Deforestation - Hotlinks

Trick or Treat? A report bt Global Witness
REDD, Development and Sustainable Forest Management

Industrial timber production has a poor record in Africa. Over the past sixty years, there is little evidence that it has lifted rural populations out of poverty or contributed in other meaningful and sustainable ways to local and national development.
CIRAD, World Bank, and CIFOR, 2007. Forests in Post-Conflict Democratic Republic of Congo: Analysis of a Priority Agenda.

Report [Download Trick or Treat Report]

A formal complaint on the widespread use of illegally-logged timber in Ireland is lodged by Just Forests with the EU Commissioner for Consumer Protection/Affairs

Just Forests 'Bridging the Gaps' report [Download]

Consumers are the key players in the European economy. "There are now more than 490 million consumers in Europe and their expenditure represents over half of the EU’s gross domestic product (GDP). Consumers are essential to economic growth and job creation. Yet there is an EU-wide lack of consumer confidence when it comes to cross-border shopping. I believe that consumers should be as confident about making purchases in other countries as they are at home."

Meglena Kuneva, EU Commissioner for Consumer Affairs  

Industrial logging under the guise of “Sustainable Forest Management (SFM)” is a major source of carbon emissions, a primary driver of deforestation and threatens to derail the UN process to reduce deforestation, according to a new report released by leading environmental NGO, Global Witness, at the UN Climate Change talks in Bonn today. Vested interests pushing the “SFM agenda” have co-opted 13 influential inter-governmental organisations – the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF)1 - which are driving the agenda in Bonn.

Report [Download]

Why We need A National Timber Policy...a graphical record of Ireland's role in illegal-logging.

Brochure [Download]

Good intentions are simply not enough. What we require is a robust framework which will translate aspirations into action. It needs to be driven from the very top in a coordinated integrated fashion and it needs to be grounded in legislation.

The ‘development’ rationale of this presentation pivots around a number of key issues and challenges: wood and poverty, wood and energy, wood and livelihoods/construction, wood and health, wood and education, wood and biodiversity, wood and sustainability, wood and climate-change, wood and conflict/war and wood and economic development.

Forest destruction is costing the global economy US$2 to $5 trillion per year-more than Wall Street has lost since the start of the current financial crisis

Report [Download]

A new report 'UNDERCUTTING AFRICA', from Friends of the Earth-UK spells out how new EU trade laws will devestate African forests and increase poverty

Report [Download]

In an open letter to Commission President Barroso, FERN, Greenpeace, FoE, WWF and Global Witness express their concern that a legislative proposal to control the import and use of illegal timber, as part of the EU FLEGT Programme, has been postponed again.

Report [Download]

The report of the first international Forest Connect workshop on "Developing a toolkit for the facilitation of support to small forest enterprises", 2-4 July 2008, Edinburgh, UK has just been released.

Report [Download]

The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) is pleased to announce the publication of their final report on the World Bank's proposal for a Global Forest Partnership. The final report (in English) and summary versions in French, Spanish and Portuguese can be downloaded from here.... The report warns that the bank will have to heed the advice of hundreds of experts IIED consulted if it is to make a real breakthrough in tackling the problems of past decades and the weaknesses of typical international forest programmes.

Report [Download]

Report from Uganda on linkages between forests and poverty.

Report [Download]

Brazilian Environment Secretary Marina Silva resigns as Amazon deforestation increases

Report [Download]

Ever wondered how much 'Nature' your lifestyle requires? Well now you can measure your 'Carbon Footprint

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Palm oil plantation expansion causes millions of acres of clear-cut rainforest every year. There are thousands of household products on sale here in Ireland that contain palm oil- from face creams (see GREENPEACE movie below onDove/Oil of Ulay) and soaps to biscuits and sweets

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Ecologically, oaks are keystone species in a wide range of habitats from Mediterranean semi-desert to subtropical rainforest. Oaks are under threat in the wild from general forest loss and over-exploitation of particular species. This report presents a review of the conservation status in the wild of oaks worldwide, undertaken by the IUCN/SSC Global Tree Specialist Group.

Report [Download]

Fighting illegal logging to be a top G8 priority in 2008. As president of the G8, Japan puts focus on sustainable forest management and timber certification

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Campaigner asks The Taoiseach to support a Government Timber Procurement policy

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This document discusses the key issues behind illegal logging. Key points include: illegal logging is about far more than the unlawful felling of trees; illegal loggers have put themselves above the law by bribing politicians, the police and forestry officials; to tackle illegal logging successfully, we need to understand the forces which encourage companies and individuals to break the law - which in itself is often the problem; promoting better forest law enforcement makes good sense but stricter law enforcement, on its own, could hurt forest dwellers.

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TRAFFIC/IUCN report shows that illegal logging is rampant in Tanzania -one of Irish Aid's priority countries for donor assistance.

Report [Download]