'Forest damage may trigger Asian crisis'
Asia could face a second economic crisis if the region's increasingly high level of forest destruction was not reversed, the World Bank has warned. World Bank senior environment adviser Mr. Ken Newcombe urged Asia to focus on sustainable natural resources use as the current financial crisis forced increasing numbers of …
Cutting Christmas cards could help save 125 trees
It will be a Christmas without cards but plenty of greetings in a green way. Friends of the Earth is hoping to reduce by 500,000 the number of Christmas cards sent this year, equivalent to 125 trees - about the number of cards being mailed out by companies in Hong …
Goa's cash-strapped forest dept seeks sponsors
With more than 33 per cent land under forest cover, Goa is an ecological success story. But the state's Forest Department is way down on the Government's list of priorities. A severe cutback on allocations from this year's budget has forced the Forest Department to seek private sponsors to fund …
Slight decline in sandalwood smuggling
The rate of sandalwood smuggling in Tamil Nadu has come down slightly in the past six months, compared to same the period last year, according to Forest Department officials.From April to September this year, 965 cases were detected and more than 1000 persons arrested. The department was able to recover …
Disclose water quality data, top court tells waste facility
Japan's Supreme Court on Friday ordered a Tama, western Tokyo, regional union that manages a waste disposal facility in Hinodemachi, western Tokyo, to disclose data to local residents about the quality of water surrounding the site. While upholding a lower court ruling, however, the top court decided that part of …
Fuel
alternatives? : Come November, the temperatures drop and we return to a familiar subject : firewood. It is a particularly interesting situation this year because the popular hard wood has been banned and the Thimphu community in Bhutan is expected to survive the winter on soft wood, both for cooking …
Felling of trees
3 forest personnel suspended: Mr. Manoj kumar Sarcar, District Forest Officer (DFO), Tirunelveli division, has placed under suspension three forest department staff, including a Forester, in connection with the mass felling of trees, including teak trees, in the Vallam forest beat of the Courtallam range in the last four months. …
What blocked the view?
Indian astronomers who are wondering why the much-hyped celestial display this morning turned out to be a dud, say they are completely baffled. Well-known astronomer Jayant Narlikar, who could count only two during the peak of the storm blames it partly on cloudiness and light pollution while Mr R Subramaniam, …
Tree plantation campaign
Holiday Inn Krishna, Hyderabad, has taken up the tree plantation campaign and its executives and staff have planted more than 1,000 saplings of diverse varieties. In addition, the staff have come forward to plant two saplings each in their residential areas.
State losing Rs 60 cr due to SC ban on tree felling
Nagen : The State Government has been losing about Rs 60 crore annually , as revenue collection, since felling of trees was banned in the State by the Supreme Court of India. While attending the inaugural functionof Nameri National Park at Potasali, the State PWD and Forest Minister, Nagen Sarma …
Database on forests needed before pact
Accurate information on the extent of forest cover and its utilisation in all countries was necessary before sustainable management of tropical forests could be ensured through a proper global forestry convention, an official of the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO) said here yesterday.
Rs 60-cr loss on tree felling ban
The Assam State Government is losing Rs 60 crores annually in revenue collection following the ban on felling trees by the Supreme Court, according to the State's Forest and PWD Minister, Mr. Nagen Sarmah.
ITTO for sustainable management of tropical forests
Achieving sustainable management of tropical forests through international cooperation and assistance is the main objective of the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO), said Dr. Steven E. Johnson of the ITTO today.Participating in a workshop on tropical forests and timber trade statistics, organised by the ITTO, Dr. Johnson said the purpose …
Where ecotourism may save a jungle
Conservation International, a private, nonprofit organization based in Washington, has a goal in luring tourists to study Spanish and regional ecology: It hopes to safeguard the nationally protected forest that encompasses much of northern Guatemala. Eco-Escuela is part of the trend : installing environmentally benign businesses in sensitive areas to …
Logging to be banned in non-commercial woodlands
An ambitious forest recovery plan was unveiled in China in which logging in all non-commercial woodlands will be banned. State Forestry Bureau director Wang Zhibao said the plan would focus on reforestation along the Yangtze and Yellow rivers. "Forests will be re-classified into 'public-interest' and 'commercial'," he said. "Commercial logging …
BJP promises populist schemes
The BJP manifesto, released at Bhopal today, promoses to give ownership rights on forest land to those trinbals who had been living on such land prior to 1980 . It also promises to convert all (tribal- inhabited) "forest" villages of the state into "revenue" villages so that all government facilities …
8,500 deaths a year, and it's getting worse
Roughly 8,500 Delhiites die due to pollution every year, states a study conducted by the World Health Organisation . Such alarming statistics and many more lend a perspective to the deteriorating environmental situation in the Capital. And, though the government has come up, in spurts, with measures to try and …
China unveils plan on protection of forests
China on Thursday unveiled an ambitious forest recovery plan to cut soil erosion, end the plague of annual summer floods and change the colour of the country's two most famous rivers. Mr Wang Zhibao, director of the state forestry bureau, said the cross-century plan would focus on the Yangtze and …
