Activists lost in woods over native logging
The Westbank Tribal Nation has taken to the woods of British Columbia to log without permission from the provincial Government. The Ministry of Forests has even issued a stop-work order but the natives have ignored it. Environmentalists usually have no problem identifying the bad guys in any forestry dispute - …
Drinking-water profits pour into bottlers' pockets
Provincial governments across Canada have given private bottling companies the right to pump 30 billion litres of fresh drinking water into plastic bottles, but the net benefit to Canada's citizens is a scant C$25,900 (HK$136,500). The approved allocations amount to 1,000 litres for each Canadian - a sizeable amount even …
Meet on forest degradation
There are 7,000 species of plants in the forests in Lalitpur district of Nepal which covers 40 percent of the total area, according to forestry experts. Twenty seven percent of the total forest area consists of private forests and is taken care of by 124 community forest consumers committees operating …
China must fully tap timber potential
China should plant more trees and make full use of its forest resources to meet the increasing demand for timber in the future, a forestry expert said. The serious flooding on the Yangtze River the past summer increased Chinese awareness of environmental protection, and logging in most forests in many …
CM warns of action under PD act
Chief Minister of Karnataka N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday warned that cases under Preventive Detention Act would be booked against those found guilty for destruction of the forests. Addressing a state-level conference of presidents and secretaries of Vana samrakshana samitis (VSSs), he said thsoe involved in felling of trees in …
Global Green ties up with Israel firm
Global Green Company of the L.M. Thapar group has tied up with Naan Irrigation of Israel to bring the latest micro irrigation systems to the Indian farmer.
Govt evolving comprehensive forest policy
The government is in the process of evolving a comprehensive forest policy, dividing forest land in three zones, said Suresh Prabhu, minister for environments and forests. Addressing members of Indian Paper Makers' Association (IPMA) at the annual general meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday, Mr Prabhu explained that the three …
Buffer forests planned to prevent landslides
The Construction Ministry in Japan decided earlier this week to launch a project beginning next fiscal year to create buffer forests at selected points around the country, aimed at preventing landslides from reaching residential areas in the event of heavy rain.
Cabinet okays national water policy
The Bangladesh cabinet approved the National Water Policy for efficient management of surface and ground waters. Its stipulated objective is "to take necessary measures for proper utilisation and development of the surface and ground waters ensuring availability of water for all, including the poor and underprivileged sections of the society".
Chinese Premier stresses forest protection
Chinese will try to initially rehabilitate the forest areas on the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze and Yellow rivers and restore the ecological system in the areas in five to ten years, Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji stressed recently.
Brazil forest tops global ecology concerns
Fifteen years ago, Brazilians didn't even have a name for the lush, tropical rain forest that tumbles from seaside mountains to the ocean along much of the country's Atlantic coast. They came up with a name just in time. The "Mata Atlantica," or Atlantic rain forest, is now one of …
Misappropriation of forest resources worth Tk 20 lakh alleged
Allegation of misappropriation of forest resources worth Tk 20 lakh was made against an official of Forest Department in Khulna (Bangladesh). The official allegedly supplied more than one pass for collecting timber and other forest materials and irregularities were detected in the book maintained at the station in this regard.
Panel on people's role in forestry
The environment and forests ministry has constituted a committee on joint forest management (JFM) to evolve an institutional mechanism for an effective people-government partnership on forest management. The country's forests are managed by state forest departments. Guideline for local communities participation were issued by the ministry of environment and forests …
Green trees felled on flimsy pretext
In spite of the complete ban imposed by the Supreme Court, felling of green trees is continuing in Himachal Pradesh surreptiously. Investigations have been marking healthy green trees for felling under 'salvage marking'. Over the past one month about half-a-dozen such cases have come to light. The most glaring instances …
Gujarat Infocity may uproot 40,000 trees
The Infocity the Gujarat government is planning to set up on the sprawling 200 acres of the government land near Gandhinagar may lead to the felling of about 40,000 trees. Though the government is yet to send a formal proposal to the Forest Department to fell these trees, it has …
Need to protect fig trees for better eco system
There is an urgent need to protect and preserve the fast depleting fig tree population in the western ghats as ecologists have shown fig trees to be 'keysone resources' of an ecosystem.Speaking on 'Figs of Western Ghats, Utkarsh Ghate of centre for Ecological Sciences (CES) of the Indian Institute of …
Call for logging ban renewed
Serious anomalies in logging plans approved in the jungle-clad Peninsula of Osa in southwest Costa Rica were unearthed recently by a team of scientists contracted by local environmentalists, who last week renewed their cry for a logging ban in the area. The team of biologists, geographers and forestry engineers analyzed …
Australia forest growers to develop carbon rules
Australia's two largest forest growers said yesterday they had reached an agreement to establish a common system for accounting for the carbon stored in trees. State Forests of New South Wales, owned by the state government, and Hancock Victorian Plantations Ltd said the agreement was a step toward establishing a …
More trees needed to meet fuel demands
Tapping the vast wood energy potential to cater to the increasing fuel demands of the population through systematic introduction of related issues in the curricula of all forestry-related educational and training institutions to ensure better understanding and appreciation of this resorce was the mainstay of a four-day national level expert …
Proof soon of human clone
The South Korean research team which claimed to have created an embryonic clone of an adult woman said on Friday it would soon release evidence of its experiment, in a bid to put to rest any lingering scepticism. "Conditions are very stressful for us at the present time," Mr. Kim …
