November 18, 2007
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UK oil giant BP and UK biofuels producer D1 Oils are forming a 50/50 joint venture, to be called D1-BP Fuel Crops Limited, to accelerate the planting of jatropha curcas in order to make more sustainable biodiesel feedstock available on a larger scale.
Jatropha curcas is a drought-resistant, inedible oilseed-bearing tree that does not compete with food crops for good agricultural land or adversely impact the rainforest, and will also provide employment for
local communities, BP said.
Under the terms of the agreement, BP and D1 Oils intend to invest around $160 million over the next five years. D1 Oils will contribute into its 172,000 hectares of existing plantations in India, southern Africa and southeast Asia, and the joint venture will have exclusive access to the elite jatropha seedlings produced through D1 Oils’s plant science program.
The joint venture will focus on jatropha cultivation in southeast Asia, southern Africa, Central and South America and India. It is anticipated that some one million hectares will be planted over the next four years, with an estimated 300,000 hectares per year thereafter.
Jatropha oil produced from the plantations will be used to meet both local biodiesel requirements and for export to markets such as Europe, where domestic feedstock produced from rapeseed and waste oil is unlikely to be sufficient to meet anticipated regulatory led demand for biodiesel of around 11 million tonnes a year from 2010.
“Once all the planned plantations are established, the joint venture is expected to become the world’s largest commercial producer of jatropha feedstock, producing up to two million tonnes of jatropha oil a year,” said Phil New, head of BP Biofuels.
“As this hardy crop can be grown on a wide range of land types, it can make a significant impact on employment in rural areas of developing countries where planting takes place, a benefit which fits well with BP’s aspiration to pursue relationships which are mutually advantageous,” Mr New continued.
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November 14, 2007
Vast tracts of rainforest in Brazil are to get a new protected status. The segments of land in the northern Para state together cover 15 million hectares (57,915 sq miles), an area of land that is bigger than England.
Thousands of wildlife species inhabit the pristine forest, including jaguars, anteaters and colorful macaws.
Campaigners say the decision made by Para Governor Simao Jatene is one of the most important conservation initiatives of recent years.
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May 17, 2007
Ecotourism may be just as environmentally damaging as traditional travel because of the greenhouse gases vacationers help create when they journey to remote, pristine areas, industry experts warned Tuesday.That dilemma has been the focus of the Global Ecotourism Conference, a three-day gathering of ecotourism officials struggling to chart the future of an industry whose success threatens to become its own undoing.
“There is no other industry that has more to gain or to lose from climate change,” said Alexi Huntley, whose Costa Rica-based Nature Air calls itself the first airline with zero net carbon dioxide emissions because of investments in projects such as reforestation to help keep air clean.
Ecotourism — travel to pristine areas meant to avoid the damaging impact of traditional tourism — is increasing in popularity, according to The International Ecotourism Society, one of the conference sponors.
But now the travel experts are concerned that the extensive travel often required to reach untouched natural wonders produces climate-destroying greenhouses gases and other environmental damage. That, in turn, could harm the lush national parks and small, exotic islands that attract the environmentally minded.
“It’s the Catch-22 of nature-based tourism,” Huntley said.
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July 18, 2006
The Green Guide.
Evolving Greener Forestry Labels
Pine’s efforts, and those of the 4,500 other FSC-certified companies around the world, are definitely worth it. Only a fifth of remaining forests are intact enough to provide habitat for the long-term survival of native plants and animals, according to the World Resources Institute. In addition to the Amazon, we should protect forests of North America’s boreal zone, which "make up a quarter of the earth’s remaining original forest," according to Scott Weidensaul, a nature writer, in The New York Times.
The boreal canopies house "some three billion individuals of nearly 300 species" of birds, Weidensaul writes.
Forests also help cool the Earth by absorbing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, holding up to 50 percent more than the atmosphere.
But despite promising trends in forest replanting efforts, "deforestation continues at an alarming rate" of more than 32 million acres per year, according to Mette Loyche Wilkie, coordinator of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Global Forest Resources Assessment 2005.
Founded in 1993, FSC has quadrupled its certified forest space during the last five years to 133 million acres worldwide.
Although other certification systems have emerged during the last 10 years, FSC remains the "gold standard" backed by many environmental groups, says Ian Hanna, director of the certified forestry program at Northwest Natural Resource Group, the FSC-accredited body that certified the O’Neill Pine forests.
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July 9, 2006
European Cities Pledge to Slash Greenhouse Gas Emissions.
VIENNA, Austria, May 9, 2006 (ENS) - An association of European cities linked in partnership with indigenous rainforest peoples has resolved to reduce their emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide by 10 percent every five years as a long term strategy. By this means, they intend to cut 1990 levels of per capita greenhouse gas emissions in half by the year 2030.
The Climate Alliance of European Cities with Indigenous Rainforest Peoples is Europe’s largest city network dedicated to climate protection, with more than 1,300 member municipalities located in 17 European countries.
Close to 50 million European citizens live in member cities, which include Barcelona, Berlin, Luxembourg, Munich, The Hague, Venice, Vienna and Zurich.
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July 9, 2006
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.
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July 7, 2006
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 Fabrício France,
coordinator of the ONG Action Triangle, a local environmental group.
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July 7, 2006
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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July 7, 2006
Anti-oxidents from the Rainforest
Needless to say, the Amazonian Rainforest is replete with herbs offering a wide variety of health benefits. But beyond specific health benefits, like the ability of stevia to regulate blood pressure or sangre de drago to accelerate wound healing or chanca piedra to break kidney stones into a myriad of small stones, allowing their painless elimination, the Amazonian Rainforest offers unique and unparalleled antioxidants essential for radiant health. Let’s briefly look at a few of them.
Una de Gato
Uña de gato is known for its ability to stimulate and balance the immune system, activating and enhancing various aspects of immunity. But research on Uña de gato has revealed first and foremost its exceptional anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. In one study, micropulverized Uña de gato was used to quench free radicals in an assay using macrophages. Not only was Uña de gato effective at scavenging free radicals, but the whole bark was shown to be more effective than freeze-dried extracts of u?a de gato. In this study, Uña de gato also reduced the production of the potent inflammatory compound TNF-a (Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha), providing insight in the anti-inflammatory properties of Uña de gato. Uña de gato has also been shown to protect DNA against UV damaged, possibly explaining its protective effect on skin against sun exposure. Finally, the antioxidant properties of Uña de gato are such that it has been reported to be cytoprotective (protect cells) against various cytotoxic compounds, like NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) on the intestinal mucosa.
Sangre de drago
Sangre de drago is the sap of a tree (Croton lechleri) that grows in the Amazonian basin. When applied on a wound, sangre de drago stops the bleeding and accelerates healing. When taken orally, sangre de drago helps eliminate parasites and maintain good intestinal health. But aside from these unique properties, sangre de drago was also shown to have unique antioxidant properties. In a cellular assay, the sap was shown to protect against oxidative damage by various oxidative agents. As with u?a de gato, sangre de drago was shown to protect DNA from damage induced by hydroxyl radicals. Sangre de drago was shown to contain a large quantity of proanthocyanidins, the same kind of antioxidant found in grape seed extracts. Proanthocyanidins are flavonoids that are not only antioxidant, but they also play an important role in the maintenance of healthy connective tissues and blood vasculature.
Camu Camu
Camu Camu is a small fruit growing in the wet areas of the Amazonian jungle. Camu’s claim to fame is its very high content in vitamin C. The work of Nobel Laureate Linus Pauling and others have established the important role of vitamin C in human health. Vitamin C is essential for a series of physiological reactions like the synthesis of collagen, the protein matrix making up the human body, and the synthesis of noradrenaline, a brain neurotransmitter involved in the experience of joy. But aside from these, vitamin C is first and foremost an exceptional antioxidant playing a unique role in the retina. Vision is obtained when light hit receptors in the retina (rods and cones), oxidizing the receptors which then transmit the signal to the brain through the optic nerve. In order to be functional again, the receptors must be immediately reset, the failure of which would create floating blind spots in the eye. Vitamin C is essential to reset the light receptors in the retina. It is common to hear people say that their vision has increased after consuming natural vitamin C as found in camu.
To this list we could add tayuya, iporuru, boldo, and many more. The Amazonian Rainforest is definitely the natural pharmacy of the world.
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July 4, 2006
U.S. Government Sued for Allowing Imports of Peruvian Mahogany.
Doubly illegal, mahogany from the Peruvian Amazon is being imported into the United States for deluxe furniture under the noses of three federal agencies, according to a lawsuit filed today by two Peruvian indigenous groups and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a U.S. conservation organization. The suit was filed in the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York City.
Nearly all of Peru’s mahogany exports are logged illegally, the groups say. Importing it into the United States is illegal because it violates the U.S. Endangered Species Act and a major international treaty, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), the lawsuit charges.
More than 80 percent of illegally logged Peruvian mahogany ends up in the United States.
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