320 – Earth’s Tree News

Today for you 30 new articles about earth’s trees! (320th edition)
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–British Columbia: 1) Great Bear Rainforest plan still not approved, 2) Plan to work with Tla-o-qui-aht on protected area designation, 3) Cambell wants private forest reserves in Cowichan, 4) They won’t save the giant snag? 5) Archeological laws are ineffective, –Canada: 6) Overview, 7) Moon-scaping 50,000-square-miles of wilderness, –UK: 8) Almost half of all chestnuts stricken, 9) Tribute to the ring of the oaks of Accrington, 10) How to guide for low-impact tourism, 11) Assemblyman demands harsh fines for cut trees, 12) Save the forest of Harland Way,
–Norway: 13) They have vast pine forests to tap into for biofuels?
–Greece: 14) Summary of protests related to developer’s arson campaign
–Niger: 15) He returned to a desert and all he could see were trees
–Sierra Leone: 16) Chinese stockpiling logs in anticipation of export ban ending
–Nigeria: 17) All the forest will be gone in 12 years?
–Mozambique: 18) Biofuels Mega project to ruin forest, 19) Charcoal makers,
–Liberia: 20) Caving to industry and offering timber contracts again
–Cameroon: 21) Enforcement is essentially just sporadic seizures of wood
–Angola: 22) Japanese to invest in “eucalyptus timber exploration” in Ganda
–Tanzania: 23) A diversity of trees grown on farms
–Australia: 24) A travelers reflection on Styx deforestation, 25) Gunns overview, 26) Leader is “not unsympathetic,”
–World-wide: 27) 15-country coalition of rainforest nations complain, 28) Forest Peoples’ Alliance, 28) You mean something is wrong with FSC? 29) Forests really are major carbon sinks, 30) Rainforest Action Network: evasions and personal recriminations,

British Columbia:

1) Two years after B.C. Premier Campbell announced a “historical land use agreement” that was intended to protect Canada’s Great Bear Rainforest, it remains unlegislated. Although the land use agreement was supposed to establish new conservancy boundaries, new large scale industrial proposals are planned within these same areas—leaving the world renowned Great Bear Rainforest under threat once again. “People across BC, Canada and around the world supported the effort to protect this magnificent forest and applauded Premier Campbell for his visionary achievement,” states Ian McAllister of the BC Environmental group Pacific Wild, “and now we watch in dismay as taxpayer funded environmental assessments take place on projects that should simply be shelved.” http://world-wire.com/news/0804010003.html

2) Canada’s Environment Minister John Baird and Dr. James Lunney, Member of Parliament for Nanaimo—Alberni, today announced that the Government of Canada will provide $82,100 to the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation to help develop a series of protected areas adjacent to the Long Beach Unit of Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. The initiative is part of the First Nation Tribal Park system. “Today’s announcement demonstrates our Government’s desire to work collaboratively with Aboriginal people in and around Canada’s national parks,” said Minister Baird. “By protecting both national park and tribal park lands we are ensuring the long-term ecological integrity of the Pacific Rim area. This is real action that builds on our Governments record of expanding and protecting national parks and marine protected areas across Canada.” Under this initiative, the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, with support from Parks Canada, will develop land management plans and a business plan to handle existing tribal parks in Tla-o-qui-aht territory as well as the creation and operation of new ones. “As the local Member of Parliament I understand how iconic Pacific Rim National Park is to Canadians,” said Dr. James Lunney. “Today’s announcement builds on the existing good working relationship between our Government and the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation to protect this beautiful part of our country for generations to come. “ Development of a Tribal Park system adjacent to Pacific Rim National Park Reserve will provide economic opportunities for the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, enhance the ecological integrity of tribal and national park lands and increase the spectrum of visitor experiences available in the Long Beach area. Nadine Crookes, A/Superintendent, Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, Parks Canada – (250) 726-4709

3) The Town of Lake Cowichan will lobby Premier Gordon Campbell and his government to designate forest land reserves on private forest lands to ensure a viable forest industry in the Cowichan Lake area. “The intent is to keep forest lands as forest lands,” said Councillor Tim McGonigle, who is a forest worker. Mayor Jack Peake said that if private forest lands are sold it will more likely mean the loss of forest land. “If private forest land is for sale it seems to me the provincial government should have first dibs on it,” said Peake. Councillor Pat Foster told the council meeting that rumour has it TimberWest will be selling its campgrounds around Cowichan Lake. Most of the Cowichan Valley’s electoral areas, including Areas F and I, have amended their F1 forestry zoning to increase the minimum lot size to 200 acres from 50 acres in hopes it would encourage continued logging operations. Brooke Hodson, Cowichan Valley Regional District director for Youbou-Meade Creek, supports council’s initiative. “I applaud anyone who wants to jump on board,” said Hodson. “If we keep whittling away at all these private forest lands there won’t be anything left.” Town council’s move is also supported by the Youbou TimberLess Society, whose April newsletter discusses the erosion of working forest land. “I’m glad to hear it,” Roger Wiles of Cowichan Lake’s Marble Bay, who is secretary for the TimberLess Society, said about Lake Cowichan’s resolution. “It sounds like good news. The community suffers not just from the loss of a working forest, it’s also a loss to the watershed.” Steve Lorimer of TimberWest said Friday that his initial reaction to the resolution is it’s not needed. “We don’t need a forest land reserve designation because we already have the rezoning process,” said Lorimer. TimberWest, the largest private forest land owner on Vancouver Island, owns 134,000 acres, of which 39,000 acres are slated for potential sale. According to a map on TimberWest’s Web page, there is one piece of the company’s land halfway between Lake Cowichan and Duncan that is slated for sale, as well as two others south of Duncan. “This is the portion that we think has the highest value potential as a result of planning and zoning changes,” says TimberWest’s Web page. http://www.bclocalnews.com/vancouver_island_central/lakecowichangazette/news/17172341.html

4) Without a radical shift in thinking about first nations archaeology, B.C. is in danger of losing what is left of its ancient heritage and sparking heated conflict with natives, according to PhD candidate Michael Klassen. Virtually all of the first nations’ 9,000-year-old footprint in southwestern B.C. has been eradicated by development, Klassen said. Most of it has been destroyed lot by lot, because each property taken alone may not register as scientifically significant. “But when you look at it cumulatively, it is nearly all being wiped out,” Klassen said. And what is left, natives will not let go easily, he warned.
Fuelled by a series of legal decisions and legislative changes in the 1990s, first nations have realized the archaeological record is essential to their claim on any territory in B.C.
Tens of thousands of archaeological sites in Metro Vancouver, Greater Victoria and the Gulf Islands have already been destroyed by urban growth and waterfront development. An entire industry of archaeological consulting has grown up in B.C. over the past 15 years, mainly focussed on examining sites in the process of being destroyed by backhoes. http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=aeb6147f-b9ad-4bc9-8dbc-5393dbdafc74&k=187
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5) Residents shouted “shame, shame,” and called for Vancouver park board commissioners to resign after they voted unanimously Monday night to fell the 13-metre red cedar snag, which the board feared had become a public safety hazard. “It would be an awful thing if people woke up and heard the tree ended its existence by falling on someone,” commissioner Loretta Woodcock said. A cedar sapling will be planted in the middle of the hollow stump. The snag itself will be halved and laid on the ground, forming a pathway. In the past, thousands of amateur photographers have clustered around the snag to take pictures of people in its hollow base. The tree has recently been closed off to protect the public. The snag, believed to be 1,000 years old, has been rotted through since the 1900s and was cracked further during storms last winter, causing it to lean at an 11-degree angle. Six residents pleaded with the park board to keep the tree, arguing it didn’t explore all the options to protect what they called a historic artifact that should be preserved as part of the Olympic legacy. Resident Eleanor Hadley suggested the tree could be supported from within, using dental techniques. “The tree can be saved from within rather than having these ugly outside braces that ruin Stanley Park,” she said. But Ian Robertson said the tree should go back to nature. “We are dealing with a tree that is dead – unfortunately its time has come,” he said. With a girth of nearly 20 metres, in the early days, the tree provided ample room for horses and their riders. The hollow tree was a stop on a number of horse-drawn carriage rides, which picked up passengers at major hotels for a drive around the park. And when early automobiles arrived in Vancouver at the turn of the century, many of those cars – such as Stanley Steamers and Ford Model Ts – backed into the tree for the traditional picture.
http://www.dose.ca/news/story.html?id=61b3cf55-9865-4a77-972a-ef0f9963b8a3

Canada:

6) Canada’s lumber and paper industry must also address its declining competitiveness and use trees for non-timber products such as biochemicals, the provincial and federal officials said in a draft report on the future of the country’s forests. Canada is home to about 10 percent of the world’s forests, and more than 90 percent of the country’s forest land is government owned. The report, which was light on specifics, said the forests will feel the impact of global warming even if steps are taken internationally to reduce emissions of greenhouse gasses linked to climate change. Potential problems include more large-scale fires in Western and Northern Canada, outbreaks of tree-eating insects that are normally controlled by cold weather, and wetter conditions and ice storms in Atlantic Canada. The country must also look at using some of its forest as “carbon sinks” that can offset greenhouse gas emissions by capturing and storing carbon dioxide from the air, according to the report, which is still subject to public comment. Canada must recognize that changing technology has made its lumber and paper firms less competitive with those in other countries with lower labor costs, but the traditional way of dealing with that situation will not work in the future. http://uk.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUKN0130868020080401

7) AlterNet today reports on BP’s plan to destroy Alberta’s forests the size of Florida while increasing greenhouse gases and polluting water resources. British Petroleum is turning away from the public image of an oil company with environmental consciousness, which it so carefully has crafted since 1997, a plot that even made the company support the Kyoto protocol. Slogans like moving “beyond petroleum” sound rather hollow though today in face of its plans to wreak havoc in Alberta, Canada with its scheme to extract crude oil from tar sands. The project, called by Greenpeace “the biggest environmental crime in history“, represents a policy reversal of BP’s own long-standing, self-imposed ban on the production of crude oil from tar sands, a combination of clay, sand, various minerals and bitumen, found in the Canadian wilderness The process of extracting and refining tar sands (containing an estimated 175 billion barrels of recoverable oil), also known as Canadian crude involves: 1) strip-mining and therefore moon-scaping a 50,000-square-mile span of wilderness (approximately the size of Florida) located in the western Canadian province of Alberta; 2) an input of 250 cubic feet of natural gas to extract a single barrel of bitumen from tar sands (because of the required method of either steaming or ‘fireflood’ the tar sands which are too thick to be pumped like oil); the tar sands industry in general consumes enough gas in a single day to heat approximately 4 million American homes; 3) redirecting surrounding rivers to the pits, then routing the water to man-made lakes of toxic sludge (it takes five barrels of water to produce a single barrel of crude); 4) substantial manpower, heavy machinery (some of which can be up to three stories tall and weigh as much as a jetliner) and an incredible amount of energy in a process that generates up to four times more carbon dioxide than conventional drilling (over the next seven years, global warming pollutants released into the atmosphere from tar sands oil production are projected to quintuple to 126 megatons, up from 25 megatons in 2003) — Combatting the tar sand boom is being made difficult because Canada lacks environmental standards and regulations. All its has are national guidelines that can be flouted by provincial governments, which is the case in Alberta. http://isiria.wordpress.com/2008/04/01/bp-to-ravage-canadian-forests-the-size-of-florida/

UK:

8) A survey of more than 2,600 horse chestnuts across the country found that 49% showed symptoms of the bleeding canker disease, which attacks bark and can kill the tree or require it to be chopped down. Previous estimates said only 5% of trees were affected. Roddie Burgess, head of plant health at the Forestry Commission, which carried out the new survey, said: “This was the first opportunity we have had to carry out a survey of this type, and the results did take us by surprise.” Commission staff checked the state of 1,385 rural trees and 1,244 in urban locations across England, Scotland and Wales last summer. More than half (54%) of the urban horse chestnuts showed symptoms of the disease and 44% of the rural trees were affected. The symptoms were most common in south-east England, where more than three-quarters (76%) of the trees surveyed showed symptoms. There are thought to be 1 million horse chestnuts in Britain. The experts cannot be sure whether the sickly trees have the disease until they are screened for the bacterium responsible, Pseudomonas syringae. The emergence of the bacterium has baffled scientists, because for decades the bleeding canker disease was thought to be caused by a fungus. Joan Webber, a senior research scientist at the Forestry Commission, said: “It attacks the bark, kills it and makes it like a sore.” Several thousand horse chestnuts are thought to have been killed or removed after catching the disease, but Webber said: “We don’t know how many trees succumb. It’s not necessarily a death sentence for trees that become infected.” http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/apr/02/conservation.wildlife1

9) Plans to create a £1.3million woodland tribute to the ring of oak trees which gave Accrington its name have been announced. Environmental charity the Prospects Foundation, along with Hyndburn Council, are bidding for lottery funding to create the large-scale project. Prospects initially came up with the idea of creating a “ring of oaks” somewhere in the centre of Accrington last year. But now the council, along with Lancashire County Council’s Remade initiative, have announced a much larger plan for extensive tree planting and park improvements to the parks which encircle Hyndburn. It is thought that Accrington got its name because it was once surrounded by old oak woods and the name is derived from the phrase acorn-ring-town. Coun Lynn Wilson said: “Ring of Oaks is the overall theme and relates to the origins of the name of Accrington. We hope the plans will generate powerful community interest and increase involvement in the woodland heritage of the area. “A significant funding bid is being prepared for a woodland heritage programme. “In Hyndburn we will seek to attract funding to seven parks and open spaces, to support tree management, access improvements and heritage interpretation. There will also be community, education and training opportunities.” Prospects development manager Ellie Taylor said: “It is early days for the project but it is one that we are very keen to see created. “I think it will be a really popular idea in the area and people will feel a real ownership of the site because of the connotations of the name Accrington.” The council-owned parks involved are Oakhill Park, Haworth Park, Bullough Park, Milnshaw Park, Peel Park/Coppice, all Accrington as well as Woodnook Vale in Baxenden and Foxhill Bank and White Ash Valley in Oswaldtwistle. Detailed proposals for each park have not yet been developed, but each site is expected to include tree and woodland management and planting. Access improvements and signage together with community activities. http://www.lancashireeveningtelegraph.co.uk/display.var.2162161.0.1_3m_woodland_project_unveil
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10) A guide to how best to holiday in the rainforests has been produced in an attempt to reduce damage to fragile habitats from tourism. The guide, which is aimed primarily at tour operators, has been produced by Conservation International, an environmental organisation. The guide includes a self-assessment checklist for tour operators to evaluate the extent to which their policies benefit or harm rainforests and their inhabitants. Neel Inamdar, a senior adviser for ecotourism for Conservation International, hopes the guide will create greater awareness of the effects of tourism on rainforests. He urges travellers to book only with companies that adhere to its recommendations. “Tourism has exploded in areas of rainforest in the past 20 years and we have a general concern about its impact on areas of high biodiversity,” he said. A Practical Guide to Good Practice: Managing Environmental Impacts in the Rainforest Sector will be published in print and online next week. In Britain, Responsible Travel will distribute it to more than 250 tour operators.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/hubs/greentravel/975635/Taking-care-of-the-rainforest.html

11) An assembly member has called for £30,000 fines to be imposed for the destruction of protected trees. Jim Wells of the DUP was speaking after a large number of trees were felled on a private estate on the outskirts of Newcastle in County Down. Mr Wells said he was disgusted by what happened at Myrtle Lodge. “I am very, very angry and so are all the surrounding residents. Bit by bit Newcastle is being destroyed by this type of activity,” he said. “We need to make an example of this particluar incident to make sure it doesn’t happen again.” Patrick Craig from the Woodland Trust said: “We’re just absolutely appalled that yet again some more native trees have been destroyed. “The legislation is very, very strong, but unfortunately when it comes to enforcement, there doesn’t seem to be the willingness or ability of anybody to actually enforce those protection orders.” A DOE spokesperson said: “Planning Service can confirm that investigations into a possible breach of planning control in the Bryansford area of Newcastle are ongoing, however we cannot comment on the details of the investigation at this stage.” http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7319891.stm

12) When the project began shortly after Christmas, many local residents told the Wetherby News how outraged they were no public consultation had taken place. Wetherby resident Woody Whittick and her conservationist expert husband Iain, of Foxhill, were one couple who were dismayed to see at least 25 to 30 mature trees destroyed outside the back of their home. But Coun Lamb said the May meeting would update residents on the woodland’s current situation and clarify the reasoning behind the felling. He also said it would give local people a chance to discuss their concerns with the Forestry Commission and develop ideas about the best way to preserve the beauty of the area for future generations. He said: “I’m delighted that residents will have an opportunity to discuss the Harland Way. “This is a hugely popular woodland area, and people naturally have a keen interest in its future. “I recently inspected the site with Mr Cooper, and he agreed that the work was vital in order to improve the age diversity and variation of woodland in the area. “His only issue was with the lack of consultation – something which I agree needs to be improved, and which we’re trying to address, not least by holding this meeting. “This forum will allow people to hear from someone with expert knowledge of woodland areas. Hopefully we can engage with local people and give them the chance to develop ideas about how best to preserve the future of this truly beautiful location.” Hundreds of trees along the popular network of wooded paths have been felled as part of Leeds City Council’s efforts to maintain natural tree cover and the unique nature of the site. The council has always maintained the principle of the essential tree thinning work was to improve the age diversity and variation of the woodland which would, in turn, enrich species diversity and increase tree cover in the future. “Ideally broadleaved woodlands should be thinned every ten or so years, this contributes to diversity of species and age-class, ensuring the woodland is robust and varied.” http://www.wetherbynews.co.uk/wetherby-news/Residents-to-get-say-on.3922519.jp

Norway:

13) Norway will double production of bioenergy by 2020 by tapping its vast pine forests and seek to become an exporter of renewable energies to diversify from oil and gas, the government said on Tuesday. “This is alchemy at its best,” Oil and Energy Minister Aaslaug Haga said of the plan to turn forests into what she called “green gold.” The scheme would also help Norway reach targets for axing greenhouse gas emissions. Norway, the world’s number five oil exporter, would double output of bioenergy from wood, other plant material and farm waste to total about 28 terawatt hours (TWh) a year. The rise of 14 TWh is the equivalent of Oslo’s total energy use or about a tenth of Norway’s annual electricity production. “We want to be a considerable exporter of renewable energy,” Haga told a news conference of the plan by the Labour-led government. Doubling bioenergy, along with a push for extra energy from small hydropower plants and wind farms, would help make Norway an exporter of renewables. “We now have a situation where we import electricity in a normal year,” she said. The increase for bioenergy production would be largely through a better exploitation of forests that cover 38 percent of the Nordic nation, rather than new plantings. Norway would not let the bioenergy goals compete with farmland — a worry in some countries where energy production is taking land from crops. Just three percent of the chill, mountainous Nordic nation is suitable for food crops. TREES “Forests have by far the biggest potential without swapping out farm production,” Agriculture Minister Terje Riis-Johansen said. Haga said households and businesses should be encouraged to burn more wood for heating, for instance, and shift from oil burners or electricity, which is almost all generated from hydropower in Norway. The government would raise subsidies for bioenergy, step up research and impose other measures such as a ban on the installation of oil-fired heaters in new buildings from 2009. Riis-Johansen said the plans could create hundreds of jobs and that a switch from the use of oil for 10 TWh of energy could save three million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year. Norway’s emissions are now about 50 million tonnes a year. Norway is far above a goal of cutting its greenhouse gas emissions under the U.N.’s Kyoto Protocol by 2008-12. And it plans to cut its net carbon dioxide emissions to zero by 2030 in what it says is one of the world’s toughest climate targets. http://www.guardian.co.uk/feedarticle?id=7428314

Greece:

14) The casino is built within the natural forest of Parnitha, and remained untouched during the arsons that destroyed a large part of Greece’s forests and wildlife and costed more than 67 people their lives, since the local firemen were sent to protect the casino’s infrastructure and not the forest. The casino is even planning its expansion inside the damaged forest area, a part of wich (around 20.000 acres) was donated to the casino by the Greek government, right after the arsons, so as to ‘protect’ it. The casino belongs by 51% to a Greek state’s agency, and by 49% to private companies, mainly ‘Regency Entertainment-BC Partners’. Sunday, July 29 2007, one month after the destructive sprawl arson at Parnitha mountain, Athens, 27 activists got arrested near the mountain, accused for a symbolic attack with paintbombs against the ‘Mont Parnes’ casino, earlier that day. The activists, in a communique they circulated, signed: ‘The Deers of Parnitha’ state they decided to act against the casino ‘recognizing the fact that its presence is irrelative and totally competitive to the natural forest, and that it is needed to kick it out and prevent its expansion. That’s why this paint attack was a symbolic, fair and a positive action aiming to contribute in the awakening of an equal social justice’. Two days before that, an ‘Open Assembly from Strefis hill’ organized a march in the forest and blockaded the casino’s teleferik, facing intense police pressure. On the 29th, the police mobilized riot-policemen, police cars, helicopters and special police squads. This operation resulted in the arrest of 27 activists, who were beaten while hand-cuffed. Inside GADA (Athens police headquarters), they were tortured and deprived of any phone calls, even to their lawyers. After their strong dissent inside GADA, and the gathering of supporters outside the building, those injured heavily were sent to a hospital, and the police announced the accusations against the 27. On January 10, the 27 activists faced a jury in Athens, where more than a hundred supporters attended. All 27 were found not guilty for the accusations concerning throwing paint at the casino, while two of them were found guilty for ‘dissobedience’ and set on parole because they denied to give their identity while they were under arrest. The 27 are set free, without charges.
http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=784086
http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=782687
http://www.indy.gr/newswire/drasi-enantia-sto-kazino-27-syllpseis-gia-plimmelmata-6-traymatie
s-meta-apo-ksylodarmo-astynomikn-sygkentrosi-allileggyis-ekso-apo-ti-gada

Niger:

15) Returning to Africa after a 10 year absence, Chris Reij could barely believe his eyes. On the arid margins of the Sahara in Niger, all he could see were trees. It was no mirage: after studying land use in Africa for three decades, he was witnessing the untold story of the re-greening of the Sahel. He tells Fred Pearce about the African farmers who are defying the experts. Describe what you have seen on your recent trips to rural Africa. You might call me an old Africa hand. I have been working there on and off for 30 years, looking at how people manage their natural resources. I was in Niger regularly between 1984 and 1994. Back then, a lot of the land was treeless. There had been frequent droughts. Farmers had chopped down their trees for firewood and the desert was spreading. http://www.newscientist.com/channel/opinion/mg19726491.700-interview-and-then-there-were-trees.h
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Sierra Leone:

16) Some 230 miles away from Freetown, Gangama, Taetima, and Mesima communities in the Bonthe district have raised concerns over possible illegal exploitation and extraction of forest trees in complete contravention of government ban. This claim was verified by a recent assessment report done by Green Scenery, a national non-governmental organization with objective to promote education and awareness on the country’s environment in general and in particular the conservation of the country’s biodiversity. As a way to dealing with the alarming rate of deforestation, Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL) put a ban to all forms of commercial logging and exporting in November 2007 and reinforced this ban again in early 2008, the report stated. However, investigations revealed that a main interest group, a Chinese commercial interest, has been stockpiling logs in the Ngongokama forest so that it can be exported when the ban is eventually lifted. Having seen evidence of the felled logs from Gbongokama Community Forest, and from concerns raised by the communities over the logging of trees from the forest, it was only but necessary to undertake this quick assessment to give an insight to the team as to the level of damage already caused. The communities claim that the forest is over a century old and has served as source of common resource pull for generations past and present but recent spate of deforestation around the country seems alarming. The activity increased to a critical level when interest for the purchase of high density wood by certain commercial entities intensified. The tree species that has attracted loggers attention in the community forest bears the trade name Cam wood; in local dialect it is called Mbundoi (Mende) with biological name Baphia nitida. In its natural environment, the tree resembles other species thus making these species vulnerable to the loggers. In real terms, many trees that are not Cam wood have been felled in the forest and were abandoned. http://allafrica.com/stories/200803281410.html

Nigeria:

17) Nigeria will lose all of its remaining forests in the next 12 years if the rate of deforestation remains unchecked, an environmental expert warned Thursday. “Considering the rate at which trees are chopped down without any regeneration efforts … all of Nigeria’s forests will disappear by 2020,” Kabiru Yammama told AFP. Yammama, who heads up the National Forest Conservation Council (NFCCN), a body that acts as a consultant to the Nigerian government, said all forests in northern Nigeria have been depleted and deforestation is moving southwards. “The north has lost virtually all its forests. Our 1999 survey showed that the rate of deforestation in northern Nigeria alone stood at 400,000 hectares per annum,” he said. Nigeria uses 40.5 million tonnes of firewood every year, he said, adding: “Imagine the depredation wrought on the vegetation in the last decade.” According to the most recent NFCCN report, released in 2007, 35 percent of arable land in 11 northern states has been swallowed by desert. This has affected the livelihood of over 55 million people, more than the combined population of Mali, Burkina Fasso, Senegal and Mauritania. Nigeria has the seventh-largest gas reserves in the world but has so far failed to harness them to produce affordable cooking gas, meaning the bulk of the population still relies on wood or charcoal for cooking. “Now that the forests in the north are gone, attention has shifted to … southern Nigeria where trees are burnt for charcoal. This is more destructive than tree chopping because it is more rapid and kills all the flora and wildlife,” Yammama further warned. “If this trend continues unchecked Nigeria will join the league of Ethiopia which has lost all its forests,” he said. http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jM-Z4a6gJHbcdxwornY5BJ6lQNjA

Mozambique:

18) The coordinator of the Mozambican NGO “Amigos da Floresta” (Friends of the Forest), the prominent sociologist Carlos Serra, has warned that approval of the first mega-projects to produce biofuels will worsen the threat to the country’s forests. In a statement issued on the first anniversary of the foundation of “Amigos da floresta”, Serra said that a great deal still has to be done to halt the illegal exploitation of timber in Mozambique, given that the number of forestry inspectors is manifestly inadequate to cover the entire country. On top of this they are badly trained and ill equipped, and thus highly vulnerable to bribery. To complicate matters “there is now a new element in play, which is the approval of the first mega-projects to produce biofuels”. Serra claimed that this would involve “hundreds of thousands of hectares of land”. (But in fact to date, only one large project has receive government approval. This is PROCANA, which involves planting 30,000 hectares of sugar cane in the southern province of Gaza to produce ethanol). The government has promised that fertile agricultural land will not be used for biofuels. Instead they will be planted on “marginal land”. Serra feared that the term “marginal land” in reality means forests, which will be cleared to make way for biofuels. He warned that deforestation is an evident reality in Mozambique, and criticized the lack of scientific studies on the real situation of the country’s forests. The forest inventory presented last year is not yet publicly available, and logging licences were still being issued on a “doubtful scientific basis”. Serra said that this year “little has changed with regard to illegal exploitation of timber when compared with 2007”. But there were “some slight improvements, the result of greater pressure on the part of civil society”. “Amigos da Floresta” is now organizing a campaign of environmental education and awareness on the importance of forests, which will include articles in the press, cartoon strips, theatre and music. http://allafrica.com/stories/200803260902.html

19) Matenga – Santos Junior Guilaza’s hands are calloused, burned countless times by the smoldering wood he separates, barehanded, from the dark, steaming dirt of his earthen kiln. His bare feet are leathery and flattened from trekking over this overgrown land – from his bamboo-and-thatch hut, past increasingly rare trees, and to the road where he, like thousands upon thousands of others, sells the charcoal that fuels southern Africa. “I go by foot,” he says matter-of-factly as he guides a visitor through shoulder-high grasses that can slice skin like fine razors. (“Watch for the snakes,” he warns.) Mr. Guilaza has been chopping trees and making charcoal for as long as he can remember. It’s what his father did and his grandfather, too. It’s what all the men do in this village, not far from the crocodile-thick Pungue River. And it’s how legions of impoverished people throughout the developing world stay alive. Charcoal is more portable than simple wood, and can be made with trees, earth, fire – and sweat. In regions where electricity and money are scarce, but physical toil is not, the fuel is everywhere. In Mozambique, for instance, the government estimates that charcoal is the main fuel source for 80 percent of the population. Along with South America, Africa loses forests at a faster rate than almost any place on earth, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. Many farmers use a slash-and-burn process, cutting forest and burning the remaining vegetation to plant crops in the temporarily rich soil. Logging – illegal and legal – clears large amounts of forests. But almost half of Africa’s forest loss is a result of people chopping trees for firewood or charcoal, estimates the UN Billion Tree Campaign. http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0402/p20s01-woaf.html

Liberia:

20) Under intense pressure from the timber industry – including many familiar faces from the past – the Forest Development Authority (FDA) of Liberia has started to issue timber contracts. Yet key legislation on community rights – to ensure an equitable balance between community, conservation and commercial forestry – is still in draft. The rush to allow a timber trade with a poor track record of corruption and trampling on community rights raises the spectre of Liberia’s forests once again undermining stability in this fragile country. In the past Liberia’s timber industry has fuelled conflict, widespread human rights abuses and destabilisation in West Africa. It is critical that those linked to the conflict are not able to operate in the forestry sector again. It is imperative the rule of law is followed, and seen to be followed. However, the process to date has had its difficulties. Significant weaknesses have been documented in the prequalification for those wishing to obtain logging permits, to which the Government of Liberia did not respond. And evidence suggests the system for debarring “those who have aided and abetted civil disturbances” is failing. Above all, a proper implementation of the Community Rights Law is critically important. It is too early to allocate either concessions or conservation areas before having clarified and codified who owns the forest. The resumption of large-scale logging before this law is implemented will undermine the efforts of rural communities to develop and prosper, as they once again become dependent on the whim, and unequal negotiating power, of the timber industry. Liberia is well placed to learn from the experience of other countries in the region: in Ghana and Cameroon, for example, the longstanding failure to develop and implement an effective community role in the management of forest resources has exacerbated rural poverty, and at times led to conflict. The Government of Liberia and the FDA have repeatedly stressed their “absolute commitment not to return to the old way of doing business”. We therefore call on the FDA to remain committed to treating the six initial contracts currently being awarded as a pilot, and withhold any further steps to allocate concessions until the Community Rights Law is properly implemented and issues raised by Liberian civil society in the prequalification process are fully addressed. http://allafrica.com/stories/200803271045.html

Cameroon:

21) And what about these startling revelations of the President of the Cameroon Association of Timber Exploiters who said only one out of the 27 companies the government sanctioned in February for outright violation of the country’s forestry law is legally registered with them? The more reason why cleaning up the sector should not only be limited to the sporadic seizure of wood destined for exportation at the port. It should actually begin with weeding out impostors from the sector. The most recent decision by Minister Ngolle Ngolle was on 20th March 2008 when he suspended 16 logging companies from carrying out forest exploitation activities through out the national territory. Those sanctioned failed to show up at the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife to justify the origin of their wood seized at the Port of Douala in October 2007. The move comes barely a month after a similar one taken last February 15, 2008 suspending 27 forestry enterprises for the same motive. 14 other enterprises, who have been convened for a working session with the Forestry and Wildlife boss, are on the hold. They might also be slammed sanctions linked to their nonconformist activities in forestry exploitation; activities which infringe on the option to manage our forest durably. That the Minister of Forestry can hit hard on these “untouchables” of the forestry sector is laudable. The courageous move paves the way for transparency in a domain where corruption and defiance of the law have found fertile grounds. Most of the “almighty” logging companies have so far functioned in complete arrogance and disregard of the forestry law in the country; creating and implementing their own rules to the detriment of government’s coffers, the local communities which ought to benefit from the venture and above all our forest. The questions many people are asking is: how come that the irregularities could only be noticed at the sea port despite the existence of numerous check points on our roads? What would have happened if the Minister of Forestry and Wildlife did not dispatch a control team of experts to the Douala port last October? Your guess is as good as mine. It is however a pointer that nothing should be taken for granted if the sector must be cleared of its malicious operators. Controls at the sea port should therefore be systematic and rigorous to make it practically impossible for wayward loggers to pilfer Cameroon’s timber out of the country. http://allafrica.com/stories/200803260539.html

Angola:

22) Ganda – A group of three Japanese companies plans to invest in eucalyptus timber exploration in the industrial complex of pulp and paper company, Companhia de Celulose e Papéis de Angola, in Angola’s Benguela province, Angolan news agency Angop reported Monday. The agency said that a mission from the three companies travelled to the municipality of Ganda in order to identify the potential of the timber available in the region and gather further information to carry out an economic feasibility study. Speaking to Angop, the head of the Japanese delegation said that the region’s timber potential was excellent and that the current aim was to identify timber production capacity and assess the possibility of recuperation of the pulp and paper factory. Following Benguela, the delegation visited the Ukema and Caala forest perimeter in Huambo province. Companhia de Celulose e Papel de Angola is currently responsible for 18 eucalyptus forest plantations located in the municipal areas of Ganda (Benguela), Ukuma and Caala (Huambo) and some regions of Bié and has been out of operation since March 1983, when it was partially destroyed due to the civil war in Angola. http://www.macauhub.com.mo/en/news.php?ID=5083

Tanzania:

23) In Tabora, Uyui and Sikonge districts, women are cashing in on species such as ntonga (Strychnos cocculoides) ntalali (Vitex mombassae) mbula (Parinari curatellifolia) and furu (Vitex doniana), which they have planted on their farms alongside traditional crops. Other trees popular with the farmers are: mbuguswa (Fracourtia indica), ng’ong’o (Sclerocarya birrea), zambarau (Syzium guineense), mmbuyu or baobab (Adansonia digitata) and ukwaju or tamarind (Tamarindus indica). The fruit from these trees is processed into jams, juices and wines. So passionate are the farmers about conservation projects in the area that they have taken to policing the vast woodlands against loggers. Mwadawa Luziga spends much of her day in the woodlands and she doesn’t regret it. She says it is now rare to see anyone destroying wild and indigenous trees because women conservation groups have taught the community at large that it is import to conserve such trees. “We are creating awareness in our communities about the importance of conservation and our efforts are bearing fruits. It has for instance become unfashionable to log trees for firewood and many farms as you can see are dotted with indigenous and wild trees,” she said. Government institutions have also introduced incentives to encourage private land owners to protect dwindling natural forests from further destruction. The conservation projects were conceived to address problems facing the Tabora region such as widespread poverty, food shortage, malnutrition, HIV and Aids and the degradation of renewable resources. The region is dominated by the Miombo woodlands, which have plenty of edible fruit trees. Production of value-added products such as jams and juices started with the development of a fruit processing technology by the Agricultural Institute in Tumbi (ARI-Tumbi) in April 2004. The project received a grant of £60,000 ($78,000) from Farm Africa’s Maendeleo Agricultral Technology Fund. David Mayanga, an extension officer at Inara Village, said, “Sustainability of these trees is vital. As you know, most of the world’s virgin forests are diminishing at a rapid rate and people must rely more and more on man-made managed forests. That’s why we have been encouraging local people to manage the remaining virgin forests.” Apart from preserving acres of indigenous forests, the success of the conservation effort is reflected in the standards of living of the surrounding communities. From processing jam and juice and wine making, many families have seen their incomes increase three-fold.

Australia:

24) Thriving within that wooded silence was a unique variety of Tasmanian wildlife that included the Tasmanian Devil, the long-tailed mouse, the ring-tailed possum and the spotted-tailed quoll. Bird life included the black currawong, the green rosella, the olive whistler and the grey goshawk. Joining those creatures were the Tasmanian tree frog, tiger snakes and the Macleay’s swallowtail butterfly – all these species protected within the boundaries of the park. But just down the road, in the heart of the Styx Forest, many of these same creatures were not as lucky. I soon learned that one of Tasmania’s largest logging companies (ironically, named Gunn’s Ltd.) was getting ready to cut down one of the last remaining stands of unprotected eucalyptus regnan. It’s the world’s tallest hardwood tree, second only in size to the world-famous Californian redwoods. If the company has its way, this 450-year-old stand of eucalyptus regnans will be clear-cut, then ground into low-value woodchips. A report by Ecologist magazine describes the process as follows: “When the loggers have done their bit, the helicopters will come. From above the forest, they will drop incendiary chemicals, similar to napalm, on the myrtles, the eucalypts, the cockatoos, the whipbirds, the banners, the tree ferns. … The remains of the forest will burn for days. When the fire stops, (the forest) will be a charred mass of blackened stumps and white, ashen ground. Finally, the loggers will return. They will lace the area with carrots, implanted with a nerve-attacking poison known as 1080. Everything that eats it – wombats, possums, wallabies, bandicoots – will die. Cleared of potentially destructive wildlife, the area will then be planted with lines of fast-growing, non-native trees, which will provide the loggers with a means of producing woodchips in a way which is much more economically efficient than the old-growth forests of the Styx valley ever were.” Greenpeace adds that of the wood logged in Tasmania, 90 percent is converted into woodchips for the Asian paper industry and sold at around $15 per ton. In 2000, the Australian Bureau of Statistics calculated that 5.5 million tons were converted to woodchips. “Importers should source woodchips from plantations, not ancient forests,” Australia Campaigns Manager Danny Kennedy recently informed the press. http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/article/20080401/NEWS/470538518

25) On February 26, Forestry Tasmania, the state-government-run corporation that manages Tasmania’s forests, revealed that it had signed a 20-year deal to supply wood to Gunns Limited’s proposed Tamar Valley pulp mill. Forestry Tasmania executive general manager Hans Drielsma told the Hobart Mercury that the deal, worth about $350 million, involved half of Forestry’s annual pulp wood harvest. The contract is conditional on mill construction starting by June 30. It has also been revealed that Labor Premier Paul Lennon is considering funding the $60 million water and effluent pipelines needed for the mill to operate. The premier is considering declaring the pipelines “essential state infrastructure”. Many landowners who have refused offers of financial compensation from Gunns in return for allowing the pipeline to pass under their properties are suspicious that this latest proposal may allow the government to trigger compulsory land acquisitions for the project. Property prices in the Tamar Valley are tumbling. Bob McMahon of Tasmanians Against the Pulp Mill told the March 4 Mercury that “West Tamar property is bust. Everyone has probably lost at least $100,000 on the value of their homes and people are leaving the area.” Hydro Tasmania has struck a deal with Gunns that will mean the pulp mill’s annual requirement of 26,000 megalitres of water will cost the logging company only $624,000. The March 6 Mercury reported that the state government could have made $1.05 million if this water was used to generate power to sell to Victoria at the average 2007 rate. There is also concern that during drier times the mill may use up to half the water flowing naturally into Trevallyn Dam, depriving Launceston and the Cataract Gorge of their required flows. In Hobart, students are planning to walk out of school on April 1 as part of a national day of action on climate change. They intend to take their protest to the ANZ bank to point out the climate change implications of the mill. Hundreds of people rallied on March 14 outside the headquarters of Gunns in Launceston to protest the mill and mark the one-year anniversary of Gunns’ withdrawal from the Resource Planning and Development Commission (RPDC), the independent body meant to assess the impact of the proposed mill. http://www.greenleft.org.au/2008/745/38553

26) Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull has for the first time declared he is “not unsympathetic” to calls for Gunns Ltd’s controversial Tasmanian pulp mill to be shifted to a less-sensitive site. In a sign the Government may pressure the giant timber company to come up with a more environmentally and politically acceptable site, Mr Turnbull yesterday reiterated he had not yet granted approval for the $2billion project, saying he had given its critics more time to comment. Businessman Geoffrey Cousins, a confidant of John Howard, is leading a campaign against the pulp mill, which is to be built in the heart of the Tamar Valley winegrowing and tourism region in northwest Tasmania. There is a push to shift the mill from the marginal seat of Bass to an alternative site at Hampshire, near Burnie, about 100km to the west. Hampshire is in the seat of Braddon. Asked at a public forum in Brisbane yesterday whether he was sympathetic to calls for the project to be moved, Mr Turnbull said: “I’m not unsympathetic.” But he reminded the crowd of more than 500, who had turned out to hear him debate climate change with Labor environment spokesman Peter Garrett, that his job was to assess the proposal in accordance with the relevant legislation — or risk being sued. Mr Cousins has vowed to campaign against Mr Turnbull in his eastern Sydney electorate of Wentworth in a bid to block the pulp mill. However, he was yesterday forced to deny a conflict of interest after it was revealed he held a 3.2 per cent stake in a baking business based in Launceston, up the Tamar River from the proposed mill site. Mr Cousins angrily denied his stake in the 100 per cent owner of Cripps Nubake, June Investments, from which he is entitled to tens of thousands of dollars of dividends each year, represented a conflict. Mr Turnbull’s suggestion that he was not unsympathetic to a new mill site was a rare occasion during the 90-minute debate where he was cheered by the audience, which generally heckled and jeered the millionaire businessman and adored Mr Garrett like the rockstar he used to be. http://ekrgriseldastephanie.wordpress.com/2008/04/01/pressure-mounting-on-gunns-pulp-mill/

World-wide:

27) A 15-country coalition of rainforest nations has complained that the UN climate change mechanism encourages countries to replant forests they have cut down, but fails to reward ‘good’ countries that have not deforested in the first place. The Coalition of Rainforest Nations, led by Costa Rica, Papua New Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), have told the UN climate change summit in Nairobi, Kenya that they want to be rewarded for the vast swathes of rainforest they have left intact. The Coalition says it wants to receive ‘carbon credits’ similar to ones given to countries like Brazil, which has chopped down many of its rainforests and is now receiving credits for new plantations. The carbon credits system evolved out of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. That agreement, aimed at mitigating climate change, assigns emissions targets to signatory industrialised nations, which in turn divide them among businesses involved in large air-polluting activities. Firms that exceed their targets have an option to ‘buy’ credits from others who are not using up their full allowance, or offset their excess emissions by ‘buying’ an equivalent amount of carbon that is naturally trapped in trees. The seller must have approved ‘carbon credits’, which are endorsed under the CDM and given only to new afforestation projects. That, the Coalition says, is wrong. “The positive impact of [intact] forests has not been taken on by the Kyoto Protocol,” complained Georgette Koko, the minister of environment of Gabon, where 70 per cent of forests remain. “Our sustainable development efforts may be seriously slowed down unless we get the support of the international community for the rational and sustainable use of our forests,” she said at the Nairobi conference. “Central African countries consider that their efforts made in managing forests deserve to be recognised and supported, because they are positive for climate,” the Coalition said in its proposal to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. It says the proposal – which describes the claim for credits as ‘avoided deforestation’ – should be adopted after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012, and a new regime is put into place. http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2008/03/31/news0313.htm

28) The emergence of the global climate issue and the effective participation of forest communities in the conservation of the environment was one of the reasons for the re-launching of the Forest Peoples’ Alliance, in September last year. The Alliance had been first established in 1989, shortly after the murder of leader Chico Mendes and represents the interests of indigenous peoples, extractive producers, riverine populations and other traditional communities who keep a mutual pact of survival with the forest. During the workshop, leaders of Latin American forest communities expect to reach a consensus on which stand they shall take with regard to economic compensation for the environmental services they provide to the planet by helping to conserve millions of hectares of rain forests. Representatives from Asia and Africa will be participating as observers. In order to encourage discussions during the workshop, the Forest Peoples’ Alliance has invited some of the most expressive scientists and experts on topics related to climate, deforestation, indigenous and community rights in rain forests, including Daniel Nepstad (The Woods and Hole Research Center), Peter Frumhoff (Union of Concerned Scientists), Márcio Santilli (Instituto Socioambiental) and Paulo Moutinho (IPAM). The meeting’s final document will be taken to debate with global authorities during the meeting of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) of the Climate Convention to take place next June, in Bonn, Germany. Policies and incentives for the reduction of emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries also shall be discussed during the meeting. http://forestnewswire.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=119:forest-people-want-t
o-be-heard-at-the-un-debate-on-climate-and-deforestation&catid=1:latest&Itemid=58

28) The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has come under increasingly harsh criticisms from a variety of environmental organizations. The FSC is an international not-for-profit organization that certifies wood products: its stamp of approval is meant to create confidence that the wood was harvested in an environmentally-sustainable and socially-responsible manner. For years the FSC stamp has been imperative for concerned consumers in purchasing wood products. Yet amid growing troubles for the FSC, recent attacks from environmental organizations like World Rainforest Movement and Ecological Internet are putting the organization’s credibility into question. Last week the World Rainforest Movement released a scathing press release calling a decision by the FSC to certify eucalyptus plantations in Brazil its “death certificate.” The eucalyptus plantations are owned by Veracel, a partnership between Aracruz Celulose of Brazil and Stora Enso of Sweden-Finland, which has a shaky environmental record. The press release alleges that Veracel “has a very well known record of harmful actions, including violating local communities’ rights over land, to environmental pollution, water depletion and ecosystem destruction.” World Rainforest Movement’s greatest concern, however, is that by certifying Veracel’s eucalyptus plantations, the FSC is stating that large-scale monoculture plantations are environmentally sound, socially responsible, and beneficial to local people. Whereas research has shown that monoculture plantations support little biodiversity, result in CO2 emissions relative to natural forests, and undermine the efforts of local people to manage forests in a sustainable manner. In calling this decision the FSC’s “death certificate” the World Rainforest Movement asserts that “the certification of Veracel is not an isolated fact, but the last piece in a chain of failures.” http://redapes.org/news-updates/forest-stewardship-council-has-failed-the-worlds-forests-say-cr
itics/

29) More than two million trees belonging to nearly 5000 species, growing in tropical forests spread over 12 sites and three continents, have been monitored since the 1980s. The aims of this major study were to analyze the carbon storage capacity of tropical forests and measure the effects of climate change on how they function. Their results suggest that the tropical forests studied did indeed act as carbon sinks, but appeared to react principally to intrinsic phenomena rather than climate change. They also demonstrated the complex functioning of forest ecosystems, their vulnerability and the importance of efforts to ensure their conservation. Tropical forests account for nearly two-thirds of terrestrial biodiversity and store more than half of the carbon in the biosphere. Recent studies have predicted that in a carbon dioxide-enriched environment, physiological changes will affect tropical plants; their functioning will be modified, their biomass will increase and they will sequester more carbon(2). Under these conditions, rapidly-growing tree species should be favored over slow-growing species, and globally, the carbon sinks represented by tropical forests should contribute to limiting atmospheric emissions from fossil fuels. The international research group led by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, and coordinated by Chave, tested these hypotheses for the first time using forestry inventories initiated in the early 1980s. The scientists developed novel statistical methods which, for a given species, made it possible to estimate the biomass of trees as a function of wood density and trunk diameter. They were also able to define two groups of species: rapid-growing and slow-growing. For each studied plot, carbon assessments were performed at the scale of the ecosystem and for both of these groups of species. Chave and his colleagues confirmed that carbon storage capacity had increased significantly during the last two decades. Ancient tropical forests are thus indeed major carbon sinks. What is the mechanism underlying this carbon sequestration? At all sites but one, the biomass of slow-growing species had increased, but not that of rapid-growing species(3). There was thus no clear evidence that tropical forests have modified their functioning in response to climate change over the past twenty years. Indeed, these results tend to suggest that the forests are now rebuilding themselves after disturbances in the past. Consequently, tropical forests will not be able to limit the rapid rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels for a long time to come. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080330214448.htm

30) After six months of evasions and personal recriminations, Rainforest Action Network (RAN) has officially answered the question “how does Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified logging of primary and old-growth forests ‘protect endangered forests'”? RAN has been the target of protest by thousands of forest conservationists from eighty countries concerned with how RAN’s support for FSC legitimizes continued loss of ancient forests, their biodiversity and the climate. This is there answer: “Simply, FSC certification isn’t the ultimate protection for endangered forests, but it is a vastly superior alternative to standard industrial logging. In forests that would otherwise be logged without third party oversight, FSC promotes practices that preserve ecosystem functions (like habitat and water quality) and safeguards the most ecologically valuable areas.” — RAN statement, 4/1/08. Sadly, RAN provided an answer to this sincere, straight- forward question only after continued prodding and denigrating protestors as “attention seekers” and “flame bait”. Ecological Internet had to resort to questioning their webmaster to get a preliminary response, since confirmed, and has now been notified further discussions on their web site will be censored. Certified logging of primary forests has gained in prominence given the role ancient forest loss and diminishment plays in climate change. Many long-time destroyers of rainforests including FSC, the World Bank and renowned renegade logger Rimbunan Hijau of Papua New Guinea now suggest that industrial selective logging of ancient forests is good for the climate. New initiatives including avoided deforestation payments are proposed to marketize and profit from rainforest ecosystem services, yet most are mute regarding the acceptability of continued industrial logging in newly “protected” areas. Notably absent from RAN’s statement is any scientific evidence or quantification of FSC being “vastly superior”. They fail to acknowledge conflicts of interests by certifiers and the slew of problematic certifications. There is no detailed strategic analysis by RAN showing that the benefits from FSC logging will in the long term result in more rainforests being protected, in comparison to working to end all such logging now. For years RAN has even suggested first time industrial logging of primary and old-growth forests is “sustainable”. GlenBarry@EcologicalInternet.org