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Efforts to thoroughly study the role that plants play in climate change mitigation are increasing. Most researchers focus on the promise of large, leafy forest trees to help remove carbon from the atmosphere. This is because, generally speaking, the bigger the plant, the more CO2 it absorbs – and trees are the most obvious large plant species. However, there are some very large non-tree plants in the world and increasing evidence points to a surprising grassy climate change warrior: bamboo.

 

How fast a plant grows has a part in determining how much CO2 it can absorb in a given time. In this respect, bamboo wins hands-down: it grows faster than many trees, growing up to 1.2 meters per day. In fact, bamboo holds the Guinness World Record for the world’s fastest growing plant.

 

Bamboo’s carbon sequestration properties have been studied in countries where it naturally forms wild forests, such as Mexico and China. Contributing to these efforts, Ricardo Rojas Quiroga—an environmental engineering student at the Universidad Nuestra Señora de La Paz—studied Guadua angustifolia, a species of bamboo that grows in the Carrasco National Park of Bolivia. He measured the density and masses of bamboo plants in the forest, estimating the amount of carbon stored per hectare. Rojas concluded that, in addition to forming part of one of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world, each hectare of the bamboo forest of Carrasco National Park stores levels of carbon comparable to some large tree species such as Chinese fir and oak. This finding is consistent with that of many previous studies, a review of which can be found in this 2010 report by INBAR.

 

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Vietnamese rubber firms bankrolled by an arm of the World Bank and Germany’s Deutsche Bank are driving a land-grabbing crisis in Southeast Asia, activists said Monday.

 

Indigenous ethnic minorities are bearing the brunt of the seizures, which have affected tens of thousands of villagers and led to the clearance of swathes of protected forests, according to campaign group Global Witness.

 

Vietnam, the world’s third-largest rubber producer, is keen to tap surging demand for the commodity in particular from China, which is hungry for car tyres and other rubber goods as its economy booms. Global Witness accused two firm, Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) and Vietnam Rubber Group (VRG), of driving forced evictions via subsidiaries linked to government cronies in impoverished — and notoriously corrupt — Cambodia and Laos.

 

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By Ben Bland, Financial Times, 15 May 2013 | High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ae495afc-bd37-11e2-890a-00144feab7de.html#ixzz2TPo5WnGT Indonesia has extended its landmark moratorium on logging for another two years but environmentalists and senior officials say the government must dramatically improve governance if it is to protect the country’s remaining rainforests and reduce carbon emissions. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono unveiled a two-year moratorium on the issuance of new plantation and logging concessions in primary forests and peatlands in May 2011 as part of his plan to cut carbon emissions by 26 per cent from what levels are expected to be by 2020.

BURNABY, BC, May 15, 2013 /CNW/ - Taiga Building Products Ltd. (TSX: TBL) (TSX: TBL.NT) announces that it will be paying the monthly interest payment of $11.6667 per $1,000 principal value subor...

KINGSEY FALLS, QC, May 15, 2013 /CNW Telbec/ - Cascades is launching its new line of moving boxes made in Québec from corrugated board containing 80% recycled materials—just in time for July 1st...

The efforts made by Brazil towards improving the monitoring of forest clearing and preventing deforestation have had a hugely positive impact on the Amazon rainforest.

Potlatch Corporation (Nasdaq:PCH) has announced that Eric Cremers, president, chief operating officer, and chief financial officer, will be providing a company overview to investors at the REITWeek conference in Chicago, June 6, 2013 at 9:30 AM Central Time.

A live audio webcast of the presentation will be available via the Investor Resources page of Potlatch’s website at www.potlatchcorp.com. An archived version of the Company’s presentation will also be available on this site following the webcast for approximately 30 days.

ABOUT POTLATCH

Potlatch is a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) with approximately 1.42 million acres of timberland in Arkansas, Idaho and Minnesota. Potlatch, a verified forest practices leader, is committed to providing superior returns to stockholders through long-term stewardship of its forest resources. The company also conducts a land sales and development business and operates wood products manufacturing facilities through its taxable REIT subsidiary. More information about Potlatch can be found on the company’s website at www.potlatchcorp.com

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The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) in Bogor, Indonesia, has released a working paper that examines policies for REDD+ benefit-sharing mechanisms in 13 countries. The publication aims to provide a global overview, comparative analysis and profile of five types of REDD+ benefit-sharing mechanisms.

 

The authors analyze how rights are structured under REDD+, and how political and economic factors influence the design and setting of benefit-sharing mechanisms. The working paper suggests the issue of benefit-sharing mechanisms has, in particular, generated international attention of communities and policymakers, and that benefit-sharing mechanisms will be integral to ensuring REDD+ efforts are effective, efficient and equitable.

 

The working paper examines five existing benefit-sharing mechanisms for REDD+ and forest management: fund‐based approaches; market‐based instruments; forest concessions; access and benefit sharing; and community forestry. These approaches are examined in 13 countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Mozambique, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Tanzania and Viet Nam.

 

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Forested wetlands – including mangroves, peat swamps, cypress domes, and related ecosystems – are thought to hold some of the highest carbon densities among terrestrial (soil and vegetation) systems. In the Indo-Pacific region, mangroves cover as much as 6.8 million hectares, or approximately 40 percent of world’s total, and it is estimated that these ecosystems store more than five times the amount of carbon compared to tropical upland forested ecosystems (not including peatlands).  They provide a wide range of products and services to both the communities living near them and the economies of countries in the region, yet these ecoststens are threatened by conversion to aquaculture and agriculture, urban development, overexploitation, and other deforestation and degradation.

 

From April 29 to May 8, 2013, LEAF, in close collaboration with the LEAD program and the USAID-supported Sustainable Wetlands Adaptation and Mitigation Program (SWAMP) conducted intensive field training in Trang Province, Thailand for 31 participants from eight Asian countries on application of a new protocol developed by SWAMP for measuring and monitoring carbon stocks in, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from, mangroves and other forested wetlands carbon. SWAMP is a collaborative effort by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), the USDA Forest Service (USFS), and Oregon State University, with support from USAID.

 

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Myanmar could lose up to a third of its remaining natural forestry within the next two decades if current practices continue, according to a report released by WWF earlier this month.

 

A draft forestry law is currently being formulated by Myanmar’s Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry which aims to tackle illegal logging, conserve forestry and develop the domestic processing sector. A major step in the legislation will see raw, unprocessed logs no longer permitted to be exported as of April 1, 2014.

 

This new law is intended to tackle deforestation and to encourage foreign investment in processing plants and mills. If effective, these new measures could be huge: timber is one of Myanmar’s greatest natural resources and estimates range that forest coverage in Myanmar is from 24 to 48 percent.

 

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Indonesia has extended a logging ban to protect rainforests despite fierce industry pressure, the government said Wednesday, but green groups slammed it as inadequate to safeguard threatened habitats.

 

Vast tracts of the sprawling Indonesian archipelago are covered in trees, including some of the world’s most biodiverse tropical rainforest that is home to endangered animals such as orangutans, tigers and elephants.

 

But huge swathes have been chopped down by palm oil, mining and timber companies in Southeast Asia’s top economy, which has become the world’s third-biggest carbon emitter as a result.

 

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MISSISSAUGA, ON, May 15, 2013 /CNW Telbec/ - KP Tissue Inc. ("KPT") will hold its Annual Meeting of Shareholders in Toronto, Ontario, Wednesday, June 26, 2013. The meeting will take place in the...

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