May 21, 2012
Founded in 1951, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) works in more than 30 countries and has projects in all 50 of the United States. The Conservancy has over one million members, and has protected more than 119 million acres of wild-lands and 5,000 miles of rivers worldwide. TNC has taken an active interest in China, the world's most populated nation, and in many important ways...
May 20, 2012
- A new model aims to forecast future logging road development by estimating the value of timber stocks across the Brazilian Amazon. The research, published in PLoS One, could help prioritize areas for conservation to protect the maximum area of forest.
May 17, 2012
Myanmar remains one of the world’s only countries with no prohibitions on log exports. The country provides much coveted teak and other hardwood logs to the region and beyond. Sawn wood, and to a lesser extent finished wood products, contribute a relatively small amount to Myanmar’s total exports of wood products. As in the majority of Mekong countries, one of the most significant trends affecting forest lands in Myanmar relates to the considerable, and often times informal, foreign direct...
May 4, 2012
- Ta Ann Holdings Bhd, a pioneer in Sarawak reforestation sector, is increasing the harvest of its plantation logs to produce hybrid plywood. Financial controller Augustine Siaw said that last year,...
April 22, 2012
With pressure growing on natural resources in the Asia-Pacific region, good governance is becoming increasingly important in maintaining forests and the broad range of non-market benefits that they provide. Indications of falling governance standards across the region suggest that a large proportion of the social and environmental benefits of forests to current and future generations may be lost, along with timber revenues and other market values. With increasing national and international...
March 28, 2012
- Wild teak forests continue to decline, threatening genetic diversity, while commercial planted teak forests are on the rise, according to a new assessment by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Overall, teak forests have declined by 1.3 percent, or 385,000 hectares, worldwide from 1992 to 2010. Teak (Tectona grandis) is used for a variety of commercial purposes, including outdoor furniture and flooring.
March 26, 2012
The Indonesia Chamber of Commerce and Industry said the country’s certification system on timber would comply with a new regulation to be imposed by the European Union next year.
The certification system would enable the country’s timber companies to gain global recognition, Suryo Bambang Sulistyo, chairman of the group known as Kadin, said on Wednesday.
The European Union plans to impose a new timber regulation in March next year aimed at curbing...
March 19, 2012
- Forest fragments along riversides in Uganda may make good habitats for chimpanzees but remain unprotected, according to a new study in mongabay.com's open access journal Tropical Conservation Society (TCS). Researchers surveyed a riverine forest known as Bulindi in Uganda, in-between Budongo and Bugoma Forest Reserves, to determine if it was suitable for the long-term survival of eastern chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) populations.
March 15, 2012
The European Union will not allow any timber products originating from illegal sources to enter its markets once new timber legislation comes into force next year.
Chargé Affaires of the EU Delegation to Laos Mr Michel Goffin made this clear to Vientiane Times during a visit yesterday to Burapha Agro Forestry Co., Ltd (BAFCO) in Saen-oudom village, Xaythany district, Vientiane.
According to EU sources, the EU has provided 6 million euros to support...
March 12, 2012
- Alaskan fishermen and tour operators visited Washington D.C. last week to urge the federal government to shift the focus from logging to conservation in the Tongass rainforest. Local Alaskans along with NGOs Trout Unlimited, Alaska Program, and Sitka Conservation Society, made the case that conservation, including the restoration of fish habitat, was a far better strategy for the local economy and jobs than logging. The Tongass rainforest is currently the subject of a controversial logging...