064OEC’s This Week in Trees

This week we have 36 stories for you from: British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Minnesota, Michigan, Oklahoma, Massachusetts, Florida, Canada, Germany, Israel, Tanzania, Nigeria, Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, New Zealand, Australia and World-Wide…

British Columbia:

1) In the summer of 1997, forester Bill Dumont and consultant Patrick Armstrong were at a remote camp on B.C.’s central coast instructing loggers on how to deal with protesters, when a call came crackling in over the radio. “There are people coming out of the bush wearing white coveralls. And the coveralls say Greenpeace on the back.” The loggers had received their training only the day before. They knew how to respond. They downed tools and walked away, while more than a dozen protesters scrambled over their equipment, chained themselves to log loaders and hung a banner that read “Protect the Great Bear Rainforest.” For Dumont, chief forester at Western Forest Products, and Armstrong, an industry consultant who specialized in countering eco-protests, it was their first taste of a new sophisticated phase of the war in the woods. The battle would spread halfway around the world, drawing into it reluctant clients like Home Depot, before both sides would learn how to talk to each other. But on that particular day on Roderick Island, the determination on both sides was iron-hard. Greenpeace shut down the logging operation for 10 days, leaving only after the company obtained an injunction. It was the early days of a 10-year environmental battle for Canada’s largest temperate rainforest, a conflict that ends today with a historic agreement between first nations, government, communities, environmentalists and industry, based on sustainability. It covers six million hectares of land. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002789120_logging07m.html

2) “A huge victory” exclaimed Greenpeace. “An incredible conflict-to-consensus story,” declared Sierra Club. “This innovative rainforest agreement provides a real world example of how people and wilderness can prosper together.” In truth, we have a real-world example of how industry can squeeze government for subsidies to extract resources from wilderness areas that would otherwise remain untouched, with environmentalists the catalyst that precipitates the environmental despoliation. Under the agreement, the BC government and the environmentalists have co-operated to put together an attractive financial package for industry, and all parties will now lobby the federal government for further subsidies. More provincial subsidies will follow, the amount to be negotiated, as is any determination of how much wilderness will actually be protected. The agreement — really an interim step in a process 10 years in the making, with several more years ahead — couldn’t come too soon for industry. To stop foot-dragging on this deal, needed by wood-product consumers to keep feedstocks full and the cost of wood low, NorskeCanada, B.C.’s largest consumer of forest products and the world’s largest producer of telephone directories, intervened directly in a letter to Premier Gordon Campbell last year: “I am writing to add the voice of our company to those you have already heard from to urge you to move forward … prior to the upcoming Provincial Election,” urged president and CEO Russell Horner. The industry efforts paid off with this week’s historic deal. With the help of all concerned, the remote Great Bear Rainforest, until now uneconomic and all-but-inaccessible for most kinds of economic development, has been put into play: “When we work together, we can produce meaningful benefits for everyone concerned,” an enthused Reynold Hert, Western Forest Products CEO, told the press. “The proposed land-use agreement for the area would leave: A) 80% of critical Kermode [spirit bear] habitat unprotected from logging and other forms of development B) 65% of the most-intact and highest conservation value ecosystems unprotected C) 86% of the timber harvesting land base unprotected, D) 77% of cedar old-growth forests unprotected E) 65% of the most productive salmon rivers unprotected.” –Lawrence Solomon, Financial Post http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/financialpost/story.html?id=793fccff-3b72-4682-8986-f38ea5e1edb5

3) Today marks the second anniversary of the day that citizens halted logging by Gordon Campbell’s BC Liberal government in Cathedral Grove on the floodplains of the Cameron River. For two years now dedicated citizens have maintained a camp and tree-sits protesting against the proposed parking lot which would see many old growth tree being felled, a 5 acre area of the floodplain being bulldozed, and more than 2 km of gravel trails being pushing through a sensitive wetland forest which is the most sensitive portion of this tiny class “A” park. Today there is a well established camp with dedicated people who were joined by others to celebrate 2 years of successful protest. Congratulations to all who have participated. This issue has not been resolved. The public has not been told what the BC Liberals plan to do in the near future. The plan remains the same as 2 years ago. You can make a difference. We are making a difference. yours in solidarity, Richard Boyce For more information: http://cathedralgrove.se

4) Friends of Rasmussen Forest presented a petition with 550 signatures to Powell River-Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Simons on January 25 at his constituency office in Davis Bay. The petition asks for a moratorium on logging in the forest near Lund. Friends of Rasmussen Forest spokeswoman Mary Tilberg said the group is hoping for a year’s moratorium so further thought can go into the whole area. “We would actually like to stop the logging, because the whole area is a sensitive ecosystem,” she said. “But some of us are willing to go as far as saying maybe some very, very selective logging can take place somewhere in this forest for local people.” Two cut-blocks in the area known as Rasmussen Forest are slated to be logged. BC Timber Sales plans to auction the cutting rights in March.The group from Powell River also met with Daniel Bouman, executive director of the Sunshine Coast Conservation Association. Tilberg said Bouman and Simons pointed out there were 12 different proposed logging plans from Gibsons to Sarah Point that people are contesting. “It’s a fair amount of coming up against community values I think that’s happening here,” Tilberg said. Simons said he will present the petition to Minister of Forests and Range Rich Coleman and Minister of Agriculture and Lands Pat Bell because it’s a land use issue. Meanwhile, Friends of Rasmussen Forest have also asked the Powell River Regional District to reconsider its decision over a year ago to approve the logging. The group wrote in a letter to the regional board that the decision was made without information it now has from the ministry of environment about the Sensitive Ecosystem Inventory. The group’s request was referred to the regional district’s February planning committee meeting.
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1998&dept_id=499599&newsid=16093914&PAG=461&rfi=9

Washington:

5) Washington will join Oregon, California and New Mexico in a lawsuit challenging the Bush administration’s policy on roadless areas of national forests, Gov. Chris Gregoire said today. At a news conference at outdoor retailer Recreational Equipment Inc., Gregoire said states should be allowed to implement Clinton-era forest protections to limit logging and mining in roadless areas. The Bush administration repealed the rule last year and issued a new policy requiring states to work with U.S. Forest Service officials to devise management plans for individual forests. The revisions could allow road construction and commercial logging on 58 million acres nationally and 2 million acres in Washington. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002794704_webroadless09.html

Oregon:

6) Oregon State University’s Faculty Senate unanimously approved a resolution Thursday renewing its commitment to research integrity and academic freedom, and taking a stand on the recent controversy surrounding internal interference in the publication of a graduate student’s research. Robert Iltis, associate professor and chair of the speech and communication department, proposed the resolution, including quotes from the Faculty Handbook to clarify what behavior is expected of university employees. Issues of academic freedom, conflict of interest, politicized research and peer review have been the talk of campus since several professors in the College of Forestry tried to delay publication of graduate student Dan Donato’s research on post-fire logging. Hal Salwasser, dean of the College of Engineering, is assembling a committee of distinguished faculty from within the college to address the issues central to Donato’s case. The committee is working with the philosophy department to organize a series of campus forums. The series is called “The Academy in the 21st Century.” The first forum is tentatively scheduled for March 1, and will address academic freedom. Donato and his co-authors studied the southwest Oregon area burned by the 2002 Biscuit fire. They determined that salvage logging slows forest regrowth and creates tinder that can increase short-term fire risks. The results of their research appeared in the journal Science, but not before several OSU forestry professors urged a delay in publication, in part so they could respond to the findings of Donato’s team. Sabah Randhawa, provost and executive vice president, said he was confident the university’s “collective conscience” would prevent such breaches of academic freedom from happening again. Randhawa and Bill Boggess, Faculty Senate president, are looking at the Donato case as a “teachable opportunity,” examining the environment in the College of Forest and the university at large. http://www.townnews.com/

7) A federal agency restored funding Wednesday for a study that has provided evidence for conservationists opposing the Bush administration’s policy of logging after wildfires. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s decision to lift its suspension of the final year of a three-year grant to Oregon State University came a day after a congressman called for an investigation of the funding cutoff. Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., had asked the Interior Department’s inspector general to examine whether the bureau was punishing the researchers for their findings. The bureau’s decision came after the university said that it had complied with grant provisions barring it from using any of the money to lobby Congress and requiring its researchers to inform a bureau scientist about plans to publish in a scientific journal. “Both sides have agreed to work together to continue the long productive relationship gathering science and data,” said bureau spokesman Chris Strebig. The university study found that salvage logging after a 2002 fire killed naturally regenerated seedlings and increased, in the short term, the amount of fuel on the ground to feed future fires. The study, published last month in the journal Science, was embraced by environmentalists seeking to defeat a pending salvage logging bill backed by the Bush administration. “The key to effective censorship is to make sure no one’s looking, and this time everyone was watching,” said Andy Stahl, director of the Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics, an environmental group in Eugene. http://www.forbes.com/technology/feeds/ap/2006/02/08/ap2511795.html

9) The Horse Heli timber sale would log 1,498 acres along the Pacific Crest Trail on the South side of Condrey Mountain midway between Mt. Ashland and the Red Buttes Wilderness. The Headwaters of the Doggett, Kohl, Buckhorn and Middle Creek Watersheds would be logged. Believe it or not the Forest Service intends to log this beautiful stretch of the Pacific Crest Trail. The agency goes as far as to instruct marking crews to only mark the back side of trees near the trail, so that users won’t notice that the trees are marked for logging until its too late. When logging is ongoing the Forest Service intends to station “flaggers” on the trail to escort hikers through the logging area. Comments on the timber sale are due by February 13th. In the DEIS the Forest Service repeatedly relies upon the “fear of fire” to further its logging agenda. Yet the agency refuses to protect the largest, most fire resistant old-growth trees from logging and continues to create fire-prone young fiber plantations where native forests once stood. http://www.kswild.org/horseheli

California:

10) The Pacific Lumber Co. and its subsidiary are looking to sell tens of thousands of acres of timberland, calling it part of an ongoing effort to concentrate its efforts on producing redwood lumber. Scotia Pacific and Palco are considering selling up to 60,000 acres of mostly ranch lands and unproductive Douglas fir properties, said Palco spokesman Chuck Center. ”As we have said on many occasions before, Palco is refocusing its efforts on its core business as a top redwood lumber producer,” wrote Palco President and CEO Robert Manne in a letter to employees. Some financial sources said the move may be to sell enough land to make its next interest payment in July on $740 million of timber-secured notes. The sale could represent nearly a quarter of the 220,000 acres owned by Palco and Scopac. Kate Anderton, executive director of Save-the-Redwoods League, said the league is always interested in seeing parks and reserves created out of redwood lands. ”Any sale of a significant portion of Palco’s lands is of very great interest to Save-the-Redwoods,” Anderton said, “because we have a strong commitment to the health of the redwoods.” But Anderton said that at present, state money for parks is depleted, making public investment uncertain. http://www.times-standard.com/local/ci_3495158

Idaho:

11) POCATELLO – A day after President Bush announced a plan to raise funds for struggling rural economies by selling public land, Idaho Sen. Larry Craig’s office defended the administration’s track record regarding management of national forests. According to Craig spokesman Mike Tracy, since Bush first took office, the country has expanded its national forests from 192 million acres to 193 million acres. “I think it’s pretty significant in the whole public lands debate. If you take a look at a million acres, that’s a chunk of ground 25 percent the size of the Frank Church Wilderness,” Tracy said. “A lot of the angst you’re hearing from the environmental community about the Bush administration selling off public land just doesn’t ring true.” That said, Bush proposed Monday to sell between 300,000 and 400,000 acres of Forest Service land identified as being difficult to manage in order to raise about $800 million for rural schools and communities. Reductions in logging in national forests have taken a toll on rural counties, which receive 25 percent of revenue from timber sales within their borders. To offset that decline in logging revenue, Craig was among lawmakers who introduced the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act in 2000, which allocated a total of $2.4 billion in funds for counties. Bush’s plan, included in his proposed $2.77 trillion national budget, would be incorporated in the reauthorization of that act for the next five years. The average annual allocation of $160 million under Bush’s proposal would be a cut from the $380 million distributed through the program this year. http://www.journalnet.com/articles/2006/02/08/news/local/news05.txt

Minnesota:

12) A small chunk of northern Minnesota forest once included in a federal roadless area will be logged under a plan approved by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. The DNR’s new forestry plan for the Border Lakes region calls for logging 260 acres of state land in the Superior National Forest. The acres were part of a roadless area under the Clinton administration that was reopened to roads and logging by the Bush administration. DNR Commissioner Gene Merriam on Thursday met with environmental groups to disclose the state’s plan, part of the agency’s 10-year strategy for the 500,000-acre Border Lakes region that stretches across the top of the state. Much of the land is interspersed with federal lands. Environmentalists see the state logging plan as a possible death knell to a longstanding effort to designate 62,000 acres around the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness as off-limits to new roads and loggers. The groups — including the Sierra Club, Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness, Audubon Society, Wilderness Society and Izaak Walton League of America — urged the DNR to stay out of the roadless areas so they could someday be protected. http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/news/local/13837794.htm

13) The University of Minnesota Board of Regents will consider buying a Northland property for use as a research site. At their Thursday meeting, members of the board’s facility committee will debate purchasing 40 acres of vacant land located approximately three miles east of Rauch in Koochiching County. If the university buys the property, it would become a field test site for research into improving aspen and larch trees as part of the university’s Forest Genetics Facility Project. University President Robert Bruininks supports buying the property for $56,000. Regents will also decide whether to sell 44 acres of property northwest of Park Lake in Carlton County to Randolph and Patrice Zemke for $20,000. The property is part of the Cloquet Forestry Center. In 2002, Regents approved selling 475 acres of the center’s land that is not part of the contiguous property and is no longer used for research or teaching. The Cloquet center is the university’s main forestry field station, used for teaching, research and outreach programs. It contains about 3,400 contiguous acres west of Cloquet off of Airport Road. http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/13812149.htm

Michigan:

14) LANSING – Regulators would have fewer reasons to prohibit logging in state forests and private landowners would be encouraged to allow timber cutting on their property under bills approved Tuesday by the Michigan House. The Republican-sponsored legislation, aimed at boosting the state’s logging industry, next heads to the Senate. It is opposed by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, environmental groups and local governments. Supporters said Michigan, which has one of the country’s largest surplus of timber, must log more of it to stay competitive and keep wood costs down. ”We’re trying to shore this whole thing up so our mills are able to compete,” said Rep. Tom Casperson, a Republican from Escanaba and sponsor of some bills. But opponents have said tax incentives offered to private landowners would cost the state and local governments too much money and other parts of the legislation would diminish the state’s ability to manage state land. One bill, which passed 63-42, targets what the DNR calls ”limiting factors” – reasons why the agency might not allow logging in specific locations. It would abolish factors that aren’t in state or federal law. Casperson said the bill would let logging companies propose different options for using timber-rich land without harming the environment. Wood costs in Michigan are among the highest in the country because of a shortage of timber on the market, he said. Another bill, approved 65-40, would give tax incentives to private landowners who let logging companies cut trees on their property. To qualify, those landowners would need at least 20 acres of contiguous land and be subject to a forest management plan. http://www.miningjournal.net/news/story/028202006_new02-n0208.asp

Oklahoma:
15) Becky Cummings hopes Enid someday will be a forest of trees, a gift for the children of Enid. The Legacy Tree program allows people to purchase a tree as a tribute to a loved one that will last many years. Trees cost $500, but shrubs and bulbs also are available for $50 to $100. Although shrubs and bulbs do not last as long, the memorial brick that accompanies them will remain. For a perfect grove, three types of trees are needed, old ones that have been around for a while, younger ones that have been recently planted and those lasting 15 to 20 years, Cummings said. “You should be able to stand on the courthouse lawn and see all three stages of trees,” she said. The Legacy Tree program, which is in association with Enid Main Street, is a 100-year plan, and Cummings hopes the interest will be sustained. “If we don’t continue planting in the downtown we are not doing our job,” she said. The Legacy Tree program started in the courtyard at Cherokee Strip Conference Center, but can be expanded throughout the downtown area and into other parts of town.

Massachusetts:

16) In a perfect world, Brian O’Neill deeds the Uplands to the Department of Conservation and Recreation, as Darrell King suggests in his Guest Perspective It’s a generous gesture, giving the wealthy Mr. O’Neill a nice tax break while giving Belmont the open space that most people seem to agree is the best use of the land. Before the bulldozers, before the chainsaws, in a world in which this desolate landscape does not yet exist, I walked one day in the silver maple forest. I was not there alone, for the forest teemed with life. Along its mossy banks, tracks told stories, and deep within the tangled thickets, the denizens of the forest pursued their lives beyond my sight in their secret, hidden world. And as I walked, I thought about the choice that faces our town. It is not too late. Not too late to listen to the words of those whose legacy of language and wisdom implores us to think carefully. Not too late to save those trees and the wildlife that lives among them. Not too late to step back from a decision that would impoverish our town in ways that are not financial and take something precious from our children. Not too late – but the clock is ticking. http://www2.townonline.com/belmont/opinion/view.bg?articleid=426518&format=&page=2

Florida:

17) The proposed tree harvest on 1,574 acres in western Liberty County is intended to remove some trees from wetland savannas. The WildLaw environmental-law firm has filed an appeal challenging the proposed timber sale. Some timber-industry supporters are hoping that more tree-cutting also will boost the area’s forest-products economy. WildLaw says the Forest Service proposal is an environmental threat even though it’s supposed to help the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker. “I really think the incentive for this project is economic and not ecological – and I think you can have both,” said Brett Paben, attorney in the law firm’s Tallahassee office. The move could delay the timber sale for 45 days while the Forest Service considers the appeal. Additional delays could occur if the appeal is denied and a lawsuit is filed, said Denise Rains, a Forest Service spokeswoman in Tallahassee. The forest-products industry produced at least $47 million in goods and employed at least 291 people in some counties surrounding the Apalachicola National Forest, according to a 2005 University of Florida study. But timber harvests from the national forest have declined by half since reaching nearly 5 billion cubic feet in 1986. Restrictions on logging to benefit the red-cockaded woodpecker contributed to the decline. Red-cockaded woodpeckers need mature pine trees to build their nest cavities. But the logging restrictions are being relaxed in the Apalachicola National Forest because biologists found that having fewer trees helps the woodpecker. http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060209/NEWS01/602090333/1010/NEWS01

Canada:

18) The Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corp. (NOHFC) is providing $50,000 to BioForest Technologies of Sault Ste. Marie for product trials on a mechanism to inoculate trees. This project will help the company complete pre-commercial trials on its tree injection system that could lead to production later in 2006. “Our government recognizes the importance of supporting innovative new technologies to ensure the future prosperity of our province,” said Bartolucci, who is also chair of the NOHFC. “This project is aimed at improving the sustainability of our forest sector.” …”Today’s announcement is good news for forest enterprises and for the northern economy,” said Natural Resources Minister David Ramsay. “It highlights our government’s commitment to work with our partners to ensure a wood supply that will keep our mills competitiveness and viable well into the future.” The Northern Prosperity Plan has four pillars: Strengthening the North and its Communities; Listening to and Serving Northerners Better; Competing Globally; and Providing Opportunities for All. http://www.sootoday.com/content/news/full_story.asp?StoryNumber=15717

Germany:

19) A team from Robinwood of Aberystwyth – together with 30 delegates from the forestry and renewable energy sectors in Wales – travelled to Brandenburg in Germany for the Robinwood International Wood-Energy Week. Guy Pargeter went with them, and discovered how the wood fuel industry has the potential to address rural depopulation as well as climate change WALES is playing a key role in creating a shared vision of the way forward for the fledgling wood-fuel industry across Europe. At the project’s first major international conference, at Brandenburg in the old East Germany, more than 250 delegates from all six partner regions discovered just how similar their problems are. “The key to the success of wood-fuel energy in the future is the security of supply,” Adas wood fuel specialist Rebecca Heaton told the conference at Eberswalde, home of the region’s 175-year-old forestry college. “From the south Mediterranean coast of Spain, to the north of Poland there is one common problem facing the rural communities of Europe,” said Anthony Bosanquet, Forestry Commissioner for Wales, who headed the Welsh delegation. “Rural de-population and the loss of jobs is an issue across the whole Robinwood project, and wood-fuel – made increasingly more viable by increasing fossil fuel prices – provides a real opportunity to address both. Across Brandenburg unemployment is running at 26% – and in some of the more remote villages that rises to 40%. Young people are moving west in search of highly-paid jobs and some 10% of homes are standing empty. In one small rural town near Eberswalde the population has dropped from 50,000 to 35,000 since re-unification, while in the prettier villages cheap houses are being bought up as holiday homes, – an echo of the rural Wales property market. Wales is already leading the way in the UK on renewable energy. Around 5% of energy is now produced from wind, wood and water compared to the UK total of just 3%. That is way behind the sector leader Austria, which produces more than 30% of its energy from renewables, and its neighbour Germany, where the total is around 17%. Both countries have big forests – 47% of Austria is forest, and 37% of Brandenburg. Both Spain and Italy lag behind the UK in wood energy. http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/farming/countryside/tm_objectid=16673789&method=full&siteid=50082&headline=
reviving-rural-areas-lies-in-the-trees-name_page.html#story_continue

Israel:

20) The custom of eating fruit on Tu Bishvat was established in the 16th century when the Jewish center in Safed was founded. It was a symbol of man’s participation in the joy of trees, and the custom soon spread among all the Jewish communities. The New Year for the trees was not originally a day for planting trees. This is a modern Zionist invention which began in 1892, when the educator Ze’ev Ya’avetz took his pupils to plant trees in honor of the day. It was no coincidence that the 15th of Shvat – the day which symbolizes the revival of nature, highlighted by the flowering of the almond trees, and of the renewed ties between the Jewish people and its land – was chosen by various institutions as their inauguration day: The cornerstone of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem was set in 1918, the Technion in Haifa in 1925, and the Knesset in 1949. Although there is a good chance for cold winter rain, many Israelis will go out to the parks and forests on Monday to keep up with the tradition of planting a tree. http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1139395373658&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Tanzania:

21) Some 26 logging firms in East Africa say they stand to lose more than $ 4.6 million as well as their markets in Europe, Asia and America, following the Tanzania government’s decision to ban exports of logs and sandalwood. Juma Idd, chairman of Wauzaji na Wasafirishaji wa Mazao ya Maliasili Tanzania, the association of forestry-product exporters, told The EastAfrican last week that the move would also deny the government more than $12 million annually in revenues from traders. It will also hurt more than two million Tanzanians who earn a living from logging. Mr Idd said that by imposing the indefinite ban last week, the government had breached contracts it entered into with the traders, and can, in accordance with the regulations, be subjected to civil suits at the High Court of Tanzania. “We have genuine permits to export logs and sandalwood but this indefinite ban will cost us more than $4.6 million, because we will fail to transport the logs,” he said. Tanzania has 44 million hectares of forests, accounting for 45 per cent of its total territory. It is rich in such rare woods as ebony, acajou and sandalwood, which are used in the manufacture of perfume, furniture and musical instruments in Europe and Asia. More than 60 of its 300 tree species, including paurosa, afromasia and round wood, are commercially exploited. The pressure to ban log exports has come from ecological movements both inside and outside Tanzania and reflects the desire of the government, encouraged by aid donors, to promote sustainable forestry in line with the goals of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. The country plants about 25,000 hectares of trees every year according to available statistics. And in addition to launching a tree planting campaign in 1999, it started an annual nationwide tree-planting day in 2001. It had planted 100 million trees by January this year to fulfil the target of the campaign. The forests not only provide the country with its water catchments, but also rank Tanzania among the world’s 24 globally most important hot spots of biodiversity, in that there are 1,500 plant species and 50 endemic plant species in the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests in Tanzania. http://www.nationmedia.com/eastafrican/current/News/news0602200615.htm

Nigeria:

22) Before she died, the woman, who felt she was unjustly treated, allegedly cast a spell on her judges that anybody who died in that community would be thrown into the pit where her son drowned and not buried at home the same way she was denied decent burial. The spell stuck. In this 21st century, a community that traces its genealogy to 300 years ago still buries its dead in an evil forest. Indeed, in Umuogbe Community, in Umuopara Amuzu in Obingwa Local Government of Abia State, nobody, since known history is buried in the house, public place or church cemetery. Some time in the 1960s some members of the community decided to call the bluff of the spell and buried some people outside the evil forest. There was punishment, especially among the elders who were supposed to be the custodians of the tradition. Some of them were infected with a strange disease.The tongues of some of them were swollen and protruded out of their mouths. It was when some elders went for divination that they discovered that there were some burials in the compound, instead of the evil forest. The bodies were promptly exhumed and reburied in the shrine and almost immediately the sick among them recovered. Unbelievably, those who suffered protruded tongues became okay. Since then, nobody has again doubted the efficacy of the spell. As it stands, every male, female, infants, or even aborted foetus is buried in the shrine. I want to tell you that nobody outside our community goes near that forest. It is even a safe haven for various hunted animals as no hunter would ever dare go near there. We give our people a decent burial there. On January 4, 2006, we gathered in our family, including the family head Elder E. A Orji, a senior Elder in the United Evangelical Church, elder Sunday Ikpechi an Elder in African Gospel Church and other pastors from other denominations who are also members of the family and held a corporate prayer session to destroy the spell or curse. We renounced the pronouncement of that woman and nullified its effect. One Rev Ikpeama, an itinerant evangelist, joined us in the prayers. That day we brought the deity Ihenjoku, the Ikoro and the Mbara ala – symbol of the eldest son, prayed over them in the name of Jesus Christ and set them ablaze. We thereafter commissioned sawyers to cut down trees in the shrine so that the devil would not have a place to hide. As we are speaking now, no tree is standing there. The site was a ‘Mecca’ for days as people trooped down to convince themselves that Nkpa Ukwu, Nkpa Nwafor Umugbe has been destroyed. I personally never thought it would be possible because last year when some church people, in the name of driving out Satan, fell our choice trees, I resisted them and was prepared to shed blood in defence of our tradition. I had argued that they should deliver us and not the trees. But all that is now history. God saved them and I. http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2006/feb/08/national%20-8-02-2006-009.htm

Philippines:

23) A parish priest in Surigao del Sur has asked President Arroyo to stop the logging operation of a paper firm for allegedly violating its forestry agreement with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. In a letter to the President, Rev. Fr. Florio Falcon, parish priest of the Saint Vincent de Paul Parish in Bislig City, Surigao del Sur, said Picop Resources Inc. has been conducting operations in areas outside its logging coverage. Falcon, also a leader of multisectoral social democrat group Aksyon Samabayanan, claimed that the environmental office has already deducted 28,125 hectares from Picop’s 75,545-hectare original logging area when the environmental office converted its timber licensing agreement into an industrial forest management agreement. He said the firm, whose logging area straddles Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Sur, Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley, has ignored DENR’s order by allegedly continuing to cut trees outside the areas designated by the government. In a telephone interview, Teodoro Bernardino, Picop president, belied Falcon’s allegations, saying the firm complies with its forestry agreement with the DENR. He said that Picop’s original logging area of 75,545 hectares cannot be reduced unless there is a law. “Our area is within a permanent forest land which is protected by R.A. 3092. If it is a permanent forest, there should be a corresponding law to reclassify it.” Bernardino said that the people living in their logging area are not indigenous to the region and are fake. “The DENR made an investigation and it found out that they are fake,” he said. Falcon said Picop, which operates a pulp and paper mill in Bislig City, also violated Republic Act 8371, the Indigenous People’s Right Act, because it operates in areas within an ancestral domain covering 17,112 hectares. Besides the 17,112 hectares for ancestral domain claim area, the DENR also allegedly deducted a total of 11,013 hectares from Picop’s original logging area of 75,454 hectares set aside for community-based forest agreement, mining claim areas and for alienable and disposable areas. This covers a total land area of 28,125 hectares. The minority group is supposed to have occupied the 17,112-hectare portion of the Picop logging area. http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=29483

Indonesia:

24) Scientists exploring an isolated rainforest in Indonesia’s Papua Province, the western half of the island of New Guinea, have discovered a “lost world” with dozens of new species of frogs, butterflies and plants – as well as large mammals hunted to near extinction elsewhere, many of which were unafraid of humans. The area located in the Foja Mountains covers more than two million acres of old growth tropical forest, and is possibly the largest pristine tropical forest in Asia. It is critical that remaining rainforest wildernesses of unmatched ecological and evolutionary splendor not be lost forever, and certainly not for logging. Ecological Internet’s action network (you!) had a role in protecting these pristine rainforests prior to their splendor even having been fully discovered, as we successfully campaigned with “Down to Earth” and others in both 1997 and 2001 to stop construction of a dam on the Mamberamo River that would have flooded the entire basin (we were aided by the Asia financial crisis). It is clear that in addition to dozens of outright victories conserving millions of hectares of ancient forests, together we have positively impacted the Earth in ways of which we are not even fully aware. If Ecological Internet did not exist, these rainforests may not either. Ecological Internet’s “Earth Action Network” is the best little Earth protector in existence. Keep involved and spread the word. http://www.rainforestportal.org/

25) Greenomics, a local non-governmental organization supporting good forestry governance, has warned the government that the devastating floods affecting many parts of Java are likely to continue in the future. Should the government fail to act against those responsible for environmental degradation and deforestation, even more destructive inundations are likely to result in losses of up to Rp 136.2 trillion (about US$14.33 billion) arising out of damage to forests, fisheries and agricultural resources, towns and villages, public infrastructure and the business sector. Greenomics executive director Elfian Effendi said Tuesday, “Continual degradation and deforestation affecting the island’s forests will result in the disappearance of all existing forests and result in losses of Rp 136.2 trillion by 2008.” According to figures from the Forestry Ministry, more than 330,000 hectares have been degraded and over 102,000 hectares have been deforested in both protected and conservation forests on Java island from 2002 to 2004. “This has caused the country losses amounting to Rp 8.37 trillion since 2002,” Elfian added. Greenomics forecasts that by the end of 2006, only 364,000 hectares of forest will be left in Java, and all will have disappeared by the end of 2008. In fact, the remaining forests could disappear even more quickly if action is not taken soon. In response, Purnama said, “The ministry has drafted a bill on illegal logging to strengthen the government’s hand against the illegal loggers.” Purnama hopes the draft can be brought before the House of Representatives in March and be ratified soon after. http://www.thejakartapost.com/misc/PrinterFriendly.asp

26) The scientists are the first outsiders to see it. They could only reach the remote mountainous area by helicopter, which they described it as akin to finding a “Garden of Eden”.In a jungle camp site, surrounded by giant flowers and unknown plants, the researchers watched rare bowerbirds perform elaborate courtship rituals. The surrounding forest was full of strange mammals, such as tree kangaroos and spiny anteaters, which appeared totally unafraid, suggesting no previous contact with humans. Bruce Beehler, of the American group Conservation International, who led the month-long expedition last November and December, said: “It is as close to the Garden of Eden as you’re going to find on Earth. We found dozens, if not hundreds, of new species in what is probably the most pristine ecosystem in the whole Asian-Pacific region. There were so many new things it was almost overwhelming. And we have only scratched the surface of what is there.” The scientists hope to return this year. The area, about 300,000 hectares, lies on the upper slopes of the Foja Mountains, in the easternmost and least explored province of western New Guinea, which is part of Indonesia. The discoveries by the team from Conservation International and the Indonesian Institute of Sciences will enhance the island’s reputation as one of the most biodiverse on earth. The mountainous terrain has caused hundreds of distinct species to evolve, often specific to small areas. The Foja Mountains, which reach heights of 2,200 metres, have not been colonised by local tribes, which live closer to sea level. Game is abundant close to villages, so there is little incentive for hunters to penetrate up the slopes. A further 750,000 hectares of ancient forest is also only lightly visited. One previous scientific trip has been made to the uplands – the evolutionary biologist and ornithologist Professor Jared Diamond visited 25 years ago – but last year’s mission was the first full scientific expedition. The first discovery made by the team, within hours of arrival, was of a bizarre, red-faced, wattled honeyeater that proved to be the first new species of bird discovered in New Guinea – which has a higher number of bird species for its size than anywhere else in the world – since 1939. Tree kangaroos, which are endangered elsewhere in New Guinea, were numerous and the team found one species entirely new to the island. The golden-mantled tree kangaroo is considered the most beautiful but also the rarest of the jungle-dwelling marsupials. http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article343740.ece

Vietnam:

27) The new environmental campaign echoes President Ho Chi Minh’s tree-planting movement of 1960. President Luong launched the new tree-planting campaign at the historical site of Dinh Hoa Resistance Base, the headquarters of the Party and Vietnamese Resistance Government from 1946 to 1954 in Thai Nguyen Province. At the launching ceremony, President Luong said President Ho Chi Minh’s initial tree-planting movement had elevated the traditional Vietnamese pursuit of growing trees to an important national activity. Mr Luong appealed to Party committees, local authorities and people across the nation to get involved in the movement that aimed at extending Vietnam’s forest cover while also making forestry a key industry. “Forests are an important part of life not only in Thai Nguyen Province but across the entire nation,” said Luong. “On the global scale, the loss of trees and forests is becoming so severe that it threatens human life. “Therefore, Ho Chi Minh’s appeal on expanding forested areas and planting trees in Spring is an extremely worthy cause.” President Luong said the tree-planting campaign should be further developed in co-ordination with plans on forest protection and management in order to increase forest coverage as quickly as possible. Forests in Dinh Hoa have contributed to the region’s socio-economic development and to programmes aimed at hunger eradication and poverty reduction in the area. Last year, new forests were planted across a total of 161,000ha, while 622,000ha of old forest areas were regrown. About 2,000,000ha of forest were allotted to people under protection contracts and 250mil trees, scattered across the country, were planted by people. However, forest protection and expansion activities were still insufficient. Forest fire, deforestation, encroachment upon forest areas and illegal forestry have been rampant. To prepare for the planting of 1,800ha of protective forests this year, the northern mountain province of Bac Can has begun moving 3.4mil seedlings to areas designed for afforestation. The province aims to increase its forest coverage from 53 to 58% by 2010. Yesterday, 10 districts and towns in the northern province of Hung Yen launched a forest planting festival. The province plans to grow 400,000 trees – with a majority being economically viable trees such as litchis, longan and trees suitable for timber. The province’s farmers were told to replace low quality and old seedlings with speciality fruit trees like Vinh Orange from Nghe An central province and Phu Dien grapefruit from Hanoi. http://english.vietnamnet.vn/social/2006/02/539070/

New Zealand:

28) National environment spokesman Nick Smith said that details in a Cabinet paper released to an Auckland newspaper showed latest indications were that forest owners intend to deforest about 47,000ha during the first Kyoto commitment period between 2008 and 2012. If that happened, it would add around 32 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent to New Zealand’s deficit – worth about $300 million and in effect nearly doubling it. Under Kyoto’s rules, a country earns credits when land is switched from a low-carbon use such as grass to a high-carbon one such as forestry. When a forest is felled and not replanted, the country is liable for the emission of that stored carbon. Dr Smith said Labour ratified Kyoto saying New Zealand would have hundreds of millions of credits. “Last year they admitted they had erred and that we actually had a deficit of 36 million tonnes of carbon. “In August they said this was a conservative estimate and the situation was expected to improve but official papers now show the deficit will increase by a further 32 million tonnes due to forest clearing.” He accused Labour of bungling. http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3567214a6160,00.html

Australia:

29) Arrested in the Cathcart State Forest last April, appearing in Bega local court this week: Gerhard Wiedmann, Tony Whan, Peter Johnson, Scott Daines and Helen Howie-Doze, who are all members of South East Forest Rescue, appeared before magistrate Chris Bone charged with failing to comply with the direction of an authorised Forestry officer; approaching within 100 metres of timber harvesting equipment; interfering with timber harvesting; and entering or remaining in an area set aside for exclusive use. It was alleged that they had attached cables to a tree-sit to immobilise logging machinery, however, Mr Bone found that claim had not been proved. Mr Daines was also charged with possession of a prohibited drug. All the charges against Mr Daines, Ms Howie-Doze and Mr Johnson were dismissed. Mr Wiedmann was convicted on the charge of remaining in an area set aside for exclusive use and fined $300 plus $65 costs. The other three charges against him were dismissed. Mr Whan was released under Section 10 and ordered to pay $65 costs. In 2003 Mr Wiedmann was fined $100 for a similar offence but he refused to pay the fine so in 2004 NSW Forests brought bankruptcy proceedings against him to recoup court costs. His property has now been listed for sale by an administrator. http://bega.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?class=news&subclass=local&story_id=457990&category=General%20News&
m=2&y=2006

30) Thieves have stolen about $35,000 worth of seeds from native forests in Coffs Harbour’s hinterland. Forests New South Wales has found a number of damaged dunn’s white gum trees.Its seeds can be sold for high prices overseas. Tree improvement manager Michael Henson says forest workers have strong suspicions about who might be responsible for the thefts. “On one occasion they heard a chainsaw and when they went to investigate they found a tree that had had its limbs cut off and obviously seed collected from it,” he said. “They’ve seen a suspicious four-wheel drive ute in the area on various occasions and around some of the trees they’ve seen four-wheel drive dirt bike tracks, which they’ve also seen on the back of the ute.” http://www.abc.net.au/news/items/200602/1565265.htm?midnorthcoast

31) “They were trespassing, they weren’t wearing a hard hat or safety gear as required on site, but they’re whinging about their treatment,” said Mr Fogden, who currently works at the chipmill. “How can they complain when they’ve jumped a fence and are in the middle of a criminal act? “They get up my nose a bit. They should protest in different ways, not interfere with other people’s way of life and their workplace.” He said he was also riled to see the group using an old photograph of timber logs to publicize the protest at South East Fibre Exports. “That photograph must be about 10 years old, trees like that don’t come into the mill,” Mr Fogden said. “If they have a genuine case, why don’t they put the truth across, not old photographs. “Blokes working out in the coops aren’t allowed to cut down trees with a diameter of more than 60 centimetres.” Mr Fogden says he also cares about the environment, but says the radical activists ruin it for everyone who is trying to get a message across. “If I knew that by cutting down trees the bush would be gone and never grow back, I’d be protesting against it, but it’s not the case. “I worked out in the coops for more than 20 years. I’ve been to where we cut down trees, and I can see that the vegetation has grown back.” http://eden.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?class=news&subclass=local&story_id=457520&category=General%20News
&m=2&y=2006

33) A $2 million pledge from entrepreneur Dick Smith has saved one of Australia’s most significant historic sites. Recherche Bay, near the southern-most tip of Tasmania, has been saved from the logger’s axe after it was bought by conservation groups with Mr Smith’s help. Today’s announcement of the purchase comes after three years of lobbying led by Greens leader Bob Brown. Tasmanian Premier Paul Lennon, announcing the deal today, said the $2.21 million purchase would not have been possible without Mr Smith’s financial support. “If Dick Smith hadn’t put his $2 million on the table we wouldn’t be standing here, it’s as simple as that,” Mr Lennon said. The land was originally earmarked by landowners Rob and David Vernon for logging by timber giant Gunns Limited, with a deal to harvest 30,000 tonnes of woodchip and 5000 tonnes of sawlogs from the 142-hectare site. Recherche Bay, the coastline where French explorer Bruni d’Entrecasteaux anchored in 1792 and 1793, has been described by archaeologists as one of the nation’s greatest cultural heritage sites. http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/entrepreneurs-2m-saves-tasmanian-forest/2006/02/08/1139379564064.html

34) TASMANIA’S newest government tourism project, the $8 million timber hauler on the edge of the South-West wilderness, will be open for business by Christmas. Announcing the start of construction on site yesterday, Premier Paul Lennon said he expected the Maydena Hauler would become one of the state’s top tourist attractions. The Maydena Hauler would incorporate a guided four-wheel-drive tour, forest walk and a 2km pull by a funicular hauler to the top of 1100m high Mt Abbott. It is the latest tourist development by Forestry Tasmania, following the Tahune Airwalk in the Huon Valley south of Hobart, the Scottsdale Eco-centre in the northeast and the more-troubled Dismal Swamp slide near Circular Head. The Hauler ride will cost adults about $45 and take two hours, promising magnificent views of Mt Field, the Styx Valley and the South West World Heritage wilderness. The State Government is contributing half of the Hauler’s $8 million cost, which has risen from a $6 million estimate 18 months ago, with Forestry Tasmania bearing the rest of the risk. Several elements of the proposal have also been abandoned in the past year, including plans for a replica sawmill at the attraction’s base and the construction of a hauler rail-track. Together with the nearby Mt Field National Park, Russell Falls and the Styx Valley of the Giant Trees drive, it is hoped the Hauler will attract day visitors from Hobart and travellers touring around the state on their way to and from the West Coast. There are also plans at later stages to include bike rides back down the mountain as well as longer walking trails. A visitors’ centre will be located at the base of the Hauler experience close to Maydena at Risbys Basin. It will feature a display of old photos and exhibitions explaining the early timber cutting and hauling history of the forest, as well as a cafe and ticket sales. At the top of the mountain will be an enclosed glass viewing platform with magnificent 360-degree views. Mr Lennon predicted 75,000 visitors a year would ride the Maydena Hauler. Forestry Tasmania chief executive Evan Rolley said the Maydena Hauler was an excellent example of the multi-use approach being taken in the state’s extensive forests. Besides producing timber, they are also contributing to the state’s natural beauty and growing tourism industry, Mr Rolley said. “We look at business ideas for tourism products that have good access, are in a uniquely Tasmanian environment and offer a special experience and a sense of adventure,” Mr Rolley said. http://www.themercury.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,18076755%255E3462,00.html

35) STATE agencies guilty of logging breaches that felled protected trees and threatened endangered species have escaped punishment despite the environmental watchdog finding systemic problems in at least one forest district. A special Environment Protection Authority audit found three breaches by VicForests near Cann River in East Gippsland, home to threatened species including the long-footed potoroo. A fourth was confirmed in the Barmah State Forest, near Echuca, where the Department of Sustainability and Environment logged more than half of a 35-hectare protected nesting colony for the endangered superb parrot. As few as 150 superb parrots breed in Victoria. EPA chairman Mick Bourke said the East Gippsland breaches — where timber workers logged more than a hectare of the Errinundra National Park at one site and breached coupe boundaries by a total of nearly 15 hectares at two others — were signs of a systemic problem. “Anywhere where there is potential to impact on national forest and special protection zone is a serious matter,” he said. The special audit was released along with a wider EPA report into timber harvesting in 2004-05 which found an average of 91 per cent compliance with the law. But breaches, often for minor offences such as inadequate record-keeping, were found in 44 out of 45 coupes sampled. http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/alarm-at-logging-breaches/2006/02/08/1139379573221.html

World-wide:

36) The system of forestry called selective logging: Only trees of desired species are removed from the forest, leaving other trees intact and ensuring the continued health of the ecosystem. But recent reports on selective logging’s effects on a forest’s carbon-storing ability may erode the middle ground. In the journal Science (November 11, 2005), a research group led by modeler Daniel Bunker at Columbia University recently reported that carbon storage in a selectively logged forest could be reduced by up to 70 percent if certain species are permanently removed. Bunker’s analysis is not the only evidence that selective logging may be more damaging than realized. The Carnegie Institution’s Gregory Asner, working with colleagues in Puerto Rico and Brazil, measured forest degradation in the Brazilian Amazon caused by selective logging. By tweaking remote sensing methods, they reported in an earlier issue of Science (October 21) that selective logging is degrading the Amazon rain forest at twice the rate previously estimated. But recent reports on selective logging’s effects on a forest’s carbon-storing ability may erode the middle ground. In the journal Science (November 11, 2005), a research group led by modeler Daniel Bunker at Columbia University recently reported that carbon storage in a selectively logged forest could be reduced by up to 70 percent if certain species are permanently removed. Bunker’s analysis is not the only evidence that selective logging may be more damaging than realized. The Carnegie Institution’s Gregory Asner, working with colleagues in Puerto Rico and Brazil, measured forest degradation in the Brazilian Amazon caused by selective logging. By tweaking remote sensing methods, they reported in an earlier issue of Science (October 21) that selective logging is degrading the Amazon rain forest at twice the rate previously estimated. In a finding consistent with Bunker’s, Asner’s team calculated that selective logging adds 25 percent more carbon to the atmosphere than accounted for by deforestation alone, contributing to the “greenhouse effect” thought to drive climate change. One such study was published in December in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study’s lead U.S. scientist, ecologist Susan Trumbore of the University of California, Irvine, says modelers need to rethink the Amazon forest’s role in determining global carbon dioxide levels. Trumbore says that trees in the Amazon are older and grow more slowly than scientists thought, so previous studies have overestimated the Amazon rain forest’s capacity to absorb carbon. To reduce logging’s impact on tropical rain forests’ carbon-absorbing capacity, managers must adhere to recommended methods, according to Greg Asner. “Under best practices of surgical ‘reduced-impact logging,'” he says, “the carbon losses can be kept low.” But in reality, says Bunker, “There is often little incentive for [logging crews in the field] to follow the rules closely … [so it] may be difficult to reliably enforce codes in practice.” http://www.americanscientist.org/template/AssetDetail/assetid/49614