There is a massive re-rating of native forest going on, even as world resolve to tackle climate change crumbles. Deforestation accounts for roughly 20 per cent of our greenhouse problem, on the ''sink'' side of the ledger (because it's not just about how much gas we pump up into the atmosphere - by clearing trees we damage the planet's ability to suck it back down).
Prof. dr. Helias Udo de Haes (CML), member of the Dutch Timber Procurement Assessment Committtee (TPAC), describes the newest development on the advice of the committee about forestry in Malaysia to the Dutch government.
A new woody biomass procurement project, launched by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), has attracted support from Forestry Research Associates (FRA).
The research and advisory consultancy provides fresh outlooks and consultancy services on all matters surrounding forestry investment, sustainability and forestry management and has spoken out in support of the new pilot scheme. The plan is to support sustainable forestry management by helping US-based bioenergy companies to purchase woody biomass.
The Brazilian computerised system for data recording in timber operations and trade called “Document of Forest Origin” (DOF) will be shared with other Latin American countries and also with South Africa, China and Russia according to the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Natural Resources (IBAMA).
Wood products from British Columbia traditionally have moved south to the United States by way of rail or truck, and to a lesser degree, by sea.
Now with the demand for British Columbia’s wood soaring in China, and drastically weakening in the U.S., lumber is hitting a transportation bottleneck at B.C.’s ports.
Ontario has chosen the winners of its wood supply competition and notices have gone out to the applicants.
The goal of Ontario’s wood supply competition was to attract new investment in the forest sector, support new and innovative ventures to stimulate Ontario’s economy and build an industry of top performers – both existing and new.
There are some reports in the media already of those who have been rejected.
$1.2 million in federal-provincial funding for the First Nations Forest Sector Technical Support Program will help First Nations with economic development in the forest and wood products industries, announced Minister of State (Sport) Gary Lunn and Minister of Forests, Mines and Lands Pat Bell.
West Africa’s Guinean Rainforest once stretched unbroken from Guniea to Cameroon. Today, however, just 18% of the forest remains, in part due to the rapid expansion of slash-and-burn agriculture by small farmers growing cocoa, the source of chocolate. Enabling chocolate farmers to buy better seeds and more fertilizer — and boost production without felling more trees – may be one the best and cheapest ways to save the remaining forest, argues a new analysis. But the “fertilizers for forests” strategy faces major hurdles.
World forests are in the spotlight for good reasons. Deforestation and forest degradation continues at an alarming rate. The multiple crises of climate, finance and food require the need for action to limit deforestation and to manage our forests sustainably. This is necessary in order to mitigate climate change and to adapt forests to changes in temperature, water supply and other factors affected by changes in climate.
Local communities already help manage over 25% of the world’s forests through what is called Participatory Forest Management (PFM). Tom Blomley, forestry advisor for the Danish government’s international aid agency, DANDA, explores PFM’s successes and shortcomings, and how lessons learned can be applied to the United Nations’ Collaborative program, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation.
