–UK: 1) Ancient tree Forum, 2) 200-acre expansion of Durham beauty spot, 3) Limewoods Native Woodland Challenge,
–Spain: 4) Logging industry has advantage when it comes to biofuels
–Turkey: 5) Selling licenses to “operate” national forests
–Tanzania: 6) Jane Goodall’s legacy: a primate-filled island forest surrounded by pasture
–Kenya: 7) Recovery of Meru national park
–Nigeria: 8) Ground-zero for coming resource wars
–Uganda: 9) Forest loss most severe in Kibaale and Nakasongola
–Pakistan: 10) Clandestine plan to clear mangroves discovered

Articles:

UK:

1) From a 5,000-year-old yew said to have sheltered the young Pontius Pilate, to an oak which inspired Mendelssohn and a sycamore under which the Tolpuddle Martyrs met, many of the trees have played a key role in the nation’s history. Britain has more old trees than anywhere else in northern Europe, but many are now at risk. Although some can be protected by preservation orders, conservationists say these can be rescinded if a tree is claimed to be dead, dying or dangerous. The Government is preparing to bring in rules that would give greater protection to ancient trees and conservationists have compiled the register to highlight as many as possible. Jill Butler, from the Woodland Trust, which compiled the list with the Ancient Tree Forum and the Tree Register of the British Isles, said: “These are representatives of our history and heritage, in the same way that old buildings are.” Trees are classified according to three stages - growing, mature or ancient. Once a member of the public has nominated what he or she believes to be an ancient tree, a verifier from the register will study its girth and the conditions in which it is growing. From this age can be established and whether it qualifies as ancient. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/07/13/eatrees113.xml

2) Almost £500,000 is to be spent on creating a 200-acre extension to a woodland beauty spot in Durham. The Woodland Trust will create the extension to Elemore Wood, at Easington Lane, which will be planted out and tended over the next 15 years. More than 100,000 native trees and scrubs such as oak, ash, willow and rowan will be planted alongside rarer species such as spindle, so named because its wood was used for looms, and small leaved lime. Establishing woodland cover will be spread over four planting phases, with the first trees going in the ground at the beginning of 2009. Forestry Commission spokesman Mike Riley said the site would be called White Hill Woods. “This ambitious scheme ticks all our boxes. Expanding Elemore Wood will produce massive dividends, with mixed habitats including trees, glades and open spaces producing a tremendous boost to wildlife. “Local people will also get a place to relax and enjoy healthy exercise. This part of the region is relatively low on tree cover, so this scheme will have a major impact.” When mature, Elemore and White Hills will provide continuous woodland cover for two and half miles between Easington Lane in Tyne and Wear and Littletown in County Durham. Wildflower meadows and an area of magnesium limestone grassland - a rare local wildlife habitat - will also be created. http://www.northumberlandgazette.co.uk/latest-north-east-news/500000-to-create-beauty-spot.4282
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3) The woodlands stretch between Wickenby and Woodhall Spa and are made up of scattered individual woods with lots of lime trees. Landowners and farmers can apply for cash from the scheme – the Limewoods Native Woodland Challenge Supplement - to extend or link existing semi-natural woodland by establishing new native woods. It is hoped the isolated woods might be reconnected to create ‘wildlife corridors’ and help safeguard habitat for years to come. David White, woodland officer with the Forestry Commission, said: “This grant scheme will run for one year only, so we’d urge people to come forward quickly and tell us about their plans. “The importance of the Lincolnshire Limewoods should not be underestimated. “As a habitat they are unique, yet also very fragile. “By expanding tree cover we will improve their prospects and help the wildlife and flora that depend on them.” The woods date back to at least the time of the Domesday Book and support an astonishing range of plants, insects and wildlife, together with a rich human history. http://www.horncastlenews.co.uk/news/85000-to-help-protect-fragile.4279199.jp

Spain:

4) Opportunities abound for forest, paper and pulp industry to play a leading role in the development of second-generation biofuels, such as gasifying refining so-called “black liquor” – the oily liquid residue produced in pulping wood to produce paper – to produce both bio-synthesis gas and liquid fuel. Progress has been relatively slow due to a variety of factors, however, including the challenge of instilling a new industry mindset and culture geared towards innovation and R&D as opposed to one focused on cost-cutting to compete in commoditized markets. Managements can take a big step in direction by taking a holistic perspective of their forest, pulp and paper resources as integrated biorefineries, according to a growing number of industry participants, researchers and analysts. A process of developed by Sweden’s Chemrec that converts biomass to motor fuels based on black liquor gasification looks like it can be a promising element of emerging new industry biofuels business strategies and plans. http://www.resourceinvestor.com/pebble.asp?relid=44320

Turkey:

5) It is better for Turkey to sell licenses to operate national forests because the state is doing a poor job of managing this public land, Finance Minister Kemal Unakitan said on Wednesday. Non-state companies would do a better job running the millions of hectares of Turkish woodland, Unakitan said at an energy meeting on Wednesday. Countries like Canada have sold such rights to companies that manage their forests better, Unakitan also said. “We had alienated the forests. How do the millions of hectares of Turkish woodland being operated? … In my opinion, they are not operated well. Let the private sector enter in this area… Check how this is being done in Canada.” Turkish government has sold $27 billion of state assets since 2002 during Unakitan’s period. Establishing woodland cover will be spread over four planting phases, with the first trees going in the ground at the beginning of 2009. Forestry Commission spokesman Mike Riley said the site would be called White Hill Woods. “This ambitious scheme ticks all our boxes. Expanding Elemore Wood will produce massive dividends, with mixed habitats including trees, glades and open spaces producing a tremendous boost to wildlife. “Local people will also get a place to relax and enjoy healthy exercise. This part of the region is relatively low on tree cover, so this scheme will have a major impact.” When mature, Elemore and White Hills will provide continuous woodland cover for two and half miles between Easington Lane in Tyne and Wear and Littletown in County Durham. Wildflower meadows and an area of magnesium limestone grassland - a rare local wildlife habitat - will also be created.http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/finance/9404132.asp?scr=1

Tanzania:

6) Goodall has referred to Gombe’s lush forests as a cathedral and tries to visit there twice a year for “spiritual strength”. But its forest and the others that make up the lush Congo Basin are vanishing fast, cleared for crop growing, grazing and timber. Loggers are destroying vast tracts, opening the door for commercial hunters, who indiscriminately exterminate the forests animal inhabitants to satisfy the burgeoning taste for bush meat. In 1900, there were up to two million chimps in Africa - that number has plummeted to fewer than 150 000 today. The expansive forests that Goodall once ventured into have disappeared and its 100 chimps are surrounded by farmland. “They’re trapped. There are only bare fields around them. They used to go out of the reserve to feed, but not anymore.” Thousands of refugees fleeing war in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo into Tanzania have put more strain on the fragile forest region. Goodall points out her institute is working with Gombe’s poverty-stricken villagers with education, health and microcredit schemes, to ultimately safeguard wild habitat. “We’re giving fish hooks instead of fish. Each of the villagers puts aside an area for regeneration and this creates a corridor for the chimps so they can go out again.” http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=31&art_id=vn20080712085637623C809619

Kenya:

7) WHEN I VISITED MERU NATIONAL Park for the first time at the turn of the new millennium, it seemed like a ghost town — if the expression can be used for one of Kenya’s premier parks today. It had gone through a devastating era of poaching that was evidence of a complete breakdown of law and order in the area. The only animals remaining were a few herds of frightened elephants that hid at the slightest sound, antelopes and the elusive cats that had somehow managed to escape the bullets. Only one black rhino remained — Makora — who passed away last year due to old age. He became the flagship for peace after he was brought back from the private ranch where he was taken for safety. Not only were there scarcely any animals left but the infrastructure was in complete shambles. The park headquarters was in ruins, the patrol vehicles were either bullet ridden or unroadworthy, the roads barely passable and just a handful of rangers with little more than a gun to guard the park. The only lodge in the park at that time, Meru Mulika, shut down, bringing tourism to a grinding halt. Meru National Park seemed to have become the poachers’ playground. Yet, this is the park that was immortalised in the Born Free series shown on TV and the film screened across the globe. It was safe enough in the sixties for the legendary Joy Adamson to bring Elsa the lioness and later Pippa the cheetah to the wild because it had the space and a diverse landscape full of rivers, grass plains, woodlands and rock kopjes. Tourists went there to see Elsa’s home and the big game country where elephants, rhinos and the big cats were in plenty. Today, the tarmac ends at the park’s entrance through the newly built Murera gate. The gate office is modern and bigger, fitted with communication gadgets and a secure environment for rangers to work in. The main roads in the park have been graded smooth and the main ones fitted with signposts. Within a few minutes of entry into the park, we come across a herd of elephants close to the road with little ones suckling. On my first visit almost a decade ago, we had spotted a frightened herd of elephants, which quickly scampered back into the bushes. That was the only sighting of them for the next two days. Apart from elephants, I saw one male Greater Kudu, a few antelopes on the plains and no cats. But I got to visit Makora in the newly established rhino sanctuary. Next on the list is a beautiful herd of reticulated giraffes wearing their finely-patterned coats from which comes their name. By the time we arrive at the recently renovated Kinna Bandas by the river that carries the same name, it is already dark. The caretaker brings out the lanterns and we have the log fire on. He has just one warning — not to stray off the pathways or walk in the dark. There are lions around. And to prove it, although we don’t see them, we hear them roar every night. “Meru National Park has had the largest translocation of animals in the world,” explains senior warden Robert Njue sitting by the Kinna River. “Over a period of five years, 1,750 animals were translocated here. http://www.nationmedia.com/eastafrican/current/Magazine/mag140720081.htm

Nigeria:

8) Curse of the Black Gold: 50 Years of Oil in the Niger Delta, which juxtaposes the arresting graphics of award-winning photojournalist Ed Kashi with the geopolitical insights of UC Berkeley professor Michael Watts to present Africa’s most populous nation as a possible epicenter for the full-blown resource wars to come. [You can watch a short multimedia presentation of Kashi's photographs on the right-hand side of this page.] They are wars that are already well under way. In mid-June, a Shell facility was attacked by local militants, disrupting production and sending the already sky-high price of oil to further heights before coming back online a week later. Attacks like those have increased in frequency, as Nigerian factions have fought for control of the nation’s lucrative petroleum resources, which are the largest in Africa. The problem, especially as indigenous populations caught between Nigeria’s prosperous rich and their oil industry’s environmental devastation see it, is that viable land and resources have been wasted on a handful while the majority of the country falls into further disrepair and depression. From natural gas flares and oil spills to the destruction of native plants, animal species and other salable commodities, Nigeria’s oil industry has wreaked havoc across the land and its people. And it’s only getting worse. And if you think it doesn’t affect America, think again. The future of Nigeria and the Niger Delta in the short and medium term will be that more oil and gas will be produced. There are perhaps 40 more years of oil left, much of that offshore in deep water, and the government and oil companies will continue to produce it at high prices. What’s America’s stake in the region? Nigeria is a major supplier to the U.S. market, as well as a major plank in America’s energy security policy. The Gulf of Guinea in West Africa is a major new oil supply area in the context of the instabilities in Venezuela and the Middle East. It will be business as usual. And the establishment of AFRICOM is part of the U.S. interest. http://www.alternet.org/story/89692/

Uganda:

9) Loss of forest cover in the country is most severe in Kibaale and Nakasongola, posing risks of fuel wood scarcity and food insecurity, according to a study by the National Forestry Authority (NFA). Both districts lost over half of their forests in the last 15 years. The study, which compared satellite images of 1990 and 2005, shows that out of the 80,000 hectares of high forests in Kibaale in 1990, only 26,000 hectares were left in 2005, representing a loss of 68%. In Nakasongola, the forest cover reduced from 127,000 hectares to 60,000 hectares over the same period, or a loss of 53%. The land conversion, for farmland in Kibaale and for charcoal burning in Nakasongola, is to blame for the looming disaster. Central Uganda is cited in the report as the most affected by deforestation. It consists of the charcoal- producing districts of Nakasongola, Nakaseke, Luweero, Kiboga, Mubende and Wakiso. It is followed by western Uganda, where forests in Kibaale, Kyenjojo, Hoima and Masindi are being mowed down by Bakiga immigrants who come from the heavily populated southwestern Uganda. Uganda’s total forest cover has halved in the last two decades. In 1988, 26% of the country was covered by forests. This has reduced to 13% in 2008, says John Diisi, NFA’s coordinator for Global Information Systems and Mapping. The country loses an average of 86,000 hectares of trees per year, or 2.1%. Most of the destruction is taking place on private land, outside Government protected areas, according to NFA. “The future is not good. What is being destroyed is not restored,” Diisi noted. “This is because what is being destroyed is on private land, where the Government has no control and where it can not touch people who cut down trees.” Within the protected areas, encroachment is the biggest problem. Since President Yoweri Museveni issued an executive order in 2006 stopping evictions from the reserves, the number of encroachers has increased from 180,000 to 240,000, according to the NFA report. http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/638476

Pakistan:

10) A clandestine plan to clear out mangroves has been discovered by a visiting team of environmentalists. It is alleged that, once cleared out, the land near Ibrahim Hyderi and Gizri will be put to commercial use. The Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) have hurled allegations at the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) officials, saying that the area comes under the jurisdiction of the DHA. A large number of people have been hired by the agents of the influential timber mafia to cut the endangered mangroves from inside the forests and they have destroyed wide expanses of mangroves from the inside of the forest, alleged a PFF spokesman while talking to The News. However, he said, this clever eradication of flora is not obvious from the outside. The Sindh forest department had deployed officials near Rehri, a fishermen locality, to keep strict vigil over the move, but the officials have allegedly joined hands with the mafia to wipe out the mangroves. When contacted, the local forest department officials claimed that they were there to impose fines against those caught red-handed. However, the situation observed by the visiting team reveals that influential officials, local sea lords and certain government bodies have initiated a joint move to clean the forest area, leaving millions of the city’s inhabitants vulnerable to natural calamities. “When we entered the mangroves forest on boat we saw the horrible sight of trees being chopped down. People who introduced themselves to us as labourers on daily wages were axing live trees openly without any fear,” said Abdullah Khoso, who is conducting a study on mangroves and keeping an eye over the destruction of thick forests. “It needs proper attention nobody can calculate how much area these people have already cleared. Each labourer is being paid Rs200 daily wages for the work,” added Khoso. The concerned traders take the wood cutters to the forests on boat in the morning and pick them up in the evening. Timber is being transported by boats to the seashore where trucks and tractor trolleys are loaded with the ill-gotten cargo. This is an organised move and environmentalists have been unable to take notice of this up until now. Though the activity takes place in broad day light, civic authorities as well as environmentalists are silent over the issue. It is unfortunate that the institutions made to safeguard the people and the natural resources of the country are completely dysfunctional and are destroying everything around there, the PFF spokesman added. http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=123624