Monks Fight to Get Cambodian Forests on the Carbon Market

For years, the guardians of Sorng Rukavorn forest have drifted through the muted greens and grays of the underbrush in their saffron robes. In the far north of Cambodia, the monks live in what should be peaceful isolation, but all too often they have had to fend off incursions on this land. Using their authority as holy figures, they've turned away illegal loggers - among them, they say, armed police and soldiers - as well as local officials who have tried to wrestle control of the public land to parcel it out for their own profit.

Now the monks are looking for backup. They plan to institutionalize their communal ownership of the forest and shared profit from its 44,479-acre bounty by demarcating it an international ecological asset. Sorng Rukavorn is one of 13 community forests spreading over 168,032 acres in Oddar Meanchey province that is being registered as a bank of carbon credits. Under this nascent international tool of climate change mitigation referred to as Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD), governments and companies in industrialized nations can pay developing countries to cut carbon emissions on their behalf by not cutting trees. Deforestation accounts for roughly a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions from human activity, according to the UN. Trees and plants absorb the gas - produced by a number of natural and manmade processes, from the combustion of fossil fuels by factories, cars and volcanic eruptions, to the flatulence of livestock - and are therefore essential to balancing its levels in the atmosphere.

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Painting by Ivan Shishkin

Tree planting in the driest place on Earth

The southern coast of Peru is one of the driest places on Earth. Why would anyone choose this parched location to re-plant a forest?

The strip of desert between the Andean mountains and the Pacific Ocean has an annual average rainfall as low as 1.5mm.

By way of comparison, London enjoys around 650mm a year.

It's not an obvious place to choose if you're looking for somewhere to plant trees, but for restoration ecologist Oliver Whaley the harsh environment of the northern fringes of the Atacama desert is part of the point.

By helping to restore the shrinking native forests, the aim is to benefit local people and wildlife, prevent soil erosion, and help alleviate climate change.

"If we can get trees established here, and learn how to do it with as little water as possible, then it is a model for the rest of the world," he says.

While the plight of the world's rainforests are well known, the same cannot be said of tropical dry forests. These less biodiverse, but equally remarkable forests, face threats every bit as severe as their better known cousins.

The Atacama dry forest "is really an ecosystem on its last legs," says Mr Whaley, of London's Kew Gardens - an internationally renowned botanical research institution.

The tree under threat is the huarango, Prosopis limensis, found only in the Ica region of Peru.

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The Painting is by George Caleb Bingham

A Cheap, Natural Way of Cutting Greenhouse Gas

Keeping tropical forests from being cut down isn't cheap, but it's affordable -- and it might be humanity's best short-term climate change solution.

In a paper published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team of economists and ecologists calculated a price of keeping CO2-gobbling tropical forests intact.

That's only the first step in conserving them, but it's an important one.

"Nobody knew how expensive or cheap it would be," said study co-author Brent Sohngen, an agricultural economics professor at Ohio State University. "Our results say it's a relatively cheap option compared to storage in deep geological wells, or trying to transform the energy economy. That's a good option in the long run, but expensive in the short term. This is a good option in the near future."

Sohngen's team calculated the costs of paying landowners to say their chainsaws using three different estimates of tropical forest area and carbon sequestration potential.

Slowing deforestation by 10% over the next twenty years would cost between $0.4 billion and $1.7 billion annually, and save about half a gigaton of CO2 yearly. A 50% deforestation drop would cost between $17 and $30 billion, and save more than two gigatons of CO2 each year -- about one-third of total United States greenhouse gas emissions.

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The Painting is by Henri Rousseau

Obama signs protections for Mon Forest acreage

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Lewisburg Mayor John Manchester on Monday had a bird's-eye view of President Obama signing into law a bill granting wilderness protection to more than 2 million acres of land, including 37,771 acres in the Monongahela National Forest.

"For some reason, they stuck me in the second row," Manchester said after the signing. "It was a wonderful ceremony, and I got to shake the president's hand and meet a lot of the congressional leaders."

Manchester was among about 150 supporters of various pieces of the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009 who were invited to attend the bill-signing ceremony at the White House. The legislation protects tracts of federally managed land in nine states, from Oregon to Virginia.

Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee and a longtime backer of the legislation, was among 13 U.S. senators and representatives in attendance, along with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.

"As Americans, we possess few blessings greater than the vast and varied landscapes that stretch the breadth of our continent," Obama said. The new law, he added, guarantees that Americans "will not take our forests, rivers, oceans, national parks, monuments and wilderness areas for granted, but rather we will set them aside and guard their sanctity for everyone to share. That's something all Americans can support."

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Fund Created for Fighting Wildfires

The House voted 412 to 3 to create a fund to cover the costs of combating major wildfires. President Obama’s budget proposal included $357 million for a similar fund. The House bill, which now goes to the Senate, does not specify a dollar amount, which would be set later in spending bills. Lawmakers hope a reserve fund will make it less likely the Forest Service and other federal agencies will have to dip into other parts of their budgets that are dear to lawmakers to pay for fighting fires. The Forest Service and Interior Department

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The painting is by Frederik Marianus Kruseman

Indonesia applies for World Bank forest CO2 scheme

SINGAPORE, March 4 (Reuters) - Indonesia has applied to join a World Bank programme that supports developing nations' efforts to fight deforestation and help them earn cash through the sale of tradeable carbon credits.

The Bank's $350 million Forest Carbon Partnership Facility aims to support developing states design and create projects under a U.N.-backed scheme that could eventually earn poorer nations billions of dollars a year by protecting their forests.

A Bank official in Jakarta said on Wednesday the Indonesian government this week submitted a lengthy submission to apply to join the Bank's partnership.

The Bank backs the United Nations' forest carbon scheme called Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation, or REDD, which the U.N. hopes to formally bring into a broader climate pact to replace the Kyoto Protocol from 2013.

Guyana and Panama have already applied to join the Bank's programme but Indonesia is by far the largest to date and among the most crucial nations given the size of the country's remaining forests as well as the rapid rate at which they have been lost.

Indonesia is developing separate REDD regulations and is expected to issue them by mid-year, a top government official has said. About 20 REDD schemes are at various stages of development in Indonesia, the Bank has said, and has become a leader in developing rules governing the scheme.

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The painting is by Baldomero Romero Ressendi

Kamal demands punishment for tree-cutters

KARACHI: City Nazim Mustafa Kamal has called for a ‘Tree Act’ to be drawn up and implemented immediately, stating that those involved in cutting trees should be severely reprimanded through sentences and fines.

Speaking at a seminar titled “Forestation, Aesthetic Plantation and Landscaping Study of Karachi”, held at Civic Center on Saturday, Kamal expressed his concern over the lack of importance given to the city’s vegetation. “In all major cities of the world, there are strict rules and regulations to protect greenery and not a single tree can be cut without obtaining an No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the municipality concerned,” he said, adding that the CDGK is committed to developing parks and is taking actions against land grabbers to salvage parks of the city.

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The painting is by Laura Tasheiko

Forest sale is scratched

After much hoopla in town and beyond, Burlington officials are putting the brakes on an ambitious development proposal to turn a large swath of forest land into the state's largest life sciences complex, senior housing, and playing fields.

The Board of Selectmen has decided against selling the 247-acre landlocked parcel near Route 3, saying the community is not ready to let go of the property.

"The land is not for sale," said Sonia Rollins, chairwoman of the panel.

But Patriot Partners, the development group that holds an option to buy the land if the town does decide to sell, is not giving up on its vision for the site bounded by Route 3, Interstate 95, and the towns of Lexington and Bedford.

"It's incumbent upon us to show that we have something that warrants further discussion," Patriot Partners attorney Robert Buckley said after the board announced last week it isn't selling the property. "We think the project has some merit. We'll see where it takes us."

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The painting is by Laura Tasheiko

No playground to be constructed in Lozenets small forest

After serious opposition from residents of Sofia’s Lozenets district Sofia municipality’s environment commission decided, on September 16, not to allow the construction of a playground in the small forest between Cherni Vruh Boulevard and the American embassy.

During a session of the environment commission, Lozenets mayor Proshko Proshkov and local residents discussed the potential devastation of one of the few green areas remaining in the district, Bulgarian-language website Bluelink reported. Proshkov promised to investigate alternative areas for the proposed playground.

Sofia Municipal Council had decided, on July 24 2008, to make the mayors of several Sofia districts undertake permanent commissions on children, youth, sports and tourism, as well as in the permanent commission on economic policy in order to control planned projects for playgrounds in Sofia. SMC would finance construction and repairs of sport fields in 16 of Sofia’s boroughs with money from the special municipal privatisation fund at a total cost of 4.25 million leva. Lozenets playground, planned as a multifunctional sports facility, will receive 270 000 leva.

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The painting is by Laura Tasheiko

New forest zone to help protect N Gujarat wildlife

AHMEDABAD: The state forest department has decided to have one more zone for effective monitoring of wild life sanctuaries in the state. This will be which will be the north Gujarat zone - fifth in the state. Wild life sanctuaries like Wild Ass Sanctuary, Nal Sarovar and Thol will come under this zone.

This move comes after the forest department set up a task force in the aftermath of lion poaching incidents in Gir. Officials in the department felt the need to adopt a focused approach , backed with technology since resources in the Gir sanctuary were over-worked .

Now, the department has carved out north Gujarat as a separate area for better forest management. Eleven new posts, including that of conservator of forests, will be created for upgrade of national parks and sanctuaries in north Gujarat area.

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The painting is by Laura Tasheiko

Experienced forest manager taking over as supervisor

A former firefighter with 26 years of experience as a land and forest manager in six states has been named to supervise the Manti-La Sal National Forest administration.
U.S. Forest Service Intermountain Regional Forester Harv Fosgren this week announced Pam Brown's appointment to manage more than 1.4 million acres in the Manti-La Sal, which is made up of four ranger districts in southeastern Utah and western Colorado.
Brown, who will take her post in November, has been deputy forest supervisor on the Superior National Forest in Minnesota for the past two years. She will replace Howard Sargent, who died in June, officials said.
A graduate of the range and wildlands-science program at University of California Davis, Brown began her career as a firefighter on the Los Padres National Forest in California. For the next decade she held range and natural-resource-management positions in the Sequoia and San Bernardino national forests, also in California.
In 1995, Brown became the district ranger on the Kiowa and Rita Blanca National Grasslands that spread across New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma in the Cibola National Forest. She also served as district ranger in the Black Hills National Forest in South Dakota.

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The painting is by Laura Tasheiko

Tree planting can boost former IDPs’ income

ENVIRONMENT state minister Jessica Eriyo was quoted as saying displaced persons (IDPs) who have returned to their villages in northern Uganda have destroyed over 72% of forest reserves in the area.

She cautioned that the IDPs need to be sensitised on sustainable resource use because deforestation and the destruction of wetlands in Teso and Karamoja sub-regions would lead to grave climate change and desertification.

Sensitisation of IDPs alone is not enough. The National Forest Authority (NFA) attempted to sensitise the locals on preserving the reserves in vain. Now that peace has returned to the North, the locals must cultivate, at least for subsistence.

Growing crops or constructing a house in a place that had been abandoned requires one to clear land. Therefore, the Government should provide IDPs with crops seeds, as well as seedlings of trees such as pine for re-a forestation.

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The painting is by Laura Tasheiko

Forest to help save rare birds

A forest in Lancashire is helping to prevent a rare species of bird of prey from dying out in England.

Conservationists say the Forest of Bowland is the country's main breeding ground for the hen harrier, which is England's most threatened bird of prey.

According to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), 25 chicks fledged from the forest this year.

The birds prey on grouse chicks and are often killed on shooting estates, which has contributed to their demise.

Earlier in the year hen harrier chicks nesting in the forest were fitted with tiny satellite and radio tags as part of a conservation project.

'Highly vulnerable'

Sir Martin Doughty of Natural England said the forest was vitally important in helping to stop the birds, which were protected under English and European law, from becoming extinct.

"If we lose the hen harrier in Bowland, we could lose it in England," he said.

"We must have a much larger and widespread population of this fantastic upland bird.

"Small populations of species can be highly vulnerable to chance events and we cannot literally have all our eggs in one basket."

This year, no harriers bred successfully on large areas of ideal habitat managed on grouse moors in the Peak District, Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors.

Another chance for breeding to take place in the Peak District was scuppered when two female birds disappeared.

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The painting is by Laura Tasheiko

Groups sue Forest Service over Sierra species

SAN FRANCISCO—A lawsuit filed by environmentalists claims the U.S. Forest Service is failing to protect bellwether species in the Sierra Nevada when approving new logging and road projects.

The four environmental groups filed suit Tuesday over the agency's 2007 decision to cut the number of species that must be studied prior to approving the projects.

The number of species monitored decreased from approximately 60 species to just 13.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in San Francisco aims to reinstate the species dropped from the list, including bighorn sheep and the California condor.

A spokesman for the Forest Service says the species removed from the list are either too rare to study or do not rely on the habitats at issue.

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The painting is by Laura Tasheiko

Old-growth B.C. forests worth more standing than fallen, study says

VANCOUVER — Leaving British Columbia's old-growth forests standing may make more economic sense than cutting them down for timber, especially as the province looks to strategies to cut global warming, a new B.C. study suggests.

The report from Simon Fraser University challenges the status quo and uses Ministry of Forest data to show conservation wins out over logging when forests are valued for their role in capturing carbon from the atmosphere, protecting endangered species and providing opportunities for recreation.

The study backed by three environmental groups - Wilderness Committee, David Suzuki Foundation, and Ecojustice - used computer modeling to look at a variety of conservation and logging scenarios in a large tract of forest near Vancouver.

In almost every scenario, researchers say they found the value of the carbon captured and stored by the trees far outweighed the value of the lumber harvested from the logs.

Faisal Moola, science director for the David Suzuki Foundation, called the results a clear indicator that B.C. should be protecting its old-growth forest as it works with other western provinces to reduce global warming.

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The painting is by Laura Tasheiko

Preservation of Kenya forest is national emergency

NAROK, Kenya (Reuters) - Maasai goatherd Joseph Nkolia points dismissively at two shallow pools, the only water in a parched stream west of the Kenyan town of Narok.

"It rained yesterday and look at it," he says.

"Two years ago it used to flow strongly through here. Now I often have to get a lorry to bring water from Narok for us and our animals, and it costs a lot." His flock wanders past without bothering to drink the scant brown water.

The stream is a tributary of the Ewaso Ngiro, one of 12 rivers fed from the Mau Complex, Kenya's biggest forest and a vital water catchment in the west of the country.

Destruction of the woodland by rampant illegal settlement, logging and charcoal burning threatens severe damage to Kenya's economy with an impact on energy, tourism, agriculture and water supply to cities and industry.

A familiar Kenyan saga of corruption, illegal landgrabs and the use of state resources to buy votes has destroyed a quarter of the 400,000 hectare forest in the last decade, with an impact that may be felt as far away as Egypt.

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The painting is by Laura Tasheiko

State to Preserve Heart of Adirondacks

State environmental officials agreed on Thursday to preserve a vast swath of wild acreage in the northern part of Adirondack Park, using a combination of outright purchase and conservation easements meant to protect both wilderness and jobs.

The deal was praised by environmental groups, which had urged the state to act quickly to gain control of most of the 161,000 acres that the Nature Conservancy acquired from a paper company last year. The land is considered crucial to protecting the heart of the Adirondacks.

Local leaders in the Adirondacks, who have been concerned about land conservation crowding out economic opportunity, will have several months to approve or reject the plan.

As laid out by state officials in meetings with local officials and environmental groups on Thursday, New York State will buy more than 57,000 acres that had been owned by Finch, Pruyn & Company since the Civil War and add it to the existing forest preserve, which is off limits to development or timber cutting but open for public recreation.

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