Home/Posts Tagged ‘forestry’
Posts Tagged ‘forestry’
Green living, Health, Jul 16th, 2010,
A recent piece for The Ecologist, entitled ‘Biomass Britain: do fields of energy crops spell an end to grazing livestock’, explores the possibility of a revolution in the UK’s land use. 70-80% of land in the UK is used by the British livestock industry. The possibility of a near-complete shift from livestock farming to the growing of food crops and biomass for energy production may sound revolutionary to some and catastrophic to others. It would mean the de-industrialization of Britain’s meat industry and a 60-70% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, according to The Ecologist article. It’s a revolutionary vision that…
Tags: biomass, British, carbon, change, diet, emissions, energy, farming, forestry, industry, livestock, meat, Peel, plant, Scotland, Scottish, UK, wood
Conservation, Nature, Politics, Jul 14th, 2010,
Economist Pavan Sukhdev is the independent study leader of a European Union research project, The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) hosted by the UN Environment Program (UNEP). Sukhdev has argued that current economic models do not sufficiently address the true value of nature and natural resources outside of commerce. He is a proponent of the concept of ‘natural capital’, in which a value is placed on food, clean water, clean air, forests, etc, but without commodifying nature. Poor rural populations who live outside of consumption-based economies value nature because they depend on it to survive rather than because they…
Tags: biodiversity, Business, corporation, economic, ecosystem, Europe, European, forestry, forests, government, natural, Nature, resources, UN, value
Climate Change, Conservation, Politics, Jul 6th, 2010,
A proposed reevaluation of forestry codes in Brazilian law could have catastrophic consequences for the Amazon rainforest. The issue of keeping Brazil’s strict forestry laws intact or legally opening up more forest for economic development pits environmentalists against Ruralistas, who claim that current laws are stifling economic growth and keeping peasants in poverty. So why is this important? Brazil is a powerhouse for agricultural and commodity exports. However, it is also home to some of the world’s richest areas of biodiversity. Brazil’s future depends on the balancing of these two interests. Environmental legislation is therefore as important to Brazilian development…
Tags: amazon, Brazil, Brazilian, deforestation, Europe, forest, forestry, law, laws, rainforest, rules
Climate Change, Conservation, Politics, Jul 1st, 2010,
Tackling climate change through forest restoration is the theme at this year’s Commonwealth Forestry Conference, currently taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. 40 countries are represented at the conference, all from the vestiges of the once great British Empire, upon which the sun used to never set. The Prince of Wales has even addressed the conference – albeit by video – blaming agribusiness for ‘alarming’ deforestation rates. According to a report in The Scotsman, the secretary general of the Commonwealth, Kamalesh Sharma, referred to deforestation as ‘environmental vandalism’ and stressed that the time to act was now. He is quoted in…
Tags: Climate change, Commonwealth, conference, deforestation, forest, forestry, Prince of Wales
Climate Change, Nature, Wildlife & Flora, Feb 4th, 2010,
Populations who see the benefit in preserving their own natural resources are better equipped to take care of them. That is the logic behind community forestry or CF. Successful community forestry should not only conserve and revive vital natural forests, but also contribute to alleviating extreme poverty for those who live near and depend on those forests. An article from Inter Press Service details the achievements of the Kafle Community Forest project near Katmandu in Nepal. What was once a dying forest in danger of becoming a desert has now been revived into lush, green woodland by community forestry. Locals…
Tags: carbon, community forestry, forest, forestry, Inter Press Servic, Nature, Nepal, population, sinks
