2 211 articles
News UTRECHT, Netherlands – Dutch scientists have found the distribution of trees in the Amazonian rain forest is far from haphazard and might fill specific environmental niches. The researchers say various factors, such as soil fertility and dry season length, produce gradients of species, suggesting the trees have evolved in a particular manner.
News More than 300 Danish forest owners have applied to the Danish Ministry of the Environment for support for green management plans for their forests. This year Danish forest owners for a first time have an opportunity to apply for support for drawing up green management plans for their forests. The Ministry of the Environment, which initiated the support scheme, says that 300 forest owners have exploited this opportunity.
News Vitosha Mount by Sofia has been widely known as “the lungs” of the Bulgarian capital city. The greater part of the mountain is included in the Vitosha biosphere reserve. However, after a tornado hit Vitosha four years ago, some 600 hectares of forests mainly in the Bistrishko Branishte reserve and the Opheliite locality have started disappearing.
News There was a slight rise of 34 cubic hectometres in water levels last week, according to figures announced by the Environment ministry earlier today. This is the first rise since May, but levels remain at only 39.2% of total capacity.
News Illegal logging in China has been bought under control, though there are still parts of the country where the situation is serious, a police official said on Thursday. In recent years China has suffered severe flooding that has in part been blamed on excessive logging driven by the country's breakneck economic growth.
News Forest Owner Associations are essential for communicating rural development policies Uniquely, this conference brought together participants from administration bodies and private forest owners from around 15 different EU and future EU countries. The process of forming the new rural development (RD) policy and its implementation at national level was intensively discussed during a two days conference.
News WASHINGTON , - The U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service invites the public to roll up their sleeves and join the largest, annual coast-to-coast, day-long volunteer restoration activity on America's public lands in recognition of National Public Lands Day (NPLD). On September 30, 2006, in recognition of NPLD, day-use fees will be waived at hundreds of public land recreation sites nationwide.
News A CD for children has been released on the sustainabilty of the Australian forest industry A ground-breaking educational CD is set to be launched at the Melbourne Showgrounds today. The CD-ROM entitled Ollie’s Island is designed to educate children on the concept of sustainability and the endeavours of Australia’s various industries towards achieving it.
News BRUSSELS - The European Union and Malaysia agreed on Monday to launch talks on a trade agreement that would ensure that timber exported from the Asian country to the bloc is felled legally. The voluntary partnership agreement would be meant to help Malaysia preserve its natural forests.
News Recent statistics concerning forest protection confirm that Finland is still on top level in international comparison. 2.9 million hectares of Finnish forests are protected, i.e. 13 % of total forest area. More than 90 % of the protected area is subject to strict protection.
News KATMANDU, Nepal – Heavy rain and fog cut short the search today for 24 people whose helicopter disappeared over forested mountains in eastern Nepal, officials said. A Nepalese Cabinet minister, a Finnish diplomat and several Western aid workers were among those on the helicopter that went missing Saturday, which was chartered by the World Wildlife Fund conservation group.
News Forest Owner Associations are essential for communicating rural development policies Budapest – Uniquely, this conference brought together participants from administration bodies and priváté forest owners from around 15 different EU and future EU countries. The process of forming the new rural development (RD) policy and its implementation at national levél was intensively discussed during a two days conference.
By Richard Black Seeds which have been stored away since the time of George III have been persuaded into new life. Scientists from the Millennium Seed Bank, operated by the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, have induced seeds from three species to germinate. They had been brought to Britain from South Africa by a Dutch merchant in 1803, and were found in a notebook stored in the National Archives.
News Rebecca Smithers, consumer affairs correspondent Some of the world's most famous tourist attractions, such as Australia's Great Barrier Reef and Italy's Amalfi coast, could be closed to visitors within a few years because of worries about environmental damage and climate change, a report warns today. Some destinations could be permanently closed to tourists by 2020 or face restrictions on numbers and a sharp increase in admission prices, the study, carried out for the insurance company Churchill, predicts.
News Geneva – A stork called Max has achieved a world record after spending more than seven years under satellite surveillance, the longest ever duration for an animal, scientists in Switzerland said Tuesday. Every movement of the female White Stork has been tracked since July 5, 1999, beating the previous record duration held by an American Bald Eagle, according to the Natural History Museum in the Swiss city of Fribourg.
News The two national initiatives for forest certification in Russia have decided to come together under the PEFC Council. The chairmen of the two national certification councils operating in Russia have signed a founding document establishing a national umbrella organization to represent both systems in PEFC. The PEFC Board of Directors today announced that it will recommend the PEFC Council General Assembly in October to transfer the Russian membership to the new organisation.
News A complex maze of bureaucracy, along with the poor implementation of legislation and crossed communication between state services have paved the way for illegal construction activity in the forest of Mount Pendeli forest, in northern Athens, according to documents seen by Sunday’s Kathimerini. The region has seen a number of luxury homes pop up in more than a decade after a large fire in 1990.
News The first tree to have its full DNA code unravelled is a poplar. The genome of the black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa) was sequenced in a four-year international project led by US institutions. The work, reported in Science journal, shows the poplar tree has far less DNA in its cells than humans or other mammals, but twice the number of genes. Researchers say the new information will be a boon to the understanding of plant biology and evolution.
