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 …
function graph() { var popurl="files/images/20041015/38-graph.jpg" winpops=window.open(popurl,"","width=700,height=400,scrollbars=yes") } Water is the Achilles heel of the Indian pulp and paper industry. Most of its challenges end up with its inefficient use of water. There is no doubt that the world over, this industry is the largest industrial user of water. But globally, …
As yet, people living near paper mills have not been at peace with their polluting neighbour. Not only are there conflicts, but clearly the local community in many cases has been able to assert its demand for the industry to clean up or close down. It would not be wrong …
The pulp and paper industry is an environmentalist' nightmare. It can easily eat away a nation's forest. It uses huge amounts of equally precious water to
GRP is not a mere rating. It is a tool to push for improvement. A way to leverage change. Thus the rating must reflect the current state of the industrial sector, and point to improvements. So it is that in each rating, the project reviews the entire sector
GRP has a time series data of 8 years for the Indian pulp and paper sector. It is a powerful indicator of visible changes, not just in companies which have improved but also in those that have slipped. The database also allows GRP to tellingly forecast what the management has …
an ecological crisis resulting in scarcity of wood has placed the sacred Jagannath rath yatra (chariot journey) of Puri in jeopardy. Wood is an integral component of the rituals associated with the yatra. But lately, the divisional forest officers responsible for making the required quantity of wood available have expressed …
function table1() { var popurl="html/20040815_table1.htm" winpops=window.open(popurl,"","width=500,height=380,scrollbars=yes") } You will be apt to find, if you peeked into a backyard of a small-scale papermaking mill
concerned about the hazards of high-tech trash? Here is a piece of good news. A Swedish company has started marketing wooden computer monitors and keyboards that aim to brighten office life, while cutting down the environmental impact of hi-tech junk. With large number of computers stacking up in landfills worldwide, …
toxicity unleashed: In a controversial move, the EU has legalised the herbicide paraquat even as the bloc's own risk classification and labelling lists the chemical as acutely toxic. The US, too, has taken a similar step, with the federal government announcing that it would not impose new restrictions on atrazine. …
The Dutch East India Company was formed c 1602. As the Dutch Armada set sail for the East Indies from Amsterdam, surgeons and apothecaries on the fleet were instructed by the great European renaissance botanist Carolus Clusius "to bring, laid between paper, branchless carrying leaves and fruits' foremost of commercially …
• The Ministry for Protection of the Environment and Natural Resources of Russia has sold nine plots of wood in the Kaluzhsky region through an Internet auction. Apart from over 1,600 hits from Russia itself, the auction site had traffic from Ukraine, US, Germany, Bulgaria, Norway, United Arab Emirates, South …
Environmental groups in the US and Canada have got together and filed a suit in a federal district court in Washington DC, challenging the US' continued use of wood preservatives containing arsenic and other harmful substances. The groups say the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has "overwhelming data' on the …
It is five o'clock in the morning. I am inside Jharkhand's Khellari forest, on assignment. In the first light of morning, the forest looks lush and dark green. Suddenly, a frail frame
What if Phulmai did not exist. You can meet her in the forest; follow her for a day; listen to what she says and so complete half an assignment. The other half lies in accounting for her, and all those like her who spend their lives headloading. Step out of …
Indonesia's tropical forests are fast dwindling, courtesy rampant illegal logging. Taking stock of the situation, the country has now imposed a permanent ban on log exports. In October 2001, a joint decree banning exports of logs was passed temporarily. The government discussed the matter with the International Monetary Fund (imf) …
The Supreme Court has suggested that the forested states, which lose revenue because of the ban on felling of trees should be compensated for keeping their forests intact. Protection of the biological hotspots should be the responsibility of the country, says the court, and therefore, if the state protects its …
Sri Lanka's power and energy ministry is moving towards tapping new alternative energy sources to meet the galloping electricity demand in the country. Recently, the ministry announced an ambitious plan to harness
Bamboo flowering is considered a bad omen in several northeastern states of India, especially when accompanied by an increase in rodent population. It is believed to lead to famines and natural calamities. The next bamboo flowering is expected around year 2003-04. Should we prepare ourselves? On October 29, 1958 the …
on what is being seen as a red-letter day for the greens, the Supreme Court (sc) banned the felling of trees in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The apex court finally delivered its verdict earlier this month after a protracted legal battle that spawned a writ petition filed by environmental organisations. …
