296- Earth’s Tree News

Today for you 33 new articles about earth’s trees! (296th edition)
Subscribe / unsubscribe send blank email to: earthtreenews-subscribe@lists.riseup.net
Weblog: http://olyecology.livejournal.com
To Donate: Click Paypal link in the upper left corner of: http://www.peacefromtrees.org
——————————–

–British Columbia: 1)Valhalla WS on Caribou, 2) GBR misrepresentations, 3) Sitters and blockaders wiped out by 70 cops, 4) Is BC a 3rd world colony? 5) Pacheedaht First Nation’s land stolen / sold as Real Estate, 6) High demand and reduced supply,
–Washington: 7) DNR sequestration from state lands, 8) Logging-based conservation,
–Oregon: 9) Green Mountain Nick
–California: 10) Santa Monica’s in an uproar, 11) Fisher doesn’t need thinning,
–Ohio: 12) Speaking out for Grassy Narrows
–Tennessee: 13) More on complete Genome of poplar
–Canada: 14) Thin out 140 acres of red pine, 15) $2 million for trees from oilsands,
–UK: 16) Ancient trees are living relics, 17) Beech trees to be felled for no valid reasons, 18) The tree freak retires, 19) Flowers growing fast before the trees leaf out,
–Tanzania: 20) Monkeys, elephant shrews, birds unique to there last patch of trees,
–Kenya: 21) Rare forests logged during political unrest,
–Jamaica: 22) ‘Mystic Mountain’ adventure resort
–Costa Rica: 23) Deforestation and social marginalization leads to skin disease
–Honduras: 24) Sustainability in toys
–Brazil: 25) Bank of Amazon is the real forester in charge, 26) Soy is #1 deforester,
–India: 27) Only 1,411 tigers in protected forests, 28) More on Forest Rights Act, 29) 728 sq. km lost in only 2 years,
–Japan: 30) Nobaru’s culture amid the groves
–New Zealand: 31) Pureora Forest Park was saved by protesters in 1978
–Australia: 32) Burrendong Arboretum’s
–World wide: 33) Buying up other countries’ land

British Columbia:

1) A coalition of ten BC and US environmental groups called the Mountain Caribou Project (MCP) negotiated the plan under cover of a confidentiality agreement. The larger environmental movement and the public did not learn about the plan until it had already been approved by the government. It was announced to the public on October 16, 2007 and hailed by the ten groups as a “Big Victory.” However, it was a huge disappointment to many mountain caribou supporters who believed that something better had been promised under the federal Species at Risk Act. Earlier, 17 environmental groups and 50 international scientists had signed petitions calling for a complete ban on logging old-growth mountain caribou forest. Thousands of British Columbian’s before and since the plan was announced have written letters to the government asking for stronger measures. Recently: 1) Twelve BC and US environmental groups have issued a press release saying they could not support the plan. 2) Several environmental groups in Germany have sent letters to the BC government saying that the plan is inadequate and supporting the call for an end to logging old-growth. 3) The German environmental group Robin Wood delivered 4,500 letters to the Canadian Embassy in Berlin, taking the same position. 4) On February 1 the Valhalla Wilderness Society released an Update on the implementation of the plan showing that a vast area of mountain caribou range is receiving very little new protection of critical low- and mid-elevation forest. — A large part of the controversy centres on the Timber Harvesting Land Base (THLB). The THLB is where most logging on public land in BC takes place. Scientists agree that logging is the chief cause of the decline of the mountain caribou. So the THLB is where mountain caribou are suffering the most loss of habitat. The BC government’s plan mostly protects non-THLB forest. This is forest that is too steep or high elevation to be profitable to log. Only 1% of the THLB can be protected. On February 11 the Mountain Caribou Project (MCP) released an open letter stating that it did not know that the protection of the Timber Harvesting Land Base was limited to 1% at the time the plan was announced, and called it “deeply troubling.” The coalition says it based its approval of the plan on the advice of government scientists. http://www.vws.org

2) This letter is in response to the article in the Vancouver Sun that ran on Feruary 8th, 2008 with regard to the Great Bear Rainforest April 04, 2001 approving the “Love-In” deal under the EBM Plans and Policies. First of all; I did not like my picture being used in the article and supposedly representing the Nuxalk in the “Love-In” deal. It is misused, misrepresented,and certainly misinterpreted in expressing Nuxalk involvement in these plans. We want to make it very clear that Nuxalk were not involved in the April 4th, 2001 Great Bear Forest deal and did not participate in its conception. We were not involved in the CCLRMP or EBM planning groups leading to the the EBM plans & policies approvals certainly did not accept any of its content. We do not accept 70% logging & development of the Great Bear Rainforest and saving only 30% of it. We certainly would not allow 70% logging or development of Nuxalk ancestral lands and saving only 30% of it. On this basis; we would remove the Nuxalk ancestral lands from the Great Bear Rainforest map. On this basis; we will stop any logging on Nuxalk ancestral lands, we will be forced to make a stand. Nuxalk ancestral lands and rights remains a “Land & Rights Question”, it is still unceded, untreatied, and not extinguished today. No other party has the mandate or authority to negotiate on behalf of the Nuxalk; we have never given this consent. These EBM plans & policies were done without consulting us. If the EBM policies is like the Forest Practices Code with a few more frills, then history may repeat itself. Qwatsinas…. If you wish to discuss or contact me, do so at: Edward Moody, box 162, Bella Coola, BC. V0T1C0. ph: (250) 799 5322

3) Last night I went to sleep up in the first tree sit platform. We knew we were facing some kind of showdown this morning, but we assumed it was going to be another attempt by the city to survey. We thought maybe they would be accompanied by RCMP officers willing to arrest people for obstruction. Well, this morning, just before dawn, I watched from my platform as a half dozen flashlights appeared in the kitchen area below me. I watched as more flaslights arrived and began to quickly scatter throughout the forest. As the sun came up I noticed about a dozen RCMP officers at the bottom of my tree, and they noticed me. In the next hour, as they attempted to talk me down, more offiers arrived, some armed with assault rifles (weapons that look like machine guns) and ‘less-lethal’ bean bag shotguns. I was told that neither my lawyer, my support team or media would be allowed in the forest. At this point I was getting quite worried for my safety. When I noticed a half dozen people in climbing gear I made the decision to come down. I was handcuffed, read my rights, had my knife taken away and was led out of the forest. On my way out I passed literally dozens of SWAT team looking fellas, some with dogs, everyone with lots of gear, spread out all around the woods, keeping a perimeter and standing guard at every possible trail junction. To say it was overkill is an understatement. kalanubuffalo@yahoo.com RCMP were brought in from Nanaimo, Port Alberni, and the mainland. We can assume that all the platforms are lost… these were built during various protests over the past 5 years. Funds are needed to help with legal costs, and people are needed to write letters to media and government stating that the job of RCMP is not to protect developers and the destruction of nature from non-violent protesters, and the job of city councils is not to allow and aid developers to create affluent suburban sprawl. AND that RCMP have no right to steal/destroy people’s stuff. The situation was just totally sick out there. wolfwillow@gmail.com Everyone in the tree sit camp was arrested today. Three people, including two tree sitters, are being held with charges pending. They may be released tomorrow. Everyone else was released without charge. From Leigh Road, we could see trees falling to a feller buncher – a giant tree cutting machine. We also saw welding equipment being moved in behind police lines. It’s possible that one of the first acts of destruction today was welding shut the entrance of the Langford Lake Cave. Here is the good news: It is not over yet. This act has outraged the community and people will not give up resisting this hideous development. treesit@gmail.com

4) It’s a question that has bugged British Columbians for decades: how is it that a place with one of the richest forest resources in the world still turns out mostly rough-sawn lumber? Then when we need furniture, we head down to Ikea for a nice flat-packed dresser made of plain Swedish pine, or to Wal-Mart for a finished particle board audio stand made in Ohio. It’s a question that will return as the B.C. legislative session resumes this week. The NDP is looking to shine a bright light on the crumbling forest industry, the dark corner of a provincial economy that still basks in booming employment and growth numbers in its urban areas. NDP leader Carole James set the tone with a speech to tree-planting contractors at SunPeaks resort near Kamloops last week. One of the points she and forests critic Bob Simpson will be hammering home is the dominance of Crown timber land by a handful of big companies, who sold Premier Gordon Campbell on their need to be globally competitive and were rewarded with loosened regulations. Now small, value-added producers who serve the renovation market with things like pine panelling can’t get enough logs, they say. I asked Forests Minister Rich Coleman about that last week, and he acknowledged that supply is a problem for some small operators. But he says that was addressed by legislative changes made last year and a series of earlier moves. Community forests, interim resource settlements with aboriginal groups and B.C. Timber Sales have diversified the timber market.“It’s really about people negotiating with each other to get the wood they need,” Coleman said. Now there’s a new big player in B.C., but that may be a mixed blessing. The major beneficiary of the Pope & Talbot bankruptcy sale is an Indonesian outfit called Sinar Mas Group, which is apparently looking for new wood sources as the post-Suharto government of that country tries to exert control over unregulated logging. Sinar Mas, which also operates in China, just added the idle Fort St. James sawmill to its shopping cart, along with the Mackenzie and Nanaimo pulp mills. http://www.bclocalnews.com/vancouver_island_south/victorianews/opinion/15579627.html

5) The Pacheedaht band on Vancouver Island says it may launch legal action to stop the provincial government from allowing private forestry lands in its treaty area to be sold to property developers. Dorothy Hunt, band manager of the Pacheedaht First Nation near Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island, said the province failed to respond to concerns and letters from the band about the plan to consider removing the lands from government protection. The band has been negotiating a treaty with Ottawa and B.C. for 11 years. “We sent them [the province] a letter clearly stating our concerns [over plans to remove land] and we received no letter and had no further discussion,” Ms. Hunt said. “One day, I started getting calls from band members on the reserve saying -‘What is going on? We hear chainsaws cutting down our trees.’ The first we heard of the sale was on the news that same day,” Ms. Hunt said. A band lawyer is gathering case studies of similar disputes involving other native communities. The lawyer is also making a Freedom of Information Act request for access to all correspondence between the Pacheedaht and the provincial government. “There was indeed correspondence between the minister and first nations, and any concerns they had were addressed,” said a spokesperson for Forests and Range Minister Rich Coleman. However, the spokesperson was unable to provide a specific letter. Ms. Hunt said that “if this [the release of private lands] had been negotiated, we’d have asked for other land to be put on the table, so we would have the same amount of land to negotiate. We are very worried that if the land continues to be sold at this rate, there will be no more land or resources to negotiate over.” A little over a year ago, the logging company TimberWest Forest Corp. sold about 360 acres of land within the Township of Port Renfrew to Three Point Properties, a Victoria-based developer. Around the same time, TimberWest sold about 350 acres of land known as Brown Mountain, which the band also claims, to a logging and development company. This parcel of land abuts the reserve lands, and the Pacheedaht used it to cleanse before and after whale hunting. Band members also go there to gather cedar bark, build canoes and hunt, and for other cultural purposes. “We want environmental impact studies done; we are concerned about sustainable water supplies. We have really shallow wells on the reserve and we need to make sure that our rivers and streams are not polluted by logging activity,” Ms. Hunt said. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080213.BCTREATY13/TPStory/TPNational/?page=rs
s&id=GAM.20080213.BCTREATY13

6) The mill manager acknowledged there is high demand and reduced supply. A large amount of chips from the Interior are transported to the Coast. The demand and reduced supply equate to higher prices for chips during a difficult time in the industry, when it is hurting from the rapid rise in the Canadian dollar. “If it (Canadian dollar) took two years to go up we could adapt. If it goes up 20 per cent in four months that’s an issue. . . . It puts pressure on the mill.” Ashby said Domtar is working with its employees to cut its production costs. Domtar also hopes to increase its revenues through supplying power to the B.C. Transmission Corp. grid. An information session for producers interested in the bioenergy call is scheduled in Kamloops on Feb. 20. Ashby said engineering staff is awaiting the terms so it can propose a business case to create power from woodwaste. http://www.kamloopsnews.ca/And u understant

Washington:

7) Concerned about greenhouse gases? Thank a green tree. The Department of Natural Resources estimates that carbon stored in trees on state-owned forests totals about 200 million tons. That’s equal to more than two years worth of greenhouse gas emissions from all sources in the state. The department policy director, Craig Partridge, says a carbon cap and trade system should benefit owners who maintain forest lands. He also says the department is spending $70 million to buy forests that are in the path of development. The state agency is also seeking legislation that would create an inventory of forests in urban areas. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420ap_wa_forests_carbon.html

8) In Washington, the Cascade Land Conservancy has acquired 140,000 acres of “working forests” with a similar goal — to prevent development. The land conservancy also has plans to log sustainably, in keeping with the idea that the forest “works” when it provides logs and jobs — and income for the conservancy to manage the forest. One might ask, how did the conservationists become tree-cutters? Twenty years ago, environmental activists chained themselves to trees to save them from cutting, and the forest industry was often branded a threat to the environment. Yet, today, sustainable logging may be the salvation, because in the words of one conservationist, it’s a choice between conifers and condos. When you fly over Western Washington and some areas east of the Cascades in the daylight, you see unbroken swaths of trees. A forest? you ask. But try flying over at night — in Eastern King, Snohomish, Okanagan or Lewis counties — and what you will see are lights, thousands of them, from houses on rural subdivisions split into one- to five-acre parcels. This isn’t a forest, it’s “rural residential.” This forest doesn’t have spotted owls or murrelets, and the dominant bird species may be the crow. Once-timbered slopes now have serpentine driveways leading up to rural mansions. Working forests, on the other hand, include areas actively managed for timber and for environmental services, such as fresh water, wildlife habitat and climate protection. Washington’s working forests include 8 million acres of private and tribal forests and more than 2 million acres of state forestland. Protecting the forests from development has turned conservation leaders into working-forest proponents. They’ve teamed up with old enemies and other strange bedfellows to keep sustainable timber operations in business, and they’re stopping forests from being converted to subdivisions the old-fashioned way, by buying the land. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2004110796_brianboyle07.html

Oregon:

9) When Nick Stefanowicz turned 86 last year, the first trees he planted on his 79-acre Green Mountain farm were 50 years old. Stefanowicz, known to many as “Green Mountain Nick,” planted thousands of trees by hand over the course of several years in the 1950s with his children and grandchildren in mind. As his children grew, so did the trees. The work he put into managing the Douglas fir seedlings was an investment, he said, and by the time last month’s storm hit, the trees had become a sizable asset. Stefanowicz wasn’t planning to harvest his trees any time soon – especially given the bargain-basement price for logs in recent months. But the winds came Dec. 2-3 and knocked down about 25 percent of his assets. “She really ripped through here,” he said, looking out at a clearing of cracked and toppled trees. “I planted trees to make some money for the kids, not me. When I logged it, it was going to go to my children for college. But I don’t know what’s going to happen now.” More than 400 family forestland owners in Clatsop County have property in the December storm’s severe wind damage zone, according to Glenn Ahrens, an Oregon State University extension forester in Astoria. He’s working to help landowners pick up the pieces, and possibly drum up some form of compensation for their loss. Small woodland owners with storm damage face an expensive catch-22. Timber markets are grim, and salvage logging costs are higher than normal timber harvests. If landowners wait too long for timber markets to improve, the wood will begin to degrade. Most of the wood that’s down has a 12-18 month window to be sold before it falls victim to rot and insect infestation. “These are not big companies with a buffer and other properties elsewhere,” said Ahrens. “The timber industry, they can recover from these things. But if you’re a landowner with 20 to 100 acres … the cost to try to salvage any of the timber will be high because it’s more difficult to do when it’s all laid down. The markets are terrible right now, so people wouldn’t have chosen to harvest in this market if they had a choice. … All these forces have combined, and now the fruits of decades of labor of a private forest owner to put care into managing their forest will be on the ground and damaged.” http://www.dailyastorian.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=398&ArticleID=48465&TM=15139.43

California:

10) In case you haven’t heard yet, Santa Monica’s in an uproar, with some activists threatening hunger strikes! Why? 54 trees are — gonna be — OMG — replaced with other trees! The now rather funny fight over the ficus trees on 2nd and 4th St. continues. On one side: City officials who’ve planned the tree removals since the City Council decision months ago. On the other: Tree Savers, a lil group of treehuggers who more recently decided they want the trees to stay. Both sides’ve been, let’s say one-sided, in their arguments. Last I wrote about it, Tree Savers had put “Save these trees” signs on all the ficus trees, without bothering to note either on the signs or on its website that that some trees are damaged or sick or a threat to public safety. The City of Santa Monica, for its part, vociferously argued that the the fight’s just over 23 damaged, sick, or unsafe trees — while staying mum on the additional 31 trees marked for relocation. Since then, Tree Savers has modified its website language to refer not to all, but “the majority of these trees,” which they contend are being removed strictly for aesthetic reasons. However, it’s unclear what exactly will make Tree Savers believe any of the trees are in fact diseased or unstable or damaged. LA Times notes that, even now, “Protesters want the city to prove the condemned ficus trees are diseased.” But what more proof do they need? The city’s gotten the okay not just from the city’s own arborist, but also a letter from an independent arborist (PDF) — who, based on City Manager P. Lamont Ewell’s statement, sounds like she was hired by the Tree Savers themselves — saying these trees need to go and the city’s actions are well sanctioned. It’s unclear, however, whether this arborist’s statement refers just to the 23 trees that’ll be turned into mulch, or includes the additional 31 slated for relocation. In fact, the city’s really not addressed the concerns about the trees on the move. Clearly, the trees are healthy if they can be relocated. Some may be in the way of buses or other planned structures — but the fact that the city continues to avoid talking about why these 31 trees are gonna be moved makes one wonder. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/emeraldcity/2007/10/will-starve-for.html

11) Federal authorities have delayed a major forest-thinning project — aimed at reducing fire danger near Shaver Lake — because new research suggests the work could harm the weasel-like Pacific fisher. By late March, Sierra National Forest officials plan revisions to further protect the sensitive fisher in the Kings River Project, about 13,000 acres east of Fresno. The project plan, which had been approved in 2006 after more than a decade of work, could be ready again this fall. The delay pleased environmentalists but disappointed a Tulare County sawmill executive who says he needs timber from the area to keep his 125 employees working. Kent Duysen, general manager of Sierra Forest Products, said sensitive species have been studied for two decades. “At what point do you say we need to move on?” he asked. Environmentalists, who last year sued to stop the project, said the U.S. Forest Service is correct to move cautiously. “We need to deal with the fire risk without doing more harm,” said Craig Thomas, executive director of Sierra Forest Legacy, a Sacramento-based coalition of groups dedicated to protecting forests. Forest officials said the new fisher research was completed after the project’s approval in December 2006. The research shows the animal needs more larger, older trees and more of a canopy overhead than officials had anticipated. “At the time the plan was approved, we didn’t know when the new research would be available,” said Sue Exline, spokeswoman for the Sierra National Forest. The research was done by forest service scientists and a private, nonprofit group called the Conservation Biology Institute, based in Oregon. The fisher is a focus of great environmental concern south of Yosemite National Park in such places as the Kings River Project area. It has disappeared in the Sierra Nevada north of Yosemite all the way to the Cascades. The loss of fishers has been blamed on logging and trapping. The animal has been a candidate for listing under the Endangered Species Act, but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service does not have the money to offer protections. http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/393505.html

Ohio:

12) Starting at 10 this morning on the snowiest day of the year, five students at Ohio State began a sit-in to demand ethical standards for the purchase of wood and paper. The members of OSU Free The Planet!, a student group, vow to stay until President Gordon Gee signs an agreement to stop the University from buying wood products obtained from Indigenous conflict areas and to include more recycled content in paper and lumber used on campus. Forest issues are heavily intertwined with climate issues. The 6-year logging blockade of the Grassy Narrows people is our struggle too. They are protecting one of our most valuable tools to combat climate change – the Boreal Forest. Our liberation is tied up in theirs. The 5 students inside are supported by a group of more than two dozen of their supporters rallying outside the President’s office, who will be standing in solidarity as long as it takes. Police are reportedly on the scene, but have not indicated any intent to arrest. Check the Rainforest Action Network’s blog for updates through the day. Support the students by signing on to their petition. Free The Planet is also asking supporters to call the President’s office to encourage him to sign the agreement: President Gordon E. Gee (like guy except with an ee), The Ohio State University – (614) 292-2424. http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/2008/02/12/more-from-ohio-osu-students-sit-in-to-support-grassy-n
arrows/

Tennessee:

13) Gerald Tuskan, a lead researcher at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is teaching people how to speak to the trees. He, along with hundreds of other researchers, is doing so by using the complete genome of Populus, also known as black cottonwood or poplar. In the little more than a year since the genome was published in Science, the poplar has been talking, and scientists have been listening. One of the most basic questions that scientists have been trying to answer is: What makes a tree a tree? We are learning a lot of things that make woody plants woody and perennial plants perennial, Tuskan says. A genome gives scientists a road map to the valuable and interesting traits in an organism. The genome allows us access to the genes that control development and function of the organism, Tuskan says. So if you have a phenotype or a trait you are interested inwhether it is hemicellulose in the cell wall, or its growth rate or disease resistanceyou used to have to isolate the part of the genome where that trait was controlled. Then you would have to spend time trying to sequence the gene involved. Both of those processes would take years. Once the genes are identified, researchers can then inhibit or overexpress them to see what impact that has on trees. Several of these studies could have profound impacts on the use of poplar in the biomass industry. Using a tool called a microarray, researchers can examine how thousands of genes are turned on and off as the poplar grows and experiences changes in the environment, Tuskan says. So, instead of studying one gene or one enzyme, we are studying the entire organism, he says. Some interesting discoveries have already been made. One ORNL research team led by Tongming Yin discovered the genes that determine whether a tree is male or female. This is important because male trees accumulate more biomass under stressed conditions, Tuskan says. We could never isolate the biological mechanism that controls gender, he says. Another ORNL study, led by Udaya Kalluri, has been looking at the plant hormone auxin, which among other things controls the amount of biomass that the trees accumulate above and below ground. A study of the dozens of genes that regulate auxin showed that reducing the activity of one of those genes made the trees add more biomass to their trunks. So if you want a tree that is economically better, short and stout is better than tall and thin in terms of harvesting costs, Tuskan says. http://www.timberbuysell.com/Community/DisplayNews.asp?id=2029

Canada:

14) The Ottawa County Parks Department plans to thin out 140 acres of red pine trees in the Pigeon Creek Forest beginning this month, with the goal to finish in mid-April. Red pines were planted in Ottawa County in the 1930s and 1940s to stabilize the soil. They were planted close together with the idea that the forests would periodically be thinned. Most Ottawa County pine plantations were thinned in the 1970s and 1980s. Last year, the county began managing selected forests at Robinson Forest and Hiawatha Forest, and the process is nearly complete at Van Buren Dunes. Red pines have problems such as a fungus disease and beetle infestations. The goal of the county’s project is to transition the forests from red pines to more native growth. In many red pine forests, there is already a good underlay of native tree species that will be released once the pines are removed or thinned. The transition should also increase the diversity of wildlife found in these areas. http://www.grandhaventribune.com/paid/295157055399019.bsp

15) Environmentalists will receive $2 million from oilsands developers to buy and preserve prized stretches of northern boreal forest over the next 10 years. Under an agreement announced today, the Alberta Conservation Association will receive the money in 10 annual installments of $200,000 from the Athabasca Oil Sands Project, a partnership of Shell Canada, Chevron Canada an Marathon Oil. No targets were set for amounts of forest to be preserved. Instead of focusing only on the size of protected areas, the environmentalists will concentrate on selecting locations deemed to be significant to northern ecology. The oil companies will use the protected areas to offset effects of a multibillion-dollar expansion project currently underway by the Athabasca project’s open-pit mine in the boreal woods north of Fort McMurray, Shell vice-president David Collyer said in a statement announcing the donation. The agreement, part of a program called “corporate partners in conservation,” will ensure preservation of “ecologically significant parcels of boreal habitat,” conservation association president Todd Zimmerling said. http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=2bee570d-dc0e-49db-8b0d-e538da3fd3ff&k=
70730

UK:

16) Ancient trees are living relics of incredible age that inspire in us feelings of awe and mystery. They have helped shape our history, and will help shape our future if we let them. Can you help us to reveal their secrets, discover the wildlife they sustain and unlock their stories gathered over centuries? The Ancient Tree Hunt (ATH) involves thousands of people in finding and mapping all the fat, old trees across the UK and is right at the heart of the Woodland Trust’s ancient tree conservation work. It will create a comprehensive living database of ancient trees and it’s the first step towards cherishing and caring for them. The ATH began in 2004, as a joint venture with the Tree Register of the British Isles and the Ancient Tree Forum, and has already collected more than 6,000 records. Now, thanks to additional funding from The Heritage Lottery Fund and the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, it is stepping up a gear and, with your help and the assistance of many partner organisations, we aim to record at least 100,000 ancient trees throughout the UK by 2011. This will give us a much better understanding of the number and size of ancient trees across the UK. You can also find details of ancient trees near where you live or places that you visit frequently. http://www.ancient-tree-hunt.org.uk

17) A row of beech trees on the boundary between gardens and the Queen Elizabeth Circle in Thame, are to be felled, following complaints from residents about loss of light, leaf fall into gardens and root damage to buildings along the boundary line. After rejecting a plan to have the existing trees pollarded, on the grounds that it would only be a tempory solution and an on-going expense, Thame Town Council’s Culture and Leisure commitee voted to remove the existing trees and plant new trees 30 feet into the recreation area. It is expected that the work would be phased in over three years. http://www.thamenews.net/readmore.asp?Content_ID=3059

18) Ray has indulged a life long love of all things woody and green working at Highgate Wood, Hampstead Heath and Queens Park. So it’s not surprising the affectionate nickname “the tree freak” stuck.”My passion is veteran trees, trees in their final life cycle,” says Ray. “They’re extremely important because they sustain wildlife which is either very rare or threatened.” Having studied or worked with trees since 1968 Ray is now leaving London to return to his native Cheshire and plans to enjoy a relaxed retirement volunteering with a nearby nature reserve.But his passion for woodland has inspired an era of great success – Highgate Wood is one of only six sites in the country to win a Green Flag every year since the awards started 11 years ago and for the last two years. It has also won the Green Heritage Award, recognising its status as an ancient woodland. Links created with borough schools have also seen hundreds of kids step foot in the wood with some following Ray’s career path.”It is particularly good to involve younger children as it creates a respect and love for nature,” he says. “Several have returned to advise us that they have gone on to college to study wildlife management after becoming interested. “The wood staff came up with an inspired retirement gift dedicating a section of the Red Forest to Ray. “The Red Forest is an area in Lancashire that’s been given over to woodlands and because I originally come from Lancashire they thought it was a nice thing,” he says. Ray visited his very own section of forest with his wife. http://www.tottenhamjournal.co.uk/content/haringey/tottenhamjournal/news/story.aspx?brand=HCEJOn
line&category=news&tBrand=northlondon24&tCategory=newstwgj&itemid=WeED13%20Feb%202008%2014%3A51%
3A05%3A087

19) If you have any woodland in your grounds, then look out for the first leaves of spring flowers. These plants are adapted to woodland life by growing really fast before the trees get a chance to come into leaf. By late May, most spring ephemerals (plants that have a brief, spring growth period) will have flowered, fruited and stored energy in their roots, ready for next year. In fact, everything is starting to wake up for spring, so get in any last minute tree-felling, coppicing or pond clearing, because in a month’s time, it will be too late and you’ll have to wait until your wildlife area goes dormant again next winter. Birds voices have changed! Listen out for melodic, mate-attracting bird song, as opposed to the straightforward chirps and squawks of winter contact calls. Blackbirds are particularly noticeable. (Thanks to John Harding and Heather Myers for this useful link). Why not make a home for a bird? It’s not just Valentine’s day for humans this February- our feathered friends are wooing each other too, and checking out suitable nesting sites. It’s a proud moment if they choose a nest box you’ve made. If you have hedges and shrubs in your grounds, it’s worth leaving a section untouched; even a Leylandii hedge can provide cover for nesting birds. If you’d really like a magic wildlife watching experience, how about installing a webcam into a nest box? Click here for some webcam kits. It makes for highly addictive viewing. February gives us the first glimmers of the natural world waking up from a long sleep. But spare a thought for our winter migrants, getting ready to fly thousands of miles to summer breeding grounds across the globe. Have a last look at nearly one thousand Lapwing coming into roost at dusk on the lakes at Wood Lane. It’s a majestic sight and one that won’t be repeated until next winter. http://shropshirewildlifetrust.ethink.org.uk/2008/02/12/what-to-do-in-your-wildife-area-february
/

Tanzania:

20) Last year the first new discovery of a new genus of Monkey – the Kipunji (Rungwecebus kipunji) – for 83 years was announced to have been found in the remote Udzungwa rainforests! Now a Living Fossil: the giant elephant shrew – a foot long – has just been reported in the Journal of Zoology found in the same ancient high altitude rainforest. Again this is the first new form of Elephant shrew discovered for 125yrs. What on earth will they discover in this forest next? A quarter of Tanzania’s land area is protected and while most people visit the famous names of Kilimanjaro, Ngorongoro and Serengeti this represents only a fraction of what Tanzania has to offer since most of the protected areas are in the relatively unknown Southern and Western Tanzania (Selous, Ruaha, Mikumi, Udzungwa, Katavi and Mahale Mountain National Parks where you can experience some of Africa’s best wildlife without the crowds. Often referred to as a ‘Mountain Archipelago of rainforest’ or ‘the Galapagos of Africa’ the Udzungwa Mountain National Park is a remnant of the ancient forest that stretched along the East Arc Rift of Tanzania. Today all the remains are a few island patches of rainforest that have evolved in isolation over the millennia and are widely considered to be one of the planet’s richest biodiversity hot spots. A quarter of the plant species are unique to Udzungwa and found no where else! Having recently discovered within these remote forests numerous endemic birds (including the Udzungwa Partridge, Rufus Winged Sunbird, Iringa Alacat etc), 4 out of the 11 primates were unique (such as the Hehe Red Colobus, Sanje Mangabey, Galagoes), and other mammals eg.Phillips’ Congo shrew, along with endemic amphibians and reptiles and so on. All unique species found no where else! Scientists are still getting excited with new discoveries in this ancient rainforest. Meet Foxes African Safaris at ITB Berlin 2008: Hall 21a / 111 on TTB stand) at Indaba or Karibu exhibitions to find out about getting off the beaten track in Tanzania. http://travelvideo.tv/news/more.php?id=13573_0_1_0_M

Kenya:

21) Forests in parts of North Rift region have not escaped the effects of political unrest occasioned by the December 27 disputed presidential election results. Lumberjacks took advantage of the post-election violence to venture into Government forests in Keiyo, Marakwet, Uasin Gishu, Baringo, Nandi North and South districts. Some forests were set on fire and hundreds of hectares were destroyed. Baringo district commissioner Hassan Fara says the Government lost more than Sh2 million in the last two weeks of violence through illegal logging and burning of public forests. Area district forestry officer Daniel Too says illegal loggers took advantage of the violence to invade Katimok forest and cut down the endangered sandalwood trees, among other species. Security in the forests was also compromised as some staff fled from their stations fearing for their lives. “Staff, among them forest guards, have not reported to their stations after they were issued with death threats. This has left most public forests vulnerable to illegal loggers who have been indiscriminately harvesting trees,” said Mr Too. He said the loggers had also been cashing in on the rising prices of timber and wood products due to shortage caused by the Government ban on logging in public forests. The Government banned logging six year ago to check against the destruction of forests and ensure water catchment areas are conserved. In Keiyo District, arsonists set on fire 60 hectares of Benon forest and harvested trees in Kaptagat, Msekegwa and Sabor forests. Keiyo forestry officer Martin Mamati says 13 staff houses were torched at Benon forest station when the violence broke out. “We cannot quantify losses incurred as vital documents were lost when the attackers burnt down the forest office,” said Mr Mamati. The attackers also raided the Kenya Forest Service headquarters in the district and stole seven power saws that had been impounded by the forest guards during crackdown on illegal logging. A suspect was, however, arrested by the police and the matter is under investigations. District commissioner Peter Kinuthia said a joint operation between the provincial administration and the police has been launched to crack down on illegal loggers. http://allafrica.com/stories/200802130077.html

Jamaica:

22) A semi-evergreen forest, boasting a canopy of trees, caressed by a small natural spring meandering through acres of unspoiled beauty, is the toast of Ocho Rios’ newest attraction, ‘Mystic Mountain’. Located 700 feet above sea level, there is now a ‘natural mystic blowing through the air’, at this latest addition to the country’s tourism product. The 360-degree view it offers of coastline, St. Mary’s eastern shore, St. Ann’s Bay in the west and the Murphy Hill mountain ridge, has given the resort town permission to claim the title, ‘attraction capital of the Caribbean’.Distinctly unique, the 100-acre attraction which will open in three months, will feature the rapture in rainforest adventure, heady bobsledding, eco-friendly aerial trams, rainforest Zip-line Canopy Tour, walking trails and sky explorers. The attraction will sweep visitors through the lush seaside mountains of Jamaica with a variety of environmentally friendly soft adventure experiences for all ages, Michael Drakulich, co-founder, told The Gleaner. “We have pinpointed something that is absolutely matchless and cannot be easily copied,” said the Ocho Rios businessman, who is an attorney by profession. He, along with former government minister Horace Clarke and the Rainforest Aerial Trams, is an equity partner who has pumped US$6.5 million ($460 million) into eco-friendly project that has transformed the landscape of the town that surpassed the tourism capital, Montego Bay, with more stopover visitors the first nine months of 2007. They have received additional funding from the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) and Carnival Corporation, operators of Carnival Cruise Lines. http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20080212/life/life1.html

Costa Rica:

23) U.S. scientists have determined deforestation and social marginalization increase the risk of acquiring an infectious, tropical skin disease. The University of Michigan researchers examined the incidence of the disease American cutaneous leishmaniasis, or ACL, in Costa Rica. ACL — characterized by skin lesions caused by an infectious organism carried by sand flies — most commonly affects workers in forested lowlands, but tourists are increasingly at risk as remote tropical areas become more accessible. A team led by Professor Luis Fernando Chaves examined Costa Rica’s ACL case data from 1996 through 2000. “Contrary to what was previously believed, the more forest you have, even in a marginal population, the more protected you are against the disease,” said Chaves. “When we looked just at factors such as climate and the physical environment, we found no specific patterns with respect to the disease. But when we looked at the social data, we found clear patterns according to marginality.” The scientists found socially marginalized people — those with lower incomes, literacy and levels of education — had a higher incidence of the disease. The study appears in the journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Skin_disease_linked_with_deforestation_999.html

Honduras:

24) Villagers in tiny communities including Guayabo, Sawacito and Mahor, in the rainforest of northeastern Honduras, used to take part in the rampant illegal trade in mahogany, but recently they have formed a cooperative and learned to harvest the prized wood in sustainable ways. Now, they mostly use trees that have fallen naturally or harvest them in a sustainable way from around the fringes of the nearby Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve, and remove planks from the forest, first on their backs, then on muleback to avoid the disruption caused by heavy machinery. They are working on getting certification for their wood from the Rainforest Alliance, and they have one big customer, the U.S. guitar company Gibson. Thanks to their new way of doing business, dealing directly with the customer, they are earning 40 times more per board-foot of lumber than they were before. But they still have a problem: Gibson doesn’t need enough of the wood to sustain the cooperative. In order to continue their sustainable logging, they need new customers. And that’s where MIT Sloan School master’s student Craig Doescher comes in. Doescher has joined a group of U.S. business and financial partners to help launch a new business based in Honduras, called Tegu Toyworks, that will manufacture wooden toys for export to stores in the United States and Europe. They hope to employ local Honduran craftspeople at the factory and to use the output of the forest cooperative as their primary material, providing them with a major new customer. “They’re trying to preserve the rainforest and use it in a sustainable way, but there isn’t a sufficient market for it yet,” Doescher says. “We’re trying to fill that void.” And because the toys don’t require the use of familiar woods like mahogany, they will be able to use–and help build demand for–lesser-known species, such as huesito, San Juan areno and selillon wood. http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/itw-honduras-tt0213.html

Brazil:

25) Surging deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon may be partly the result of new financial incentives given by state banks such as the Bank of Amazon (BASA), reports Agência de Noticias da Amazônia, a Brazilian newspaper, and the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO). According to Agência de Noticias da Amazônia, small to large-size cattle ranchers in the state of Pará have received payments to expand cattle production in the state, which has resulted in deforestation. While federal law requires ranches to retain 80 percent of the forests on their land, BASA reportedly exempts loan applicants from providing proof of these legal forest reserves. Further, “BASA offers subsidized interest rates for cattle ranching activities ranging from 0.5% to 10.5%” — rates considered some of the lowest in the country, according to the ITTO. By some estimates, roughly two-thirds of historic rainforest destruction in the Brazilian Amazon results from clearing for cattle pasture, much of which was traditionally driven by land speculators seeking to benefit from appreciating real estate values. While land prices continues to rise, today the beef business is booming in the Amazon — 96 percent of Brazil’s cattle herd growth between December 2003 and December 2006 occurred in the legal Amazon. Additional impetus comes from high soy prices which are driving conversion of some pasture land for industrial soy farms, necessitating the need to clear more forest. http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0212-amazon.html

26) The greatest emerging threat to Amazon rainforests and communities is industrial soy plantations. Huge mechanized, soy monocultures destroy tropical ecosystems, accelerate climate change and cause human rights abuses primarily to produce agrofuel and livestock feed. The soya industry wipes out biodiversity, destroys soil fertility, pollutes freshwater and displaces communities. Soybean production expands the agricultural frontier not only through fire and deforestation to clear ancient rainforests, but more importantly by pushing cattle ranches and displacing forest peoples further into natural rainforest ecosystems. Biodiesel made from soya oil is taking over huge areas of Brazil’s farmland, savannah and forest, with harvests surging from 1.5 million tons in 1970 to 57m in 2006. Soy production has already destroyed 21 million hectares of forest in Brazil, and 80 million hectares, including portions of the Amazon basin, remain that are suitable. As currently scaled, configured and given expected growth, industrial soy monocultures can never be environmentally sustainable, and indeed may push the Amazon into wide-scale die-back while causing abrupt, run-away warming. Destruction of the Amazon forest is expected to increase the rate of global warming by 50 percent, while causing countless species to go extinct. Agrofuel based biodiesel will never satisfy more than a fraction of global energy demand yet threatens the Planet’s remaining natural ecosystems. A new scientific report shows plant based biofuels are no climate change solution because they directly or indirectly, intentionally or not, result in land clearing releasing huge amounts of carbon dioxide. Clearing rainforests generally releases 86 times more carbon than the annual agrofuel benefit, and Amazon soybeans have a “carbon debt” of 319 years. Agribusiness giants including Archer Daniels Midland, Bunge and Cargill are amongst those producing and marketing soy while devastating Amazonian ecosystems. http://www.rainforestportal.org/alerts/send.asp?id=brazil_agrofuel

India:

27) New Delhi – India has only 1,411 tigers in its protected forests, less than half the numbers in 2001-2002, according to official figures released Tuesday. The latest estimates of the National Tiger Conservation Authority says that according to its latest census, India’s tiger population in the wild ranges between 1,165 and 1,657 – with the average working out at 1,411. India had 3,642 tigers in 2001-2002, according to an earlier census of the animals in national reserve forests or protected parks. The latest assessment shows that though the tiger has suffered due to poaching, loss of quality habitat and loss of its prey, there is still hope, Rajesh Gopal, secretary of the Tiger Project, said at a press briefing. He said the Indian government has announced it would be setting up eight new tiger reserves. An area of over 30,000 square kilometres of tiger habitat had been identified and funds set aside for the project. Gopal also said the method for counting tigers has been refined using pugmarks (footprints) and involving independent experts, and there is now a higher degree of confidence in the results. The latest census found that central Madhya Pradesh state had the highest number of tigers, an estimated 300, followed by southern Karnataka with 290 and northern Uttarakhand with 178.
Three important tiger habitats were left out of the census and work was currently ongoing to count the big cats in eastern West Bengal state’s Sundarbans mangrove forest. The census could not be carried out in the eastern Jharkhand and central Chhattisgarh states due to the presence of Maoist rebels. http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/185278,only-1411-tigers-left-in-protected-forests-in-ind
ia.html

28) On January 8, a week after the Scheduled Tribes and Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 – the Forest Rights Act (FRA) in short – was notified, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wrote to all Chief Ministers seeking their cooperation and commitment to ensure its effective implementation. In the letter, he qualified the Act as a piece of “landmark legislation in independent India that seeks to provide rights over land in their occupation to forest-dwelling Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest-dwellers who have been residing there for generations but whose rights could not be recorded.” The opposition to the FRA advanced by “conservationist fundamentalists”, sections of the forest bureaucracy, and paper and pulp companies contained arguments that covered vast thematic areas. They ranged from suggestions that the enactment of the FRA would sound the death-knell for the tiger population in the country; that it would curtail drastically the supply of pulp for industry; and that the law would culminate in the irrational distribution of forest land to tribal families. Several non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and lobbyists advanced these objections and it was no secret that many of them had the backing of some of the most influential political families in the country. However, most of these objections were fought back through a collective campaign by forest rights activists and various political parties for nearly two years. It was this campaign that resulted in the formation of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), which in many ways cleared the way for the FRA. The introduction to the final Act states that it is meant to undo historical injustices meted out to forest-dwelling populations in not recognising their rights to land and resources. It also asserts that the rights of these communities include responsibilities for the sustainable use of forests and conservation of biodiversity. The FRA recognises the right to homestead, to cultivable and grazing land and to non-timber forest produce. It accepts that there are legitimate non-tribal forest-dwellers, and acknowledges the right to rehabilitation in case of past forcible displacement. It prescribes that all future notification of inviolate conservation zones and curtailment of rights in protected areas shall require people’s consent. http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/stories/20080229500100400.htm

29) Dams in central India, bamboo flowering in the Northeast, crops and the tsunami of 2004 combined to shrink India’s forest cover by about the size of Bangalore, the latest national forest survey has revealed. India’s forest cover declined by 728sqkm between 2003 and 2005, all of the loss being in the moderately dense forests while areas under very dense forest and open forest actually increased, the Forest Survey of India (FSI) said today. Bangalore covers about 740sqkm. The loss of forests observed in the latest biannual survey follows an FSI claim of a 23,000sqkm increase between 2001 and 2003. But some ecologists had earlier criticised the FSI for underestimating forest loss from degradation because of faulty interpretation of satellite images. The new survey also revealed discrepancies between government-recorded forest areas and actual cover. In Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Meghalaya and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, 36 per cent of the forest area lay outside the government-recorded forest land. Only 64 per cent of the 76,000sqkm of recorded forest land in these three states and the Union territory is actually under forest cover. India’s forest cover stood at 677,088sqkm, or about 20.6 per cent of the country’s geographic area, during 2005, according to a survey based on analysis of satellite imagery and ground studies. “But if you exclude areas not available for forests, the forest cover is 21.8 per cent,” said Devendra Pandey, the FSI’s director-general. Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have the largest areas under forest cover, accounting for nearly one-third of total forests. Nagaland recorded the largest loss of forest — 296sqkm — since the last survey. This loss is because of the flowering of bamboo in Nagaland and Manipur which caused the loss of 176sqkm. Dams caused the loss of about 120sqkm of forest in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, while the sea claimed 196sqkm during the tsunami of December 2004. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080213/jsp/nation/story_8896834.jsp

Japan:

30) Following a course laid out centuries ago, the procession began outside a grove where one of Nobaru’s 11 shrines lay hidden. A dozen priestesses, with leaves of dwarf sugar palms wrapped around their heads and waists, marched on ground still wet from afternoon rains. They followed a 12-year-old boy who, walking briskly ahead of them, wore the wood-carved mask of a fearsome elongated face, with a large forehead, small eyes and a thin rectangular mouth. He was the Paantu, a devil or god or ghost. “Hoi! Hoi!” the priestesses cried, shaking camphor tree twigs, as a boy blew twice into a conch shell in response. Priestesses have long protected Miyako, a small island in the East China Sea and part of the Okinawa chain of islands in Japan. Though ceremonies and masks vary according to each village, they share a common animist basis: female elders are entrusted with the responsibility of guarding a village’s sacred forests, wells, springs and oracles. The faith, emphasizing nature’s divinity and ancestor worship, shares common threads with the world’s surviving animist religions in Africa and Asia. The matriarchal religious rites survive elsewhere in Okinawa, which was an independent kingdom until it was absorbed by Japan in the 1870s. But they have flourished here on isolated Miyako Island, reachable only by plane or a long ride aboard a freighter. And yet, even here the religious traditions are weakening. Having survived typhoons, Japanese conquest and war, they are losing ground to an increasingly urban life, rising affluence and the popularity of pastimes like croquet. Associations of guardian priestesses have disbanded in at least two villages. Elsewhere, few young women seem willing to succeed retiring priestesses. “We can already see the end coming,” said Anko Sadoyama, director of the Miyako Traditional Culture Research Center. Yet on Miyako, Mr. Sadoyama said, there are more than 1,000 sacred places that still influence daily life here in sometimes unexpected ways. In Oura Village, residents recently opposed the construction of a funeral home because priestesses said the proposed location blocked a road used by the gods. A decade ago, the head of a construction company ignored pleas not to build a new road through a sacred place. “But then one of his workers fell ill, and his equipment kept breaking down in ways that just weren’t normal, so he gave up,” recalled Toshimitsu Oura, 58, a village leader, adding that the road was eventually built around the spot. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/13/world/asia/13miyako.html?em&ex=1203051600&en=def5ce94ff098681
&ei=5087%0A

New Zealand:

31) Pureora Forest Park straddles the Hauhungaroa and Rangitoto Ranges between Lake Taupo and Te Kuiti. It is a hidden wonderland of tall trees, clear rivers and rare wildlife. We are lucky today to be able to visit Pureora Forest and see the ancient native trees like Totara. It is only due to the efforts of people in the 1970’s that the forest still exists. In 1978 protestors occupied the treetops of Pureora Forest in a bid to protect the native forest from logging. Their actions were successful and the government eventually ended native forest logging in the Park. You can listen then local MP Ian Shearer expressing his concern over the logging plans here and here you can read a story of tramping in Puriora. One of the things you can do in the Park is climb a forest tower and be among the treetops like the protestors would have been in the seventies. It’s 12 m high and only a 10 min walk from Bismark Road car park. You can hear & see the native birds calling from the tower – it’s a great view. http://connectivitybridges.blogspot.com/2008/02/pureora-forest-pureora-forest-park.html

Australia:

32) As the jewel in Burrendong Arboretum’s crown, Fern Gully is a sight to behold. However, recent flash flooding has washed away parts of the beautiful rainforest area, leaving thousands of dollars worth of damage. Friends of the Aboretum treasurer Barry Graham explained that heavy rainfall had eroded topsoil and damaged the walkways, retaining walls and two stone bridges. “It will need a lot of clearing and tidying up,” he said. Friends of the Arboretum chairperson and trust secretary Marion Jarratt agreed, saying that the freak storm had rapidly ruined the oasis. “We had six inches (152mm) of rain in 40 minutes,” she said. And after suffering through the drought, the flooding had an even more devastating effect. “That’s when it does the damage, when there is no grass or pasture to slow down the flow of water.” On his visit to the botanic gardens last week, NSW lands minister Tony Kelly took time to assess the flood damage, and assured the group that he would request extra funding to help with the clean-up operation. http://wellington.yourguide.com.au/news/local/general/freak-storm-leaves-rainforest-in-ruins/118
1913.html

World-wide:

33) Fancy your own swath of rainforest or snow-capped peak? From Britain to Botswana, the Philippines to Patagonia, there is an explosion of individuals, charities, even billionaire financiers buying up vast areas of land in the name of protecting environments. But is private ownership the way to save them? John Vidal reportsFancy your own swath of rainforest or snow-capped peak? From Britain to Botswana, the Philippines to Patagonia, there is an explosion of individuals, charities, even billionaire financiers buying up vast areas of land in the name of protecting environments. But is private ownership the way to save them? Click! I have just bought 10 sq cm of rainforest for a few pennies on the net. Click click! That’s 0.2 sq ft of Patagonia coastline saved from mining. Click click click! A friend has just given me as a present 1 sq m of the Palmyra atoll, wherever that is. Saving the world’s most beautiful and ecologically important places just got much cheaper and easier. Hundreds of websites run by charities, trusts, and individuals now invite people to buy up forest, field and mountain to save it from destruction and climate change at the click of a mouse. And why stop at pennies? The World Land Trust, whose patron is Sir David Attenborough, invites you to buy a whole acre of Indian elephant corridor for £50, or 2,000m2 of the Chaco Pantanal in Brazil for £25. WLT supporters have bought 350,000 acres in Britain since 1989 – an area half the size of Derbyshire. If you have really deep pockets, conservation gets even easier. John Eliasch, the Swedish-born businessman chosen by Gordon Brown to be his forest advisor, bought himself 400,000 acres of the Amazon rainforest for £8m in 2006 and now asks supporters to help him buy up tracts of Brazil and Ecuador. His charity, Cool Earth, is asking £70 an acre, and in one year it claims to have bought 32,000 acres – to howls of disapproval from the Brazilian government, which says Eliasch is an “eco-colonialist” and that Brazilians can look after their own forests. President Lula da Silva declared that “Brazil was not for sale”, and a group of ministers wrote that the charity was attacking the country’s sovereignty. These “well-intentioned outsiders”, they said, “were ignorant of the reality of the Amazon rainforest and should stick to trying to influence their own governments”. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/feb/13/conservation