By Arti Ekawati & Fidelis E Satriastanti Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan on Tuesday defended a presidential decision to open protected forests to development, saying only underground mining activities would be allowed, thus minimizing damage to the environment. The regulation, which has reportedly been signed by the president, is yet to be issued, he said, adding […]
By Jeremy Hance, www.mongabay.comMarch 13, 2010 As the President of France, Nicholas Sarkozy, argues in Paris that more funding is needed to stop deforestation and mitigate climate change, a shipment of illegal rosewood is being readied for export in Madagascar by a French company with the tacit approval of the French government. The shipment of […]
www.wildmadagascar.orgMarch 02, 2010 Traders in Vohemar, a port in northeastern Madagascar, are preparing to ship $54 million worth of timber illegally logged from the Indian Ocean island nation’s rainforest parks, report local sources. Some 270 containers are being loaded with valuable hardwoods cut during a logging frenzy that ensued following a military coup nearly a […]
By BARNEY ZWARTZFebruary 27, 2010 Environmental vandalism by loggers in Papua New Guinea is destroying the nation and its people while Australia makes futile promises to try to influence logging policy, according to a former missionary and a landowner. Brother Jim Coucher worked in and near Vanimo on the north-west coast of PNG for 43 […]
By Timon Singh | 02/05/10 – 16:16 Everyone knows that finding a renewable source of energy is crucial to wean the world off fossil fuels and cut carbon emissions, but what are we willing to sacrifice for clean energy? In Brazil, the government has given the green light for the construction of a massive hydroelectric […]
Just 2 °C more and reefs stop producing a cloud-seeding gas, which could leave corals hotter still and rainforests drier Rising ocean temperatures might leave coral reefs in seriously hot water – without clouds for protection. Five years ago Graham Jones and his team at Southern Cross University in Lismore, New South Wales, Australia, demonstrated […]
The Amazonian apocalypse is just around the corner, according to scientists gathered at the conference launching the International Year of Biodiversity. By Stephen Leahy PARIS, Feb 1 (Tierramérica).- The Amazon forest “is very close to a tipping point,” and if destruction continues, it could shrink to one third of its original size in just 65 […]
By Gary DuffyBBC News, Sao Paulo Brazil’s government has granted an environmental licence for the construction of a controversial hydro-electric dam in the Amazon rainforest. Environmental groups say the Belo Monte dam will cause devastation in a large area of the rainforest and threaten the survival of indigenous groups. However, the government says whoever is […]
By Jeremy Hance, www.mongabay.comJanuary 24, 2010 From 2003-2006, Java lost approximately 2,500 hectares a year (10,000 hectares of forest in total) according to the Forestry Ministry. Despite the rate of loss being far lower in Java than other Indonesian islands (such as Borneo, Sumatra, and Sulawesi), Java is particularly threatened because there is so little […]
www.wildmadagascar.org via MongabayJanuary 11, 2010 Madagascar has legalized the export of rosewood logs, possibly ushering in renewed logging of the country’s embattled rainforest parks. The transitional authority led by president Andry Rajoelina, who seized power during a military coup last March, today released a decree that allows the export of rosewood logs harvested from the […]
