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Urbanization, Export Crops Drive Deforestation
London, February 9, 2010 -
The drivers of tropical deforestation have shifted in the early 21st century to hinge on growth of cities and the globalized agricultural trade, a new large-scale study concludes. The observations starkly reverse assumptions by some scientists that fast-growing urbanization and the efficiencies of global trade might eventually slow or reverse tropical deforestation. The study, which covers most of the world’s tropical land area, appears in this week’s early edition of the journal Nature Geoscience.
> www.earth.columbia.edu: Urbanization, Export Crops Drive Deforestation
The Amazon Is Not Eternal
Paris, February 2, 2010 -
The Amazon jungle "is very close to a tipping point," and if destruction continues, it could shrink to one third of its original size in just 65 years, warns Thomas Lovejoy, world-renowned tropical biologist.
> www.ipsnews.net: The Amazon Is Not Eternal
Haiti Earthquake, Deforestation Heighten Landslide Risk
The border between Haiti (left) and the Dominican Republic highlights the relative deforestation of Haiti.
Haiti, January 14 2010 -
The combination of widespread deforestation and the recent earthquake in Haiti could lead to more landslides in the already hard-hit country, scientists say.
> news.nationalgeographic.com: Earthquake, Deforestation Heighten Landslide Risk
Pine beetle turns trees to carbon emitters
Vancouver, (British Columbia), January 10 2010 -
Canadian researchers say the pine beetle has killed so many trees, the forests of British Columbia now put more greenhouse gases into the air than they store.
The experts say that has been true since 2003, The Toronto Globe and Mail reported Saturday. By last year, dead lodgepole pines had a bigger carbon footprint than the province's human population.
> www.upi.com: Pine beetle turns trees to carbon emitters
Longer growing season cuts tree CO2 intake
Boulder, Colo/USA, January 7, 2010 -
Western U.S. sub-alpine forests will soak up less carbon dioxide than they do now as the climate warms and growing seasons lengthen, a university study found. As a result, more of the so-called greenhouse gas will be left to concentrate in the atmosphere, the study by researchers at the University of Colorado in Boulder indicated. "Our findings contradict studies of other ecosystems that conclude longer growing seasons actually increase plant carbon uptake," said Jia Hu, who conducted the research as an ecology and evolutionary-biology graduate student.
> www.terradaily.com: Longer growing season cuts tree CO2 intake
Plan to turn farms into forest worries Obama official
Washington, December 28 2009 -
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has ordered his staff to revise a computerized forecasting model that showed that climate legislation supported by President Obama would make planting trees more lucrative than producing food.
> washingtontimes.com: Plan to turn farms into forest worries Obama official
Borneo mega-dams proposal raises fears for tribes, wildlife
Kuala Lumpur, December 27, 2009 -
A massive tract of Borneo jungle, an area the size of Singapore, will soon disappear under the waters of the Bakun dam, a multi-billion-dollar project nearing completion after years of controversy.
> www.terradaily.com/afp: Plan to turn farms into forest worries Obama official
Deforestation Deal, Copenhagen’s Supposed Savior, Hits New Low as Targets Dropped
Copenhagen, December 12 2009 -
UN climate talks on ending deforestation hit a new low on Saturday after a leaked document revealed that immediate targets to halt forest loss had been cut out of a draft agreement.
Poorer forested countries had been willing to accept deforestation targets, but only with financial assistance. They wanted rich countries to commit to providing billions of dollars for the effort before they agreed to bind themselves to any goals.
Currently, there are no dollar commitments on the table. According to UN estimates, $22.4 billion to $37.3 billion between 2010-2015 would be needed in immediate funding.
> solveclimate.com: Deforestation Deal, Copenhagen’s Supposed Savior, Hits New Low as Targets Dropped
Model predicts future deforestation
London, 20 November 2009 -
A computer model that predicts future changes in the world's forests could strengthen the case of Central African nations that are calling for compensation in exchange for protecting their natural resources.
> www.nature.com: Model predicts future deforestation
Boreal Forests Store Carbon, Need Help: Canada Study
Ottawa, 13 November 2009 -
The world needs to do more to protect boreal forests and peatlands, which store more carbon than any other ecosystem and help mitigate the effects of climate change, a Canadian report issued Thursday said.
> planetark.org: Boreal Forests Store Carbon, Need Help: Canada Study
Up for Grabs: Deforestation and Exploitation in Papua's Plantations Boom
Papoea, November 10 2009 -
The planned expansion of plantations in the Papuan provinces of Indonesia should be immediately suspended and reviewed amid concerns over massive deforestation and widespread exploitation of local communities, environmentalists warned today.
A new report released by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and Telapak – entitled “Up for Grabs” – exposes how five million hectares of land, most of it forested, is being targeted in Papua by powerful companies seeking to cash in on projected demand for biofuels, derived from crops such as oil palm, and other commodities. This land grab is provoking conflicts with local communities and threatens the third largest area of remaining tropical forests on Earth.
> www.eia-international.org: Deforestation and Exploitation in Papua’s Plantations Boom
> www.eia-international.org
Forest's death brings higher temps, researchers suspect
October 21 2009 -
The drive along State Highway 230 into southern Wyoming offers a startling view: A forest of dead or dying lodgepole pines stretching miles across the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest.
"It's just a sea of red needles or gray, skeletal trees," said Tony Tezak, the forest fire management officer at the national forest that straddles the Colorado-Wyoming border. "The scope of the devastation is pretty staggering. It's pretty shocking to see."
> wwwp.dailyclimate.org: Forest's death brings higher temps, researchers suspect
Geoengineering wars: Another scientist teases out a surprising effect of global deforestation
Austin, October 19 2009 — A new and unpublished analysis of the regional impacts of a hypothetical scheme to mitigate global warming via radical deforestation was unveiled here Sunday at a gathering of science journalists and writers, on the heels of a blogging firestorm about geoengineering and climate change in anticipation of the release of Superfreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance.
> www.scientificamerican.com: Geoengineering wars: Another scientist teases out a surprising effect of global deforestation
A Tree's Response To Environmental Changes: What Can We Expect Over The Next 100 Years?
ScienceDaily (Oct. 13, 2009) — The many environmental issues facing our society are prevalent in the media lately. Global warming, rainforest devastation, and endangered species have taken center stage. Our ecosystem is composed of a very delicate network of interactions among all species and the non-living environment. Predicting how each component of this complex system will respond to the many environmental changes sweeping the globe is a challenging problem today's scientists face.
> www.sciencedaily.com: A Tree's Response To Environmental Changes: What Can We Expect Over The Next 100 Years?
Madagascar forests face destruction
Antananarivo, October 9, 2009 -
Environmental groups are protesting the resumption of exports of precious woods from Madagascar, arguing that the wood is logged illegally and that the island's forests are being destroyed.
> www.terradaily.com: Madagascar forests face destruction
Saving forests five times better than carbon capture for climate action
Stockholm, October 7, 2009 —
WWF Sweden is urging its government – holding the current EU Presidency - to get behind an effective international agreement on halting forest loss as a key and highly cost effective measure on climate change.
“Sweden should follow the examples set by its northern neighbors in developing systems to halt deforestation,” said WWF CEO General Lasse Gustavsson.. “One Swedish krona to stem deforestation results in the same emissions reductions as five kronor for the controversial carbon capture and storage technique,”
> www.panda.org: Saving forests five times better than carbon capture for climate action
Deforestation on Sumatra island
London, October 6, 2009 —
The UN wants to cut carbon emissions by paying poorer countries to preserve their forests in a scheme called Reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (Redd).
Around 20% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions are estimated to come from global annual deforestation, which often takes place in the most biodiverse regions of the world, such as Brazil and Indonesia.
The fastest rate of deforestation in Indonesia is occurring in central Sumatra's Riau province, where some 4.2m hectares (65%) of its tropical forests and peat swamps have been cleared for industrial plantations in the past 25 years.
> www.guardian.co.uk: Deforestation on Sumatra island in 23 pictures
> www.guardian.co.uk: UN's forest protection scheme at risk from organised crime, experts warn
Ancient Forests Reveal Clues How to Endure Weather Extremes
Berlin, October 1, 2009 —
Fossilized remnants of long-ago rainforests discovered in Illinois coal mines are providing clues about how trees and their ecosystems were able to withstand weather extremes from ice ages to global warming.
> www.bloomberg.com: Ancient Forests Reveal Clues How to Endure Weather
Daniel Beltra's photographs of deforestation in the Democratic Republic of Congo
London, September 28, 2009 —
Spanish photographer Daniel Beltrá won the 2009 Prince's Rainforests Project (PRP) award at the Sony world photography awards. His prize was a fully funded trip to three of the world's major rainforests in Brazil, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The Guardian presents a selection of photographs from DRC which will be also shown in an exhibition at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London (3 October-6 December), Hotel de Ville, Paris (3-14 October), and the Alexa Centre, Berlin (27 October-7 November).
> www.guardian.co.uk: Daniel Beltra's photographs of deforestation in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Woody plants adapted to past climate change more slowly than herbs
Chapel Hill (USA), September 23, 2009 —
Can we predict which species will be most vulnerable to climate change by studying how they responded in the past? A new study of flowering plants provides a clue. An analysis of more than 5,000 species reveals that woody plants adapted to past climate change more slowly than herbaceous plants did. If the past is any indicator of the future, woody plants may have a harder time than other plants keeping pace with global warming.
> www.eurekalert.org: Woody plants adapted to past climate change more slowly than herbs
Wonder tree could be one answer to food scarcity in Africa
Nairobi (Kenya), August 25, 2009 —
The World Agroforestry Congress held at the UN's Africa headquarters in Nairobi (Kenya) has offered some tree-planting solutions which could help the African continent deal with climate change and also provide a long-term solution to the continent's food scarcity problems.
> www.unep.org: Wonder tree could be one answer to food scarcity in Africa
World's Last Great Forest Under Threat: New Study
Adelaide / New Foundland / Singapore, August 25, 2009 —
The world's last remaining "pristine" forest -- the boreal forest across large stretches of Russia, Canada and other northern countries -- is under increasing threat, a team of international researchers has found.
> www.sciencedaily.com: World's Last Great Forest Under Threat
When money grows on trees
August 13 2009 -
Protecting forests offers a quick and cost-effective way of reducing emissions, but agreeing a means to do so won't be easy.
> www.nature.com: When money grows on trees
Amazon deforestation speeds up: Brazil space agency
Brasilia, August 5 2009 -
Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon rainforest in June was four times more devastating than the month before, further depleting what is seen as one of the biggest buffers against global warming, official data revealed Tuesday.
> www.enn.com: Amazon deforestation speeds up: Brazil space agency
Pakistan Sets Guinness World Record for Tree Planting
Nairobi, 28 July - Fresh from the victory of the T20 Cricket World Cup, Pakistan hit another high by setting a Guinness World Record for planting 541,176 trees in 24 hours. The young mangrove saplings were planted by 300 volunteers on 15 July without using any mechanical equipment in the vast wetlands of the Indus River Delta in Thatta District.
> www.unep.org: Pakistan Sets Guinness World Record for Tree Planting<
Forest fires in Southern Europe destroy much more than trees
Brussels, 28 July 2009 -
Forest fires in Spain, France, Italy and Greece burned more than 50 000 hectares in the last four days. The economic and environmental damage caused by such fires extends well beyond the affected areas. Damage to biodiversity and livelihoods may take decades to reverse.
> www.eea.europa.eu: Forest fires in Southern Europe destroy much more than trees<
Australia's Forests Key to Fighting Global Warming
Sydney, 17 June 2009 -
Towering Mountain Ash forests covering Victoria state's cool highlands hold four times more carbon, or around 1,900 metric tons of carbon per hectare, than tropical forests, scientists at the Australian National University said.
"The trees in these forests can grow to a very old age, at least 350 years, and they can grow very large, very tall, and they grow very dense, heavy wood," said Brendan Mackey, a professor of environment science.
The researchers studied biomass data from 132 forests around the world to discover regions storing the most carbon, with results published in the U.S.-based Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
> planetark.org: Australia's Forests Key to Fighting Global Warming
World of Change: Amazon Deforestation
Washington, May 31 2009 -
The state of Rondonia in western Brazil is one of the most deforested parts of the Amazon. This series shows deforestation on the frontier in the northwestern part of the state between 2000 and 2008.
earthobservatory.nasa.gov: Amazon Deforestation
A Role for Trees in Climate Change Legislation?
Washington, May 11 2009 -
Long the bete noir of conservationists, paper and forest companies are using the climate debate to try to recast themselves as environmental champions, caretakers of natural resources capable of sucking large quantities of heat-trapping carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.
www.scientificamerican.com: A Role for Trees in Climate Change Legislation?
Forests as carbon sinks 'at risk'
London, April 18 2009 -
Forests' role as massive carbon sinks is "at risk of being lost entirely", top forestry scientists have warned.
The International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) says forests are under increasing degrees of stress as a result of climate change.
Forests could release vast amounts of carbon if temperatures rise 2.5C (4.5F) above pre-industrial levels, it adds.
news.bbc.co.uk: Forests as carbon sinks 'at risk'
www.iufro.org: Forests as carbon sink "at risk of being lost entirely'
Regrowing Forests Could Provide Climate Change Help
Madison / Wis/US, April 7 2009 -
A new study shows that allowing cleared forest to grow back can help cut down carbon dioxide emissions.
As policymakers and scientists try to find the best way to pump emissions from coal-fired power plants into deep underground reservoirs, another carbon dioxide sink is already soaking up greenhouse gases and has the potential to soak up much more.
www.sciam.com: Regrowing Forests Could Provide Climate Change Help
www.sciencedaily.com: Potential To Amass More Carbon In Eastern North American Forests (Apr 11 2009)
'Crunch year' for world's forests
London, March 25 2009 -
Efforts to mitigate climate change could be hampered if nations do not agree to protect the world's forests by the end of the year, warn researchers.
news.bbc.co.uk: 'Crunch year' for world's forests
Trees: More than just carbon sinks
London, March 19 2009 -
"In the absence of trees, our communities would simply collapse," states Andrew Dokurugu, a project officer for Tree Aid.
news.bbc.co.uk: Trees: More than just carbon sinks
FAO launches latest report on the State of the World’s Forests 2009
Rome, March 16 2009 -
The dual challenges of economic turmoil and climate change are bringing the management of forests to the forefront of global interest. The need to reform forestry institutions and increase investments in science and technology are key to the better management of forests, notes the State of the World’s Forests 2009 launched today.
www.fao.org: FAO launches latest report on the State of the World’s Forests 2009
Fate of the rainforest is 'irreversible'
Copenhagen, March 12 2009 -
The impact of climate change on the Amazon rainforest could be much worse than previously predicted, new research suggests. A third of the Amazonian 'carbon sink' is doomed whether or not emissions are cut, the Copenhagen conference on Climate Change is told.
Even if emissions were reduced and governments managed to limit temperature rises to 2C – the current aim of international climate policy – between 20 and 40 per cent of the forest could die because of warming, a British scientist told a conference on climate change in Copenhagen yesterday.
www.independent.co.uk: Fate of the rainforest is 'irreversible'
www.telegraph.co.uk: Amazon rainforest at risk of ecological 'catastrophe'
Amazon could shrink by 85% due to climate change, scientists say
London, March 11 2009 -
Global warming will wreck attempts to save the Amazon rainforest, according to a devastating new study which predicts that one-third of its trees will be killed by even modest temperature rises.
www.eurekalert.org: Statement by Sandy Andelman, co-author of 'Drought sensitivity of the Amazon Rainforest'
Canada’s carbon sink has sprung a leak
Montreal, March 10 2009 -
Billions of tiny mountain pine beetles are treating Canada’s boreal forest like a 3,000-mile-long salad bar, transforming a key absorber of carbon dioxide greenhouse gas into a CO2 emitter instead.
features.csmonitor.com: Canada’s carbon sink has sprung a leak
Amazon's 2005 Drought Created Huge CO2 Emissions
Oslo, March 6 2009 -
A 2005 drought in the Amazon rainforest killed trees and released more greenhouse gas than the annual emissions of Europe and Japan, an international study showed.
planetark.org: Amazon's 2005 Drought Created Huge CO2 Emissions
www.eurekalert.org: Statement by Sandy Andelman, co-author of 'Drought sensitivity of the Amazon Rainforest'
Parts of Amazon close to tipping point
Manaus, March 6 2009 -
The Mato Grosso, the most scarred region of the Amazon rainforest, is teetering on a deforestation "tipping point", and may soon be on a one-way route to becoming a dry and relatively barren savannah.
www.newscientist.com: Parts of Amazon close to tipping point
Rethinking the value of planted forests
Rome, February 27 2009 -
With two-thirds of potential industrial wood production available from planted rather than naturally occuring forests, the contribution of planted forests has become increasingly critical to future wood supplies, notes a new FAO study.
www.fao.org: Rethinking the value of planted forests
Wangari Maathai calls on armies to join the Billion Tree Campaign
Nairobi, February 25 2009 -
The world's armies and UN peacekeepers around the globe should join the Billion Tree Campaign as it strives to reach its target of 7 billion trees planted by the end of 2009, according to Nobel Peace Laureate Wangari Maathai.
www.unep.org: Wangari Maathai calls on armies to join the Billion Tree Campaign
Australia fires release huge amount of CO2
Singapore, February 25 2009 --
Bushfires that have scorched Australia's Victoria state released millions of tons of carbon dioxide and forest fires could become a growing source of carbon pollution as the planet warms, a top scientist said on Thursday.
www.climate-l.org: Australia fires release huge amount of CO2
UNFF to Consider Forests and Climate Change
New York, February 25 2009 --
The UN Forum on Forests (UNFF) Secretariat has posted additional documents in preparation for its eighth session, which will convene from 20 April-1 May 2009, in New York, US. These include discussion papers submitted by the Major Groups, and advance unedited reports on, inter alia: forests and climate change; forest degradation and desertification; and recommendations for forests in a changing environment.
www.climate-l.org: UNFF to Consider Forests and Climate Change
Billion dollar jungle
London, February 25 2009 --
Stopping tropical deforestation is part of the struggle against climate change. Developing countries expect rich nations to help pay for it. But will human rights be respected when megabucks are on offer?
www.panos.org: Billion dollar jungle
Fifth of world carbon emissions soaked up by extra forest growth, scientists find
London, February 18 2009 --
Trees across the tropics are getting bigger and offering unexpected help in the fight against climate change, scientists have discovered.
A laborious study of the girth of 70,000 trees across Africa has shown that tropical forests are soaking up more carbon dioxide pollution that anybody realised. Almost one-fifth of our fossil fuel emissions are absorbed by forests across Africa, Amazonia and Asia, the research suggests.
www.guardian.co.uk: Fifth of world carbon emissions soaked up by extra forest growth, scientists find
Indonesia To End Freeze On Peatlands For Plantations
Jakarta, February 17 2009 --
Indonesia will open up peatland forests for plantation crops such as palm oil after freezing new permits for more than a year, an agriculture ministry official said on Monday, in a move that has alarmed green groups.
planetark.org: Indonesia To End Freeze On Peatlands For Plantations
www.wetlands.org: Alarming decision to destroy Indonesia’s last peatswamp forests
AAAS: Tropical forests are drying out because of global warming
Chicago / London, February 15 2009 --
Tropical forests could dry out and become prone to wildfires which could devastate large areas as global warming worsens, scientists have warned.
Damp regions that had previously been considered immune to the type of blazes that blighted Australia this month could turn to tinderboxes as temperatures rise, it is claimed.
www.telegraph.co.uk: Tropical forests are drying out because of global warming
The tropics on fire: scientist's grim vision of global warming
Chicago / London, February 15 2009 --
Tropical forests may dry out and become vulnerable to devastating wildfires as global warming accelerates over the coming decades, a senior scientist has warned.
Soaring greenhouse gas emissions, driven by a surge in coal use in countries such as China and India, are threatening temperature rises that will turn damp and humid forests into parched tinderboxes, said Dr Chris Field, co-chair of the UN's Nobel prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
> www.guardian.co.uk: The tropics on fire: scientist's grim vision of global warming
Biofuels boom could fuel rainforest destruction, Stanford researcher warns
Stanford (Ca), February 15 2009 --
Farmers across the tropics might raze forests to plant biofuel crops, according to new research by Holly Gibbs, a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford's Woods Institute for the Environment.
"If we run our cars on biofuels produced in the tropics, chances will be good that we are effectively burning rainforests in our gas tanks," she warned.
Policies favoring biofuel crop production may inadvertently contribute to, not slow, the process of climate change, Gibbs said. Such an environmental disaster could be "just around the corner without more thoughtful energy policies that consider potential ripple effects on tropical forests," she added.
> www.eurekalert.org: Biofuels boom could fuel rainforest destruction, Stanford researcher warns (Feb 14)
> www.google.com/afp: Biofuels may speed up, not slow global warming: study (Feb 14)
Putting soya impacts on the map
Brasilea, January 20, 2009 -
Monitoring the effects of deforestation on the Amazon is a difficult undertaking. The Amazon is huge and it's extremely difficult to keep tabs on what's happening in the remote fringes of the rainforest. News of illegal logging and the spread of soya plantations can take a long time – if ever - to reach the authorities.
www.greenpeace.org: Putting soya impacts on the map
Canada's forests, once huge help on greenhouse gases, now contribute to climate change
Vancouver, January 2 2009 —
As relentlessly bad as the news about global warming seems to be, with ice at the poles melting faster than scientists had predicted and world temperatures rising higher than expected, there was at least a reservoir of hope stored here in Canada's vast forests.
The country's 1.2 million square miles of trees have been dubbed the "lungs of the planet" by ecologists because they account for more than 7 percent of Earth's total forest lands. They could always be depended upon to suck in vast quantities of carbon dioxide, naturally cleansing the world of much of the harmful heat-trapping gas. But not anymore.
In an alarming yet little-noticed series of recent studies, scientists have concluded that Canada's precious forests, stressed from damage caused by global warming, insect infestations and persistent fires, have crossed an ominous line and are now pumping out more climate-changing carbon dioxide than they are sequestering.
www.chicagotribune.com: Canada's forests, once huge help on greenhouse gases, now contribute to climate change
Is Bamboo Flooring Better for the Planet Than Traditional Hardwood?
December 15 2008 -
Bamboo’s environmental benefits are numerous in relation to wood and other resources, and today's heightened eco-awareness has given sales of bamboo flooring, clothing, building materials and other items a huge boost.
Bamboo has a long history of economic and cultural significance, primarily in East Asia and South East Asia where it has been used for centuries for everything from building material to food to medicine. There are some 1,000 different species of bamboo growing in very diverse climates throughout the world, including the southeastern United States.
www.sciam.com: Is Bamboo Flooring Better for the Planet Than Traditional Hardwood?
Hackers help destroy the Amazon rainforest
Brasilia, 12 December 2008 -
High-tech smuggling operations may not be what you'd normally associate with the ongoing clearance of the Amazon rainforest, but logging companies intent on plundering it for timber have been using hackers to break into the Brazilian government's sophisticated tracking system and fiddle the records.
www.greenpeace.org: Hackers help destroy the Amazon rainforest
Brazil Amazon destruction rises after 3-year fall
Brasilia, November 29 2008 -
Destruction of the Amazon forest in Brazil accelerated for the first time in four years, the government said on Friday, as high commodity prices tempted farmers and ranchers to slash more trees.
Satellite images showed nearly 4,633 square miles (12,000 sq km), or an area nearly the size of the U.S. state of Connecticut, were chopped down in the 12 months through July, the National Institute for Space Studies said.
www.reuters.com: Brazil Amazon destruction rises after 3-year fall
news.bbc.co.uk: Amazon deforestation accelerates
World's forests face climate-change crisis
November 29 2008 -
The world's forests - and the billion people who depend on them - are facing devastation from climate change unless we "evolve" with the changing situation, according to a new report.
The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) reviewed the scientific literature on the effects of climate change on forests and concluded that it will have a dramatic effect on forests, irrespective of the future rate of greenhouse-gas emissions.
www.newscientist.com: World's forests face climate-change crisis
"Our Ancient Forests: Going, going ..."
November 21 2008 -
In its last days in office, the Bush Administration is laying plans to open some of the last of Oregon's ancient forests to industrial logging, destroying rich wildlife habitat and a crucial buffer against global warming.
www.wilderness.org: Say NO to Last-Minute Logging!
Indonesia To Plant 100 Million Trees This Year
Jakarta (Indonesia), November 20, 2008 -
Indonesia which has been losing forests at a rapid pace in recent years, plans to plant 100 million trees across the country this year in an effort to limit deforestation, a forestry official said.
www.planetark.com: Indonesia To Plant 100 Million Trees This Year
www.planetark.com: Macedonians Plant Six Million Trees In Single Day
Chemical released by trees can help cool planet, scientists find
London (UK), October 27, 2008 -
Scientists discover cloud-thickening chemicals in trees that could offer a new weapon in the fight against global warming. So trees could be more important to the Earth's climate than previously thought, according to a new study that reveals forests help to block out the sun.
www.guardian.co.uk: Chemical released by trees can help cool planet, scientists find
www.forests.org: Ancient Forests Found to Be Climate Air Conditioners
EC issues lame deforestation plans
Brussels, October 17, 2008 -
European Commission plans to halve rather than halt tropical deforestation by 2020 have been sharply criticized by WWF.
www.panda.org: EC issues lame deforestation plans
Forest plan may 'fuel corruption'
London, October 15 2008 -
The UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has launched a plan to save the world's threatened rainforests - but already it is running into opposition.
www.enn.com: Exotic climate study sees refugees in Antarctica
www.planetark.com: Rich Countries Must Pay for Rainforests - UK Report
Deforestation Costs More than Financial Crisis
Berlin, October 10 2008 -
It is a steep bill. Our shrinking forests cost us up to $5 trillion a year -- far more than the current banking crisis. Environmentalists hope the sobering calculation, made by a European Union commissioned team, will focus political will on funding conservation.
www.spiegel.de: Deforestation Costs More than Financial Crisis
Groups call for Action on 21 September: International Day Against Monoculture Tree Plantations
London, 19 September 2008 -
Large-scale monoculture tree plantations cause serious environmental, social and economic impacts on local communities. These impacts have been amply documented around the world, and include the depletion of water sources due to changes in the hydrological cycle; deterioration of rivers and streams; air and water pollution due to the use of pesticides and other agrochemicals; the displacement of entire communities when their land is occupied by plantations; violations of human, labour and environmental rights; differentiated impacts on women; the deterioration of cultural diversity; widespread violence; and the critical loss of biodiversity. For that reason, NGOs, Indigenous Peoples' Organisations and social movements all over the world will commemorate the International Day against Monoculture Tree Plantations this weekend by organizing actions, demonstrations, marches and sending out joint letters to express their concerns.
www.foei.org: Groups call for Action on 21 September: International Day Against Monoculture Tree Plantations
Old-growth forests absorb more CO2 than they release, study finds
Seatle (USA), September 11, 2008 -
Most of the world's old-growth forests actively absorb more carbon dioxide than they release into the atmosphere, making them effective carbon sinks, according to a new study in the journal Nature.
The new research, which relies on data from over 500 forests around the world, refutes the commonly held assertion that old-growth forests are merely carbon neutral, absorbing only as much carbon as they release. Instead, the study found, forests between 15 and 800 years old typically not only act as active carbon sinks, but collectively act as a storehouse for up to 1 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide -- some 10 percent of the world's total net CO2 uptake.
"The absolute amount of carbon stored in these forests is significant," said forest-science professor Beverly Law. And because they are active carbon absorbers as well as large carbon reservoirs, destroying them is doubly stupid climate-wise (and dumber still if you factor in their conservation value and unique ecology). "If you have an old forest on the ground, it's probably better to leave it there than to cut it," Law said.
www.forbes.com: Old-growth forests absorb more CO2 than they release, study finds
news.yahoo.com: Old-growth forests absorb more CO2 than they release, study finds
www.planetark.com: Alaska, Russia Forests Overlooked in Climate Fight
oregonstate.edu: Old Growth Forests Are Valuable Carbon Sinks
forests.org: Old-Growth Carbon Findings Cause Forest Protection Schism
forests.org: Untouched Natural Forests Store Three Times More Carbon
www.telegraph.co.uk / Prince Charles: wartime urgency needed for rainforests
Deforestation Escalates in Brazilian Amazon
September 5, 2008 -
Satellite imagery released earlier this week provided further evidence that deforestation in Brazil's Amazon region accelerated dramatically this year.
Between August 2007 and July 2008, 8,147 square kilometers of the Brazilian Amazon were cleared, according to the country's National Institute for Space Research (INPE). This is an area more than twice the size of the U.S. state of Rhode Island.
www.enn.com: Deforestation Escalates in Brazilian Amazon
Amazon deforestation on the rise
Brasilia, August 31, 2008 -
Amazon deforestation jumped 69 percent in the past 12 months - the first such increase in three years - as rising demand for soy and cattle pushes farmers and ranchers to raze trees, officials said Saturday.
www.physorg.com: Amazon deforestation on the rise
Untouched Natural Forests Store Three Times More Carbon
August 4, 2008 -
An important new Australian study, reported upon in a new book entited "Green Carbon: The role of natural forests in carbon storage", finds that "untouched natural forests store three times more carbon dioxide [ark] than previously estimated and 60 percent more than plantation forests" and that first-time "logging resulted in more than a 40 percent reduction in long-term carbon compared with unlogged forests." They conclude that "in Australia and probably globally the carbon carrying capacity of natural forests [search] is underestimated and therefore misrepresented in economic valuations and in policy options."
forests.org: Untouched Natural Forests Store Three Times More Carbon
Brazil launches rainforest fund
Brasilia, August 1 2008 -
Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva has launched an international fund to protect the Amazon rainforest and help combat climate change.
news.bbc.co.uk: Brazil launches rainforest fund
Ancient Oak Trees Help Reduce Global Warming
Columbia, June 30, 2008 -
The battle to reduce carbon emissions is at the heart of many eco-friendly efforts, and researchers from the University of Missouri have discovered that nature has been lending a hand. Researchers at the Missouri Tree Ring Laboratory in the Department of Forestry discovered that trees submerged in freshwater aquatic systems store carbon for thousands of years, a significantly longer period of time than trees that fall in a forest, thus keeping carbon out of the atmosphere.
www.enn.com: Ancient Oak Trees Help Reduce Global Warming
Africa's Deforestation Twice World Rate - UN Atlas
Oslo, June 11, 2008 - Africa is suffering deforestation at twice the world rate and the continent's few glaciers are shrinking fast, according to a UN atlas on Tuesday.
www.planetark.com: Africa's Deforestation Twice World Rate - UN Atlas
www.telegraph.co.uk: Melting glaciers and shrinking forests revealed in UN Africa atlas
Prince Charles: Help me save the rainforests
London (UK) June 5 2008 - (by the Prince of Wales) -
Today is World Environment Day, a day that should remind us that there is just the smallest window left for us to act to stop catastrophic climate change. The frightening reality is that the consequences of global warming are being felt far more rapidly than most scientists predicted even 18 months ago.
The polar ice caps are melting faster, the ability of the oceans to absorb carbon dioxide is diminishing and our weather patterns are ever more erratic and more extreme. But we do still have a chance to stop the worst excesses of climate change, so long as we act now.
Prince Charles: Help me save the rainforests
www.princesrainforestsproject.org
I give up, says Brazilian minister who fought to save the rainforest
Brasilia, May 15 2008 -
Brazil has been accused of turning its back on its duty to protect the Amazon after the resignation of its award-winning Environment Minister fuelled fresh fears over the fate of the forest. The departure of Marina Silva, who admitted she was losing the battle to get green voices heard amidst the rush for economic development, has been greeted with dismay by conservationists.
www.independent.co.uk: I give up, says Brazilian minister who fought to save the rainforest
>Amazon under threat from cleaner air
May 8, 2008 -
The Amazon rainforest, so crucial to the Earth’s climate system, is coming under threat from cleaner air say prominent UK and Brazilian climate scientists in the leading scientific journal Nature.
The new study identifies a link between reducing sulphur dioxide emissions from burning coal and increasing sea-surface temperatures in the tropical north Atlantic, resulting in a heightened risk of drought in the Amazon rainforest.
www.metoffice.gov.uk: Latest technique in climate forecasts show decrease in summer rainfall
Brazil "soy king" sees Amazon as food solution
Rio de Janeiro, April 25 2008 -
More of the Amazon rain forest should be cut down to make way for farmland to help ease the global food crisis, the governor of a big Brazilian farming state was quoted as saying.
www.reuters.com: Brazil "soy king" sees Amazon as food solution
Norway Gives Tanzania $100 Mln For Forests
New York, April 22 2008 -
Dar Es Salaam (Ta)- Norway will give Tanzania $100 million over five years to cut deforestation in the east African country and try to reduce carbon emissions blamed for climate change, according to a deal signed on Monday.
www.planetark.com: Norway Gives Tanzania $100 Mln For Forests
GOING, GOING, GONE? New Satellite Images Reveal a Shrinking Amazon Rainforest
Washington, April 17 2008 -
Deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon may be on the rise, according to high-resolution images released by an agency of the Brazilian government. The images suggest an end to a widely hailed three-year decline in the rate of deforestation and have spurred a public controversy among high-level Brazilian officials, writes Tim Hirsch, author of "The Incredible Shrinking Amazon Rainforest" in the May/June 2008 issue of World Watch magazine.
www.enn.com: GOING, GOING, GONE? New Satellite Images Reveal a Shrinking Amazon Rainforest
Can Amazonian Beef Be Sustainable?
April 11 2008 -
One of Brazil's largest beef-export companies is expanding its Amazon operations, thanks in part to funding from the World Bank's private sector arm, the International Finance Corporation. The IFC says its investment is part of an historic effort to make cattle ranching in the region sustainable, but some environmentalists are skeptical.
www.worldwatch.org: Can Amazonian Beef Be Sustainable?
Ministers to discuss role of forests in energy scramble
April 11, 2008 -
Responding to climate change and energy concerns while conserving forests and biodiversity will be among the topics of discussion during an informal meeting of environment ministers this weekend in Slovenia.
www.euractiv.com: Ministers to discuss role of forests in energy scramble
www.carbonpositive.net: Tree planting: A key weapon against global warming
Fires main threat to Amazon in drier climate: study
Oslo, April 7, 2008 -
Fires set by people will be the biggest threat to the Amazon rainforest in coming decades linked to a drier climate caused by global warming.
They said swathes of the forest were more likely to be killed by blazes raging out of control than by a more gradual shift towards savannah caused by more frequent droughts predicted by the U.N. Climate Panel in a 2007 report.
www.reuters.com: Fires main threat to Amazon in drier climate: study
www.reuters.com: Slowing deforestation may be worth billions: study
www.nytimes.com: Amazone's 'Forest People's' Seek a role in striking global climate agreements
Destruction of Sumatra forests driving global climate change and species extinction: WWF
Pekanbaru (Sumatra), February 26, 2008 - Turning just one Sumatran province's forests and peat swamps into pulpwood and palm oil plantations is generating more annual greenhouse gas emissions than the Netherlands and rapidly driving the province's elephants into extinction, a new study by WWF and partners has found.
www.worldwildlife.org: Destruction of Sumatra forests driving global climate change and species extinction
www.worldwildlife.org: Summary of the report (pdf 5,32 mb)
Action Alert: Brazil Must Succeed in Keeping Soybeans Out of Amazon Rainforest
February 12 2008 -
Only soy products that do not directly or indirectly destroy ancient rainforests, or intensify climate change and other problems inherent with large-scale industrial monocultures, will be tolerated in international markets.
www.rainforestportal.org: Brazil Must Succeed in Keeping Soybeans Out of Amazon Rainforest
Forests and carbon capture keys to climate: Norway's PM
Oslo / Cape Town, January 18, 2008 -
Protecting forests and burying greenhouse gases are key ways of slowing world climate change, Norway's prime minister said on Friday a day after the Nordic nation set a stiff 2030 goal of becoming "carbon neutral."
www.reuters.com: Forests and carbon capture keys to climate
Destruction of rainforest accelerates despite outcry
Rio do Brazil, January 18, 2008 -
The destruction of the Amazon rainforest has surged in the past four months, raising the prospect of 2008 being a disastrous year for the world's most important eco-system, a senior Brazilian government scientist has warned.
environment.independent.co.uk: Destruction of rainforest accelerates despite outcry
www.planetark.com: Amazon Deforestation Surging Again
Medical plants 'face extinction'
London, January 18, 2008 -
Hundreds of medicinal plants are at risk of extinction, threatening the discovery of future cures for disease, according to experts.
Over 50% of prescription drugs are derived from chemicals first identified in plants.
But the Botanic Gardens Conservation International said many were at risk from over-collection and deforestation.
news.bbc.co.uk: Medical plants 'face extinction'
www.telegraph.co.uk: Threat to medicines from plant extinctions
Save Bialowieza Forest, Europe's Last Primeval Temperate Forest
January 6, 2008 -
Ask the Polish government to stop exploitation of the ancient Bialowieza forest, preserve the whole complex as a national park, and end permanently extensive logging that threatens Europe's last remnant old-growth northern temperate forests.
www.ecoearth.info: Save Bialowieza Forest, Europe's Last Primeval Temperate Forest
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