Wednesday 10th of March 2010

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When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.

John Muir
Naturalist and Writer


Remember, Wood comes from Trees!
Remember, Wood comes from Trees!

Latest News and Press Releases

Minister for Foreign Affairs

One of the ways we can promote sustainable development is to highlight the links between deforestation and global poverty... Irish Aid is committed under its environment policy to ensure that climate change and other environmental challenges are responded to and this is why it is one of our four priority issues that cut across the work of all our programmes.

Micheal Martin TD,
Minister for Foreign Affairs

Just Forests supports, '...CALLS ON ENVIRONMENT MINISTERS TO OPPOSE MOVES BY ... AND THE EU TO DEFINE OIL PALM PLANTATIONS AS FORESTS'

Wednesday 24th February 2010

Redefining plantations as forests will create perverse incentives that actually finance deforestation by oil palm plantation companies.
Environment ministers from more than 100 countries meeting this week in Bali must oppose initiatives from Indonesia and the EU to reclassify oil palm plantations as forests(1), which would subvert global efforts to halt climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and threaten biodiversity, according to forest and climate experts from the Ecosystems Climate Alliance (ECA).
Download ECOSYSTEMS CLIMATE ALLIANCE' Press Release [here...]

CHATHAM HOUSE - Briefing Paper: Controlling Illegal logging.
Consumer-Country Measures

Thursday 18th February 2010

Consumer countries contribute to the problems of illegal logging by importing timber and wood products without ensuring that they are legally sourced. Over the last few years, however, consumer countries have taken a series of measures to try to ensure that they exclude illegal timber products from their markets. Download report [here...]

COUNTDOWN 2010 has more than 1000 partners from various sectors (businesses, NGOs, academia, local authorities…) who took commitments to halt the loss of biodiversity. COUNTDOWN 2010 is an initiative of IUCN.

Tuesday 2nd February 2010

For the International Year of Biodiversity (IYB), IUCN/COUNTDOWN 2010 will promote our Wood of Life exhibition on a ‘what can you do for IYB’ page. This page enables visitors to vote for projects that best address public awareness and biodiversity conservation actions. http://www.countdown2010.net/year-biodiversity/what-can-you-do/browse_share_vote.

Council acts against illegal logging:The Council today agreed on a draft regulation laying down obligations of operators who place timber and timber products on the European market.

Friday 29th January 2010

The future regulation is aimed at minimizing the risk of placing illegally harvested timber and timber products on the EU market. The new rules are intended to be based on the due diligence system, enabling operators to track the timber and timber products, to have access to information concerning compliance with the applicable legislation and to manage the risk of placing illegally-logged timber products on the European market. [more...] [Just Forests Press Release]

Micheal Martin T.D. Minister for Foreign Affairs officially opens Just Forests' Wood of Life, the hands-on, exhibition in Cork...:

Monday 25th January 2010

"We need younger people in Ireland to be advocates for global development and by participating at this exhibition and sharing your experience afterwards you are helping to create a positive momentum for change." To download the full text of Minister Martin's speech and see pictures of the opening please click [Here...]

Its more precious that gold...yet we abuse it on a grand scale:

Monday 18th January 2010

Letters to the Editor on Ireland's abuse of water [Irish Independant Letters page]

Regulatory Impact Analysis re illegally-logged timber imports launched:

Just Forests made a detailed submission...

Tuesday 12th January 2010

A Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) of the Proposed Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council laying down obligations of operators who place timber and timber products on the market has been carried out by the Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and can be viewed on the website www.agriculture.gov.ie. The RIA can be viewed by clicking on legislation on the top of the websites home page.

Or if you prefer you can download the report from our website [here.. cover letter...and ...report...and our own submission

COPout at the COP15 in COPenhagen:

We've agreed to do nothing meaningful at this time - maybe later...

Tuesday 22nd December 2009

Climate negotiations in Copenhagen have yielded a sham agreement with no real requirements for any countries. This is not a strong deal or a just one -- it isn't even a real one. [More here......]

The Winter 2009 issue of Focus: Action for Global Justice, Ireland’s only magazine dedicated to covering global justice issues, is now available.

Monday 21st December 2009

[Download the 2009 Winter issue of Focus Magazine here...]

This and past issues of Comhlamh's very popular and informative magazines can be downloaded from their website [here......]

New report show that illegal logging is costing Madagascar.....

Thursday 3rd December 2009

Illegal Malagasy timber trade worth up to $460,000 a day. A new report by Global Witness and the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has revealed the extent of illegal logging in the National Parks and protected areas of the SAVA Region of Madagascar. Members of the Forest Administration, the national police and other Malagasy authorities are accused of serious failings, and in some cases, complicity with the traffickers. [Download report]

30th November 2009-TIME Magazine article...

Forests store an estimated 300 billion tons of carbon, or the equivalent of 40 times the world's total annual greenhouse-gas emissions — emissions that cause global warming. Destroy the trees and you release that carbon into the atmosphere, putting the great challenge of our age — averting catastrophic climate change — beyond reach. Forest destruction accounts for 15% of global emissions by human activity, far outranking the total from vehicles and aircraft combined. [Read more in TIME Magazine...]

Letters to the Editor

Wednesday 25th November 2009

Daylight robbery played out in Paris

.I was there to witness and support the press announcement of the lodgement of a complaint by Global Witness before a French Public Prosecutor against one of the world's leading timber and wood products wholesalers.... [Read more...]

Also appears in The Irish Examiner on Monday 30th November 2009 [here...]

Floods of money for NAMA.

As a young boy holidaying on my uncle’s small farm in Rhode, Co Offaly, I often accompanied him as he cleared overgrowth and silt build-up from the drains and streams around his land. He was a part-time canal ranger with the Grand Canal Company and was responsible for inspecting... [Read more...]

Christain Aid call for forest people to be put at the heart of climate talks

Saturday 14th November 2009

The role of indigenous and black groups in preserving this valuable ecological resource ...The vast majority live in poverty and endure discrimination. [Read more...]

Just Forests launches appeal to Schools to request the Taoiseach to go to Copenhagen

Monday 19th October 2009

 SEAL THE DEAL - Taoiseach Just Forests has just launched a nationwide campaign to get Irish Schools to write to the Taoiseach and encourage him to go to the crucial Climate Change negotiations to be held in Copenhagen in December. The group is asking all schools to visit the link below and ‘sign-on’ to the “SEAL THE DEAL” campaign for a ‘Change in Climate’ before it’s too late http://www.justforests.org/seal_the_deal.php

In December, leaders from more than 180 nations will meet in Copenhagen to ratify a new international global climate treaty. Show your support by joining, an international movement to drive action at the United Nation's Climate Change Conference (COP15) in Copenhagen. "We need a climate treaty that is ambitious, fair and effective and will make a REAL difference to people's lives all over the world by reducing emissions," according to Tom Roche of Just Forests.

 

Just Forests to give workshop at major International Conference in Limerick University

Friday 16th October 2009

 Sustainable Global Development 2009 is a major internationalconference, supported by Irish Aid, which will be held in the University of Limerick on the 16th and 17th of October, 2009. It will include papers, symposia, educational workshops, and audio-visual presentations with presenters from Africa, Latin America, Asia, and from Europe.

[Conference Website] [Download Programme]

Just Forests will attend the 2nd International Timber Trade Federation Day 8th and 9th October 2009 -'Facilitating Responsible [Timber] Trade'.

Sunday 4th October 2009

A seven-year project managed by The Forest Trust (TFT ) that commenced in March 2005 and that is co-funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) and the European Commission. Partners work together to ensure timber purchasing policies are consistent with government and FLEGT requirements, sending one clear message to timber producers around the world and facilitating responsible trade.  

[Report & pictures by Just Forests]

World Rainforest Movement (WRM) -International Day Against Tree Monoculture

Friday 18th September 2009

This WRM bulletin is a contribution to the activities to be carried out on September 21st 2009 - International Day Against Tree Monocultures. It is important to stress that the choice of this date is rooted in peoples’ struggles against plantations. The date was first chosen by local networks in Brazil, who in 2004 decided to establish this date as a day of struggle against tree monocultures.  

[Read more]

Just Forests calls for new NAMA-2 to secure Natural Assets/Resources

Wednesday 16th September 2009
After gas and oil, wood is probably the second largest traded natural resource in the world today. In order to promote the security and supply of natural assets/resources such as fresh water, timber, biodiversity, etc, which form a major part of the economic backbone of all economic development, a Natural Assets Monitoring Authority (NAMA-2), needs to be set up in countries across the globe including Ireland. We must recognise that biological diversity (which includes all living things) represents the natural wealth of the Earth. It provides the basis for life, economic development and prosperity for the whole of mankind.

Tom Roche, Co-ordinator, Just Forests

In order to promote the security and supply of natural assets/resources such as fresh water, timber, biodiversity, etc, which form a major part of the economic backbone of all economic development, we are calling for a new Natural Assets Monitoring Authority (NAMA-2) to be set up by government immediately.

[Read more] Agriculture correspondant Joe Barry and the NAMA 2 idea [Irish Independent Tuesday 06 October 2009]

Logging protests spread in Borneo as nomads block roads

Friday 11th September 2009

Protests by the Penan tribe in Borneo have escalated, with twelve villages coming together to mount new road blockades against the logging and plantation companies that are destroying their rainforest.

Journalists covering at the blockades were intercepted by police with machineguns and taken away for questioning.

Hundreds of Penan have blocked roads at three new locations in the interior of Sarawak, in the Malaysian part of the island of Borneo. The protestors are demanding an end to logging and plantations on their land without their consent, and recognition of their land ownership rights.

[Read more]

Illegal-logging Submission - EU FLEGT Process to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food

Friday 28th August 2009

Just Forests have made a Submission Regarding the Consultation on a European Commission Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council, laying down the obligations of operators who place timber and timber products on the market This submission is based on the EC Regulation, not on the current version of the Regulation, as voted by the European Parliament.

Illegal-logging submission [Download]

Formal complaint on widespread use of illegal Timber in Ireland lodged with EC Commissioner for Consumer Affairs

Thursday 16th July 2009

Just Forests have made a formal complaint to the European Commission for Consumer Affairs on the widespread availability of illegal timber in Ireland

  • Cover letter to the Consumer Affairs Commissioner [Download]
  • Formal Complaint to Consumer Affairs Commissioner [Download]
  • Historic/background to backup this Formal Complaint [Download]

Call to National Consumer Agency and the EU Matters Unit at the Department of Foreign Affairs to stop the sale of illegal timber in Ireland

Wednesday 15th July 2009

Irish consumers are un-knowingly contributing to global forest decline by purchasing timber and wood-products made from illegal timber. Just Forests has submitted a detailed report to the National Consumer Agency and the Department of Foreign Affairs calling on them to protect consumers from this practice.

  • Cover letter [Download]
  • Formal submission – Bridging the Gap [Download]
  • Historic/background to backup this Formal Complaint [Download]

Formal complaint on widespread use of illegal Timber in Ireland lodged with EC DG- Environment (Legal Unit)

Monday 13th July 2009

Just Forests have made a formal complaint to the European Commission (EC) on the on-going and widespread use of illegal Timber in Ireland. Reference is made to examples of illegal Timber use by public bodies in Ireland and includes: Offaly Co Council, Westmeath Co Council, Irish Aid and the EC office in Molesworth Street, Dublin.

  • Cover letter to DG-Environment [Download]
  • Formal Complaint to DG-Environment [Download]
  • Historic/background to backup this Formal Complaint [Download]

Call to Irish Wood Marketing Federation (WMF) to adopt a responsible timber policy NOW, without any further delay.

Sunday 14th June 2009

I am afraid your Wood Marketing Federation (WMF) “approach” needs updating now as the state of the world’s forests has deteriorated even more since you began drafting your “own policy position in 2007.”

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, in June 2009...report available here...

The use of illegally-logged tropical timber is rampant in Ireland and I have seen many people in a position to do something about it sit-on-their-hands and ignore the problem thinking it will go away-well it won’t, at least not until it is seriously tackled. I would be most grateful if you would circulate this report to all your WMF members today as a matter of urgency.

  • Timber policy summary points [Download]
  • Just Forests recommended timber policy for Local Authorities [Download]

Deforestation increases in Indonesia

Thursday 11th June 2009

Environmental hypocrisy reigns as we stand to lose more than just forests.

[Read article]

Proposed Government Timber Procurement Policy receives unanimous support...

Presentation by Just Forests to a Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment Heritage & Local Government on the need for a 'National Timber Procurement Policy' 13th May 2009.

Friday 15th May 2009

A proposal that the Government should have a National Timber Procurement Policy has received unanimous support from the members of the Joint Committee on the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. In a presentation to the committee by Offaly-based forest education/awareness group Irish Woodworkers for Africa T/A Just Forests

The chairman, of the Committee Deputy Sean Fleming, T.D., stated “We will comply with Mr. Roche’s three requests. First, we will ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the position regarding the FLEGT process. Second, we will ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to ensure that this matter is dealt with in legislation. Third, if Mr. Roche provides a copy of Offaly County Council’s policy, we will circulate it to all other local authorities asking them to consider putting in place similar policies”.

This is a great step forward according to Tom Roche, co-ordinator of Just Forests. “We have been working towards this end for 20 years.”

Just Forests supplied two documents in advance of the meeting for circulation to committee members.

Presentation [Download]
Historical background research to this submission [Download]
The official report of Just Forests presentation to the Joint Committee on Environment, Heritage and local Government is available here...[Read official report]

Job losses as Local Authorities use illegal wood

Wednesday 8th April 2009

Just Forests lodges a formal complaint at Mullingar Garda Station against Westmeath County Council's use of illegal timber in NEW Civic Offices.

Formal complaint letter [Download]

Job losses as Local Authorities use illegal wood

Tuesday 17th March 2009

After numerous warnings of the consequences of using illegal plywood in their building works Local Authorities continue to ignore findings..

Press Release [Download]
Pictures of Civic Offices under construction [View pictures]

A responsible Timber Procurement Policy for Local Authorities is now available. [Download]
The UK Government are dealing with this issue through CPET...

New EU trade laws threaten Africa's forests

Monday 20th October 2008

African countries will be locked into an economic model based on the export of raw materials that could have a devastating impact on forests and wildlife, if new EU trade deals shaped by former trade commissioner Peter Mandelson are signed - according to a new report published by Friends of the Earth today (Monday 20 October 2008)..

[Read more]

Open letter to Comission President Barroso to act to control use and imports of illegal timber

September 2008

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.

[Read more]

FSC releases statement on climate change

Tuesday 26th August 2008

The statement maintains that carbon management cannot be separated from the many ecosystem services that well managed forests provide. There is a need for credible and affordable auditing tools to assess and monitor avoided deforestation and forest carbon sequestration. The FSC system provides the context for which carbon management and carbon crediting can be harmonized with other uses and values of the forest.

[Read more]

Irish government must adopt a responsible timber procurement policy-urgently

Thursday 22nd May 2008

As illegal-logging and deforestation increases in the Amazon-Just Forests calls on the new Taoiseach, Mr. Brian Cowen to develop a government procurement policy on timber.

[Read more]

EU Moves to Combat Illegal-Logging -- The Commission will propose new measures to tackle illegal logging in May amid fears that the current EU legislation is not effective enough, Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas announced last week.

Thursday 27th March 2008

This report also alleges that illegally logged timber was used in a number of EU-funded construction projects. Questioning the effectiveness of EU legislation, Anne van Schaik of Friends of the Earth Netherlands claimed the Commission was "not even able to keep illegal and destructively logged timber out of its own construction projects".

[Read more]

TAILANDIA, Brazil -- The Brazilian government has launched an aggressive crackdown on logging in the Amazon, an operation that pits environmental regulators against people who say they depend on those protected resources to survive.

Friday 21st March 2008

By Monte Reel Washington Post Foreign Service; Page A01

[Read more]

Globalization and Great Apes: Illegal logging destroying last strongholds of Orangutans in National Parks

24th Session of UNEP's Governing Council/ Global Ministerial Environment Forum

[Read more]

Is the global decline in timber species a threat to music?

Saturday 8th March 2008

Irish Times article

[Read Article]

Official watchdog condems World Bank on logging in the Congo

The report finds that two projects funded by the Bank since 2002 would have promoted massive industrial exploitation of Congo's rainforests for timber production

[Read more]

Ireland scores poorly in illegal-logging league

The failure of Ireland to do anything proactively on illegal logging and a lack of awareness lands them at the bottom of the league

[Read more]

Irish children and biodiversity

A huge percentage of Irish children can identify fewer than 10 species of Irish animals and plants but can recognise thousands of commercial logos, a conference heard recently.

[Read more]

Vested Interests – A new report from Global Witness

The Amazon and DRC possess the two largest remaining tropical forest blocks in the world, and Global Witness believes the world cannot afford to put these global assets at risk by subjecting them to tried and tested theories that do not work. Despite many initiatives surrounding forest law enforcement, timber certification, chain of custody tracking and attempts to ban the trade in illegal timber, deforestation increases every year, with implications that include releasing 18% of total global CO2 emissions - more than the entire global transport sector

[Read more]

Greenpeace condemns illegal logging in Congo-Kinshas

Tuesday 27th February 2007

(Press Release) Environment watchdog, Greenpeace, Monday in Paris, called for an end to "illegal logging" in DR Congo's forests, describing local wood processing company, ITB, as a major culprit.

[Read more]

Open Letter to Offaly County Council and Tullamore Town Council

Monday 16th April 2007

At a time when we are all being asked by national and local government to ‘reduce’, ‘reuse’ and ‘recycle’ in order to minimise our ‘carbon footprint’ on the earth and conserve finite resources, Tullamore Town Council has failed to show good example and lead the way in relation to national and global environmental issues. The Council’s use of over 260 sheets of Brazilian plywood in the new swimming pool site hoarding at Cloncollig is morally reprehensible. The plywood is made from hardwood from the Amazon rainforest and its use raises legal, ethical, environmental, social, biodiversity and economic issues that will have far-reaching and potentially catastrophic consequences.

[Read more]

DFID announce grants supporting forest governance and trade

Monday 26th February 2007

London, UK - DFID's Forest Governance and Trade Programme is a five-year, £24 million programme that aims to tackle the problems of illegal logging in developing countries and the associated international trade in illegally logged timber.

[Read more]

MALAYSIA: Police clear Penan blockade

Members of a nomadic tribe who had been preventing loggers from bulldozing their rainforest home for two years have had their blockade dismantled by Malaysian police.

[Read more]