News

Canadian Beetle Infestation Worries U.S. (Yahoo news)

GRANGEVILLE, Idaho - Northwest loggers are worried British Columbia may be forced to harvest as much as 21 million acres of forests to stop the mountain pine beetle, flooding the market and driving down timber prices. The infected forests in British Columbia make up an area roughly 40 percent the size of Idaho. To combat the beetles, the province is increasing allowable timber cuts 78 percent; big trouble for mills throughout the Northwest

2006. January 20.

Deep-rooted plants have much greater impact on climate than experts thought

Byline: University of California - Berkeley Trees, particularly those with deep roots, contribute to the Earth’s climate much more than scientists thought, according to a new study by biologists and climatologists from the University of California, Berkeley.

2006. January 19.

Shortage of good birch wood in Sweden (Nordic)

There is a shortage of birch wood for sawmills in Sweden. These last years birch has become a very popular wood for interior decoration and design, but most of that wood is consumed in the pulp industry. This shortage is most evident in the sawmills. Some of them have come to a standstill for lack of raw material.

2006. January 18.

News

Greening the Torino Winter Olympics: an EU success story (EU News)

Brussels, The upcoming 20th Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Torino in February and March, respectively, will be the first ever truly “green” major sports events in Europe. Both events will achieve this goal by making good use of EU voluntary environmental tools, in particular the EU eco-management and audit system (EMAS) and the European eco-label. At a press conference today, Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas congratulated the representatives of the Torino Winter Olympics Organising Committee (TOROC) for rigorously applying these EU standards and tools from the planning to the execution of work at the Olympic sites.

2006. January 18.

Feds lost millions logging (Associated Press)

By JEFF BARNARD GRANTS PASS, Ore. – The U.S. Forest Service lost more than $9 million logging trees burned by the massive 2002 Biscuit fire in southwestern Oregon, a review coordinated by the World Wildlife Fund has found. The conclusion, derived from an analysis by a retired forest policy expert for the Congressional Research Service, comes on the heels of a study out of Oregon State University that found salvage logging on Biscuit killed most of the seedlings that had generated naturally and increased fire danger in the short term.

2006. January 17.

The Norwegian Government wants more felling (Nordic)

Helge Evju We are happy to note that there is extensive political support for increased forest felling. We expect such a policy to result in concrete results in the form of an improved general situation for Norwegian forest owners, says Mr Helge Evju, President of the Norwegian Forest Owners' Federation. Recently the Norwegian Ministry for Agriculture and Food organized a meeting in Oslo concerning a national strategy for increased felling. Representatives of inter alia forest owners, the forest industry and nature conservation organizations attended.

2006. January 16.

Plants to blame for methane (Sydney Morning Herald)

By Richard Macey THE surprising discovery that plants may be responsible for up to 30 per cent of the world's methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, is no reason to stop planting forests, a scientist has warned. According to the research, living plants may produce between 60 million tonnes and 240 million tonnes of methane a year. It was already known that methane is released by decaying plant matter, as well as by the roots of plants in oxygen-starved environments, such as wetlands.

2006. January 16.

News

China adds 62 forest parks (United Press International)

China's State Forestry Administration announced Tuesday the creation of 62 more national forest parks Cao Qingyao, a spokesman for the forestry administration, said the new additions bring the total number of national forest parks in China to 627, covering a total of 400,000 square miles, Xinhua, the official government news agency, reported.

2006. January 15.

HORSE RIDERS CAN HAVE THEIR 'NEIGH' ON WOODLAND MANAGEMENT (ForestPress)

Horse riders who use Cannock Chase are being given an opportunity to have their say on the future management of the popular woodland. They are invited to trot along to the Birches Valley Forest Centre in Cannock Chase on Thursday 19th January between 2pm and 7:30pm to tell Forestry Commission staff what the Chase is like from riders’ point of view.

2006. January 14.

Illegal timber and its global trade (ForestPress/WWF)

Illegal timber and its global trade are now widely recognised as key threats to forest survival throughout the world. Not least among the players is the European Union (EU), which is now a major importer of such timber. Based on trade data for six key timber-producing regions – the Amazon Basin, the Baltic States, the Congo Basin, east Africa, Indonesia and Russia – this report explores how the EU is driving the illegal timber trade worldwide, and assesses the potential to limit illegal logging over the next 10 years.

2006. January 13.

Forwarder walks all alone (Nordic)

IT-experts at the Ume? University in Sweden have constructed the world's first self-walking forest forwarder. With the help of two computers and a lot of sensors the experimental machine manages a transport round all on its own.

2006. January 12.

Urgent Action Needed to Save Africa Lion (newsalerts.com)

Story by Ed Stoddard JOHANNESBURG - The "King of the Beasts" may not rule beyond this century unless urgent action is taken to protect remaining lion habitat and halt conflict between humans and the big cats, a leading conservationist said on Monday.

2006. January 12.

Green Week 2006 – Brussels (ForestPress)

Green Week 2006 will run from Tuesday 30 May to Friday 2 June. This time the focus will be on biodiversity: 2006 represents the half-way mark towards the EU’s target of halting the loss of biodiversity by 2010, and in spring 2006 the European Commission will publish a strategy paper on how to achieve this.

2006. January 11.

News

A warmer climate means more forests in Sweden (Nordic Family Forestry)

Today nobody can say for certain what consequences will follow from the present climatic changes. In Sweden warmer weather may have a positive impact on tourism and forestry, but other sectors of society, such as reindeer herding and fishing, will suffer.

2006. January 11.

Architects Call for Fifty Percent Reduction by 2010 of Fossil Fuel Used to Construct Buildings

Through its Board of Directors, The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has adopted position statements to promote sustainable design and resource conservation to achieve a minimum reduction of fifty percent of the current consumption level of fossil fuels used to construct and operate buildings by the year 2010.

2006. January 11.

Regent Denies Illegal Logging Caused Killer Landslide (paras indonesia)

By: Roy Tupai The head of Central Java's Banjarnegara regency has rejected claims by environmentalists that illegal logging contributed to Wednesday's (4/1/06) landslide that may have killed more than 200 people in Cirejuk village. Banjarnegara Regent H.M. Jasri said the landslide was caused solely by bad weather and because the village was located at the foot of a mountain.

2006. January 10.

News

Controversial forest study creates heat (CanWest News Service)

By Tom Spears Canada's trees not so cool: scientist CANADA'S forests may actually worsen global warming rather than cool the planet, says a controversial study by a Stanford University physicist and environmental scientist. This doesn't mean we should bulldoze forests to fight global warming, says Ken Caldeira. Forests are still valuable ecological features in many ways.

2006. January 9.

Russia set to transfer forest ownership to its regions (www.forest.ru)

Russia is set to devolve forest management authority from the Federal level to the regions. This will be the consequence if President Putin, as expected, signs a proposed law that introduces changes in various existing legislation, including the Forest Code. The draft legislation has already passed the Duma and the Federation Council and is expected to enter into force on January 1, 2006.

2006. January 9.