News from the world of forests

Storm causes unprecedented damage to northern Europe's forestry sector (AFP)

A storm that lashed northern Europe at the weekend caused unprecedented damage to forests in Sweden and the Baltic states and now threatens to put hundreds of small forest owners out of business, industry officials said on Tuesday. In Sweden, the country hardest hit by the storm where seven people died, the Federation of Forest Owners, Skogsaegarna, estimated Tuesday that 60 million cubic meters of wood were uprooted or damaged in just several hours overnight Saturday to Sunday, in what it called a "national catastrophe". "That's the equivalent of four years of felling. And that's an average, which means that some small owners saw their entire property destroyed by the storm," federation chairman Christer Segersteen told AFP. The damage to Swedish forests is the worst in 100 years, the National Board of Forestry said. In 1969, two storms led to the loss of 35 million cubic meters of wood.

2005. January 15.

USDA moves to protect nation's trees from 'sudden death' syndrome (USA TODAY)

By Elizabeth Weise, Tough new federal regulations designed to protect the nation's flora against the devastating plant disease known as sudden oak death syndrome take effect today, requiring nurseries in California, Oregon and Washington to be inspected, tested and certified before they can ship out of state. As much as 20% of the nation's plant material is estimated to come from those states, according to the American Nursery and Landscape Association. All growers in those states - about 2,400 - must have their stock certified by officials of USDA's Animal Plant Health Inspection Service. And that means before spring, when millions of gardeners across the country will hit their local garden supply stores expecting shelves full of plants.

2005. January 15.

France to host major forum on species loss (AFP/ForestPress)

PARIS A major conference on biodiversity will take place in Paris from January 24-28, the French ministry of research said Monday. The forum, taking place at the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) headquarters, will be attended by 1,200 researchers, environmentalists and decision-makers, it said. The conference was sketched by French President Jacques Chirac at the G8 summit in Evian, France, in June 2003.

2005. January 15.

News

Greenies continue their old-growth vigil (Herald Sun)

CONSERVATIONISTS yesterday continued a protest to stop old-growth logging in Victoria's southeast. Spokesman Billy Dain said logging trucks had been turned away from the Ellery forest, 40km northeast of Orbost, since 3.30am on Wednesday. One woman sat in a wooden structure, 8m above an access road, while two others were on a 30m-high tree platform connected to logging machinery, he said.

2005. January 15.

Brazil loses swath of rain forest half size Switzerland (AFP)

BRASILIA Brazil lost more than 20,000 square kilometers (7,722 square miles) of Amazon rain forest in 2004, but the government said it will win it back. "For 2004, we do not have official data, but there is a trend that will come very close to 2003," when 23,750 square kilometers (9,169 square miles) environment minister Marina Silva said. The area of rain forest lost to settlers and farmers is greater than half the area of Switzerland, which is 41,290 square kilometers (15,942 square miles).

2005. January 15.

Afforestation programme drawn for TN coastal belt (Press Trust of India)

Nagapattinam The state forest department has drawn up a massive afforestation programme for the entire coastal belt to help prevent losses arising out of natural calamities. The department had already started planting casuarinas and coconut saplings in the badly affected villages of Keechankuppam and Seruthur, Shanta Sheela Nair, in charge of tsunami relief work in Nagapattinam district, told reporters on Wednesday.

2005. January 15.

EFNS – 2005 (ForestPress)

37th European Forest Nordic Skiing in Belarus (Raubichi, February 20–26, 2005) 37-TE EUROPÄISCHE FORSTSCHIWETTRENNEN IN BELARUS (RAUBITSCHI, 20–26 FEBRUAR 2005) Our dear guests and participants of the 37th European Forest Nordic Skiing in Raubichi/ Belarus!

2005. January 13.

Forestry Railway of Csömödér for the photographers (ForestPress)

Dear Railway Fans, We organise a special journey to the Forestry Railway of Csömödér, West Hungary in 15-16.01.2005. 15.01.2005. Freight train will run from Csömödér to Lenti by an Mk48 diesel engine, it will follow other passanger train for the photographers (it will run by a C-50 locomotive). Trains will start from Csömödér at 12.45. 16.01.2005. A special passenger train will goes to the line of Szilvágy (this is the northest line of the narrow-gauge railway network, it's without passenger traffic) with photostops. Train will run by a C-50 engine and it will start from Csömödér at 9.00.

2005. January 12.

Biomass: power from the forests (theunion.com/ForestPress)

Steve Jolley Californians face both a serious energy crisis and dangerously overcrowded forests. These challenges may share a potential solution: biomass energy. There's power in trees. Power in their branches and in the fiber left over from turning trees into lumber, furniture, and everything else for which we use these renewable resources. With demand for electricity frequently outstripping supply and nonrenewable fuels providing the vast majority of our electricity, this ought to be the moment for biomass energy facilities to come into their own.

2005. January 11.

SCOTLAND'S NATIONAL FORESTS LEAD THE WORLD (forestry.gov.uk/ForestPress)

Scotland's national forests have been hailed as being among the most sustainable in the world after receiving an international "green" stamp of approval for the second time. Forestry Commission Scotland has been re-certified as measuring up to the demanding standards of the UK Woodland Assurance Scheme (UKWAS), confirming that the country's public woods are being managed sustainably. This means that wood and other products from the forests can display the logo of the international Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) as an assurance to buyers that the wood has come from well managed, sustainable forests. Construction timber, signs, outdoor furniture and fencing, panelboards, paper and venison are among the FSC-certified goods produced from national forests across Scotland.

2005. January 9.

Elephants saved tourists from tsunami (Reuters)

By Mark Bendeich KHAO LAK, Thailand, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Agitated elephants felt the tsunami coming, and their sensitivity saved about a dozen foreign tourists from the fate of thousands killed by the giant waves. "I was surprised because the elephants had never cried before," mahout Dang Salangam said on Sunday on Khao Lak beach at the eight-elephant business offering rides to tourists. The elephants started trumpeting -- in a way Dang, 36, and his wife Kulada, 24, said could only be described as crying -- at first light, about the time an earthquake measured at a magnitude of 9.0 cracked open the sea bed off Indonesia's Sumatra island. The elephants soon calmed down. But they started wailing again about an hour later and this time they could not be comforted despite their mahouts' attempts at reassurance. "The elephants didn't believe the mahouts. They just kept running for the hill," said Wit Aniwat, 24, who takes the money from tourists and helps them on to the back of elephants from a sturdy wooden platform

2005. January 8.

Fire-threatened catchment a risk to city's water supply (nafi.com/ForestPress)

Melbourne's water supply is under threat from very high levels of bushfire fuel in its forested water catchments Melbourne's water supply is under threat from very high levels of bushfire fuel in its forested water catchments. The after-effects of intense bushfires could cause a dramatic, long-term decline in catchment runoff to Melbourne, experts have warned following a report that Canberra may have to build new storages sooner because of its 2003 forest fires. Botanist Peter Attiwill said severe bushfires in Melbourne's catchment, north and northeast of the city, could cut streamflow by 30 to 40per cent as fast-regrowing trees monopolised the water. If this happened, the city would have to rethink its water supply. "It takes about 60 years for that downturn (in streamflow) to become an upturn again," Dr Attiwill, principal fellow in botany at Melbourne University, said yesterday.

2005. January 7.

Could it have been home to complex societies? (Globe/ForestPress)

By Marion Lloyd, IRANDUBA, Brazil -- High along bluffs overlooking the confluence of the mighty Negro and Solomes rivers, super-sized eggplants, papayas and cassava spring from the ground. Their exuberance defies a long-held belief about the Amazon. For much of the last half-century, archeologists have viewed the South American rain forest as a ''counterfeit paradise" whose inhospitable environment precluded the development of complex societies. But new research suggests that prehistoric people found ways to overcome the jungle's natural limitations and thrive in large numbers. The secret, say the theory's proponents, is in the ground beneath their feet. The highly fertile soil called terra preta do indio, Portuguese for Indian black earth, was either intentionally created by these pre-Columbian people or is the accidental byproduct of their presence. The research has implications not only for history but for the future of the Amazon rain forest. If scientists could discover how the Amerindians transformed the soil, farmers could use the technology to maximize the productivity of smaller plots of land, rather than cutting down ever larger swaths of jungle. The benefits of this ''gi

2005. January 6.

USDA FOREST SERVICE PROVIDES 33rd CAPITOL HOLIDAY TREE (about.forestry.com/ForestPress)

This year's tree hails from Virginia's George Washington National Forest. WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service today proudly presented the annual "Peoples' Tree" to the nation, which will grace the lawn of the U.S. Capitol throughout the holiday season. The tree is from the George Washington National Forest--the first time the holiday tree has come from Virginia. "The USDA The Forest Service is once again delighted to give the holiday tree that graces the lawn of the nation's Capitol from one of our national forests," said Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman, who will make remarks at the tree lighting ceremony on Capitol Hill. "Thousands of people have already viewed this tree on its journey from Highland County, Va, to Washington, a 17-day trek that included stops in 33 communities.Thousands more will now have the opportunity to see it here on the Capitol lawn, as they come here to celebrate the joys of the holiday season. This year, Virginia's George Washington National Forest is honored to carry on the proud tradition."

2005. January 5.

World Bank to Purchase 100% Renewable Energy for Washington Headquarters

WASHINGTON - The World Bank has announced it will purchase renewable energy for all of its electricity usage at its Washington, D.C. office from WindCurrent, a Maryland-based company that sells wind power to the mid-Atlantic power grid. This purchase will represent enough electricity to power almost 8,000 average homes for a year, and is equivalent to eliminating the carbon dioxide emissions of more than 10,000 cars for a year or planting roughly 15,000 acres of trees, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency figures. Produced using conventional electricity sources, including coal and gas, this would have generated an estimated almost 60,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions. The bank will purchase 85,000,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of renewable energy certificates (RECs) which are allocated for each unit of power from a renewable energy power plant (such as a wind farm). “Wind power creates none of the hazardous emissions or mercury pollution that is associated with producing electricity from burning coal,” said Jim Maguire, the founder of WindCurrent. “The World Bank is serving as a role model for other organizations who want to be environmentally responsible.”

2005. January 5.

Animals, entire forests could migrate (Anchorage Daily News/ForestPress)

NEW REPORT: Climate change will push wildlife northward and upward. By JOEL GAY January 4, 2005 A new national report paints a bleak picture for the wilds of North America if global warming continues, with waterfowl struggling to find wetlands, game animals losing their protective cover and plants possibly unable to pollinate. In Alaska and northern Canada, where temperatures have risen faster than in most places, the effects could be heightened, according to the report distilled from hundreds of scientific papers by The Wildlife Society, an association of nearly 9,000 wildlife managers, research scientists, biologists and educators, based in Washington, D.C. "Global warming presents a profound threat to wildlife as we know it in this country," said Douglas Inkley, who chaired the committee that wrote the report. Among the eight co-authors were representatives from the Institute of Arctic Biology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, Mass., Stanford University's Institute for International Studies, Ducks Unlimited's Institute for Wetland and Waterfowl Research in Canada and the National Wildlife Federation.

2005. January 4.

Gifford Pinchot was one of America's leading advocates of environmental conservation (ForestPress )

Born into turn-of-the-century wealth, Pinchot was able to garner a forestry education in Europe, bring it back to North America and become it's first professional forester. He founded the United States Forest Service and organized the creation of the Society of American Foresters. Place of Birth: At his family's summer home in Milford, Connecticut Education: After graduating from Yale University in 1889, Gifford went abroad to study at L’Ecole Nationale Forestiere in Nancy, France. There were no forestry courses of study in the United States. Career Outline: Pinchot served as Chief Forester for President Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt's U.S. Forest Service, was a two-term governor of Pennsylvania in the 1920s and 30s and served as the president of the National Coast Anti Pollution League.

2005. January 3.

Giant cockroach among jungle find (BBC News/ForestPress)

The cockroach could be the largest in the world, at 10cm long. A "monster" cockroach and other new insects have been discovered in the jungles of Borneo, scientists say. An expedition of caves and cliffs, led by the Nature Conservancy, also said it saw previously unknown fish and plants. "In just five weeks, the expedition team discovered numerous new species previously unknown to science," the conservancy's Scott Stanley said.

2005. January 3.