the

bare ground around my campsite looks like a squirrel lolly scramble,

which in a way is what it is. Having got the cones as far as the

ground, the squirrel's next move is to gather them up and safely store

them for the coming winter. I am an intruder and it seems only fair to

help, so my last act before I leave the forest to join the crew for

breakfast on the foreshore is to gather up cones and leave them in a

tidy pile. That squirrel is probably still boasting about the accuracy

of his bombing. I first came across this Canadian trail a few years

ago in a book on the great treks of the world. The West Coast Trail on

Vancouver Island, British Columbia, was one of only two assigned to

the whole of North America. This is a region with a richly interesting

indigenous culture, a fascinating history of European exploration

(read Jonathan Raban's Passage to Juneau for a quick fix), intriguing

flora and fauna (with bears on top of the list) and the most bizarre

weather and tidal patterns when warm Pacific Ocean currents meet a

cold landmass. There are not many trekking trails that demand you

carry tide tables but it is appropriate on the West Coast Trail

because it owes its existence to the region's perverse weather (220cm

of rain a year) and extraordinary tidal variation and strong currents.

Ships sailing north to Alaska, and home again, along the Juan de Fuca

Strait on the west coast of Vancouver Island, faced the twin perils of

impenetrable fog and rocks and reefs suddenly exposed by a tide that

recedes faster than a ship can sail out of harm's way. Since 1854,

more than 60 ships have come to grief on the jagged coast.

http://links.org.au/node/522

 

16) A large group of mushroom harvesters, concerned about how BC

Timber Sales' plans will affect a prime picking area, met in Tlell

Monday night (July 14) with BCTS staff.

The meeting, organized by Lynda Dixon of the Haida Gwaii Local Foods

Processing Cooperative, attracted about 30 islanders. Enrique Sanchez,

planning forester for the Chinook business area, told the group that

BC Timber Sales plans to develop 30 cutblocks in the Skidegate and

Mosquito Lake areas over the next 10 years. The wood, second-growth

hemlock and spruce, is located in the same area as some of the

islands' most popular and accessible chanterelle picking spots. Mr.

Sanchez displayed a map of the area with the proposed cutblocks

outlined in different colours, with known chanterelle-producing areas

and potential mushroom habitat also marked. The information on the map

came from a preliminary mushroom study, he said, and he is interested

in more precise information from the pickers about where the

chanterelles are growing now and whether there are areas which have

stopped being productive, to further refine logging plans. The

Skidegate Lake and Mosquito Lake cutblocks will be selectively

harvested rather than clearcut, Mr. Sanchez added, and harvesting will

meet the new eco-system based management standards. But several

members of the public asked why the area has to be harvested at all,

and warned that any kind of tree cutting could be bad for the

mushrooms. " You seem to be coming from the view that this area needs

to be harvested, " one man said. " Why is this area begging to be

logged? I don't understand. " Mr. Sanchez said that BC Timber Sales is

mandated to harvest a certain amount of volume, and that the

Skidegate/Mosquito Lake area is one which it inherited through the

Tree Farm Licence " takeback " a few years ago. " Stands in the area are

between 50 and 60 years old and are of commercially viable size, " he

said. However, he admitted that there does not seem to be much of a

market for this wood at the moment. BC Timber Sales has already

advertised four sales in the area which did not attract any bids.

http://www.qciobserver.com/Article.aspx?Id=3388

 

17) Logging rates increase dramatically on private lands taken out of

tree farm licences, says a report released yesterday by the Canadian

Centre for Policy Alternatives. Hot on the heels of an auditor

general's report which blasted former forests minister Rich Coleman

for allowing Western Forest Products to remove 28,000 hectares of

private land from tree farm licences on Vancouver Island, the CCPA

report says logging rates and land sales spike immediately after such

decisions. When private lands are included in TFLs they are subject to

more stringent logging rules. In return, the companies are given

access to Crown timber. Resource policy analyst Ben Parfitt, author of

the CCPA study, said there are clear examples of unsustainable cutting

on former TFL lands on Vancouver Island, where, unlike the rest of the

province, almost one-quarter of forest land is in private hands --

most of it controlled by WFP, TimberWest and Island Timberlands. Rare

Douglas fir ecosystems are being destroyed and public values, such as

water, are not being protected, Parfitt said. " Such disturbing trends

highlight why B.C. needs a private forestland reserve, similar to the

Agricultural Land Reserve, which would allow governments to ensure

private forestlands are managed in the public interest, " he said. WFP

chief operating officer Duncan Kerr counters that all the company's

private lands, including those withdrawn from TFLs in the latest

government decision, are being logged sustainably.

http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=9f07a263-7dde-447\

8-8ea1-ca0c9fcd

67ef

 

18) Prince George - City hall is in the process of completing the

finishing touches on plans for the largest tree-removal program yet.

An exact date is still to be set, but city's urban forester, Kim

Menounos, expects a contractor will start work on Forests for the

World by the first week in August. Over the following year, the aim is

to clear the dead pine from over 100 hectares to improve safety for

park users and to reduce the chance of out-of-control wildfires.

" We're doing this work to prevent a major fire from taking out the

whole park, " she said. " We're trying to catch up on some management

and preserve the park in as natural a state as possible without losing

it. " The work will begin on the eastern side because that's where most

of the higher-use trails are located and because it's easiest to

access. " The eastern half is the most used so the longer we leave it,

the more chance there is that something could happen to a visitory, "

Menounos said, noting Shane Lake and a picnic area are located on that

side. The previous largest project was Moore's Meadow, where more than

7,000 trees. " There will be a lot more pine coming out of Forest for

the World because the total treatment area for Moore's Meadow was

probably one third, or just under a half, of what will be happening in

Forests for the World, " Menounos said. " It's a different scale but I

think in terms of the final product, what you see in Moore's Meadow is

what we're aiming for in Forests for the World. " All told, she expects

10,500 cubic metres of timber will be taken out. The city is allowed

to remove up to 12,000 cubic metres under its licence.

http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/20080718141841/local/news/forests-for-the-wor\

ld-next-on-pine

-removal-list.html

 

19) For all the buzz about chainsaws entering Queen Elizabeth Park, 70

trees were chopped down yesterday with nary a whimper from protesters.

" There's a couple of ladies that came up with a sign but they didn't

stay very long, " said park supervisor Alex Downie. " I'm surprised

there weren't more. " Last week, the Vancouver Park Board voted 4-2 in

favour of a plan to remove the trees from Queen Elizabeth Park and

restore its views of downtown Vancouver. Despite the fact 140 trees

will be planted across the park to make up for those removed, the plan

angered many residents. Two dozen showed up at last week's park board

meeting to voice their dissent. " We had a lot of protests leading up

to this. The local opposition was quite vehement and vocal, but

overall there was support for what we were trying to do, " Mr. Downie

said. Crews began cutting down the trees just after 7 a.m. and were

done within a few hours. The cleanup process is expected to last

between 10 and 14 days. Many of the logs will be cut into firewood and

left for nearby residents. Branches will be turned into mulch and used

throughout the park. Mr. Downie said the trees that came down were

victims of poor planning by the Canadian Forestry Association in the

1950s. " [The CFA] chose the wrong kind of tree because in time they

grew up to block the view. We don't believe it was the intent of the

original landscapers to obstruct the view with trees. " A group of

tourists who visited the park yesterday morning were left raving about

the vista. " Trimming the trees is better because you see the view, "

said Stella Symeonidou of Cyprus. " If I came up here and there were

lots of trees, what's the point of coming up here? "

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080718.BCVIEW18/TPStory/Natio\

nal

 

20) The watershed is scarred by clear-cuts. More than 20 landslides,

many triggered by logging, mark the steep gulley leading to the Leech

River. Last summer, the Capital Regional District spent nearly

$60-million buying the valley from TimberWest Forest Corp. and is now

preparing to spend more to restore the watershed to something that

mimics the original forest. It will take decades to restore the

watershed to the point that it can provide clean drinking water,

estimates Jack Hull, the CRD's general manager for water services. " We

are taking a long-term view, " he said yesterday. " We could be looking

at 30 or more years. " With growing development pressures on the

island, similar conflicts over private timberlands were highlighted

this week when Auditor-General John Doyle assailed the former forests

minister for a decision on the forestry land base just west of the

Leech River watershed. In a study released this week, Mr. Parfitt

found that logging rates increased dramatically once land was taken

out of TFL controls. Companies pay less in taxes and royalties on

strictly private lands, and are subject to fewer restrictions to sell

raw logs for export. (Virtually all of the private TFL lands have been

wiped out since 1999. There are just a few pockets left on Vancouver

Island and in the Kootenays, a total of about 17,000 hectares.) " I

think the Leech River watershed is a good example of where the public

interest is impacted negatively by logging rates and methods on

private lands, " Mr. Parfitt said. His report calls for reforms of

private forest land regulations to ensure sustainable harvests. " If we

had proper rules in place we wouldn't be out of pocket for the Leech

watershed. " Conflicts over logging on private forestry lands are

particularly acute on Vancouver Island because a high ratio of the

island is in private hands. On the mainland, about 95 per cent of the

province is publicly owned. On Vancouver Island, nearly a quarter of

the land is in private hands.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080719.BCTREEFARM19/TPStory/N\

ational

 

21) Logging rates and forestland sales by the three largest private

forestland owners on southern Vancouver Island pose grave risks to

globally rare Douglas fir forests and to the region's livability, says

a study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. The study

finds that in key cases logging rates and land sales spiked following

provincial government decisions favoring the companies. " Last year's

controversial decision by then Forests Minister Rich Coleman to allow

Western Forest Products to pull its private forestlands out of its

Tree Farm Licenses is proving disastrous for Island residents, " says

Ben Parfitt, a resource policy analyst with the CCPA's BC office, and

author of the study. " Loggers and environmentalists alike opposed the

move and with good reason. Since then, WFP has accelerated its logging

of fir forests and placed thousands of hectares of forestland on the

auction block for sale to real estate developers. The CCPA study comes

in the wake of a report by BC's Auditor General that found Coleman's

decision was made " without sufficient regard for the public interest. "

When private lands are bundled with public lands in Tree Farm

Licenses, all lands are to be managed on a sustainable basis as

forestlands. Because private forestlands within TFLs are designated as

" managed forestlands " they cannot be sold for other purposes and are

assessed at low tax rates. Restoring the Public Good on Private

Forestlands looks specifically at logging rates, wood waste levels,

log exports and proposed land sales on private forestlands owned by

WFP, TimberWest and Island Timberlands.

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/July2008/17/c5442.html

 

22) ANYONE CURIOUS about what areas could be logged in the next years

are welcome to check out a series of web-based maps prepared by the

province and local forest companies. The idea is to display as best as

possible potential logging areas so that people who have concerns can

contact the right companies and agencies, says the forester who helped

put the package together. " You could call it a one-stop reference

document, " said Rick Brouwer of Northwest Timberlands. What it also

does is provide information not readily accessible under a new way of

how companies get licences to log. Roads and logging blocks aren't on

any maps prepared for licence approvals, for example. And with logging

plans valid for five years, local companies and agencies thought it

would be a good idea to provide maps of areas. " What we talked about

was how do we find a way to engage people, " Brouwer added. " This now

gives people that opportunity. " Before a person with a question or

issue might have needed to call several companies to find which one

was responsible for a logging plan. Brouwer did note that the areas of

potential activity are not exact logging block boundaries and remain,

at least for the moment, places which could be logged in the next

years. The Kalum Forest District is hosting the maps on its website.

Brouwer said this is the only area of the province to assemble and

make available maps of this kind. The project came out of the Kalum

Forest District Steering Committee which is made up of local

companies, the Kalum forest district and B.C. Timber Sales, the

provincially-owned company which puts up timber for sale.Those wishing

to check out the maps should connect to:

http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/dkm/pfdaa/pfdaa.htm -

http://www.bclocalnews.com/bc_north/terracestandard/business/25383584.html

 

23) JORDAN RIVER — Sealed inside the cab of his massive hydraulic

driller, Ron Vanderkhove was intent yesterday on making a deep, narrow

puncture in solid rock. " It's a boring job - loud and dirty, " he said

as he took a short break from drilling holes for explosives. The main

perk is the view. Mr. Vanderkhove's driller was resting on a peak

overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca, 350 metres below. In every

other direction, he could stare out at forested crests and valleys.

Mr. Vanderkhove is working for Western Forest Products, but this

assignment has nothing to do with logging. Last year, the company

realized some of its timberlands were worth more as real estate. He's

now part of a team of forest workers who have turned their talents to

laying out future subdivisions. The proposed developments would put a

price on the view but are mired in controversy. Many residents of the

surrounding communities along this southern stretch of Vancouver

Island's west coast oppose the development of forestry land, fearing

it will ruin their rural lifestyle. A lifelong resident of nearby

Sooke, Mr. Vanderkhove scorns the critics. " There's nothing in Jordan

River that can't be bulldozed, " he said. " We need sustainable growth. "

When did the biggest lumber company on the West Coast become a

land-management company that just happens to do forestry? Duncan Kerr,

chief operating officer for Western Forest Products, said the shift in

thinking came about 18 months ago. Not only is the industry suffering

a prolonged downturn, but real-estate values on Vancouver Island have

skyrocketed. To top it off, there were running battles over logging in

the region between Sooke and Jordan River.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080716.wbctreefarm16/BNStor\

y/National/home

 

24) The first-ever B.C. First Nations forestry trade mission to China

has been called a success by its participants, resulting, the

participants say, in indications that Chinese companies are interested

in pursuing forestry and also mining opportunities. " We have the wood,

and a workforce in need of jobs -- unemployment is as high as 85 per

cent in some of our communities, " said Ed John, a grand chief of the

Tl'azt'en Nation and an executive of the B.C. First Nations Summit.

" China has the need for our products, and the resources to work with

us to establish production and deliver capabilities, " said John, who

grew up in the Northern Interior and now lives in Vancouver. John

acknowledged there is more work to be done -- the First Nations'

delegates were not representing individual companies -- but he is

optimistic this first foray could lead to a concrete relationship

between First Nations in B.C. and Chinese companies. John noted that

B.C. First Nations hold 155 forestry licences totalling up to an

annual timber harvest of more than 13.5 million cubic metres, about

300,000 logging truck loads of logs. Many of those licences are not

being utilized as First Nations struggle with a litany of challenges:

high Crown timber fees, poor local log markets, a lack of access to

capital and small harvesting volumes. Recently, one Northern Interior

First Nation took its case to the provincial government, saying it

would lose money if it logged its licence.

http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/20080715141189/local/news/green-party-wades-i\

nto-forestry-de

bate.html

 

Canada:

 

25) The second meeting of the 2010 Biodiversity Indicators Partnership

(BIP) was held at the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological

Diversity in Montréal, Canada from the 25-26 June 2008. This meeting

was crucial for determining the progress of the Partnership, as well

as clarifying the expectations for the Partnership over the next two

years in the run up to the 10th meeting of the Conference of the

Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 10). More

than 30 participants from major biodiversity-related conventions,

initiatives and networks attended the meeting. A variety of subjects

were discussed by the numerous Indicator Partners including progress

in developing the suite of 2010 BIP indicators and the linkages of

indicators between focal areas. Future opportunities were identified

for various Partnership products, including the contribution of the

2010 BIP to the 3rd edition of the Global Biodiversity Outlook

(GBO-3). The meeting also focused on the work of the BIP post 2010 and

the further development of national and regional linkages. The latter

will ensure that biodiversity indicators are widely used in broader

policy initiatives and by national governments. For more information,

see the 2010 BIP website: http://www.twentyten.net

 

26) The Conservation Council is calling on the N.B. government to

immediately stop exports of raw timber from the public forest after

learning that the province's three largest license holders – Fraser

Papers, UPM Kymmene and J.D. Irving – have been given permission to

export wood from their Crown licenses. The government has exempted the

companies from a clause in the Crown Lands and Forests Act that states

that companies with licenses to cut wood from Crown land must process

the wood in that region. Meeting the wood allocations of the

sub-licensees operating on Crown land is the reason being used to

justify the exports. In light of this, the Conservation Council is

calling on the government to enforce selective cutting to supply the

needs of the sub-licensees. Trees should be left standing to provide

wildlife habitat. Trees should also be allowed to grow to a volume

that provides a higher quality resource for local communities. Since

only select tree species of certain grades and sizes are marketable at

the moment then selective cutting only makes sense. Clearcutting and

conversion to plantations simplifies our forest and destroys future

opportunities for benefits from a diverse forest economy. " By

exporting raw logs, we lose the opportunity to infuse our forest

resources with our own labour. We are exporting New Brunswickers' jobs

while increasing the burden on our forests. Continuing to clearcut on

Crown land for export is merely forest liquidation and is not a

practice of any sane forest management. Forest management needs to

change if we are to have any healthy and diverse forest stands in this

province, " stated Tracy Glynn, Acadian Forest Campaign co-ordinator at

the Conservation Council.

http://bugleobserver.canadaeast.com/editorial/article/364655

 

27) The Joggins Fossil Cliffs, a 689-hectare palaeontological site

along the coast of Nova Scotia have been described as the " coal age

Galápagos " due to their wealth of fossils from the Carboniferous

period (354 to 290 million years ago). The rocks of this site are

considered to be iconic for this period of the history of Earth and

are the world's thickest and most comprehensive record of the

Pennsylvanian strata (dating back 318 to 303 million years) with the

most complete known fossil record of terrestrial life from that time.

These include the remains and tracks of very early animals and the

rainforest in which they lived, left in situ, intact and undisturbed.

With its 14.7 kilometres of sea cliffs, low bluffs, rock platforms and

beach, the site groups remains of three ecosystems: estuarine bay,

floodplain rainforest and fire-prone forested alluvial plain with

freshwater pools. It offers the richest assemblage known of the fossil

life in these three ecosystems with 96 genera and 148 species of

fossils and 20 footprint groups. The site is listed as containing

outstanding examples representing major stages in the history of

Earth.

http://www.canadianarchitect.com/issues/ISArticle.asp?id=87340 & issue=07202008

 

28) There's a calculation the Ontario government doesn't do when

awarding a logging licence in the old growth Boreal Forest: It doesn't

ask about the impact on global warming. In particular, it doesn't ask

about the impact over the next 20 years. Given the galloping rate at

which temperatures are increasing in the north, this omission is

foolhardy at best; derelict at worst. It doesn't matter what computer

projections show about forest regeneration over 100 years. If global

warming isn't curbed, it won't matter. The path of global warming over

the next 20 years will determine the future. As it happens, there's a

perfect example of the problem about 250 kilometres northeast of

Thunder Bay, where harvesting of old growth has commenced in the

10,876 square kilometre Ogoki Forest, the farthest north in Ontario

that logging has occurred. With help from the Wildlands League, I've

tried to calculate the impact of what has already been cut. My figures

are rough estimates, and if issue is to be taken with them, please

blame me, not the Wildlands League. About 500 square kilometres of the

Ogoki have been logged, and the bottom line is that, over the next 20

years, this will produce about 60 per cent more carbon dioxide than

new growth will remove. This net emission of CO2 is equivalent to what

218,644 average cars would emit in a year – a total of 1.03 million

tonnes of CO2. If the old growth were left intact, there would be no

net emissions of CO2. Old growth in the boreal takes up slightly more

carbon dioxide than is released. It's not as if Ontario is so short of

standing timber that the Ogoki has to be logged. There are plenty of

areas where the forest had been cut and second-growth trees are ready

for harvesting. In those areas, as contrasted to old growth, cutting

and replanting keeps CO2 emissions fairly close to a balance. Many of

these second-growth areas are not being logged, because the downturn

in the forestry industry has caused so many mill closures. But – and

it's a big but – logging licences are held in these already-impacted

areas, and the companies that hold them are not about to give them up

so that another company, which has a mill to supply, can come in and

harvest the trees. It's a classic case of the devastating power of the

status quo. Unless challenged, once again it's going to do

environmental damage. But it can be challenged if Queen's Park has the

will. http://www.thestar.com/News/article/467687

 

29) When the Ontario Forestry Coalition handed over a petition with

545 signatures against the implementation of the new provincial

Endangered Species Act last week, 30 environmental organizations led

by ForestEthics countered with a petition of their own to government.

The environmentalists then took the fight to market. They're lobbying

the 200 largest consumers of paper to cease purchasing wood from

Ontario's Northwest unless forest companies are willing to certify

under a stringent management standard known as the Forest Stewardship

Council. As the major holder of land use rights in the region,

Abitibi's direction has traditionally been under another certification

called the Canadian Standards Association. Forestry manager Ontario

for AbitibiBowater, Rick Rose knows ForestEthics and the environmental

coalition working with them very well. As Abitibi and Bowater's

businesses merge together, the giant's corporate policy on

certification is uncertain. Bowater has its forests certified by the

Sustainable Forestry Initiative, which represents 90,011,331 acres in

52 Canadian forests. The company is currently reviewing policies for

synergies to see whether the entire outfit will convert to Sustainable

Forestry Initiative or stay with the Canadian Standards Association.

Should the environmental lobby be successful in altering the demands

of the marketplace, Rose and his team are keeping their eyes on the

Forest Stewardship Council, whose boreal region certification policy

will undergo a review in the coming year.

http://www.kenoradailyminerandnews.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1117087

 

30) OTTAWA–A treasure trove of untapped northern resources could be up

for grabs later this year when a temporary ban on development in one

of Canada's most rugged and beautiful national reserves expires, an

environmental group says. The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society

warns industry could descend on the Nahanni National Park Reserve in

the Northwest Territories and stake claims when the interim ban ends

in October unless the federal government permanently grants the park

protected status. " There's certainly concern that without the final

boundaries drawn and protected, staking could resume, " said society

spokesperson Ellen Adelberg. Environment Minister John Baird said he's

confident the government will finish the process to permanently

protect the Nahanni before the interim development ban expires. He

cites lengthy consultations and assessments as reasons for the delay.

" We've established all these processes to stop bad things from

happening to the environment. And when you want something good to

happen, you still have to go through all these processes, which can be

time-consuming and can be frustrating, " he said. " But we're committed

to a massive expansion of the Nahanni National Park. " Then-prime

minister Pierre Trudeau originally set aside the Nahanni in 1972 to

protect it from proposed hydroelectric development after he was struck

by the area's rugged beauty. A mighty river meanders through craggy

canyons, plunging in thunderous plumes at mammoth waterfalls along the

way. Wolves, grizzly bears, lynx and woodland caribou roam the dense

boreal forest. The United Nations later designated the area as a world

heritage site in 1978. At first, only 5,000 square kilometres were

protected. Over the years, Ottawa has granted protected status to a

swath of reserve surrounding the park. The first expansion came in

2003, when the Dehcho First Nations gave Parks Canada temporary

protection of an additional 23,000 square kilometres in the area

through an interim land-withdrawal process. The reserve's boundaries

grew again last summer when Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced

another 5,400 square kilometres of land would be barred from further

development. All told, the park and reserve now encompass an area

that's nearly five times the size of Prince Edward Island.

http://register.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/462648

 

World-wide:

 

31) The World Bank overstated its commitment to environmental projects

since 1990, possibly by billions of dollars, an internal watchdog

group reported on Tuesday. The bank's official estimate for

commitments to programs specifically aimed at helping the environment

is $59 billion from fiscal 1990 to 2007, according to the Independent

Evaluation Group. But the watchdog group, established by the bank to

monitor its activities, found only $18.2 billion allocated by the

poverty-fighting institution went to projects deemed to be at least 80

percent environmental in nature. The rest of the $59 billion went to

projects with a smaller environmental component. The $59 billion

figure " appears to overstate the actual volume of resources going

directly for environmental improvement, " the group's report said.

" Because of the way (World) Bank commitments are identified, it is

unclear exactly how much lending has gone directly for environmental

improvement. But the priority given to lending for ENRM (environment

and natural resource management) appears to be modest, " the report

said. Bank officials disputed this and maintained that investment in

environmental projects is being underestimated due to a subjective but

internationally accepted coding system that is also used by the United

Nations. Over the past decade the World Bank has increasingly focused

on the impact to the environment by development projects funded by the

institution in the developing world, including in emerging superpowers

China and India. Recently, rich donor countries tasked the World Bank

with developing a plan and overseeing billions of dollars in funds to

accelerate investment in new clean air technologies and to help poorer

countries adapt to climate change.

http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN2228710120080722

 

32) No industry has had greater influence on society's understanding

of nature than the forest products industry, which, by reshaping the

concept of " forest " , distorts understanding of the larger natural

world itself. This industry fosters educational programs that, by

downplaying identification with wild nature, by emphasizing the

utilitarian, and by training the public to accept relatively

biologically sterile plantations as " forests " , erode society's respect

for the splendor of unmanaged nature and for its right to exist. The

apparent aim is to extinguish the awe for the opulence of wildness

that comes so naturally to the young and to replace it with a

commodity-oriented value system. As is invariably the case for

projects created, funded and marketed by a profit-driven industry, the

aim is not the public interest but the industry's bottom line. This

should surprise no well-informed adult in the 21st Century. Some

professional societies such as the Ecological Society of America

(http://www.esa.org/), the American Institute of Biological Sciences

(http://www.aibs.org/) and the Society for Conservation Biology

(http://www.conbio.org/) have education programs, but they are

eclipsed into virtual invisibility by the aggressive promotion in

which the corporate sector, with its unlimited finances, excels. In

truth, the forest products industry has long been a dominant

information source for the nation's young people regarding forests in

particular and nature in general.

http://www.counterpunch.org/willers07242008.html

 

33) It is not clear whether the proposal — released on 18 July by the

Terrestrial Carbon Group of international scientists, economists and

land-policy experts — has political legs. The idea is to 'lump

together' all of the carbon locked up in tropical forests and then

allow all countries to cash in on forest protection by trading carbon

credits, regardless of whether logging is currently a problem within

their borders. The proposal differs from the leading framework under

the current United Nations (UN) proposal, which would establish

baseline deforestation rates for each country and then allow them to

sell carbon credits into an international market if they can reduce

the rate of deforestation. Countries that do not currently have

problems with deforestation stand to gain nothing under the UN system,

which would mainly benefit countries such as Brazil and Indonesia.

Many fear that it could leave the rest of the tropics exposed to

logging pressure in the future. Dan Nepstad, a deforestation expert

who is a member of the Terrestrial Carbon Group, says that the group's

proposal emphasizes the need for a comprehensive solution for dealing

with all tropical forests. " My hope is that it sends a signal to

India, Costa Rica, China and other places that there will ultimately

be a more robust mechanism that will bring rewards to them, " says

Nepstad, formerly a scientist at the Woods Hole Research Center in

Massachusetts who recently joined the Gordon and Betty Moore

Foundation in San Francisco, California, to head its environmental

conservation programmes. He is among more than a dozen scientists and

economists, including Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz of Columbia

University, New York, who worked on the proposal, which was organized

by the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists in Australia.

http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080723/full/454373b.html;jsessionid=57326F28FDCD\

746C193C67C9321

38B6B

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