Wood residues – the materials left over when trees are logged and processed – hold the potential to support resource-efficient energy access, revitalize rural economies and help mitigate climate change, according to this new report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). In many countries, wood …
We need to give the devil his due. Finance minister, Yashwant Sinha, has drawn flak from almost all sides for his nightmare budget 2002. But there was one item, which missed most eyes, which said that the budget would provide deduction for afforestation projects on degraded non-forest land. The crucial …
In a bid to stop mahogony trade, a Brazilian government decree has suspended all forest management plans for logging mahogany in the states of Paro, Mato, Grosso and Acre. The announcement, approved by the country's environment and natural resources ministry, means an end to the illegal mahogany industry in Brazil. …
Logging makes rainforest regions susceptible to destruction, proves a study. Researchers from the Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Germany, studied the recently-logged regions on the south-east Asian island of Borneo. According to them, rainforests are normally wet and fireproof. But deforested areas burnt more frequently and severely than virgin forests. When selective logging takes …
By LIAN CHAWIIThe Lok Vaniki scheme, introduced in Madhya Pradesh in 1999, aims at empowering the farmers to manage their degraded forestland so as to derive maximum benefits by selling its produce, including timber. The scheme has already brought about a few changes in the law as well. Under Section …
Two months after four people were killed in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh (MP), the state government seems to be finally owing up its responsibility. Albeit with a lot of pressure, compensations have been given and activists have been released from custody. However, it seems that the larger issues are still to …
the Madhya Pradesh government would like to forget it. The residents of Dewas district, however, will remember it for the rest of their lives. Four people were killed in a confrontation between the administration and the tribal people at Mehendikheda village, about 100 km from the district headquarters of Dewas, …
Workers in sawmills and wood-related industry, such as plywood manufacturing, are exposed to carcinogens and other dangerous chemicals. The chemicals may be naturally found or synthesised. Chlorophenols
representatives of India's pulp and paper industry met the Green Rating Project ( grp ) unit of the Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi, to take stock of their environmental performance more than one year after the release of the first ever environmental rating of its kind in the …
after affecting over one-sixth of the total sal ( Shorea robusta ) forests in Madya Pradesh in 1997, the sal borer is back with a vengeance. According to media reports, at least three million sal trees are affected in Bihar, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh. Climatic changes like …
tipwood a substitute for wood has been developed for use in the construction industry. Tipwood maintains the aesthetic nature of wood but scores over the latter as it is termite-proof, fire-resistant, does not need solvent treatment and maintenance-free. The technology behind the product, made by Tipco Industries Ltd (til), is …
reeling under a total halt to its timber trade after the Supreme Court imposed a ban on all timber-related activities in the Northeast five years ago, the state government of Assam has formulated a new set of "Assam Wood-based Industries (Establishment and Regulation) Rules, 1999'. This has come in response …
the dense foliage around the Hwange Victoria Falls in north western Zimbabwe may soon be relegated to history if several species of hardwoods continue to disappear at the present rate. The booming tourism trade and the subsequent sale of curios made of wood is posing a grave threat to indigenous …
grasim industries ltd ( gil ), an Aditya Birla group company, sought the permission of the Kerala government to close down its viscose plant located on the banks of the river Chaliyar at Mavoor, Kozhikode district. The company also posted copies of the notice to the trade unions on August …
In a bid to end illegal import of wood, customs and forest officials in Thailand will work together to monitor log movements. They will supervise import and transport of logs and will identify areas where logs can be processed, a customs department official said. Illegal Thai logs have often been …
scientists have found a way to make eucalyptus and other trees grow a little faster. They have identified the key genes which are responsible for the development of wood in trees. They have also developed a new process for the testing of genes in the laboratory. Gerd Bossinger of the …
eighteen environmentalists have been arrested in Vancouver, Canada, for opposing the logging of some of the remaining pristine rainforest valleys in the Great Bear Rainforests. The uk is playing a major role in forest destruction as it continues to import timber and pulp from British Columbia's ancient temperate rainforests to …
The recent news item in the Asian Wall Street Journal that New Zealand's log industry is to receive a big boost because of the restrictions imposed by the Supreme Court of India on Indian logging, should be treated like a slap in the face of India's forest officialdom. Subsequently, the …
Wood can now be produced from waste. The UK's Save Wood Products Limited has come up with a product called durawood that combines the properties of wood and plastic. Derived from recycled polystyrene packaging waste, the product bears the aesthetic and physical properties of wood and the durability of plastic. …
Phenols are a group of toxic compounds that impart bad odour and taste to water. According to a recent report, sawdust waste can help remove phenol and other related toxic compounds from water. V Sivandan Achari and T S Anirudhan, scientists from the University of Kerala at Trivandrum, studied the …
