Guest guest Posted August 17, 2008 Report Share Posted August 17, 2008 --Today for you 34 new articles about earth's trees! (386th 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: EU-Africa-Mid-East Index: --EU: 1) Half-assed rules to minimize illegally produced timber to the EU market --UK: 2) GE trees to be planted, 3) RX Value of Yew, 4) Eco-administrator busted for cutting 100 trees, 5) Save Longridge woods, 6) Non-native dry climate trees to take over UK, 7) Things we know about British Woodlands are mostly not true --Ireland: 8) Centuries old Oak woodland threatened by Electricity Supply Board (ESB) --Hungary: 9) Homeless destroying forests --Germany: 10) Conning the Congo: Danzer's elaborate profit-laundering system --Finland: 11) Prices for imported large logs hit a record high --Baltic: 12) Baltic forest will be hard hit now that Russian log prices have risen so high --Romania: 13) In 2 decades they've lost as much forests as others have lost in a century --Turkey: 14) 2.5 million trees lost to forest fire --Africa: 15) " The Chinese are all over the place " --Ethiopia: 16) Save Omo National Park --Kenya: 17) Ten Kaya Forests elevated to world heritage status --Congo: 18) World bank says withdraw 75% of your logging deals, 19) Gorillas, --Sierra leone: 20) Gov. says mining companies want to get a closer look --Liberia: 21) Forest Management Contract Due Diligence Committee, 22) Gov puts the rule of law in the forest sector at risk, --Mozambique: 23) Two forest officials busted in Zambezia, 24) Deforestation is what took the snows of Kilimanjaro, --Malawi: 25) Forests preserves turned to Charcoal production around Mulanje Massif --Uganda: 26) livelihood and survival depend on these forests --Nigeria: 27) Desertification in the North --Senegal: 28) Baobab's wealth of offerings may encourage over-exploitation --Gambia: 29) Bio-gas production limits wood use --Ghana: 30) Newmont Mining plans for lots of death and dying from its new gold mine --Pakistan: 31) Conserving juniper forests in Balochistan, 32) Forest values, 33) Low river flows causing 1.5 feet of ocean erosion every day! --Azerbaijan: 34) Forest fire blame thrown around EU: 1) Government will next month initial an agreement with the European Union (EU) to ensure that timber is produced in accordance with the existing forestry laws and policies in order to minimize or eliminate illegally produced timber to the EU market. The Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) would further enhance the Forestry Commission's work of striving to address the causes of deforestation and degradation of the country's forest resources. Professor Nii Ashie Kotey, Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission, announced this at a two-day workshop on Aligning Forest Governance with Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD). The workshop, which would address issues relating to forest and climate change and create awareness among stakeholders on a range of issues related to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, is being attended by participants from Ghana and Liberia. Prof. Kotey noted that initialling of the VPA, which would be done prior to parliamentary ratification, would ensure that Ghana's forests would be there for years to come as well as combat illegal logging. Commenting on the REDD programme, he said there was the need for stakeholders, including the Environmental Protection Agency, to design a readiness plan for the country which would guide the formulation of the national strategy. " Greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation in developing countries today contribute approximately 20 per cent of the world's carbon dioxide emissions, " he said. Prof Kotey said as a result of illegal human activities, large scale deforestation and forest degradation had been occurring for several decades in our forest areas in spite of policy measures to combat the problem. He called for the need to build national capacity to monitor forest cover changes and the associated changes in carbon stocks in order to make REDD work effectively. http://www.modernghana.com/news/178806/1/ghana-to-sign-agreement-to-protect-fore\ st-resource.html UK: 2) Scientists have applied to plant genetically modified trees in Britain despite fears that they will damage native wildlife, The Sunday Telegraph can disclose. They have asked the Forestry Commission for permission to put GM trees on its land for an international study into biofuels. But environmental campaigners have pledged to fight the scheme. It is the first time scientists have tried to grow GM trees here since 1999, when activists destroyed 115 specimens at a test site in Bracknell, Berkshire. Scientists from the University of Southampton said the time had now come to try and " move the debate forward " on GM trees. Their project involves poplars that have been genetically altered to reduce the amount of lignin, a constituent of wood. The team believe this will make it easier for the trees to be used to produce ethanol, a so called " biofuel " which can be used to replace petrol in cars, as well as pulp for paper. Supporters of GM trees say the technology can also be used to help protect Britain's forests from disease and improve the quality of the country's timber produce. Professor Gail Taylor, who is leading the new project, said: " We're in a black hole at the moment, as far as research goes. But it is hard to imagine a world in the future where these technologies are not deployed more widely. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/08/09/eatrees109.xml 3) THEY'VE stood guard over one of Wales' historic castles for more than 100 years, protecting its carefully-cultivated gardens from the elements and providing a haven for wildlife. But besides adding drama to the already stunning estate at Chirk Castle, the yew hedges now serve another more important purpose. Trimmings collected from the hedges at the National Trust property are being harvested because they contain the active ingredient taxotere for making the anti-cancer drug Tamoxifen.The same ingredient can be extracted by harvesting the bark of some of the trees, but this kills the vegetation, thereby threatening the yew population. By giving up their trimmings the yew hedges are able to contribute to potentially life-saving drugs while maintaining their own beauty and longevity. The trimmings are collected in the castle grounds and transported to laboratories. There the naturally-occurring compound is extracted and used to produce the drug, which is the world's largest-selling medication for treating breast cancer. http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2008/08/12/castle-s-historic-yew-tr\ ees-now-help-to -fight-cancer-91466-21514123/ 4) A former head of environment at a Midland council has been fined for chopping down 100 trees on his land. Councillor Danny Davies was fined £4,500 by Cannock Chase District Council after he pleaded guilty to 'causing or permitting' the destruction of the trees on his land which were subject to a tree preservation order. The trees were situated to the rear of Coun Davies' property, Birchwoods, on Kingsley Wood Road, Rugeley, Staffordshire. The council said that the fine related to an area of woodland under the ownership of Coun Davies where 100 trees were removed, of which 20-30 had been damaged by natural events. Coun Davies (Lib Dem, Etching Hill and the Heath) told The Birmingham Post he was using contractors in attempting to " bring rough land back into heathland " and they may have been more vigorous with clearing the greenery than he wanted. He said: " My own objective is to carry on the process of restoring the area to a heathland habitat. There has been lots of rubbish down there and it has been covered in bracken. " A council spokeswoman said: " Mr Davies formally pleaded guilty to 18 specimen offences under s.210(4) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. " Mr Davies will be required to replant the woodland area with appropriate tree species. Full details of this will need to be agreed with the District Council. " The council will not hesitate to pursue such cases through the court. " Coun Davies is now head of town centre development at the council and was previously chairman of the planning committee and the holder of the environment portfolio. He was prosecuted at Stafford Magistrates' Court on Thursday. http://www.birminghampost.net/news/west-midlands-news/2008/08/15/environment-chi\ ef-fined-for-cho pping-down-100-trees-65233-21543596/ 5) Longridge Woods in Marton has long been threatened with housing developments. Now campaigners hope to save the wood by praising the benefits it can bring to health. Councillor Chris Hobson read an article in the Gazette on July 22 about a Health Summit which was held in Middlesbrough which looked at ways the health of people can be improved. She said: " People in the Marton West Ward have a healthy lifestyle, but Middlesbrough council would like to take our beautiful woodland away from us, stopping us walking to shorten our lives. There is a lot of talk about children being overweight, and the woodland could help prevent that. " At a time when the Government is announcing scheme after scheme to tackle the problem of childhood obesity, the pressure is on local councils to do their bit to provide open spaces. The 3.2 hectare site is deemed to be one of the most important recreational sites in Middlesbrough by those who visit. Cllr Hobson said: " People go walking in the woods, children play in them, building dens and climbing trees, especially in the summer holidays. " When there are so many sites around the town that need the development, like Middlehaven, I don't know why they want to destroy the woodland. In April this year, campaigners led by Cllr Hobson unsuccessfully applied for the wood to be given village green status, saving it from developers. The council insist that the finding of the public inquiry is the end of the matter. A spokesman said: " Middlesbrough is very well provided with public green open spaces, many of which have benefited and continue to benefit from considerable investment in recent times. " http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/local-teesside-news/middlesbrough-herald-and-p\ ost/2008/08/07 /new-front-opens-in-woodland-fight-84229-21486688/ 6) Trees such as the Corsican pine and Spanish oak, which were introduced to Britain by the creators of ornamental gardens, are likely to replace traditional species. The strong survival instincts of foreign invaders has been demonstrated by the success of the American giant redwood, which is thriving in the wild. Disease is proving to be another major threat to forests in the south, south west and East Anglia, according to the research which is to be presented to the British Ecological Society next month. Studies have shown that half of Britain's two million horse chestnut trees are suffering from bleeding canker, which disfigures the trunk and branches. Oak and beech trees are being hit by sudden oak death, a fungus carried by rhododendron plants which has devastated oaks on America's west coast. Beech is also particularly vulnerable to summer drought, because of its shallow root system. At the National Trust's Kingston Lacy estate in Dorset an avenue of beech trees planted over 170 years ago is dying as a result of recent dry summers and wet winters. A total of 150 have had to be felled. While studies of British beech trees by Surrey Wildlife Trust over the last two decades has seen a decline in their growth and health. " Climate change will have a (big) impact over the next five decades, " Dr Keith Kirby, a woodland scientist with Natural England, said. " Our woods will change. Many species will cope with some warming but there is uncertainty about what happens with extreme events such as droughts and storms, which we expect to become more frequent. " Forestry Commission researchers have predicted that numbers of oak and beech will decline sharply across the south east by 2050. Such changes would alter the environmental landscape across the Chilterns, Cotswolds, North Downs and South Downs. James Morison of the Commission's environmental group suggested that the changes could be subtle with native species being replaced by similar European species. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2493606/Traditional-forests-endangered-by-climat\ e-change-and-d isease.html 7) These are some of the things we all know about British woodland: 'that woods were destroyed by people felling trees to build houses and ships, that medieval England was still very wooded, that forests were preserved for hunting by severe laws and barbarous penalties, that there was a 'timber famine' in the Tudor period, that iron was smelted with coke because there was no wood left, that there was no conservation, that replanting was taken in hand after Evelyn wrote Sylva (1664), and that the last remnants of the old woodland perished when cut down in the First (or was it the Second?) World War...' None of the above, you may or may not be surprised to learn, is actually true. It is the romantic pseudo-history of our woodland, built on folk history and 'factoids' (propositions which have all the properties of a fact except that they are not true), and it is, as Oliver Rackham points out in his magisterial Trees And Woodland In The British Landscape, quite impossible to eradicate. 'Pseudo-history,' Rackham writes, 'is not killed by publishing real history. In a rational world, this might lead to a controversy in which either the new version was accepted or the old version was shown to be right after all. In our world, the matter is not controversial; either the old version is retold as if nothing had happeened, or authors try to combine the two versions as if both could be true at once. Pseudo-history is not static but alive and growing... new factoids are even now being devised and added to the temple of Unreason.' Sir Thomas Browne, back in the 1650s, set about demolishing the already vast temple of Unreason with his mighty Pseudodoxia Epidemica, or Vulgar Errours. Much good that did. Pseudo-history will always thrive, I suppose, because it offers a simple, coherent narrative that seems to make sense and is often in some way emotionally satisfying. It can be intensely annoying - as when Ring A Ring A Roses is explained as being linked to the Plague, a nasty as well as a fallacious notion - and it is saddening that, in an age when most people seem to know less and less about less and less, the one thing they do know is likely to be wrong. Happily for the most part it doesn't really matter - but there are areas where a proper undersanding is essential, and woodland is one of them, since the conservation of this precious resource depends on a proper knowledge of what it is, how it works and how it can be helped to thrive. http://nigeness.blogspot.com/2008/08/cant-see-wood-for-factoids.html Ireland: 8) An ancient Irish oak woodland habitat in Co Galway has been threatened by Electricity Supply Board (ESB) contractors engaged in power-line maintenance, it has been alleged. The woodland on private property near Moycullen, Co Galway, includes a 250-year-old Irish oak. Although the ESB was previously taken to court on the issue by the owners, they say the contractors engaged in recent clearing without giving advance notice. The woodland at Pollnaglocha, Co Galway, comprises ash, hazel, hawthorn and blackthorn as well as oak, with rich ground flora including a species of woodruff that is uncommon in the west of Ireland. ESB contractors cut back trees in the area in December 1998, resulting in a court action by the Howards and settlement in July 2005. However, contractors returned to the same area in April 2006 and in July of this year. A report on the habitat by environmental expert Dr Cilian Roden for owners, Gia and Pat Howard, noted that a strip across the entire wood had been clear-felled, destroying many species of woodland flora, after one of the cuttings. It could take up to 20 years for the woodland canopy to redevelop and for the original ground flora to re-establish itself, he said. Ms Howard told The Irish Times that before she and her husband bought the property a decade ago, several large branches of the 250- year-old oak had been removed to accommodate power lines. Another Irish oak of similar age had been felled. Last month, the contractors cut to " within feet " of the ancient oak, she said. The wider area of cutting would threaten the tree's viability, and the work was excessive and destructive. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0807/1218047756466.html Hungary: 9) Budapest - Damage to the forests surrounding Budapest can be calculated in the tens of millions of forints when homeless people move in, cutting down young trees for cooking fires, building huts that damage the environment and frightening hikers with their aggressive dogs, wrote Tuesday's national daily Magyar Nemzet. The paper noted that a programme initiated two years ago to find homes for the forest dwellers appears to have petered out. Gergely Lomniczi, spokesman for the company managing the forests, warns that there is also an acute danger of forest fires. Miklos Vecsei, vice president of the Maltese Charities and a former ministry official, called for reviving the programme to find homes for the forest dwellers. His organization is already at work on it, he told Magyar Nemzet, and is limited only by funding. http://www.budapesttimes.hu/index.php?option=com_content & task=view & id=8746 & Itemi\ d=159 Germany: 10) Greenpeace report, Conning the Congo, " German owned, Swiss-based logging multinational Danzer Group, one of the largest players in the Congo logging sector, is using an elaborate profit-laundering system designed to move income out of Africa and into offshore bank accounts, thereby appearing to evade tax payments in the countries in which its companies operate. " According to Greenpeace, it's investigations have revealed that through various forms of false accounting, price fixing, profit laundering and suspected non-compliance with tax agreements, Danzer has evaded at least €7.8 million of taxes in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Congo-Brazzaville - equivalent, says Greenpeace, to the costs of vaccination for 700,000 Congolese children, or 50 times the annual budget of the DRC environment ministry. Danzer was quick to dismiss Greenpeace's accusations as " totally without foundation " and a " populist gimmick " and, unsurprisingly emphasised that it was " cooperating closely with the WWF in conjunction with the ongoing FSC certification of the company's own African forest concessions " - as if this somehow renders it immune to accusations of criminality or dodgy financial activities. In 2006, Danzer exclaimed that it's operations in both the Congos had been granted 'Timber Legality and Traceability Verification' certificates following audits by SGS - and SGS might have been expected to act as Danzer's assessor for an FSC certificate, were it not for the fact that the certification body has now also 'suspended' itself from issuing any new FSC certificates, after a series of damning reports on its activities from the FSC Secretariat. But such unfortunate turns of circumstance will be familiar to WWF, whose leading South American logging partner, Barama, was last year first de-certified from the FSC, then indicted by the Guyanese president for various illegalities, including fraud. Evidently in an effort to revive the rapidly flagging credibility of FSC in the Congo Basin, on July 31st, WWF issued a statement proclaiming that " more than one million hectares of Congo Basin forests have achieved certification " under the FSC. Listing the four companies that have so far achieved FSC certification in the region - though failing to mention that every one of them has been steeped in controversy - WWF's Laurent Some went on to note, with no hint of irony, that " Illegal forest exploitation and forest crimes are largely due to poor governance and insufficient law enforcement " . http://www.fsc-watch.org/archives/2008/07/30/Greenpeace_report_to Finland: 11) Finnish forestry companies imported 1.7 million cubic metres of wood in May, most of it from Russia, and prices for imported large logs hit a record high, a research group said on Thursday. The import volumes were at their highest level since October, Finnish Forest Research Institute Metla said. " Real prices for imported large logs were higher than ever before, " Metla said. Prices for the most common varieties of imported wood were about 60 euros per cubic metre, it added. Finnish paper makers have struggled to find enough affordable wood for the last year and a half, and higher raw lumber prices have hit their profitability. Russia has lifted its wood export duties to 15 euros per cubic metre in April and has said it would raise them further to 50 euros from the beginning of next year, effectively doubling the cost of wood. Domestically about 3.5 million cubic metres of wood were logged in May, almost 20 percent less than in the same month in 2007, Metla said earlier. http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSL740047200\ 80807 Baltic: 12) Timber from the Baltic is increasing in popularity, according to Chaille Brindley writing in the TimberLine mag. Wood suppliers and the pathways timber is taken after being processed is changing, the commentator reports. Companies from Finland are looking to forests in the Baltic and Sweden to fulfil their demand, the news provider explains. As such, traditional suppliers to certain areas are missing out, the publication comments. The expert says: " The global flow of logs has already started to change, and we will see more of that in the near future. " It is also predicted by the author that long term, more and more countries may begin to import finished products from areas such as the Baltic rather than raw, unprocessed logs. The Great Britain Forestry Commission has said to potential forestry investors that the establishment of woodland can improve the appearance of out-of-use land as well as helping to combat climate change. http://www.kms.ee/articles/Baltic_timber_more_in_demand?931 Romania: 13) In the past 19 years, Romania has lost as much forest land as other countries have lost in the whole of the last century. Such an abrupt and catastrophic loss made it an absolute imperative that the nation's remaining forests be preserved through a combined effort at biodiversity, the ecological reconstruction of existing forests, effective fire prevention, and the regulation of wood exploitation. Until recently, compliance with existing laws designed to protect Romania's forests has more often been avoided and ignored than enforced and honored. This was partially due to the poverty of some who depend in winter on illegally obtained wood, and partially upon the greed of others who simply choose to ignore the law and the grave harm that uncontrolled deforestation creates. In March 2008, the Romanian Parliament passed Law 46/2008 adopting a new Romanian Forest Code (hereinafter refer to as the " Forest Code " ). Necessity aroused Parliament to enact the new Forest Code because the prior law had been amended so often that confusion alone caused many acts of deforestation. The new Forest Code embodies the government's desire to prevent uncontrolled deforestation, increase public awareness of diminishing forest land, and enforce a better crafted and more understandable law. The Forest Code provides that forests can either be public property or private property but, whatever the case may be, all forests are of national interest, falling within the protection of the state and not local authorities. The law allows for privately owned forest land to be enjoyed by the owners, and even sold or transferred, but in accordance with the provisions of the Forest Code which limit the exploitation of their ownership rights, and expressly prohibits any construction on forest land. Forests that are the public property of the state are administered by Regia Nationala a Padurilor – ROMSILVA (hereinafter ROMSILVA), which functions under the authority of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Forests that are the public property of localities are administered by special forest administration entities. http://english.hotnews.ro/stiri-top_news-3956053-romanian-forest-code-bureaucrat\ ic-experts-say. htm Turkey: 14) Turkish prime minister pledged late on Tuesday to restore Turkey's forest fire ravaged southern province of Antalya to its former state as soon as possible. Turkey's biggest-ever forest fire, which caused more than $1 billion of damage, destroyed about 2.5 million trees in an area covering 4,000-4,500 hectares of forest in Antalya in six days. Two people were killed in the fire. It destroyed at least 60 homes, dozens of farm buildings, a school and a mosque in Manavgat and Serik towns. Six villages were evacuated. The government would purchase planes and helicopters which are able to fly at night, Erdogan told reporters in fire-hit Antalya, adding the definite cause of the fire is still not known.. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said that new houses would be built and delivered to the victims of the fire by the end of 2008, and added the primary target of the authorities is the reforestation of burned woodlands. http://arama.hurriyet.com.tr/arsivnews.aspx?id=9595565 Africa: 15) " The Chinese are all over the place, " says Trevor Ncube, a prominent African businessman. " If the British were our masters yesterday, the Chinese have taken their place. " -- " From Nigeria in the north, to Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Angola in the west, across Chad and Sudan in the east, and south through Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, " writes Andrew Malone, " China has seized a vice-like grip on a continent which officials have decided is crucial to the superpower's long-term survival. " In fact, it would seem China's following the same model that Britain first employed to colonize Africa; particularly that expressed by the highly respected and equally racist cousin of Charles Darwin, Sir Francis Galton, just over 130 years ago. In an 1873 letter to The Times, Galton wrote, 'My proposal is to make the encouragement of Chinese settlements of Africa a part of our national policy, in the belief that the Chinese immigrants would not only maintain their position, but that they would multiply and their descendants supplant the inferior Negro race.' 'I should expect that the African seaboard, now sparsely occupied by lazy, palavering savages, might in a few years be tenanted by industrious, order-loving Chinese, living either as a semidetached dependency of China, or else in perfect freedom under their own law.' With over 750,000 Chinese settling in Africa over the past ten years, and suggestions that anywhere up to 300 million will need to be sent in the future (to offset over-population and pollution), Malone says that Galton's vision of a colonized Africa is now coming to pass. Across Africa, the red flag of China is flying. Lucrative deals are being struck to buy its commodities - oil, platinum, gold and minerals. New embassies and air routes are opening up. The continent's new Chinese elite can be seen everywhere, shopping at their own expensive boutiques, driving Mercedes and BMW limousines, sending their children to exclusive private schools. The pot-holed roads are cluttered with Chinese buses, taking people to markets filled with cheap Chinese goods. More than a thousand miles of new Chinese railroads are crisscrossing the continent, carrying billions of tons of illegally-logged timber, diamonds and gold. The trains are linked to ports dotted around the coast, waiting to carry the goods back to Beijing after unloading cargoes of cheap toys made in China. http://intercontinentalcry.org/chinas-colonizing-africa-while-we-talk-charity/ Ethiopia: 16) African Parks Foundation (now known as African Parks Network) of the Netherlands has announced it will withdraw from its lease of the Omo and Nech Sar National Parks, Ethiopia, by October, 2008. Human rights organizations had voiced concern that African Park's plans to manage the Omo National Park would have evicted tribal people from their ancestral land, or caused them to lose access to vital agricultural and grazing land. Seven tribes, the Suri, Dizi, Me'en, Nyangatom, Kwegu, Bodi, and Mursi, live in or use the land designated as the Omo Park, for subsistence resources. An estimated 40,000 people use park resources. In a statement released by African Parks in December, 2007, they cited the actions of human rights organizations and possible " legal challenges from one party or other " in their reasons for withdrawing from the Omo Park. The Mursi are relieved by the news, 'Now that African Parks are leaving, everything is well. Our cattle will graze along with the Dik-Diks, Zebra and Warthogs. If our land is taken, it is like taking our lives.' Furthermore, APF's withdrawal from Nech Sar National Park will mean a contractual obligation stipulated by APF, for the government to remove the Guji tribe, will not be carried out. Native Solutions to Conservation Refugees has advocated for the rights of the local communities in and around the Omo Park since January, 2006. Native Solutions director, Will Hurd, lived with the Mursi in their territory, for one year. Link to APF's withdrawal statement: http://conservationrefugees.org/APF_withdrawal_statement.html http://globaljusticeecology.org/connections.php?ID=154 Kenya: 17) There are cheers in the Coast Province following the elevation of the Kaya Forests to world heritage status. The forests were last month included in the list of renowned heritage sites. Located on the Coastal plains, they are a living legacy of the people's history, culture and religion. Because of the forests' protected status, they are repositories of biodiversity, and a home to rare species of plants and animals. Mr Ali Abdalla Mnyenze, 75, has been a leader of the Mijikenda Kayas for 20 years and has led prayers in the sacred forests. " We have conserved the forests for worship and we really value their existence, " he says. Prayers are said at the central part of the forests where the " portent and most revered charm " locally known as 'fingo' is planted. Strangers are not allowed to the sacred site where all worshippers must speak the local language. Mr Pekeshe Ndeje, also a Kaya elder, says conservation of forests is at the centre of the Kaya institution, which covers Mijikenda homeland of lower Coast Province. Mnyenze, founder chairman of the Kayas committees that works closely with the Government, is happy the State has embraced partnership in conserving the endangered forests. He says the gazettement of Kayas as national monuments in 1992 was a milestone in the conservation of the sacred forests. The Kaya institution is upbeat following the inscription of the traditional forests as world heritage sites last month at a meeting of the World Heritage Committee in Quebec, Canada, on July 10. The Kenyan delegation to the meeting was National Heritage PS Jacob ole Miaron, Kenyan Ambassador to Unesco Mary Khamulu and Permanent Representative at the World Heritage Committee, Dr George Abungu. Kenya had presented a list of 36 Kayas, but the world heritage committee advisory board asked for fewer Kayas with outstanding value. Last year, Kenya presented 11 Kayas, 10 of which made it to the prestigious list.The inscribed Kayas were Kaya Giriama (Fungo), Kaya Jibana, Kaya Kambe, Kaya Mudzimuvya (Rabai), Kaya Bomu (Rabai), Kaya Ribe, Kaya Kauma, Kaya Fimboni (Rabai), Kaya Gandini (Duruma), and Kaya Mtswakara (Duruma). http://www.eastandard.net/InsidePage.php?id=1143992450 & cid=4 Congo: 18) A government sponsored World Bank review of timber contracts in the Democratic Republic of Congo reported Wednesday that the nation should withdraw more than 75 percent of its logging deals for not meeting standards. The review was an attempt to recover millions of dollars in lost tax revenue and set the corruption-prone business straight. The working group is reviewing the legal and technical aspects of 156 logging contracts, most of which were enacted during the 1998-2003 war or in its aftermath under the corruption-plagued interim government. Only 29 of the deals met the minimum required standards, according to a list published Wednesday in local media reports. " These are the opinions of the technical working group, " Abel Leon Kalambayi, who leads the commission that will make the final contract decisions, said during an interview with Reuters. " They do not bind the commission. We must wait for the end of the process and the commission's recommendations. " Among the contracts recommended for withdrawal are 10 of 16 belonging to Portuguese-owned Sodefor, a unit of NST. Three of nine contracts belonging to Siforco, a subsidiary of Germany's Danzer Group, were selected for cancellation, while both deals with Safbois made the cancellation list. Researchers say these three firms together account for more than 66 percent of Congo's exported timber. Congo is home to the world's second largest tropical forest, and represents more than a quarter of the world's tropical forest. Land clearance and logging for farming are chipping away the Congo Basin at a rate of more than 800,000 hectares annually. In 2002, with Congo under the partial control of rebels, the country issued a five-year moratorium on new logging contracts to try to stem deforestation. But the measure was largely ignored as companies continued signing new contracts. The conservation group Greenpeace said Wednesday's findings did not go far enough, and accused the working group of not heeding its own published criteria for contract evaluation, which require compliance with the moratorium. " The fact that 16 titles out of the 29 that have received a favorable opinion have been obtained in clear violation of the 2002 moratorium is completely incomprehensible, " said Judith Verweijen, Africa Policy Advisor for Greenpeace, during an interview with Reuters. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1515062/commission_recommends_congo_cancel_\ majority_of_logg ing_contracts/ 19) Researchers have found 125,000 western lowland gorillas living in the north of the Democratic Republic of Congo, almost doubling the known number of the endangered species. A report released today at the International Primatological Society Congress in Edinburgh, Scotland says a new census tallied more than 125,000 critically endangered gorillas in a 47,000-square-kilometre area. Estimates from the 1980s had suggested fewer than 100,000 of the great apes had survived and many experts believed these numbers had been cut nearly in half by disease and hunting. The census figures, if right, increases the gorilla population estimate to between 175,000 and 225,000. The Wildlife Conservation Society report shows " that northern Republic of Congo contains the mother lode of gorillas " , says society president Steven Sanderson. " It also shows that conservation in the Republic of Congo is working. This discovery should be a rallying cry for the world that we can protect other vulnerable and endangered species, whether they be gorillas in Africa, tigers in India, or lemurs in Madagascar. " The researchers conducted the census by counting nests made by gorillas in rainforests and isolated swamps. Gorillas make fresh nests every night. Western lowland gorillas are one of four recognised gorilla sub-species, which also include mountain gorillas, eastern lowland gorillas, and Cross River gorillas. All are classified as " critically endangered " by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), except eastern lowland gorillas, which are endangered. However, the news in the primate world is not all good, with an IUCN report to the Edinburgh conference showing nearly half the world's monkeys and apes are facing a worsening threat of extinction because of deforestation and hunting for " bushmeat " . It found that 48% of the 634 known species and sub-species of primates, humankind's closest relatives such as chimpanzees, orangutans, gibbons and lemurs, are at risk of extinction. http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/08/05/2324706.htm?site=science & topic\ =latest Sierra Leone: 20) Minister of the Environment, Rtd Captain Benjamin Davis says his government is " critically looking " into the activities of mining companies who neglect their environmental obligations. Speaking to this press, the minister said many of the companies who claim to have financial capabilities do not have it, consequently they are only interested in extracting minerals without regard to the environmental impact such activity causes. He added that some of the mining companies have not embarked on any meaningful developmental programs in the country or in communities they operate in, noting that they are not credible business outfits. Minister Davis maintained that his Government was looking for investors who can embark on sustainable development of the land with serious consideration to the protection of the environment and ensure that both the government and the people benefit from their natural resources. He spoke about the rampant felling of trees across the country which he said was responsible for deforestation and scarcity of water in most parts of the country. He warned those involved in the cutting-down of trees for fire wood and coal burning to desist as the land degradation and deforestation policy had been drafted. He said the environmental protection agency would punish all those involved in destroying the land as they will soon embark on environmental impact assessment. The Minister added that Government was also working out modalities for a fuel harvestable agricultural land which people will use to provide fuel and it will be located in communities where tree-felling is rampant as the only source of income for some communities. He maintained that the ministry is presently building the capacity of the Environmental Protection Agency to enforce laws that would compel mining companies to reclaim all land that could have been destroyed as a result of the extraction of minerals so that the host community can be compensated adequately and their lives improved. http://awoko.org/index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0 & cntnt01articleid=3454 & cntn\ t01returnid=15 Liberia: The Forest Management Contract (FMC) Due Diligence Committee has submitted its report to the Inter-Ministerial Concession Committee (IMCC) on the financial and technical capabilities of companies that submitted bids for logging operations in Liberia. The bids, which were publicly opened for three Forest Management Contracts on April 21, 2008, brought 13 companies bidding for different categories. Following the bidding process, the Concession Bid Evaluation Panel placed seven companies in the " A " category, three for the " B " category and another 3 in the " C " category with the Tropical Reserve Entrepreneurial Enterprises (TREE) scoring 95 percent. However, when Due Diligence was conducted on the companies, the Committee discovered that TREE did not provide substantive financial and technical evidence although the Bid Committee declared TREE as provisional winner in the " A " category. The prequalification standards for a medium FMC require US$15 million in capital including cash and equipment. The Due Diligence committee's report indicated that TREE claimed to have vehicles and equipment valued at US$1.9 million, adding " it presented bank statement showing funds totaling US$0.3 million. This leaves a net financing requirement of US$14 million. " In addition to financing its own operations, the Due Diligence Committee noted that TREE has committed itself to finance the operation of five timber sales contracts, three by B & V Timber Company and two by Tarpeh Timber. The committee said they found out that over the first six months of operations, these companies together will require about US$1.2 million in investment funds. However, TREE was asked by the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) to provide evidence of additional funds to support five timber sales contracts but it failed to do so, the Due Diligence Committee noted in its report. http://liberianature.blogspot.com/2008/08/due-diligence-exposes-several-bidders.\ html 22) The Government of Liberia is threatening its own reform process and putting the rule of law in the forest sector at risk. Some key decisions taken over the last few months, if not reversed, could undermine efforts to reestablish the rule of law in the sector and also plunge some communities into conflict when logging restarts. The NGO Coalition for Liberia warns that the forest sector is gradually slipping back into the old ways of doing business and if not checked the country will once again be exposed to widespread illegal logging. A briefing released issued last Friday by the NGO Coalition for Liberia today summarizes a series of issues relating to the conduct of the Forestry Development Authority (FDA), including the letting of logging contracts to companies of dubious financial capacity and contracting loggers to forest areas which are the private property of local communities. The National Forestry Reform Law (2006) explicitly forbids the granting of Timber Sale Contracts and Forest Management Contracts on private land[2]. The Government of Liberia must address these issues to ensure that the rule of law is not compromised in its quest to reopen the sector by the end of 2008. http://allafrica.com/stories/200808041576.html Mozambique: 23) Two forestry officials in the central Mozambican province of Zambezia have been arrested for conniving at the illegal export of unprocessed wood last year, according to a report in Wednesday's issue of the weekly paper " Magazine Independente " . The spokesperson for the Zambezia police command, Ernesto Serrote, confirmed the detentions and the Provincial Director of Agriculture, Momed Vala, named the two officials as Ana Pinheiro and Humberto Filipe. They both worked in the forestry section of the directorate, and Filipe was head of forestry inspection. The two are accused of conniving with a Chinese company, TTTimber World, to seal 30 containers of logs which were to have been exported from the port of Quelimane. However, some unnamed workers blew the whistle on the operation, the containers were seized and the logs were sold at public auction for over 400,000 meticais (more than 16,600 US dollars). http://allafrica.com/stories/200808060906.html 24) A scientific theory has linked the loss of snow on Mount Kilimanjaro to deforestation and dismissed suggestions that the dwindling of glaciers on Africa`s highest peak was due to global warming. The theory is highlighted in a recent study report compiled by two researchers from Britain`s Portsmouth University, Nicholas Pepin and Martin Schaefer, who surveyed the mountain`s glaciers for 11 days. The researchers, who revealed their findings at a news conference in Dar es Salaam yesterday, said the mountain`s glacier surface had shrunk from 20 km in 1880 to a mere two kilometres in 2000. They said the development was caused more by local than regional factors, with Pepin suggesting that deforestation mainly due to extensive farming as the major cause. ``Deforestation of the mountain`s foothills is the most likely culprit because without forests there is too much evaporation of humidity into outer space. The result is that moisture-laden winds blowing across those forests have become drier and drier,`` he explained. ``Loss of humidity automatically leads to a reduction in cloud cover. Clouds play a crucial role in protecting ice from sunrays, with fewer sunrays meaning faster freezing of water,`` he added, citing reduced precipitation as another reason for the receding ice cover on the mountain`s summit. Last year, another study on the dwindling ice cover on the mountain`s cap suggested that global warming had nothing to do with the alarming loss of its beautiful snows. The scientists who conducted the study, US-based Philip Mote and Georg Kaser, assertively linked the problem to a process known as sublimation. Recent scientific literature on climate and glacier formation defines sublimation as a process that occurs at below-freezing temperatures and converts ice directly to water vapour with the liquid phase skipped. Mote likened the process to moisture-sapping conditions that cause food to suffer freezer burn. Revealing the findings they first published last year in the American Scientist magazine, the experts cautioned that using Mount Kilimanjaro as a ``poster child`` for climate change was awfully inaccurate. http://www.ippmedia.com/ipp/guardian/2008/08/14/120550.html Malawi: 25) Many of the hills that I have seen in southern Malawi have been stripped bare of trees to feed the need for charcoal. Even the forest preserves around Mulanje Massif are starting to show the effects. A new road from Blantyre to Mulanje has opened up—which cut the trip to less than an hour by car. But that has also meant charcoal sellers can easily bike their way up to Blantyre from Mulanje. The photo above is of a charcoal seller who has wrapped his wares in plastic so as not to get in trouble with the forest rangers. The economics of the issue are compelling. Charcoal is less expensive for cooking than electricity. Charcoal in the rural areas may cost 300 to 400 MK for one of these huge bags but 800 MK in town and that could last you a month. So what happens when all the trees are gone? When you're trying to make it to the end of the day alive, tomorrow is a luxury. http://globalhealthreport.blogspot.com/2008/08/charcoal-and-deforestation.html Uganda: 26) Mr. Museveni insisted that he must be convinced that reducing forest cover will not affect the ecological system of the country warning government officials not to succumb to public pressure. " We should tell our people that their livelihood and survival depend on these forests. The forests help in manufacturing the rain. We will not compromise on this. We can relocate people to other areas " , he said. He said that he does not accept blackmail from non-governmental organizations that all forests are important. He said that before a forest is destroyed for any purpose, NEMA must present a logical and scientific explanation. In their proposal, the Uganda Wildlife Authority said that some areas in Mbale and Kapchorwa can be released for human settlement especially those with permanent homesteads. The team said that although in some areas the settlements went beyond the allocated land which was done in the 1980s by the UPC government, the people can be prevented from further encroachment. The Uganda Wildlife Authority team suggested that some people can be allowed to plant trees which can protect the environment while providing income to them at the same time. President Museveni told the team that the reason he declared Mt. Elgon and Mt. Rwenzori National Parks respectively was because there was need to protect both the animals and the trees. Therefore, he said, these areas which form the source of rivers as well their immediate surroundings must be jealously protected. " You are not an authority on the environment. Let us consult NEMA before your plan can be implemented " , he said. Minister Janat Mukwaya admitted that some local politicians were under pressure from the population. She, however, gave an elaborate plan that her Ministry had done and agreed with the President that there was need to involve NEMA. http://africasciencenews.org/asns/index.php?option=com_content & task=view & id=608 & \ Itemid=1 Nigeria: 27) Experts have warned that if not given serious attention, desertification which is currently ravaging Katsina and other northern states will affect agricultural projects and consequently exacerbate food crises would its attendant hunger and malnutrition. However, Katsina State has already put certain schemes in place to fight back the desert encroachment. Danjuma Michael writes: " An environment-threatening phenomenon that, if left unchecked could lead to decline in agricultural production, exacerbates hunger and malnutrition, as well as increase level of existing poverty, is the menace of desertification and desert encroachment, especially in the northern parts of the country. Recent study shows that desertification has encroached on a 1,650 square kilometers of land mass in the 19 northern states. At speed of 0.6 kilometers per year, fears are being expressed that, if drastic measures are not applied, the desert will in a matter of years spread to other parts of the country. According to experts, the entire northern region, covering about 38 per cent of the country's landmass, is at the risk of becoming inhabitable in the near future unless urgent steps are taken to stem the trend. There is also evidence to show that the effect of desertification is already taking its toll on plants, animals and humans. Worst hit by the twin problem are states bordering Niger Republic, including Katsina, Kebbi and Sokoto States. Other states affected are Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kano and Zamfara, which are buffeted by combined forces of north-eastern trade wind from the Sahara Desert and those originating from the local environment. The result is that heavy soil particles, which are swept away with no resistance due to lack of wind-breakers, are later deposited to form desert 'mountains' globally known as sand dunes. " Governor Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State said recently that, " not so long ago, the Sahara Desert which has already taken away part of our arable land was not dry land, but thriving vegetation full of flowing rivers and wild games. Time has come for us (political office holders and other stakeholders) to show our utmost resourcefulness and reliability to save our people and guarantee our nation's sustainable development. " The governor used the opportunity to highlight on arrangements by the state government to roll out campaigns against environmental degradation and desert encroachment by establishing shelter belts across the state, particularly in the farthest northern local governments. http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=119419 Senegal: 28) " Countries will have to take steps to ensure that the new interest in baobab will not cause over-exploitation or misuse; to make sure that harvesting is done in a sustainable way. " In Senegal, villagers have always known about the health benefits of baobab fruit. The ancient, hardy species known as the " tree of life " is scattered across the African savannah and some are said to date back to the time of Christ. Locals use nearly every part of the tree, whose processed fruit was approved for European import last month. " I don't think anyone yet knows what the potential size of this new export niche will be, " wrote blogger Chido Makunike of African Agriculture, " although the phrase " billion dollar industry " has been thrown about. " You use the monkey bread fruit if you have a belly ache, " said farmer Aloyse Tine, using the local name. " If you're tired you eat the leaves, they are good for you. " According to the International Centre for Underutilised Crops at the University of Southhampton, the baobab is " a fruit of the future " , rich in vitamin C, B1, B2 and calcium and anti-oxidants. In Senegal, its pulp is mostly used to make Bouye, a milky, tart juice made by boiling the pulp and seeds with water and sugar. " But being a non-cultivated forest product, who " owns " the baobab fruit? " asks Makunike. " Can anybody just take a truck into the forest, collect the fruit and export it? Obviously the sudden dramatic change in the economic importance of the baobab will open up many questions that will need regulation. " http://yourfreepress.blogspot.com/2008/08/healing-tree.html Gambia: 29) Speaking in an interview with The Point, he applauded the National Environment Agency (NEA) for the introduction of bio-gas production. Mr. Jadama said that the new bio gas production will help develop our forestry department in terms of tree planting and forest protection as well as forest park management. He said that the initiative will help strengthen the nation. " It's in line with our vision to protect our flora and fauna as well as prevent deforestation and drought centred issues. We see this initiative as very good as it will contribute towards our socio-economic development, " he said. The bio gas production, he said, is very cost effective for farmers, as poor farmers can used it with dry cow droppings and mix it with water and bio digester. " At PCED we are committed to fight deforestation in all its forms and shall endorse any kind of move to save our environment from degradation, " he said. He called on all stakeholders to join hands with NEA to make the programme a success. http://thepoint.gm/africa/gambia/article/2008/8/13/pced-hails-bio-gas-production\ -in-the-gambia Ghana: 30) Environmental and human rights organizations from 3 continents have criticized plans by Colorado-based Newmont Mining Corporation to develop an open-pit gold mine in a Forest Reserve in Ghana. The groups this week released expert reviews of the technical aspects of the mine project that document deficiencies in the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The expert reviews point to major gaps in the EIS regarding reclamation plans, the potential for acid drainage, risks of water contamination with heavy metals and cyanide, as well as impacts on biodiversity. " Ghana's forests have almost disappeared, " said Daniel Owusu-Koranteng of Wassa Association of Communities Affected by Mining (WACAM), a coalition of Ghanaian communities affected by mining. " Ghana can't afford to build a gold mine inside one of our last remaining forest reserves. " If built, the open-pit of the mine would sit mostly inside of the Ajenjua Bepo Forest Reserve and destroy a quarter of the forest remaining in the Reserve. Species of conservation concern that would be at risk by the proposal include the Pel's flying squirrel (Anomalurus pelii) and several other mammal, bird, and plant species in and around the Reserve. The project's proponents have downplayed the biodiversity of the Ajenjua Bepo Forest Reserve, claiming that it is already so degraded that destroying a large part of it is an acceptable cost. However, Scott Cardiff of EARTHWORKS notes, " Many threatened species occur in the Reserve. The forests are also important for communities and livelihoods, and for the area's water supply. " " Large-scale gold mining in this ecologically fragile forest reserve could also undermine food security in the area, " notes Mike Anane of FIAN-Ghana, a human rights organization. Clearing vast stretches of forests and topsoil can disrupt ecological conditions that are required to maintain optimal agricultural productivity. The technical analyses were prepared by Stuart Levit of the US-based Center for Science in Public Participation, and Scott Cardiff, a conservation biologist with EARTHWORKS. http://news.accra-mail.com/index.php?option=com_content & task=view & id=1034 & Itemid\ =54 & 732ad40ac6 e360d79393275ad85c989d=e3472977fa4e9415f6af8d51c57a2934 Pakistan: 31) ISLAMABAD: The United Nations Development Programme is engaged in conserving juniper forests in Balochistan through community participation. The project was initiated in June 2007 and is scheduled for completion in December 2011 at an estimated cost of US$2,518,737. The forests cover an area of about 100,000 hectares in Ziarat and Zargoon Hill Range in Balochistan and are known for fauna and flora, having Sino-Himalayan, Central Asian, Iranian and Turkish affinities. The resource is of global significance and represents one of the largest remaining traces of Juniper forest in the world. Another UNDP project for the conservation of Habitats and Species of Global Significance in Arid and Semi-Arid ecosystems in Balochistan is aimed at conserving the critically endangered habitats and species of global significance in selected arid and semi-arid ecosystems by reducing the pressure on resources and promoting sustainable use of biodiversity. This project will promote community based conservation efforts as well. The implementing partners are the Balochistan Forest and Wildlife Department and Sustainable Use Specialist Group (SUSG). http://thepost.com.pk/IsbNewsT.aspx?dtlid=176915 & catid=17 32) KARACHI - The Sindh Minister for Home and Forests Dr Zulfiqar Mirza has said that conservation of forestry resources are a must to combat global warming, meet timber and fuel demands, halt soil erosion, keep balance of oxygen and maintain hydrological cycle. Addressing the inaugural session of a seminar on " Conservation of Forestry Resources " held at a local hotel here on Saturday, he said that nobody would deny the role of forests in the human society, especially in the present-day world where environment is considered as a key factor to keep the dynamics of life moving in forward direction. " On one hand the forests are meeting human demands, on other they are playing intrinsic role in maintaining environment and are keeping balance of oxygen in the atmosphere. They maintain hydrological cycle, protect precious soil from hazards of erosion and above all they give a distinct colour to our globe which is so far quite unique in the entire universe, " he elaborated. Mirza said that the trapped carbon molecules in the atmosphere had given birth to green house effect which in turn had resulted into global warming. With the burning of fossil fuels, more carbon is entering the atmosphere and this issue is becoming critical day-by-day, he said. " In view of changing circumstances it is rather imperative on the end users to concentrate on environment-friendly programmes rather exhaust natural non-renewable resource unwisely and madly. " " The forests are required to manage forest wealth and forested land keeping in view the bio-diversity as future object of forest management than adhering to timber and fuel wood production, " he added Mirza said the government was alive to the issue of " conservation " especially of forest wealth which was a natural resource and was ready to extend it to such NGOs and organisations who were engaged in the development of forests. http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Regional/K\ arachi/03-Aug-2 008/Forests-conservation-must-to-fight-global-warming-Minister 33) KARACHI: The decreasing flow in the River Indus in downstream Kotri has taken sea erosion up to an alarming level, with the sea eroding 1.5 feet of land every day, forestry experts disclosed at the National Seminar on Conservation of Forestry Resources on Saturday. The experts expressed their concerns over the rapid reduction of riverine forests, irrigated plantation, rangelands and mangrove forests in Sindh. According to the experts, the reduced water flow in River Indus, climate change, food insecurity, increasing population and the use of the forestland for agriculture purposes are a few reasons for the decrease in the number of forests in Sindh. These forestry experts urged the government to take initiatives to conserve resource-bearing forests. Najamuddin Vistro, a coastal forestry expert, informed listeners that the decreasing river flows in downstream Kotri lead to lesser silt deposition in the creeks, leading to the shrinking of the Indus delta. The phenomenon has also given rise to sea erosion and everyday 1.5 feet of erode away. " The reduced downstream water flow is not only causing extensive sea erosion but is also responsible for the reduction in mangrove forests. According to the World Wildlife Fund-Pakistan (WWF), the mangroves were spread on 0.26 million hectares in 1983 but this area reduced to only 73,000 hectares in 2002, " said Vistro. Dumping of household and industrial waste into the sea and grazing of animals are also a major reason for reduction in these forests. " Some 261 million gallons of waste are poured into the sea daily, while some 14,000 animals depend on these mangroves for fodder, " said Vistro. He demanded that the government ensure appropriate water distribution from the River Indus and suggested that mangrove steering committees be formed on the national and provincial level. A documentary regarding the reducing forests of Sindh was also screened, which highlighted the timber mafia, climate change, use of the land for agriculture and the improper leasing of the forests as some of the reasons for the reduction in forests. http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%5C08%5C03%5Cstory_3-8-2008_pg\ 12_2 Azerbaijan: 34) Baku - Taking advantage of hot and windy weather for the last few days on the territory of Azerbaijan Armenian occupants organized on August 3 a deliberate fire on the borderline with Old Gishlag village of Agstafa region. The Ministry of Environment & Natural Resources has informed that according to preliminary data of the Organization of Forest Service & Agstafa Rehabilitation, the 20 hectare woods area was destroyed. " To define damage caused to environment the Ministry set up a workgroup from local specialists. According to primary estimates, the fire caused serious damage to cover crop and land, " the Ministry says. http://abc.az/eng/news_05_08_2008_26510.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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