Forests and Rainforests

Bangladesh forests face silent death

Volatile ecosystems in Bangladesh are being systematically destroyed by illegal logging, dam projects and displacement of indigenous peoples that threaten to disrupt the poor country's biodiversity. Evergreen, coastal and so-called "sal" forests in Bangladesh are all under threat, according to an official from the Institute of Forestry and Environmental Sciences at the University of Chittagong. The Daily Star (Bangladesh) (11/28)

Brazil Amazon Deforestation Jumps, Data Shows

Satellite photos indicate work on a highway is contributing to an increase in the rate of deforestation in Brazil's declining rain forest, according to the report of Friends of the Earth. According to Brazilian government officials, the logging and clearing of the rain forest has either stabilized or slightly increased the rate of deforestation. Environmental News Network/Reuters (12/3)

Administration Overhauls Rules for U.S. Forests

The overhaul of the guidelines will make it easier for forest managers to decide whether to allow logging, drilling or off-road vehicles.

EU Divided on Plans to Curb Illegal Timber Trade

The EU is considering a plan aimed at reducing illegal timber imports from rain forests and other sensitive areas by requiring that the wood comes with a certificate of approval. But seven timber-exporting EU countries oppose the plan, arguing that it will increase their administrative burden while failing to be effective. Environmental News Network/Reuters (12/22)

New Rules Issued for National Forests

The Bush administration issued comprehensive new rules yesterday for managing the national forests, jettisoning some environmental protections that date to Ronald Reagan's administration and putting in place the biggest change in forest-use policies in nearly three decades.

Nobel Peace Winner Appeals for Protection of African Forests in Rome

Improving protection of Central Africa's forests will go a long way toward battling poverty and ushering in peace in the region, Wangari Mathai, the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner, argued Tuesday at a United Nations meeting in Rome. Speaking at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization meeting on forest management, Mathai, now Kenya's deputy environment minister, argued for $1.7 billion in funds over 10 years to help save the Congo Basin ecosystem. Environmental News Network/Associated Press (3/16)

Trouble in the Forests

The Bush administration is proceeding briskly with its demolition job on environmental regulations protecting the national forests.

From the Ground Up

Wangari Maathai's Plan For Cultivating Peace Is Taking Root in Africa

Fire, Logging Threaten Borneo's Rich Ecosystem

EAST KALIMANTAN, Indonesia -- Massive fires that ravaged Indonesia's vast tropical rain forests over the last decade are remaking one of the richest biological landscapes on the planet.

US tries to sink forests plan

A British plan to use its G8 presidency to get the rich member countries to commit to the halt of illegal rainforest logging faces U.S. opposition, according to news reports. U.S. industry lobbyists oppose the plan to certify timber comes from properly managed forests, and a leaked memorandum shows the U.S. government plans to stall the U.K. plan. The Guardian (London) (3/16)

More Risks for Forests

THE BUSH administration's new rules on management of national forests are not a surprise. They generally track a set of draft regulations the Forest Service issued two years ago. They are, nonetheless, a disappointment.

Can't See the Forest for the Symbols

Tidy symbols tend to be more attractive than messy facts, and this is especially true in environmental politics. But choosing symbols over facts can be self-defeating, on both sides of conservation issues. And it isn't good for the environment either.

NGOs say World Bank policies harm forests

A group of eight nongovernmental organizations has issued a series of reports that claim a number of World Bank projects, from Congo to Cambodia, meant to protect rainforests are doing more harm than good, calling the trend a return to "the bad old ways of the 1980s when forest destruction and the trampling of local communities was considered the price of development." The groups took particular aim at the International Finance Corporation, a private-sector wing of the World Bank they claim has invested in projects without significant consultations with locals affected by new developments. AlertNet.org/Reuters (4/14)

Cooperation takes root in Australian forest

Eucalyptus trees growing in the mountainous area east of Melbourne, Australia, are the new focus of an effort to allow logging and old forests to grow together. As Asia's demand for lumber grows, Australia will face increased pressure to balance environmental concerns with business. The Christian Science Monitor (3/24)

Amazon destruction accelerating

Brazil's environment ministry announced this week that the Amazon rain forest is deteriorating at a rate 6% higher than last year. The high rate of deforestation now means that roughly one-fifth of the entire rain forest has been destroyed, mostly to make way for agriculture and other profitable businesses that some claim foster development but have environmentalists concerned about the forest's sustainability. BBC (5/19)

The Amazon at Risk

Even the government of Brazil seemed shocked by the news that despite efforts to curb deforestation - including a $140 million package of conservation measures announced last year - the destruction of the world's largest tropical forest, the Amazon, proceeds apace.

WWF and World Bank to cut deforestation

The World Bank and the World Wildlife Fund have been working together for years to fight the loss of the world's forests, but yesterday at the UN Forum on Forests, the two announced a new plan to reduce deforestation levels by 10% during the next five years. NEWS.com.au (Australia) (5/26)

The Amazon Can't Be a Soy Farm

The arrests earlier this month of nearly 90 people for allegedly allowing illegal logging in the Amazon is "significant," but Brazil needs to do more to protect the shrinking rain forest, the Christian Science Monitor writes in this editorial. The rest of the world also needs to pressure Brazil to preserve the Amazon, especially since everyone "has a stake in a place that contains a fifth of the world's fresh water and almost a third of its species," the newspaper opines. The Christian Science Monitor (6/13)

If a tree falls, is the G-8 listening?

Commentary: Tropical forests neglected in climate change talks: The loss of 30 million acres of tropical forests is the second leading cause of global warming after fossil fuel combustion, and despite past attention to the issue, G8 leaders have failed to place the issue high enough on their agenda, writes John Niles of the Climate Community and Biodiversity Alliance in the International Herald Tribune. International Herald Tribune (7/7)

Planting the seeds for an agricultural revolution

Journalists for Human Rights reporter Colleen Ross explores the efforts of Cudjoe Exah, a farmer in Ghana whose efforts to preserve forest lands on the shores of Lake Volta and develop a sustainable agriculture scheme for the eco-village he manages have been met with mixed reactions. Exah's efforts are aimed at preserving Ghana's trees, 1.3% of which are depleted every year, largely through slash-and-burn methods that harm the environment and contribute to global warming. CBC.ca (7/19)

Afghans see forests, tree by tree

The forest is disappearing in Afghanistan, partly due to Kabul's growing economy that has boosted demand for construction timber and firewood. But tree-planting programs by the Global Partnership for Afghanistan offer hope the forest can rejuvenate. The Christian Science Monitor (8/1)

Deals Turn Swaths of Timber Company Land Into Development-Free Areas

Timber companies and conservation organizations have arranged deals transferring swaths of forestland to groups committed to keeping them free from development.

Community Forestry Bids to Preserve Scenic West

The interest of local people in managing the neighboring woods for their benefit is known as community forestry, part of a growing international trend.

Selling the Forests

It's rarely a good idea to sell off assets to pay normal operating expenses. It's an even worse idea when the assets are chunks of national forest.

Conservationists Vie To Buy Forest Habitat

Timber Firms' Sell-Off Worries Groups

Brazil Tells Foreigners Amazon Not for Sale

Brazil rejected a foreign proposal to buy and preserve land in the endangered Amazon and asked former U.S. Vice President Al Gore to support a home-grown rainforest-protection plan.

40 Million Acres of Rain Forest for the Greenest Bidder

Perhaps Guyana’s president, Bharrat Jagdeo, will inspire bigger countries like Brazil to take a far more aggressive role in protecting their rain forests.