–Today for you 31 news articles about earth’s trees! (442nd edition) http://forestpolicyresearch.com

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Index:

–EU: 1) The plan to halve tropical deforestation

–UK: 2) Roads threatens forest, 3) Only one Fluffly female Black Poplar remains, 4) Wanna buy some GE Sitka seedlings? 5) Backyard wildlife havens reach 25,000, 6) Destroying bat habitat is good for bat habitat? 7) Bio-Char will save us?

–Scotland: 8) Citizen’s get organized to oppose give away to foreign forest thieves,

–Sweden: 9) Melting ice reveals clues about pre-ice forests

–Poland: 10) Save the wolves’ forests! 11) UN Summit in Poland, 12) hopes for forest protection fade, 13) Agenda of the IETA, 14) Protest obstructers of climate conference,

–Portugal: 15) More support for cork oak habitat protection

–Africa: 16) Governments of the Mano River Union urged to conserve, 17) Wikiforests for Africa if you speak French, 18) Mangroves need to return to the east coast!

–Uganda: 19) Researchers on climate change and forests show lack of implementation of strategies, 20) Bee Keepers help protect Gorrilla habitat,

–Congo: 21) Fox news on the Charcoal trade, 22) 30 Tribe and civil society members gather to talk about REDD

–Kenya: 23) Mau East destruction must end or lake Nakuru will go extinct, 24) Movement permits in Rift Valley districts, 25) Logging school becomes a ghost town. 26) University of Illinois destroying forests & calling it research,

–Tanzania: 27) Corruption means government is losing billions of shillings, 28) Forests of Kilimanjaro,

–Zimbabwe: 29) Logging for years and year without a contract

–Cameroon: 30) New National Park to help protect Gorillas

–Pakistan: 31) Influentials occupy 206 acres of forest through “illegal allotments,”

Articles:

EU:

1) The EU outlined its plans for carbon markets in relation to forests at a press conference today (5 December 2008) in Poznan. The EU aims “to halve the total forested area loss in the tropics by 2020, and to halt the global forest cover loss completely by 2030 at the latest” and estimates that this will cost somewhere between €15 and €25 billion a year. A “global forest carbon mechanism” is to be established to fund this, followed by “a pilot scheme to test the inclusion of forest credits in carbon markets, which could be used by governments to achieve their compliance.” One potential source of cash for the global forest carbon mechanism is from auctioning of emissions allowances, noted Jurgen Lefevre from the European Commission. He estimated that the aviation sector could generate from €0.5 billion to €1 billion. But as the questions came, the cash from aviation emissions seemed mysteriously to disappear. The problems that the European Commission noted in its Communication in October also seem to have disappeared, at least according to Lefevre. The EC Communication described several dangers associated with including carbon from forests in carbon markets, including “market flooding” with carbon credits from forests, “unresolved monitoring, reporting, verification and liability questions”. http://www.redd-monitor.org/2008/12/05/ec-on-forests-and-carbon-markets/

UK:

2) WESTERHAM: More than 100 hectares of ancient woodland could be lost if a planned motorway widening goes ahead, it has been revealed. The trees are along the edge of the section of the M25 which runs from near Sundridge along through Westerham to Oxted. The area is made up of nine different woods, which have been there since at least 1600. The Woodland Trust is encouraging the public to get involved in fighting to save the ancient woodland. http://www.thisiskent.co.uk/sevenoaks/Undefined-Headline/article-502738-detail/article.html

3) Environment Agency officers have found 17 endangered native black poplar trees at Saddlebow, near King’s Lynn. In the past, female trees were removed across the country because of the fluffy seeds they produced and there is thought to be only one left in Norfolk. The county council is now propagating some female trees in the hope at least one can be planted with the males. Because black poplars have separate male and female trees, both sexes need to grow close to each other for an exchange of pollen. The Norfolk Species Action Plan for black poplars states there are only 70 mature trees now left in Norfolk and only one of these is female, but it is too far from the Environment Agency’s group to help. Black poplars, which featured in John Constable’s 1821 work The Hay Wain, have become one of Britain’s rarest native trees despite once being common in the East. Julia Massey, from the Environment Agency, said: “We are excited to have identified the black poplars as they are one of the most endangered native trees in Britain, with a third of the trees recorded in Norfolk now gone. “These 17 trees are so important to the county and we intend to do all we can to ensure their survival by finding them the fluffy females they need.”  Black poplars thrive in wet woodlands, near streams or in natural flood plains. Their numbers have been decreasing due to human intervention draining land and clearing woodland, and also because of the reduction in numbers of females whose fluffy seed was seen as a nuisance. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/norfolk/7752228.stm

4) Genetically improved Sitka spruce can produce significantly greater yields of quality timber per hectare, new research from the Forestry Commission has found. Results from the study show an improvement of up to 130% in volumes of high quality green logs and sawn timber, due to more trees surviving to maturity and more logs available from each tree. Genetically improved Sitka spruce trees are grown from seeds that have been selected because of the desirable characteristics of their lineage, such as fast growth rates, timber density, straightness, stiffness and low incidence of knots. It was also discovered that despite faster growth rates, meaning less density in the wood, there was “no significant difference in strength grading pass rates a the sawmill” compared with unimproved stock, making the material available for construction use as C16 and C24 strength-graded structural timber. However, the Forestry Commission added the study was based on a single site and “caution is required before extrapolating the results to the whole of Britain”. Earlier research had already found improved Sitka spruce stocks should achieve a 29% increase in quantity compared with unimproved Sitka spruce. http://www.ttjonline.com/story.asp?sectioncode=14&storycode=57800&c=3

5) More than 25,000 people have worked to transform their gardens into wildlife reserves, according to the RSPB. The gardeners took part in the charity’s Homes for Wildlife project which offers tailored advice on how to turn gardens into nature havens. People made on average 12 changes, including offering seed mixes, growing nectar-rich plants and planting dense bushes, the RSPB said. They said wildlife is increasingly dependent on our gardens for food. ‘Red-listed.’ Over last 30 years house sparrow numbers have declined by 65%, starlings by 73% and song thrushes by 50%, the RSPB reported. The charity said this decline meant these birds are now all “red-listed species of conservation concern”. Richard Bashford of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) said: “It’s fantastic that people are so committed to making their homes and gardens wildlife friendly. “Through Homes for Wildlife, we’re trying to reverse the alarming declines of familiar birds such as house sparrows, starlings and song thrushes – large numbers of these birds make their homes in our gardens.”  He said the efforts of gardeners in the scheme would help secure their future. The charity said more than 50,000 people have taken part in Homes for Wildlife scheme, and more than 25,000 told them about their gardens. Of these more than 90% said attracting birds and insects to their gardens is important to them. A spokesman added: “The fifth most popular activity – growing plants in tubs to attract insects – shows that regardless of size or shape of garden everyone can take part. “More than 4,000 people took action on balconies or in gardens smaller than squash courts. In even a tiny space, you can make a real difference for wildlife.”  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7753747.stm

6) The Forestry Commission had to fell eight rotting, mature beech and sycamore trees in Back Standing, Dunsop Bridge. By cutting the trees down to a safe height and ensuring any cavities were retained, the commission said it had provided a potential new habitat for bats which roost in large tree cavities during the summer months. Andrew Banks, the Forestry Commission’s works supervisor in the Forest of Bowland and Dalton, said: “We always try to turn a negative into a positive. “In this case dismantling these large hazardous trees has enabled us to retain some useful potential roosting habitat for bats, as well as cavities for other wildlife such as woodpeckers. “Wildlife diversity is a direct result of good woodland management as it provides a mosaic of different environmental niches by opening up areas and on the other extreme retaining older veteran trees to provide standing deadwood. “We also plan to plant another two trees for every one cut down to replace those we had to remove due to health and safety concerns.” The trees were felled in September after local Forestry Commission staff found they contained significant rot, putting them in danger of falling into the road which runs adjacent. Britain’s bat species have been in decline over the last century due to loss of habitat and food supplies. Trees are very important to bats as they offer them somewhere to roost and breed as well as providing insects for them to eat, the commission said. All of Britain’s 17 species of bat are found in and around woodlands. Those spotted in the Forest of Bowland include Daubentons, Pipi-strelle and Whiskered bats. The Forestry Commission had to fell eight rotting, mature beech and sycamore trees in Back Standing, Dunsop Bridge. By cutting the trees down to a safe height and ensuring any cavities were retained, the commission said it had provided a potential new habitat for bats which roost in large tree cavities during the summer months. Andrew Banks, the Forestry Commission’s works supervisor in the Forest of Bowland and Dalton, said: “We always try to turn a negative into a positive. http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/3943207.Ribble_Valley_village___s_new_home_for_bats/

7) Mr Sams calculates that if just two and a half per cent of the world’s productive land were used to produce biochar, carbon dioxide could be returned to pre-Industrial Revolution levels by 2050… They aim to grow trees and plants to absorb CO2 and then trap the carbon by turning the resulting biomass into “biochar”, a fine-grained form of charcoal that can be buried in the soil, keeping it safely locked up for thousands of years. The pre-Columbian Indians used biochar to make the poor soils of the rainforest – which otherwise quickly become exhausted – productive for harvest after harvest. It is still there today, many hundreds of years later, forming islands of black fertile earth in the otherwise unpromising ground.But it is now being widely cited as a possible solution to global warming by scientists shocked at how climate change is taking place much faster than predicted and convinced that the world must now start not just rapidly to reduce CO2 emissions, but to get the greenhouse gas out of the air.Among them is Professor James Hansen, director of Nasa’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies and probably the world’s most respected climate scientist, who believes CO2 concentrations must urgently be reduced from its present 385 parts per million to 350 if global warming is not to run out of control. International negotiations – continuing this weekend in Poznan, Poland – are aimed at stabilising them at the higher level of 450ppm.Trees and plants soak up carbon dioxide as they grow, but release it again as they are burned or left to rot. But burning them largely in the absence of oxygen, through pyrolysis, reduces the amount of the gas emitted by 90 per cent, and stores the carbon in the charcoal instead. It also gives off energy that can be used as an efficient biofuel.If the resulting biochar is then buried in the ground it will stay there for some 5,000 years, keeping the carbon out of the atmosphere, and nourishing the soil while it is there. It also cuts down on the use of fertilisers; reduces the emission of methane and nitrous oxides, which are also greenhouse gases, from the ground; filters out pollutants; and retains water, thus combating flooding. The new enterprise will start with wood grown in Suffolk and with prunings from the Belize cacao trees that supply Green & Black’s chocolate. But its founders hope that it will rapidly become a worldwide industry. http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/ancient-skills-could-reverse-global-warming-1055700.html

Scotland:

8) A CAMPAIGN has been launched to halt plans that could see more than 100,000 hectares of Scottish Forest – an area the size of Fife – leased off to private companies. There are fears the SNP government’s proposals to lease 25 per cent of its forests for £200m would effectively privatise large swathes of Scotland’s woodland. However, the environment minister, Michael Russell, defended the initiative. http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/Fight-over-the-future-of.4759550.jp “Plans to sell the family silver by offering 75-year lease options on our forests jeopardise this. Many people’s livelihoods depend on the forest.” Labour’s environment spokeswoman, Elaine Murray, called on Mr Russell to think again about the proposals. Mr Russell said it was crucial to maximise the potential of forests in Scotland to help with climate change. He said targets of planting 10,000 hectares of new woodland each year were not being met. Last year, just 4,000 were planted. He added that woodlands leased to companies would not be those currently used by the public, but those areas already managed for commercial use. The consultation into the proposals closes on 27 January. How would the plans to lease out the forest work? Measures would be included in the Scottish Climate Change bill to give the Scottish Government powers to modify the functions of the Forestry Commission in Scotland. Who would own the leased forest? A not-for-profit trust that would use the funds to mitigate climate change. What would the money raised by the lease be spent on? Creation of 10,000 hectares of new native and commercial forest a year – which would help soak up carbon dioxide, and the development of renewable projects, such as wind farms, small scale hydro schemes and woodfuel projects. How much of the forest land owned by the commission could be leased out? http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/scotland/-Money-will-grow-on.4759587.jp

Sweden:

9) Uniquely old tree remains have recently been uncovered by the thawing of the rapidly shrinking Kårsa Glacier west of Abisko in Lapland, in northernmost Sweden. The finds show that in the last 7,000 years it has probably never been so warm as during the last century. “If the area hadn’t been covered by a glacier all these thousands of years, these tree remnants would never have made it. The finds yield information indicating that the 20th century was probably the warmest century in 7,000 years. The fact that the climate is so unique during the last century means that we must question whether this could be 100 percent the result of natural mechanisms,” says Leif Kullman, professor of physical geography, who is directing the project. Pines and birches grew on the site of the glacier during parts of or perhaps the entire period between 11,800 and 7,000 years ago. This is shown by carbon 14 dating of the remains of trees that have now been uncovered. During that period, the glacier did not continuously exist, and the climate was warmer than at any time afterward. All in all, there are four finds, parts of birch and pine trunks, that have been uncovered under the shrinking glacier in the Lapland mountains. In most cases they are well preserved, but they are degrading rapidly as they come in contact with air and water. As early as 2003, tree remnants of a similar age were found in Sylarna, in Jämtland province. They have completely crumbled into dust at this point. The warmer climate during the last century, which is the reason the tree remnants have now seen the light of day, may therefore be unique in the perspective of many millennia. The oldest tree, a pine, lived and died on the site of the Kårsa glacier around 12,000 years ago. The area is 400-450 meters above today’s timberline. This discovery places the thawing of ice at the end of the latest ice age in an entirely new perspective. “Previous research indicated that Lapland was covered with ice at this time. These finds show that the ice melted and life returned much earlier than we previously thought,” says Leif Kullman. The researchers are now continuing their examination of glaciers in northern Lapland and Västerbotten (West Bothnia). This ongoing research is part of a larger project that comprises glaciers throughout the entire range of mountains in Sweden. The project is funded by the Swedish Research Council and is directed by Professor Leif Kullman, Umeå University. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081204133853.htm

Poland:

10) “Warming of the fragments of the globe where wolves still survive will surely dramatically influence their life,” said Bereszynski. “Areas with coniferous trees will be replaced by deciduous forests. Their prey will change, first unnoticeably, later maybe more substantially. We comfort ourselves that the wolf is a very adaptive animal but with the huge anthropogenic pressure that we are registering it might reach its own limit. Talking about climate change we have to worry about all animals and also the wolf because it is a rare animal endangered in Poland and Europe.” The sanctuary is about 50 km from Poznan, where representatives of 187 countries are meeting to try and inject pace into the global response to climate change to try and agree a new climate treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol after 2012. Wolves have been a protected species in Poland since 1998. By hunting them and burning their forest habitats people have pushed wolves to the edge of extinction in Europe. They are afraid of people and avoid them whenever possible. “Humans have a giant influence on the habitat and migration of wolves. You can put it this way: wherever there are humans or a high population of humans, there are almost no wolves. The wolf can be found wherever there are people. As forest areas become more densely populated, tourist trade and deforestation, the wolf loses its habitat, being an animal extremely shy, timid, incredibly afraid of humans. Some say that the wolf needs a dense and remote forest.” The centre is in Poland’s largest forest, the Notecka forest, and is on a major wolf migration route. The centre has 12 wolves which come from various sources – some were born in other such facilities, sometimes cubs were handed over by hunters who discovered their mother was killed by poachers. The largest population of wolves is in Eastern and South – Eastern Poland (Carpathian Mountains). The main purpose of the sanctuary is research, but the wolves are tamed to interact with people. Additional income for the research centre comes from visitors. Normally nobody is allowed into the cages. Some 4500 people visited last year. http://blogs.reuters.com/environment/2008/12/06/climate-a-new-threat-for-polands-wolves-expert/

11) Representatives from more than 192 countries have gathered at a UN climate change conference in Poznan, Poland, to find a way to stop global warming. She pointed out that polluting gases are already killing 1,500 people in the UK every year and that is expected to increase to around 2,391 deaths a year by 2020. By the 2090s close to one-fifth of the world’s population will be exposed to pollution well above the World Health Organization recommended safe-health level. This is expected to cause deaths from respiratory problems on top of the destruction caused by climate change. Dr Pope will be lobbying the conference to try to reduce pollution as well as climate change at the conference. She said: “It is not just a question of climate change and rainfall change and the impact of that. A lot more people suffer from air quality problems than suffer from heat. It is an additional problem that people have not really taken into consideration that now needs to be looked at as part of climate change negotiations.” The UN conference is expected to draw up the format of a new Kyoto Protocol to be decided at Copenhagen next year. It will conclude at the end of next week. The most contentious issue is whether the US will sign up to tough targets on cutting greenhouse gas and whether developing countries like India and China will agree to slow carbon emissions. The conference is also expected to decide on how to pay poorer countries to halt deforestation and whether there should be an adaptation fund made available to developing countries suffering the worst effects of climate change. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/3568868/Pollution-could-kill-as-many-as-climate-change-warns-Met-Office.html

12) Hopes to reach agreement at a U.N. climate conference in Poland on protecting the world’s forests are fading, prompting environmentalists to appeal Saturday for an extra push for a deal this week. “We have had this conversation for three years. In that time 75 (million) to 90 million acres have been lost,” said John O. Niles, director of Tropical Forest Group, one of the signers of the statement. The conference of nearly 190 countries was working on a plan to compensate countries to stop logging and converting forests to farmland, actions that were clearing 32 million acres (13 million hectares) of forests a year up to 2005. Negotiators had hoped a deal on forests would be one of the few concrete achievements of the two-week conference, which is preparing a global warming treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol that expires in 2012. The new pact is due to be complete next December. But the environmentalists say the talks are deadlocked in a committee. Nine environmental groups submitted a statement to delegates urging them to wrap up the technical issues of an accord before the talks end next Friday, saying most of the hard work was done three months ago at the last negotiating session in Ghana. Scientists say deforestation accounts for about 20 percent of emissions of carbon dioxide causing global warming. Felling trees not only removes vegetation that absorbs carbon, but the burning of forests releases tons of carbon into the air. “We are taking a step back,” said Gustavo Silva-Chavez, a deforestation specialist for the Environmental Defense Fund. He said countries need to begin discussing political questions, like how to raise money for developing countries that protect their forests, “rather than engaging in another endless technical discussion.” Technical issues include how to measure the carbon saved when deforestation is slowed, and how to reward countries for controlling forest degradation, which is less than clear-cutting entire areas. Negotiators agreed in 2005 to include deforestation and degradation in the next global warming treaty. Until now, the fight to limit climate change has focused on slashing emissions in the West from heavy industry, power generation and vehicles. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jN__IGC8aThnWnOeqXV1beqkR-CwD94TCEH01

13) International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) was by far the biggest “NGO” at last year’s climate conference in Bali. In Poznan, IETA has hired a building inside the International Trade Fair where the climate conference is taking place. With sponsorship to be in Poznan from BP, Shell, Enel, AES, Chevron, TÜV SÜD, SGS and the Industrial Technology Research Institute, IETA is no ordinary NGO. It is, in its own words, dedicated to “the establishment of effective market-based trading systems for greenhouse gas emissions by businesses”. On day three in Poznan, REDD-Monitor visited IETA’s side event on “REDD in the voluntary markets: Lessons Learned”. Needless to say, IETA is in favour of trading carbon from forests Presentations came from Martin Schroeder of TÜV-SÜD, Johannes Ebeling of EcoSecurities, Ralph J Strebel of Carbon Conservation, Martin Berg of Merrill Lynch Commodities and Anna Lehmann of Sindicatum Carbon Capital. While there was much to disagree with in the presentations, in particular the blind faith in carbon trading, some interesting information came out of the side event. http://boilingspot.blogspot.com/2008/12/private-sector-and-redd-turning.html

14) Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk are actively seeking to weaken these modest and realistic medium-term goals, which can be built upon, on narrow economic self-interests. Italy has threatened to veto new European greenhouse gas limits, demanding the package not raise electricity prices by an expected 17%. Poland has threatened a veto unless changes are made to shield the coal-based Polish economy. Both want to continue giving industry free permits to emit carbon dioxide, which they can then trade, rather than having to auction them, as is foreseen under the EU proposal. And Europe’s renewable energy targets in general include agrofuel goals which threaten rainforests and food security. Polish and Italian playing of politics with the global climate comes despite indications — from the Arctic to Australia, and all points in between — that global climate change is already abrupt and deadly. Yet the extent of the damage to Earth’s biosphere and civilization, and whether they can ever recover, will be determined by what is done now. It is ironic Poland is hosting the current climate meetings, where their own environment minister told delegates that without concerted action to halt greenhouse gas emissions there would be “global threats of great intensity: increasing ocean levels, huge droughts and floods, cyclones with increasingly more destructive power, pandemics of tropical disease [and] a dramatic decline in biodiversity”.  Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is going to be costly, and require personal and societal sacrifice. Without a deal at the Brussels summit, the European Union is unlikely to reach consensus prior to the Copenhagen conference. Italy and Poland must be called upon to end their parochial climate change obstructionism — putting the interests of global citizenry and an operable biosphere, above continued cheap coal based electricity that is killing us all. NOTE: This is a protest, not a petition, sending emails to many real decision makers on matters vital to the Earth. http://www.climateark.org/shared/alerts/send.aspx?id=europe_climate_obstruction

Portugal:

15) The future of many cork oak forests, identified by WWF as an international conservation priority, has been freshened up by the launch of a new partnership in Portugal between WWF and one of the world’s leading health and beauty specialists. Harnn & Thann have produced a limited edition black rice soap which they will sell for five euros in their three Portuguese outlets, with all proceeds going to WWF’s work in conserving Portuguese forests and biodiversity and to the on-the-ground projects that WWF is running across Portugal. The image of the campaign, “Harnn & Thann for WWF”, is the Iberian lynx, an endangered species considered extinct in Portugal. There are plans to re-introduce it in Portugal and by actively working towards the conservation and sustainable management of cork forests there WWF is protecting the natural habitat of the Iberian lynx, as well as other endangered species such as the Iberian Imperial Eagle. Cork oak forests distinguish Portugal’s landscape from other countries – according to the 2008 edition of the WWF Living Planet Report 40 per cent of Portugal’s bio-capacity is in its forests – and this campaign is designed to draw attention to the need to protect and invest in them. Angela Morgado of WWF-Mediterranean’s Portugal office said: “This partnership allows WWF to continue its work in Portugal, particularly for the conservation of cork oak forests and thereby the habitat of endangered species. This campaign also showcases the Portuguese private sector as a partner in helping WWF to achieve its mission.” Harrn & Thann has 66 stores across the world. Their products only use natural ingredients and they do not test on animals. This campaign is valid only in Portugal and its initial phase will last for one year. Harnn & Thann in Thailand has committed to WWF’s Sustainable Palm Oil Roundtable in the context of this campaign. http://www.panda.org/news_facts/newsroom/news/index.cfm?uNewsID=151881

Africa:

16) Conservationists are urging the governments of the Mano River Union  (MRU) to resolve problems dividing the four-nation group. It takes its name  from a river which starts in Guinea and forms the boundary between Liberia and Sierra Leone. Founded in 1973 to encourage economic cooperation between Liberia and Sierra Leone, the Mano River Union was expanded seven years later with the addition of Guinea. It was abandoned due to the civil wars in Liberia, from 1989 to 2003, and Sierra Leone, which pitted the nations against one another. On April 1, 2008 Ivory Coast agreed to join the union during a state visit by Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. President Johnson-Sirleaf is currently the chair of the MRU. One of the divisive issues has been the disputed borders of the Dere-Tiapleu Forests between Guinea and Ivory Coast. The dispute has complicated efforts to conserve the uniquely-rich flora and fauna of the Mount Nimba Nature Reserve which lies across the borders of Guinea, Ivory Coast and Liberia.”Since this forest was been classified as endangered, it has come under a lot of pressure from the communities living near the river and from loggers who come from the Ivory Coast and Guinea. Since the 1990s, around 1995 to 1996, the forest has been invaded by a logging company called Valoris, that  made a pathway in the forest which has now made this forest very  fragile,” said Sire Mady Toure, the coordinator of the Mount Nimba  Diversity Programme. Also high on the list of problems facing the three nations is a territorial dispute between Guinea and Sierra Leone over a patch of land alongside the Makona River, occupied by Guinean troops during Sierra Leone’s  1991-2002 civil war and claimed by both countries. “Collaboration between neighbouring countries is not easy. There are other examples in West Africa, such as the Penjari. We’ve been trying to bring the countries and partners together for a decade now. There are always disagreements, disagreements over access to resources like we saw in the Dere forest. But it’s a very important step because it involves all the
countries,” said Fabiana Issler, an environmental expert. http://mpelembe.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2008/11/25/3994379.html

17) Just this week I came across a great example of using technology to harness and save local African knowledge and content. It’s called Wikiforêts, and it’s a living dictionary and encyclopedia, bringing together French speaking Africans who can share their knowledge of the indigenous forests in West and Central Africa. The homepage looks promising, especially after I run it through a translator, since I don’t speak French. It looks like there is information on everything from tree species, to pygmies to animals found in the Congo Basin. That could be a great wealth of knowledge, especially if it’s coming from the locals. However, I’ve found the site has a lot of dead links, with areas that need someone to fill in some (any) information. That’s too bad really, as this is a really good example of how we can use technology to keep some of Africa’s indigenous knowledge alive. What I’d love to see is sites like this getting even more traction and contributors. Another lesson… there is an invisible language curtain that splits Francophone, Anglophone and Arabic-speaking Africa. What other types of work are being duplicated, or where are they not being contributed to, because of this barrier? http://whiteafrican.com/2008/12/02/wikiforets-knowledge-base-for-african-forests/

18) Scientists now warn Western Indian Ocean countries of a catastrophic future unless immediate interventions are put in place to reclaim the badly depilated Mangrove Forests in the region. They attributed frequent impacts of sea surges, inundations and natural disasters recorded in the recent years in the coastal areas as strong evidence of increased vulnerability of the region to oceanological disasters. Researchers say mangroves which cover 37 percent of the WIO region and have significantly played economical and socio-cultural roles in the lives of coastal communities was badly being degraded. Mangroves were known to have environmental values as they protect the coastal strip from erosion. Mangroves forests also play vital roles biologically, with a high level of fauna biodiversity as over 80% of commercial fisheries and other aquatic species spent most or part of their life cycle in the mangroves. Ecologically, they play a crucial role in fertilisation, stabilisation, filtration, regulation of microclimate and acting as food chain support and as nurseries for many fish and invertebrate species. The group working under the umbrella of the Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association –WIOMSA however say the deadly Tsunami that occurred along the coast of Indonesia four years ago had its effects felt in East Africa as a result of the high waves that hit the coast. Accordingly the scientists say such high waves could have been averted if there were mangrove forests to reduce the intensity of the waves before they hit land. They now want the WIO countries; Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar, Seychelles, Mozambique and Somalia to embark on a programme to restore the mangrove forests following long years of destruction for economic reasons. http://kojanews.blogspot.com/2008/12/you-must-reclaim-mangrove-forests-or.html

Uganda:

19) Forest researchers at the National Forestry Resources Research Institute (Naforri) are worried that weather changes are affecting our forests and rivers in the country. According to the Principal Senior Research officer at Naforri, Dr Epila Otala, 20 per cent of the gasses that warm the environment are as a result of deforestation. Dr Otala says Naforri in Mukono District in collaboration with the National Agricultural Research Organisation (Naro) has been encouraging people to plant trees to replace those that are cut down but the public seem not to take this seriously because tree planting does not pay off immediately. Naffori undertakes forest research to enhance scientific innovations, skills, information and policy advice for increased productivity, conservation of all tree species and sustainable use of forest and tree resources. The Institute is currently focusing on farm forestry by developing technologies that integrate trees on farms to optimise crop yields, livestock production and conservation of natural resources. “Seasons have changed, long ago, there was no malaria in Budibungyo because of the cool weather that was not favourable to mosquitoes but today people in the area are prone to deaths due to malaria,” Dr Otala says. He adds that there is a lot of flooding these days and prolonged drought which usually affects those involved in farming and the end result is hunger and starvation. Dr Otala says some major water bodies including Lake Victoria, Albert, Kyoga and the River Nile are reducing from their original sizes due to global warming. According to Dr Otala, Uganda establishment the National Plan of Action (Napa) in 2003 to help solve the issue of climate change and other factors affecting the environment but nothing has been implemented so far. Other areas include natural forests and wood land ecosystems where seedlings of trees like mahogany, musizi, mivule and mutuba among others are used as the research tools.
He says the purpose of the research is for the communities to identify suitable species for plantation and how to manage them. http://www.monitor.co.ug/artman/publish/features/Fighting_climate_change_unsuccessfully_76093.shtml

20) In an effort to protect the mountain gorillas in Mgahinga and Bwindi national parks, a bee-keeping project has been initiated by the International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP). The major objective of coming up with a project of this nature, is to benefit all the communities in the vicinity of these two national parks in Uganda. This strategy aims at curbing down poaching. Mr. David Mwine, the IGCP regional enterprise Officer, explained, “Empowering such communities around the national parks by providing alternative source of income will keep the national parks of Bwindi and Mgahinga intact because there will be less pressure from the people around them”. He went on to say, “Supporting bee-keeping projects around these national parks is so significant because once we give an opportunity to such people to construct their bee-hives close to the parks, they always protect the forest in case of fire outbreak just because they have invested in there. The major threat to the mountain gorilla emanates from the intense desire for land and food for the growing human population around the gorilla habitat in area.” Thus all the partners in this arrangement aim at reducing specific threats to the mountain gorillas, for instance, deforestation, poaching and disease. The IGCP has come up with a strategy to involve the local community in developing their livelihood and supporting policy and conservation legislation. The IGCP has, so far, contributed in the construction of a community lodge at Nkuringo in Kisoro District. This is estimated to earn the local community $5000 rent per year. It has also donated honey processing equipment and a motorcycle to over 400 members of Bwindi Bee Keepers Association. Mr. Rutagarama Eugene, the Director of IGCP, argued that the mission of his organization, is to empower people in Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda to sustain a network of trans-boundary protected areas so as to significantly contribute to sustainable development and protection of the mountain gorillas in their natural habitats in Mgahinga and Bwindi in Uganda, Virunga in DRC and Volcano in Rwanda. http://www.safarisgorilla.com/safarinews/2008/12/04/mountain-gorillas-bees-project/

Congo:

21) The charcoal cutters of Virunga National Park know that their trade is illegal. Their fires, where they turn freshly cut olea trees into blackened cooking fuel, are built far from prying eyes in the war zone. The illegal trade in charcoal has cut a strip of savannah through the Democratic Republic of Congo’s tropical rainforest, threatening the survival of the park’s rare mountain gorillas. Now the industry, worth $35 million a year, is having an equally devastating effect on human populations as the battle for control of the region’s rich natural resources fans the flames of civil war. The forest close to Rubare is home to Rwandan Hutu militias, who fled their homeland after Tutsi rebels took power in 1994. Today they are known as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda. Back then they were the death squads of the Interahamwe — meaning “those who work together” — responsible for killing hundreds of thousands of Tutsis and moderate Hutus. One of the cutters, Mumbere Ambrose, used a machete to hack some branches into a convenient size for charcoal as a chainsaw buzzed close by. To get access to the best trees, Ambrose is forced to give money to the Hutu militias, who hold much of the southern reaches of Virunga, skimming cash from the charcoal producers to fund their war. Elsewhere, countless rebel factions are vying for control of other natural resources — among them gold. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,458064,00.html

22) From November 18-20, 2008, over 30 indigenous peoples and civil society representatives from throughout the Congo Basin gathered in Kinshasa to discuss forests, climate change, and proposed mechanisms for reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD). We report below on the outcomes. One of the principal objectives of the meeting was to reorient the forest-climate debate from its current focus on financing to those issues and actions that indigenous peoples in the Congo Basin believe are necessary to ensure effective protection of the forests and the communities that live in and depend on them.Participants issued a declaration at the conclusion of the workshop. Their principal demands included the following: 1) Indigenous peoples must participate fully in discussions regarding forest management, as well as in the implementation and benefits from REDD; 2) The recognition and protection of the rights of forest-dependent communities must be the cornerstone of any REDD mechanism; 3) REDD mechanisms must address the underlying causes of degradation and deforestation; and 4) REDD must not replace reductions in industrial emissions but be additional to them. — The participants also denounced the lack of transparency and inadequate participation of forest-dependent communities in the multiple new initiatives designed to support REDD in the Congo Basin, including the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) and the United Nations’ REDD programme. They argued that REDD mechanisms should respect the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and provide support for legislative reforms necessary to secure the land rights of forest-dependent communities. http://www.redd-monitor.org/2008/11/30/forest-communities-of-the-congo-basin-speak-out-on-redd-moving-the-debate-beyond-financing/

Kenya:

23) Lake Nakuru may be extinct in another eight years if the current destruction in the Mau East is not contained, experts have warned. The after effects of the destruction has led to the lake receding, and this will eventually lead to its death in under a decade. Other lakes affected are Baringo, Bogoria, Natron and Turkana. Kenya Wildlife Service director Julius Kipng’entich said the impact on the encroachment of human settlement started being felt after the excision of 67,000 acres. This, he said affected the rivers which had been draining into the lake, with some drying up or becoming seasonal. River Njoro’s water volume has gone down by more than 75 per cent, while the Mara River is only one-twelfth of its original volume. He pointed out that without fresh water draining into the lake, the algae plant will no longer find its way into the lake, and the famous Flamingo birds associated with the lake will no longer survive; the birds feed on the plant. The director said the impact would affect the Lake Nakuru National Park which is a leading tourist attraction. “If we lose the park, we will have shown the world that we are irresponsible and careless as a country,” he says. The wildlife in the park depend on the Lake for survival, and they would have no other source of water if the lake dried up. The director spoke weeks ago to a team led by Prime Minister Raila Odinga and three ministers who visited the park to assess the impact of the destruction. The ministers were Charity Ngilu, Noah Wekesa and James Orengo. Others in the team were assistant ministers Ramadahani Kajembe and Simeon Lesirma. The situation, however, according to KWS could be salvaged if stringent measures are enforced to save the catchment. Already, a task force has been formed to address the destruction of the catchment area and will be expected to make recommendations to the Government. Rift Valley provincial commissioner Hassan Noor Hassan who is the chairman of the enforcement committee says there has been drastic improvement since the task force was set up. There are more than 162 officers drawn from the KWS, Kenya Forest Service, Administration Police and Narok county council. Some of the activities that have been contained include illegal logging, charcoal burning and cultivation in the forest. The officers’ task on the ground is to stop any further invasion and rehabilitate the damaged areas with the involvement of the communities. http://www.nation.co.ke/News/regional/-/1070/495090/-/6lmqgw/-/

24) Movement permits for forest products in 12 Rift Valley districts have been banned with immediate effect, sparking protests by timber manufacturers. The ban by Kenya Forest Service means that timber, logs, firewood, sawdust, bark or gum cannot be removed from State and private forests in the marked districts. The affected districts are Nakuru, Molo, Naivasha, Nakuru North, Narok, Trans Mara, Kericho, Bomet, Bureti, Koibatek, Nandi North and South Nandi. Timber Manufacturers Association chairman Samuel Gitonga yesterday criticised the Government forester and Mau Task Force for imposing the ban. Mr Gitonga said that farmers established private tree plantations after the Government banned logging in State forests in 1999. “Almost all sawmills closed down and more than 120,000 people went home in 1999. And now the remaining 30,000 employees will lose their jobs because of this recent ban,” he said. Mr Gitonga said factories in Nakuru that use of fuel wood will have to close. He showed the Nation an agreement saying that he bought trees from a Molo farmer two weeks ago for Sh1.7 million. “The trees, which we had felled, will now go to waste because of the withdrawal of movement permits,” he said. He said that the country was importing timber because of the 1999 logging ban while the price of timber has shot up from Sh8,400 per tonne of cypress in 1999 to Sh30,000 today while the price of pine has increased from Sh6,000 to Sh24,000. http://www.nation.co.ke/News/regional/-/1070/495094/-/6lmqh1/-/

25) Sawmill machinery worth more than Sh80 million is lying in disuse at the Forest Industrial Training College in Nakuru, which was closed down a few years back. The Saturday Nation found bulldozers and lorries grounded and gathering rust in the compound. Sources said that sawmill machinery imported from Sweden has been lying idle since the Government closed the centre. The sawmill unit in Nakuru’s industrial area used to sell timber at commercial market rates but was shut down as a result of the crunch that followed the ban of logging in Government forests in 1999. The sources said that the mill was running huge debts and the Government had been finding it difficult to service the machinery. In 1995, there were more than 220 sawmills in the Rift Valley but most of them shut down after the ban. Those that survived rely on logs from private farms. Forestry Department records indicate that following the ban on logging in 1999, Government revenue from the sale of forest produce in Rift Valley Province dropped from Sh100 million annually to only Sh37 million in 2001. Windfalls (old trees that were knocked down by the wind) and diseased plantations were also not harvested, leading to the loss of Pinus patula plantations in Keiyo, Marakwet and Trans Nzoia. Millions were also lost in forests that were excised to create human settlements. Towns such as Elburgon in Molo and Maji Mazuri in Koibatek District, where timber was the main economic lifeline have become ghost towns. Some of the sawmillers have since ventured into farming and other enterprises. http://www.nation.co.ke/News/regional/-/1070/496280/-/6lnhc4/-/

26) There is great concern about an ongoing post-doctoral research project carried out by Luca Borghesio, a student from the University of Illinois at Chicago, which is clear cutting substantially large plots of indigenous trees in the Mathews Range.  Mathews Range, also known as the Lenkiyio Hills, is a range of mountains about 150 km long, in the Laikipia District of the Rift Valley Province in northern Kenya, 50 km north of Isiolo Town. “Approximately 234 mature indigenous trees have been cut down” says Helen Douglas-Dufresne of the Milgis Trust in her blog “Nine plots of 60-metre diameter have been cleared and 11 more have been marked for clearing”, she adds. The researcher, a tropical forest ecologist, explains – rather ambiguously – in an email to Douglas-Dufresne, that his research is neither covert nor wanton destruction but a study on how human activities, particularly those of the nomadic communities who live adjacent to, and utilize, the Mathews forests, can help conservation. Of his hypothesis that traditional nomadic activities can help conservation, he draws parallels with the community livestock grazing programme that begun at Lewa conservancy, acknowledging that carefully planned grazing can benefit both people and conservation . He portends that the same might be true in forest areas. How this is linked to chopping down mature indigenous trees does not come out convincingly in his explanation. When asked about this notion, Dr Richard Leakey said “I find it very hard to believe that cutting so much wood can possibly be justified in the current time when deforestation and climate change are of such concern”. “Kenyan forests [which cover only 2% of the land against a recommended global standard of 12%] should not be destroyed without an extremely good reason and academic research could hardly justify what is happening in the Mathews Range”, he adds. The researcher says that he cleared 10 plots of 12m diameter adding up to about 4,521 square meters – about an acre – in the 300km2 forest and therefore in his view it would have no significant effect on the entire ecosystem. The Milgis Trust however has produced pictures indicate that the areas are much larger than this. The ruffled local elders have indeed come to Douglas-Dufresne to seek advice on what to do about the felling of the large trees. Some weeks back, the community had come into the study plots and evicted the researcher. Reportedly, the researcher paid KShs 150,000 (about US$ 1,900) to some local leaders and was smuggled back into his study area. He however denies this saying that what he paid is the normal government fees that any researcher is required to pay for permits to conduct research. The Kenya Forest Service, the government body charged with the responsibility of looking after Kenya’s forests, has not been very cooperative and Douglas-Dufresne has not had much success trying to have them stop this project. http://richardleakey.wildlifedirect.org/2008/12/06/dr-leakey-and-other-conservationists-condemn-destruction-of-trees-in-the-mathews-range/

Tanzania:

27) President Jakaya Kikwete has said that the government is losing billions of shillings in the forestry sub sector due to corruption. He said corruption in the sub sector was rife and that relentless efforts, especially at local government levels, were needed to combat the vice. The president, therefore, urged the district authorities to strictly monitor forestry officials who, he said, were colluding with unscrupulous businesspeople to deny the government of its revenue. The president said this here on Thursday when receiving Ulanga District report which indicates booming of forestry products business especially teak (mtiki) and ebony (mpingo) trade respectively. President Kikwete said that some logs were not sealed or marked at all as forestry officers were colluding with the businesspeople to evade tax and other payments. He said that due to such collusion, forests were being harvested haphazardly while revenues from such harvests remain negligible. President Kikwete had directed the Ministry of Regional Administration and Local Governments (Tamisemi) to transfer to other stations all forestry officers who have stayed in one working station for over five years. The Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, responsible for Regional Administration and Local Governments, Mrs Celina Kombani, told the president that the ministry had already started implementing the directive, but she admitted it was a difficult exercise. Most of forestry officers are reluctant to be transferred. The president further cautioned district authorities against businesspeople who sought land for tree planting (such as Mtiki and Mpingo) as they would later on turn the land into other businesses particularly biofuel activities. The Director of Forestry and Beekeeping Department in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, Dr Felician Kilahama, told the president that 38 per cent of the country’s size was occupied by forests. He said that only about 15 million hectares of the forests were protected by law and other three million hectares were under the custody of village authorities. Dr Kilahama also expressed similar concerns on the sub sector and that vast land of the country would soon be transformed to biofuel activities. He cited the example of thousands of hectares which had been issued to an investor in Mafia for growing of Jatropha. http://dailynews.habarileo.co.tz/columnist/index.php?id=8723

28) When the reality of tropical glaciers was finally acknowledged it was then naturally assumed that it was from these that the local streams and rivers were fed. One of the first to ponder an alternative theory to this was Hans Meyer, who would find fame in 1889 as the first human being to set foot on the summit of Kilimanjaro, and later as the author of the influential Across East African Glaciers: And Account Of The First Ascent Of Kilimanjaro. The forests of Kilimanjaro, he discovered, blanket the softly undulating flanks of the mountain, trapping moisture and acting like a sponge. The forest exists in a belt that is in places less than a kilometer thick, and several kilometers thick in others. When Hans Meyer penetrated the region he found the forest immense, skirting the mountain to the floor of the savannah, graded in density and saturation, and most verdant and concentrated between 1,300m to 3,300m above sea level. At that time the forest was the preserve of the Chagga sub-group of the regional Bantu speaking population, and a handful of white missionaries, traders and adventurers. Reading through the text of Meyer’s book one is left with a picture of isolated communities interlinked by narrow forest footpaths and hemmed in on all sides by brooding vegetation. The Chagga lived in politically distinct sub-groupings like the Moshi, Marangu and Shira clans, living under local chieftainships, and despite assiduous missionary attention, oppressed by the stifling superstition that tends to pervade the lives of forest folk. In those days the forest was vast, and seemingly impervious to the miniature efforts of mankind to conquer and leave an impression. In the years that have followed this balance has changed dramatically. Since then the conquest has been complete, and the actual annihilation of the forest as a viable and sustainable ecosystem is imminent. The integrity of this valuable and iconic feature of the mountain can only now be saved if drastic and dramatic efforts are made to halt the ongoing destruction. This sort of work usually falls to volunteer organisations and NGOs, that, guided and administered by a handful of professional conservationists, often win great acclaim but attract almost no serious commitment or support from the establishment. The general mandate of these organisations is to attempt the enlightenment of local people towards the fact that they are sowing the seeds of their own destruction. The damaging practices that almost every mountain community is guilty of are collectively assuring the ultimate destruction the forest. If this happens it will alter the local climate and impair the capacity of the land to soak up and retain water. Flash flooding would occur, followed by massive gully erosion and landslides, all of which are already visibly affecting the landscape. http://www.mtkilimanjarologue.com/planning/random/the-fate-of-the-forest-conservation-on-kilimanjaro.html

Zimbabwe:

29) DURAWOOD – Ltd has since 2003 been harvesting timber in Tsholotsho District without any contract as required by the Rural District Councils Act, it emerged yesterday. Sources close to the timber logging process in Tsholotsho said Durawood has been the sole tenderer in the district since independence and that the initial contract was renewed on an annual basis by way of a letter. Companies that win tenders to harvest timber in a particular area have to enter into a tripartite agreement involving the local authority and the Forestry Commission, which has control of all forests in the country.
The contracts for timber concessions are valid for five years and the Forestry Commission reserves the right to cancel the contract if a logging company breaches any terms of the contract. Sources said in 2003, Durawood wrote a letter to council asking for a longer contract so that they could put a business plan to work on and that council extended the contract for five years until it flighted tenders in the Press in October this year. According to an affidavit sworn to by Mr Charles Mazibisa in an urgent chamber application last week, Durawood and its predecessor, PG Durawood (Pvt) Ltd is a company that has been involved in the logging of timber in Tsholotsho for many years. Mr Mazibisa notes that there were times in the past when the community from where they were logging stopped logging in some areas. On 28 October this year, the chairman of the Tsholotsho District Development Association, Mr Absolom Dube, wrote a letter of complaint to the District Administrator, Mr Moses Mbewe complaining about the “goings on” in the council. Among other issues raised was the fact council stands (residential and commercial) were being allocated to people upon payment in foreign currency, which does not get to council coffers. Over the years, Tsholotsho villagers have complained about timber logging companies who get awarded tenders and go on to exploit the annual multi-million dollar resources and never plough anything back to the communities It is the villagers’ concern that trucks carrying logs from the district to Bulawayo are damaging the main road linking the centre to Bulawayo. Potholes are dotted all over now and the meeting noted that some logging companies doing work in Lupane District preferred to transport timber through Tsholotsho District. http://www.chronicle.co.zw/inside.aspx?sectid=465&cat=1

Cameroon:

30) The government of Cameroon has created a national park to help protect the world’s most endangered great ape: the Cross River gorilla, reports the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), a group that provided scientific and technical support for the initiative. Takamanda National Park forms part of an trans-boundary protected area with Nigeria’s Cross River National Park. The reserve is home to 115 Cross River gorillas—one third the population of the world’s rarest gorilla which is under threat from hunting, habitat destruction and fragmentation. “This represents a huge step in ensuring a future for the world’s rarest great ape,” said Dr. James Deutsch, Director of WCS-Africa. “Making this former forest reserve a national park will effectively protect these gorillas and will continue the conservation partnership between Cameroon and Nigeria.” The trans-boundary protected area, which allows wildlife to move freely between the African countries, also safeguards populations of forest elephants, chimpanzees, and drills. Cameroon is one of seven African nations supported by the Congo Basin Forest Partnership and the Central African Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE). The U.S. government, acting through the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), has invested more than $60 million in biodiversity conservation in the Congo Basin and helped augment funds for great apes conservation in the region through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service administered Great Apes Conservation Fund. The fund is up for renewal in 2010. http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1126-cameroon.html

Pakistan:

31) Certain influentials have occupied 206 acres of forest area through “illegal allotments”, while 31 acres of Miani forest and 20 acres of Kathri forest (Hyderabad) have been vacated from encroachers, Minister for Law Ayaz Soomro informed the Sindh Assembly session on Wednesday on behalf of Minister for Forest Dr Zulfiqar Ali Mirza. Mirza said that amendments were being made to the Forest Act to enhance imprisonment and fine against encroachers of forests and added that “modern forests” would be established to improve atmosphere. The minister said that owing to climate change, global warming and acute shortage of water, the state-owned forests were now being managed with a “sustainable approach” and commercial harvesting of forests had been banned. He said that “sustainable forest management” was the need of the day for environmental stability as it would help mitigate the effects of climate change and global warming through carbon sequestration. Minister for Wildlife Dr Daya Ram said that owing to the government’s efforts, the number of Blind Indus Dolphins has increased from 150 in 1974 to 922 in 2008 in the Sukkur-Guddu area that is spread over 192 kilometers. He said there was a shortage of water but it was not a problem for the dolphins. To a question by Marvi Rashdi, the minister said that some “traders” from Punjab were found involved in trapping fresh water turtles from Sindh-Punjab border near Guddu. He said that the Sindh Wildlife Department has lodged 22 cases against them for illegal trapping of turtles from January 2007 to March 2008 and recovered Rs224,000 from them as legal compensation. He said that they preferred to impose fine only to avoid “further complications”. The minister also said that his department lacked resources and manpower. Dr Daya Ram disclosed that the Sindh government has earmarked Rs500 million to bring Khirthar National Park at par with international standards, which was being inhabited by 13,000 animals. “This is the only national park in Sindh and the government is taking effective steps to prevent hunting of animals,” he added. He said that they did not even allow an MNA of their party (PPP) to hunt in the park and lodged an FIR against him for “illegal hunting”.  Several MPAs exchanged pleasantries when one of them asked why Indus dolphins are called “blind”. Apart from the lighter moments, a heated debated broke out in response to a supplementary question by PML-Q legislator Nuzhat Pathan. In response, PML-F legislator Syeda Marvi Rashdi pointed out that according to the rules of the PA, a member could not interrupt another when they speak. http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=149130