2 211 articles
News UN Headquarters, New York (UNFF-6) – On Friday, 24 February, the sixth session of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF-6) met on its last day, with still many outstanding issues remaining regarding the future international arrangement on forests (IAF).
News The European Union (EU) will contribute 40 mln eur to China for a program focused on energy and the environment, EU energy commissioner Andris Piebalgs said. He also told media in Beijing that the EU will contribute 5.0 mln eur for a phase one feasibiltiy study for near zero emission power plant projects in China under a memorandum of understanding signed with the Chinese government.
News The Bush administration’s FY 2007 federal budget includes a proposal to sell off over 300,000 acres of National Forest land and other public land managed by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Hoping to increase revenues, the White House projects raising over $1 billion from the sale of National Forest and BLM public land from California to West Virginia.
News Invasive prosopis juliflora Comprehensive source of information on growing problem Rome - FAO has created a new online database and website about invasive species introduced from foreign ecosystems which can negatively impact forests as a tool to help foresters deal with this growing problem.
News 13-24 February 2006 UN Headquarters, New York The UN I T E D N A T I O N S STATEMENT BY JOSÉ ANTONIO OCAMPO UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL AFFAIRSTO THE SIXTH SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS FORUM ON FORESTS New York, 13 February 2006 Madam Chair,Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen:The United Nations Forum on Forests stands at a critical juncture. Since the fifth session could not complete its consideration of the review and future actions, the sixth session of the Forum confronts the same challenges it faced last year: to chart the way ahead for the Forum after its first five years and adopt an effective method of work.
News The European Union is proposing a collaborative scheme with the Indonesian government to allow its members to inspect wood-based imports from Indonesia, such as plywood and wood panels, as part of the EU's efforts to help the country curb illegal logging. "We hope that we can arrive at an agreement on the matter with the Indonesian government by the end of this year or early next year," the EU's natural resources program manager for Indonesia, Vernon Copeland, told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of a workshop on illegal logging organized by the Forestry Ministry on Wednesday. Forestry Minister Malam Sambat Kaban, in a speech to the workshop, urged the European Union to bar its members from importing illegally felled timber.
News Connection between Forestry Education Programs in Hungary and British Columbia Continues Nearly fifty years ago, a significant portion of the students and professors of the Sopron Forestry School (now University of West-Hungary (UWH)) left Hungary because of the political situation there after the 1956 uprising. Looking for a place to continue their education while stationed in Austria, the University of British Columbia (UBC) adopted them and gave them a chance to continue their education in their own language. Indeed, this was a unique emigration, unparalleled in history. After the completion of their education, more than 80% of the graduates and their professors found employment in BC and Canada and most of them became proud and productive citizens of their new country.
News By Berhe W. Aregay Addis Ababa – A good number of countries, perhaps because they can afford other forms of energy other than that from fuel wood, see the importance of forests more in terms of the role they play in helping keep the countryside unspoiled. That in itself is, of course, a worthy characteristics of forests that even energy- challenged countries could perhaps appreciate and make their own.
News Last year the costs for tending private forests increased somewhat in comparison with 2004 and amounted to 170 million euro. Forest owners paid two thirds, i.e. somewhat over 100 million euro. State subsidies covered about one third.
News By Carey Gillam KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A coalition of farmers, consumers and environmental activists Thursday sued the U.S. government over its approval of a biotech alfalfa that critics say will spell havoc for farmers and the environment." Opening another front in the battle over genetically modified crops, the lawsuit contends that the U.S. Department of Agriculture improperly is allowing Monsanto Co. to sell an herbicide-resistant alfalfa seed while failing to analyze the public health, environmental, and economic consequences of that action.
News Background paper for the Country-Led Initiative in Support of the UNFF “Scoping for a future agreement on forests” Berlin, Germany 16-18 November 2005. by Richard G. Tarasofsky Head, Energy, Environment and Development Programme Chatham House Lauren Flejzor PhD. Candidate, London School of Economics and Political Science Executive Summary This background paper aims to inform the discussions at the Country Led Initiative in Support of the UN Forum on Forests (UNFF) “Scoping for a future agreement on forests”, in Berlin, Germany, 16-18 November 2005.
News The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has issued their findings on the trade dispute over biotech crops. This case was brought forward by the US, Canada and Argentina against the European Union. The complainants have also been supported by a number of other countries including Australia, Brazil, Chile, China, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Paraguay, Peru, Thailand, Uruguay. The case was not brought forward by the biotechnology industry.
News We are supposed to be heading for another Ice Age. But during the latest 100 years the timber line in the fells has been creeping upwards. Surely this is a sign that we are headed towards a warmer climate instead. We have to go back some 6000 or 7000 years to find an equally high timber line. Presumably the climate is also warmer now than it has been for 7000 years.
News China published and on market The comprehensive 600 pages Timber Structure Handbook, fully adapted to China market, was published and distributed to book stores in December 2005. The Handbook comprises modern wood structure technology, like wood frame construction and hybrid construction (combination of wood frame and concrete structure) and timber grading standards including machine and visually grading of European species and more.
News United Nations Forum on Forests – Sixth Session UN Headquarters, New York, N.Y. , U.S.A. Room 5, 1-3pm, February 20th, 2006 The Forest Investment Attractiveness Index (IAIF, from its Spanish name) is a new instrument that has the general objective of measuring the business climate for investments in sustainable forest businesses. It allows the systematic, periodic, quantitative and more rigorous analyses of the factors that affect the success of forest direct investments and business decision-making.
News JAKARTA - Indonesia will miss a deadline to move tens of thousands of people made homeless by the 2004 tsunami into temporary houses because of problems obtaining timber, a senior government official said on Wednesday.
News In a poll conducted by the Finnish Forest Research Institute people want the moose population to be reduced. One third of those replying think that the moose population should be at least 20 per cent smaller than in the spring of 2004. The main reason for wanting to reduce the moose population is the traffic hazard. Another reason is the large damage they are causing to the young forest stands in some regions. About on fourth of those replying thought that on national level its size is appropriate.
By Alan Cane Scientists at the University of Colorado have uncovered a new example of the way the Earth, left to its own devices, maintains an equilibrium between itself and climatic conditions. The Earth as a self-regulatory organism is the central idea of James Lovelock's Gaia theory that is gathering credibility with environmental experts.
