Plant life
Calls for China to control rosewood trade to protect World Heritage Site
Concerns are mounting for the Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex World Heritage Site in Thailand as armed and dangerous illegal logging gangs chop down rare hardwood trees to feed the growing demands in South East Asia. The latest World Heritage Sites report by the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) calls for Cambodia, [...]
Biofuel breakthrough announced – the hydrogen economy takes a giant leap forward
A new breakthrough has been announced in biofuel production that could mean cheap clean hydrogen energy is just around the corner. The new process has been able to produce hydrogen from simple plant sugars, something previously only theoretically possible. The new process is cheap and does not use polluting and energy intensive processes to do [...]
Urban vegetation helps beat crime
It is becoming increasingly accepted that urban vegetation does not just look nice and is good for wildlife but also benefits people’s sense of well-being. There is lots of research that shows that people with a view of greenery feel much better. Children with access to green space – and even just a view of green space [...]
Rosewood listing could help tackle illegal logging
Violence and gun fights between law enforcement agencies and poachers of tigers, elephants and rhino are well known and occur often but increasingly there are armed conflicts between loggers and law enforcement agencies. As the price of hardwoods rocket driven by high-end furniture demand in China the listings on CITES Appendices of a number of hardwood [...]
2,000 trucks of timber seized in Interpol’s first logging operation
Interpol has just released details of its first international operation against illegal logging operations in Latin America. The operation resulted in the seizure of 2,000 truckloads of illegal timber worth millions of dollars and almost 200 arrests. The operation covered 12 countries in south and central America. The operation named Operation Lead lasted for a [...]
Crooked willows make better fuel
There’s always something in nature to amaze and a new study has shown that willows which grow at a diagonal are much better for biofuel production than willow trees that are left to grow normally. The difference can be substantial with the crooked tree producing 5 times more bio-fuel than their more straight cousins. While [...]
British Ecological Society joins open access revolution
Papers published in the 5 scientific journals published by the British Ecological Society will now feature in the open access journal Ecology and Evolution that is maintained by the science publishers Wiley. The arrangement will see Ecology and Evolution become one of the leading ecological online open access libraries with 11 of the top 20 ecological [...]
Old-growth forests could be due for the chop as Canada runs out of trees
The state government of British Colombia is looking into allow logging to take place in highly protected old-growth forests as the state starts to run out of marketable timber trees. The plan is being considered as authorities try to deal with the consequences of a beetle infestation. For over a decade an epidemic of mountain pine beetle have [...]
Upto 30% of global timber trade is illegal
A new report produced jointly by the United Nations and Interpol which was published yesterday will make depressing reading for anyone involved over the last 30 years in environmental campaigning. The report called Green Carbon – Black Trade states that anything between 15% and 30% of global timber trading involves illegally source logs. To put [...]
Britains iconic moorlands could be lost due to herbicide ban
Concerns are being raised that the ban of the herbicide Asulam by the EU could lead to major losses of Britain’s heather moorlands. The chemical is the most effective bracken control herbicide available and it ban at the end of the year could mean maintaining the habitat becomes too difficult. Britain has 75% of the [...]
The value of Papua’s rainforest – 41p a hectare
A new report has just been published by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and their Indonesia partner Telapak makes dismal reading as palm oil companies rip off the tribal people of Papua. In one instance highlighted in the report - Clear-Cut Exploitation – a major palm oil company that is backed with funding by Norway’s sovereign fund paid [...]
APP to stop natural forest clearance on 1st June
One of the world’s leading pulp and paper producers Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) has announced that it is to suspend cutting down natural forests in it pulpwood plantations and concessions from 1st June. The announcement is only for a temporary ban on forest clearance of its own company subsidiaries and its own concessions. The ban starting from [...]
Is Indonesia about to get tough with loggers?
Could the Indonesian government be preparing to get tough with the forestry industry in the country? Recent news that the government is to sue 16 logging companies for USD225 Billion seems to indicate that muscles are being flexed. The law suit will be a first for the country and the government is going after a substantial level of compensation. [...]
Big trees rule the forests
A new study has shown that in the forest all trees are not equal when it comes to contributing to ecosystem services such as carbon capture. The study of trees in the Yosemite National Park demonstrated that the largest trees made up a substantial proportion of the biomass in the study area. The study indicated that [...]
England’s Green Dozen
England is set to get 12 new wildlife sites following an announcement today by the Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). The new nature reserves is set to cover hundreds of thousands of hectares of both rural and urban areas and cost up to £7.5 million. The new wildlife projects announced today by [...]
The hidden cost of tropical wood
Tropical hardwoods are highly sought after by furniture makers and rosewoods are among those species most in demand. Behind the luxury furniture or ornaments made from the wood lies a world of international commodity traders, armed shoot-outs, corruption of officials and most worrying of all the real potential loss of some species in just a few years. [...]
Covert x-ray vans to tackle illegal logging in Congo
X-ray vans and equipment are normally used in anti-terrorist operations or to tackle smuggling of drugs, weapons and explosives. A few years ago the equipment was large and cumbersome, now it can fit in the back of a small van. It can also work in drive-by mode for convert operations. The World Bank has just [...]
High energy costs fuels illegal logging in the UK
We often think of illegal logging taking place in South America, Asia or Africa. Trees are chopped down for timber or firewood threatening habitats of the local wildlife. Illegal timber thefts and more worryingly chopping down of trees is now happening in the UK and it’s driven by high fuel prices. High fuel prices puts 25% of households [...]
Interim report on Englands forests and woodlands released.
The Independent Panel on Forestry -set up by the government after it’s disastrous original decision to sell them off to the highest bidder caused uproar – published it’s progress report last week. The full report is due out in the spring of 2012 when it will make a number of recommendations. Reading the progress report just reconfirmed how much value people give to [...]
Shooters hit with £165,000 after damage to SSSI
A field sports company that damaged Farndale Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in the North Yorkshire National Park have been hit with a total of £165,000 in fines and costs at York Crown Court. The company also has it’s own £145,000 defence bill to pay bringing the total cost to £310,000. The company, Yorks Sport [...]