Poland's environment ministry has a plan for a huge increase in logging in Europe's last great primeval forest, writes Zachary Davies Boren. Officials claim it's to control bark beetles. But ecologists say the insects are regulated naturally within the forest ecosystem, while logging threatens huge damage to irreplaceable biodiversity.
… Energydesk | 18th February 2016 News Forests Biodoversity Ecology UNESCO Poland … biodiversity. One of Europe's oldest forests is under threat from a new logging …
India's neoliberal government is attempting the mass seizure of indigenous lands, commons and forests in order to hand them over for corporate exploitation with mines, dams and plantations, writes Pushpa Achanta. But tribal communities are rising up to resist the takeover, which is not only morally reprehensible but violates India's own laws and international human rights obligations.
… India's Indigenous Peoples organise to protect forests, waters and commons Pushpa Achanta … November 2015 News India Indigenous Peoples Forests Water Energy Law Human Rights Mining … mass seizure of indigenous lands, commons and forests in order to hand them over for …
Financed by the World Bank, the Kenya Forest Service has intensified its illegal campaign of evictions, arson, beatings and arrests of the Sengwer forest people of the Embobut forest, Dean Puckett reports from the Cherangani Hills. And behind the violence lies the lure of hard cash - from the prospect of selling the forest's carbon to international financiers.
… Puckett REDD Monitor | 7th December 2014 News Forests Indigenous Peoples Law Climate Change … a financial value for the carbon stored in forests, offering incentives for developing …
A growing protest movement is demanding strong controls on international investors and logging companies buying up Romania's forests, writes Raluca Besliu. In its sights is Austria-based Schweighofer, which stands accused of criminal malpractice and accepting illegal timber shipments. The popular outrage stirred up by corporate misdeeds is now stimulating a wider democratic revival.
… Romania's 'occupy forests' movement demands clampdown on … Raluca Besliu | 21st August 2015 News Romania Forests Regulation Law Corporations Politics … and logging companies buying up Romania's forests, writes Raluca Besliu. In its sights …
The European Union's top court ruled today that increased logging in Białowieża broke EU nature laws. The Polish government must now reverse decisions that allowed logging, or face fines of up to tens of millions of euros. CATHERINE EARLY reports
… The forest is one of Europe’s last primeval forests, a Natura 2000 site, and a World …
This month wood pellet mills in the southern US that supply the UK's Drax power station were awarded 'sustainability' certificates under a voluntary scheme governed entirely by energy companies. The certificates provide no credible guarantee that the fuel does not come from ecologically valuable natural forests and wetlands, clear-cut and replaced by industrial plantations.
… | 18th August 2016 Comment Biofuels Forests Energy Sustainability Corporations UK … not come from ecologically valuable natural forests and wetlands, clear-cut and replaced … impacts of large-scale biomass electricity on forests and on the climate. Media reports …
The Polish government has been ignoring a temporary ban on logging in the Białowieża Forest since July. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) is now taking unprecedented action to protect the best-preserved primeval forest in Europe. CATHERINE EARLY reports
Poland ordered to immediately halt logging or pay massive fine Catherine Early | 21st November 2017 News Law Nature Habitat Forest Poland Logging bialowieza_forest_protest_-_catherine_early.jpg The …
Two new reports say existing forest and ocean systems offer the most cost effective way to capture and store carbon - far cheaper than industrial Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology
… Forests and oceans more effective than carbon … CCS amazon-rainforest.jpg Local ownership of forests is the best guarantee against their … there is more potential than we realise for forests to act as carbon 'sinks'. The study …
Richard Brooks spoke out against the destruction of Canada's publicly owned boreal forests and loss of caribou habitat. His reward - a $7 million lawsuit from the country's biggest logger, Resolute.
… Richard Brooks | 25th February 2014 Comment Forests Canada Politics Law richard-brooks.png … destruction of Canada's publicly owned boreal forests and loss of caribou habitat. His … gets wood from millions of hectares of public forests. Much of the wood it uses to make …
The UK imports millions of tons of American wood pellets every year to be burned in power stations for 'climate friendly' electricity, writes Matt Williams. But his recent visit to the southern US showed him that this practice is devastating beautiful, natural forests rich in wildlife - while the UK government's own research shows that it's worse for the climate than the coal it replaces.
… Dirtier than coal: burning forests for 'green' energy Matt Williams | 19th July 2016 News Energy Climate Change Forests Emissions US UK EU Biofuels … practice is devastating beautiful, natural forests rich in wildlife - while the UK …
Never mind Brazil's COP21 promises to cut its carbon emissions, writes Jan Rocha. New laws passing through Congress will encourage deforestation by removing safeguards and opening up indigenous territories to mega-projects. Serious drought is already contributing to a big increase in forest fires.
… Jan Rocha | 14th January 2016 News Brazil Forests Law Politics Farming Indigenous …
The COP20 host, Peru's President Humala, certainly talked the talk on indigenous rights last September when he signed a $300 million deal with Norway. But his violations of indigenous rights, 'hands off' approach to murders of indigenous leaders and recent unguarded comments betray his true sentiments.
… Chris Lang | 10th December 2014 Comment Peru Forests Law Indigenous Peoples Norway … agreement was signed under the New York Forests Declaration , AIDESEP and Rainforest … of Indigenous Peoples to protecting the forests: "We also recognize that Amazon …
Industrial logging in the world's second largest rainforest is out of control, writes Raoul Monsembula, and spells disaster for both wildlife and forest people. There is an alternative: community forestry has just been enshrined in law. But resources must be committed to law enforcement in Congo and abroad, and to empowering forest communities.
… Greenpeace Africa | 1st June 2015 Comment Forests Congo Africa Indigenous Peoples Law … million people who rely on the country's vast forests for their livelihood. They see little … on a portion or the totality of the forests it owns on a regular basis by virtue …
European Commission guidance would allow biofuels to be labelled as sustainable even if forests have been destroyed to make way for the palm oil plantations
… Palm oil plantations could be classified as forests The Ecologist | 8th February 2010 News … to be labelled as sustainable even if forests have been destroyed to make way for … palm oil plantations to be classified as 'forests' have been strongly criticised by …
The Drax power station in Yorkshire is the UK's biggest CO2 emitter, burns more wood each year than the entire UK timber harvest, and is a major importer of coal from strife-stricken regions of Colombia, writes Frances Howe. This Thursday campaigners will target the company's AGM to highlight its impacts on forests, biodiversity, climate and communities, in the face of Drax's PR offensive to make biomass appear 'sustainable'.
… Howe | 10th April 2017 Activism Energy Forests Biomass Coal UK Colombia Protest … the company's AGM to highlight its impacts on forests, biodiversity, climate and … way of looking at a forest. The clear-cut forests of America Just over half of the wood …
Indonesia appears to brought rainforest logging under control - but it's all a huge illusion, according to a new EIA report. Traditional logging has been replaced by the mass clearance of rainforest for oil palm plantations, creating massive supplies of hugely profitable but often illegal timber. And lurking beneath the surface is a pervasive network of criminality and corruption.
… Oliver Tickell | 14th January 2015 News Forests Indonesia Farming Law Regulation pt … intent to halt the ransacking of the rainforests. But the importance of the … In its place, the conversion of rich forests to plantations for palm oil and other …
'We all live in Khimki Forest' has become the rallying cry of a local forest defense campaign. Goldman Prize winner Evgenia Chirikova describes what it's like to be green in Russia the why a culture of impunity and corruption risks destroying the country's natural heritage
… We are helping organise camps to protect forests; helping activists in the Voronezh … like stand in front of bulldozers when their forests are under threat. They physically try to protect their land, rivers and forests. Where climate change is concerned, I …
Since the 1980s Cambodia has lost 84% of its primary forests, and the remote Cardamom mountains are the country's last great natural treasure, writes Rod Harbinson. Just the place for grandiose dam projects? 'No way!" say indigenous people and young eco-activists.
… - so far Rod Harbinson | 28th July 2014 News Forests Dams Water Indigenous Peoples Cambodia … 1980s Cambodia has lost 84% of its primary forests, and the remote Cardamom mountains are … people and young eco-activists. "Many forests are destroyed in Cambodia - Areng is …
Biofuelwatch warn of an unfolding 'biomassacre' as the UK is set to rely on a growing amount of wood-based biomass, driving landgrabbing, replacing old growth forests with plantations, destroying biodiversity and causing air pollution
… Energy Biofuels Black Carbon Air Pollutiion Forests Biomass Coal foreststrees.jpg Biofuelwatch warn of an … driving landgrabbing, replacing old growth forests with plantations, destroying …
Forest-dwellers in Buriram province involved in a land dispute with the Thai government have been forcibly evicted, intimidated, arrested, held without charge, and dumped on a site unfit for human habitation with no water supply.
… six forest villages HRW | 23rd July 2014 News Forests Indigenous Peoples Thailand Law Human …
Biomass electricity in the UK = clear-cutting of ancient swamp forests + bulldozing of traditional communities' lands + deprived UK communities bearing the brunt of toxic emissions.
… 2013 Activism Biomass Biofuel Campaign Energy Forests Brazil USA Renewables … in the UK = clear-cutting of ancient swamp forests + bulldozing of traditional … a result of eucalyptus expansion, biodiverse forests are clear-cut, communities lose their …
Is biomass really a low-carbon, sustainable energy source? Industry group Back Biomass say yes while watchdog group Biofuelwatch says no
… well, those are simply 'temporarily unstocked forests', treated the same in the accounts as … continue to log old-growth and endangered forests, destroy the habitat of rare and … that, 'burning trees for energy puts Canadian forests and climate at risk'. And the FSC's …
The Drax power station in North Yorkshire is among Britain's greatest greenhouse gas emitters, writes Almuth Ernsting. Not only is it burning some 6 million tonnes of coal every year, it is also burning its way through forests in the USA and other countries as it converts to biomass-fired units, rewarded by £1.3 million a day in subsidies. Join the #AxeDrax protest this weekend!
… Emissions Energy Biofuels Fossil Fuels Coal Forests USA UK drax-cut.jpg The Drax power … year, it is also burning its way through forests in the USA and other countries as it … total annual production. Biodiverse wetland forests reduced to pellets Virtually all of …