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News The EU agriculture council welcomed commission proposals for a European biomass energy action plan on Tuesday. After a first ministerial discussion of the plan, released in December, they concluded that biomass "offers one of the best means to reduce" Europe's dependence on fossil fuels.
News The announcement that Senator the Hon Eric Abetz will become the new Minister for Forestry has been well received by NAFI. NAFI today welcomed the Prime Minister’s announcement that Senator the Hon Eric Abetz will become the new Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation.
News Drongo, Dicrurus paradiseus Imitation of other species is one of the most intriguing and mysterious aspects of birdsong. Often — as in the case of mockingbirds — there seems to be little connection between what the bird is imitating and what it is doing at that moment. But in the rainforests of Sri Lanka, a bird that travels in mixed-species flocks has learned to use the calls of other species in the same contexts that those species use them, to apparently signal an alarm.
News By Yereth Rosen, ANCHORAGE — A judge declared illegal Tuesday Alaska's controversial program of shooting wolves from the air to boost the population of moose and other game, prompting state officials to suspend the policy. Superior Court Judge Sharon Gleason said the Alaska Board of Game failed to follow its own requirements when it launched a program allowing private hunters to gun down wolves from an aircraft to remove the animals from the food chain.
News By Tracy Staedter The Fab Tree Hab weaves together branches to form living archways Growing a home from living trees instead of building a home from felled timber is the goal of an architect from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr Mitchell Joachim, part of the MIT Media Lab's Smart Cities Group, along with ecological engineer Dr Lara Greden and architect Javier Arbona, propose a home that is actually an ecosystem.
News The document outlines that the area affected by nature fires in 2005 had increased by 20% in comparison with 2004. At the same time, the number of hearths had dicreased by 15%. In 2006, the Ministry predicts an increase in nature fires on the territory of the Russian Federation, especially in Siberia and the Far East.
News By Hannes Mäntyranta Finns trust mostly in foresters and researchers as a source of forest and also forest biodiversity information. This is one of the results of the opinion poll ordered by the Finnish Forest Association. There are no major changes in the results of the recent Metsä ja puu (Forest and Timber) opinion poll compared to the previous ones. The poll is made every second year. Finnish citizens accept the activities of the Finnish forest sector very widely. Due to the same reason the support of the forest sector has not increased any more.
News Illegal timber 'a fact of life within the UK timber trade' says committee MPs from across the political spectrum today called for urgent legislation banning imports of illegal timber into the UK. They say new laws are needed to protect the world's forests and warn that 'time is running out.'
EUROPEAN FORUM International Conference Centre of Geneva Geneva, 23-27 January 2006 CLIMATE CHANGES : ENERGY AND MOBILITY "I do not have to guess at my future but to decide on it”. – Denis de Rougemont FEDRE - European Foundation for the Development of the Regions on the ManagEnergy During its annual European forums, FEDRE provides information and examples that may help the choices of regional and local authorities who are conscious of the responsibilities and new powers that decentralisation and urbanisation entail for them. To this end, FEDRE brings together political authorities, local, national and international decision makers and scientists who are competent in relevant areas.
Prahlad Goala, a reporter who recently wrote about illegal forestry operations in the northeastern Indian state of Assam, became the first journalist murdered this year, reported the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans fronti?res, RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
News A nature reserve in Cumbria has received a cash boost to help it protect one of the country's rarest birds of prey. RSPB Geltsdale, near Carlisle, has been given ?175,000 to help prevent the hen harrier's local extinction. The award will be spent on habitat management and direct protection. It is part of the enriching nature programme run by SITA Trust, which distributes funding through the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme.
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
News 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.
News 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.
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.
News 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.
News 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.
News 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.
