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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Death threats to an indigenous forest defender in Peru have followed his success in closing down an illegal palm oil operation on his tribe's lands carried out by a member company of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, now meeting in Kuala Lumpur.
… you' The Ecologist | 19th November 2015 News Forests Peru Indigenous Peoples Law Regulation … of over 5,000 ha of their traditional forests for conversion to a palm oil … this environment while our people and the forests suffer ." Robert Guimaraes, President …
In the battle to save America's real wild west of unlogged forests, grizzly bears, mountain goats, Bull trout, free flowing streams and roadless wilderness, a single person stands out, writes Jeffrey St Clair, for her dedication, courage and remarkable success: Arlene Montgomery of Friends of the Wild Swan, Montana.
… Clair | 26th July 2015 Activism Natural World Forests Water Conservation Law USA … to save America's real wild west of unlogged forests, grizzly bears, mountain goats, Bull … to the west, the valleys, alpine slopes and forests of the Swan Range retain much of the …
A new report from Global Witness places India fourth in the league table of killings of environmental activists. As part of our collaboration with CLIMATE TRACKER, environmental law researcher MRINALINI SHINDE looks at the human trauma behind the statistics - and calls on India's urban elite to act.
… advocating for tribal land rights under the Forests Right Act, and consequent tensions … courageous forest officials, who protect the forests from poaching every day, have been … and the attackers had fled. In the Chapra forests in Madhya Pradesh, Jagdish Binjwar was …
For sheer guts, vision and results, a single organisation stands out among the US's environmental defenders - the Alliance for the Wild Rockies. Jeffrey St. Clair met its leader, Mike Garrity, winner of 2014's Grassroots Activist Award.
… 3rd March 2014 Comment USA Natural World Law Forests bridger-mtns.png For sheer guts, … rivers and rugged mountain ranges, ancient forests and high deserts, alpine lakes and … Act itself. In the meantime, many of those forests, ranges and rivers are under immediate …
Indigenous forest dwellers in India's iconic Kanha Tiger Reserve have suffered another round of illegal forced evictions at the hands of the country's Tiger Conservation Authority - a move that is threatening the future of the tigers themselves.
… who face a desperate future without their forests . Across India, many more face a … to stay in, live from, and protect their forests as enshrined in both Indian and …
Sarawak's lucrative logging industry has given rise to dynasties of enormous wealth and political power, writes Chris Lang, as revealed in this courageous investigation by Lukas Straumann. And the kingpin is multi-billionaire Abdul Taib Mahmud, Chief Minister of Sarawak for 33 years, whose whose property empire spans the globe.
… power and the destruction of Sarawak’s forests Chris Lang REDD Minitor | 24th December 2014 Reviews Forests Malaysia Corporations Law Politics … fact that only 0.5% of the world's tropical forests are in Sarawak. Samling and Rimbunan …
Just as Indonesia's forests are going up in flames, in part as a result of illegal logging on a massive scale, the country's Trade Minister has issued a regulation that would rubber stamp exports of illegal timber - also undermining a timber agreement with the EU that's due to come into force next month.
… | 3rd November 2015 News Indonesia EU Forests Trade Law log-truck-cut.jpg Just as Indonesia's forests are going up in flames, in part as a …
Peruvian law requires the government to recognise indigenous peoples's ownership of their lands. Yet 594 communities with claims to 20 million hectares of land remain with no secure title - leaving their forests open to illegal logging, plantations and settlement. Now one village is taking its demands to the courts.
… October 2014 News Peru Indigenous Peoples Forests Law amazon-village-peru-cut.jpg … remain with no secure title - leaving their forests open to illegal logging, plantations … to support community efforts to protect their forests is intensifying forest destruction. In …
After five months of wrongful imprisonment, an environmental activist has finally been set free and reunited with his family, writes Rod Harbinson. His case highlights the way Cambodia's Government subjects eco-defenders to harsh, unjust and arbitrary detention, while illegal logging barons and large-scale timber smugglers lead charmed lives, always above the law.
… special rights to harvest timber from nearby forests for community use. On the face of it, … documentary on Cambodia's Cardamom Mountain forests at: spiritforest.org . This article …
Attacks on Amazon Indians and on their land rights are threatening vital areas of rainforest, writes Jan Rocha. Meanwhile FUNAI, the agency responsible for safeguarding indigenous tribes is being forced to withdraw from key conflict zones due to underfunding, while Indians' attempts to assert their rights are met with state violence.
… 10th May 2017 News Brazil Indigenous Peoples Forests Law Politics rio-mural-cut.jpg Attacks … to IPAM researcher Paulo Moutinho. He says: "Forests maintained by the Indians function …
The Thai government was right to evict an indigenous community from the Kaeng Krachan National Park at gunpoint and burn down homes, a Bangkok court has ruled - even though one resident had lived there for 100 years and the Park was only created in 1981.
… mission to protect natural resources and forests without fear of legal action." Kaeng …
Police in India's Uttar Pradesh state yesterday opened fire on a 'sit in' by tribal protestors at the construction site of the Kanhar dam, now under construction in open contempt of court orders. Tribal leader Akku Kharwar and eight others were seriously injured by the gun fire.
… will destroy around 2,500 hectares of dense forests and cause the submergence of 87 …