By OLIVER SCHMALE BERLIN - A German appellate court in Stuttgart proposed $19,500 fine Tuesday against a 70-year-old man who fatally beat an escaped golden eagle with his walking stick after it attacked his dachshund. The court agreed with a lower court's decision that a wildlife center that let the eagle escape was partly responsible, but it attributed even more blame to the pensioner, more than doubling his penalty.
Wolves are being removed from the endangered species list in three US states - and wildlife authorities say they plan to do the same in three more. The move paves the way for the hunting of wolves in the US for the first time in more than 30 years.
Foreign haulage contractors will be permitted to haul timber from storm stricken areas in Southern Sweden without any traffic permit. This exception from normal regulations will apply in ten provinces in Southern Sweden. The exception is only temporary and will remain in force from 12 February to 30 September 2007.
An interdisciplinary team of researchers led by Yanbin Li, professor of biological engineering in the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, has developed a portable biosensor for in-field, rapid screening of avian influenza virus.
Prominent Jury to Decide upon 2007 ForestLeadership Awards - Nomination Period Officially Open Montreal, 6 February 2007 – ForestLeadership is pleased to announce the official nomination period and the jury composition for its annual awards to be presented on 9 May 2007 at the ForestLeadership Conference in Vancouver, BC.
By Richard Garner, Education Editor Evidence of a dramatic decline in the provision of key science subjects and modern languages at university was revealed in a report published yesterday.
Pemba Maputo – The number of logs seized from the Chinese- owned timber company MOFID in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado has risen to over 1,100, reports Friday's issue of the Maputo daily "Noticias".
Scientists say rising demand for palm oil in Europe is creating an environmental nightmare in Southeast Asia. The popularity of the oil, adopted by European energy companies as a sustainable energy source, has resulted in the loss of huge tracts of Southeast Asian rainforest, and the overuse of chemical fertilizer on palm plantations in Indonesia and Malaysia, The New York Times reported.
December 2006 / January 2007 issue Dear Colleagues, The latest issue of the Informal Newsletter by the UN Forum on Forests Secretariat is now available on-line at http://www.un.org/esa/forests/n-dec06-jan07.html .
2007-02-01 Approximately five acres of beech forest were illegally cut down in Hahót, Zala County, in recent days, reports uno.hu. Although forestry authorities tried to intervene and halt the clear-cutting, officials say they do not possess the power to stop such cases.
By BILL POWER Green party leader Elizabeth May was looking to hug a logger Friday. She said that in the face of climate change, the environmental interests of Green party supporters and those of the forestry industry are more closely aligned than they may have been in the past.
DeSurvey is a project funded by the European Commission that aims to develop a computer-based system for the monitoring, assessment and forecasting of desertification.
LONDON, UK - New recovery targets for the UK’s threatened otter populations have been set by the government following confirmation that the species has been sighted in every major British city. The aquatic mammals are returning to rivers where they have not been seen for decades. Last year, otters were discovered in central London for the first time in over a century.
USDA Forest Service News Release WASHINGTON, Feb. 2, 2006 - The Federal grazing fee for Western public lands managed by the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management will be $1.35 per animal unit month (AUM) in 2007, down from $1.56 in 2006. The newly adjusted fee, determined by a congressional formula and effective on March 1, applies to more than 8,000 permits administered by the Forest Service and nearly 18,000 grazing permits and leases administered by the BLM.
Police driver arrested for smuggling timber: 4 Officials Suspended, Probe Ordered Srinagar, India - A driver of police department was arrested on Saturday on charges of ferrying illegal timber in official vehicle while four officials, including a forester were suspended for helping the police driver to commit such offence.
Count von Gravenreuth The Chairman of the Bavarian Forest Owners' Federation, Count Marian von Gravenreuth has played an active role in promoting forest owners' cross border relations and mutual co-operation. For example, he has done a lot for promoting German - Finnish relations in the forestry sector.
The Danish Forest Association requests the Danish Government to include forestry in its national programme for rural development on an equal footing with agriculture.
Invitation to the GOFOR and FAO meeting Dear Colleague, The EU funded GOFOR (New Modes of Governance for Sustainable Forestry in Europe) research project aims at the analysis of new governance tools and patterns like in forest policy the national forest programme concept or in rural development policy the rural development programmes in the EU member countries, respectively intent to provide a contribution to their implementation through empirical assessment of country case studies. For colleagues linked to forest policy planning and implementation the most useful results will most probably be the overview of country case studies and the summarising European assessment, providing an update on this matters in 9 EU countries + Norway. However, it must be stated, that not content but process elements will be assessed and analysed, such as e.g. participation, iterative planning or inter-sectoral coordination. Case studies tackle national forest programmes or equal processes, rural development programmes or forestry legislation development. Friday, 02 March 2007 in the FAO Sub-regional Office for Central and Eastern Europe (1068, Benczur u. 34, BUDAPEST, Hungary) a 1 day workshop will b
Frankfurt – The deadly winter storm that lashed much of northern Europe last week will cost the insurance industry between five and seven billion euros, Germany's Munich Re said Friday. The company, the world's second-largest reinsurer, said in a statement that it alone would face a pre-tax burden of up to 600 million euros (775 million dollars). It said Germany faced the biggest damage claims but that European neighbors had also been hit hard.
A counterfeit Stihl-chainsaw from China (plagiarius.de) Justice Minister Christoph Blocher has launched a nationwide campaign to raise public awareness of the damage counterfeit products cause to the economy.