427 - EU-Africa-Mid-East Tree News

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Index:

 

--EU: 1) Developing an RFID-based application and supply-chain analysis system

--UK: 2) Prince on saving tropical rainforests, 27 trees saved by tree

defenders! 3) Snuff Mills Action Group save the forest, 4) Nature

Conservancy Council designate Dole Wood in Thurlby, 5) Angry villagers

at Bickerton Hill confront tree fellers, 6) Pay farmers to turn ag

land into woodland, 7) They cut down Richard Jeffries 1000 year old

yew? 8) Magna Carta's wood gathering provisions scrapped, 9) Women

chains herself to tractor to save ancient woodland, 10) BMX bikers

need to stay out of ancient woodlands!

--Scotland: 11) Environment minister wants to " unlock " forests for

economic growth

--Ireland: 12) FSC is a disgrace

--Norway: 13) " REDD, " as it happens, is Norwegian for " scared "

--Ukraine: 14) New restrictions to prevent deforestation

--Nigeria: 15) Unsustainable firewood needs, 16) Deforestation in

savannah / transitional woodland, 17) Resourceful contributions needed

from all stakeholders,

--Congo: 18) Mass collapse of forest elephant populations, 19) Congo

Forest Rangers have a risky job, 20) All missing rangers found,

--Ghana: 21) Utilization of lesser-used timber species,

--Kenya: 22) Not enough attention on dry forests, 23) New film about

women power: Wangari Maathai, 24) An Obama tree is planted by Maathai,

--Uganda: 25) Tree planters cut down trees instead of planting 'em,

26) President condems logging, 27) President makes logging possible,

--Tanzania: 28) Goodall's activism saves primates, but for how long?

29) Flying fox makes recovery,

--South Africa: 30) FSC general assembly,

--Iraq: 31) Restoring devastated landscapes,

 

 

Articles:

 

EU:

 

1) Twenty-nine European partners are developing an RFID-based

application and supply-chain analysis system that may be used to

increase sawmill efficiency and raw materials usage, improve logistic

operations and minimize environmental impacts. A European Union-funded

project launched in 2006 to develop a system for analyzing the

forestry supply chain will move into the final pilot phase next

spring, project leaders at Finnish forestry IT service provider

TietoEnator reported Wednesday at the RFID Journal LIVE! Europe

conference in the Czech city of Prague. The 29 project partners aim to

lay the groundwork for improving the use of wood and optimizing forest

production while minimizing any harmful environmental impact. Passive

RFID tags on logs will be interrogated, providing real-time data that

can be utilized to improve yield and logistics, as well as reduce

waste—all through better supply chain transparency. After logs are

processed and the initial RFID tags they carried are destroyed,

partners will rely on Data Matrix 2-D bar-coded labels applied to wood

products to identify each item. They will also test the use of RFID

and 2-D bar-coding to help calculate the carbon footprint of

individual wood products.

http://www.rfidsolutionsonline.com/article.mvc/RFID-Raises-Yield-And-Reduce-Carb\

on-Footprint-0001?VNETCOOKIE=NO

 

UK:

 

2) Describing the challenge as " the greatest threat to mankind " , he

called for nations to save the planet by halting the destruction of

tropical rainforests. " The point is that all of us – the whole word –

are in this together and this is why, together, we need to deploy all

possible measures to stop tropical deforestation, " he said. The Prince

made his speech at the University of Brunei Darussalam as part of his

ten-day tour to the Far East with his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall.

" I do not pretend for a moment that the task is simple. In fact, it

will probably kill me in the end, " he said. " Everyone knows that the

forests, which straddle the equator in a great belt around the world,

are home to some of the most remarkable and precious animal and planet

life on our planet, " he said. " But they also act as giant public

utilities, cooling and cleaning the world's atmosphere and providing

fresh water and rainfall. " Prince Charles highlighted the scale of the

problem: " Half of the world's rainforests have already been lost and

every year 30 million acres – an area more than 21 times the size of

Brunei – are destroyed or degraded. " But we must not blame the

rainforest countries for this. Too often it is demand from developed

countries for palm oil, beef and soya which is the driver. " In a

reference to falling stock markets around the world, the Prince said:

" The global 'credit crunch' most certainly has not made the task any

easier. " But while the world's economy will doubtless bounce back at

some point from the financial shock, mankind will not be able to

bounce back from the climate shock. " The damage is becoming

irreparable and the consequences are terrifying – rising sea levels,

spreading disease and environmental refuges on an unimaginable scale. "

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/theroyalfamily/3362041/Prince-Charles\

-makes-impassioned-plea-over-terrifying-effects-of-climate-change.html

 

3) Trees in an ancient woodland in Bristol have been saved from

felling thanks to a local campaign group. The 27 trees in Grove Wood

in Stapleton next to the River Frome were set to be felled after the

council gave the landowner the go-ahead at a meeting in June. But

members of the Snuff Mills Action Group, who opposed the decision,

gathered a petition of four-and-a-half thousand signatures and dozens

of letters of support for a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) on the whole

wood. A report from council officers said the blanket TPO would not be

necessary, but despite this councillors yesterday gave the order the

go-ahead at a meeting at the Council House. Steve Micklewright,

chairman of the group, said: " I'm over the moon. I feel like Christmas

has come early. What this does is protect the woodland totally, so

that includes the 27 trees that the council gave permission to be

felled earlier in the year. " The order now makes it very hard for the

owner to do any damage without having to face big fines or replanting.

It gives it the best protection it could have outside being under

public ownership, so it's fantastic. " We understand that the council

are trying to set up a meeting with us and the owner and we'd welcome

that, if what he says about wanting to improve the woodland is true.

This whole thing has been about people power. We've had

four-and-a-half thousand people sign a petition and lots of letters

went to the council asking for a TPO. If it wasn't for those people

taking time out to do something positive, we'd still be struggling.

http://stapletonconservation.blogspot.com/2008/10/breaking-news-people-power-sav\

es-woods.html

 

 

4) October 21, 1968, The Nature Conservancy Council designated Dole

Wood in Thurlby a site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The key

reasons for the designation were the structure and biological

diversity of the wood, which indicate its ancient origin. In addition

the ground flora is significantly different to that found elsewhere in

south Lincolnshire. Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust entered into an

agreement with the landowner and has managed Dole Wood since 1975. The

aim of the trust was to improve the flora, which includes anemonies,

bluebells and alliums, all indicator species of ancient woodland which

have taken thousands of years to establish. The trees are home to many

woodland birds, including Greater Spotted Woodpeckers and Tree

Creepers. Dead trees have not been felled unless they are unsafe as

they provide habitats for wildlife and insects. Rare lichen and mosses

are found in the wood. Some even growing on the trees. Natural England

is the government body responsible for monitoring SSSIs and conserving

these gems of the English Countryside. Natural England, the guardian

of our natural heritage, now plans selective felling of mature oak

trees in Dole Wood before the end of 2008. This vandalism is proposed

because it might aid new trees to establish. The loss of a single

200-year-old oak tree will destroy the habitat of birds, insects and

squirrels. The felling will destroy shrubs and flora on the woodland

floor.

http://www.bournelocal.co.uk/letters/Felling-oak-trees-will-destroy.4639835.jp

 

5) Angry villagers took to Bickerton Hill yesterday to confront tree

fellers who were clearing an area of woodland. Silver Birch trees were

being chopped down as part of the National Trust's heath regeneration

programme and local residents had concerns over the amount of trees

being lost. But a confrontation between the group representing Friends

of Bickerton Hill and the National Trust was avoided with a peaceful

compromise. The Trust's initiative is designed to allow heather and

hillberry, that is indigenous to the area, to flourish rather than die

out. Tony Ord, of Friends of Bickerton Hill, said: " This was a meeting

held on the hill between the Friends of Bickerton Hill and the

National Trust. " As a consequence of the meeting, the National Trust

agreed to reverse their decision to remove all the trees from the area

of one of the most secluded woodland walks. I praise the decision of

Christopher Widger of the National Trust which was made after hearing

the views of the local people. " We appreciate the National Trust's

respect for the views of all those who enjoy the hill. " The National

Trust was unavailable for comment at the time The Chronicle went to

press.

http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/chester-news/local-chester-news/2008/10/24/pro\

testers-celebrate-trust-compromise-59067-22105407/

 

6) Farmers should be paid or given green tax breaks to encourage them

to turn their fields into woodlands in the fight against climate

change, a leading environmental body has said.Natural England wants to

double the amount of " wild " land in the region from the current nine

per cent to around 20 per cent over the next few years to help slow

global warming and prevent flooding caused by heavier rainfall. The

Government agency says to do this it may need to either buy land or

pay farmers a subsidy to ensure they maintain it in the long term. The

move was welcomed by environmental groups and the NFU, though the

farmers' group was concerned at issues raised over food security.

Simon Bates, Natural England's senior project manager for climate

change, told the Western Morning News that the pace of global

temperature rises meant that intensive action was needed and quickly.

" We would need to buy a substantial amount (of land), " he said. " I

can't say how much but we couldn't do it alone simply by working with

existing landowners. The time scales wouldn't fit. " The creation of

woodland and other wild habitats is seen as having three motives. The

trees act as " carbon traps " , which help to reduce the amount of

planet-warming carbon dioxide. They also, when planted on flood

plains, help to lessen the risk of serious floods by acting as a

natural barrier and sponge. Third, they act as areas where threatened

wildlife or newly arrived species can flourish.But to do this most

effectively they need to be mature woodlands, which take years to

grow. Current programmes like the Environmental Stewardship Scheme pay

farmers to keep areas in a fallow state but they are under contracts

of 10 years, after which farmers can plough the land and start using

it for crops again. Natural England wants to introduce covenants

lasting much longer to give areas a better chance to flourish.

http://www.thisiswesternmorningnews.co.uk/news/Pay-farmers-boost-supply-wild-lan\

ds/article-426823-detail/article.html

 

7) There has been fury among local people in Swindon after the Council

felled a yew tree believed to have been 1,000 years old. The tree

stood in the home of Victorian naturalist Richard Jeffries who wrote

about it in several of his books. Swindon Council took the decision to

cut the 40-feet-high tree down because it was damaging a listed

building. A spokesperson for the Council told Eco: " We took the

decision to fell this yew tree with huge reluctance, but the

unavoidable fact is that its roots were damaging a listed, historic

building and there was no other option. " However Jean Saunders,

secretary of the Richard Jefferies Society, was not impressed: " Three

years ago we requested that the yew be protected with a tree

preservation order along with others of literary merit in Richard

Jefferies' garden. We were reassured that there was no need as Swindon

Council would look after trees on their own property. " The society

has now appealed to the council not to remove the tree's stump in the

hope that it may regrow. Richard Jefferies (1848-1887) was born at the

little dairy farm at Coate about two miles from Old Swindon in

Wiltshire and lived there on and off until 1875. His birthplace is now

a Museum owned by Swindon Borough Council. Jefferies is best known for

his nature writing, inspired by the countryside and wildlife around

his home, by Coate Water and the Downs. He wrote about 20 books and

hundreds of essays. Ecozine.UK

http://swindonnationalists.blogspot.com/2008/10/50-of-our-ancient-woods-lost-ove\

r-last.html

 

8) The retired builder from Trefriw, north Wales, said: " The Magna

Carta states that a common man is allowed to enter forests and take

deadwood for firewood, repairing homesteads, fixing tools and

equipment and making charcoal. " He added: " Now they've stopped issuing

licences and they are giving the reason as health and safety issues.

But people have walked through the woods collecting firewood for

hundreds and hundreds of years without too many safety problems. "

Peter Garson, Forestry Commission Wales Head of Estate Management

said: We have a duty of care to the public in our woodlands and a much

higher duty of care where we issue permission for particular

activities. " Referring to Mr Kamp, he added: " In the past we have

tried to accommodate such requests and we understand his

disappointment in this instance. But this is an area where we are

subject to increasing constraints in terms of Health and Safety. " The

right of people to collect wood from Britain's forests that was

created under the Magna Carta has been overturned due to health and

safety fears. The Forestry Commission has scrapped the right,

enshrined in the " Great Charter " at Runneymede in 1215, in order to

stop people picking firewood from woodland. Instead they suggest

people buy wood from local firewood merchants allowed into the forest,

something critics argue is " carbon intensive " due to the use of

vehicles to move the wood. Mike Kamp, 59, has been collecting cheap

fuel for his wood-burning stove for the last 12 years. Previously he

was allowed to buy a 30-day licence form the Forestry Commission for

£10.50 for access to their land, which would have given him enough

wood to last the winter.

http://arbroath.blogspot.com/2008/10/forestry-commission-scraps-magna-carta.html

 

9) A women tied herself to a tractor, claiming ancient woodland there

was under threat. Mary Lyon, who also calls herself Taris, fastened

herself to the John Deere machine early yesterday morning using

bicycle and packing case locks. Police arrived and asked her to free

herself — but hours later she was arrested at the scene on suspicion

of aggravated trespass. Miss Lyon told the Post early yesterday: " I am

chaining myself to this earth-moving machine in order to try to

protect these ancient woods. " Police officers then arrived and talked

to her, before one of them went to speak to a man in the property next

door. Miss Lyon said she believed the woodlands, on a patch of land on

Murton Lane, near Newton, were under threat from development, and was

taking the drastic step to halt any further work. " I want to protect

these woods, " she said. " They have started to clear them. " Miss Lyon

said she used to live in a railway carriage on the land in question,

and had been there for around 27 years. She claimed the site was

registered in her name at the Land Registry. But it is understood the

issue of land ownership was the subject of a court hearing earlier

this summer. The man the police spoke to next door didn't want to

comment to the Post, except to say that a court had said that the land

belonged to him. Miss Lyon said she felt she was being forced to sell

the land — but when pressed she did concede that the ownership issue

was " contentious " . But she was determined to prevent further work

there. " These machines are on my land, " she said. " They started

attacking the trees in the spring, during the nesting season. There

are owls that nest here. " Teenager Jay Riley, who was passing by

yesterday morning, stopped to lend his support to Miss Lyon. " I am

hoping to get some friends down, " said the 17-year-old, of Mumbles,

who said he didn't like to see trees at risk.

http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/latestnews/Objector-rage-machine/article-45646\

3-detail/article.html

 

10) BMX riders are being urged not to ride through ancient woodland.

Trees and rare flowers have been damaged at Dole Wood, near Thurlby,

and young cyclists are thought to be to blame. Dave Vandome, warden of

the wood for the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, said: " We've had

children trying to build a BMX-style track. " We have dismantled it and

they have stopped cutting trees but the track is in ancient woodland,

which is relatively rare and irreplaceable. The track will destroy

spring flowers such as bluebells. " The site is protected as a site of

special scientific interest and Mr Vandome said: " We don't mind them

on the path but even I am not allowed to chop trees down there. We did

put a sign up saying it is a valuable habitat. " Someone in Thurlby

must know who they are. " They are causing quite a lot of damage and if

they knew what they were doing they would probably stop. If it is

nipped in the bud we can repair the damage. " Joyce Stevenson of

Thurlby, who last month warned that rare trees were under threat

because of forestry management, said: " The riders must be made aware

that it is a site of special scientific interest and that this is not

acceptable. " It is vandalism. "

http://www.bournelocal.co.uk/news/BMX-riders-damaging-wood.4668421.jp

 

 

Scotland:

 

11) Plans to use Scotland's forests to fuel economic growth and

increase renewable energy capacity have been unveiled by Environment

Minister Mike Russell. A consultation paper wants communities,

landowners and the forestry sector to " unlock " the potential of

woodlands. Its launch took place on the Annandale Estate in Dumfries

and Galloway. Plans to use Scotland's forests to fuel economic growth

and increase renewable energy capacity have been unveiled by

Environment Minister Mike Russell. A consultation paper wants

communities, landowners and the forestry sector to " unlock " the

potential of woodlands. Its launch took place on the Annandale Estate

in Dumfries and Galloway. Mr Russell said the nation's forests - worth

about £850m - could make a vital contribution towards a " greener and

wealthier Scotland " . The consultation paper - Climate Change and the

National Forest Estate - outlines a number of proposals. They include

plans to develop renewable energy projects and plant more trees to

increase the area covered by woodland. Mr Russell said Scotland's

forests could help the country meet its target of 50% of energy being

produced by renewable sources by 2020. " Scotland's forests are one of

our greatest natural assets and also hold huge potential for greener

energy, " he said. " This consultation holds the key to unlocking that

potential. " It also holds the key to more investment in industry and

more jobs. "

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/south_of_scotland/7707869.stm

 

Ireland:

 

12) Despite what Greenpeace might want the public believe about the

FSC being well on the way to bcoming a credible certification scheme

again, people living with the effects of some of FSC's certified

operations know better. In Ireland, as FSC-Watch has been reporting

for the last two years, the state forestry company Coillte has

remained FSC certified for the last seven years, despite the numerous

failures being known by both its certifier and the FSC itself. The

latest report of Coillte's negligent practices shown below have been

published in the Irish Examiner newspaper. The case continues to be a

stark reminder of FSC's utter impotence in dealing with wayward

certifiers, such as the Soil Association, which has blustered,

deferred and dissembled in defence of its certification of what is an

obviously non-compliant company. (Unfortunately, we do not have photos

of the Soil Assocation-certified pollution and degradation of

freshwater habitats which the above Soil Association-certified soil

erosion is causing, but will make these available if they become

available). 'Seas of mud being washed into rivers' AN ECOLOGICAL

disaster is on the cards because of tree felling by the state's

forestry company, environmentalists have claimed. Friends of the Irish

Environment (FIE) accused Coillte of flouting strict tree felling

conditions, designed to protect the environment, on a site in north

Cork. But Coillte rejected the accusations and said it has complied

with all regulations. " No statutory body has lodged any complaints

regarding environmental or other damage on the site in question, " a

spokesperson said The state-owned forestry company is felling a Sitka

spruce plantation in the Ballyhoura Mountains, near Doneraile. The

site is in the catchment of the Awbeg River, a tributary of the

Blackwater. The Awbeg is a breeding ground for otters and supports a

significant population of Atlantic salmon. The river also supports a

population of White-clawed crayfish, a threatened species. FIE

spokesman Tony Lowes claimed that silt traps have not been put in

place on the felling site, and that special tracks to carry heavy

machinery have not been provided. " Seas of mud are being washed into

the rivers. There is major silt and pollution going in to rivers

because proper procedures are not being adhered to. " The protesters

called for a halt to the felling until proper protection is put in to

stop the environmental damage. But Coillte said its forests have been

certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) since 2001 as being

managed responsibly. " FSC certification mean that our forest management

meets strict environmental, social and economic criteria, " the

spokesperson said.

http://www.fsc-watch.org/archives/2008/11/06/FSC_s_certified_disgrace_Ireland

 

Norway:

 

13) " REDD, " as it happens, is Norwegian for " scared. " So, did the

notorious forest-based climate change mitigation mechanism invoke fear

in the hearts of delegates at the Oslo conference on Rights, Forests,

and Climate Change last week? Hardly. The event, jointly organized by

Rights and Resources Initiative and Rainforest Foundation Norway,

inspired a well-balanced critique of the prospects for REDD. The

dominant emotions were hope and caution, in roughly equal measure.

Hope was evident most clearly in the consensus shown by a diverse

group of participants—government officials from North and South,

inter-governmental organizations, universities, environmental NGOs and

campaigners, representatives of indigenous peoples and forest users'

groups—that issues of equity, rights, and tenure are crucial to

negotiations on forests and climate change. In his address to the

conference, Erik Solheim, the Norwegian Minister for Environment and

International Development, asserted that there is " no way for world

leaders to avoid the issue of rights " for indigenous and local people

in the design of REDD. The topic of this conference already has their

attention; the task before participants was to demonstrate the most

effective way of addressing rights within the forest and climate

change agenda. Several encouraging examples were given of progress

within the forest sector. From Nepal, senior representatives from both

government and civil society were on hand to explain how the lessons

of community forestry are now being applied to the development of a

national REDD strategy. Recognizing the success with which local

people have managed and conserved forests, the government of Nepal has

included representatives of community forest groups from the outset in

the design of a REDD readiness plan supported by the World Bank's

Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF). On an international scale,

groundbreaking research, presented by Prof Arun Agrawal from the

University of Michigan, showed how community forestry can result in

win-win solutions in terms of improved livelihoods and forest carbon

stocks. He emphasized that such solutions were most likely where

communities had control of relatively large areas of forest land and

enjoyed a high degree of autonomy in forest management.

http://rightsandclimate.org/2008/10/27/whos-afraid-of-redd-reflections-from-ben-\

vickers-senior-program-officer-at-recoftc/

 

Ukraine:

 

14) The Cabinet of Ministers has passed a resolution imposing special

restrictions on the clearance of forests in the Carpathian Mountains

(West Ukraine). The State Forestry Committee said that the document

had been passed in connection with July's devastating floods in

western Ukraine that were explained by the illegal cutting of forests.

At the same time, environmentalists believe that these measures are

insufficient and that deforestation should be fully banned in the

Carpathians. According to the document, which will take effect on

January 1, 2009, the complete clearance of forests and deforested

areas in the Carpathians should be significantly restricted, while the

clauses of general rules for deforestation in Ukrainian forests

permitting the systematic cutting of forests, will not be applied to

forests in Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv and Chernivtsi regions.

In particular, if 40-50% of one hectare of forests can be cleared

according to current rules, this figure will be no more than 30% for

the Carpathian forests. According to the new document, the width of a

wood cutting area should not exceed 50 meters. It was deforestation

that was described by ecologists as a major reason for July's floods

in the Carpathian region. Thirty people died and tens of thousands of

residential houses were flooded as a result of torrential rain in

western Ukraine.

http://allukraine.blogspot.com/2008/10/government-restricts-deforestation-in.htm\

l

 

 

Nigeria:

 

15) ``Between 1990 and 2000, Nigeria lost an average of 409,700

hectares of forest per year. This amounts to an average annual

deforestation rate of 2.38 per cent,'' she said. She said that the

primary cause of deforestation in the dry lands of the country was

traceable to domestic forces, particularly agricultural production and

local demands for fuel wood. ``Generally, the population burns more

than 40.5 million tonnes of firewood each year, destroying more than

400,000 hectares of forest. ``Deforestation contributes to the process

of desertification and progressive decline of the productive

capacities of natural resources upon which majority of the population

depend for livelihood. ``Without adequate concerted efforts toward

tackling the problems of deforestation and desertification on greater

scale, the dry land areas of the country could be at risk of

ecological disaster,'' she said. Alao said that tackling the

deforestation and desertification problem in the country was essential

to the achievement of the 7-point agenda, the MDGs and the NEPAD

environmental initiative. ``It is also critical to the realisation of

the vision 20 2020 that aims at catapulting the nation into one of the

20 largest economies in the world,'' she added. The minister, however,

enjoined participants at the dialogue to evolve workable solutions

that would ensure a credible road map to effective tackling of

environmental problems. In his address of welcoming, Amb. Tunji

Olagunju, Special Adviser to the President on NEPAD, said that the key

objective of NEPAD initiative was to combat poverty and contribute to

socio-economic development in the country. ``NEPAD Nigeria wishes to

call for the global adoption of a coherent action plan and strategies

to address the environmental priorities of the country. ``The

Environment is seen as a separate issue from development rather than

an approach that cuts across and must be considered by all development

sectors resulting to short term interests,'' he said. The Adviser, who

was represented by Mr Emmanuel Ogbile, former Director in NEPAD, said

that the present administration was aware of the situation and had

taken the necessary steps though its 7-point agenda to address some of

the issues. He said that NEPAD would partner with the private sector

and development partners in combating deforestation and

desertification, adding that today's event was one of activities

geared toward finding solutions to environmental problems in the

country. http://www.triumphnewspapers.com/nig30102008.html

 

16) Borno state which is located in the desert region of the

north-eastern part of Nigeria, borders around the Sahel savannah

vegetation. The state is believed to be naturally affected by

deforestation because it experiences less rainfall, high temperature

and sparsely covered by vegetation due to its geographical location.

Unlike other geographical regions of Nigeria such as the coastal areas

comprising Calabar, Akwa Ibom and Bayelsa, the Sudan savannah of

Bauchi, Plateau, Gombe and the Guinea savannah encompasses Taraba,

Adamawa, Kaduna among others. Transitional woodland also comprises

states like Niger, Abuja, Nasarawa and Benue. These regions record

torrential rainfall, less temperature and are heavily covered by

vegetation and other green covers due to their geographical locations.

The human factors also contribute immensely to deforestation in Borno

state. Studies show that 84% of the populace rely solely on firewood

for cooking. This observation also reveals that 57% of the total

population have been using firewood for over 10 decades which is an

indication that the activity of deforestation has been taking place

for a long time. The consequences of deforestation may have far

reaching effects on human life. Mohammed Bukar Ngamdu, a lecturer in

the Geography Department at the Bukar Abba Ibrahim University,

Damaturu, Yobe State , ascertained that " timber exploitation, mostly

from the high forest covering about 12.41 million hectares of the

country's 91.1 million hectares of land space i.e. about 13.5% can

disrupt forest stability and its ecosystem. The disturbance is not

only in terms of its inability to regenerate through natural

processes, but some species of trees and fauna are endangered " .

http://allafrica.com/stories/200810290406.html

 

17) The government said issues of deforestation, soil degradation,

water contamination, coastal and gully erosion are pervading

throughout the country with the deforestation rate hitting 3.5 per

cent or 400,000 hectares per annum of the total land area of the

country. Minister of State for Environment, Housing and Urban

Development, Chuka Odom, who made this known in an address sent to the

sensitization workshop on Enugu State Green Project held in Enugu,

lamented that massive deforestation in the country has resulted in

poor soil productivity, desertification, loss of aquatic life,

coastal/soil erosion and biodiversity loss. He also said that the

development has caused water and air pollution, drying up of water

bodies, erratic flooding causing loss of life and property, and

diseases, stressing that a combination of these environmental

conditions had contributed to the amplification of poverty in the

country especially in the rural communities. " More worrisome is the

fact that in terms of physical goods, reports have shown that Nigeria

would be about 92 million m3 in deficit of wood and wood products by

2010, " the minister added. He identified the causes of deforestation

to include illegal logging, incessant bush burning, overgrazing,

unsustainable agricultural practices and clearing the forests for

other land uses including gas flaring in the Niger Delta region. To

reverse the trend, Udom said deliberate efforts must be made to focus

on the development of forests and other renewable resources through

resourceful contributions of all stakeholders including government

agencies, private sector, non-governmental organisations, community

based organisations and individuals at all levels. He therefore

commended the Green Project initiative of Enugu State Government

saying the Federal Government was willing to partner with the

government to ensure the realization of the objective. The minister

advised that the programme should involve the production, planting and

maintenance of tree seedlings for food security, alternative sources

of energy, job creation, poverty alleviation and mitigation of the

impact of climate change which, he said, were in line with President

Yar'Adua's seven point agenda.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/content/view/21162/45/

 

Congo:

 

18) A new study by the Wildlife Conservation Society and Save the

Elephants published in the open access Journal PloSONE has revealed

massive collapse of forest elephant home range in the shrinking

wildernesses of the Congo Basin forest. The researchers fitted Global

Positioning System telemetry collars onto 28 forest elephants living

in six different national parks in the contiguous forests of Central

Africa. Each park was found in a different road-less wilderness, free

of major roads, and each wilderness varied in size, from the smallest

at just 59km2 to 11,793 km2 (which at the time of the study was the

largest wilderness in the Congo Basin excluding swamps). The GPS

tracking data showed that forest elephant home range size was directly

related to the area of the roadless wilderness within which they

lived. Average home range in the smallest wilderness was just 76 km2,

whilst in the then vast Ndoki forest it was 1,284 km2. The largest

home range, of a female called Spikey was some 2,226 km2. The

researchers found that forest elephants adopt a " siege " strategy in

the face of road encroachment, shrinking their home ranges to avoid

proximity to roads that are used by poachers. Only one elephant

crossed an unprotected road, streaking across the road 14 times faster

than her normal travelling speed. No other elephant was brave enough

to attempt such a feat. On the other hand, the collared forest

elephants routinely crossed roads that were located inside national

parks and thus afforded at least some protection from poaching. The

study highlighted the dramatic decline of forest wilderness taking

place in the Congo Basin, as road developments open up the interior of

the Basin for logging, mining, and oil production. Since the elephant

movement data were collected, the largest road-less wilderness in

central Africa, home to one if the most important elephant populations

on the continent, has shrunk by 89%, while others have disappeared

completely. The consequences for the future of the forest elephant and

its habitat are catastrophic.

http://baraza.wildlifedirect.org/2008/10/28/elephant-range-collapses-in-congo-ba\

sin/

 

19) In the last decade, 120 rangers have died due to the civil

conflict. Virunga's rangers often work with little or no wages to

guard one of the mountain gorillas' last many and many other natural

treasures of Virunga Park, including the greatest diversity of

vertebrae species in all of Africa. Now, Five days after rebels

occupied Virunga Park's headquarters, thirty-nine wildlife rangers are

still unaccounted in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). During

the takeover, which included fighting between the Congolese army and

the rebels, many of the rangers fled into the forest. " The situation

in Virunga is incredibly dangerous; the safety of the rangers caught

in the crossfire is our first priority, " Dr Noëlle Kümpel, said, the

Zoological Society of London's (ZSL) Africa Programme Manager. The

rangers are supported by funds from the EU, ZSL, and other

conservation organizations. The rangers who fled do not have food,

water, or shelter elsewhere in the park. Virunga National Park is home

to 200 mountain gorillas. Critically endangered, these massive and

largely peaceful primates have come under increasing threat due to the

rebels' invasion and a humanitarian crisis surrounding the park. In

July 2007 the park made international news when four gorillas were

found shot " execution-style " . No one has been convicted of the crime.

http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1030-hance_gorillas.html

 

 

20) All of the missing rangers have now been accounted for after they

fled Virunga Park Headquarters in the Democratic Republic of Congo

(DRC). The headquarters was seized by rebels led by Laurent Nkunda on

October 26th. The rangers fled to different destinations, some of them

walking up to five days without food, water, or shelter. Though a few

have yet to return, all of them have been accounted for through cell

phones or sightings. Due to the unrest in the area, a refugee camp was

set up in the town of Goma. Many of the rangers have returned to Goma

and their families. Cholera has swept the camp, however, and one

ranger has died in the hospital from the disease. In the last decade,

120 rangers have died due to the civil conflict in the DRC. Virunga's

rangers have received no wages recently and a lot of equipment was

lost or broken during the flight. It is not certain when the rangers

may return to the park, famous for its mountain gorillas. Thousands of

civilians have fled from the fighting in the DRC and the humanitarian

crisis has worsened due to lack of food and clean water. A ceasefire

between the DRC and the rebels, which was negotiated after the rebels

took control of Goma, appeared to be in trouble today as skirmishes

broke-out in the region.

http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1106-hance_congo.html

 

 

Ghana:

 

21) Mr Francis Wilson Owusu, a Research Scientist at the Forest

Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG), on Wednesday stressed the need

for industries to collaborate with the institute to research into the

utilization of lesser-used timber species to address the needs of the

society. He said FORIG, one of the 13 institutes of Council for

Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), was successful in working

on some of the timber species that were unknown or less used and had

been adopted and were on the market. Mr Owusu said this at a seminar

to commemorate the celebration of " 100 Years of Forestry in Ghana " , as

part of the on-going GIFEX 2008 in Accra. Speaking on the topic: " 100

years Forestry in Ghana; The role of FORIG in the Utilization of Wood

Species " , he said out of 730 tree species in the forest, more than 37

were lesser-used species. " Out of the 730 species, 240 of these grow

to timber size, only 95 species are traded in and 15 species are over

exploited, " he said. Mr Owusu therefore called for the promotion the

utilization of lesser-used species to increase the resource base and

reduce pressure on the prime species some of which had been listed by

International Union for Conservation of Nature as endangered. He said

currently, FORIG had studied over 28 lesser-used species, which were

being used to produce garden chairs and tables, drawing boards, beds,

wardrobes and sunbeds, among others. Dr Daniel Sekyere, Deputy, CSIR-FORIG, said Ghana's potential forest zone covered 8.2

million hectares out of which 1.7 million hectares were under forest

reservation and the remaining 6.5 million are for agriculture,

settlements, roads and railways.

http://news.myjoyonline.com/technology/200810/21931.asp

 

Kenya:

 

22) Godwin Kowero, Executive Secretary, Kenya-based African Forest

Forum, has decried the neglect of the dry forest sector on the

continent. Addressing the 32nd annual conference of Forestry

Association of Nigeria (FAN) in Umuahia, Kowero stressed the need to

acknowledge the significant role dry forests played in agricultural

production. He noted that dry forests supported about 500 million

people on the continent as opposed to the rain forests, which, he

said, supported 50 million people. " When you talk about poverty

reduction and environment protection, attention should be on the dry

forests as well, " said the Kenyan scholar. According to him, nearly

all the major river basins in sub-Saharan Africa are either located or

have their head water in dry forests. " Seventy four per cent of the

dry forests are found in 41 sub-Saharan African countries and they

form the dominant vegetation of about 63 per cent of these forests, "

he said. Kowero expressed concern that Africa was experiencing water

shortage capable of limiting the efficiency of the dry forests

" because irrigation agriculture requires managing the water basin

efficiently. " The professor regretted that though Africa was

urbanising more than any other part of the globe, " yet the impact of

this is not felt because the continent is steadily moving toward low

industrialisation. " He said that the AU was set to implement the

Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) to

ensure food security on the continent. Kowero said that CAADP aimed to

attain an average annual growth rate of six per cent in agriculture.

Kowero said that the present average annual growth rate of 3.9 per

cent had made the food crisis on the continent alarming.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/content/view/19956/45/

 

 

23) The latest in a spate of films about strong African females and

their impact on the political landscape, Lisa Merton and Alan Dater's

Kenyan " Taking Root, " like Ginny Reticker's " Pray the Devil Back to

Hell, " attests to the seismic changes wrought by women of different

religions and ethnicities working together. Docu bears witness as

indomitable Nobel Peace Prize-winner Wangari Maathai reverses a

century of ecological, cultural and social devastation by simply

planting trees, giving grassroots activism new meaning. Lucid,

lovingly crafted pic, which won the audience award at Hot Docs, has a

shot at niche play before flourishing in ancillary. Maathai -- a

potent, holistic blend of folkloric lyricism and scientific cogency --

traces Africa's problems back to specific colonial practices

(continued by corrupt post-colonial rulers) that systematically

impoverished the continent. Graphic archival clips chronicle

widespread deforestation to harvest timber, clear land for coffee and

tea plantations, and finally, in a tidal wave of vegetative slaughter,

to drive out the Mau Mau, depicted here not as a bloodthirsty tribal

menace but as an indigenous liberation army. Deforestation leads to

soil erosion and the drying up of rivers, while the scarcity of wood

leads to the forsaking of traditional foodstuffs, which, in turn,

leads to malnutrition, particularly given the colonial-enforced

abandonment of subsistence farming for cash crops. This illustrated

reading of Kenya's recent history is granted credibility by the speed

with which Maathai's Green Belt Movement -- which encouraged the

nation's women to plant millions of trees -- was able to turn around

much of the ecological damage. Additionally, Maathai's vast network of

green is shown to be easily mobilized against government abuses. As

seen in newsreel coverage of the Green Belt Movement's incursion into

the political arena, via hunger strikes and protests by mothers of

jailed political prisoners, the dissidents hold fast despite violent

surges of repression. When President Moi, Kenya's longtime dictator,

sought to destroy Nairobi's sole city park to build a luxury high-rise

fronted by a giant statue of himself (filmmakers provide clips of a

glistening mock-up), Maathai's letters to Western leaders induced them

to withdraw financial support, weakening Moi's already tenuous hold on

power. Docu's inspirational focus precludes delving into many ongoing

problems still plaguing the nation. Yet Maathai's vision of thousands

of seedlings grown into new forests, and of vibrant, healthy people

reconnected to their culture and their land, proves no utopian dream,

as Merton and Dater's verdant footage amply illustrates.

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117938858.html?categoryid=31 & cs=1

 

24) Obama has shown us all that a society can elect its best person as

leader, and reject the ethnic labels we are so often stuck with. So

many leaders across the world, in Africa especially, have exploited

these differences to divide their people and bring misery and

conflict. Right now that is happening on a catastrophic scale in the

Democratic Republic of Congo. I hope that leaders across Africa will

be inspired: here is a young man who could have been one of their own

people, but who may have found it impossible to overcome his ethnicity

in the continent of his father. This morning I am going to Uhuru Park

in Nairobi to plant a tree. A plaque on it will read: " This was

planted to mark the moment Barack Obama was elected president of the

United States of America. " It will stand next to the tree that Obama

planted when he visited last year, and will be a lasting testament to

this historic moment: a wonderful thing for America and the world.

Across Kenya, people are celebrating the fact that a son of this

nation has become president. Many stayed up all night. There is such a

feeling of connection with him that a national holiday has been

declared. Kenyans know he is first and foremost American, but at the

same time someone we can call a relative. I was at the US embassy in

our capital yesterday at 5am, when the announcement came in. There

were so many people, many of them students or schoolchildren, feeling

such excitement and happiness. Obama has demonstrated that America is

a country where, if you are strong, committed and focused, you can

reach your goals. I hope that young Kenyans who see this can be

inspired to raise the bar for themselves, to go beyond the barriers

that have prevented so many from realising the dreams of America. And

I hope other countries can give their own sons and daughters the same

chances in life. Similarly, I hope that African leaders can take

advantage of the opportunities Obama's administration is likely to

create. It is important for African citizens to realise that he's not

directly going to feed them, clothe them, pay them, or take away their

difficulties; what they need to do is roll up their sleeves and make

the most of the new situation. Earlier this year Kenya was riven by

ethnic conflict.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/06/uselections2008-barackobama1

 

 

Uganda:

 

25) The NFA Bugongo System Range Manager, Mr David Mununuzi said the

NFA offered over 900 acres of land to over 450 developers in Bunyoro

sub- region to grow trees and supplement the government's efforts to

conserve the environment. Mr Mununuzi is, however, disappointed that

some of the investors who were given leases to plant trees have

instead turned into pit sawyers who illegally cut down trees and use

the cleared land for crop farming. " It is a pity that some investors

are cutting down trees in reserves instead of planting trees on the

land we offered them, " Mr Mununuzi said. He said private developers

have joined encroachers to sabotage NFA's efforts to protect and

utilise the forests in a sustainable manner. According to Mr Mununuzi,

the encroachers are also engaged in poaching, ,setting up settlements

in the forest reserve among others. Since 2005 NFA has been offering

leases in forests reserves to interested private developers to plant

trees. The leases cover Budong, Bugoma, Rwesama, Kyahiguru,

Kandandangobya, Bujaawe, Kasongoire, Kyamugongo, Ibamba, Guramwa,

Ruzaire, Muziizi forest reserves in Hoima District. The investors were

required to plant hard wood and fruit trees. Among the recommended

hardwood tree species were eucalyptus, myzopsis, musizi, mvule and

pine species. NFA advertised for interested developers to apply for

the land and technocrats at NFA received and evaluated the

applications. Successful applicants signed agreements with NFA and a

lease offer ranging from 25 years to 49 years was given to them after

signing an acceptance offer. " The investors are required to adhere to

the agreement and the letters of acceptance we signed with them but

many of them are doing the contrary and we shall cancel their leases, "

Mr Mununuzi said. http://allafrica.com/stories/200811010094.html

 

26) PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni recently said he was concerned about the

rampant destruction of forests in the country. Speaking during the

Ninth President's Export Award at Imperial Royale Hotel last month,

Museveni emphasised Government's regulation of various sectors of the

economy as a solution to the economic meltdown that has rocked the US

and Europe and said he would sort out NFA's complacence. " National

Forest Authority (NFA's) name should be changed to National

Deforestation Authority because they don't care about forests. But we

shall sort them out, " Museveni warned. " You cannot have investment

without regulation of the environment. The telecom sector is doing

well because there is regulation. The same thing should happen in

other sectors. " This sums up what the president is thinking, say

environmental activists under the Advocates Coalition for Development

and Environment (ACODE). They also say the attack is unfair. The

National Forestry Authority manages a small part of the forests. " It

is true that deforestation is taking place, but much of it is

affecting forests on private land, " says Moses Watasa, the public

relations manager of NFA. " The mandate of NFA is restricted to forest

reserves. " Over 70% of the forest cover is located on private land,

which is supposed to be managed by private land owners and the

district forestry services. NFA manages only 15% of the forests and

the remaining 15% are under the Uganda Wildlife Authority. The

District Forest Services, which was supposed to be a sister

institution to NFA, has remained crippled due to lack of funding. In

addition, the Government's re-structuring process has not embraced it.

The forestry support services department is supposed to be the

overseer of the NFA and the District Forestry Services.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200811030158.html

 

27) Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni — a leader who has repeatedly

sought to hand forest areas over to industrial developers and

undermine the sanctity of reserves — is now blaming the country's

forestry agency for deforestation in Uganda. " National Forest

Authority (NFA's) name should be changed to National Deforestation

Authority because they don't care about forests. But we shall sort

them out, " Museveni was quoted as saying by Uganda's New Vision

newspaper. " You cannot have investment without regulation of the

environment. " Museveni has been at odds with the National Forest

Authority (NFA) over his attempts to grant 7,000 hectares of Mabira

forest reserve to a sugar cane plantation company and to hand over a

forest reserve on Bugala island in Lake Victoria to oil palm

developers. Both projects have now been shelved (Mabira in October

2007, Bugala in May 2007), but Museveni has also battled NFA over

evictions of encroachers in protected forests ordering the agency to

halt evictions in 2005. Uganda's annual deforestation rate has climbed

21 percent since the end of the 1990s. The country lost an average of

86,400 hectares of forest—or 2.1 percent of its forest cover—per year

between 2000 and 2005. On a generational time scale, Uganda lost 26.3

percent of its forest cover (1.3 million hectares) between 1990 and

2005, mostly due to subsistence farming and cutting for fuelwood, but

increasingly the result of industrial activities. This forest loss is

directly threatening some of the highest concentrations of

biodiversity in Africa: Uganda is home to more than 5,000 plant

species, 345 species of mammals, and types of 1,015 birds.

http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1103-uganda.html

 

 

Tanzania:

 

28) In Tanzania, the chimps are isolated in a very tiny patch of

forest. I flew over it 13 years ago and realized that, basically, all

the trees had gone, that people all around the park are struggling to

survive. It became very clear that there was no way to protect the

chimps while the people were in this dire circumstance. We started

Take Care, a very holistic program aimed at improving the lives of

people in the villages. It emphasizes ways of farming in a very

degraded landscape, ways of restoring overused farmland so it can

become productive, giving credit to women and scholarships to keep

girls in school, and providing information about family planning. As

women's education and empowerment improves, family size drops. It is

the constant growth of population that is underlying so much

destruction everywhere. Around the Gombe chimps, many of the villages

now have forests going again. In five years, you can get a 30-foot

tree growing from a seemingly dead stump. We're working with farmers

to get them a really good price for their coffee. The villages are so

pleased with us that they have agreed with the land management plan to

leave 10% to 20% of village land aside for conserving forest or

regeneration. The chimps will be able to get out of Gombe and rejoin

with other groups. The size of the family has begun to show signs of

getting smaller. In 32 villages, the average number of surviving

children was seven. It's now down to five, but we have to get it down

to two. That includes people in the developed world as well. One child

in developed society is using so much more resources than a child in

an African village. I travel 300 days a year. I get to Gombe twice a

year, the maximum, a week at a time. Usually, there is a film team

tagging along or a group of VIPs, which hinders what I want to do,

which is to get out in the forest by myself. The rest of my time I

spend at my sister's house in Bournemouth, on the south coast of

England. That's where I keep all my stuff and do my writing. I think

back to those days when I get to Gombe briefly and climb up into the

mountains by myself. I think, " My goodness! What have I let myself in

for? " http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-sci-goodall1-2008nov01,0\

,7982962.story

 

 

29) A critically endangered bat species has made a dramatic recovery

from the brink of extinction, report conservationists. Down from a

handful of individuals in 1989, the Pemba flying fox population on the

island of Pemba, off the coast of Tanzania, now stands at more than

22,000. The recovery owes to the efforts of Fauna & Flora

International (FFI) and the Department of Commercial Crops, Fruits and

Forestry (DCCFF) which established new reserves to protect critical

habitat for the species and launched local education initiatives to

raise awareness of its plight and reduce hunting. Today local

residents take pride in protecting the charismatic species, which is

endemic to the island and is one of Africa's largest bat species (with

a wingspan of five-and-a-half feet). " Less than twenty years ago this

bat looked set to disappear off the face of the planet forever. Thanks

to the enthusiasm of local people, FFI's ongoing conservation efforts

have managed to claw this species back from the brink of extinction, "

said Joy Juma, FFI East Africa Programme Assistant. " At one time roast

bat was a very common dish on Pemba. Now people value the bats for

different reasons. " Community-led " Pemba flying fox clubs " , which help

protect the bat through education and monitoring, have been appearing

all over the island, according to FFI. Local groups are now looking at

ways to use the Pemba flying fox as a draw for ecotourists, although

benefits from the conservation of the species extend well beyond

tourism — fruit bats play a vital role as seed dispersers and

pollinators, especially on islands.

http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1031-bat.html

 

South Africa:

 

30) As the FSC General Assembly opened in Cape Town, northern NGOs

were falling over themselves to issue statements as to how the FSC

should be 'reformed' - or to try to claim that it already has been -

but the contradictory demands set out by these NGOs are likely to

ensure that the FSC will continue to stumble towards chaos,

irrelevance and non-credibility. First amongst the NGO statements was

the Brussels and UK-based FERN, in a statement issued jointly with

Greenpeace, the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation (SSNC), the

Tropical Forest Trust and the African logging lobby organisation, the

Inter-African Forest Industry Association (IFIA). Asserting that the

FSC's problems " are so severe that supporting FSC threatens their own

organisations' credibility " , FERN and its friends have identified

three main areas in need of improvement, specifically: 1) The lack of

performance of the certification bodies, on which the statement says

that " The quality of the certificates issued in FSC's name by

certification bodies is highly variable and, in too many cases, simply

not good enough. This is the most visible and dangerous threat to the

credibility of FSC. Too many forest management certificates do not

meet FSC standards... " 2) FSC's controlled wood policy, which the

statement says " is not working for companies or for environmental or

social NGOs " and that it " puts FSC in a difficult position because the

policy allows too much scope for company self auditing " . FERN claims

that " out of the 10,000+ FSC chain of custody certificates more than

half include controlled wood " . 3) FSC's complaints mechanism: " The

previous FSC complaints mechanism clearly did not function. The new,

not yet adopted system, may be a great improvement but is not yet

operational and it is unclear what its status is " .

http://www.fsc-watch.org/archives/2008/11/04/NGOs_in_a_tangle_ove

 

 

Iraq:

 

31) Forests in the north and palm groves in the south have been

obliterated to remove the enemy's hiding places. Rivers are salted,

water is contaminated with sewage, and land is strewn with mines,

unexploded bombs, chemical waste, rubble and trash. " When we talk

about it, people may think we are overreacting. But in fact the

environmental catastrophe that we inherited in Iraq is even worse than

it sounds, " Iraqi Environment Minister Nermeen Othman said in an

interview. " War destroys countries' environments, not just their

people. War and its effects have led to changes in the social,

economic and environmental fabric, " she said. " It will take centuries

to restore the natural environment of Iraq. " The ecological

destruction has already caused increases in rates of cancer and

infectious disease. " Most of the infectious diseases and cancer are

environmental diseases. When we talk about the environment we mean

health. " Although the fighting has not stopped, violence is now at

four-year lows. Work has already begun to clean up after the war, but

it is slow. With the help of the United Nations Environment Programme

in 2005, Iraq identified 25 pollution hotspots that needed the most

urgent cleanup, many of them military manufacturing sites. The

environment ministry has planted 17 million trees in Iraq so far this

year -- up from 7.5 million last year -- helping to undo the damage in

places where palm groves and forests were chopped down to remove

hiding places for rebels. By far the biggest environmental success

since the 2003 invasion has been the reflooding of Iraq's vast

southern marshes, where the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates flood

the land before reaching the Gulf. The marshes were drained by former

dictator Saddam Hussein, to divert the water for agriculture and to

make the long border with Iran easier to defend. That destroyed a

unique, diverse natural habitat for wildlife and wrecked a

centuries-old native Marsh Arab culture. " The drainage of the marshes

is one of the ugly crimes against the environment of the world, " said

Othman. With help from the UN, the Japanese government and local

efforts, Iraq has reflooded and restored 55 percent of the marshland

since 2003. Such successes are important, but a host of other

environmental issues have yet to be tackled.

http://forests.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=109108