Guest guest Posted August 4, 2008 Report Share Posted August 4, 2008 --Today for you 37 new articles about earth's trees! (380th 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 Index: --Russia: 1) Mondi the papermaker get's 80% of pulp from " virgin " sources --India: 2) Kisans launch mass protests to get logging rights back, 3) Century-old tree felled despite ban, 4) Forest cover is going to increase? 5) Replanting medicinal plants, 6) Using Corcadiles to defend the forest, --Nepal: 7) Tree climber brings wifi to villages, --Bangladesh: 8) Forests fall for arum (Kochu) plantations, 9) Mountain people depend on vanishing forests, 10) Famously known as " daughter of nature " mostly gone now, --Vietnam: 11) Thirty foreign companies have invested in forestry, 12) Illicit logging in Tien Phuoc Forest in Hiep Duc District, --Thailand: 13) Ban Sam Kha village reclaimed and regrown after log poachers / drought --Philippines: 14) Watershed preservation is a collaborative task, 15) Pass the Sustainable Forest Management Act! --Malaysia: 16) Changes in biomass and carbon pools following logging, 17) Regulated logging activities in Malua and Ulu Segama, --Indonesia: 18) 28 million ha of forest lost in only 15 years, 19) Papua NGOs Forum demands a stop to Oil Palm plantation permits, 20) 1000 hectares of rainforest protected in Madang Province, --East Java: 21) Mangrove forest in Wonorejo Surabaya`s has 140 species of big Birds --Fiji: 22) Three Villages' digital mapping project is model for the rest of the country, 23) Fuel prices prompts greater use of firewood, --Sumatra: 24) Rainforest site partners with Sumatran Orangutan society --Papua: 25) REDD vs. Palm Oil expansion --Borneo: 26) Road threatens upper reaches of the Baram River in central Borneo --Australia: 27) More logging in Gunbower, Benwell and Guttram state forests, 28) Future plans for river red gum forests north of Bendigo, 29) Logging will again resume in Cooroy State Forest, 30) Legislation will ensure money put into carbon sink forests goes to the timber industry, 31) Peter Garrett pulls plug on subdivision to save endangered Cassowary, 32) Conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands along Murray river? 33) Last ditch effort to use chemicals to save native trees from extinction, 34) Only 35 square kilometres of Cumberland Plain Woodland survives, 35) Conservation Council of Western Australia now opposes the felling of native trees, 36) Armistice to protect sensitive koala habitat in Cooroy? 37) New Wilderness Society video on Tassie forest destruction, Articles: Russia: Low-cost forests in South Africa and Russia helped Mondi, the papermaker, increase profits in spite of an emerging slowdown in the construction industry, a key market for the company's products. Group revenue for the six months to June rose 7 per cent to €3.3bn (£2.6bn) compared with the same period last year, while underlying operating profit was 8 per cent higher at €263m. David Hathorn, chief executive, said: " We have very substantial emerging market exposure, where growth rates continue to be high. " We're not suggesting that they will be immune to the current economic environment, but we think growth will continue to be higher in those markets than in western Europe. " Mondi's sourcing strategy helped it keep costs low. About 80 per cent of its products are " virgin " and sourced from forests, with recycled paper accounting for the other 20 per cent. Some 82 per cent of the forest-sourced products are grown in South Africa and eastern Europe, where timber costs are €23 to €26 a cubic metre, half the cost of timber sourced from Scandinavian forests. Mondi now has a 2.2m hectare forestry leasehold in Russia. The time to maturity of Russian trees is 80 to 100 years, far more than the 8 years needed for the company's South African forests. However, the Russian leasehold only allows Mondi to harvest a sustainable portion of the forest each year. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/244b00fa-5e53-11dd-b354-000077b07658.html?nclick_check\ =1 India: 2) Hundreds of kisans thronged the block headquarters in Himachal Pradesh to submit their memoranda addressed to the chief minister demanding the restoration of Timber Distribution ('TD') rights. This programme held at the behest of the Himachal Kisan Sabha on July 23, 2008 attracted large number of farmers in the state. Protest demonstrations were held prior to the submission of memorandums. Strong protest rallies were held at Mashobra, Rohru, Basantpur, Rampur, Kandaghat, Dharampur, Arki, Solan, Nauradhar, Nahan, Amb, Bhota, Bhedu Mahadev, Panchrukhi, Nagrota Bagwan, Dharamshalla, Dehra blocks, Jhanjheli, Balichowki, JogenderNagar, Karsog, Sundernagar, Sainj, Pattlikuhl and Prini. The Kisan Sabha has further decided to organise a signature campaign on this issue, which will be submitted to the chief justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court on September 1. In 1878 the Indian Forest Law was enacted. Earlier the people i.e. forest dwellers and kisans used to use the forest produce all by themselves and used to manage it. But after the commercial use of the forests, this right was restricted and the 'TD' rights were enshrined in 1886. Since then the 'TD' rights continued. Under these rights the people used to: 1) Get timber for house construction. A tree of pine/ deodar etc used to be given in 5 years at a nominal cost. 2) People were allowed to graze their animals and though the grasslands were that of the forest department, rights of grazers were recorded and continued. 3) Fodder leaves from the forest were allowed to be cut. 4) Wood for fuel, dry and dead trees were allowed for use. 5) Wood for agricultural equipments like plough, making of bamboo baskets etc was allowed. 6) Grass from forest land also fell into the 'TD' rights category. -- In 2006, a PIL was filed by some NGO and on the pretext of misuse of 'TD' rights, the HP High court granted an interim stay on these rights. What it practically meant was a complete ban resulting in severe hardships for the people of the state. http://pd.cpim.org/2008/0803_pd/08032008_23.htm 3) HYDERABAD: Despite a ban on tree-felling issued by the forest department, a 'chipko' by citizen activists and even a tree-census documenting every precious tree on the Rajendranagar-Himayatsagar stretch of road, about a 100-year-old banyan tree came under the axe late Friday night. Contractors at the site where the tree was felled said there was danger of the tree " falling over " the workers undertaking the road widening work. The contractor, Amar Singh, said that since the road has been dug all around the tree for the widening work, its hold on the ground had weakened and thus they feared it might fall. The contractor said he had permission from the roads and building department to fell the leafy banyan. While the roadwidening work has started, it was seen that the trees have been spared the axe, so far, thanks to citizen activism and a receptive forest department's decision to review all applications for tree felling. But this one tree felled for what seems like a paper-thin reason makes activists fear of more felling of trees on this stretch. Senior officials of the R & B department however maintained that only branches of trees were being removed for their proposed translocation. " We are taking the assistance of a retired forest officer to undertake the translocation work and have even requested the government for Rs 23 lakh for the same, " said R Rajeshwar Rao, deputy executive engineer, R & B. He said no order to fell trees was given. However, the contractor said the tree was cut only after permission to fell it came from Rajeshwar Rao. Forest officials said that no fresh permission had been given for any tree felling. " Forest department has not allowed any felling and only relocation (of trees) is being allowed, " said M J Akbar, divisional forest officer. However, Rajeshwar Rao maintained that the translocation process had started and the process of digging pits will start a few metres from where the trees have to be removed. " We are not cutting a single tree even if it is coming on the road. Cutting will be considered only if translocation is not possible, " he said, adding that the decision to chop would be taken only after consultation with citizen activists and TOI. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Hyderabad/Despite_ban_100-yr-old_banyan_tree_\ felled/articles how/3319806.cms 4) India's forest cover is likely to increase over the next 20 years and enhance the country's capacity to absorb earth-warming carbon dioxide by 11 per cent, a new projection has indicated. Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, have estimated that the country's forest cover could grow from 68 million hectares to 72 million hectares by 2030 — if the current trend of afforestation is maintained. " Despite continuous harvesting of timber, fuel wood and pulp for industry, we hope to see an additional four million hectares of forest by 2030, " said N.H. Ravindranath, associate professor at the Centre for Ecological Sciences, IISc, and lead author of the analysis just published in the journal Current Science, from the Indian Academy of Sciences. Trees absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide through photosynthesis, and the growing forest cover will increase the forest carbon stock from 8.8 billion tonnes of carbon in 2006 to 9.8 billion tonnes carbon by 2030, according to the new analysis. " It's stored in the trunks and roots of trees, " Ravindranath said. Such projections of forest cover and increased carbon stock, he said, would help Indian negotiators during international talks on future strategies to combat climate change. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080728/jsp/frontpage/story_9611079.jsp 5) The Himachal Pradesh forest department is in the final stages of executing a plan to have more than 12 lakh families plant upwards of 14 lakh medicinal plants on their private lands on the 3rd of August, 2008. The state forest minister has taken a personal initiative to promote this campaign, named Ghar Ghar Sanjivani Abhiyan, and has been touring various district headquarters to garner public support for making the programme a success. Though on the surface this seems like a noble cause, the reasons that are being projected for the forest department having taken up this programme are difficult to understand and digest. The first thought that came to the mind when one heard of this programme was why is the forest department going out of its way to have trees planted on private lands? Has the department given up on forest lands of the state? The rationale given by the forest minister for the genesis of this campaign at different occasions are that: 1) The survival rate of the trees planted during Van Mahotsavs and department's own afforestation drives is low. 2) This drive shall contribute towards making Himachal Pradesh a 'herbal state'. 3) This plantation drive is an endeavour by the forest department to connect directly with the people of the state with a programme that really benefits them. http://www.himvani.com/news/2008/07/25/herbal-dreams-amongst-forest-nightmares/1\ 582/agrihorti flori-culture/rahulsaxena/ 6) Underfunded National Park and Forest rangers often struggle to keep humans from encroaching on sensitive wilderness areas forbidden to human impact. But maybe they could take a page from Indian forest rangers, who've taken a decidedly more aggressive approach: They've released captive-bred crocodiles into the water bodies of Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary to protect it from human impact. " We are pressing into service these reptiles for forest conservation. Once crocodiles are firmly ensconced in the water inlets, human intrusion would be greatly curtained. Fear of croc attack would keep the human trespassers away from the water sources. As the people here take the water route to sneak into the forest, we feel the crocs may come in handy to protect the forest " , observed Golakh Rout, Assistant Conservator of Forest, Rajnagar Mangrove (wildlife) Forest Division. The sensitive mangrove forests within Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary have been under threat from both unchecked human intrusion and illegal tree felling, which the locals regularly engage in to make room for rice paddies and shrimp farms. Rangers hope the 57 recently introduced " forest guardians " will stop violators dead in their tracks. I'd say the chances of that happening are pretty good. http://www.backpacker.com/blogs/336 Nepal: 7) Director of Community Relations for OLE Nepal, spoke July 30 at MIT in Cambridge, MA on his tree-climbing job. Dr. Pun is team leader for the Nepal Wireless Project, which is trying to bring wireless Internet access to every village in Nepal. Pun said the work was a " crazy project " , since when they startd in 2000 the team had no money and knew very little about wireless technology. " You see photographs of our antenna dishes up in the tops of trees, " he said. " We did not put them there so we could invent 'green wireless'. We did that because we had no money to build towers. " Under Nepal's previous government, it was illegal for private citizens to import key pieces of technology needed for the project, so team members and 'tourists' endured significant risks by smuggling components in their backpacks. The current government has recognized and licensed the project, and is helping integrate it into a large-scale effort to provide improved Internet access to Nepal's larger communities. " We have worked very hard and many, many villages now have wireless, " Pun said, " but still most of the country is waiting. " For Nepali villagers, access to the Internet is often less about checking email and more about providing remote medical care and advice for communities that have no doctors, and helping teachers provide a suitable education for the students in their care. In regard to the latter, Pun spoke extensively about the efforts of OLE Nepal to introduce and support e-learning in Nepali village classrooms. " To put a laptop in a classroom, and have no materials to use on it, is to waste everybody's time, " he said. http://ole.org/2008/07/31/a-crazy-project-in-nepal/ Bangladesh: 8) The arum (Kochu) plantation says it all. Or the new settlement a little away from the BDR camp in Marissa. Or the hills themselves. The story they tell is the same--it is one of mass scale destruction of forests in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT). It could as well be called a genocide of trees. As our car entered Khagrachhari, the scenes hit us in the face. Whichever direction you look all you see is denuded hills, shaven clean of everything, like systematic ethni cleansing. As if somebody was hell-bent on not leaving anything standing there. In the dull monsoon light, the hills reminded us of shaven heads. Some hills are still to be cropped. But they will be soon as the work of the approaching loggers was visible. Some hills are half denuded; the rest waiting for the killers. Then we saw the arum plantation on a strip of a hill. A forest department staff was supervising the long patch of plants that we eat as vegetables. Where tall trees were supposed to exist in the reserved forest, one-foot tall deep green arum plants sway in the breeze. And we found similar plantations elsewhere in the CHT in the next few days as Dr Reza Khan, member of the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA), took us around to show the devastation in the hills. We were appalled. But not the forest department that is supposed to protect the trees. " This is the best land for arum, " boasted a forest official in Rangamati when we asked him the reason for such ignorance of his office. " It brings in huge revenue. We should encourage such practices along with banana and pineapple cultivation. " But where are the trees? Where are the forests? And where are the animals and birds and butterflies that are supposed to live there? " Nothing is left. Absolutely nothing, " he said. " All cut down by the Bangalees and the hills people. When you have no forests you have no animals. " He avoided talking about the lead role that the forest department took in the systematic devastation of the forests, about the mindless illegal logging with support of the corrupt forest staff, and the unacceptable forest management practices being done there that led to quick depletion of the forest. http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=48412 9) It's either forests, or nothing. This is how one can define livelihoods in the hill tracts. As we travelled from one hill to another, one pourasava to the other, one territory to another in Khagrachhari and Rangamati, we found that the people are highly dependent on forest resources. They are clearing hills after hills without any regards for forestry or wildlife and engaging in Jhum cultivation. They have no other means for survival too. And when you have no options, you turn to the immediate next thing you have--the forests. And these people have been climbing up and up and deeper and deeper into the forests. We saw huts being built in places where no habitation had been before. We saw new hills being cleared for cultivation. But with the depletion of forests, livelihood is becoming difficult for the hills people by the day as Shantimoy Chakma of Marissa would testify. " I lived there, " he points to a hill yonder. " Years ago, my family could survive on what we grew. We had the trees to supplement us. We could sell one tree and that would see us through the year. But now the trees are gone. Whatever is left does not bring us much money. The land has lost its fertility. So, I moved on. " Shantimoy showed us his new hut. He has squatted on a new hill. Cleared its surroundings and started Jhum again. Years from now, this place would become infertile with the erosion of soil. Then he would move again. And again. There is no real effort to link this land with the mainland economy. Little public money has poured in to create non-agriculture employment. And as a natural alternative to the absence of economic development, arum cultivation is being introduced in the hills where pristine trees should have been standing tall. We have seen the forest department joining hands with the locals in the act of destroying forest. As a consequence of this mass-scale destruction of forest, the timber industry in the hills today is faced with an uncertain future. Or you can call it a " certain future of gradual death " . " Our timber supply has dwindled to half in the past five years or so, " said Md Hakim, a sawmill owner in Rangamati. " And whatever timber we get is of little value as they are not mature enough to produce good quality wood. " http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=48708 10) Once our country was noted for its lush greenery. People from all over the world would call this country the " daughter of nature " . But the matter of great regret is that over the years our country has lost its beauty. For example now if we go to Madhupur we will see that most of those Sal trees of this area have been demolished. Only a few Sal trees can be seen in the Madhupur forests. The same appalling situation can be seen in the CHT and in the greater Sylhet district. Unlawful encroachment, illicit trade in forest-produce, incompatible use of forest land, lack of conservation initiatives to protect the flora and fauna, increased salinity, lack of accountability of the forest officials, absence of people's involvement in forest managementall these are the main reasons behind deforestation. This deforestation has severely affected our economic and ecological stability, forest dwellers and wildlife. We know well that a country needs 25% forest on its total land mass. But we have only 8% or 9% forests. So from this we can easily realise that very soon our country will turn into a desert, unless we, the citizens, do something to protect our forests. http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=48598 Vietnam: 11) Almost 30 foreign companies have invested in forestry in Viet Nam - and InnovGreen Group is the largest. Viet Nam News spoke to group president Steve Chang about its projects. Q: Why did InnovGreen choose Viet Nam as a destination for investment, particularly in the fields of forestry, logging and timber processing? A: It was just an accident. On a visit to Viet Nam, we observed that in many localities, the land and hills there lay idle. Taiwan, on the other hand, is very good at agricultural development and has the necessary advanced technology. That was the reason for bringing new technology to Viet Nam. We wanted to plant forests and help protect the environment while also providing more jobs to farmers. We wanted to increase the incomes of the poor living in mountainous regions, particularly ethnic minorities. We thought it was a good way to contribute to Viet Nam's efforts to reduce poverty while promoting economic development. And it was a good chance for us to help improve the infrastructure of the project area. Our project focuses on plant nurseries, forest plantation, timber exploitation, processing and the production of timber and non-timber products, including paper pulp, paper and carton. In addition, our group engages in import-export activities. Q: What are the advantages and disadvantages the group is facing with the investment compared to investments in other countries? A: A key reason encouraging us to invest in Viet Nam is its political stability, a very important factor for foreign investors. Viet Nam's legal system is in the process of being completed. Another reason is that the country's consumer market is open, a good condition for manufacturing companies. A special factor I should mention is the holding of regular business forums. This allows for good dialogue between the Government and investors to help solve problems facing investors. It helps cultivate their confidence. The Vietnamese Government at different levels has provided us with good conditions. So have people at the project sites. The first challenge we faced at the beginning was the language barrier. Then in the project implementation phase, we also had some problems with investment procedures. As a result, our forest plantation project was a bit behind schedule. http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=01COM290708 12) Local authorities began inspecting the damage on Thursday at the Tien Phuoc Forest in Hiep Duc District. The local District Forestation Management Board (FMB) No. 661, an agency tasked with forest regeneration, is accused of hiring loggers to cut down the trees at sector 515 in Thang Phuoc Commune. Secretary of the local Party Unit, Doan Van Vien, said authorities are currently investigating the illicit logging, which was stopped last week. Park ranger Nguyen Thanh Hai said three groups of over 30 loggers had initially been spotted cutting down the trees on July 17. The loggers said they were hired by an official from FMB No. 661, Tran Van Nam. They also showed a contract, which promised to pay the loggers VND2 million (US$119) for each deforested hectare of land. Thousands of the trees cut down measured over 20 centimeters in diameter while many more were over 50 centimeters. FMB No. 661 allegedly told the Hiep Duc park rangers that they had planned to cut down the trees to plant a new protective forest on a 100 hectare area. Park rangers said they had never been apprised of any plan, nor had it been approved by the Quang Nam Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. The park rangers also said FMB No. 661 had falsely downgraded the forest area to a ranking that would allow them to carry out the logging. The forest had previously been designated as an area in need of protection and regeneration. http://www.thanhniennews.com/society/?catid=3 & newsid=40631 Thailand: 13) It was not so long ago that Ban Sam Kha village, far from the heart of modern Lampang, was ravaged by drought and under the sway of log poachers. But now, the village provides a starkly different scene. Fertile grounds with lush forests are a common sight as the " sick land " has been nursed back to health thanks to His Majesty the King's invaluable advice. The northern village in Mae Tha district is inhabited by 154 families who once used to make a living by felling trees in the nearby mountains. Over the years, the denuded land further exacerbated the already severe droughts the villagers had been experiencing. It was a bitter lesson for the villagers as their uncontrolled logging had robbed them of the precious water on which their very lives depended. But the situation began to reverse three years ago when the villagers paid heed to His Majesty's advice by building many small weirs to hold water in local streams. Since the village is rich in streams, and is home to more than 30 of them, the water harnessing initiative is paying off. All the villagers, including the children, were mobilised and asked to pile up bamboo logs across the streams and dump rocks around them to solidify the foundation of the simple weirs. The rock layers were then reinforced with earth, strengthening the crests of the weirs to withstand the currents and the powerful water flow. More than 1,000 weirs of this type were built across the streams in the area. From then on the villagers have not retreated from their collective efforts to ensure water security in the dry season. The efforts have transformed more than 1,000 rai of bald forest hills into fertile land again. The revived forests, in turn, replenish underground water that is responsible for keeping the streams well supplied and the water level in the weirs high. The " wheel of abundance " has finally turned, said one villager. http://www.bangkokpost.com/020808_News/02Aug2008_news93.php Philippines: 14) They reiterated the obvious: Less water flow, less food production. And the less obvious, or what has been ignored for quite sometime: Watershed preservation is a collaborative task. For so long now, the Cordillera has been at the receiving end of neglect. In a " user-friendly " view of national development, the resource base is ignored until it fails to produce and deliver. Or when it refuses to, as in the case of upland tribal villages now opposing new, " responsible " gold mining explorations and operations because previous extractions had them left holding the empty bag. Or when the lowlands get flooded, perceived to have been triggered by deforestation or siltation from the dams or mines up here. It's more than spilt milk that the Cordillera lost and sacrificed in the name of national development. Yet we're told the whimpering, the shouting in our remaining wilderness is over. We're told it's time to move on, for the sins of neglect will no longer be repeated -- again. With its message, Region 1 (together with Regions 2 and 3, which also benefit from the law of gravity) can now help us square the account of national development. Perhaps at the roundtable, they can help us address the following suggested resolution to our national development planners and decision-makers in imperial Metro Manila. http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/bag/2008/07/28/oped/ramon.dacawi.benchwarmer.ht\ ml 15) In summary, the reasons for the urgent need to pass the Sustainable Forest Management Act are obvious. Forests are essential for mitigating global warming, preventing the loss of lives, the loss of the cultural heritage of Indigenous Cultural Communities and Indigenous Peoples and the loss of biodiversity resources unique to Philippine forests. Forests are valuable in themselves. The law should reflect this reality. The only way that this can be done is to incorporate the following principles in the SFM law: The law should recognize that the watershed is a continuum. Its management should be holistic, integrated, and take into account all the ecosystems that form part of the continuum. The definition of forests should refer to the dominant vegetation in the area. The law should provide a mechanism for valuing and paying for the ecological services provided by forests. All natural and restored forests must be designated as protection forests including those covered by existing tenurial instruments. Commercial logging and mining should be totally banned in protection forests. The law should have a transitory provision that will cover protection forestlands formerly covered by tenurial instruments that allowed for natural resource extraction. The emphasis should be preserving protection forests and any doubt about this intent should be dispelled. The law should provide a management scheme for the remaining open and denuded forests in terms of restoration. This is to ensure the expansion of protection forestlands in order to achieve the ideal forest cover of 54 percent of the total land area of the Philippines. Restoration of natural forests is a primary objective of the bill given the poor state of our forests and biodiversity. http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/july/26/yehey/opinion/20080726opi7.html Malaysia: 16) As the role of forestry-based options for reducing or mitigating greenhouse gas emissions is debated by policymakers, there is a need to inform the debate by synthesizing existing information on carbon dynamics in tropical forest systems and by applying this information to a range of possible interventions in forestry. To investigate the consequences of reductions in logging damage for ecosystem carbon storage, we constructed a model to simulate changes in biomass and carbon pools following logging of primary dipterocarp forests in south-east Asia. We adapted a physiologically driven tree-based model of natural forest gap dynamics (FORMIX) to simulate forest recovery following logging. 3. Following selective logging, simulated ecosystem carbon storage declined from prelogging levels (213 Mg C ha-1) to a low of 97 Mg C ha-1, 7 years after logging. Carbon storage in biomass approached prelogging levels about 120 years after logging. 4. The relationship between fatal stand damage and ecosystem carbon storage was not linear, with biomass recovery following logging severely limited by 50-60% stand damage. 5. Results from simulations suggest that when 20-50% of the stand is killed during logging, replacing persistent forest species with pioneer tree species can reduce the site's potential for carbon storage by 15-26% over 40-60 years. 6. Reducing fatal damage from 40% to 20% of the residual stand, as was the case with a pilot project in Malaysia, was associated with an increase of 36 Mg C ha-1 in mean carbon storage over 60 years. 7. Efforts to monitor and verify the benefits, either through carbon sequestration in new growth or carbon retention in existing biomass, of offset projects involving tropical forests and natural forest management should focus on above-ground biomass, particularly the large trees. Selection of the most appropriate allometric equations for a site and species is important because of their influence on biomass estimates. http://www.scopus.com/scopus/record/display.url?eid=2-s2.0-0034095239 & view=basic\ & origin=inward & txGid=UsKlUXCCZ0hEKBJBV_NTJBs%3a2 17) In 2006 the Government of Malaysia announced that there would be a moratorium on all logging activities in Malua and Ulu Segama from the end of 2007. It was seen as very important that all the existing licenses were tightly controlled to ensure the forest was not over exploited during the final round of harvest operations. The Malua Forest Reserve is considered a significant location for orangutan, pigmy elephants, gibbons, clouded leopards, Sumatran rhinoceros and many bird species. GFS was awarded a project by the Sabah Forestry Department to monitor Reduced Impact Logging (RIL) of over 25,000 ha in one year under 3 logging companies. GFS carried out monthly field checks spending one week each month in the forest to ensure compliance with the requirements of the RIL. Each time there was a non-compliance to RIL standards GFS raised a Corrective Action Request and the Forestry Department took appropriate action. GFS observed rapid improvement of all logging contractors within the first 4 months of operations. RIL was conducted through 3 different methods : one company used helicopter extraction another used long distance cable system and the third used conventional crawler tractors. Logging started in June 2006 and ended Dec 2007 all harvesting activities ceased but the companies needed additional time to extract the logs due to bad weather. SFD granted all companies till end of June 2008 to extract all logs. GFS has been monitoring log extraction and the closing of the compartments to evaluate the amount of logging damage incurred by each company. http://gfsinc.biz/blog/?p=10 Indonesia: 18) BETWEEN 1990 and 2005, Indonesia lost some 28 million ha of forest. Its rainforest cover has fallen from 82 per cent in the 1960s to 49 per cent in recent years. A recent World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) study, which focuses just on the Riau province in Sumatra, nevertheless throws up facts that are representative of the entire country's challenges. During the past 25 years, Riau has lost 65 per cent or four million ha of forest cover. That cover fell from 78 per cent in 1982 to 27 per cent last year. Of that, 29 per cent was cleared for oil palm plantations, 24 per cent for pulpwood plantations, and 17 per cent due to general deforestation. A major driver of deforestation in the 1990s was oil palm. Now, it is pulp and paper. The Sumatran elephant population, which has declined by 84 per cent, stood at 210 last year. The tiger population has fallen by 74 per cent, numbering 192 last year. Elephants like to feed especially on oil palm trees, so they are viewed as pests by plantation owners. Tigers are killed because the rapid loss of forest cover means they have increasingly come into contact with humans. The WWF study has found that Riau's dry lowland forests have the highest plant species diversity among all tropical forests in the world. Wildlife aside, the loss of primary forest cover also leads to loss of biodiversity. The study also reports a clear link between deforestation, forest fires and the haze which spreads from Indonesia to Singapore and Malaysia. The intensity of the haze, which has been a recurring event since the mid-1990s, depends on the extent of open burning in Sumatra and Kalimantan as well as prevailing weather conditions. Last month, Singapore's Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim said the haze was expected to return in the coming three months due to a combination of hotter and drier conditions in the region. Since then, hot spots have again been detected in the Riau and West Kalimantan areas, and the authorities are preparing for a haze outbreak, given that the dry season is about to start again. Economists call the haze an externality, where certain groups (in this case, business conglomerates and some corrupt officials) reap benefits without paying the costs. http://wildsingaporenews.blogspot.com/2008/07/deforestation-and-climate-change.h\ tml Papau New Guinea: 19) The Papua NGOs Forum is calling on Indonesia's government to stop issuing permits for oil palm plantation in Papua province. Indonesia's government is looking to to expand its oil palm plantations in its vast easternmost provinces in Papua where it has three to four million hectares of land suitable for plantations. The Forum is urging both central and provincial governments to consider preserving Papua's native forests and allowing secondary forests to be cleared for oil palm instead. The Forum's executive secretary, Septer Manufandu, says that whatever way you look at it, deforestation has disastrous enviornmental and social impacts on Papuan communities. " Logging companies or oil palm companies destroy the forest. Papuans respect the forest. Forest is the mother. Forest can give everything they want: food, water, vegetables, everything. " http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read & id=41133 20) While bureaucrats from Australia and Papua New Guinea work out the details of a bilateral 'forests and carbon partnership', the Simbukanam people of Madang Province in PNG have today made a significant contribution to their children's future and the global effort on climate change by recommitting more than 1000 hectares of rainforest as a conservation area. The 1000 hectares of rainforest was first declared a protected area on 26 July 2003. No resource extraction or felling of trees is allowed. The people farm cocoa, copra and other crops on their land outside the conservation area. Today the community re-confirmed the protection of the area with a celebratory 'sing sing' and several neighbouring clans pledged to make their lands conservation areas too, taking the total protected area to 1,928 hectares. Landowner Alfred Kaket said the community's previous bad experiences with a big logging company had shown them the value of protecting their forests. " Seven years of logging damaged our land and our culture. Now the rivers are clean again and the birds and animals are coming back. We are proud to be looking after our forests for now and for our children and grandchildren, " Mr Kaket said. John Chitoa, Coordinator of NGO the Bismarck Ramu Group, said the conservation area showed how PNG's system of customary land tenure strengthens communities. " In Papua New Guinea, being connected to your land is like a guarantee of survival. Logging, mining and cash cropping break that connection. This conservation area has confirmed the people's connection with their land and is a vote of confidence in the community's future, " Mr Chitoa said. http://prismwebcastnews.com/2008/07/27/papua-new-guinea-landowners-take-a-stand-\ for-forests-a nd-climate/ East Java: 21) Surabaya, E Java - The mangrove forest conservation area in Wonorejo on Surabaya`s east coast has 140 species of Java island`s biggest birds. Bambang DH, mayor of Surabaya, said here Saturday of the 140 bird species, about 84 are categorized as sedentary, 12 species as protected and 44 as migrant species. " We should thank God that we have a good environment here. We hope the bird diversity can be maintained, " he said after launching a drive to plant 15,000 mangrove trees on Surabaya`s east coast. Surabaya`s east coast also constitutes a mangrove conservation center area and a buffer zone in the seaside ecosystem which is protected by the provincial government. " Initially we issued a provincial administration regulation to protect the mangrove conservation center to avoid misuse of the conservation area, " he said. Thus, he asked all members of the local community to continue protecting the area. If the mangrove conservation center area can be maintained well, there will be an added value, for instance, as a tourist object, he said, adding his office was preparing to implement the so called family tourism concept in the area. http://www.antara.co.id/en/arc/2008/7/27/surabaya-mangrove-forests-home-to-140-s\ pecies-of-javas -biggest-birds/ Fiji: 22) The group of landowners from the villages of Keka and Vatuvonu of the Yavusa Drawa are the first in the Northern Division to learn about digitally mapping their forests. The landowners' forests have been managed under the Sustainable Forest Management Project since 2003 and are the model project for the country. GTZ official Jalesi Mateboto said the five-year project would phase out by December and that the landowners were being empowered now with management skills that would help them to continue to manage their forests in a sustainable manner long after the experts had left. " With these mapping skills they are able to identify which sections of forests must not be harvested, which have been harvested already so that they don't continue to indiscriminately log their forests, " Mr Mateboto said. " Sometimes after three years of logging some landowners realise they don't have forests left to log, food disappears from streams nearby and the ecosystem which they are part of collapses, " he said. Mr Mateboto the mapping skills allowed landowners to identify the land use system that best suited a particular area of land. " They can allocate a certain piece of land for agriculture, for forestry and the part that must not be harvested at all or disturbed, " he said. " What we have wanted them to understand is that they are part of the forest ecosystem and when the forests die, their livelihoods die as well. " So with this digital mapping system they are better in control of how their forests are used, " he said. As part of their training GTZ has equipped the landowners with the Global Positioning System to gather information about their forests and which is then stored into a MapInfo Software. http://www.educationgis.com/2008/07/digital-maps-to-manage-forest-resources.html 23) The high cost of fuel experienced around the country as a result of inflating world market prices has prompted more people to buy firewood for their cooking. In Fiji two of the most frequently bought wood used to light fires are left over timber from sawmills and mangroves. While timber is good fuel, mangrove is better because not only is it a huge source of heat but it takes longer before it is burnt up which is the reason most people buy it. With the current demand from consumers, licenced mangrove harvesters are making money from such trade and also illegal harvesters not detected by the law. The Forestry Department say they are monitoring the harvesting of mangroves around the country but their work is questionable with the amount of mangroves being harvested each day. While the mangrove harvesters justify their actions by saying that mangroves can grow back quickly replacing the ones cut, it has been noted that the harvesting rate is much faster than the rate at which they grow. Many people see the mangroves as just tree standing by the shoreline but in fact it is more than just that - it is the habitat and feeding ground for millions of marine species. It is also where fish spawn and other marine organism reproduce. Resort Support Coordinator Helen Skyes said mangrove forests have important functions in the marine environment, forming nurseries and feeding grounds for many species of reef fish and invertebrates. She said the clearance has the potential to severely reduce reef populations, an effect that reduces fisheries resources and biodiversity permanently. http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=96248 Sumatra: 24) The Rainforest Site announced today a new partnership with the Sumatran Orangutan Society (SOS) to save vital orangutan habitat. Through The Rainforest Site's Gifts That Give More™ program, visitors to the site can elect to donate $28 to SOS's work in replacing coastal mangroves destroyed by the 2004 tsunami, replanting hardwood and fruit trees in degraded forest areas in Aceh province, and reforesting the Leuser Ecosystem in North Sumatra, the most important remaining habitat for the Sumatran orangutan. Each $28 " Save Orangutan Habitat " Gift pays to plant 50 trees, all of which are native species in Indonesia. The preservation of this orangutan habitat is crucial for the survival of these apes. With a wild population of fewer than 7,000, the Sumatran Orangutan (Pongo abelii) is highly endangered due to habitat loss and poaching. Without the continuous efforts of groups like SOS, the Sumatran Orangutan could become the first Great Ape to suffer extinction. The Rainforest Site is honored to help SOS to raise funds for its grassroots conservation projects in Sumatra. Together with a team of committed Indonesian conservationists, SOS works with local communities living alongside orangutan habitat, visits schools, plants trees, and provides training to help the local people work towards a more sustainable future for their forests. Since 2003, SOS has planted over 270,000 trees. Originally launched in May 2000, The Rainforest Site focuses the power of the Internet on a specific ecological need: the preservation of the world's rainforests.The Rainforest Site's Click to Givetm program allows visitors to rescue imperiled land at no cost to themselves. The Rainforest Site's clicks, as well as its " sister " Click to Givetm sites (reachable from the homepage), are underwritten by the advertisers on the site. 100% of The Rainforest Site's ad revenue goes directly to support the work of the charities listed on the site: Rainforest2Reef, Rainforest Conservation Fund, The Nature Conservancy, and World Land Trust-US. In 2007, clicks on The Rainforest Site funded the preservation and protection of 348,600,625 square feet of rainforest (995.9 acres or 403 hectares) and the habitats of tens of thousands of plant and animal species. The totals of the 2008 Click to Givetm program are posted on The Rainforest Site's results page and are updated daily. http://pr-canada.net/index.php?option=com_content & task=view & id=38809 & Itemid=61 Papua: 25) An Australian investment firm involved in a carbon finance project with Indonesia's Papua province says many local landowners would prefer to make money by protecting their forests rather than clearing them. The firm, New Forests, recently sent a team to Papua to assess prospective sites for a Reduced Emissions from Deforestation project. Papua's Governor has pledged to protect the province's forests in return for carbon-credit financing from global investors. However large areas of Papua's forests are being targeted by investors for conversion into oil palm plantations. But the Asia director of New Forests, Maree Candish, says the communities they have spoken to in Papua understand the value of what carbon financing can achieve. " They depend on the forest. They don't want it to be cleared. These communities have quite good informal rules for managing their forest areas and they've heard about what happens when an oil palm development comes in or something similar - they know that forest gets cleared and their rivers get muddy so they can't get their fish. " http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read & id=41199 Borneo: 26) The trees reach up to greet you as you fly into the Long Lellang settlement in the upper reaches of the Baram River in central Borneo, just a few degrees north of the equator. Giant 60 metres dipterocarps, perhaps 300 years old, tower above the broad canopy which stands 40 metres above the ground. In the foothills beyond the airstrip, locals say a black clouded leopard stalks its prey, one of many rare creatures still roaming the jungle. The only way into, or out of this settlement is by air, long-boat, or on foot through the mountains. A few cars lie trapped in the village, a legacy of a now abandoned logging road that once cut into the region. But if the major logging company Samling gets its way, and can overcome opposition from the nomadic Penan, a new road will soon open up the area to development. Samling's chief operating officer James Ho says his company was seeking to persuade the Penan of the benefits of development. " We're very patient. We try to convince them that it is for their own good, for the development of the area, " says the executive, who is keen to tell me that he is a Christian and was educated by the Christian Brothers. The company has provided millions of dollars worth of aid to the Penan in building material, timber, zinc roofing water pipes, educational assistance and diesel fuel. Coffee plantation projects are being trialled as a possible source of cash income for native people. A brilliant mini-hydro electric plant, built with the company's assistance and the labour of the locals at the village of Long Main, provides free electricity enabling lighting, washing machines, refrigeration and even satellite television. It is no accident that at this most prosperous Penan settlement, the villagers are the most sympathetic to Samling although none would express a view favouring logging. Rather they accepted the inevitable, saying that the government wanted it. Christmas comes twice a year to the Penan, Ho says, referring to payments the company makes to them. But there are allegations of attempts to buy off individual headmen. http://whatrainforest.wordpress.com/2008/08/01/logging-out-the-penan-part-1/ Australia: 27) The timber industry is to continue in Gunbower, Benwell and Guttram state forests, but cease in other forests to enable the creation of national parks including Barmah. New incentives and priority setting to remove grazing from public land and creation of a new licence category to enable licensees to have a `conservation stewardship' role along public land water frontages. Dispersed camping at self selected bush sites to remain the predominant form of camping in all riverine parks. Campfires and associated collection of firewood to be allowed outside the fire danger period. Adding areas to the Murray River Park and Shepparton Regional Park to provide additional areas for camping with dogs. Providing more areas for collection of domestic firewood. Mr Malcolm said many of the changes were the result of lobbying after the release of the draft report. http://www.countrynews.com.au/story.asp?TakeNo=200807289784070 28) Yesterday's release of an independent report into the future management of the magnificent river red gum forests to the north of Bendigo could at first glance be something many readers assume to be " not in my back yard " . But scratch beneath the surface and you quickly realize there is a lot at stake, and it is not just about whether people can go camping along the river or whether timber can be harvested from local forests. The timber community fears it will be decimated with flow-on effects for townships along the Murray River, while 9000 people and organisations who made submissions opposing the creation of additional national parks will feel like they have been left out in the cold. The National Party has been quick to condemn the recommendations of the report. The pro-environment forces claim the creation of additional national parks will help protect and preserve forests for the future and provide some breathing space for already severely stressed ecosystems. Other green groups say that after three years of independent investigation and extensive community consultation, the case supporting new parks is overwhelming and there should be no excuses for delays in implementing VEAC's recommendations and delivering on a key election commitment. The State Government says consultation will now be the key to determining the extent to which the recommendations of the Victorian Environment Assessment Council are taken up. Given the diversity of responses and the hostility already rising in regional and rural communities, we would urge the government to do so. What do you think? http://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/news/opinion/editorial/general/consultation-\ needed-on-red-g um-forests/1227008.aspx 29) The Queensland Government has confirmed logging will resume in the western section of the Cooroy State Forest. in the state's south-east. The Government intervened last week to temporarily stop the logging of a 15-hectare plantation after the independent member for Nicklin, Peter Wellington, claimed it was home to a colony of koalas. Premier Anna Bligh announced on Thursday that logging will resume but not until two officers from the Forestry Department have completed an on-site koala inspection. Mr Wellington says he is pleased with the outcome. " [The Premier has] given assurance that although logging is to resume, nothing will happen until we have our meeting on site, " he said. " They've proposed that we go through the area that they are [logging], and identify trees which will be no go. " Timber Queensland chief executive officer Rod McInnes says while he does not believe there are any koalas on the site, he is happy to comply with the Government's orders. " Our advice is that there have not been seen any koalas in that area when contractors started the logging process, " he said. " I don't know first-hand and I couldn't give a guarantee... that there wouldn't be a koala seen nearby or that they might traverse through that plantation on their way to somewhere else. " The inspection is expected to be carried out on Tuesday. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/07/25/2314063.htm 30) The National Association of Forest Industries' (NAFI) CEO addressed the Senate inquiry today into the implementation and administration of legislation underpinning carbon sink forests. " The forest industry sees this legislation as a positive step which will encourage the growth of carbon sink forests, greatly increasing the viability of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS), recently outlined by the Government, " NAFI CEO Allan Hansard said. " This legislation will ensure investment in carbon sink forests complies with applicable laws while also ensuring the land used for carbon sink purposes will be fully and appropriately integrated with other land uses such as agriculture. " It's important to remember that it's not just the forestry industry, but also farmers and other private land holders, that will benefit from this legislation. " The expansion of plantation forests is a key part of Australia meeting its carbon abatement responsibilities. " Any legislation that encourages the growth of plantation forests is to be applauded. " NAFI is pleased the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee is looking into this issue so thoroughly. " I hope that once the Committee has received evidence of the widespread benefits to the community of this legislation, it will opt to implement it as soon as possible, " Mr Hansard said. http://sl.farmonline.com.au/news/nationalrural/agribusiness-and-general/general/\ forest-industry -addresses-senate-inquiry-into-carbon-sink-forests/1225642.aspx 31) Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett has pulled the plug on a planned housing subdivision in Queensland's tropics to save the endangered cassowary. The unprecedented intervention, under amendments to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, puts developers on notice that theRudd Government will step in to ban any project it considers of " national environmental significance " . The proposal to subdivide 24ha of privately owned rainforest at Wongaling, near the resort town of Mission Beach south of Cairns, into 40 housing lots was still being evaluated bythe local council when Mr Garrett vetoed the development a week ago. The Gold Coast-based developer Willmatt Holdings was told of the Minister's ruling yesterday morning, just a few hours before Mr Garrett announced it to the Queensland Media Club. Describing his intervention as " serious and unusual " , Mr Garrett said he did not believe there would have been any way to have minimised the development's impact on the rare cassowary. The site was " essential habitat " for the flightless bird, which was declared an endangered species in 1999. " This development would have had an unacceptable impact on the chances of the species' survival, " he said. " But the clincher was the impact that it would have on the survival of the rainforest itself. " Many rainforest plants cannot germinate until they have been digested by a cassowary. The federal Environment Department estimates only 1500 of the giant birds remain, while Mission Beach environmentalists claim 99 live in the area. Willmatt Holdings director Matthew Manton yesterday said he was " frustrated " by Mr Garrett's intervention. " I'm not a big-shot developer, " he said. " I'm a local person from Mission Beach who tried to do something. " I have the same belief that Mr Garrett has - I want to preserve the area and I want to protect cassowaries. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24093590-30417,00.html 32) Protesters against a plan to turn river red gum forests along the Murray River into national parks will urge the Victorian Government to consider an alternative proposal. The Victorian Environmental Assessment Council will log a report to the Government on what to do with the ailing forests. The current proposals include turning the forests into national parks to protect them from activities such as logging and grazing. Max Rheese, from the River Red Gum Alliance Group, says they should be managed as a Ramsar reserve which is more flexible. The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilisation of wetlands. " The principles of the Ramsar reserve system should be the way in which these areas are managed, " he said. " [This] allows community access to the forest for timber harvesting, for camping, and for boat access. " http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/07/25/2314028.htm?site=goulburnmurray 33) Native trees in Western Australia's south-west under risk of extinction are being inoculated with a combination of nutrients and fungicide in a last-ditch attempt to stave off death while puzzled researchers look for a solution to the ongoing problem. According to scientists, the native trees began dying off in a large way during the 1990s, with extended drought, an increase in the level of salinity, erosion and the emergence of a newly-identified plant pathogen mooted as possible causes. " The situation is becoming so dire that you are pushed to find a healthy tree in many parts of the South-West and Wheatbelt, " said Professor Giles Hardy, director of the Centre of Excellence for Climate Change, Woodland and Forest Health (ECCWFH), which is based at Murdoch University. " If you go out to places like Lake Clifton, every single tree is dead, " he added The " flu jab " inoculations, which contain trace elements including zinc, manganese and iron, as well as liquid phosphite, a biodegradable fungicide that boosts the trees' immune response, are being trialed on hundreds of stricken trees in Yanchep and Yalgorup National Park, 130km south of Perth. The treatment has seen some signs of improvement. http://www.thetechherald.com/article.php/200830/1576/Australian-researchers-inoc\ ulate-trees-ag ainst-extinction 34) Camden and its neighbours used to be covered by a vast expanse of native vegetation known as Cumberland Plain Woodland. Animals, birds and insects would find shelter and food in the trees, shrubs and grasses. Then came European settlement. Now there is only 9per cent of that vegetation left in Western Sydney as threats from sprawling suburbs, agriculture, weed invasion and feral animals take their toll. In Camden, it is estimated that only 35 square kilometres of Cumberland Plain Woodland survives. This Sunday's National Tree Day is a chance to take a step towards righting that wrong. Deb Little, senior horticulturist natural area management at Mount Annan Botanic Garden, said education was pivotal in making people understand the importance of this endangered vegetation. ``It's natural heritage and cultural heritage too, because natural vegetation defines a place as well,'' she said. ``Cumberland Plain Woodland defines this part of Sydney.'' Ms Little said pressure for more land for housing was a major threat to the vegetation. ``We need to think about what sort of housing development and environment we want to have,'' she said. ``Do we want to have to drive to a national park?'' Ms Little said younger generations in particular needed to get a taste of natural bushland. ``If they're the future, if they don't have an environmental ethic they develop early, how is the planet going to survive?'' she asked. Camden Council's manager of environmentally sustainable design, Adam Wilkinson, said National Tree Day was an excellent opportunity for the council and the community to join in improving the long-term viability of the remnant areas of Cumberland Plain Woodland. ``Increasing both the area and health of Cumberland Plain Woodland remnants will help to ensure the continuing existence of this vegetation community within the Camden local government area,'' he said.``Planting days provide the community with a greater appreciation of our valuable natural environment.'' http://camden.yourguide.com.au/news/local/news/general/bushland-needs-our-help-t\ o-survive/1224 512.aspx 35) The Conservation Council of Western Australia has adopted a new policy that opposes the felling of any native trees. The council once supported logging of native regrowth forest but now wants all native forest left untouched. Beth Shultz from the council says the forests are necessary to help counter climate change. " Logging and burning of forests actually contributes to climate change, " she said. She says it makes no sense to continue the practice when trees can be logged from plantations. However, the Forest Products Commission's Paul Biggs disagrees. " We know the economy of Australia needs to develop towards more use of renewable materials, and of course timber is one of the best of those, " he said. Mr Briggs says the council's policy would only encourage the use of plastics or steel. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/07/31/2320263.htm 36) Community members and loggers met on Tuesday in state forest west of Cooroy to thrash out an armistice to protect sensitive koala habitat and member for Nicklin Peter Wellington said the deal was a small victory for the community. But those involved in protecting the remaining koala population believed any logging in the area is totally unacceptable. Logging was halted last week when Mr Wellington and community members met with the premier Anna Bligh to voice their concerns over logging in a 15-hectare area of state forest west of Cooroy. After a further meeting between the three parties at the site on Tuesday, it was agreed community representatives would be allowed to inspect logging work to ensure the loggers have upheld their end of the bargain and timber within the specified habitat area would not be logged. " They have given a commitment they will do no logging within 30 metres of the sensitive area, " Mr Wellington said. " At regular intervals we will be able to go back and monitor how they're progressing with their operations. They will allow community representatives to go back on-site to do a review and inspection to monitor selective felling of timber and all that they're requiring is that we phone them in advance. " Mr Wellington and community representatives had met with the premier in Brisbane last week but instead of being offered a solution, were told that if the 15 hectares could not be logged another 200 hectares of forest would have to be cleared somewhere to replace the volume of timber lost. At the time Mr Wellington described the offer as " blackmail " , but he said the latest agreement was " significant " . " We don't want to put at risk any other areas that are going over to National Park, " he said. " Once operations have finished there will be no more logging in this part of the West Cooroy forest. However the prospect of halting the logging altogether looks grim. http://www.thedaily.com.au/news/2008/aug/01/koalas-saved-now/ 37) Here is a link to a short video done by The Wilderness Society (TWS) in Australia showing shocking forestry approaches there. Tasmania allows the clearcutting and burning of native forests that TWS believes to be the most carbon-rich on the planet so that they can be replaced with plantation seedlings - mostly for wood chips! Because of loopholes in the current rules governing forest carbon accounting under the Kyoto Protocol, this counts as a zero-emission activity because: 1) The new plantation is defined as " forest, " so this is not considered deforestation (an activity that must be accounted for under Kyoto); 2) Accounting for carbon losses from forest management is voluntary, and Australia has elected not to account for it (so has Canada)! http://climateforests.blogspot.com/2008/08/forest-degradation-in-tasmania.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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