302 – Earth’s Tree News

Today for you 36 new articles about earth’s trees! (302nd edition)
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–UK: 1) Battling to stop plans to build a block of flats, 2) Gentrification of Leeds,
–Ireland: 3) Save the Red Squirrel
–Sweden: 4) Leader in biomass use
–Greece: 5) The desert that is Greece is actually a green forest
–Africa: 6) Development Bank provides $814 million to protect central forests
–Gabon: 7) Lost Logs killing baby turtles
–Chad: 8) Ancient trees cut to prevent gunmen from hiding
–Kenya: 9) Special squad has been formed to curb forest destruction
–Ghana: 10) Timber harvesting license of Royal Vissage Ghana revoked,
–Uganda: 11) Albertine Rift Forest conservation gets UN funds
–Liberia: 12) Snail pace in submitting the draft Community Forest Law
–Guyana: 13) Fines of loggers permissible, 14) Loggers collectively fined G$275M
–Brazil: 15) Seizing 500 truckloads, 16) Gov. Donation-based fund for Conservation,
–India: 17) Monkeys raiding farms causes farmers to cut down forests
–Pakistan: 18) Digging up trees for timber mafia, 19) Corruption driving deforestation,
–Madagascar: 20) Only 62 families remain
–Bangladesh: 21) Save the Chittagong Hill Tracts
–Philippines: 22) Flashfloods and landslides, 26 dead,
–Cambodia: 23) Still talking about Global Witness’s May report
–Malawi: 24) More monkeys raiding farms causing farmers to cut down forests
–Indonesia: 25) Overview, 26) Orangutan Survival Foundation’s gets more land, 27) Rejecting a regulation that charges fees for destruction, 28) 770,000 hectare swath of Ulu Masen forest for pilot carbon credits program,
–Australia: 29) Tasmanian Premier obfuscates conservation for climate change, 30) Tasmania’s 20 year Wood Supply Agreement with Gunns is signed, 31) Restoring soils’ ability to absorb carbon via vegetation,
–World-wide: 32) G-8 proposal to punish sellers of illegal wood, 33) status of forest biodiversity, 34) Climate change to affect locations of forest types, 35) tropics are next hotspot for emerging infectious diseases, 36) 10% cut in deforestation is worth $13.5 billion on the new carbon market,

1) Campaigners worried about the loss of trees in a Doncaster village are battling to stop plans to build a block of flats. Strata Homes wants to replace three bungalows on Melton Road, Sprotbrough, near the A1(M), with 35 flats built in six blocks among a number of trees – which they pledged would not be chopped down. But the scheme has attracted a storm of protest from campaigners who say there is growing concern over trees in the village. A 68-name petition has been sent to Doncaster Council against the scheme, as well as 23 letters from nearby residents calling for the proposals to be rejected. Campaigner Steve Merriman told Doncaster Council planning committee: “There is nothing like this in Sprotbrough village. “The destruction of trees is a big issue for us at the moment, and there is a damning report on this plan from the council’s tree officer. What do you think? Post your comments below. “This is an intensive development shoe-horned between the trees. “There is a storm brewing in Sprotbrough about trees being lost. There is no children’s play area, and the noise level would be 70-plus decibels in the daytime. This is ridic ulous.” The council’s tree officer has described the scheme as over intensive and called for the buildings to be set back further from existing trees. James Hobson, for Strata, said the buildings were designed to look like large houses, rather than apartment blocks, to fit in with the character of the area.

2) The gentrification of Leeds means that more and more urban woodlands and spaces are being sold off by the local council to build flats by corporate developers. Along the Aire Valley in Leeds, this is becoming more and more apparent as a number of areas of woodland have been put up for auction. Today fellers, contracted out by a Birmingham-based property developer, begun chopping down all the trees on ‘Woodside’ View; so local residents went out and stood in front of the trees to stop them being cut-down. This area of woodland has been there for over 30 years and has been bringing wildlife into the area and absorbing a large part of the pollution from the main road. The fellers stopped work and left the land until the police and PCSO’s came down, at which point a Section 6 (Squatters Law) notice had been placed on the site and the riot van parked up brought a lot of the bordering residents out to give support – some of which were given abuse by the police. A ‘passing’ CID car also came and the police inside it pushed past a local resident involved in the action to gain entry to their house. The site was eventually vacated by the protesters as the police prepared for arrest – obviously so whilst people were in the cells the fellers could finish their job. The property agent who owns the land was made aware of the action by the police, who’s attitude was aggressive and trying to intimidate throughout. Meanwhile, whilst the fellers finished their work police stood by to make sure there was no more action against the ‘development’ of the woodland. The partiality of the police goes to show that they are not in favour of what locals think and more interested in protecting vested interests. An important thing that has rose from the event is that no planning notices have been put up around the area, and the architects haven’t even been down to survey the land yet – In otherwords they are ripping down the woodland before they even know if it’s safe to build on. Similar actions will be happening throughout the Aire Valley to stop the destruction of this unique area. http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/02/392042.html

Ireland:

3) Red squirrels are to be reintroduced to a Bangor woodland under plans to halt the decline of the beleaguered mammals in Ireland. North Down District Council has drawn up proposals to release the squirrels in Castle Park and is just waiting for the go-ahead from the Department of the Environment. Over the last few years, the council has boosted the wildlife in the woods of the popular park by planting native trees, putting up bird and bat boxes, and planting a wildflower meadow. The latest scheme will bring red squirrels back into an area which they once inhabited, according to North Down Assembly member Alex Easton. He highlighted the plans to Environment Minister Arlene Foster at Stormont last week. “There used to be a small red squirrel population there, but for some reason it died out – however, the council is looking at reintroducing them,” he told the Belfast Telegraph. “Queen’s University did a study on the park, gave it the all-clear and said there was sufficient woodland to support a small population of red squirrels.” Red squirrels are native to Ireland, but have declined over the past 20 years due to loss of habitat and competition from American grey squirrels which have colonised the UK. The Government is planning to protect the Ards peninsula for red squirrels by culling greys. The red squirrel is one of 271 animals and plants considered to be under threat in Northern Ireland and is a priority species. Locally red squirrels are still present in Belvoir Forest, Mount Stewart on the Ards peninsula and Glenlyon wood in Holywood. Mr Easton said he hoped his question in the Assembly would get things moving on the project. http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/article3463896.ece

Sweden:

4) Sweden is a technology leader in biomass based CHP (Combined heat and power) systems, operating 44 units in district heating utilities, and 30 units as back-pressure systems in industrial operations. When you visit Sweden, you will find many towns and cities being heated by district heating distribution networks. A total of 264 units are already operational in the country, all fired by biomass. Planned investments for CHP and back-pressure power generation in the period 2008- 2012 in utilities and industry is expected to amount to an impressive SEK 44 billion (€5/US$6.4 billion), with 19 new projects in the pipeline for the industrial sector, and 47 projects for utilities. A total of 6.5TWh of new bio-electricity capacity will come online by 2012 (industry 1.5 TWh per year; utilities 5 TWh per year). In short, bioenergy is pervasive throughout Sweden’s society. Both the industrial sector, the utilities as well as residents all use the fuel, in their factories, homes and cars. What is more, contrary to fossil fuel prices, wood fuel prices in Sweden have remained largely stable over the past five years. These price data are officially published in Sweden, and are based on information from about 200 district heating utilities and about 20 industries. The statistics reflect the costs at the mill site for the various wood fuels per three month periods. Sweden has vowed to fight protectionism over biomass and biofuels in the EU. The Union now puts tariffs on biofuels, whereas they can be produced in a more environmentally friendly and efficient way in countries of the South. The Swedish Trade Ministry has therefor launched several initiatives to pressurise governments to drop these protectionist measures, in part because it thinks the biofuel sector provides major opportunities for rural, social and economic development in poor countries. http://www.checkbiotech.org/green_News_Biofuels.aspx?infoId=17055

Greece:

5) The expanse of Greece’s forestland is increasing, despite the impact of last summer’s devastating wildfires, according to new research. Natural regrowth has increased by more than 25 percent in the country’s forests, compared to a rate of 18 percent in the 1950s, said Professor Spyros Dafis of Thessaloniki’s Aristotle University. “However strange it may seem, forests in mountain areas are becoming denser,” Dafis said. He attributed the development to the disappearance of traditional settlements and the tendency of farmers to feed their animals in stables rather than grazing them outdoors. “There is less pressure on these forests,” he said. The area of Zagorohoria, in northwestern Greece, is a good example: It was virtually bare in the 1960s and is now covered in greenery, Dakis said. The same does not apply to forestland on urban outskirts, which is dwindling due to increasing construction – both legal and illegal. “Forestland near urban areas or tourist spots has dwindled significantly as the land there is very valuable,” said Ilias Apostolides, a forestry expert. http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_politics_100016_26/02/2008_93752

Africa:

6) The African Development Bank (AfDB) will provide $814 million over the next two years to help safeguard Central African forests threatened by war, poverty and poor governance, the bank said on Thursday. Bank President Donald Kaberuka told reporters the money would go to 13 projects aimed at improving the management of natural resources in 2008-2010 in the Congo Basin, home to 37 percent of the world’s remaining tropical forests. “Forests (in the Congo Basin) have an important economic and climatic role … Unfortunately, these forests are threatened mainly by poverty, governance crises and conflicts,” he said. The bank previously provided a total of $2.7 billion to Central African states to improve farming and protect forests. A 2006 study by non-governmental organisations showed that half of the Congo Basin forests would disappear in 2030 due to intensive exploitation and population growth. Environmental groups say that protecting tropical forests is the most direct and fastest way to mitigate some of the impact of climate change. Scientists say Africa is expected to be hit hardest by global warming, which is blamed on carbon dioxide emissions from industry, transport and modern lifestyles in rich countries. http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN151078.html

Gabon:

7) Logging is having an unexpected impact on endangered sea turtles in Central Africa, reports a new study published in Oryx. Aerial surveys in Gabon reveal that logs lost during transport are clogging beaches, preventing critically endangered leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) from nesting. The researchers — an international team that included William F. Laurance from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and Michael Fay from the Wildlife Conservation Society — found that logs blocked nearly 30.5 percent of Pongara Beach, one of the world’s most important turtle nesting areas, during the 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 breeding seasons. The logs caused multiple problems for sea turtles, including trapping and disorienting turtles, causing them to die; physically blocking access to nesting areas, forcing turtles to abandon nesting altogether or establish nests dangerously close to the waterline (seawater inundation kills sea turtle eggs); and altering the structure of the beach so that turtles were unable to climb steps caused by sand erosion. Overall 8-14 percent of 2,163 observed nesting attempts were “disturbed or thwarted by lost logs, sometimes with fatal effects for the nesting female”. Given the low survival rate to maturity of marine turtles, the researchers say that displaced logs may be a significant threat to endangered populations. They further note that logs likely impact survival of hatchlings, by impeding their path to the ocean and increasing their vulnerability to predators. http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0225-sea_turtles.html

Chad:

8) Chad’s tree surgeons are cutting down the majestic trees that once lined the Avenue General de Gaulle, the main drag of the capital, N’Djamena. The centuries-old trees look down on three-storey buildings, and cast a refreshing shadow during the hot season. But during the recent rebel offensive on the capital, they also provided cover for the attackers. “The president ordered this,” one of the workmen told the BBC. “He says that to confront the rebels we must absolutely cut down those trees, so that the presidency can be adequately protected.” The workman says he is unhappy about removing the trees, but adds: “Sooner or later they will be replanted.” The felled trees are being chopped into pieces and carried away in pickup trucks. Old women and children rush to collect the remaining small wood, which will come in handy in the kitchen. Sitting on his bicycle, wearing a white traditional gown, old Dutom Aselo surveys the scene wistfully. “When I was a child, soldiers used to stop us touching the trees,” he recalls. “Now they are being destroyed.” More destruction could be in the cards. According the European Union’s ambassador in Chad, the rebels are rearming in neighbouring Sudan. Evidently, the N’Djamena authorities are braced for another attack. They even mistrust the trees and their shadows. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7263535.stm

Kenya:

9) A special squad has been formed to curb forest destruction in the North Rift region. They started operations in forests in Keiyo District on Friday night. The officers arrested 27 people and impounded eight lorries with timber worth about Sh1million. The Deputy Commandant of the Kenya Forest Service (KFS), Mr Alex Lemargogo, leads the team. They raided Kipkabus, Benon, Kaptagat, Sabor, Kessup and Elgeyo forests where logging has been going on since the eruption of post-election violence. There was drama as illegal loggers tried to repulse the team by lighting fires in the forests as they hurriedly hid or transported their loot. Forest officials and some residents put out the fires. Lemargogo said KFS would enforce the recently enacted Forest Act, which gives it authority to forfeit to the State impounded vehicles and equipment belonging to the illegal loggers. The Keiyo District Forest Officer, Mr Dennis Kerengo, estimated the cost of trees felled by loggers at more than Sh500 million. Kerengo said in addition to felling trees, protesters stole forest equipment and set ablaze some forest stations. Lemargogo said the ongoing operation would cover other public forests in the North Rift. http://allafrica.com/stories/200802240017.html

Ghana:

10) The Minister of Lands, Forestry and Mines, Mrs Esther Obeng Dapaah has instructed the Forestry Commission to revoke the timber harvesting license of Royal Vissage Ghana Limited. She said the company was illegally harvesting timber from the Bomfi Biri wild life sanctuary in the Eastern Region. She stressed that the activities of the company were destroying the forest, adding that the granting of timber rights to Vissage was not legally justifiable. Speaking to newsmen, Mrs Dapaah said that the findings of a five-member committee set up to look into issues relating the forestry sector had observed that the staff of the company were not competent enough to be allowed to harvest forest products in the country. She noted that it was worrying that the processing and submission of application as well as the granting of timber harvesting rights was done in a haphazard manner at the Forestry Commission. Mrs Dapaah noted that the committee also found out that the ministry failed to adequately supervise the Forestry Commission relative to the granting of timber harvesting rights as prescribed by the Section 3 of the Forestry Commission Act of 1999, Act 571. Granting of timber harvesting rights in protected areas, she emphasised was not permissible. Meanwhile a four-member committee has been set up to supervise and auction logs felled by Vissage within two weeks. The proceeds will be used to repair the damage caused by the illegal activities of the company in sanctuary. http://www.myjoyonline.com/news/200802/13739.asp

Uganda:

11) United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has given Uganda $3,395m (about sh5.8b) for conservation. The funds were channeled through the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Ministry of Water and Environment to implement a biodiversity conservation project in the Albertine Rift Forests of Uganda. The project will promote better management of forests on private land by communities in Hoima, Masindi and Kibale disricts. About $267,347 was used to procure project equipment, including the vehicles and motorcycles which were handed over last Monday by the UNDP resident representative in Uganda, Theophane Nikyema. Nikyema said UNDP’s Strategic Plan 2008-2011 puts priority on environment in general and biodiversity conservation in particular. He added that the project fits within the Government of Uganda priorities for biodiversity conservation. The UNDP environment specialist, Justin Ecaat, said the Albertine Rift Eco-Region is the most important forest system in Africa in terms of biodiversity, extending across the Great Lakes Region of East and Central Africa (DRC, Uganda, Tanzania,Rwanda, Burundi. Ecaat, however, noted that the forests have been under increasing threat from the growing commercial demands and from rural communities whose high levels of poverty make them dependent on forest resources for their livelihood. http://allafrica.com/stories/200802250912.html

Liberia:

12) Lawmakers are said to be stepping up pressure on the Managing Director of the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) John Woods regarding the snail pace in submitting the draft Community Forest Law for enactment. River Gee Senator, Hon. Isaac Johnson, said Mr. Woods is expected to appear Wednesday, February 27, for another round of hearing which will be public over disturbing concern raise mainly by south easterners over the need for job creation for rural dwellers. He said Mr. Woods will show cause for the delay and with the cooperation of the Executive and other experts to help address the issues in order to jumpstart the timber sector. He disclosed that the hearing will afford all interested parties the opportunity to periscope the logging sector in order to make progress and address the concerns of thousands of job seekers. Delay by the FDA is reportedly causing frustration among an estimated 40,000 job seekers that see logging as the only hope for employment and the provision of basic social services including health care, education and the construction of farm to market roads. There is also uneasiness among prospective logging companies contending that the submission and passage of the Community Forest Law is crucial to beginning logging operation this year. FDA has delayed more than one year since the passage of the new Forest Reform Law in October 2006. http://allafrica.com/stories/200802251757.html

Guyana:

13) The monetary penalties imposed on a number of delinquent loggers by the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) are permissible under existing forestry legislation and fall within the regulations of the Commission and operators in the country’s forestry sector are well aware of those regulations, according to GFC Commissioner James Singh. Singh was at the time responding to queries raised by a Forest Producers Asso-ciation (FPA) source and reported in the February 15 issue of the Stabroek Business regarding the authority of the GFC to impose the monetary penalties. The source told Stabroek Business that there was nothing in the current legislation that guided the specific monetary penalty imposed by the GFC. However, Singh drew attention to existing forestry legislation which allows “the Minister or forest officers authorised by the Minister” to accept compensation for transgression of forestry regulations. Last week Stabroek Business was informed by the FPA source that loggers might move to the courts to challenge the imposition of the penalties on the grounds that existing legislation made no provision for such penalties. However, Singh explained that the penalties should not be regarded as fines in the legal sense of the term but as compensatory payments to the GFC under regulations that had previously been discussed with the FPA and which had been approved by the Office of the Auditor General. http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/article_business?id=56539620

14) Mr Kowlessar’s statement that “the GFC’s threats to curtail logging were not viewed as credible” is laughable. Why would loggers who were collectively fined two hundred and seventy-five million dollars (G$275M) in 2007 not take the GFC seriously, and repeat the same error, especially since according to the GFC, the penalties increase on the second and third offences? This doesn’t make sense, Mr Kowlessar. The GFC stated clearly in one of their releases that the maximum acreage harvestable in one calendar year was five hundred (500) blocks for all concessionaires put together, or fifty thousand (50,000 ha) hectares. How does Kowlessar arrive at 144,960 hectares? Where did he get his misinformation from – or rather, is it his intention to misinform? And when did GFC indicate that all of the blocks have to be verified within the month of December. Is Kowlessar assuming incorrectly that the loggers will log all of the blocks in January 2008? No Mr Kowlessar, the intention as indicated by GFC is to verify some blocks to allow harvesting in January 2008. Whilst the loggers are operating in these blocks, the GFC teams continue to do verification. Kowlessar needs to update himself more on forestry issues so that he can offer constructive criticism, and not make it his duty to regularly write negatively on the GFC to support some hidden agenda. With respect to the letter by Ms Bulkan, she refers to the commission the Guyana loses since Barama pays no export commission on the export of greenheart logs. I suggest that this doctoral researcher gets her facts right by referring to Article 8 B (Export tax) of the agreement signed between the Guyana Government and Barama on 14th August 1991. This article clearly states that Barama has to pay the export commission on the export of greenheart logs. http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/article_letters?id=56539693

Brazil:

15) Brazilian troops and police seized about 500 truckloads of illegal hardwood timber from the Amazon rainforest over the weekend, following riots and protests by sawmill workers and others that had forced out environmental inspectors earlier in the week. After the inspectors were driven out, they came back days later with over 450 troops to confiscate illegal timber that the government has said will be sold to raise money for rainforest protection. The seizure is part of the Brazilian government’s plans, unveiled last month, to step up environmental enforcement in the Amazon, including inspections of companies operating in the area. The Amazon rainforest has experienced massive deforestation in recent years due mainly to illegal logging, soy cultivation, and cattle ranching. About 2,700 square miles of Amazon rainforest were destroyed in Brazil last year between August and December. “We don’t want a confrontation with the people,” said Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. “We’re fighting criminals, and these people unfortunately manipulate the local residents.” http://www.grist.org/news/2008/02/25/Amazon/

16) Brazil’s government plans to set up a donation-based fund to help finance conservation of the Amazon after illegal logging increased last year. The government is seeking to raise $200 million from Norway and corporate sources in the first year, said Tasso Azevedo, director of the country’s forestry services. The fund, to be established in May, will seek to raise as much as $1 billion annually to help slow deforestation of the Amazon, he said. “Everybody says they want to help maintain the Amazon, but nobody has reached into their pockets until now,” Azevedo told reporters today in Brasilia. The fund creates an opportunity to help preserve an area that represents about half the world’s remaining rainforest. Deforestation in the Amazon accelerated in the last five months of 2007, after slowing for the past four years, the Environmental Ministry said in a release distributed Jan. 23 in Brasilia. Preliminary figures show destruction between August and December may have reached as many as 7,000 square kilometers, or the equivalent of 60 percent of the deforestation in the 12 months through July 2007. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva urged G-8 countries to contribute to the fund. Brazil needs about $2 billion annually to stop illegal logging in the Amazon, Azevedo said. Congress has allocated 500 million reais ($292 million) over four years from the budget to preserve the rainforest, he said. “The countries that pollute the most need to pay their counterparts so poor nations can do what they haven’t had the courage to do,” Lula said today in Brasilia. Donations for the fund won’t generate carbon credits for the investors, he said. About 20 percent of global carbon emissions come from deforestation and forest degradation, according to the World Bank. Brazil’s state-development bank will be responsible for raising money for the fund. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=a8mplk223ua4&refer=latin_america

India:

17) JAWALAMUKHI: People of the Kangra district, especially those living near forests are highly upset over the losses being caused to their successive crops by monkeys ever year. They say that the monkeys claim about 40 percent of their total crops and in case of natural calamities the loss is total. The people erect high “machans” to protect their crops. They also resort to use of crackers, firing shots in the air chase the wild animals and monkeys away. They say that since monkeys are worshipped by them, they can not kill them.They are, however, annoyed with the State Government for not helping them from the onslaught of the monkeys. The monkey menace issue figured at a meeting of the Chief Minister, Prem Kumar Dhumal, during his recent visit to this constituency where farmers demanded protection from the monkeys. The chief Minister assured them that the state Government would try its best to solve the problems. The State Chief Minister assured that Every monkey menace affected district would be equipped with sterilization hospital facilities to achieve the objective of checking growth in their population as also to honour the religious sanctity of the animal. He said that state Government was committed to save the valuable land of the farmers going waste due to the wild animals, especially monkeys. Chief Minister said that monkey menace had been causing immense loss to the crops of the farmers who were forced to stop cultivating resulting into less agricultural produce in the State. He said that the local youth would be involved in checking the monkey menace who would be trained by professionals to capture the animals and suitable remunerations would be paid to them for their such services. He said that the project would also emerge as a income generating activity for the unemployed rural youths. http://www.punjabnewsline.com/content/view/8828/93/

Pakistan:

18) LAHORE: The Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) officials have sold trees to the timber mafia after uprooting them from near the Gulzar Underpass, said sources in the Environment Department on Monday. They said there were 800 trees near the newly constructed Gulzar Underpass in Garden Town. They said uprooting of trees without getting a no objection certificate (NOC) was an offence under the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act 1997. They said it was mandatory for the PHA to get an NOC from the ED before uprooting the tress, but the PHA had not sought the ED’s permission. They said the PHA had only transplanted 50 to 60 trees in Johar Town, Garden Town and Green Town. The PHA official sources said there was no check on uprooting of such trees. ED Deputy Director Naseemur Rehman said, “The transplanting of trees was purely the job of the PHA. The PHA has sent us the photographs when the trees were being uprooted, but after that no photograph was sent to us that where those trees were transplanted. Illegal uprooting of trees is an offence and the violator can be fined up to Rs 1,000,000.” PHA Director General Raja Abbass said, “The trees have been transplanted at various places, but one should contact with the director concerned for more information.” PHA Director (Horticulture) Tahir Ijaz said the PHA had transplanted the tree at various places including the Canal, Johar Town, Bhekewal Mor, Iqbal Town, Township, Green Town, Garden Town, Model Town and Gadaffi Stadium. He said species like poplar and eucalyptus could not be transplanted. “If a tree has completed its life and is huge in size, cannot be transplanted, because it requires huge funds. The transplantation of a single tree costs around Rs 17,000 to Rs 17,500.” He said the department had auctioned the trees that could not be transplanted. He said a nine-member committee comprising horticulturalists and other experts had approved the auctioning of the trees. He said that the Authority had earned about Rs 1,000,000 from the auction. http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%5C02%5C26%5Cstory_26-2-2008_pg13_1

19) LAHORE: The natural greenness of the province at large is being destroyed with trees on trees being chopped of while the authorities concerned continue to turn a blind eye to the matter. Sources are claiming that the unchecked cutting of trees is allegedly in connivance with the officials of the Forest Department owing to which they consistently fail to act in the matter. In Sahiwal, some 10,000 trees have been hacked down in a single forest range. Local Zulqurnaian Mafti Monday blamed the District Forest Officer (DFO) Qazi Khalid Mehmood of being a part of this ‘conspiracy’ that is causing a Rs 200 million loss to the national fund. Delo Bangla Canal and Tehsil Arif wala remain the two most known places that now lie barren, as compared to their original greenery. After repeated attempts, Qazi Khalid and the Reginal Forest Officer remained unavailable for comments. When contacted, the Punjab Chief Conservator of Forests Muhammad Mahbubur Rehman however maintained that ‘no significant deforestation has been observed in Punjab when compared to other provinces.’ He said some three percent area of the province comes under the forest cover, including 171,000 acres coniferous forest, 635,497 scrub forests, 370,657 irrigated plantations and 144,343 riverain forests. He said a comprehensive strategy has been mapped out in this regard to help generate Rs 900 million. http://thepost.com.pk/CityNews.aspx?dtlid=146550&catid=3

Madagascar:

20) Every morning and evening the Andasibe forest echoes to the ululating cry of the indri, Madagascar’s largest lemur. For many people who hear it, the cry of the indri has a mournful quality. In truth there is good reason for these remarkable creatures, which are found only in Madagascar’s eastern rainforests, to lament. Their habitat has been steadily disappearing for generations and the indri themselves have been forced into ever smaller pockets of forest to survive. According to local people, only 62 families remain. Now, there’s hope not only for bringing the indri back, but improving farming techniques on the island and earning it lucrative carbon credits, combining conservation with development. The AndasibeMantadia Corridor Restoration and Conservation Project is a collaboration between the Malagasy government and other major partners, including Conservation International and the World Bank. Joana Coutinho, a consultant working on the project, said the goal is to link the patches that are what’s left of eastern Madagascar’s rainforest with new plantings until an unbroken stretch of green is restored. Reforestation began last year and over the next seven years the hope is that what remains of the forest can be protected and nearly 3,035 hectares of new forest planted. Conservation International says more than 405,000 hectares of forest will be preserved or restored. “In each hectare of forest we plan to plant 1,000 trees, so in total we will be planting 3,020,000 trees,” said Claude Rakotoarivelo, who is helping with the restoration. “We are hoping to restore the forest as it was before, with the same trees. In perhaps 18 years’ time we will be able to see proper young forest again.” Rakotoarivelo points to an area of cleared land on the forest edge. It is still possible to see the blackened stumps of the trees that once grew there. Now the land is being used for rice cultivation. Ramarolahy receives around $2 a day for his help in replanting the forest with trees grown in local nurseries. “Local people are starting to care about the forest and conserve it,” he said. The carbon credit element gives the project a potential importance far beyond the mist shrouded valleys of Andasibe. Ramarolahy also is enthusiastic, both because of the techniques he is learning that have increased yields, and because he wants to save the forest and wild inhabitants like the wailing indri lemur. “Before we used to see indri but now we don’t see any,” he said. “They are not comfortable here anymore. We didn’t realize we were having such a big impact on the forest.” http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5gerchBVPe4-OA7q06Fnb1zipYtyA

Bangladesh:

21) Speakers at a discussion meeting here yesterday urged the government to protect forests and the ecology to save the wildlife in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT). They called for creating awareness and strict enforcement of environment laws. The meeting, held at the Zilla Shilpakala Academy hall room in the hill town, was organised by scouts. Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Mohammad Khalilur Rahman was present as chief guest while Pankhaiya Para High School Headmaster and District Scouts Coordinator Omar Faruk presided over the function. They also urged local environmental activists and NGO officials to work united to save the environment and the ecology for the sake of humans. Once the ecology is destroyed, it creates a chain affect, which will bing disaster for all, the speakers said. Officials, teachers, journalists, NGO representatives and civil society members and enrironmentalists attended the meeting. After the meeting, a colorful rally, joined by hundreds of people, was brought out in the town to create awareness about the need for protecting the environment. http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=24963

Philippines:

22) The death toll from flashfloods and landslides in the central and southern Philippines, after a week of heavy rains, rose to 26 with nine more still missing, the civil defence office said Saturday. More than 294,000 people have been displaced and more than 900 million pesos (22.14 million dollars) caused in damage to infrastructure and agriculture, the office said in a statement. Most of the dead in the central islands of Samar and Leyte and in the Bicol peninsula were drowned by flashfloods while six others were killed by a landslide in the southern island of Mindanao. The Social Welfare office has attempted to send aircraft on missions to check the extent of damage but rains in the area are still too strong, government officials said. The navy had to use rubber boats to rescue people trapped by floodwaters in the Bicol peninsula, the civil defence office added. The entire province of Albay in the Bicol peninsula as well as the eastern half of Samar island and two towns in other areas have been placed under a state of emergency to help deal with the damage. The public works department has deployed heavy equipment to clear landslides and set up temporary bridges to make roads passable. http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Philippine_floods_and_landslides_toll_rises_to_26_officials_9
99.html

Cambodia:

23) Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has been in power since 1985, can count on the support of the majority of the broadcast media. Only one radio station is critical of him and the highly-politicised written press struggles to maintain its role of challenging authority. The publication, in May 2007, of a report on deforestation by the organisation Global Witness, provoked a raft of incidents in relation to the press, including the temporary closure of Cambodge Soir, harassment and death threats against three journalists who wrote about the issue. The report highlighted the responsibility of people close to the head of government in large-scale illegal logging. The press picked up the report, but on 8 June, the information minister, Khieu Kanharith, said that “the media had had a week to put out their reports” and that was “largely sufficient”. Newspapers could “make reference to it but not reproduce it”. Any infringement would result in “our taking necessary judicial steps” the minister specified. The brother of the head of government, Hun Neng, reportedly said that if anyone from Global Witness came to Cambodia, he would “hit him about the head until it broke”. Journalists on Radio Free Asia, one of the very few media to have seriously investigated deforestation, were threatened by an unknown interloper at their station’s studios in Phnom Penh. At the same time, French journalist Soren Seelow of the French-Khmer paper Cambodge Soir was sacked without notice, on 10 June, after reprinting part of the Global Witness report. One of the managers of the paper, also a French adviser to the Cambodian agriculture ministry, and its editor decided to close the paper. Staff went on strike to defend the paper’s editorial independence, which was threatened by intervention on the part of some shareholders. It has an outspoken stance and despite recurring financial problems, Cambodge Soir has made its mark on the Cambodian media landscape, digging up news for the Khmer-language press. After several weeks of conflict, some of the journalists re-launched the title in a new format. Thanks to mediation by its funder, the International Francophone Organisation, its editorial independence was at least partly protected but around a dozen staff ended up losing their jobs. http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=25631

Malawi:

24) Communities in Senior Chief Kabunduli in Nkhata Bay have said monkeys that destroy their crops were to blame for the wanton clearing of forests in the district. Sub T/A Chinyakula said the villagers clear the forests in a bid to drive out the monkeys that destroy their crops. He was speaking on Friday at Kawalazi in the district when Total Malawi presented a cheque worth K300,000 to Kawalazi Estate Company Limited to be used for reforestation. “There might be other reasons, but the most important one is that forests are cleared because they harbour monkeys which later destroy our crops,” Chinyakula said. “You know it is not allowed to use muzzleloaders to drive away these monkeys. Therefore, we have no any other means to chase the monkeys. The only solution is to clear the forests and protect our crops,” he added. Kawalazi Estate Company Limited general manager Farook Parvez said the estate saw the danger the community was posing to the estate’s operations and launched the tree participatory project to conserve trees. “That is the trouble we want to address,” he said pointing at a bare hill. The bare part of the hill is community land while the part of the hill that was thick with trees belongs to the company. In the over K1 million project, the estate, in conjunction with Total Malawi, has put aside 120,000 tree seedlings to be distributed amongst the villagers for free this year alone. “We found that the rate at which trees were being cleared was alarming thus in 2004 we came up with this project. It is an on going project because we want to cover all the places where trees have been brought down,” said the estate’s human resource officer Clement Chikopa. “Shifting cultivation is also another thing that makes trees to go at a faster rate. So we have involved extension workers in this project to work with the villagers on the effects of rudimentary farming techniques.” Chikopa said the estate would also help the communities to care for the plants until they grow to big trees. “All we need is to enjoy a good relationship with the communities. You know those people can easily start cutting our trees if theirs are exhausted.” Nkhata Bay district is home to many exotic and indigenous forests that offer shelter to monkeys and other wild animals. http://www.dailytimes.bppmw.com/article.asp?ArticleID=8412

Indonesia:

25) Indonesia’s 17,000 islands form an archipelago that spans two biogeographic realms—the Indomalayan and Australasian—and seven biogeographic regions, and support tremendous diversity and endemism of species. Of the country’s 3,305 known species of amphibians, birds, mammals, and reptiles, 31.1 percent are endemic and 9.9 percent are threatened. Indonesia is home to at least 29,375 species of vascular plants, of which 59.6 percent are endemic. Today just under half of Indonesia is forested, representing a significant decline in its original forest cover. Between 1990 and 2005 the country lost more than 28 million hectares of forest, including 21.7 hectares of virgin forest. Its loss of biologically rich primary forest was second only to Brazil during that period, and since the close of the 1990s, deforestation rates of primary forest cover have climbed 26 percent. Today Indonesia’s forests are some of the most threatened on the planet. http://indonesiaview.blogspot.com/2008/02/rain-forest.html

26) Lone Droscher-Nielsen, founder and manager of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation’s Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Rescue Project, has obtained an area of degraded land (which will form part of the orangutan nursery), close to the centre in which it is planned to plant a variety of 100 tropical fruit trees, including rambutan (which translates as “hairy fruit”), a favourite of the small orangutans! This land is presently quite degraded, mostly white sand with thorny brush and grasses, so it needs a lot of deep holes dug and filled in with nutrient rich soil. As BOS has already successfully reforested some 2000 hectares of similarly degraded land in our Samboja Lestari Reforestation Project, we know it will not be difficult to bring back some life to this small area. For every £10 donation towards the project, we will be able to not only plant a tree in the donor’s name, but also we can give a second tree to a member of the BOS Kids group. (e.g. £10 = 2 trees, £20 = 4 trees and so on). BOSKids, an outreach and educational programme for local children in Borneo will help to carry out the planting. Each BOSKid participant will also receive as a result of your donation their very own fruit tree to take home and nurture themselves. Your donation will help bring us ever closer to our ultimate goal: to protect the orangutans in our care long enough to see them returned to the wild where they belong. We will acknowledge your donation here on the website, whether it is on behalf of yourself, a family member, friend or loved one. Your donation can also be in memory of a loved one who has passed away, a tree planted in their name which, in the near future, baby orangutans (aged from only a few weeks to a year old) will be taking their first tentative steps towards their return to the wild, climbing these trees under the watchful eye of their babysitter and selecting their own fruit fresh off the tree. http://www.savetheorangutan.co.uk/?page_id=749&product_id=30

27) Environmental activists insisted Saturday on rejecting a regulation imposing a new scheme of forest exploitation fees on non-forestry firms, despite the government’s assurance it was meant to save forests. They demanded the revocation of the regulation, saying it would only encourage more companies to exploit forests, thus further destroying them. The activists accused the government of lying to the public when President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Forestry Minister Malam Sambat Kaban said Friday the regulation would apply only to the 13 mining companies already licensed to operate in protected forests. “It is not true. In fact the regulation also sets fees for companies involved in oil and gas exploration and radio, television and telecommunications networks in protected and production forests,” Mining Advocacy Network (Jatam) director Siti Maiminah said. For operating in protected forests, the regulation requires annual per-hectare payments of Rp 1.5 million, including for oil and gas exploration. In production forests the annual fee is Rp 1.2 million. According to a copy of the regulation made available to the press, for companies with open-pit mines in protected forest areas, a per-hectare fee of Rp 3 million applies. “The regulation is legally flawed and must be withdrawn,” Rino Subagyo, executive director of Indonesian Center for Environment Law (ICEL), told The Jakarta Post. “The regulation is an acknowledgement from the government that the 13 firms can operate open-pit mining in protected forests as long as they pay.” A key 1999 forestry law prohibits open-pit mining in protected forests because of the massive environmental destruction such mining can bring about. However, under a 2004 in-lieu-of-law regulation issued by the government, 13 companies received the go-ahead for open-pit operations in protected forests. When environmental activists challenged that regulation, the Constitutional Court ruled the 1999 forestry law remained applicable to mining firms that engage in feasibility studies and exploration. http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20080225.H01&irec=0

28) The Indonesian project covers a 770,000 hectare (1.9m acres) swathe of the Ulu Masen forest in Sumatra’s Aceh province, home to orang-utans, tigers and elephants. The provincial government claims the support of the local communities for a preservation operation run by Fauna & Flora International and Carbon Conservation that would generate carbon credits for the prevention of logging and clearing for palm oil plantations. It involves enlisting the help of locals as forest monitors to protect the tropical rainforest and see them earn $26 million over 30 years as their share of the credits generated for the avoided emissions of 100 million tons of the carbon dioxide that would otherwise eventuate in the clearing of the forest. This appears to be a small proportion of the total expected value of the credits, perhaps $300-500m, but the project has won the backing of the most credible carbon offset accreditation standard available in the voluntary offsets market for forestry carbon, that of the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance (CCBA). “The project shows how solid partnerships with local communities are likely to deliver real reductions of greenhouse gas emissions by conserving a globally-significant tract of rainforest,” said the director of the CCBA, Joanna Durbin. REDD is not yet part of the UN’s carbon trading mechanisms, so any projects starting now can only earn credits in the voluntary market. But there is some expectation among investors that projects begun now will eventually enjoy a value in official markets. http://www.carbonpositive.net/viewarticle.aspx?articleID=1004

Australia:

29) Tasmanian Premier Paul Lennon has flagged potential reform of the forestry industry in response to climate change, vowing not to squib on recommendations of the Garnaut review. Mr Lennon, a long-time champion of Tasmania’s controversial timber industry, said yesterday the Garnaut climate change review held challenges for forestry. He insisted he would act on the economist’s recommendations, even if they were tough on forestry. The Premier discussed the issue with Ross Garnaut after he handed down his interim report to state and territory leaders on Thursday.Mr Lennon said Professor Garnaut would visit Tasmania as part of his deliberations. “The people of Australia and the people of Tasmania want governments to act on the report – full stop,” Mr Lennon said. The Premier said the Gunns pulp mill proposed for northern Tasmania, which initially will be heavily reliant on native forests and is yet to secure a final wood supply agreement, was not immune from the Garnaut process. Conservationists claim logging of native forests, even when they are replaced with regrowth forests, is a major source of greenhouse gases. The Wilderness Society points to global research showing a permanent loss of 40 per cent to 60 per cent of carbon stored in old forests when they are logged, burned and regrown. The industry claims forestry reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Timber Communities Australia claims Tasmania’s production forests save 4.7 million tonnes of emissions each year, the equivalent of emissions from two million cars. Mr Lennon said he hoped the final Garnaut report would cut through such “claim and counter-claim”. “Some people will say that the forest industry will provide a great bank of carbon sequestration; others will say that it’s responsible for emissions,” Mr Lennon told ABC Radio. “Well, let’s get the facts on the table from an independent person – without fear or favour.” The Premier said he made a specific request to Professor Garnaut on Thursday to assess forestry’s climate change impact as part of his “leadership” on the issue. Forestry was already part of Professor Garnaut’s brief. It was covered in his “issues paper one”, which has already elicited a number of submissions, including from the Lennon Government. http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23260372-421,00.html

30) The Tasmanian Greens today are aghast that Forestry Tasmania has signed a 20 year Wood Supply Agreement with Gunns mere days after the Premier professed concern to get it right on forests and carbon emissions and claimed to have commissioned Ross Garnaut to investigate this vital area so that Tasmania could get it’s emissions policy into nation-leading shape. Greens Shadow Native Forestry spokesperson Tim Morris MP, who has doggedly pursued public release of the Gunns Wood Supply Agreement over the last year, said that the likely price per tonne of carbon sequestered is predicted to be between $20-30 per tonne, surpassing returns to the public purse from the pulpwood deal. Mr Morris also raised concerns that Tasmanian taxpayers may have to bear the brunt of any penalties applied for the enormous release of carbon over the coming 20 years as a result of the deal, unless a clause has been inserted to ensure that Gunns pays their way on carbon emissions. “There is no doubt that the latest developments on Climate Change, particularly the Premier’s claim to have Professor Garnaut investigating the carbon emissions impact of forestry, mean that no deal locking in 20 years of logging native forests should be signed until this vital scientific and economic analysis is in,” Mr Morris said. “This pre-emptive strike could see taxpayers footing the bill for increased carbon emissions when we could have profited by keeping forests growing as the best carbon banks around.” “So much for Paul Lennon’s leadership on Climate Change, it has fallen at the first hurdle, the requirement to say ‘hold on’ to his corporate mates.” http://tas.greens.org.au/News/view_MR.php?ActionID=2829

31) Restoring the ability of soil to store carbon by promoting native grasses and vegetation can help reverse global warming, desertification and biodiversity loss, says an Australian researcher. Land use change — including deforestation, bush fires, and soil degradation — accounts for roughly 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, but land management practices can be used to reduce emissions. While reforestation and avoided deforestation have garnered a lot of attention of late, restoration of other forms of vegetation can dramatically increase the capacity of degraded landscapes to store carbon. Tony Lovell of Soil Carbon P/L in Australia estimates that by actively supporting regrowth of vegetation in damaged ecosystems, billions of tons of carbon dioxide can be sequestered from the atmosphere. In February 2008, Lovell discussed the potential of soil carbon restoration. http://desertification.wordpress.com/2008/02/22/soil-carbon-global-warming-desertification-and-b
iodiversity-google-mongabay/

World-wide:

32) Suppliers of illegally logged timber could be prosecuted in the countries where it is sold, under new proposals. The move is being tabled at a gathering in Brazil of legislators from the Group of Eight (G8) richest economies and five key developing countries. It calls for countries to pass domestic legislation making it a criminal offence to handle such timber. The risk of prosecution would make wholesalers pay attention to the origin of wood they supply, advocates argue. One of the authors of the proposal is the British Labour MP Barry Gardiner, who is Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s Special Envoy on Forests. He told BBC News that the consumer countries of tropical timber had a responsibility to reinforce the laws passed in producer countries, which are estimated to lose £8bn ($15bn) a year in revenues due to illegal logging, according to World Bank figures. “If a tree was felled illegally, let’s say in Ghana, and the wood from that tree ends up coming into the UK, then anybody who tries to sell that wood, who imports it or trades it in the UK, would be subject to a criminal prosecution,” he said. “It would ensure that some of the poorest people in the world recapture the full value of the product that is being stolen from them at the moment. Illegal timber means stolen wood, and that’s what we are trying to combat.” A step in this direction has already been taken in the United States, where an amendment to the so-called Lacey Act has been passed in the Senate, which would extend penalties currently applied to traders in illegally obtained wildlife to trees and plants harvested abroad. Similar measures are under consideration by the European Commission, and Mr Gardiner himself said he planned to propose legislation in the British House of Commons. The executive director of Greenpeace UK, John Sauven, said the EU must act to crack down on the trade in illegal timber. “Greenpeace has repeatedly exposed how illegal timber continues to freely enter the UK and it is vital that European legislation is introduced to ensure that all timber products come from environmentally and socially responsible sources,” said Mr Sauven. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7257008.stm

33) José Antonio Prado Donoso, FAO, reported on the status of forest biodiversity, explaining that 1.6 billion people depend on forests, deforestation accounts for 17% of global carbon emissions and only 9% of global forests are currently protected. He described joint efforts to improve data on deforestation rates and the development of guidelines for sustainable forest management. Delegates then turned to the in-depth review of the work programme on forest biodiversity (UNEP/CBD/SBSTTA/13/3), including a draft recommendation. Cautioning against duplication of work, many delegates called for close collaboration and joint initiatives with FAO, the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF), the Ramsar Convention and UNFCCC, particularly under the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation Mechanism. BRAZIL noted that the UN Forum on Forests (UNFF) remains the sole international forum for forest policy. AUSTRIA proposed a CBD-UNFF joint plan of action. Many countries drew attention to potential negative impacts of biofuel production on forest ecosystems, with some delegates suggesting that COP 9 develop guidelines or standards for impact assessment. BRAZIL and ARGENTINA rejected references to impact assessment and, opposed by BANGLADESH, to integrating climate change response activities into national strategies and action plans. COLOMBIA called for a focus on adaptation strategies. The EC supported monitoring and assessing climate change impacts through existing mechanisms, while UGANDA called for national and international monitoring networks. GREENPEACE called for a moratorium on deforestation for production of agrofuels, and the GLOBAL FOREST COALITION urged the removal of perverse incentives. Citing potential risks of genetically modified trees, many countries and NGO participants called for further research and supported the precautionary approach. http://www.iisd.ca/vol09/enb09424e.html

34) A leading international forest scientist has warned the wholesale relocation of the world’s temperate forest tree species may take place under climate change. However, today’s trees may have to migrate a lot faster that the 100 metres a year which forests achieved naturally as the earth’s climate warmed towards the end of the last Ice Age – if they are to keep up with currently changing conditions, says Professor Sally Aitken of the University of British Columbia’s Centre for Forest Conservation Genetics. As a result, Prof. Aitken told the Old Forests, New Management conference in Hobart, some forests may need “facilitated migration” in the form of human assistance to relocate them to suitable environments more rapidly than they can do so unassisted, while others may prove resilient enough to remain where they are. “Tree populations of widespread species with high levels of genetic variation and no particularly severe insect or disease problems should be able to adapt over a few generations through the process of natural selection,” she says. “However, they will likely go through a period of worsening health and lower fitness as climatic conditions become less suited to the particular trees in a given location, and may become more vulnerable to injury or mortality from extreme climatic events, introduced pests, or competition from invasive plants. But all species will be suffering such ‘adaptational lag’ – so competition among tree species will likely decrease.” Forests should be closely monitored for changes in mortality and seedling establishment rates, Prof. Aitken says. In that way we can learn when these ecosystems start to change, and be able to do something before those changes reach critical levels. “I think actively moving species will become necessary in some situations, particularly for infrequent species with low reproductive rates and short seed dispersal capabilities.” http://www.sciencealert.com.au/news/20082202-16939-2.html

35) Due to habitat destruction and human-wildlife conflict, the tropics will likely be the next hotspot for emerging infectious diseases, report researchers who have developed the first map of new pathogens. The results — based on correlation of 335 emerging diseases from 1940 to 2004 to maps showing human population density, population changes, latitude, rainfall and wildlife biodiversity — are published in the journal Nature. The authors showed that disease outbreaks have roughly quadrupled over the past 50 years, with 60 percent of “disease emergencies” originating in animals and traveling to humans. Most of these “zoonotic” diseases came from wild animals, suggesting that increased fragmentation and destruction will bring humans in contact will more pathogens, especially in biodiverse regions like the tropics. “We are crowding wildlife into ever-smaller areas, and human population is increasing,” said coauthor Marc Levy of the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), an affiliate of Columbia University’s Earth Institute. “The meeting of these two things is a recipe for something crossing over.” “Emerging disease hotspots are more common in areas rich in wildlife, so protecting these regions from development may have added value in preventing future disease emergence,” said coauthor Kate Jones, Senior Research Fellow of the Institute of Zoology. “It turns out that conservation may be an important means of preventing new diseases.” Emerging diseases — including HIV-AIDS, SARS, and new strains of influenza — have caused hundreds of billions in damages worldwide. Now with multidrug-resistant strains of previously known pathogens like tuberculosis, Staphylococcus, and E. coli multiplying due to misuse of antibiotics in richer countries, the risk to human health from infectious disease is growing: drug-resistant strains accounted for 20 percent of disease emergencies from 1940-2004. http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0222-disease.html

36) Cutting global deforestation rates 10 percent could generate up to $13.5 billion in carbon credits under a reducing emissions from deforestation (“REDD”) initiative approved at the U.N. climate talks in Bali this past December, estimate researchers writing in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. But the researchers caution there are still substantial obstacles to overcome before carbon-credits-for-rainforest-conservation becomes a reality. bReviewing the potential for REDD, Johannes Ebeling and Mai Yasué warn that the climate change mitigation strategy will face numerous challenges, including overcoming difficulties with implementation and poor governance in tropical countries; ensuring permanence of emission reductions; addressing international “leakage”, whereby forest conservation in one country drives deforestation in another; establishing baselines for determining past rates of forest loss; and providing sufficient incentives to end deforestation. Ebeling and Yasué note that carbon markets alone will not save forests — the underlying drivers of deforestation and forest degradation must be addressed. Still the authors are hopeful that REDD “could help achieve substantial co-benefits for biodiversity conservation and human development.” http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0225-ebeling_redd_amazon.html