News

Engineers to Build Everglades Reservoir (Associated Press)

Lake Okeechobee By Brian Skoloff IN THE EVERGLADES, Florida — Engineers next month will begin building one of the world's largest manmade reservoirs - the size of a small city - as efforts continue to restore natural water flow to the Everglades. The reservoir, roughly 25 square miles in area, is set for completion in 2010. It will hold 62 billion gallons of water, equivalent to about 5.1 million residential swimming pools, and will be seven miles across at its widest point.

2006. August 1.

Fire rages in Brazil’s Atlantic forest following dry spell (Associated Press/ForestPress)

A fire raged yesterday through a rain forest along Brazil’s eastern coastline, burning up to 25,000 acres of trees, firefighters said. The fire in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest remained out of control late yesterday, said firefighters from the municipality of Mage, 50 miles northeast of Rio de Janeiro.

2006. July 31.

Lumber duties unlawful (ForestPress/ canada.com)

U.S. court Gordon Hamilton, CanWest News Service VANCOUVER - The United States Court of International Trade ruled lumber duties are unlawful Friday, handing Canadian lumber producers a victory in their battle with the United States over softwood lumber. But with an agreement already initialled by the two countries and ready to be introduced in Parliament this September, the deal already in hand is the one Canada intends to go ahead with, said a spokesman for International Trade Minister David Emerson.

2006. July 30.

Hard life may get harder for caribou (www.thestar.com/ForestPress)

By CAMERON SMITH Ontario's herds face many threats They are elusive and, well, gracious, which the dictionary defines as affable and, in a loose sense, elegant. The forest-dwelling woodland caribou, in turn, define the wilderness in Ontario's boreal forest. They are an indicator species — and they may be doomed. Already they are designated as threatened.

2006. July 26.

Powerpoints of UNEP's Atlas released for educational purposes (ForestPress)

One Planet, Many People: Atlas of Our Changing Environment provides a comprehensive, visual presentation of scientifically verifiable information about changes in the global environment, shown through state-of-the-art remote sensing technology.

2006. July 25.

News

World 'needs new wildlife body' (BBC News)

By Richard Black The world needs a new global organisation dedicated to stemming the loss of plant and animal species. That is the argument put forward by a group of eminent academics in this week's edition of the journal Nature. They call for the establishment of an Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity (IPB) to parallel the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

2006. July 24.

Haifa Zoo Locks Up Animals to Stop Them Escaping (Reuters)

HAIFA, Israel - Staff at Israel's Haifa zoo have locked the lions and tigers in bomb proof cages to stop them escaping if there is a hit from a Hizbollah missile. "If a rocket hits the open-air pen and one of the carnivores escapes into the city, it would not be a nice prospect," said head keeper Yoav Ratner. "Thankfully the night rooms are secure -- they are like bomb shelters."

2006. July 24.

Fine for bird poison gamekeeper (BBC/ForestPress)

An Aberdeenshire gamekeeper who poisoned wild birds and kept illegal pesticides has been fined 850. Hector McNeil, who worked on Glenbuchat estate for 30 years, had admitted killing a raven, of which there are only two breeding pairs in Grampian.

2006. July 21.

Welcome to Passport in Time! (ForestPress)

Passport in Time (PIT) is a volunteer archaeology and historic preservation program of the USDA Forest Service (FS). PIT volunteers work with professional FS archaeologists and historians on national forests throughout the U.S. on such diverse activities as archaeological survey and excavation, rock art restoration, survey, archival research, historic structure restoration, oral history gathering, and analysis and curation of artifacts. The FS professional staff of archaeologists and historians will be your hosts, guides, and co-workers.

2006. July 20.

Forest owners want to ensure socially sustainable rural areas (Nordic Family/ForestPress)

In their new programme for sustainable forestry Finnish private forest owners emphasize the importance of forestry for the viability of rural areas. They also underscore the importance of profitable forestry for maintaining biodiversity in nature. The Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners, MTK, that is also the interest group of Finnish private forest owners, has published a programme for sustainable family forestry. This program is an update of the previous programme for forest biodiversity from the year 2000. The new program supplements the previous one by emphasizing that forestry must also be socially and financially sustainable.

2006. July 19.

UN Adds 18 Sites to Heritage List, But Not Everest (Reuters/ForestPress)

Story by Darius James Ross VILNIUS - Mediaeval crusader castles in Syria and ancient irrigation systems in Oman were among 18 new cultural and natural sites added to the UN's World Heritage list this week, officials said on Thursday. UNESCO, the UN environmental and cultural body, also added the Vizcaya Bridge in Spain and the mining landscapes of Cornwall and West Devon in Britain.

2006. July 19.

Armenia Tree Project (ForestPess)

ATP Plants Over 340,000 Seedlings During Large Scale Reforestation of Getik River Valley This Spring Brings Total Number of Trees Planted by ATP This Spring to 487,200 YEREVAN – Armenia Tree Project (ATP) expanded its reforestation program by planting 343,750 trees in the Getik River Valley of the Gegharkounik region north of Lake Sevan in April-May 2006. Plantings on two massive forest plots covered a total of 400 acres with indigenous species of trees, including chestnut, maple, ash, oak, walnut, wild apple, and wild pear.

2006. July 17.

Coed Llandegla Forest (ForestPress)

The one of the largest privately-owned recreation facilities in North Wales. Coed Llandegla Forest covers 650 hectares and was planted in 1972/73. It is owned and managed by Tilhill. Established for over 50 years, Tilhill is the UK market leader in forestry and timber harvesting. It provides services to owners of over 200,000 hectares of woodland, and manages 22,000 hectares in Wales alone.

2006. July 14.

News

Typhoon Leaves at Least Six Dead in South Korea (Reuters/ForestPress)

SEOUL - A typhoon that killed more than 30 people in China killed at least six in South Korea where it cut a path of destruction across the peninsula with floods and landslides, officials said on Tuesday. Typhoon Ewiniar was headed out to sea after it came over the Korean peninsula on Monday, first striking the southwest coast, and then heading on a northeast track.

2006. July 14.

Soaring demand for biofuels could cut into food supplies, study says

By: DENNIS BUECKERT OTTAWA (CP) - Abrupt climate change may soon force governments to choose between feeding people and fuelling SUVs, a respected investment firm says in a new study. Toronto-based Sprott Asset Management says global warming is occurring faster than expected and rising demand for so-called green fuel will cut into food supplies.

2006. July 13.

Vanuatu is world's happiest country (AFP/ForestPress)

LONDON – The tiny South Pacific Ocean archipelago of Vanuatu is the happiest country on Earth, according to a study published Wednesday measuring people's wellbeing and their impact on the environment. Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica and Panama complete the top five in the Happy Planet Index, compiled by the British think-tank New Economics Foundation (NEF).

2006. July 13.

Renewable Resources – Sustainable Future (Nordic Family/ForestPress)

One of the forest based sector related events during the just started Finnish EU precidency will be the forum “Renewable Resources – Sustainable Future”. Helsinki, November 2, 2006

2006. July 11.

B.C. Forest Service predicting long forest-fire season (ForestPress)

David Carrigg, The Province It's going to be a long, hot and possibly fearsome forest-fire season, says veteran firefighter Stan Harvey. "There's a low snowpack, it's really dry, and the buildup index is so high now," said Harvey, referring to the layer of flammable material on the forest floor. "I haven't seen conditions this dry, so early, in a long time."

2006. July 10.