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Michael Klusek
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Posts by Michael Klusek
Renting rainforest to save them
Jul 9th
Developing nations may save the tropical forest.
New initiative is an alternative to destruction of their forests in order to develop economically
In an article this Friday (April 14) in the international magazine New Scientist, a leading rainforest biologist from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama argues that a new initiative by developing nations offers great promise to help reduce the rampant rate of tropical forest destruction.William Laurance, a Smithsonian scientist who is also president of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation, says the proposal "basically involves selling or renting rainforests to help protect the billions of tons of carbon they store, thereby slowing the rapid buildup of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere."
The accelerating rise of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is considered a key cause of global warming. According to the International Panel on Climate Change, the destruction of tropical forests–currently disappearing at a rate of fifty football fields a minute–accounts for up to a quarter of all human greenhouse-gas emissions.
The new initiative, which is being forwarded by an alliance of developing countries led by Papua New Guinea and Costa Rica (www.rainforestcoalition.org), would set up a mechanism whereby wealthy industrial nations pay developing countries to slow deforestation. In so doing, the industrial nations would earn ‘carbon credits’ that would count toward their agreed emissions target under the Kyoto Protocol or other international agreements.
Seven Brazilian Cities Pledge Not to Buy Illegally Logged Wood
Jul 7th
Seven Brazilian Cities Pledge Not to Buy Illegally Logged Wood.
SAO PAULO, Brazil, November 16, 2005 (ENS) – The seven municipal administrations that constitute the Greater ABC region of metropolitan S?o Paulo, Brazil’s largest city, have signed a letter of commitment not to purchase illegally logged wood products. The ABC region is the country’s third largest consumer market for timber.
In the document, the cities pledge to pass laws to limit timber consumption to sources that adopt sustainable management practices, especially if the timber comes from the Amazon rainforest, and to prohibit the purchase and use of illegal wood in bidding processes for public works.
"The illegal extration of wood survives because a market exists that
feeds it. At least here in the ABC, we will stop financing the
destruction of the forest with the public money," said FabrÃcio France,
coordinator of the ONG Action Triangle, a local environmental group.
US House Votes remove logging road subsidy
Jul 7th
SitNews – US House Votes Spending Millions on Logging Roads Isn’t Good Investment.
Thursday the U.S. House agreed that spending taxpayer dollars on building logging roads on the Tongass National Forest is not a good investment. The amendment to the Interior Appropriations bill which calls for ending subsidies for logging roads was sponsored by Republican Representative Steve Chabot of Ohio and Democrat Robert Andrews of New Jersey. It passed 237 to 181.
According to the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, the Chabot/Andrews amendment is supported by nearly 80 Southeast Alaskan businesses and 21 outfitter and guiding businesses.
"Southeast Alaskans rely on and care about the health of the Tongass. The Forest Service has to balance the needs of other users of the forest with those of the timber industry-that means not wasting money on logging roads, but using their limited funds to support growing sectors of the economy," says Beverly Anderson, Business and Community Outreach Coordinator of the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council.
The Southeast Alaska Conservation Council says that many Tongass-dependent businesses are concerned that while the Forest Service is subsidizing a struggling industry, which contributes less and less to Southeast Alaska’s economy, projects that would support other growing sectors of our region’s economy are short on funds. The spending priorities of the Forest Service focus on road building and large timber sales, while projects such as tourism planning, review of special use permits for hunting and fishing businesses, cabin and trail building and maintenance, and fish and wildlife habitat restoration all lack adequate funding.
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