News

Experimental radar provides 3-D forest view (PhysOrg.com)

Image: Radar interferometry to produce Digital Elevation Models - this one showing how a pair of images from twin ERS satellites were used to create one of the Etna volcano in Sicily, Italy. Pairs of images acquired from the same spacecraft during different orbits can also be used. Credits: ESA An advanced radar technique to image forests in three dimensions has undergone an ESA-backed test campaign in Indonesia. A future space-based version could measure global biomass to sharpen the accuracy of climate change models.

2005. February 1.

CarboInvent (ForestPress)

Multi-Source Inventory Methods For Quantifying Carbon Stocks And Stock Changes In European Forests www.joanneum.at/carboinvent A Joint International Project for identifying, developing and testing methods for assessment of carbon (C) stock changes in forests at national/EU levels. CarboInvent is a shared-cost project co funded by the Research DG of the European Commission within the RTD activities of a generic nature of the Environment and sustainable development sub-programme (5th Framework Programme)

2005. February 1.

China's endangered animals make a comeback (AFP/ForestPress)

BEIJING Endangered animals in China, including the giant panda and rare crested ibis, are making a comeback due to enlarged habitats and improved ecosystems, state media said Thursday. "Some rare and endangered species of wildlife have multiplied, including the Chinese alligator and crested ibis," Zhou Shengxian, director of the State Forestry Administration (SFA), was quoted by the China Daily as saying.

2005. February 1.

Increased interest in "green" education in Sweden (ForestPress)

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.

2005. January 30.

Huge eagles 'dominated NZ skies' (BBC 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.

2005. January 29.

Greens want "timber aid" for tsunami-struck Aceh (Reuters/ForestPress)

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.

2005. January 28.

B.C. FORESTRY DEMONSTRATION CENTRE OPENS IN CHINA (ForestPress)

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.”

2005. January 27.

North West England - Cumbria storms 2005 (ForestPress)

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.

2005. January 27.

Breakthrough in climate research (ForestPress)

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.

2005. January 26.

National bushfire strategy released (News.com.au/ForestPress)

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.

2005. January 26.

Photo competition: Wood in your eyes (ForestPress)

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.

2005. January 25.

Sweden cannot possible take care of all timber felled by the storm (ForestPress)

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.

2005. January 24.

Presentation of the Memorandum of the Woodworking Industries to the European Institutions (ForestPre

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.

2005. January 24.

Not-so-green France hosts conference on biodiversity(AFP/ForestPress)

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.

2005. January 24.

Gypsy Moth in politics (ForestPress)

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.

2005. January 23.

The Nation’s Biggest Trees Announced (americanforests.org/ForestPress)

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.

2005. January 23.

US Forests Cost-Effective against Global Warming, Study Concludes (Reuters/ForestPress)

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.

2005. January 21.

Off-duty wildlife ranger suspected of poaching killed in Kenya (AFP/ForestPress)

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.

2005. January 21.