News Continent leads the world in forest fires Rome/Maputo – The net rate of forest loss in Africa is the second highest in the world, while the continent leads the globe in the frequency of forest fires, FAO told the African Forestry and Wildlife Commission at its meeting this week (29 March – 1 April) in Maputo, Mozambique.
News WASHINGTON - Agriculture Under Secretary Mark Rey today announced that the public will have another month to comment on a list of forest lands that would be available for sale in a proposal to provide funding to extend the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (SRS).
HIROSHIMA – The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and environmental equipment start-up Juon in April will start jointly researching technology for producing ethanol from waste wood and other substances. Their goal is to create the alternative fuel while holding down production costs to about 40 yen per liter.
News MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay - Finnish pulp and paper company Metsa-Botnia announced on Sunday it will suspend construction of a mammoth pulp mill in Uruguay for up to 90 days to allow Uruguay and Argentina to study the project's environmental impact. Botnia and Spain's Ence are building two pulp mills worth a combined $1.7 billion along the Uruguay River, which forms a natural border between Uruguay and Argentina.
News By Alister Doyle OSLO - Worms, bacteria and beetles living below ground are part of the largest and least known trove of life on earth that could have spinoffs from farming to pharmaceuticals, a UN report said on Wednesday. "We know little of what is living below our feet...yet it is vital to sustaining life on earth," said Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, which is hosting March 20-31 talks in Brazil.
News The Chinese market imports more than 50% of timber from countries where illegal logging is rife and where deforestation is destroying the lives of the “poorest communities in the world”. Jakarta– China is the main channel for illegal logging in Asia while the United States, Europe and Japan are the key markets for timber products and furniture coming from countries where the illicit practice is widespread and human rights are ignored.
News Policies Fostering Investments and Innovations in Support of Rural Development taking into account forest owners perspective on enhancing economic viability through cooperation and innovation 27-29 March 2006 Hotel Kaskády, Sliač, Sielnica (near Zvolen), Slovakia
News WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration formalized its plan to sell more than 300,000 acres of national forest to help pay for rural schools in 41 states, submitting legislation to Congress on Thursday to funnel $800 million to the schools over the next five years. The schools would get $320 million next year, but the figure would drop sharply after that, to just $40 million in its final year, officials said. That would be a 90 percent decrease from current spending -- a figure Western lawmakers called unacceptable.
News Introduction Significant improvements to all aspects of Australia’s forest industries have been delivered over the past 20 years. This is highlighted by a range of major achievements that support the sustainable management of forests and plantations to provide wood for the timber and paper industries, jobs for rural communities and improved environmental outcomes.
Great Ape Survival Project (GRASP) Partnership side event announcement - CBD CoP8, Curtiba, Brazil (event no.219) Title: UNEP/UNESCO Great Apes Survival Project - Can the UN Save the Great Apes (and their Biodiverse Habitats)? When: 13:15 - 15:00, 30 March 2006 Where: Room B1-4 Level 0, Expo Trade and Exhibition Centre, Curtiba, Brazil
Press room We would like to invite you to participate in an International Conference CONFERENCE LANGUAGES: Polish/English (simultaneously DATE AND PLACE: 29-30.06.2006 GROMAN Hotel - Sękocin Stary (14 km from Warsaw) ORGANISER: Forest Research Institute in Warsaw (www.ibles.waw.pl) SCIENTIFIC BOARD: Zbigniew Sierota, Andrzej Kolk, Kazimierz Rykowski, Marian Suwała, Stanisław Zaj±c, Jan Zaj±czkowski
News Swedish production of sawn timber hit a new record in 2005. Preliminary statistics indicate that production reached 17.8 million m3. That is an increase of about 6 % in comparison with the last record year 2004. In 2005 Swedish production of paper and cardboard reached 11.7 million tons, which is an increase of 1 % in comparison with 2004.
News Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov ordered a forest planted to change his desert nation's climate the latest of the autocratic leader's elaborate projects that include an artificial lake and an ice palace. Niyazov said that the new "millennial" cypress forest will cover an area of 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles).
News European Tourism Ministers’ Conference in Vienna, 20–21 March A total of around 250 ministers, experts and representatives from various organisations and the tourism industry will meet at the European Tourism Ministers’ Conference in Vienna, the capital of Austria, with the aim of placing more emphasis on the role of tourism as a source of growth and employment in political discussions and policy-making. The two-day discussion forum will analyse special issues related to growth and employment in the tourism industry and, for the first time, discuss, upon the European Commission’ s proposal, a new tourism policy within the EU. Erkki Virtanen, Permanent Secretary, will represent Finland at the conference.
News Guatemala – A wild fire is turning into ashes the emblematic Tikal National Park in northern Guatemala, a historical area UNESCO declared World Heritage. Josué Morales, from the National Forest Fire Control and Prevention System, confirmed Tuesday that the disaster began in a distant zone from the archaeological center and units from that institution are intensively working to put out the fire.
News By MERAIAH FOLEY CAIRNS, Australia - The most powerful storm to hit Australia in three decades laid waste to its northeastern coast Monday, mowing down sugar and banana plantations with 180 mph winds but causing no deaths or serious injuries. Innisfail, a farming town of 8,500 located about 60 miles south of the tourist city of Cairns, was hardest hit, and Mayor Neil Clarke estimated that thousands of residents were left homeless.
News By Mark Ward The US is in danger of running out of honey bees to pollinate its almond crop - the country's number one horticultural export. February and March are the crucial months for almond growers, as this is when trees blossom and need pollinating. At this time of year, owners of commercial hives take their valuable cargos to California, where almost 80% of the world's almonds are grown, to service the blossom.
News Kosice, Earth Slovakia This year´s long winter has brought probably the largest number of timber thieves to the forests of eastern and central Slovakia over the past years, forest managers have told journalists, adding that the damage has climbed up to millions of crowns.
