News
Grassy Narrows First Nation has filed their Supreme Court appeal
Lawyers for the Grassy Narrows First Nation have filed their appeal with the Supreme Court of Canada.
The appeal is concerning the recent Ontario Court of Appeal’s decision that the province has authority to issue logging permits on all public lands and forests in the province, including First Nations’ traditional lands.
“Grassy Narrows is determined to protect its treaty rights and to protect the integrity of our lands. (The lower court judge) made the right decision when she held the governments to the agreement they made with our people in 1873. We were gravely disappointed when the Court of Appeal disagreed. We hope that the Supreme Court of Canada will agree to hear our appeal and restore the trial judgment,” said Simon Fobister, the chief of Grassy Narrows.
Read more:
Grassy Narrows files Supreme Court appeal over logging rights (Kenora Daily Miner and News)
Related news: July DaSilva, a First Nations rights activist from Grassy Narrows has received the Michael Sattler Peace Prize from the German Mennonite Peace Committe this week to “honour the nonviolent resistance of the Grassy Narrows First Nation against the destruction of nature and for the preservation of their Indigenous culture.” See: First Nations activist receives international peace prize
Nova Scotia summarizes public comments on Crown land use (including former Bowater Mersey lands)
Nova Scotia has released a report that summarizes what Nova Scotians said are the best ways to use the 1.5-million acres of Crown land in the province’s western region to ensure sustainable economic, social and environmental benefits for communities.
The report summarizes comments received at nine open-house consultations in March and April, at stakeholder meetings, and through online submissions.
“The responses we’ve heard confirm that Nova Scotians are passionate about land use,” said Natural Resources Minister Charlie Parker. “Overall, Nova Scotians have told us that they want to be involved in managing their land, that long-term environmental, social and economic sustainability is vital, and that they recognize different land uses need to be balanced.”
The report summarizes attendance and overall public response:
- about 676 people attended the public open houses
- 66 people (representing 57 stakeholder groups) attended stakeholder meetings
- 166 people submitted ideas online
- 44 separate submissions were received through other channels
The key themes from the submissions and stakeholder focus groups are drawn together in the summary report. The comments will help develop a sustainable plan for the land, which includes lands purchased from Bowater Mersey Ltd.
The report outlines the most prominent issues for stakeholders, including:
- tourism and recreation
- forestry
- vehicular access
- sustainability
- protection
- resource extraction
- continuing consultation and engagement processes
The final land and resource management plan for the western Crown land plan will include sustainable forestry management, as described in the province’s natural resources strategy, The Path We Share. It will also meet new policies and guidelines for better forest management.
The summary report is available at: http://novascotia.ca/natr/land/western-land .
Elmia Wood - 500 exhibitors, 50,000 visitors!
The world’s largest international forestry convention ElmiaWood becomes wider than ever. The industry is gearing up for a real human and machine party when manufacturers and suppliers to showcase their new products and innovations in the forests south of Jönköping 5 to 8 Jun 2013. It’s still tough times in the forest industry, but the pressure and interest in the show is bigger than ever. We have never had such a big exhibition stand space in terms, says Torbjörn Johnsen from ElmiaWood.
In the forests south of Jönköping the leading manufacturers and suppliers are gathered to show their innovations. ElmiaWood is an extremely important exhibition, says Jörgen Ivarsson at Rottne Industri.
Participation in the world’s largest forestry fair involves a lot of work and in Rottne we’re now working hard to finish the last details. . – It is important to be visible and show the market that despite the downturn, product development continues the improve . We will show our customers a new generation of COMFORT LINE. The new engine tier IIIB is in place and the new extensions as well. -More than that I will not reveal, says Jörgen, but welcome all customers and interested parties to booth 808.
We also take the opportunity to meet and welcome our dealers from different parts of the world.
ElmiaWood has nearly 500 exhibitors and 50,000 visitors over 4 days and is held every four years.The fairground is located in Brattorp 30 kilometers south of Jönköping.
www.elmiawood.se
Reducing deforestation emissions in Cameroon demands variety of expertise
[Fiji] Forest loss fight
Hope builds that China CO2 cap could unblock climate talks
Unconfirmed reports that China is preparing to cap its greenhouse gas output has raised hopes among observers worldwide that the planet’s biggest emitter will act to break a stalemate in global climate negotiations, despite widespread caution that any limit Beijing sets will be too high to prevent damaging warming.
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Laos: Reforestation efforts suffering from limited budget
Many of the trees planted under the government’s reforestation programme are dying because there is insufficient funding to maintain them.
The Forestry Department has observed that of the trees planted by people and the government, about 65-70 percent have survived, department Deputy Director General, Mr Thong Eth Phayvanh, told Vientiane Times yesterday.
In contrast, commercial tree growers are seeing survival rates of between 80-100 percent as their budget covers post-plantation support, according to the department.
This year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is planning with various government departments and companies to introduce different species of native trees to about 30,000 hectares of land, Mr Thong Eth said. However, he believes they will achieve only 30-40 percent of this target because some provinces have limited space available due to land allocation issues.
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Malaysia: Indigenous groups protest hydropower congress
The opening of the International Hydropower Association (IHA) World Congress in the Malaysian state of Sarawak was marred by indigenous protests and controversy after a local indigenous leader was barred from attending a pre-conference workshop. Over 300 people from local indigenous people protested the ongoing construction of around a dozen mega-dams in the state that threaten to flood traditional lands, force villages to move, and upend lives in the state. The Sarawak hydropower plans are some of the most controversial in the world—making the choice of Kuching, Sarawak for the IHA meeting an arguably ironic one—with critics contending that the dams are have been mired in political corruption, including kickbacks and bribes. IHA brings together dam builders, banks, and various related organizations worldwide every two years.
“We were not given a voice inside the congress so we are using our voices here in the form of a protest,” said Mark Bujang, Secretary with the SAVE Rivers network, a coalition of indigenous leaders and groups opposed to the hydropower plans in Sarawak.
Even before the conference started, Peter Kallang the chairman of SAVE Rivers, was barred from attending a pre-conference workshop despite paying $1,750 to participate. According to a Kallang he was not allowed to attend due to letters he wrote criticizing the IHA for excluding affected indigenous people and cooperating with the Sarawak government.
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Indonesia: Aceh defends deforestation plan
Aceh Governor Zaini Abdullah on Wednesday defended his plan to clear the province’s protected forests, saying it is necessary to develop the province and that it would not affect the 1.2 million hectares of forests that some environmentalists have claimed it would. “We have to clarify that the amount of 1.2 million hectares is not true,” Zaini told reporters following a meeting with a number of environmentalists at the Norwegian Embassy in Jakarta on Wednesday.
The governor said that the spatial planning bylaw draft proposed by his administration said that it would only convert 119,202 hectares of the nature sanctuary area (Kawasan Suaka Alam), nature preservation area (Kawasan Pelestarian Alam), protected forest, production forest and limited production forest areas, into other utilization areas. The Forestry Ministry, however, only recommended a conversion of 79,850 hectares for other utilization areas, he explained.
Kiki Taufik from Greenpeace Indonesia said that he appreciated the governor’s clarification but that some areas,including the primary forest and peatlands in the forest-clearing moratorium map, overlapped with other utilization areas, as stated in the map released by the Aceh administration.
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Social and Environmental Soundness in REDD+ Programs Training Workshop
A training workshop on Social and Environmental Soundness of REDD+ Programming and Implementation was conducted from November 5 to 9, 2012, at the USAID Asia Regional Training Center (ARTC) in Bangkok, Thailand. The workshop was organized by USAID, through its Forest Carbon, Markets, and Communities (FCMC) and Lowering Emissions in Asia’s Forests (LEAF) programs, with support from USAID’s Regional Development Mission for Asia (RDMA), as well as USAID’s Bureau for Economic Growth, Education and Environment (E3) and Global Climate Change Unit.
The workshop goals and objectives were:
- To improve the social and environmental soundness (SES) of the work of USAID and partners in Southeast Asia on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancements of forest carbon stocks (REDD+) and related USAID Sustainable Landscapes (SL) programs:
- To integrate into these programs key principles, approaches, applications, experience and lessons for social and environmental soundness in relevant natural resource management (NRM) sectors, as well as decades of relevant experience and lessons learned;
- To identify and work on key social and environmental soundness issues related to REDD+; and
- To apply these principles, issues, lessons, approaches and applications to country-specific situations and actions.
Please click here to download the summery report.
Amazon deforestation could lower hydropower potential, experts say
Saskatchewan establishes Right To Practice for foresters and technologists
Forestry professionals who want to practice in Saskatchewan’s public forests must now demonstrate their qualifications and competence through registration with their professional association, similar to other professions like engineers and agrologists.
On May 15, amendments to The Forestry Professions Act were proclaimed, legally establishing the right to practice for Registered Professional Foresters and Registered Professional Forest Technologists. Now, anyone practicing professional forestry on forested Crown lands must be registered with the Association of Saskatchewan Forestry Professionals (ASFP) or work under the supervision of a registered member.
The ASFP works to establish and maintain high standards of ethics and excellence for its members in the professional practice of forestry. The association is governed by a council of elected members and one public representative.
“We expect other professionals, whether they give us health advice or design bridges, to be competent and accountable for their actions,” Environment Minister Ken Cheveldayoff said. “Now, we have a similar assurance about the professionals who hold the health of our forests in their hands. This legislation means that the public can be even more confident that Saskatchewan’s Crown forests are well-managed by professionals who are recognized across Canada.”
Before the amendments, legislation governing the forestry profession in Saskatchewan protected only title, meaning that only registered ASFP members could call themselves Registered Professional Foresters or Registered Professional Forest Technologists. Now, both the titles and the practice of professional forestry are restricted to registered ASFP members. The legislation grants forestry professionals here the same status as their counterparts in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Québec.
“Earning the right to practice forestry in Saskatchewan requires a greater level of accountability from forestry professionals,” ASFP registrar Diane Roddy said. “This aligns well with the move to results-based legislation in Saskatchewan. The shift from prescribing how to do something to setting out the results that must be achieved puts an emphasis on accountability and reliance on professionals. There’s an important role for the ASFP to play in supporting this change and shepherding the ethical, competent management of our province’s forests.”
Source: Government of Saskatchewan
Brookfield Asset Management selling controlling stake in Twin Rivers Paper
Brookfield Asset Management Inc. is selling its controlling stake (51%) in Twin Rivers Paper Company to Blue Wolf Capital Partners and Atlas Holdings.
Twin Rivers Paper Company operates paper mills in Edmundston, New Brunswick and Madawaska, Maine, USA, and a lumber mill in Plaster Rock, New Brunswick. The company was formed with the province of New Brunswick as a general partner and creditor after the bankruptcy of Fraser Papers in 2010.
Blue Wolf Capital Partners and Atlas Holdings previous owned the Northern Pulp mill in Nova Scotia.
Read more:
Brookfield to sell its controlling stake in N.B. forest products company (The Canadian Press)
International Biodiversity Day Celebration 2013
On the auspicious occasion of International Biodiversity Day-2013, Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation celebrated the Biodiversity day in the Forestry Complex, Kathmandu on May 22, 2013. The program was chaired by Secretary of Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation Dr. Krishna Chandra Poudel and Minister of Forest and Soil Conservation Mr.
Global land forum declaration commits to land rights for indigenous peoples and women
At the Global Land Forum meeting held in Antigua, Guatemala, from 23-27 April 2013, members of the International Land Coalition (ILC) agreed to a series of commitments in the ‘Antigua Declaration’ related to securing tenure for responsible land governance.
The Antigua Declaration advocates for the inclusion of a sustainable development goal on governance of land tenure as well as targets related to secure and equitable land rights in the post-2015 development agenda.
At the meeting, the members of the ILC also approved a proclamation on people-centered land governance.
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Amazon river exhales virtually all carbon taken up by rain forest
The Amazon rain forest, popularly known as the lungs of the planet, inhales carbon dioxide as it exudes oxygen. Plants use carbon dioxide from the air to grow parts that eventually fall to the ground to decompose or get washed away by the region’s plentiful rainfall.
Until recently people believed much of the rain forest’s carbon floated down the Amazon River and ended up deep in the ocean.
University of Washington research showed a decade ago that rivers exhale huge amounts of carbon dioxide, though it left open the question of how that was possible, since bark and stems were thought to be too tough for river bacteria to digest.
A study published this week in Nature Geoscience resolves the conundrum, proving that woody plant matter is almost completely digested by bacteria living in the Amazon River, and that this tough stuff plays a major part in fueling the river’s breath. The finding has implications for global carbon models, and for the ecology of the Amazon and the world’s other rivers.
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Laos considers requirements to adopt timber trade regulations
Laos is examining the conditions necessary to enforce international rules on the timber trade and the sourcing of wood products, which will ensure effective and sustainable forest management. Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Dr Phuangparisak Pravongviengkham, revealed the progress made at a workshop held yesterday in Vientiane to enhance and understand the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan, which is Europe’s response to the illegal timber trade.
With the support of the European Union representative office in Laos and the European Forest Institute, the Department of Forest Inspection began information studies for the introduction of FLEGT in Laos in 2010. The Base Line Study was completed in 2011 and the Lao Timber Flow Study was finished last year.
Laos and the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development signed an agreement which sees 5.8 million euro given to Laos for the support and development of law enforcement programmes, wood management policies, trade systems and negotiation procedures for joining the Voluntary Partnership Agreement between the country and the EU, for acceptance into FLEGT.
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Why Indonesia’s deforestation ban isn’t enough to protect its forests
The president of Indonesia has banned deforestation for another couple of years. This is great news – but we aren’t celebrating just yet, because most of its rainforest remains unprotected.
So why aren’t we celebrating? Unfortunately, the deforestation ban is still full of loopholes. Almost half of Indonesia’s primary forests and peatlands still have no protection from chainsaw-happy companies.
This is because Indonesia’s deforestation ban is not really a ban on deforestation. It’s a ban on new concessions (which are permits to log, mine or set up a palm oil plantation on a particular patch of land) for areas of ‘primary’ forest and carbon-rich peatlands.
If a company had already been given permission to log an area of forest before the ban came in, then it would be legally entitled to chop down all the trees, ban or no ban.
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Do REDD+ projects deliver benefits to local people?
Information on benefits (as well as risks) that REDD+ might bring remains scant. A recent article is trying to fill the knowledge gap through a review of initial outcomes and early lessons of 41 REDD+ related projects in Africa, Asia and the Pacific and South and Central America.
In terms of opportunity benefits, which the authors define as jobs, payments, education and infrastructure, projects make only a modest contribution. The ways the benefits are provided also don’t appear much different from any integrated conservation and development project.
Considering only material opportunities is a rather narrow perspective. The authors have therefore also looked at security and empowerment, important parameters in terms of assessing human well-being. Contrary to early fears that REDD+ will induce land grabs and evictions, these projects are instead doing more to enhance local populations’ land claims and strengthen their rights. Yet, there have been a small number of resettlement cases and in seven projects restrictions on local use of forest resources have been introduced to move towards sustainable land use.
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GLV Will Release Its Fiscal 2013 Results on June 6th, 2013
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