Austrian timber company Schweighofer is linked to large-scale illegal logging which accounts for half of Romania's timber production. An EIA investigation finds that almost all the illegal timber ends up in the company's mills.
… Austrian timber giant ransacking Romania's forests The … EU romania-forests-cut.jpg Austrian timber company Schweighofer is linked to … logging which accounts for half of Romania's timber production. An EIA investigation finds …
Forests in Laos are disappearing at a ferocious rate under the impact of rampant illegal logging which accounts for 90% or more of the industry, with lucrative export markets in Vietnam and China, writes Chris Lang.
… of illegal logging in Laos. Almost all of timber exports from Laos go to Vietnam and … Laos exported 1.4 million cubic metres of timber to these two countries. That's more than 10 times the official timber harvest in Laos. Conclusion: over 90% …
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.
… Indonesia 'greenwashes' illegal timber exports The Ecologist | 3rd November … that would rubber stamp exports of illegal timber - also undermining a timber agreement with the EU that's due to …
Scientists mapping the effects of deforestation in the Amazon are increasingly concerned that we are reaching a tipping point – when the forest will start to die back of its own accord and rain, currently generated by the Amazon forests, will stop falling, not just in neighbouring countries but as far afield as the United States and South Africa.
… has gone, mainly for beef cattle, soya, timber and land-hungry peasants who are told … part of the Amazon, massive amounts of timber have been converted to charcoal to fuel … colonisation, as well as the extraction of timber. Cattle ranchers are the first to …
For aesthetic and ethical reasons, salvaged timber is the best.
… For aesthetic and ethical reasons, salvaged timber is the best. An astonishing 2.5 million tons of timber is ripped out of libraries, churches, … the likes of Paul Durrant, of east London timber salvage firm Reclaimed, are saving this …
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 Traditional logging has been replaced by the mass clearance of rainforest for oil palm plantations, creating massive supplies of hugely profitable but often illegal timber.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.
… of hugely profitable but often illegal timber. And lurking beneath the surface is a … and exposing the illicit trade in stolen timber in Indonesia for more than 15 years. In … a vast and poorly regulated stream of timber. Although the rule of law has …
Alana Husby has sawdust in her blood. A fifth generation log and lumber person from Canada, she was ‘flipping wood' as a teenager, and now she's in Panama running the region's biggest underwater logging company, employing local Kuna Indians to fish tree trunks out of flooded forests. Kate Monson met Alana in Oxford while negotiating a 'green' timber deal ...
… Alana in Oxford while negotiating a 'green' timber deal ... "My wedding didn't last, but … story, you realise the seeds for Coast Eco Timber were sown long before her discovery of … was crazy." But the time came when the lake's timber was almost all gone ... and then what? …
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.
… that legislation such as the European Union Timber Regulation (EUTR) , exists with the … sole purpose of preventing illegally sourced timber or timber products being placed on the European …
Deep in the Brazilian Amazon indigenous people have been protecting their reserve from illegal loggers, writes Luana Lila. The loggers took their revenge by kindling one of the Amazon's biggest fires ever, destroying almost 200,000 hectares of rainforest.
… take place, and have managed to reduce timber theft in the Araribóia territory. But … community must also pay attention. Illegal timber from Indigenous Lands like Araribóia makes it to the international timber market all the time - fueling the …
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.
… of criminal malpractice and accepting illegal timber shipments. The popular outrage stirred … and knowingly accepting illegally exploited timber and encouraged additional illegal … to require more domestic processing of timber into finished products - and …
A proposed $30 billion railway line linking the the Peruvian and Brazilian coasts threatens devastation to forests and indigenous tribes that lie along its route, and will add to wider pressures on land and forests.
… with iron ore, other minerals, logs and sawn timber. Operating in the reverse direction, it … And it would increase demand for minerals and timber, adding to the pressure to log and …
Based on current performance tropical forests, the world's most biodiverse ecosystems, are set to be reduced to species-impoverished fragments by the end of the century, writes Simon Lewis. But it's not inevitable. Decisive action by the world's governments in Paris in December could secure desperately needed change.
… too common chain of events. The first cut of timber from any natural forest is the most … encourages a second cut of less desirable timber species, without waiting for the forest …
With the deadline due this year for the full implementation of Wilmar's 'No peat, no deforestation, no exploitation' promise, the oil palm giant is keen to push its green image in Europe. But for communities suffering its land grabs in Nigeria, nothing has changed. While Wilmar spins green rhetoric, its bulldozers are still destroying vast swathes of forest and farmland.
… and vegetables here, as well as trees for timber. We grew wood for businesses, for … our forest has been seriously degraded. Our timber has been destroyed and they have yet to … and vegetables here, as well as trees for timber. We grew wood for businesses, for …
Determined to flood 10,000 hectares of precious rainforest for a power station producing a meager 108MW of power, the Cambodian government has expelled a big 'fishbone in their throat' - eco-defender Alex Gonzalez-Davidson, who has galvanized local and nationwide protests against deforestation, land grabs and official corruption.
… over wise governance, as it opens up timber and minerals for exploitation, and … also summoned to court charged with supplying timber without a permit to Mother Nature for …
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.
… here. So I threw myself into the mix." The timber beasts on the Flathead Forest would … in the country, came not in fighting timber sales but in protecting fish. One fish …
An initiative to re-home abused, over-worked domestic elephants is supporting the conservation of one of Cambodia's last and most species-rich rainforests, writes William Laurance. Growing ecotourism in the area, attracted by the elephants, is engaging indigenous communities in forest protection and helping to stave off the pressure from loggers and plantations.
… of purposes, such as carrying or dragging timber for logging operations, ferrying … final evening, Highwood and I came upon two timber thieves, and he threw a sharp curse at …
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.
… the destruction of Amazon rainforest for timber extraction and conversion to oil palm. …
Bark beetles are invariably presented as terrible, forest killing pests, writes Chad Hanson. But in truth forest biodiversity depends on them to create the snags for insects to burrow in, woodpeckers to feed off, and countless birds and even pine martens to nest in. So when you hear politicians calling for bark beetle 'salvage' logging, send them off with a flea in the ear!
… some state and federal legislators and their timber industry campaign contributors, who are …
Sweden's biodiverse ancient forests will be largely wiped out within two decades, writes Alec Forss - and along with it will go thousands of species that depend on mature forest ecosystems. But with powerful logging companies riding roughshod over the law, regulators, politicians and certifiers, who is to stop the destruction before it's too late?
… 1950s. With paper, pulp, cardboard, and sawn timber comprising the main products of the …
Despite massive clearance of carbon-rich forests for palm oil, cattle ranching, soybeans and other cash crops, writes Tim Radford, a new study finds that the net volume of carbon stored in trees is increasing thanks to their growing numbers on grasslands, on abandoned farmland, and in China.
… cycle, and the forests play a critical role. Timber in the forests is essentially carbon in …
The most significant feature of COP21 is the topics that never even made it onto the agenda for discussion, writes Steffen Böhm. And the biggest of all the growth-driven economic system that ultimately thwarts all efforts at sustainability, as it drives ever increasing consumption of energy and resources.
… of cheap domestic peat as well as timber from Norwegian and Baltic forests . One …
Isn't three trillion trees enough to keep our planet healthy? It sounds like a lot, writes James Dyke, but they are under threat as never before, from deliberate deforestation and climate change. Many of the 1.5 billion trees we are losing a year are in the last great rainforests - key ecosystems under threat of drying out forever under our escalating double onslaught.
… for cooking or smelting, fibres for clothes, timber for construction. However it is the …
'No deforestation' pledges by global food corporations are yielding results, writes William Laurance. But now the Indonesian and Malaysian governments are calling on them to abandon their promises - even as the region's rainforests go up in smoke, cleared for new oil palm plantations. The companies must hold firm to their commitments.
… deforestation, because it allows them to use timber revenues to help offset the costs of …
Straw is cheap, plentiful, eco-friendly and an excellent insulator, writes Pete Walker - and officially certified prefabricated straw bale building systems are challenging traditional brick construction. So why aren't straw bale houses mushrooming on building sites across the country? Maybe they are ...
… on as an alternative to bricks, concrete or timber. There are concerns about its poor …