News

IPS, 25 May 2013 | Issues related to the ownership of forest carbon and to prior consultation mechanisms threaten to derail plans for the Reduction of Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation of Forests (REDD+) in some countries of Latin America, according to experts. The problems are hindering the design of Mexico's plan in the framework of the United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (UN-REDD). In Panama, they have prompted the country's indigenous peoples to withdraw from the programme. "The previous government let slip the opportunity of concluding the process for fear of social activism, especially on the part of indigenous people and campesino communities," Gustavo Sánchez, head of the Mexican Network of Campesino Forestry Organisations (Red MOCAF), told IPS.

The Times, 24 May 2013 | Come on Government of Canada. Get off the political water-wasting pot and get onto the composting toilet. Give us a really good reason to change our ways and I’m not talking about switching out our light bulbs and caulking the holes in our lives. If it’s an incentive program, then make it a real, honest-to-goodness incentive. Give us a reason to insulate, conserve, compost, recycle and reuse. Crack down on the big polluters. The race shouldn’t be to squeeze the last drop of oil out of the earth, it should be to find a viable alternative to ravaging, raping and looting. Put the brakes on big polluters buying their way out of hell and nip the carbon offset buying and trading in the bud. Take a deep breath and make us and them clean up the dirty acts.

Ontario has opened a new innovative training centre for water bomber pilots in Sault Ste. Marie.

The new centre is equipped with one of the most advanced flight training devices available, which simulates the sights, sounds and motions of the CL-415 water bomber aircraft used to fight forest fires in Ontario.

By eliminating the need to send pilots out of the province for training, the centre will provide a long-term, cost-effective solution for managing forest fires. It will also attract pilots from other areas to train and practise, helping to support the local economy.

Ontario’s Fleet

Want to learn more about Ontario’s fleet of forest fire fighting fixed-wing and rotary aircraft?

Ontario current has:

• Eurocopter EC 130 B4
• Canadair CL-415 Waterbomber
• Eurocopter AS 350 B2
• de Havilland DHC-2 Mark III Turbo Beaver with Amphibious Floats
• de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter with Amphibious Float

Click through the above links to learn more about each aircraft.

ForestTalk.com - Your source for Canadian forestry news

Survival International, 24 May 2013 | Survival International has received disturbing reports about an imminent eviction of several hundred Bushmen in southern Botswana to make way for a ‘wildlife corridor’. The Bushman community at Ranyane has allegedly been told by the local government that trucks will arrive on Monday to remove them from land they have inhabited for generations. Their houses will be destroyed. The Bushmen’s land is in a proposed ‘wildlife corridor’ which American organization Conservation International, whose Board members include Botswana’s President Khama, has pushed for over a period of many years. The land lies between the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) and the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and is also occupied by some settlers and farms.

By Thomas Hubert, CIFOR Forests News Blog, 24 May 2013 | As international donors consider funding programs targeting the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+), one of their key expectations is that beneficiary countries will provide sound monitoring and reporting on the state of their forests. A new study published by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) highlights the challenges facing the Democratic Republic of Congo in building capacity to manage international anti-deforestation assistance. With 180 million hectares of forested land spread across six countries, the Congo Basin rainforest is the second largest contiguous rainforest in the world. CIFOR’s regional coordinator for Central Africa, Richard Eba’a Atyi, previously worked as an expert on forest monitoring in Kinshasa, the DRC’s capital. Here he tells Forests News about his experiences.

By Valerie Gwinner, CIFOR Forests News Blog, 23 May 2013 | Smallholder farmers in Cameroon fell the trees in their fields simply to raise quick cash – but the practice could point to a new and sustainable way to make a living, according to forestry researchers. “What farmers don’t realize is that, collectively, they are now the biggest suppliers of the domestic timber market,” said Valentina Robiglio, lead author of a collaborative study by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and the Partnership for the Tropical Forest Margins (ASB) that looked at the ways Cameroonians integrate agriculture and small-scale logging. In selling timber from the trees in their fields, farmers are mainly just being opportunistic, despite having a good position in the value chain, Robiglio noted.

By Cristina Müller, CIFOR Forests News Blog, 21 May 2013 | Scientists are working with national authorities and local populations in the Congo Basin to develop multiple-use forest management systems, which sees forest resources optimized for sustainable production of forest products and services such as timber, water regulation, food production, cultural needs and energy demands. But Robert Nasi, Director of the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry, says few governments enforce this mechanism. “The political culture is not about sharing resources, it is about each small section making it for itself,” he said. “There is a fear that by joining forces with another ministry, separate government autarchies will lose their power.”

By Babatope Akinwande, CIFOR Forests News Blog, 20 May 2013 | Loggers in Central Africa could be driven out of business due to the high operating costs needed to comply with timber trade policies in Europe and the US, said experts from the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). “Loggers now have to now bear the costs of generating new forest management plans, verifying timber and issuance of a legality licence that meets the requirements of the EU and US,” said Richard Eba’a Atyi, CIFOR scientist and co-author of a new report on the impacts of international timber policies on Central Africa’s forestry sector. “This would amount to about US$5,000 per community forest – representing the average annual earnings of 10 community members.”

Reuters, 23 May 2013 | A tax on carbon dioxide emissions could help the United States mitigate climate change while significantly increasing government revenue, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said this week. President Barack Obama supports plans to price carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, tailpipes and factories that have been blamed for worsening climate change. Levying a tax on such emissions would both curb carbon dioxide pollution and become a meaningful source of federal revenue, the report concludes.

By Leslie Hook, Financial Times, 21 May 2013 | High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9221daf4-c221-11e2-ab66-00144feab7de.html#ixzz2UIJyRJI1 Operating details of China’s first pilot carbon-trading scheme, in Shenzhen, have been released as it gets ready to launch next month, and as the country prepares to roll out seven pilot schemes by 2014. The world’s biggest carbon emitter, China is planning to experiment with carbon trading schemes during the next three years as it seeks to cut emissions. Beijing is targeting a 40 per cent reduction in emissions relative to economic output by 2020, from 2005 levels, but hasn’t identified what means it will use to reach that goal.

By Dan Drollette, The Guardian, 20 May 2013 | The scope of the forest loss was highlighted earlier this month by the conservation group WWF, which noted that from 1973, near the end of the Vietnam War, to 2009, the greater Mekong region lost nearly one-third of its remaining forest cover. Vietnam and Thailand suffered the most forest destruction, each losing 43 percent of their forest cover, according to an analysis of satellite imagery by WWF.

UN-REDD Programme blog, 23 May 2013 | Mr. Timothy Boyle, Regional Coordinator to UN-REDD Programme said, “This website provides a one-step site to access all information about REDD+ in Cambodia. It does not supplant the web-sites of different partners, but rather serves to strengthen information flow for all partners. Few if any countries have established such a comprehensive national REDD+ web-site.”

By Job Bwire, New Vision, 23 May 2013 | Uganda loses nearly 100,000hectares of forest cover annually through encroachment, exposing the population to the risks and costly consequences of climate change. It is therefore for this reason that the Norwegian Embassy has pledged continued support to Uganda in form of increased funding in forest restoration, environment management and conservation as part of their micro-development projects in the country. The Norwegian ambassador to Uganda, Thorbjorn Gaustadsaether, said his country is ready to offer more support to Uganda. The envoy urged Ugandans to demonstrate positive response towards their (Norway's) effort in such projects.

By Nadya Natahadibrata, Jakarta Post, 23 May 2013 | Aceh Governor Zaini Abdullah on Wednesday defended his plan to clear the province’s protected forests, saying it is necessary to develop the province and that it would not affect the 1.2 million hectares of forests that some environmentalists have claimed it would. “We have to clarify that the amount of 1.2 million hectares is not true,” Zaini told reporters following a meeting with a number of environmentalists at the Norwegian Embassy in Jakarta on Wednesday. The governor said that the spatial planning bylaw draft proposed by his administration said that it would only convert 119,202 hectares of the nature sanctuary area (Kawasan Suaka Alam), nature preservation area (Kawasan Pelestarian Alam), protected forest, production forest and limited production forest areas, into other utilization areas.

By Satya S. Tripathi, Jakarta Post, 22 May 2013 | At a national workshop on Indonesia’s moratorium hosted by the United Nations earlier this month, noted Indonesian ecologist Sonya Dewi likened the moratorium to a durian. She spoke of its polarizing effect. People either love it or hate it. While at first glance, it may appear difficult and prickly, when broken apart, it can yield a nutritious and beneficial sustenance. Similarly, other participants noted that, in both Indonesian and global discussions on forestry and broader resource management, people often speak of “low hanging fruit” or “quick wins”. This refers to making short-term achievements that can maintain the momentum needed to institute long-term reforms necessary to achieve sustainability. Without a doubt, temporary gains in a positive direction are important.

By Hannah Hickey, Phys.org, 20 May 2013 | The Amazon rain forest, popularly known as the lungs of the planet, inhales carbon dioxide as it exudes oxygen. Plants use carbon dioxide from the air to grow parts that eventually fall to the ground to decompose or get washed away by the region's plentiful rainfall. Until recently people believed much of the rain forest's carbon floated down the Amazon River and ended up deep in the ocean. University of Washington research showed a decade ago that rivers exhale huge amounts of carbon dioxide – though left open the question of how that was possible, since bark and stems were thought to be too tough for river bacteria to digest. A study published this week in Nature Geoscience resolves the conundrum, proving that woody plant matter is almost completely digested by bacteria living in the Amazon River, and that this tough stuff plays a major part in fueling the river's breath.

By Andrea Booth, CIFOR Forests News Blog, 20 May 2013 | Mangroves that could protect Cameroon from rising seas may be subject to more pressure than they can bear, as people migrating to the country’s southwestern coast clear trees at a rate so fast they can’t regenerate, scientists at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) said. As the world grapples with the affects of climate change, it cannot afford to ignore these unique, watery worlds, said Bele Mekou Youssoufa, co-author of Vulnerability to coastal flooding and response strategies: the case of Cameroon mangrove forests. “Even if we negate all benefits of mangroves as forests, their value as the ‘shore-line protector’ should be enough to convince us to conserve them,” he said, noting the trees’ roots spread across a large area, soaking up water and encouraging sedimentation. That not only helps stabilise tidal and freshwater inputs, according to recent CIFOR research, but helps prevent soil erosion.

By Rhett A. Butler, mongabay.com, 20 May 2013 | Indonesia's top REDD+ official confirmed there is no plan to open 1.2 million hectares of protected forest in Sumatra's Aceh Province, calling into question numbers used by environmentalists in their bid to stop reclassification of the province's forest land. In a statement released Sunday, Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, head of the REDD+ Task Force and the President's Delivery Unit for Development, Monitoring & Oversight (UKP-PPP), said that the 1.2 million hectare figure comes from the difference between a plan proposed, but never implemented, by former governor Yusuf Irwandi and the new spatial plan drafted by current governor, Zaini Abdullah. “Our mapping team had reanalyzed existing data and documents and we have not found any evidence of plans to convert up to 1.2 million hectares of forests as cited recently by a number of groups,” said Kuntoro.

By Thomas Hubert, CIFOR Forests News Blog, 23 May 2013 | Legislation enacted in the past decade to slow forest loss in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is innovative, but implementing it remains a challenge according to a new report. Released today, a new publication by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and the Kinshasa-based Council for the Defense of the Environment through Legality and Traceability (CODELT) analyzed the legal framework for governing the world’s second-largest rainforest. They say that the DRC has made a major effort to get their forestry legislation in order.

By Jo Tuckman, The Guardian, 24 May 2013 | The national co-ordinating body of Panama's seven indigenous groups, known as Coonapip, this year withdrew from negotiations on how to apply the scheme in Panama. The groups allege that the emerging plan was turning into an underhand effort to weaken indigenous control over their land and chip away at resistance to potential exploitation of resources, from wood to oil. "We thought Redd was going to help us strengthen our rights over our territories because no one looks after the forests like we do," says Coonapip leader Betanio Chiquidama, who on Friday will outline the reason for the withdrawal at an event in New York to coincide with the UN permanent forum on indigenous issues. "It sought to do the opposite and we have lost all trust in the UN."