Dry spell in HP makes pine zone a 'tinder box'
Principal chief conservator of forests S K Pande said on Friday that the continued dry spell resulting in low humidity and increased temperatures had caused resinous vapours in the state's pine zone making them a virtual tinder box. Holding these two factors responsible for the spate of forest fires in …
Timber price hike boosts grey market
The rise in price of timber at auctions organised by separate forest divisions and the West Bengal Forest Development Corporation seems to have come as a boost to the unauthorised timber trader whose supplies come from the illegal felling of trees in the reserved forest areas.
The burning hills
The ecological devastation wrought by fires in the hills of Uttar Pradesh has been of such intensity that it is virtually impossible to rectify. The fires which have been burning for over a month have charred 80,000 hectares of forest destroying pine, oak and deodhar trees and much of the …
State to lose about 1,000 sq km of forest area
In what could be termed as a major sign of disaster in the coming days, Assam, which curently has a total forest coverage of 30,708 sq km against the geographical area of 78,719 sq km , stands to lose about 1,000 sq km of well-stoked forest areas before the turn …
Remote sensing for forest fires
The Institute of remote Sensing(IRS) at Anna University plans to arrive at a system to identify the near real time of the occurrence of forest fires through the use of remote sesing satellites.
Finnish forest industry details '98 CO2 emissions
The Federation of Finnish Forest Industries said that carbon dioxide emissions of the industry's mills and own energy production in Finlandtotalled 6.1 million tonnes in 1998, up slightly on 1997. The industry also purchased electricity that had carbon dioxide emissions of 2.6 million tonnes, and the total of 8.7 percent …
Cong holds BJP responsible for destruction of forests
The Madhya Pradesh Congress has held the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition government responsible for destruciton of forests in Madhya pradesh. The party has alleged that the Union government had made certain amendments in the Forest Protection Act 1980, due to which many schemes undertaken by the State Government were adversely …
Corbett park gears up to prevent fires
The management of the Corbett tiger reserve is taking all precautions to prevent forest fires raging in the forests of Kumaon from causing any major damage to the flora and fauna of the reserve.
Stumped by logging
You'd think we'd learn. After all the fuss over the proposed Sungai Selangor Dam, after all the concern over running out of clean water because catchment areas are mismanaged, you'd think we'd know enough to leave such places alone. But no. Now there's a highland area in Sabah that has …
Forest fires force 1,000 Canadians from their homes
Up to 1,000 people were left stranded inthe western province of Manitoba yesterday after forest and grass fires drove them from their homes on the weekend, a government spokeswoman said. "We have no idea when they can go back," saidDiana Soroka, spokeswoman for the provincial Natural Resources department. About 60 …
Fujitsu to fight global warming by planting trees in Vietnam
Fujitsu Ltd, a major Tokyo-based computer maker, plans to plant local varieties of trees on about 50 hectares of land near a production subsidiary in Vietnam, beginning in September. The project costs are estimated about $25,000 including the costs of procuring saplings and preparing soil for planting. Fujitsu hopes that …
Control room to monitor Himachal forest firest
A control room has been set upin the Chief Minister, Mr P K Dhumal's officer at Shimla to monitor forest firest and water shortage in the state. Addressing deputy commissioners and superintendents of police today, Mr Dhumal said the control room would daily monitor the progress of steps taken to …
Forest fires in HP threaten erosion of land, flora, fauna
Inadequate rainfall during last winter and early onset of summer this year have resulted in about 200 forest fires in Himachal Pradesh, threatening further erosion of land, denudation of forests and destruction of flora-fauna of the Himalayan ecology.
H.P. seeks aid to tackle forest fires
The Himachal Pradesh Government has sought immediate financial assistance from the centre to tackle the alarming situation arising out of a spate of forest fires and shortage of water due to continued dry spell thoughout the State.
New forest fires in western Indonesia's Riau Province
Small farmers using slash-and-burn land clearing methods were blamedfor fires in Indonesia's western Riau Province which have heightened fears of new smog dangers. But officials offered a glimmer of hope saying the number of hotspots was being reduced and the outbreaks were smaller than two years ago when forestry and …
Pine trees squeezing Darjeeling dry
Expert : Pine trees are no longer a thing of beauty in the water starved Darjeeling hills. Darjeeling's disillusionment with the coniferous plant, introduced by the British, was evident on the concluding day of a week long environment awareness programme organised by the Padmaja Naido Himalayan Zoological Park at Darjeeling …
Sumatra forest fires spread dangerously
Forest fires on the Indonesian island of Sumatra have entered the "dangerous category," officials said on Friday with more than 40 hot spots detected. The fires, sparked by salsh-and-burn land clearing, had raised new fears of haze dangers spreading to neoghbouring countries, they said.
Order to suspend timber rights
The state government (H.P.) has issued instructions to suspend the timber distribution rights of the people who do not cooperate with the Forest Department in controlling forest fires in adjoining forests of the state.
