081 OEC’s This Week in Trees

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This week we have 37 news items from Alaska, British Columbia, Oregon, California, Colorado, Indiana Maine, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New York, Virginia, New Hampshire, USA, Liberia, Cameroon, Brazil, India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, China, Japan, Papua New Guinea, Australia, and World-wide.

Alaska:

1) “These trips to Emerald Bay and Vixen Inlet provide close to half of my annual income. If there is logging in Emerald Bay, it will effectively kill my chance to guide hunts there.” Between 1998 and 2004, 50-percent of Tongass timber sales offered received no bids, and 70 percent of sales that sold had only one bidder. …Beth Antonsen of Ketchikan said, “I can’t get small quantities of high-quality wood for my business, yet the Forest Service tosses away millions clearcutting areas miles from any mill who makes high-end wood products such as furniture and boats.” She said, “Who are they working for?” In addition to limiting or eliminating community uses of Emerald Bay, the Forest Service claims it will lose $1.5 million tax dollars on the sale. However, a close examination of agency average expenses for logging for the last five years reveals that the agency’s loss would actually be closer to between $8 million and $12 million. “The Forest Service is living in the past,” says Gregory Vickrey of the Tongass Conservation Society based in Ketchikan. “Instead of spending money on growing industries, like tourism, or sustainable industries, like commercial fishing, the Forest Service is throwing away millions to prop up the timber industry.” “It doesn’t make any sense to put out big, money-losing timber sales that harm local uses when the Forest Service is justifying them using an illegal forest plan. Even if the plan is corrected, Emerald Bay is too valuable to cut,” says Dave Sherman of the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council. http://www.sitnews.us/0306news/032906/032906_emerald_bay.html

British Columbia:

2) Victoria has opened up British Columbia’s mid-coast to log exports to aid the region’s first nations in developing their own logging economy. Up to 35 per cent of the timber harvest can now be exported from the region, Forests Minister Rich Coleman said Thursday. The mid-coast timber supply area, extending from Cape Caution, north of Vancouver Island, to Klemtu, is also known as the Great Bear Rainforest. Coleman said the government is permitting exports in response to a request by the Heiltsuk First Nation of Bella Bella. But the order-in-council approved by cabinet covers all licensees harvesting in the region and the United Steelworkers union says sawmills will close if coastal licensees can easily export more timber. “It guarantees they are going to shut more manufacturing operations,” said Darrell Wong, president of the coastal local of the steelworkers union. Wong said he sees the rationale for giving first nations the ability to export logs to start up forest operations. “First nations are obviously going to need some special considerations in starting out,” he said. “But I don’t think licensees should be permitted to export any wood.” © The Vancouver Sun 2006

3) Like Doctor Seuss’ Lorax, David Suzuki speaks for the trees. In fact, for more than thirty years, he’s been advocating for the fish and the birds and for clean air, clean water, and healthy ecosystems as well. One of North America’s foremost representatives of the natural world and a leader in sustainable ecology, Suzuki has spoken to audiences across the globe about caring for the environment.Through television programs, including the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s “The Nature of Things,” and more than thirty books, Suzuki has investigated, celebrated, and shared the many wonders of the world around us. Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1936, Suzuki was just six years old when he and his family were interned in a remote ghost town— victimized by the government’s response to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Suzuki bounced back from this decidedly low point in his life, graduating with honors from Amherst College in 1958 and earning his doctorate in zoology from the University of Chicago in 1961. He began his professional career as a geneticist, but his involvement with the nascent environmental movement led him out of the laboratory and into the world as both teacher and advocate. He taught at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver from 1969 until his retirement in 2001 and is currently an emeritus professor with the university’s Sustainable Development Research Institute. He also is the head of the David Suzuki Foundation, which funds projects dedicated to resource preservation and environmental education. “If you care enough about anything that matters, surely you have no choice but to act on that. That’s the way it’s always been in my life. There was no big epiphany. It just seems to me that if you believe that something has to be changed, you have no choice but to do something about it. … Tom Eisner, a leading insect expert at Cornell, told me that he could go to Central Park in New York City anytime and discover a brand new species of insect. When we look into a forest canopy, we can discover whole new communities.” http://www.science-spirit.org/webexclusives.php?article_id=622

4) “So we have to do something. People are going to get here. The mountains are going to get destroyed.” Robson said he was concerned about forest fires being started from off-road use, mainly from exhaust or hot manifolds and that he wants to protect the mountain so it can be used for sustainable logging by the Katzie First Nation. The Katzie last year signed a logging agreement with the province worth $1.1 million. Under the agreement, the band can cut 69,450 cubic metres of timber over five years, or about 14,000 cubic metres yearly. Blue Mountain currently has two woodlots, one operated by the BCIT Forest Society, another by Blue Mountain Woodlot Ltd., both licensed to cut a total of about 6,500 cubic metres of timber yearly. That leaves about 3,900 hectares land on Blue Mountain without tenure. Logging 69,450 cubic metres of trees would require about 170 hectares of forest. However, a forest stewardship plan would be required before logging starts and the band has said it supports low-impact harvesting. Robson also said he’ll be proposing a user’s group which will control use and access on the mountain, although for dirt bikers the future looks cloudy. “We’re not opposed to people using the area … it’s just the motorized, [vehicles]” he said. http://www.mapleridgenews.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=46&cat=23&id=620178&more=

Oregon:

5) Less than a year after a new species, the Scott Bar salamander, was discovered in the Klamath-Siskiyou Bioregion, the California Department of Forestry (CDF) approved logging approximately half of its known habitat. The Scott Bar salamander has a very small range and is highly specialized. Nevertheless, without public notice or comment, CDF approved logging plans in the rare species habitat on industrial timberland in northern California. To ensure protections for the Scott Bar salamander and give the public a voice in the management of such a rare species, KS Wild filed suit in California this month. The suit forced CDF to back off their plans until they go through a public process. KS Wild will continue fighting for rare species in the Klamath-Siskiyou. Last year, we petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list both the Scott Bar and closely related Siskiyou Mountains salamanders under the Endangered Species Act. We expect an initial decision on our federal petition by mid-April. The Department of Fish and Game (DFG) has scheduled a public meeting on April 6 to solicit input on the process to de-list the Siskiyou Mountains Salamander from the state’s Endangered Species Act. The Fish and Game Commission will decide whether to remove the species from the list in 2007. The meeting is from 1 to 3 pm at DFG headquarters, 601 Locust St., Redding, CA 96001. Please attend if you can! If you can’t make it, write to the DFG at the above address, or email SMSrecord@dfg.ca.gov

6) By Hal Salwasser, Dean, College of Forestry, Oregon State University. “Logging. It was once what Oregon was all about. Now, it’s become almost a curse word in this land of Douglas firs and Ponderosa pines. As I travel the state, I see mill after mill closed. I see businesses in rural communities shuttered. I see long-revered public agencies bashed around like a punching bag. I see federal forests at high risk of fire, disease and water stress desperately in need of thinning. Although some would have us put our axes and saws away, worldwide demand for paper, furniture, packaging and building materials is unstoppable. While our state economy slips and stumbles, money and jobs are locked up in the sweet-scented wood of our forests. It?s a bank account we?ve blindly turned our backs on. Dot-coms and high-tech have grabbed the headlines lately, but forestproducts still represent about one-fourth of Oregon?s economy. Without logging, there would be no forest industry. http://www.logging.org/timber.htm

7) The Salem-based Chemeketans — a climbing, hiking and outdoor club — urged Thursday that the Bush administration halt logging and other development in pristine roadless areas until a state proposal to manage the areas is submitted. The U.S. Forest Service proposes at least four commercial projects in roadless areas in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, according to the letter sent to Forest Chief Dale Bosworth. The letter was signed by 11 other outdoor groups, mainly in Oregon. The groups expressed concern about the loss of pristine areas used by recreationists. The 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, adopted by the Clinton Administration, blocks road construction in nearly one-third of national forests as a way to prevent logging and other commercial activity in backcountry woods. The Bush administration changed the rule, requiring governors to petition the federal government to block road-building. — Beth Casper http://159.54.226.83/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060331/NEWS/603310314/1001

California:

8) California once was home to millions of acres of old-growth forests, which reached from the northernmost parts of the state to the south. But most of the state’s old-growth forests have been cut down, and only three percent of California’s old-growth trees, also known as “heritage” trees, are still standing. No state or federal protections exist for these priceless, ancient heritage trees that grow on private land, and they are at tremendous risk of being logged to pave the way for development. In addition, demand for products made from heritage trees is rising, placing these trees at even greater risk. Protecting California’s heritage trees is essential not only to preserve the landscapes that make California so special, but also to safeguard the untold benefits they provide, including habitat for endangered species and other wildlife, reduced wildfire risk, clean drinking water sources and unparalleled recreation opportunities. Old-growth trees also help sustain entire forests by making them less prone to disease. A bill currently moving through the California legislature, SB 1799, would prohibit logging or damaging our oldest and largest old-growth heritage trees, including Giant Sequoias, Coast Redwoods and Douglas firs, on private land. Banning the logging of these irreplaceable trees would help preserve California’s natural heritage, as well as provide lasting benefits for California’s forests, wildlife, and communities. You can send a message to Senator Kuehl directly from NRDC’s Earth Action Center at http://www.nrdc.org/action/

9) The California Supreme Court has agreed to review the validity of state permits for Pacific Lumber Co.’s logging of 211,000 acres of its land outside the Headwaters Forest in Humboldt County. The high court will consider a challenge by three environmental and labor groups to a 100-year sustainable yield logging plan, a streambed alteration permit and permits allowing incidental harm to endangered and rare species. The Environmental Protection Information Center, the Sierra Club and the United Steelworkers claim the state departments of forestry and fish and game failed to consider adequately the environmental impacts of the plans. The 211,000 acres are outside the 7,500 acres of old-growth redwoods in the Headwaters Forest, which was purchased from Pacific Lumber by the state and federal governments for more than $400 million and made a preserve under a 1999 agreement. As part of the pact, the state and federal governments and the company agreed on procedures for development and review of logging plans for the other 211,000 acres owned by Pacific Lumber. The permits and approvals were granted by the state agencies in 1999, but were set aside in 2003 by Superior Court Judge John Golden, a retired Lake County judge assigned to Humboldt County Superior Court for the case. In December 2005, a state appeals court in San Francisco overturned Golden’s ruling and upheld the permits in an 83-page decision. The environmental and labor groups then appealed to the state Supreme Court, which agreed to hear the case in an order issued in San Francisco on Wednesday. Six of the panel’s seven justices voted in favor of reviewing the case. No date has been set for a hearing. http://cbs5.com/localwire/localfsnews/bcn/2006/03/31/n/HeadlineNews/PACIFIC-LUMBER-CASE/resources_bcn_html

Colorado:

10) BACHELOR GULCH — A mutant strain of pine beetle is wreaking havoc on the High Country’s most luxurious homes, and sparking a response far more furious than any directed at the pests chewing up the pine trees. Though the pine beetles threaten to decimate the forest, the scourge has spawned widespread disinterest. Now, panicky homeowners, realtors and wine-and-cheese vendors are demanding the federal government take immediate action to stop the mansion beetle, sometimes referred to by its scientific name, “chompus opulentious.” “We have to protect this important resource of our mansions,” said Minky Malveaux, an interior designer who refuses to work on homes worth less than $8.5 million. “You can have a resort without trees and animals, but a world-class getaway without 32-bedroom, 30.5 bath Yellowstone-style vacation lodges with koala bear rugs, ivory stair railings and walls made from the trunks of the last few dozen Amazonian redwoods? That are only used a week out of every year?” But Scruffy Eagleneck, director of the environmental group Rocky Mountain River Ranting, said mansion beetles are part of the forest’s natural cycle of regeneration. Baxter Phlegmsap, an arborist considered an expert in mansion beetles, said homeowners can take some precautions, such as ridding their homes of items that attract the pests. Removing spa tubs, flat screen TVs the size of billboards, multi-story fireplaces, helicopter pads and gem-encrusted, solid-gold kitchen fixtures can sometimes ward off the voracious bugs, Phlegmsap said. “They’ve really developed a taste for caviar, foie gas and jereboams of Dom Perignon,” he said. “The mansion beetle particularly enjoys swimming — and breeding and just hanging out — in indoor lap pools,” he added. http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20060331/NEWS/60331017

11) The placement of roads has the opportunity to severely alter the landscape, as the construction of roads is infamous for the destruction of trees and natural habitats that serve as guards against erosion. Furthermore, logging is not a major economic contributor to Colorado. For instance in 1997, Colorado lost more than $1,154,000 from the logging in San Juan-Rio Grande, Arapahoe-Roosevelt and Pike-San Isabel National Forests. Nevertheless, aside from the detriments of opening the forests for logging, there are many benefits that are preserved. Unroaded and wild areas are open for access without roads and are thusly placed with a high economic value of $108 billion, according to ECONorthwest. What contributes to this high value? Some is contributed by the many recreationists who prefer to be active in the unroaded and wild areas because of the enhancement of being in absolute wilderness. However, the majority of the value can be contributed to water of these wild areas that contribute up to 80 percent of the public’s drinking water. The decision to scrap the protection of the roadless areas by the Bush administration does not need to alter the landscape, as it is the recommendation of the task force that will help Gov. Bill Owens to make his final decision. The support from Fort Collins now needs to be generated to ensure that many of the state’s open spaces remain undeveloped for years to come. For “the ultimate test of man’s conscience may be his willingness to sacrifice something today for future generations whose words of thanks will not be heard.” – former governor of Wisconsin Gaylord Nelson. http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060401/OPINION04/604010304/1014

12) “I never thought I’d see a time when they were holding wholesale sales of Forest Service land,” the Boulder resident said. “That’s against the common cause of the Forest Service.” Disinger’s digital photos of aspen meadows and mountaintops are exactly the kind of comments Forest Service officials in Washington want to see, department spokeswoman Heidi Valetkevitch said Thursday. However, feedback on specific parcels constitutes just 6 percent of the roughly 4,700 letters sent to the Forest Service since the public comment period began March 1, she said. The Forest Service recently extended the comment period to May 1 to collect more information. President Bush proposed a one-time sale of isolated parcels to generate $800 million in funding for the 2000 Secure Rural Schools Act, which pays for roads and schools mostly in parts of the Western United States. The funds would replace waning tax revenues from the logging industry that supported rural school infrastructure for most of the 20th century. Congress, not the Forest Service, is debating the proposal’s merits, Valetkevitch stressed. “It was already decided by the president and the Forest Service to use this method,” she said. “Our main interest is to determine the best list to put out for sale, should Congress approve this proposal.” In Boulder County, about 2,100 of the 137,000 acres could be sold, reducing the county’s Arapaho and Roosevelt forest land by as much as 1.5 percent. The 88 parcels in the county range in size from 20 to 320 acres. Officials in Washington are responding to input on specific parcels, Valetkevitch said. Planners struck many properties in California from the sale list after reviewing public feedback, but she said she was unsure which plots, if any, in Boulder County may have been removed from the roster. http://www.longmontfyi.com/Local-Story.asp?id=6993

Indiana:

13) Allen Pursell of the Nature Conservancy was invited by the Jefferson County Commissioners to answer questions about the lease. He described how the conservancy plans to harvest the land and how the county would be compensated. County officials have sought input as to what direction to take on the property. Commissioners first made the proposal public in February when the conservancy along with the Jefferson County Park Board presented commissioners with a plan to lease the southern part of the parcel to the conservancy’s Forest Bank. The Forest Bank would utilize the land for a conservative timber harvest throughout the long-term lease. In exchange for rights to the land, the Forest Bank would compensate the park board for a percentage of the harvest. Since the February meeting, commissioners have received mixed messages from the public on how to manage the land. Earlier in March, commissioners heard from Richard Ray, a county resident who pleaded with commissioners to leave the land alone. “What I would like to see is the whole section set aside,” Ray said during the earlier meeting. “No timber harvest, period. They cut enough timber in this country. I think it would be nice to have 400-plus acres in this country that was not cut.” While Ray was opposed to timber harvest on the land, Pursell and the Forest Bank wish to use the land for a timber harvest. “You can’t just leave a forest alone,” Pursell said. “The lease will be very long, 99 years, because good forest management needs a long time to do well.” During the length of the lease, the Jefferson County Park Board would receive either one lump sum of $175,676 or an annual payment of $7,027.04. If granted the lease, the conservancy would almost immediately administer what Pursell calls an improvement harvest. Trees deemed not suitable for sale would be cut off the land in order to restore the forest. “I am not going to mislead you,” Pursell said. “Logging is not a pretty thing.” The conservancy promised to maintain the roads, but warned commissioners that the logging industry does diminish the beauty of the land. If the lease is accepted by commissioners, the county would enter into an agreement with the Nature Conservancy for 99 years. At the end of the lease, it would be possible for the Nature Conservancy to take over easements on the land. http://www.madisoncourier.com/index.asp?TM=5592.495

Maine:

14) AUGUSTA — Plum Creek Timber Co. and three conservation groups introduced a plan Thursday to preserve more than 400,000 acres of forestland in the Moosehead Lake region for logging, public access and wildlife habitat. Most of the land – 330,000 acres – would be protected by conservation easements to prohibit future development. The rest would be bought by The Nature Conservancy, which joined with the Appalachian Mountain Club and the Forest Society of Maine in negotiating the agreement. The conservation easement would be the second-largest in Maine and one of the largest in the nation. But the plan is subject to change – no price has been determined and no deal has been signed. It will instead be submitted to the state within Plum Creek’s revised development plan for the region, as a counterbalance to the building of homes, resorts and campgrounds. The development piece of the plan will be introduced as soon as next week and is expected to be a scaled-down version of the company’s original vision. The initial plan included two resorts and about 1,000 house lots, among other things. It also included the conservation of surrounding forestland for at least 30 years. http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/state/060331moosehead.shtml

Massachusetts:

15) The council cited the case of Lyme resident Timothy Mellon as a notorious example of the problem. After buying Goodspeed Airport in East Haddam for $2.33 million in 1999, Mr. Mellon clear-cut 4 acres of the property next door, a conservation area owned by the East Haddam Land Trust and The Nature Conservancy. Mr. Mellon did the cutting without permission, saying the trees threatened the approach to his airport. In all, about 340 trees were lost, some more than 100 years old. The plaintiffs sued and won. But in its 2005 ruling, the Connecticut Supreme Court said it couldn’t consider the trees’ environmental value. The airport was ordered to pay $67,500 toward restoration – even though the airport’s own consultant testified that restoring the area would cost more than $100,000. The cost of fully replacing the trees was estimated at more than $200,000. For Mr. Mellon, $67,500 is the cost of doing business. It’s little deterrent to trespassing on preserved land or wreaking ecological havoc. So what’s the answer? A Massachusetts court case offers one good approach. In Worcester County, Sanford and Simone Weinert returned home from vacation to discover that their next-door neighbor, Peter Kasidakos, had cut down several large trees on their land (he said they were shading his swimming pool). Following the guilty verdict, Judge Bruce Henry awarded the couple $53,000 plus $21,000 in interest. He arrived at the figure using a calculation provided by the couple’s expert witness, an arborist. The average wholesale replacement cost of a tree with a 3-inch-diameter trunk is $350. A cross-section of that trunk would have a surface area of 7 square inches, which puts the value of the tree at $50 per square inch. Now let’s apply that standard to Mr. Mellon’s case. Some of the trees were more than 100 years old. Assuming an average diameter of say, 9 inches, the value of each tree would have been $3,179. Multiplied by 340 trees, the resulting award would have been nearly $1.1 million. That’s a sum that would have been a lot more likely to get Mr. Mellon’s attention – and to discourage others from similar encroachments on preserved lands. http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/hc-preserves.artmar26,0,978772.story

Pennsylvania:

16) As part of York Water Co.’s ongoing forest management program, pine trees standing along the south side of the road were cut down recently, letting in more light. Jeffrey Osman, water company president, said the trees had reached maturity. “It was time to replace them with younger trees,” he said. The water company has been managing the forest in the watershed of its two reservoirs, Lake Redman and Lake Williams, for at least 50 years, Osman said. This most recent tree harvest, which began two years ago, was in response to 2003 storms, which damaged and destroyed many of the trees, he said. The recently cleared trees in William H. Kain County Park come near the end of the program. Another stand of trees closer to the Lake Williams dam has yet to be cut down, Osman said. The trees are sold for a nominal price to the Glatfelter paper company, but Osman couldn’t immediately recall the price tag for the cleared wood. The money will go toward buying seedlings to replace the harvested trees. Once the downed trees are cleared, the company will begin replanting the area with a mixture of hardwood and pine. “We replant every area where timber has been harvested,” he said. http://www.ydr.com/

17) In the Poconos, and, in fact, across most of the northeastern United States, the dominant wetland tree is red maple. At one time, this tree was restricted mainly to swamps “swamp maple” but because of the consistent suppression of forest fires, red maple has spread into oak forests and many other natural communities where it was once naturally outcompeted its thick bark makes it more vulnerable to fire than oaks. This worries wildlife biologists because acorns possess much greater value to wildlife than red maple seeds.Growing along with red maple, though generally in much lower densities, may be white ash and its uncommon relative, black ash, as well as shagbark hickory, one of the easiest trees to recognize because of its loose bark that breaks away from the trunk in long, vertical strips. Black gum, or tupelo, may also be very common. At the lower elevations, spicebush is often the dominant swamp shrub, as it is in the Delaware River’s floodplain forests. Here and elsewhere grows a variety of other shrubs adapted to the waterlogged habitat: silky dogwood, with its reddish-purple twigs; American elderberry, with its juicy black berries in late summer; highbush blueberry, which often forms dense, nearly impenetrable wetland thickets; and winterberry holly, with its strikingly vivid red berries clinging tightly to the twigs through most of the winter. In a few Pocono swamps, great rhododendron is the most abundant shrub, and some of these may be extremely old. I’ve counted as many as 120 annual rings in several rhododendron trunks which I’ve had to cut after they’ve fallen across trails. On top of the Pocono Plateau, around Blakeslee, Tobyhanna and Pocono Lake, red spruce occasionally becomes the main denizen of the swamp. These cold, dark wetlands are special environments, so reminiscent of similar boreal habitats in Canada, Minnesota or the Adirondack Mountains. The spruces, and occasionally hemlocks, grow from mounds or stumps that rise slightly above the water level, and thick carpets of sphagnum and other mosses surround their bases. Dainty, colorful wildflowers such as white violet, goldthread and pink wood sorrel sprout from the moss in spring, in marked contrast to the big, purplish-green hoods and huge leaves of skunk cabbage that characterize many of the low-elevation swamps. Because of the absence of fish and other aquatic predators, the shallow, shaded waters of swamps are prime breeding habitats in March and early April for wood frogs, spotted salamanders and spring peepers, and then again in autumn for one of the Poconos’ rarest and most beautiful amphibians, the marbled salamander. http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060402/NEWS01/604020318/-1/NEWS

New York:

18) Now part of the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, the 40-acre parcel of old-growth forest has seen better days, according to the botanical garden ecologist. “What I noticed as a forester and ecologist is that the forest is essentially falling apart,” Peters says, indicating a slew of fallen hemlocks, oaks and other old-guard shade trees, whose passing is opening up new gaps in the canopy. “What is coming up bears no resemblance to what has fallen down.” Like much of the human population around it, the wood’s newcomers hail from around the world. By some estimates, invasive species now comprise nearly 30 percent of the woods. “Heavy metals, acid rain – whatever you want, we’ve got it,” he says. “As an ecologist, I’m happy that there are trees that can still function and grow under these conditions.” The plant known as Japanese knotweed may be invasive, for example, but Peters says it’s also protecting a once-bare bank of the Bronx River from further erosion. “What else would you plant that can thrive under the current conditions?” he asks, pointing out the brown tangle of knotweed beneath a bridge. If the “pulse of the forest” is changing, though, Peters would at least like to measure it. Three years ago, he began a phenology study to keep track of seasonal changes in representatives of 20 tree species – 10 natives and 10 non-natives – near the wood’s meandering path. Now in its fourth season, the project has enlisted the help of volunteers who often spend their lunch hours documenting when the trees leaf out and flower and how long the growing season lasts. By tabulating the trends in multiple species, Peters hopes to assess the behavior of the entire forest. “Something very important is happening,” he says. “The [trees] that have dominated this forest for probably several hundred years are stepping down and something else is taking their places. And I’m OK with that, but we can’t deny that it’s happening.” http://www.newsday.com/news/health/ny-hsside024686098apr02,0,6832914.story?coll=ny-health-print

Virginia:

19) Eventually, the land would be co-managed with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and the state Department of Conservation and Recreation to include hunting, van Eerden said. On one hand, that would ensure public land for hunters, as well as nature lovers in general. Large tracts provide precious habitat for many trees and creatures, and Piney Grove serves as home to the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker. On the other hand, Savage and his club would have a pocket of public land adjoining their privately leased acreage, which could be confusing and could jeopardize deer herd management measures they’ve begun.”My hope is that if the forestry department does end up with ownership of the land, that we at least can have some input with them on how they go about doing this thing with hunting,” Savage said. Many contingencies stand between plans and reality, but van Eerden sees a bright future. “We certainly view sportsmen as a strong force in conservation, and we are partners. We’re all on the same side of the fence in protecting open spaces,” he said. He oversees leases on about 14,000 acres with 15 hunt clubs and individuals. “We view those relationships with the hunt clubs as vital to our stewardship of the land,” van Eerden said. While protecting the red-cockaded woodpecker is a prime concern in the area, other species, such as quail, already are benefiting from conservation efforts. Michael Lipford, The Nature Conservancy’s Virginia director, said the deal and other possible acquisitions represent a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity. http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD%2FMGArticle%2FRTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid
=1137835098925&path=!sports&s=1045855934844

New Hampshire:

20) Sens. John Sununu and Judd Gregg have introduced a bill that would designate 34,500 acres in the White Mountain National Forest as wilderness, barring the area from motorized recreation and logging. The change was recommended by the Forest Service’s recently updated management plan. The forest management plan was the result of eight years of negotiations. In a press release, Sununu said it “represents a consensus view of how best to protect lands in the White Mountain National Forest while ensuring the forest’s traditional mixed-use role. The introduction of this legislation is the next step toward solidifying this agreement.” About 114,900 of the nearly 800,000 acres in the forest are now designated wilderness. Wilderness areas are managed to remain wild in perpetuity and must be approved by Congress. The land is also permanently closed to mining, construction and traffic. The bill, which Sununu authored, would create 23,700 acres of wilderness in the Wild River area and add 10,800 to the 25,000-acre Sandwich Range Wilderness. Several conservation groups expressed support for the bill. Susan Arnold, the conservation director for the Appalachian Mountain Club, said it “is an important element in the balance of a multiple-use White Mountain National Forest.” Jasen Stock, executive director of the New Hampshire Timberland Owners Association, said he’ll be watching the bill closely. Forever prohibiting timber harvesting is a drastic move, particularly in areas that have been harvested in the past, such as Wild River, he said. http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060330/REPOSITORY/603300326/1043/NEWS01

USA:

21) “We have fallen heirs to the most glorious heritage a people ever received, and each one must do his part if we wish to show that the nation is worthy of its good fortune.” – Theodore Roosevelt The Forest Service is accepting public comment on the National Forest land proposed for sale in the President’s 2007 Budget. Our treasured public lands could be sold to logging or mining companies, or even developers who would build condos and strip malls on our natural heritage. This is not exactly what Teddy Roosevelt had in mind in when he created the U.S. Forest Service in 1905! Please take a minute to send a comment speaking up for public lands, and register your disapproval of Bush’s misguided privatization scheme. Please let the Forest Service know that public lands are a rich legacy that we pass on to our grandchildren, not something to sell for short-term profit. A total of 304,370 acres on 120 national forests, and 10 national grasslands within 35 states are proposed for sale. The Klamath National Forest in northern California is being hit particularly hard, composing more than 1/3 of the acres proposed for sale in California. Please pass this along to your friends and family and ask that they mail in comments as well before May 1 : Click here for more information and for addresses to mail in your comments: www.kswild.org/KSNews/landsale

22) According to new research released on March 30th by the Heritage Forests Campaign, the U.S. Forest Service is moving ahead with damaging activities in over twenty inventoried roadless areas, despite administration assurances that these areas will be protected while their fate is in dispute. In a September 2005 New York Times letter-to-the-editor, Mark Rey, Under Secretary of Agriculture, wrote, “We are providing interim protection to roadless areas, pending the development of state-specific rules provided for in our 2005 rulemaking.” Despite this promise, The Heritage Forests Campaign report revealed projects are moving forward in once-protected forest roadless areas: 1) Logging and road construction in Alaska, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming; 2) Oil and gas drilling in Colorado, Nevada, and Utah; and 3) Roads, phosphate exploration, and mining in Idaho’s Sage Creek Roadless Area. —- Attorneys general of six states have filed a lawsuit against Bush’s roll back, several governors have file or announced their intention to file petitions for complete protection of roadless areas in their states. Until the status of these once-protected roadless areas is resolved, all logging, roadbuilding, oil and gas drilling and mining projects in roadless areas should be stopped. For more information: http://ourforests.org/press/pr06-03-30.html or Tony Iallonardo, National Environmental Trust, 202-887-8855

Liberia:

23) Liberia’s newly-elected but cash-strapped government has begun to find ways that the U.N. sanctions can be lifted to allow the country to exploit its immense timber resources for the benefit of its war-ravaged people. The move follows the passing of Executive Order Number One, canceling all logging concessions effective from Feb. 2, in compliance with conditions set under the U.N.’s Security Council Resolution 1521 (passed in 2003) for the lifting of sanctions on timber exports. President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf’s order also directs the Liberian Forestry Development Authority (FDA) to take steps to enhance its capacity to manage the country’s forests effectively and control small-scale logging activities after 14 years of civil war that saw warlords and their supporters plunder its immense timber wealth. John T. Woods, the FDA managing director, told IPS that with the cancellation of logging concessions, the Liberian government has met all the conditions for a review of the industry’s concession agreements. Liberia’s ancient forests are among the 25 threatened biodiversity “hotspots” globally. Before the war, a rainforest belt that stretched into parts of Sierra Leone, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Togo covered the entire country. Now, while the FDA is yet to take an inventory of what remains of the forests, Global Witness — which campaigns to expose the link between natural resource plunder and human rights abuse — estimates that Oriental Timber Corporation (OTC), which had the largest concession, harvested up to 10,000 hectares of virgin forest every month. http://allafrica.com/stories/200603310221.html

Cameroon:

24) I recently took a three-hour bus ride from Cameroon’s economic capital of Douala to the political capital, Yaounde. The natural geography between these two cities is part of the equatorial rain forest. On the outskirts of Douala is an area francophones call “bois des singes” (monkey woods). It is said that a couple of years back this place was home to many primates. Now, the stretch of land has neither monkeys nor even trees but retains its now misleading name. As we drove along, I tried to observe the surroundings critically to see what is left of the forest. What I saw was a mirage or, at best, the shadow of what we know as the equatorial rain forest. Where I could see no farms or human settlement, the trees that were left were tiny and sparsely distributed. The demise of the forest is akin to aging (though in an accelerated form); hence, many Africans do not easily notice it. Many of my compatriots driving from Douala to Yaounde assume they are driving through the forest. The truth is that they are moving through a former forest that logging companies are done with. As we crossed the river Sanaga at Edea, I observed part of the hydroelectric generating plant and imagined the future of hydroelectricity in Cameroon, knowing that deforestation leads to drought. Meanwhile, I counted the timber tucks were hauling wood to the port city of Douala from the direction of Yaounde. There were 19 trucks carrying whole trees and 9 carrying semi-processed timber that we encountered during our three-hour drive. You can guess the volume of traffic in a day, knowing that these trucks are on the road 24 hours a day. According to the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), Cameroon lost an average of 220,000 hectares of forest per year between 1990 and 2000. The same source indicates that the area covered by forest in 2005 stood at 21,245,000 hectares and the deforestation rate at 1 percent.
http://english.ohmynews.com/ArticleView/article_view.asp?menu=A11100&no=282969&rel_no=1&back_url=

Brazil:

25) As a reaction to this process, 37 coach loads of women arrived at the nurseries where the company prepares eucalyptus seedlings for the gigantic industrial plantations that supply their pulp production. At dawn and during 20 minutes, the group destroyed various greenhouses and approximately 8 million eucalyptus seedlings. They then returned to Porto Alegre to take part in the march organized by Vía Campesina to commemorate International Women’s Day. Together with close on 1,500 members of the Via Campesina Brasil camp set up that week in conjunction with the above mentioned Conference, they marched some 5 kilometres to the place where the FAO event was taking place to submit their declaration on agrarian reform and rural development to the representatives of 81 countries present there. The Minister of Zimbabwe, who was chairing the plenary, interrupted the session to give the floor to two Via Campesina militants, who read out the movement’s declaration. “We are against green deserts, the enormous plantations of eucalyptus, acacia and pine trees for pulp covering thousands of hectares in Brazil and in Latin America. In the State of Rio Grande do Sul alone there are already 200 thousand hectares of eucalyptus plantations. Where the green desert advances, biodiversity is destroyed, soil is eroded, rivers dry up, in addition to the enormous contamination generated by the pulp mills affecting the atmosphere and the water and threatening human health,” affirmed the women in the Via Campesina declaration. They also expressed their solidarity with the indigenous peoples whose lands were invaded by Aracruz Celulose in the State of Espirito Santo The women’s action resulted in angry protests from different government officials and in similar reactions from the main media and even from some non governmental organizations. However, when Aracruz robs their lands and forcibly evicts the Tupinikim and Guarani indigenous peoples, when the company occupies thousands of hectares or productive land and plants them with eucalyptus, when those plantations deplete the local water resources, when its pulp mills pollute water, it does it with the government’s blessing and without opposition from that media or from those organizations that today are attacking the Via Campesina women’s action. The real question should then be: who attacked first? World Rainforest Movement, International Secretariat http://www.wrm.org.uy

26) Late last night in Curitiba, Brazil, the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Eighth Conference of the Parties (COP-8) passed a formal declaration recognizing the threats posed by genetically engineered trees and urging countries to take a precautionary approach to the technology. This decision states in part: “The Conference of the Parties, recognizing the uncertainties related to the potential environmental and socio-economic impacts, including long-term and trans-boundary impacts, of genetically modified trees on global forest biological diversity, as well as on the livelihoods of indigenous and local communities, and given the absence of reliable data and of capacity in some countries to undertake risk assessments and to evaluate those potential impactsŠ recommends parties to take a precautionary approach when addressing the issue of genetically modified trees.” [complete wording attached following release] This is an important step forward for the global campaign to stop GE trees. The vested interests behind GE trees are extremely powerful and have been very active at COP-8 working to ensure that the future release of GE trees into the environment is unimpeded. They are rushing forward even though the impacts of GE tree release would be felt at global level and would be irreversible. The decision of the Convention on Biological Diversity helps put the brakes on the rapid motion to commercialize genetically engineered trees. “The STOP GE Trees Campaign will be using this victory at the CBD to help build and expand the global movement to stop any further environmental releases of socially and ecologically disastrous GE trees,” added Orin Langelle, Co-Director of Global Justice Ecology Project. On March 22, countries around the world raised the call for a global moratorium on the release of genetically engineered trees into the environment at the CBD’s Eighth Conference of the Parties. They were joined in this call by the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity, Greenpeace, the Women’s Caucus, EcoNexus, Global Forest Coalition, ETC Group, Centro Ecologica and La Via Campesina International and others.
Contact: Anne Petermann, Global Justice Ecology Project +1.802.578.0477 (mobile)
Helena Paul, EcoNexus, +55.41.8843.1935 (mobile)

India:

26) “By 2020, Indian paper industry would need nearly 20 million tons of wood annually and aim should be to make wood available in a sustained manner,” he pointed out. Singhania lamented that the Government despite having recognised its importance has been dithering on the issue. “Industry has been pleading with the Government for almost three decades to involve corporate sector in greening our forests through industrial plantation on degraded forests and non-forest lands,” he pointed out. Coming down to entrepreneurship, the visionary, who also happened to be chairman of IIM Lucknow, opined “Excellence means to think of the best and second to none, and being innovative”. “For the nation to be world-class, quality is the buzz word,” he suggests. The group is already running several educational institutions, along with a B-school in Kanpur, has plans in pipeline for setting up of management institutions. “It’s in initial stage and we’re having talks with B-schools abroad,” he said. http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/5922_1664937,0015002100000000.htm

27) More than the temple it is the spread out family of ancient mango trees — the largest collection at one place this writer has seen — that got one’s soul into a soft, pleasurable spin. Each tree has at least 20 ft girth and climbs to a height of over 150 ft. They stand in a wide circle, knowing and nodding to each other for ages — more time spent together than an ordinary human family. One went round as the others clicked from every angle and took time out sitting under a tree watching a Tickell’s blue flycatcher, a paradise flycatcher, a golden-backed woodpecker and some warblers (hardest to identify). If one wants to sight birds in a forest it is best to plop down near a waterhole and wait; the birds, which are always there, shed their fear and show off with pride. Senior forest officials did tell us of the forests having chital, four-horned antelope, sambar, leopards, the giant flying squirrel and the bear. We did not see anything except a healthy ruddy mongoose and one wondered whether they have all been lost to the poachers’ gun. Sometimes forest officials like to believe their forests hold much variety and vainly hope their belief is a fact. It is never so. In these times, forests are more crowded with humans than animals. Up the slopes of the Lankamalai hills, one was shown rows of the red sanders tree with their distinguishing black trunks. Going by local lore, this tree is smuggled into Tamil Nadu and onwards to Japan for making prized furniture, and quality red sanders wood costs about Rs 45,000 per kg. Then there are the kusum trees with fresh maroon leaves turning green as the summer sets in. It is easy to get into the forest as there are no visible signs of beat guards or check posts at the entry and exit points. On the way back we saw some 30 to 40 young men equipped with liquor, food and music instruments noisily making to the temple pool with none challenging them. “They will have a good day but not the animals,” said an old forest guard travelling with us. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/life/2006/03/31/stories/2006033100130200.htm

Bangladesh:

28) It is a recognised fact that life on Earth is unimaginable without trees. When a forest shrinks it is bad news for environment and ecological balance, and hence entails risks to survival of humanity. This concern was expressed by some lawmakers of the country. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Forests and Environment Ministry on Wednesday resented the poor recovery of around two lakh acres of grabbed forest land and strongly recommended the Forest Ministry to take immediate steps to take back the land from the clutches of the illegal occupiers. It is a matter of concern that forests continue to shrink in this country. The official report on millennium development goal or MDG says that it seems almost impossible to achieve the desired forest-land ratio within the targeted period owing to mindless destruction of the country’s forests including illegal logging. Forests cover only 10.2 per cent of the land area of the country and only six per cent of the total land area has actual tree cover, while the recommended coverage is at least 20 per cent. A nexus of officials and employees of the forest department is responsible for robbing the country of its natural resources. Indeed, the statistics of destruction should worry all conscious people. Only about 1.41 million hectares of former forest lands are now covered only by grass. Per capita forestland in Bangladesh has shrunk from 0.035 hectares in 1980 to around 0.022 hectares in 1990, the lowest in the world. The Sundarbans is frequently in the news for being destroyed by unscrupulous people, often under the very nose of the forest authority. Over many years land grabbers have harmed this rare ecosystem; and in this way transformation of the Sundarbans from jungles of great biodiversity to wet paddy fields occurred causing much damage to its resources. It is common knowledge that population pressure and its consumption of wood for fuel are the main reasons for destruction of forest lands deforestation, reality shows that unsustainable development and infrastructure projects and poor performance of the authorities regarding forest conservation are adversely affecting the ecosystem and causing deforestation. http://independent-bangladesh.com/news/mar/31/31032006ed.htm

China:

29) BEIJING, April 1 (Xinhua) — A senior Chinese official has put the country’s forestry firemen on alert for the coming tomb-sweeping day, a traditional holiday for Chinese to light incense, burn paper money to honor their dead ancestors. Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu delivered his warning on Saturday as he inspected the forest fire prevention center under the State Forestry Administration. After he was given an account of the country’s current forest fire conditions, Hui called on governments at various departments to pay close attention to fire prevention. “Spring is a golden time to plant trees, but it is also a crucial season to prevent forest fire,” he said. Fire risk runs high in most regions due to strong winds, rising temperature, and lack of moisture of the season, Hui said, and it is more dangerous when people come outdoors to pay tribute to the dead during the tomb-sweeping season. The traditional holiday falls on April 5 every year. Hui’s warning came amid an intensive fire fight in north and southwest China, where forest fires broke out in four counties of Shanxi Province and one city in Yunnan Province, drawing more than 23,000 firemen to the sites. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-04/01/content_4373158.htm

30) International environmental organizations say China’s appetite for wood is fuelling illegal logging that is destroying Burma’s forests. The Chinese government has sought to play down the extent of illegal logging by Chinese companies, but outside experts say the trade is growing. Chinese workers in southwest China’s Yunnan Province saw tall stacks of thick trees into planks at a lumber camp near the Burmese border. International environmental organizations say more than 95 percent of these logs are imported illegally by Chinese companies colluding with officials on both sides of the border. Susanne Kempel works for the British organization Global Witness, which reports on environmental degradation. She says logging is a major source of foreign revenue for Burma’s military government but local people see no benefits from the booming trade. “Well, you have, according to our information, a log truck crossing the Burma border into China every seven minutes every hour of every day every year,” said Ms. Kempel. “This amounts to more than one million cubic meters of timber crossing illegally into China, and it’s not just illegal, it’s also highly unsustainable.” Kempel says Chinese logging operations have moved further into the Burmese interior because a quarter of the forest cover near the border is already gone. Unregulated logging is illegal in Burma and China bars imports of illegally cut timber. http://voanews.com/english/2006-04-01-voa9.cfm

Japan:

31) TOKYO — Tokyo’s city government is trying to persuade allergy sufferers to sponsor a campaign to replace the pollen-rich cedar trees that cause misery for many Japanese each spring. Hay fever sufferers are being asked to donate 1,500 yen to cover the cost of cutting down one of about 1.8 million cedars in a western Tokyo forest and replacing it with a low-pollen variety, a city official said on Monday. The city expects the project to cost three billion yen and take 10 years. A reforestation programme after World War Two sparked Japan’s pollen allergy problem — the authorities only later realised the cedars were leaving millions of Japanese sneezing and teary-eyed. Tokyo has been engaged in a push to help allergy sufferers since last year, when city governor Shintaro Ishihara himself developed the symptoms of hay fever. http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/T112838.htm

Papua New Guinea:

32) Today, Brian Baring, of the Gingilang clan on the north coast of Papua New Guinea (PNG), delivered a giant letter to Alchemy Partners, asking them to stop daughter company Montague L Meyer from trashing PNG’s rainforests for plywood. Logging in PNG is some of the worst on the planet, with virtually all industrial logging being illegal. Customary Landowner Brian Baring says, “I have seen our forests destroyed by foreign companies. They do not respect us or our culture, or our sacred sites. They run over our food gardens with their machinery. They drive their trucks and bulldozers through our streams polluting it with oil and mud with no regard that people downstream drink from those streams. They take the trees they want and destroy many many more to get to the trees they want.” The magnificent Paradise Forest of PNG is home to wildlife such as the tree kangaroo and the largest butterfly on earth – the Queen Alexandra’s birdwing, with a wing span of over 11 inches – as well as millions of indigenous people who depend on this forest for their livelihood and way of life. Yet logging companies are voraciously plundering the rainforest, and the country could be logged out in 15 years. He continued “I am in Europe to bring the message of my people to companies like Alchemy Partners and Montague Meyer and ask them to stop buying products that are made from the forests of Papua New Guinea, stolen from our land and our people.” http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/forests/media/pressrelease.cfm?ucidparam=20060330114913

33) I have experienced the horrible forest loggings in one of Earth’s most untouched countries, Papua New Guinea (so far). Logging companies from Malaysia offers the village chief a small amount of money (but it is “a lot”…for the chief himself as he most likely rarely see that big amount of money) and logs all of his land around the village and the machines destroy the ground, and they’re left on their own when the companies have got what they wanted. After some weeks the villagers see problems. The water is coloured brownish by all the loose soil after the tree roots have disappeared, so the water is not drinkable. The ground changes to dry land without the protected shade from the tree canopies and the vegetable gardens don’t get enough water anymore. No more small tree living dwellers like possums, cuscus and tree kangaroos nor cassowary birds to hunt for dinner. The forest is their super market. But the companies have already moved on to the next village trying to do the same thing all over again and destroying the next village. Those of you who are passionate about plants like Hoya or Gesneriads – Papua New Guinea is a big hotspot for a huge diversity of these kinds of plants and animals. Many of these plants are not even conserved in collections, only found in the forests that are about to be logged down. They’ll be experiencing a definite extinction when the forests are processed into plywood boards in China prior to exporting to Europe and other countries. Join the campaign to preserve the last Paradise of Earth and support the villagers against those logging companies destroying their home. http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/forests/asia-pacific/pf-letter-writing-action

Australia:

34) Tasmania’s Liberal Party has been urged to rethink its support for trials of so-called “community forestry”. The practice entails local communities and the forestry industry working together to identify which areas of forest should be harvested and which should be utilised for other purposes, such as recreation, tourism, and conservation. Forest Industries Association of Tasmania spokesman Terry Edwards says the practice does not work because it becomes too unwieldy and leads to too much industry uncertainty. “We’re aware of that having been trialed in Canada and more recently in the Wombat Forests in Victoria,” he said. “Frankly, in both cases, it’s been a monumental disaster, where the Victorian case resulted in the closure of a significant employer in the community, which was the sawmill.” In the wake of the Liberal Party’s election loss, its new leader Will Hodgman has signalled the party needs to be more bold and that could include taking risks on policies, such as old-growth logging. http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200604/s1606531.htm

35) Federal Greens leader Bob Brown has called for an examination of the activities of a forestry industry group. Senator Brown says the National Association of Forest Industries (NAFI) gets tax concessions from the Federal Government, despite being funded by logging companies. He says NAFI in turn funds the group Timber Communities Australia, which Senator Brown says is used to attack community-based anti-logging organisations. Senator Brown says such political activities are a drain on the public purse and NAFI’s tax status should be opened to public examination. The call follows a complaint from NAFI about the activities of the Wilderness Society and the Huon Valley Environment Centre during last month’s Tasmanian election. NAFI has called for the Wilderness Society to be stripped of a range of financial and tax benefits because of its support for the Greens during last month’s Tasmanian election. NAFI says the Wilderness Society gets tax concessions and status as a charitable group on the condition environmental protection work is its priority, not political advocacy. http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200604/s1606567.htm

36) FOREST protesters and the forestry industry are at loggerheads over whether planned harvesting in the Upper Florentine is a breach of promise made by the Prime Minister, John Howard, to Tasmania. About 25 people went out to the Upper Florentine yesterday to protest at the site of a road being cleared for logging activity. Meanwhile, in Federal Parliament, Greens Senator Christine Milne called on Mr Howard to honour his election promise of 2004. Mr Howard produced his old-growth forestry trump card three days prior to the last election, vowing “the protection of 18,700 hectares of old-growth forest in the Styx and Florentine Valleys along the eastern boundary World Heritage Area”. Ms Milne said yesterday: “It now seems the Prime Minister has taken a chainsaw to the forests he pledged to protect.” The Tasmanian Greens also weighed in, calling for the area to be protected as eagle habitat, after the spotting of two wedge-tailed eagles in the valley yesterday. “This region is obviously the habitat of a threatened species and as such all Forestry Tasmania logging plans for the area must be scrapped,” said Lyons member Tim Morris. He said reports of the sighting would be submitted to the Forest Practices Authority. Mr Chipman said any planned coups would be thoroughly assessed for eagles. http://www.themercury.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,18661839%255E3462,00.html

World-wide:

37) The Forestry & Paper sector is encountering many challenges partly arising out of the growth of emerging markets, particularly in Asia. Environmental concern, which has been the focus of the work of multinational agencies, has centred on the problems of illegal logging. Most of the largest companies in the sector are still based in western Europe and North America. However, the PricewaterhouseCoopers annual survey of the industry, produced last July, showed that the largest 100 firms include companies from Asia and Latin America. According to Arvydas Lebedys in Trends and Current Status of the Contribution of the Forestry Sector to National Economies, published in 2004, western Europe and North America together accounted for about three-quarters of global forest products exports, followed by the developing Asia-Pacific region (10% share) in 2000. He added that most international trade in forest products was either trade between these three regions or between countries within each of these regions. A forestry briefing, produced by the Overseas Development Institute (November 2005) suggested that part of the reason that there has been an international focus from governments on illegal logging and stopping the corruption associated with this was that the western industry is threatened by the cheaper wood that comes from illegal sources. At the same time, there are genuine concerns about the rate of deforestation and loss of biodiversity in tropical forests as well as the recognition that illegal logging does little to help the economic development of communities living in the forests. The World Bank recognises these issues and states on its website that over 90% of the 1.2 bn people living in extreme poverty depend on forests for some part of their livelihoods. It adds that forests are home to at least 80% of the worlds remaining terrestrial biodiversity and are a major carbon sink that regulates the global climate. http://www.manifest.co.uk/manifest_i/2006/0604April/060411sectorreview.htm