Forest twice size of UK destroyed in decade for big consumer brands – report

Posted on June 11, 2019 by Admin

Greenpeace estimates 50m hectares cleared by 2020, warning companies must evolve to prevent ‘climate breakdown’

An area twice the size of the UK has been destroyed for products such as palm oil and soy over the last decade, according to analysis by Greenpeace International.

In 2010, members of the Consumer Goods Forum, including some of the world’s biggest consumer brands, pledged to eliminate deforestation by 2020, through the sustainable sourcing of four commodities most linked to forest destruction: soya, palm oil, paper and pulp, and cattle.

Tree planted to mark Trump-Macron friendship dies – reports

Posted on June 9, 2019 by Admin

French media say oak given as a gift by Macron and planted at the White House as part of charm offensive is no more

The tree planted by Donald Trump and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, at the White House as a symbol of their countries’ ties has died, according to multiple media reports in France.

The oak was given as a gift to the US president during Macron’s visit in 2018. In a tweet at the time, Macron said: “100 years ago, American soldiers fought in France, in Belleau to defend our freedom. This oak tree (my gift to @realDonaldTrump]) will be a reminder at the White House of these ties that bind us.”

‘Death by a thousand cuts’: vast expanse of rainforest lost in 2018

Posted on April 25, 2019 by Admin

Pristine forests are vital for climate and wildlife but trend of losses is rising, data shows

Millions of hectares of pristine tropical rainforest were destroyed in 2018, according to satellite analysis, with beef, chocolate and palm oil among the main causes.

The forests store huge amounts of carbon and are teeming with wildlife, making their protection critical to stopping runaway climate change and halting a sixth mass extinction. But deforestation is still on an upward trend, the researchers said. Although 2018 losses were lower than in 2016 and 2017, when dry conditions led to large fires, last year was the next worst since 2002, when such records began.

Japanese cherry blossom in full bloom – in pictures

Posted on April 1, 2019 by Admin

Japan’s sakura (cherry blossom) season has officially begun, with crowds flocking to parks to photograph the early blooms

US-China soy trade war could destroy 13 million hectares of rainforest

Posted on March 27, 2019 by Admin

Study suggests Brazil likely to rush to fill China’s sudden soy shortfall by boosting farming

The Amazon rainforest could be the greatest casualty of the trade war between the United States and China, warns a new study showing how deforestation pressures have surged as a result of the geopolitical jolt in global soy markets.

Up to 13m hectares of forest and savannah – an area the size of Greece – would have to be cleared if Brazil and other exporters were to fill the huge shortfall in soy supply to China that has suddenly appeared since Donald Trump imposed hefty tariffs, according to the paper published in Nature.

US exports of the commodity, primarily used to feed livestock, to China plummeted by 50% last year, which the authors say is an unusually sharp level of decline between two trading partners outside wartime.

‘A good day’: New Zealand adds area half the size of Auckland to national park

Posted on March 12, 2019 by Admin

Environmentalists ‘stoked’ by expansion they say will protect blue duck, native kaka bird, bats and giant land snails

A national park in New Zealand has been expanded by 64,000 hectares – the largest gain for a national park in the country’s history.

Kahurangi national park is situated in the north-west corner of New Zealand’s South Island, and is already the second-largest national park in the country.

‘We are fighting’: Brazil’s indigenous groups unite to protect their land

Posted on March 4, 2019 by Admin

Residents of Raposa Serra do Sol are determined to face down the threat posed by mining

“A united people will never be defeated!” shouted Maria Betânia Mota, as the indigenous assembly in a partially burned-out agricultural college began. Hundreds of voices roared back in approval.

Betânia Mota is the women’s secretary of its organisers, the Indigenous Council of Roraima (CIR), which represents the majority of those living in the 1.7m hectares of savannah and scrub that make up the Raposa Serra do Sol reserve in Brazil’s northernmost state.

Kew’s tree library leads hi-tech war on illegal logging

Posted on February 24, 2019 by Admin

New techniques will help customs officers identify and seize wood that came from endangered species

The wooden blinds that lie crumpled in Peter Gasson’s laboratory in Kew Gardens are chipped and forlorn-looking. Their manufacturers had claimed they were made of pine but customs officers were wary. And their suspicions were well-founded. Gasson, Kew’s research leader on wood and timber, found the blinds were not made of pine but ramin.

“All ramin trees, which grow in south-east Asia, are endangered and trade in their wood is illegal,” said Gasson. “On this occasion, we got lucky and stopped people profiting from this trade.”

Massive deforestation by refugees in Uganda sparks clashes with local people

Posted on February 18, 2019 by Admin

Communities clash over natural resources as arrivals from South Sudan and DRC plunder environment for fuel and construction

The cutting down of millions of trees has sparked angry clashes in parts of Uganda between local people and refugees who have been fleeing conflict in neighbouring South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The timber is being used for house construction, fuel and to make charcoal. In the north and west of the country, where an estimated 1.1 million refugees are living, massive deforestation is drawing protests by local communities.

Brazil environment minister’s dismissal of slain Amazon defender stirs outrage

Posted on February 12, 2019 by Admin

Ricardo Salles’ comments fuel criticism of administration’s stance, which environmentalists say is excessively pro-business

Brazilian environmental groups have blasted Jair Bolsonaro’s environment minister after he dismissed the murdered Amazon rain forest defender Chico Mendes as “irrelevant”.

Brazil’s government reveals plans to privatize key shipping route

Posted on January 23, 2019 by Admin

Jair Bolsonaro plans to overhaul country’s transportation infrastructure despite concerns of increased deforestation on the Trans-Amazonian highway

Brazil’s new government has unveiled plans to privatize the Trans-Amazonian Highway, in a fresh attempt to complete – and fully pave – the dictatorship-era road which has already been blamed for extensive deforestation.

The government also plans to sell to investors a concession to run BR-163, a key northern route for shipping Brazilian grains, adding it along with the Trans-Amazonian to a priority list for privatization at a meeting next month, infrastructure minister Tarcisio Freitas told Reuters in an interview.

Roundup Newswires

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Category Archives: Trees and forests

Forest twice size of UK destroyed in decade for big consumer brands – report

Tree planted to mark Trump-Macron friendship dies – reports

‘Death by a thousand cuts’: vast expanse of rainforest lost in 2018

Japanese cherry blossom in full bloom – in pictures

US-China soy trade war could destroy 13 million hectares of rainforest

‘A good day’: New Zealand adds area half the size of Auckland to national park

‘We are fighting’: Brazil’s indigenous groups unite to protect their land

Kew’s tree library leads hi-tech war on illegal logging

Massive deforestation by refugees in Uganda sparks clashes with local people

Brazil environment minister’s dismissal of slain Amazon defender stirs outrage

Brazil’s government reveals plans to privatize key shipping route