Iceland:

28) The Nordic ministers of forestry held a meeting in Iceland last week to discuss climate change and concluded that increased forestation in the Arctic regions could prove an important tool in the fight against global warming. “I believe forestry in the northern hemisphere is definitely a powerful weapon in the fight against the warming of the earth,” Brynhildur Bjarnadóttir, an expert at the state-run Iceland Forest Service, told Morgunbladid. “The government is aiming at reducing the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere,” Bjarnadóttir said. “Research by the Iceland Forest Service in Iceland shows without a doubt that binding of carbon dioxide increases in a country where forests are growing.” Other experts have pointed out that it would be more sensible to concentrate on the preservation of rain forests because they grow faster than forests in the northern hemisphere and thus bind carbon dioxide more efficiently. Bjarnadóttir said that preserving rain forests and growing new forests in the Arctic regions is equally important and that both strategies should be implemented in the fight against global warming. An average vehicle which drives 30,000 kilometers per year emits about 4.6 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) in that time. To offset that carbon dioxide, one hectare of forest, around 2,500 trees, has to be planted. The average binding for carbon dioxide in Icelandic forests is estimated at 4.4 tons per hectare per year over the forest’s 90-year growth period. http://www.icelandreview.com/icelandreview/daily_news/?cat_id=16539&ew_0_a_id=311474
Poland:

29) Ecologists painted a huge mural over 60 metres in height in Warsaw last weekend. This original work of art aims at encouraging people to cut down Beskid spruce forests. Such drastic measures are needed as forests in the Beskids are facing an environmental catastrophy. At present forest rangers and ecologists continue felling trees in state forests while tourists look on in shock and confusion. “People do not understand the reasons behind our actions. This is a rescue mission to avert a real calamity,” says Wojciech Owczarz from the Ecological Foundation Arka. The Beskid spruces are infected and need to be cut down. The major obstacle is the fact that one third of the Beskid forests belongs to private owners who in many cases ignore the danger. Others are not aware or do not even remember that they have a patch of forest. Meanwhile, the disease is incessantly spreading and infecting more and more trees. The mural is a means of reaching people with the message: “cut down your trees before it is too late.” “We are also trying to persuade forest owners to plant new trees and recreate the original Beskid forests that had a wide variety of trees. In the 19th century, the coal industry was in need of lumber and as a result beech, sycamore and fir forests were cut down and replaced with fast-growing spruce. This led to the creation of a monocultural forest susceptible to diseases and pests such as bark beetles. Today, rangers and ecologists are doing their best to halt the infestation and plant other species of trees to prevent similar problems in the future. In addition, a more varied forest will have a positive effect on the prevention of erosion. Additionally, trees store large amounts of rainwater lessening the threat of floods. The Beskid forests are also a natural habitat for many rare animals like the wood grouse, lynx, wolf, bear and dormouse. http://newzar.wordpress.com/2008/09/08/not-seeing-the-forest-for-the-trees/

Spain:

30) TOLEDO — A frayed copy of “Don Quixote” was tucked under the front seat of Roberto Oliveros’ battered white truck as he sallied forth through the fast-changing plains of central Spain.Where the addled Cervantes hero tilted at windmills, Oliveros and his environmentalist friends see another towering enemy dotting this La Mancha landscape: construction cranes. An unbridled building boom, which first turned much of Spain’s once captivating coastline into a mile-wide belt of shopping malls, vacation homes and sunburned foreigners, has more recently spread deep into the country’s heartland, endangered some of the most precious and diverse flora and fauna in Europe and sucked an already arid region dry of water. Nearly 30% of Spain is in the process of becoming desert, according to a report by Adena, Spain’s branch of the World Wildlife Fund. “We have tried to raise the alarm, before everything goes to hell,” said Oliveros, from the Toledo office of Ecologists in Action, Spain’s largest consortium of environmentalist groups. Fueled by corruption, speculation and a hot market that only recently cooled, vast patches of regions such as Castilla-La Mancha are being swallowed up by enormous housing developments, often on land designated as national parks or as protected zones because of delicate ecosystems and near-extinct wildlife. Once a quiet countryside of gentle hills, olive groves, medieval castles and cattle ranches, the land is now pocked with patches of cookie-cutter condos, golf courses and prefab swimming pools. And billboards: “Get your chalets now!” “Easy credit, no money down!” “A new way to live!” And the most bitter twist for environmentalists is that an abrupt downturn in the Spanish economy, not unlike the current U.S. financial crisis, means that most of the tens of thousands of new houses will go unsold. Spain caught a roaring case of property fever a few years ago; owning a home became part of achieving the European dream in a nation catching up with the rest of the West. Compounded by an influx of British and other foreign second-home buyers, demand soared, prices soared even higher, and greed infected the boom. Backroom rezoning has stolen property from under the feet of small landowners and farmers. Building permits have been granted where there is no possibility of water or sewerage infrastructure. http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-fg-boom8-2008sep08,0,2269801.story

Niger:

31) The study area covered 500 km2 in south-west Niger and was chosen because its rural environment was representative of a rain-fed mode of agriculture practised by farming communities throughout the Sahel. Four time series of photographs taken in 1950, 1960, 1975 and 1992, gave the opportunity to trace highly accurately changes in such factors as deforestation, soil erosion or pond water level. A fifth time series for the study area, obtained this time by the SPOT satellite, was added to complete the date set. Additionally, field surveys conducted in which farmers were asked to recollect their experience of the changes in the Sahel landscape yielded information for comparison and integration with aerial observation data. The photographs’ good resolution, down to a few metres, made possible quite clear identification of borders of cultivated plots or of the gullies that cut into the landscape. Image analysis revealed that between 1950 and 1992, 80% of the study area was cleared for expansion of millet cultivation and, to a lesser extent, to provide firewood for local communities Advantage was also taken of these shots to measure the intensity of the deforestation according to the type of terrain. Thus, hillslopes showed as the most strongly affected by clearance (87%), followed by the plateaux (59%) and then the valley bottoms (42%) which remained the best conserved environments. Removal of the vegetation led to loss of soil rainfall infiltration capacity. This indirect consequence of forest cover could be visualized on aerial photographs which, as the time series progressed, depicted an increasingly extended gully network. The process ended with a landscape resembling an oilcloth. Here, strong runoff means that rainwater rushes down to the valley floors where it accumulates to form ponds which act as temporary retention ponds. They eventually empty thereby charging the groundwater. The aerial photographs gave the possibility to track the progress of this phenomenon. Between 1950 and 1992, the research team thus recorded a 2.5-fold multiplication of the drainage capacities of the regions observed. http://www.innovationsreport.de/html/berichte/geowissenschaften/aerial_photographs_sahel_land_change_observation_117454.html

Kenya:

32) After a decade of rampant destruction of the Mau forest water catchment in western Kenya, the country’s coalition government seems firmly united in trying to save the complex before more serious damage is inflicted on the economy. U.N. officials say this is no longer simply an environmental issue but something that has huge importance for the whole country. Already two of the top three foreign exchange earners — tourism and tea — are feeling the impact of falling water levels which have also forced the postponement of a major hydro-electric project. Prime Minister Raila Odinga describes the forest’s destruction as a national emergency. Both foreign and local officials say there is no gap between Odinga and President Mwai Kibaki on the issue. Saving the forest will involve huge costs to resettle and compensate some of the thousands of people living illegally there and restore tree cover which produces vital supplies of water. Officials say they expect international donors to provide major financial help. Until a few months ago, the destruction of the forest was a familiar story of land grabbing, illegal logging and the allocation of government land to try to win votes. It began in 1997 when the government of Daniel arap Moi gave large plots away in exchange for electoral support. Then, this year, the United Nations flew Odinga and other officials over the forest to show them the extent of the destruction, shocking them into urgent action. The government is pushing ahead despite the fact that many of the area’s MPs and voters belong to Odinga’s ODM party. Unlike the past, political considerations are being pushed to one side in the national interest. U.N. officials call this process unique for a country long blighted by the depradations of powerful and greedy politicians. http://blogs.reuters.com/africa/2008/09/03/saving-kenyan-forest-is-it-a-turning-point/