Senators urge new US-Canada softwood lumber pact
US senators on Tuesday called for quick action on a new US-Canada softwood lumber agreement to replace a five-year pact that expires March 31.At a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Robert Zoellick's nomination to be the next US trade representative, Senate Republican Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi said Canadian lumber …
Woes of paper
Faced with the prospect of stagnant production growth this fiscal, the paper industry has reiterated its longstanding demand for the release of 10 per cent of the 40 lakh hectare degraded forest land for its exclusive use. This, it is argued, would enable the industry develop pulpwood plantations and overcome …
Ship carrying mercury to India turned back
A ship bringing a huge shipment of mercury from the US to India turned back from near the Egyptian shores on Monday after an international furore. A Maine-based chlorine manufacturing plant, HoltraChem, had sold around 118 tonnes of mercury to an Illinois-based trader, DF Goldsmith and Metal Corporation. Goldsmith decided …
Govt to seek amendment to Forest Act
The Madhya Pradesh government will strongly plead the case for amendment in the stringent Forest Conservation Act, 1980, before a team of Governors, scheduled to arrive in Bhopal on a three-day visit from February 5 next.
WB guidelines converts JFM into CFM
The Joint Forest Management programme will have a new name. Thanks to the conditions laid down by the World Bank for granting funds for the Andhra Pradesh Forestry Project-II, now the JFM will be converted into Community Forest Management.
Liberian timber in UN spotlight
The US and UK are intensifying their pressure on Liberia's president over his role in fuelling the war in neighbouring Sierra Leone. In a resolution circulated at the United Nations Security Council, the US has called for an international ban on Liberian timber sales in addition to proposed sanctions on …
Mafia jaws over Kerala jungles
A few companies are on the verge of grabbing about 10,000 hectares of prime forest land on the Kerala border. The 'forest mafia' enjoy a lot of clout and have even stalled the re-issuance of the Kerala Forests (Vesting and Management of Ecologically Fragile Lands) Ordinance 2000, aimed at protecting …
Van Gujjars facing the wrath of foresters
The Uttaranchal Government's announced priority areas of reaching drinking water and primary education to all and judiciously tapping natural resources to raise much-needed funds in this cash-strapped economy seem to be of no concern to a section of the forest bureaucracy scheming to usurp power and attain superiority over others …
New report says planned Brazilian development could destroy Amazon
A $40 billion development plan could reduce the size of pristine forest to less than 5%, with 42% of the region either totally deforested or heavily degraded by the year 2020.A new report compiled by scientists from four research centres, and published in 19 January's edition of the journal Science, …
A new UN survey shows a 20% drop in the rate of deforestation since 1995
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced on 22 January that the global rate of net forest loss has slowed to 35,000 square miles (89,000 sq km) per year, an area a little larger than that of Belgium, showing a rate 20% lower than the global figure previously …
Human right to water widely violated in Asia
New Year found the human right to water still widely fractured in Asia and the Pacific. "This (deprivation) is most acute in Asia where majority of the world's poor live," the Asian Development Bank notes.
Paper industry seeks forest land for its exclusive use
With prospects of a stagnant growth in the current fiscal, the paper indusry has said that the Government should allocate four lakh hectares of degraded forest land for its exclusive use, to deal with the problem of raw material shortage and high prices.
Pressure mounting on Nanu
The Janata Dal State office-bearers' meeting in Kozhikode on Tuesday is believed to have asked its (Forest) Minister, Mr. C.K. Nanu, to either get the Kerala Forests (Vesting and Management of Ecologically Fragile Lands) Ordinance 2000 reissued before its expiry on January 28 or quit the Cabinet.
Tripura witnesses growth in forest cover
The forest cover of Tripura has increased following implementation of social forestry, joint forest management programmes and intensified vigil against felling of trees and smuggling of forest produces to Bangladesh, official sources said Thursday, reports PTI.
Construction in Nainital green belt banned
Pushed by popular consternation over possible adverse impact of urbanisation on the environment and ecology of the Sat Tal and the Bhim Tal lakes in Nainital, the Uttaranchal Government has ordred stopping of construction work in June Estate, a massive green-belt area in the lakes'vicinity. The State Government has also …
European disaster
Deforestation and an ailing ecosystem : What is left of Europe's ancient forests, is under threat from ax, fire and pollution and urban sprawl, and little is being done about it. Less than 2 percent of Europe's forests are natural rather than man-made, according to the World Wildlife Fund, which …
Special team combing Siruvani forests
A special team consisting of officials from the Kerala Police and the Forest Department today combed the Siruvani forests in the Agali forest range bordering the Velliyankiri forests of Tamil Nadu after the Special Task Force (STF) during its aerial surveillance received 'definite information that the forest brigand, Veerappan, is …
HC asks forest dept to hold inquiry
The Karnataka High Court today directed the forest department to hold a high-level inquiry into the grant of a forest land to a private person for agriculture purpose, and find out the person responsible for the HC directs forest dept to hold inquiry "illegal" grant of the land.
