News from the world of forests

Rolling Stones Keyboardist Wins Prestigious ForestLeadership Award (ForestPress)

ForestLeadership is pleased to announce the final program of The Sustainability Challenge – its upcoming conference that will be held in Toronto on March 1-2, 2006. This year’s event is the seventh in a series of highly successful strategic conferences for industry leaders, policymakers and other decision makers. It is anticipated to be one of the year's most forward thinking and dynamic conferences for the North American forest sector.

2006. March 7.

Almost 1 900 000 km less driving for Swedish lorries (Nordic Familie)

Last year Swedish lorries drove a distance of more than 12.5 million miles (English miles), which is the equivalent of 500 laps around the equator. But it is possible to reduce this distance drastically and to save both money and to reduce environmental damage.

2006. March 7.

How effective is satellite monitoring of forest infractions? (www.forest.ru)

Every ruble invested into satellite monitoring of forest use in Arkhangelsk, brought less than 5 kopeeks in fines and forfeit in 2005. The total sum of penalty charges in 2005 for all kinds of forestry law violations in Arkhangelsk was 577,000 rubles (USD 20,458). At the same time, the total sum of expenses necessary to conduct the monitoring of forestry activities is 11,7 million rubbles (USD 414,829), or 20 times more than received in fines. It should be noted that not all of the violations in Arkhangelsk forest were detected through the satellite monitoring system. Many of the violations were detected thanks to the active work of inspectors of the Federal Service on Nature Use Supervision and leskhozes’ staff.

2006. March 6.

4th World Water Forum (ForestPress)

Local Actions for a Global Challenge March 16, 2006 - March 22, 2006 El Centro Banamex, Mexico City, México The main theme of the 4th World Water Congress will be "local actions for global challenge." The activities of the 4th World Water Forum will, therefore, seek to harness the practical, intellectual, financial, and political means to support local action on a global scale.

2006. March 6.

News

Sudden end of Norwegian green electricity certification (Nordic Familie)

Mr Norwegian Minister of Petroleum and Energy, has decided to put green electricity certification on ice. The new Government that took office last autumn promised to create a market for green certificates that would have resulted in considerable investments in renewable energy sources. Now this project has come to nothing.

2006. March 4.

Wild boar hunting may return to Britain (Telegraph)

By Andrew Davies The burgeoning wild boar population rooting around in Britain's woodlands needs to be culled to halt an impending environmental disaster, scientists said yesterday. Conservationists and wildlife specialists are calling on the Government to designate the ferocious creatures as game, paving the way for boar hunting seasons.

2006. March 2.

New scientific discoveries may revolutionize forestry (Nordic)

Researchers in the Ume? Plant Science Service at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences will shortly present a new discovery that may have much impact on future forestry. They attracted much attention in the scientific community last autumn when they solved a problem that has remained a mystery for almost a century. What makes flowers bloom?

2006. March 1.

China plants trees in bid to save forest (AP)

China has planted 12 billion trees over the past five years in an effort to restore its scarce forest cover and combat flooding and the loss of farmland blamed on excessive tree-cutting. The new trees, many planted by volunteers, covered 80 million acres, Jia Zhibang, director of the State Forestry Administration said at a news conference in Beijing on Monday.

2006. March 1.

PRESIDENT'S FY 2007 BUDGET ADVANCES GOALS OF HEALTHY FORESTS INITIATIVE (ForestPress)

PRESIDENT'S FY 2007 BUDGET ADVANCES GOALS OF HEALTHY FORESTS INITIATIVE AND MEETS TARGETS OF THE NORTHWEST FOREST PLAN Budget also proposes measure for continued payments to states for rural economic development WASHINGTON – The USDA Forest Service will receive $4.9 billion for the sustainable management of America's 155 national forests and 20 grasslands, as part of the President's fiscal year 2007 budget.

2006. February 28.

Finland: Forest industry on paper consumption (finland.fi)

HELSINKI,— According to special researcher Lauri Hetemäki of the Finnish Forest Research Institute, consumption of newsprint and office paper is decreasing in the Western countries. He expects also demand for magazine paper to decrease in the long run as the electronic media becomes more common.

2006. February 26.

Sixth Session of the United Nations Forum on Forests February 25, 2006 (ForestPress)

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).

2006. February 25.

EU commits 40 mln eur to China energy, environment project (AFX)

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.

2006. February 25.

Press room

Farm advisory service conference

Farm advisory service - the topic of 2006 and of our this year’s conference - as part of an integrated rural area solution. We cordially invite you to attend the International PROGIS-Conference 2006, which will take place on April 19 - 20 in Vienna.

2006. February 24.

Press room

FOREST SERVICE AND BLM ANNOUNCE 2006 FEDERAL GRAZING FEE

The Federal grazing fee for Western public lands managed by the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management will be $1.56 per animal unit month (AUM) in 2006, down from $1.79 in 2005. The newly adjusted fee, determined by a congressional formula and effective on March 1, applies to more than 8,000 permits administered by the Forest Service and nearly 18,000 grazing permits and leases administered by the BLM.

2006. February 24.

Press room

FOREST SERVICE CHIEF FILLS TWO TOP POSITIONS IN RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

USDA Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth today announced Dr. Bov Eav as the director of the Pacific Northwest Research Station (Portland, Ore.) and Dr. Jim Reaves as associate deputy chief of research and development for the national headquarters. Eav currently serves as associate deputy chief of research and development here at the national headquarters. He replaces Thomas Quigley, who recently retired.

2006. February 24.

Bush Proposes Sale of National Forest Lands (ForestPress)

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.

2006. February 24.

New FAO website helps foresters cope with invasive species (ForestPress)

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.

2006. February 23.

Sixth Session of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF-6) (ForestPress)

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.

2006. February 22.