A four-day workshop aimed at sharing the vision and action frame for community forestry in Liberia begins on Monday at the Baptist Seminary on the Robertsfield Highway.

Environmentalists fear that the remaining lowland forests on Sumatra will vanish in the next 10 years because of its conversion into industrial forest to produce raw materials for the world’s rapidly growing pulp and paper industry.

Senior forestry specialist at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) Christian Cossalter said recently that timber from Sumatra’s forests, especially from Riau province, was being harvested not only to meet domestic industry’s demand, but also for export to China, where many Indonesian businessmen have set up pulp and paper factories.

As delegates from around the world meet in Montreal to discuss climate change, what science should inform their deliberations?

THE climate changes. It always has done and it always will. In the past 2m years the temperature has gone up and down like a yo-yo as ice ages have alternated with warmer interglacial periods. Reflecting this on a smaller scale, the 10,000 years or so since the glaciers last went into full-scale retreat have seen periods of relative cooling and warmth lasting from decades to centuries. Against such a noisy background, it is hard to detect the signal from any changes caused by humanity’s increased economic activity, and consequent release of atmosphere-warming greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide.

Trees are great aren’t they? They prevent drought in dry areas and floods in wet areas. They suck up the Carbon Dioxide emitted by Coldplay CDs and world tours by the Rolling Stones. And lets not forget that squirrels love them.

But it turns out that those wily woods have been fooling us all along. A report from the UK Department for International Development revealed that billions of pounds are being spent on tree-planting schemes around the world. Most, if not all, of that money is being wasted. The latest research shows that trees can cause drought, they don’t prevent it. In fact they often waste more water than agricultural crops. They also do nothing to stop the kind of disastrous flash flooding we see in Bangladesh, Haiti and Guatemala.

by Tb. Arie Rukmantara

Environmentalists and foresters suggested on Thursday that more incentives be offered to countries that have vast areas of tropical forests, such as Indonesia, and to timber companies, which all play roles in preventing further deforestatio

Em setembro de 2005, o Ibama em Santarém, no Pará, aprovou um projeto piloto para o reflorestamento de áreas em cinco comunidades na Reserva Extrativista Tapajós-Arapiuns, de acordo com a legislação de reposição florestal, criando assim uma nova fonte de renda para os moradores da reserva extrativista. A legislação de reposição florestal determina que empresas consumidoras de madeira precisam plantar anualmente um certo número de árvores para cada metro cúbico de madeira consumida, ou de provar ao Ibama que alguém plantou estas árvores por eles.

Oleh: Udiansyah

Telah diketahui bersama, keberadaan sumberdaya hutan sekarang sangat merosot tajam dibandingkan era 1980-an, baik secara nasional umumnya maupun Kalsel khususnya. Tingkat degradasi (kemerosotan) hutan secara nasional mencapai 2,83 juta hektare per tahun, suatu keadaan yang sangat memprihatinkan. Kemudian, bagaimana dengan kondisi hutan Kalsel?

Observadores da União Européia para a América Latina conheceram ontem as instalações da Escola-Bosque, na ilha de Outeiro. O objetivo da visita foi ver de perto as atividades de educação ambiental desenvolvidas nas turmas iniciais, com as crianças, e pelos alunos dos cursos técnicos, além do intercâmbio com a comunidade através das oficinas ministradas em parceria com o Centro Internacional de Pesquisa Florestal (Cifor) – organização não-governamental que desenvolve projetos financiados pela União Européia. Uma das experiências mostradas aos observadores Czech Conray e Emmanuel Torquebian diz respeito à utilização do livro “Frutíferas e plantas úteis na vida Amazônica”, dos pesquisadores Patricia Shanley e Gabriel Medina.