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News Interest in learning "green" professions is increasing strongly in Sweden. The country's fifty agricultural colleges are winners in competition for 16 year olds. 15 per cent more than last year have applied for entry to "green" educational institutes.
News By Alex Kirby The eagles struck from the side (Image courtesy of John Megahan) One of the largest birds of prey ever recorded, an extinct giant eagle, was once New Zealand's chief predator, DNA evidence from fossil bones indicates. Research published in the journal PLoS Biology says the bird, Haast's eagle, was big enough to rule its environment. The eagle increased its weight at a rate unprecedented in other birds and animals after reaching New Zealand.
News GENEVA - The massive demand for timber to rebuild tsunami-devastated parts of Indonesia could ravage local forests, conservation groups said on Thursday, calling for donor countries to send some of their aid in the form of logs. As Indonesia seeks to house at least half a million people whose homes were destroyed by the Dec. 26 tsunami, the demand for wood will be enormous and may put a huge strain on forests where illegal logging is already a major environmental problem, they said.
News SHANGHAI, PR CHINA – British Columbia’s aggressive push to export more wood products to China achieved a major milestone today with Forests Minister Michael de Jong opening the Dream Home China demonstration centre. “The centre gives B.C. forest company associations a major presence in one of the fastest growing economies of the world,” said de Jong. “It provides a world-class facility for showcasing B.C. forest products and wood-frame construction.”
News Following the recent storms all Forestry Commission Forests in Cumbria have suffered significant damage resulting in many trees which are hung up or partially wind blown. It is estimated that over 0.5 million trees have been blown over or damaged by the storms in Forestry Commission woods in Cumbria. Most forest walks and cycle routes and many rights of way at Grizedale and Whinlatter Forest Parks have now been re-opened. Many footpaths in Forestry Commission woodlands were blocked by blown or snapped trees after the gales.
Sports KALISPELL - The Flathead National Forest is beefing up patrols and getting tougher on snowmobilers who venture into areas where they're not supposed to. Forest officials say snowmobile trespassing into designated wilderness and other areas where motor vehicles are forbidden is becoming an increasing problem in the region.
News New research suggests that climate warming may be occurring even faster than previously recognised A long standing puzzle that has haunted climate researchers looking at the fate of carbon stored in the world’s soils, has now been resolved. The research suggests that climate warming may be occurring even faster than previously recognised.
News A LONG-awaited joint government report into national bushfire management, released by Prime Minister John Howard today, has made 29 recommendations to improve bushfire preparedness. Mr Howard said eight of the recommendations made in the National Inquiry on Bushfire Mitigation and Management report had already been implemented since he received the report last April. These included continued national funding for firefighting aircraft and developing agreements for emergency broadcasting with the ABC. Mr Howard announced the inquiry in October 2003 after one of south-eastern Australia's worst fire seasons. The fierce summer included the firestorm that tore through Canberra's southern suburbs, killing four people and destroying about 500 homes. Australian Democrats leader Lyn Allison criticised Mr Howard last week for delaying the release of the report.
"Forest fires in Southern Europe - From prevention to restoration" (Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain) 24-25 January 2005, Brussels Section 5: 2003 and 2004 forest fires in relation to policy tools and organisation, sharing experiences. Forest fire prevention and rural development programmes in the European Union Tamas SZEDLAK Agriculture and Rural Development Directorate-General Unit F1. Environment and Forestry European Commission Ladies and Gentlemen, The number of forest fires and their effects were particularly severe in the last two years in Southern Europe, as it was mentioned in the previous presentations. There were more than 54.700 fires in 2003, with more than 730.000 hectares burnt areas in this part of Europe. The experience gained from these events should be used for improving prevention and restoration measures in the future. I would like to summarise the measures that the EU has put in place in the area of forest fire protection under the Council Regulation (EEC) No 2158/92 of 23 July 1992 on protection of the Community's forests against fire, as well as in the rural development programmes. The Community by means of Council Regulation (EEC)
(Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain) Conference organized by DG Environment, Legal Affairs & Governance Brussels, 24-25 January 2005 Venue : Charlemagne Conference Centre 170, rue de la Loi/Wetstraat, 170 Registration and welcome coffee between 9.00 and 10.00hrs. Morning session 24 January, starting at 10.00hrs. Moderator: Esther Herranz García, MEP Opening of the conference by Catherine Day, Director General of DG Environment
News Beautiful images of wood can be seen everywhere: a tree standing alone on a hill, wooden cladding catching the evening light, an old wooden house defying the elements, details of a wood construction, a wood boat reflecting in the water, a close-up of a wood knot. As a living material, wood catches the eye of most people in ways that are sometimes obvious, sometimes not so obvious. Are you able to capture the beauty of wood by the art of photograhy and turn your fascination into beautiful photographs? Building Europe, the European Wood Magazine, wishes to showcase this fascination and asks you to send in pictures with a brief text describing the location and circumstances under which you took the picture.
News Researchers at the Ume? Forestry University estimate that it will be impossible to care of all timber felled by the storm in the southern district (Södra) before next summer. There just are not enough forest machines in Sweden to take care of all that timber in time. New estimates indicate that the storm has felled at least 80 million cubic meters of forest. That volume equals one whole year's cutting in Sweden as a whole and about five years' cutting in the affected area.
News The European Confederation of Woodworking Industries, CEI-Bois, is pleased to invite you to the official presentation of the Memorandum of the Woodworking Industries to the European Institutions, which will be held at the European Parliament in Brussels on Wednesday, 2nd February 2005, followed by a cocktail.
News PARIS –France plays host Monday to a five-day international conference on biodiversity, but stands criticised itself for failing to live up to its self-proclaimed standards on promoting conservation, according to many environmental experts. "France is both a country extremely rich in biodiversity and the fourth economic power in the world. It has a prime responsibility," said Sebastien Moncorps, French director of the World Union for Nature. Thanks to its overseas territories France possesses some 10 percent of the world's coral reefs, 20 percent of its atolls and -- in French Guyana -- a vast area of tropical rain-forest.
News Photo by György Csóka Hungarian opposition party , FIDESZ, criticized the first 100 days of the new Hungarian goverment, saying that conservation came out as a big loser while Romanian mining companies and the gypsy moth were winners.
News Photo by Ray K. Saunders Washington, D.C. A stately white oak in Virginia, a massive bristlecone pine in Nevada and a towering Coast-Douglas fir are among the new stars on a biennial list of the nation’s largest trees. Today, AMERICAN FORESTS, the nation’s oldest conservation group, unveiled the 2004-2005 National Register of Big Trees. AMERICAN FORESTS created the Register in 1940 as a way to champion forest conservation by recognizing the outstanding specimens of the nation’s native and naturalized trees.
News By Christopher Doering, WASHINGTON The cost of using forests to remove greenhouse gases from the air could be about the same as cutting pollution with fuel switching or energy efficiency improvements, according to a new report from the Pew Center on Global Climate Change. The Pew study estimated it would cost between $25 and $75 per ton to remove 300 million tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year through sequestration projects using vast expanses of forest land. Trees can absorb and store carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas linked to global warming. If the cost to remove carbon was between $30 and $90 a ton, that would be roughly the same as other emission reduction measures used to trim energy consumption in buildings, automobiles and appliances, the report said.
News NAIROBI Kenyan authorities said Wednesday they had shot and killed an off-duty wildlife ranger on a game reserve in central Kenya and had launched an investigation into his alleged involvement in a poaching gang. The unidentified ranger was accompanying a group of apparent poachers at the Lewa ranch based in Solio near the town of Nyeri on Tuesday when he was killed in a gunbattle with Kenya Wildlife Service and police officers, the KWS said.
News The number of forest management associations in Finland has decreased to 155. As a consequence of mergers decided upon in 2004 the total number of forest management associations was reduced by three at year's end. The purpose of the mergers is to improve the services supplied by forest management associations to forest owners and to permit more efficient safeguarding of their interests.
News By Andrew Quinn, JAKARTA Indonesia will replant huge swathes of mangrove forest along its vulnerable coastline to help provide a buffer against possible future tsunamis, the forestry minister said. Environmental experts say Southeast Asia's mangroves -- many of which have been ripped out to make room for shrimp and fish farms -- could have helped slow the Dec. 26 tsunami by providing a barrier between the killer waves and land.
News Rosia Montana , Romania The Alba-Iulia Court of Appeal has suspended the discharge certificate for the so-called Carnic/Cirnic Massif. The decision was taken following a request calling for an urgent decision by ‘Alburnus Maior'* . Gabriel Resources (TSX: GBU), a junior Canadian mining company, intends to realize Europe's largest open-cast mining development in Rosia Montana entailing, amongst other, the involuntary resettlement of over 2000 people as well as the destruction of unique archaeological and natural sites. Over 1000 archaeologists and expert institutions have protested against the destruction of Rosia Montana 's unique archaeological heritage. Whilst according to Gabriel Resources the Carnic Massif is set to become the so-called Cirnic open pit, French archaeologists researching the massif since 2000 unearthed unique pre-Roman and Roman mine galleries in a remarkable state of preservation.
News Population boom: 500,000 to 25 million in a decade ALBANY, N.Y. - Forty years ago, Charlie Scheer rarely saw a deer near his 625-acre nursery on the eastern end of Long Island. Today, he regularly sees five or six just crossing the road when he drives to his local deli in the morning. For Scheer, 63, president of the Long Island Farm Bureau, the animals are more akin to vermin than furry woodland creatures. Across the country, the rising white-tailed deer population is wreaking havoc on farms, changing the ecology of forests and causing ever more motor vehicle accidents and fatalities.
News Norway's top environmental official insists that wolves will continue to be protected in the country, but now another one may be hunted down. A female wolf suspected of attacking and killing around 100 dogs has raised the hackles of those living the eastern portions of Akershus and ?stfold counties. She was once a member of the so-called ?rjang-Kongsvinger pack, but lately she's been roaming on her own.
Forestschools With George Vanderbilt's permission, the Biltmore Forest School (BFS) was formed and opened in 1898 under Dr. Schenck's supervision. BFS students initially were sons of wealthy lumber and timber barons. However, within 15 years the school would graduate over 400 forestry students who introduced scientific forestry methods throughout North America.
