A fresh wave of logging is hitting America's national forests, writes Brett Haverstick. But this time it's all for the sake of 'forest health' and 'fire prevention'. It might look like industrial clear-cutting to you and me, but really, it's in a good cause. And if the forests and precious ecosystems they harbor just happen to perish in the process ... well ain't that just too bad?
… logging threatens US National Forests Brett Haverstick | 10th April 2017 Comment Forests Logging Health USA Commons Ecology … wave of logging is hitting America's national forests, writes Brett Haverstick. But this …
A new paradigm of forest conservation is gaining ground, writes Isaac Rojas: 'financialising' them and the climate and ecological services they provide to global investors. But this is a false solution - and one that excludes the local and indigenous forest communities who can truly be relied upon to sustain their sylvan heritage.
… International | 2nd November 2015 Comment Forests Commons Finance Indigenous Peoples … financialisation of nature . In the case of forests, this means turning them into … that there is no evidence that finacialising forests is a remotely effective strategy 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 …
The plight of Kenya's Sengwer people shows that carbon offsets generated by 'sustainable' forest management are empowering a corporate recolonisation of the South backed by the World Bank against its own guidelines, writes Nafeez Ahmed. Indigenous forest peoples are at risk of genocide while corporations let rip.
… | 20th August 2014 News Indigenous Peoples Forests Climate Change Carbon Finance … addition to the indigenous communities, the forests are also inhabited by many thousands … conservation programme, "the forests of Mt Elgon are not being sustainably …
The World Bank's 'Tropical Forest Action Plan' was an abject failure, writes Chris Lang. Now the same mistakes are being repeated under a new acronym. TFAP is out, REDD is in - but it's still all about corporate control of forests, and blaming deforestation on its victims.
… REDD - destroy the forests, seize the profits, blame the victims Chris Lang | 7th August 2014 Comment Forests Development Finance Corporations … but it's still all about corporate control of forests, and blaming deforestation on its …
L'Oreal, the world's largest beauty and cosmetics company, has committed to remove forest destruction from its products by 2020.
… Ecologist | 30th January 2014 News Palm Oil Forests Indonesia Health borneo-orangutan.png … allow their suppliers six more years to clear forests" , said Bustar. "With global warming … New Guinea and Africa is already threatening forests, sparking controversy and conflict …
The eviction of Kenya's Sengwer forest people in a World Bank financed project was a failure of the Bank's duty to protect indigenous people, according to an internal report. The Bank's directors are to decide on how to respond today - but if they follow their own management's advice, the evictions will continue.
… News Kenya Finance Indigenous Peoples Africa Forests sengwer-fires-cut.jpg The eviction of … ancestral communities leaves the indigenous forests open to exploitation and destruction; … conservation practices, protects their forests" , said the Forest Peoples Programme. …
If you go down to the woods today (and stay at least until tomorrow) you're sure to come home feeling a whole lot better says Susan Clark, who recommends holing up in one of the UK's Forest Holidays' log cabins for a day or two ...
Forest Holidays: Happiness (Proven) Amongst The Trees Susan Clark | 27th June 2013 Ethical Living Natural World Health forestholidays.jpg 'Bathing' yourself in nature is scientifically proven to have …
The economic and climate-related impacts of forest destruction are well known, but continued logging could unleash devastating new pandemics and spread fatal diseases into the human population, scientists tell the Ecologist
… and economics are well known. Rainforests are also reservoirs for possible … need to stop destruction of the world's forests. In a series of exclusive interviews, … the Ecologist that if we don't keep remaining forests intact there is a danger that some of …
The outbreak of Ebola in West Africa had everything to do with logging, deforestation and the disruption of traditional agro-forestry by large scale industrial agriculture, writes Rob Wallace. The only long term solution to this terrible disease may lie in forest conservation, the restoration of agroecological farming systems, and the exclusion of agribusiness investment.
… July 2015 News Food Farming Ecology Health Forests Science conakry-guinea-cut.jpg The … and the Congo Basin, the two largest rainforests in the world. Palm oil represents a … and services for croplands, pastureland and forests. The maps show landscapes are …
According to the World Health Organisation, more than 30 serious new diseases have emerged in the last three decades. Mark Walters describes one of them, Lyme disease, and shows how our destruction of the environment is inextricably linked to its proliferation
… Infectious Diseases Farming Food Chain Forests Natural World Health … comparatively stable and biologically rich forests of the eastern United States. From … the unfortunate history of the US’s eastern forests, and it was connected to autumn oaks …
It's not just people, animals and trees that suffer from radiation at Chernobyl, writes Rachel Nuwer, but also decomposer fungi and microbes. And with the buildup of dead wood comes the risk of catastrophic fire - which could spread radiation far and wide.
… Chernobyl's forests - dead wood and leaves preserved by … Nuwer Smithsonian | 24th March 2014 News Forests Ukraine Nuclear Power Radiation Health … study. "It was striking, given that in the forests where I live, a fallen tree is mostly …
Greece's economic woes will never be solved by merely moving money around the banking system, writes Oliver Tickell. The lasting solution is to restore native forests to her barren hills and mountains, invest in large-scale solar power to energise Europe, and create an examplar of sustainable development for our global future.
… | 7th July 2015 Comment Greece EU Finance Forests greece-forest-stream-cut.jpg Greece's … The lasting solution is to restore native forests to her barren hills and mountains, … country and her people depend. Rebuilding the forests Any visitor to Greece will surely have …
The medical response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa has been monstrously inadequate, writes Richard Kock. But so has been recognition of the underlying causes - in particular the explosive spread of industrial oil palm, which disrupts the ecology of forests and farms, and undermines local economy and traditional governance, leading to a 'perfect storm' of disease.
… oil palm, which disrupts the ecology of forests and farms, and undermines local … where a similar trend of deep-cutting into forests for agricultural development has … Palm oil's relentless march at the expense of forests and health This is not unheard of; the …
Our insatiable appetite for expensive coffee is causing a global trail of waste and destruction, writes Donnachadh McCarthy. Following the successful campaign for a 5p plastic bag levy, it's time to move on to a much larger 25p levy on disposable coffee cups - making those that profit from the waste carry the cost of its disposal.
… trail of waste in our wake. We bulldoze forests containing well over 350,000 trees … Coffee originated in the shadow of the jungle forests of east Africa. But now the two main … exposure led many farmers to cut down their forests and abandon their traditional ways. …
As ever more companies and governments pledge to 'go green' and protect forests, the world's tribal peoples should be among the main beneficiaries, writes Amy Dickens. Yet the reverse is the case. All too often the promises are purest greenwash, used to conceal the human and environmental tragedy of land-grabbing for plantations, mines, logging and even 'conservation'.
… governments pledge to 'go green' and protect forests, the world's tribal peoples should be … the forest are the same people pillaging our forests." This agreement masked a hefty World …
Banks preparing to launch a $400m bond issue for a global palm oil giant with a history of legal violations and broken standards have been warned of their 'high risk client' and the 'extreme and outstanding' social and environmental conflicts in the palm oil agribusiness sector.
… Oliver Tickell | 20th April 2015 News Finance Forests Human Rights Food Farming Indonesia … of company policies that pledge to protect forests, peatlands, and human rights, … violations" , said Jeff Conant, international forests campaigner at Friends of the Earth. " …
Plans to create a market in nature itself are fraught with danger, writes Alex Scrivener. Biodiversity offsetting could allow the fate of our forests, rivers, meadows and wildlife species, and the people who depend on them, to be determined by the whims of multinational corporations and speculative investors.
… offsetting could allow the fate of our forests, rivers, meadows and wildlife species, … threat to communities as well as to rivers, forests and animals. Food speculation has … tiger, and of people who rely upon rivers, forests and grasslands for their living, may …
A massive decontamination exercise is under way in Iitate Village near Fukushima, writes Kendra Ulrich: step one in a plan to force 6,000 residents back into the evacuated zone in 2017. But as radiation levels remain stubbornly high, it looks like the real plan is to 'normalize' nuclear catastrophe, while making Iitate residents nuclear victims twice over - and this time, it's deliberate.
Japan and IAEA risk Fukushima victims' lives with forced return Kendra Ulrich Greenpeace Japan | 29th July 2015 News Nuclear Health Japan Un Politics iitate-earth-cut.jpg A massive decontamination …
London cyclists were protesting yesterday at the failure of all but a handful of London's 33 Boroughs to invest in safe cycle routes - and the many thousands of deaths that failure is causing. Donnachadh McCarthy reports.
Protesting the London Boroughs 'wall of death' Donnachadh McCarthy | 3rd April 2014 Comment Transport London UK Health wall-of-death-3.png London cyclists were protesting yesterday at the failure of …
As indigenous activists opposing hydropower dams on their territories gather this weekend in the rainforests of Sarawak, Malaysia, they have good news to celebrate, writes Rod Harbinson: a giant dam on the Baram river has been put on hold. But the forests are still being logged, local people have been stripped of land rights, and a programme of 12 giant dams is still official policy.
… Activism Water Indigenous People Malaysia Forests The Land Finance Energy swk002 … territories gather this weekend in the rainforests of Sarawak, Malaysia, they have good … the Baram river has been put on hold. But the forests are still being logged, local people …
A failure to act to reduce the impacts of climate change could cost Europe almost €200 billion and 200,000 lives a year, writes Tim Radford. These 'conservative estimates' are published in a new European Commission study.
… July 2014 News EU Climate Changes Flooding Forests Health sun-russian-smoke-cut.jpg A …
Major high street banks among investors driving billions of dollars into companies involved in deforestation.
… of three of the world’s biggest rainforests, research carried out by environmental … operating across the three largest single rainforests on earth – Amazon, Congo Basin and New … across the globe. Studies have shown that forests and other ecosystems could make up …
Evolutionary biologist Timothy Mousseau and his colleagues have published 90 studies that prove beyond all doubt the deleterious genetic and developmental effects on wildlife of exposure to radiation from both the Chernobyl and Fukushima nuclear disasters, writes Linda Pentz Gunter. But all that peer-reviewed science has done little to dampen the 'official' perception of Chernobyl's silent forests as a thriving nature reserve.
… 'official' perception of Chernobyl's silent forests as a thriving nature reserve. Dr …