2 211 articles
Delegates from 191 countries are meeting in Madrid this month for the presentation of a plan to tackle desertification in the world's poorest countries. The eighth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) began on Monday (September 3) and ends next Friday (September 14).
BEIJING - China suspended a plan to convert 1.07 million ha of farmland into forest to meet its pledge of reserving at least 120 million ha for farming to ensure the country's food supply, state media said on Tuesday.
News The Brazilian government has stated that deforestation of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil has fallen to the lowest rate in at least seven years. More controls on illegal logging, improved certification of land ownership, and economic development projects that preserve the forest are driving deforestation down.
The Global Environmental Flows Network was officially launched during the 10th International River Symposium Conference, 2-6 Sept. 2007 in Brisbane, Australia. Environmental Flows – a key to informed decision making Many factors, such as water quality, sediments, food-supply and biotic interactions, are important determinants of aquatic ecosystems.
The quantity of timber in Norwegian forests continues to increase. The latest inventories of the Norwegian Forest and Landscape Institute indicate that from 2005 to 2006 there was a volume increase of 12.3 million cubic metres. The total quantity of timber in Norwegian forests amounts to 748 million cubic metres. Today there is 70 % more standing timber than 40 years ago.
News Michael Russell CRAIG BROWN LANDOWNERS and farmers implicated in poisoning birds of prey face losing tens of thousands of pounds in state aid after the Scottish Executive pledged to step up its efforts to stamp out wildlife crime. Minister for Environment Michael Russell yesterday said he would make full use of existing legal penalties, including the cutting of thousands of pounds in subsidies to farmers who are found to blame for the poisoning of birds.
News Xerobdella lecomtei land leech OSLO - A rare European leech seems to be headed towards extinction as global warming dries out the Austrian forest home of the tiny blood-sucker, scientists said on Wednesday.
The European Union and Cameroon have agreed to investigate illegal logging, which costs the central African country an estimated $100 million a year. Timber is big business in Cameroon's tropical forests, with 700 companies and individuals licensed to fell trees.
News The International Union of Forest Research Organization (IUFRO), a world-wide international organization devoted to forests and related sciences, is helping increase the understanding of the role of forests and forestry in rural development by hosting a European Congress with its partners the Forestry Faculty of the Warsaw Agricultural University and the European Forest Institute.
Building costs in the country are expected to be pushed up still further by the shortage of timber resulting from the fires that raged through forest plantations in Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and parts of the Western and Eastern Cape.
Forthcoming FIFE-TIMM 2007 furniture tradeshow at Romexpo has mobilised 550 companies from 17 countries. The construction market is escalating in Romania and that has made Romanian furniture manufacturers that used to export their production shift their focus onto the domestic market.
By Robin Pomeroy The thousands of Greek villagers forced to escape flames that raged across Greece over the last week were not the only ones on the run. Animals also fled for their lives and conservationists fear that, like the 63 human victims of the worst forest fires in memory, many of them did not make it to safety.
3 - 4 September 2007, Warsaw, Poland PRELIMINARY AGENDA 1. Opening of the meeting 2. Adoption of the Agenda 3. Progress towards the 5th Ministerial Conference – information on logistics and PR activities 4. Commitments of the 5th MCPFE 4.1. Warsaw Declaration 4.2. Warsaw Resolution 1: “Forest, Wood and Energy” 4.3. Warsaw Resolution 2: “Forests and Water” 5. Pan-European recommendations for afforestation and reforestation in the context of UNFCCC 6. Ministerial Statement regarding the Pan-European Forest Week 2008 - proposal by the GCC 7. Exchange of information on meetings and activities relevant for the MCPFE 8. Other matters 9. Closure of the meeting 2 Venue: Stary BUW (Former University Library, Campus of the University of Warsaw) 26/28 Krakowskie Przedmie¶cie
News By MUGUNTAN VANAR KOTA KINABALU: Malaysian architects are increasingly looking at environment-friendly designs. Persatuan Akitek Malaysia (PAM) Sabah branch chairman Sim Sie Hong said that local architects were taking the cue from architects in many other parts of the world who were working with scientists and researchers.
Lower temperatures and wind speeds will help the hundreds of fire-fighters battling three blazes that are now affecting six towns in Castellón and which have destroyed thousands of hectares of forest and farm land. Two of the three active fronts - Atzeneta and Costur - have now been brought under control, and air support is now being almost totally focused on the uncontrolled blaze threatening the town of Lucena del Cid.
News Drought just highlights it By MIKE ORGAN Deer across the state are dropping like flies. In fact, the deer are dropping dead because of flies. Gnats to be more precise.
An increase in forest growth in Finland due to the climate change has been forecast by many. However, it is not certain that this will be realised. It is estimated that the growth of the Finnish forests may as much as double due to the climate change. These estimations are based on research carried out in the 1920s by Professor, Mr. Olli Heikinheimo.
News Bulgaria said Thursday it would ban exports of partially-burnt timber for construction, hoping the move would help reduce the number of deliberately-set fires around the country. The ban comes after a government report showed that some 34,000 hectares (84,000 acres) of forests and land have been destroyed by fires in Bulgaria so far this year, which could result in a 15-year annual record for fires.
