logging

Interesting news from Brazil: President Lula has launched yesterday an international fund to fight deforestation of the Amazon and support conservation and sustainable development. The fund will seek donations worldwide with the goal of raising 21 billion dollars by 2021. But will it really save the Amazon?

The Ontario government just announced the single largest conservation effort in Canadian history - with their pledge to save 50% of Ontario's share of Canada's Boreal Forest. An area roughly the size of Great Britian will now be saved from development forever.   Way to go Canada!

On June 20, 2008, an unusual, early summer lightning storm sparked over 1400 fires in California.  According to state wildfire maps, currently 489 fires are burning.  The reduction in the number of fires is not because they have been put out, but because these blazes have merged.

A huge swath of Canada’s northern Boreal forest will be permanently protected from tree harvesting and mining as part of a plan to combat climate change, the Province of Ontario’s premier Dalton McGuinty announced Monday.

Raz Godelnik of Eco-Libris writes on the bad news from Brazil about the increasing deforestation in the Amazon rain forest, the measures taken to fight it, and what he thinks should be added to these measures to make sure these precious trees will be kept alive.

The Australian government has approved a controversial wood pulp mill which critics say will devastate Tasmania's forests and pollute the sea.

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has welcomed new figures showing that the destruction of the Amazon rainforest has decreased by 25%. President Lula said this had prevented the release of millions of tonnes of CO2 gas into the atmosphere. The government says environmental policies, including measures against illegal logging, have had an effect. Environmentalists welcomed the figures, but said falling commodity prices and economic conditions were also a factor.