News The Stora Enso wood industry group plans to move its pulp production from Europe to new plants in South America, Asia and perhaps Russia. In the long run it is financially more advantageous to produce pulp from fast growing eucalyptus than from Nordic tree species. This piece of news was published by Dagens Nyheter, one of Sweden's biggest morning papers.
News No one should be exporting valuable resource overseas when it can be value added in Australia The CFMEU has called on Victorian saw millers to agree to changes to their log licenses banning the export of logs to countries such as China. The call has come after saw millers and the Liberal Party have called for the State Government not to export logs to China.
Archives Statement by Fülöp Benedek State Secretary, Chairman of the Hungarian National FAO Committee Ministerial Meeting on Forests Rome, Italy,14 March 2005 Mr. Chairman, Mr. Director General, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, It is my great pleasure to greet, on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Hungary the ministers, delegates and guests attending the Ministerial Meeting on Forests.
News Byline: David Cullen LONDON - UK farmers are to get state cash to help wildlife flourish, but green groups onFriday said the move was unlikely to repair much of the damage caused by years of intensive production. Britain's farm ministry this month launched a scheme that will see farmers in England receive money if they abandon part of their land to nature, creating habitats for all types of wildlife.
News The Finnish Forest Association has launched its new forest.fi-website. The most significant elements on the site are the news service and an information package called Forest Facts. The website will be published both in English and Finnish. The Forest Facts -portion of the forest.fi gives a clear and understandable picture of forest sector in Finland. It consists of short pieces of texts with links to graphics and other kinds of presentations.
News EU Forestry Strategy [7181/05]: EU Farm Ministers considered a future Action Plan for Sustainable Forest Management as part of a wider report on the EU Forestry Strategy published last week by Commissioners Fischer Boel, Verheugen (Enterprise) & Dimas (Environment) [see AF21-05].
News Mr John Browne TD, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food with responsibility for Forestry, today made the opening address to the ‘Forestry – Rural Development in Action’ conference in the Tullamore Court Hotel, Tullamore. Emphasising the positive contribution that forestry plays in Rural Development including the provision of some 16,000 jobs, the Minister made clear his determination to oppose the cuts in aid for forestry contained in the new EU Commission proposed Rural Development Regulation.
News Yesterday the Commission stepped up its efforts on forestry by proposing the preparation of an EU Action Plan for Sustainable Forest Management. The need for an Action Plan has emerged from a review of the activities implemented in the context of the EU Forestry Strategy since its adoption in December 1998. The review shows that forests can provide multiple benefits to modern society and that these benefits are increasingly appreciated by the public. There has been progress in the sustainable management of EU forests over the last years, but the policy context is changing and a more pro-active approach to governing the Union’s forests is needed in the future. The Commission believes that the development of an EU Action Plan for Sustainable Forest Management could provide the necessary impetus to transform the Strategy into a dynamic process capable of responding to the newly emerging expectations of society.
News GENEVA - Spain and the European Union must halt road and dam projects that are threatening the survival of the rare Iberian lynx, the WWF environmental organisation said in a statement on Wednesday. With only around 100 lynx left in and around Donana Natural Park in southern Spain, the animal could soon be the first big cat species to become extinct since the sabre-toothed tiger disappeared 10,000 years ago, the WWF said.
News A new ruling released today by the Australian Tax Office clarifies the tax rebates available to off-road forestry activities. The ruling has corrected an anomaly that meant forest industries paid substantial taxes on their fuel use whenever the public were allowed to use forestry roads.
News By Andrew Hay BRASILIA, Brazil — Brazil's move to lift a ban on the sale of genetically modified crops poses a serious threat to the country's endangered Amazon rain forest, environmentalists charged Friday. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva defied his environment minister, much of his party and his own campaign promises this week when he won legislation to allow the sale and planting of GMO plants -- most notably soy for export. Big farmers driving economic growth and biotechnology firms like Monsanto Co. supplying the seeds were seen as gaining from the controversial legislation awaiting Lula's signature into law. The legislation, which also cleared the way for research involving human embryonic stem cells, was cheered by many Brazilians who saw it as a step toward a modern Brazil.
News By JOHN WARD OTTAWA (CP) - Even if every Canadian met the government's "one-tonne challenge" to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the whole effort could be wiped out by a few big forest fires, researchers say. In a bad year, forest fires in Canada can produce pollution equal to that generated by industry. The National Forest Strategy Coalition says such fires across the country can produce 150 million tonnes of greenhouse gases in a single year - five times what the one-tonne challenge program would save. Just three fires that raged in British Columbia two summers ago pumped out 15 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.
Tisza River The most significant medieval collection of customary law in Hungary, the Tripartitum by Werbőczy (1521), provides evidence that the diversion of waters, flood control measures and the construction of mill-ponds was common practice as early as the 13th century. Another purpose of these early hydrological measures was to make rivers navigable, making it possible to float timber from the mountains and to ship the products of the royal salt mines in the Carpathian Mountains. An expansion of the population during the 18th century increased the demand for grain. To meet this need, extensive herding was gradually replaced by the production of field crops, and forests were converted to fields.
Archives Prompted by the results of extensive, careful preparatory studies, the government has adopted on the 15th of October, 2003 a decision on the most ambitious rural development program of past decades. According thereto, in Stage I of the new Vásárhelyi Plan (abbreviated in Hungarian as VTT), which covers the period terminating with 2007, six emergency reservoirs would be built along the Upstream- and Middle Tisza sections to enhance the level of flood safety in the region. The program reflects a new government philosophy, in that it takes as far as possible into consideration the interests of environmental protection and nature conservation.
News Nordic forest owner organisations reaction to the Commission proposal for a Council regulation on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD).
Sports Several rights of way in the Lake District National Park are being closed next month when a major rally takes place in and around Grizedale Forest. More than 100 cars will compete in the Malcolm Wilson Rally 2005 on Saturday 5 March, using forest roads on the western side of the Grizedale Forest complex, and on Forestry Commission land at Whinlatter and Wythop.
News By Tim Johnson NANXUN, China - China's voracious appetite for timber is threatening exotic forests as far away as Brazil, West Africa, Indonesia and Russia's Far East. Much of the timber bound for Chinese sawmills comes from countries where illegal logging is rampant. Environmental groups are sounding an alarm, saying the trade in illegal timber fosters corruption and encourages the devastation of some of the globe's most fragile regions.
News Governor Sonny Perdue and the Georgia Forestry Commission (GFC) celebrated Georgia Arbor Day 2005 by planting a Summer Red Maple Tree on the Capitol Grounds in Atlanta. “While most holidays are about celebrating some event that happened in the past, Arbor Day is about taking action for the future. The best way to learn about trees and to help maintain a healthy tree population is to get outside and plant a tree,” said Governor Sonny Perdue.
