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Vientiane Times, 6 July 2014 | Officials are unsure when Laos will be able to start selling its carbon credits as the state agencies in charge of preparing for the sale have been working far too slowly. Carbon credits are permits representing the amount of carbon that has not been emitted, showing that the owner has the right to offset that amount of carbon dioxide. The country’s extensive forest cover can be sold to other countries as carbon credits. Laos would have started selling carbon credits last year had work progressed well, deputy director general of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry’s Forest Department Khamphay Manivong told Vientiane Times at the recent meeting of the REDD + Task Force. "Up until now Laos has not been able to sell its carbon credits as officials from state agencies in charge of the work do not understand what they were supposed to do, which has affected preparations," he said.

Ecosystem Marketplace, 16 July 2014 | As Steve Zwick reports, though, REDD didn't create an "incentive" to save the forests. A typical palm-oil plantation generates $1,000 per hectare in pure profit – more than twenty-fold the income that could be generated from the sale of offsets. So REDD will not sway those responding to purely economic incentives, but it does create a financing mechanism that may make it possible for people who want to save forests to do so. The Rimba Raya project has sold five million tonnes of offsets since 2010 and verified another five million tonnes of emissions reductions, more than four million of which remain unsold.

By Rhett A. Butler, mongabay.com, 16 July 2014 | More than 30 percent of Borneo's rainforests have been destroyed over the past forty years due to fires, industrial logging, and the spread of plantations, finds a new study that provides the most comprehensive analysis of the island's forest cover to date. The research, published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE, shows that just over a quarter of Borneo's lowland forests remain intact. The study, which involved an international team of scientists led by David Gaveau and Erik Meijaard, is based on satellite data and aerial photographs. That approach enabled the researchers to separate industrial plantations from selectively-logged natural forests, while also mapping the extent of logging roads for various elevations, distinguishing between highly endangered lowland forests and inaccessible high-elevation forests.

Two environmental groups announced today that National Geographic will begin using recycled paper in its U.S.-based magazines, reversing its previous stance. Dead Tree Edition retraces how the society went from being the target of a "Practice What You Print" campaign to an ally of NGOs.

[Thomson Reuters ONE] - BOISE, Idaho - Boise Cascade Company (NYSE: BCC) will host a webcast and conference call to discuss 2014 second quarter earnings on Thursday, July 24, at 11 a.m. Eastern. To participate in the conference ...

Black Cherry, A Top 100 Common Tree in North America

Norske Skog strengthened operations due to lower costs and improved efficiency in the second quarter. High production at the mills in a difficult market shows the relative competitive position of the group....

Following a rebuild by Voith, the PM 2 of the Europac Group (Papeles y Cartones de Europa, S.A.) was successfully restarted at its plant in Dueñas in the Spanish Province of Palencia after just 15 days of downtime and seven days of commissioning...

July 16, 2014 -- Degremont, a subsidiary of SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT, has been awarded a €30-million ($40.8-million) contract for the engineering, procurement and construction of two water treatment facilities for Klabin, the largest paper producer...

The declining consumption of graphic paper is forcing Papierfabrik Scheufelen to reduce its capacity from 300,000 tons to 140,000 tons annually. One paper machine and its associated equipment will be idled in the near future...

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, July 16, 2014 -- Sappi today confirmed that they have concluded the sale of Sappi's Usutu Forest Products Company Limited to local Swaziland business Montigny Investments....

APPLETON, Wis., July 16, 2014 -- Appvion, Inc. announced today the appointment of Ethan Haas as vice president and general manager of the company's carbonless and specialty papers business. Haas will be based at the company's headquarters in Appleton, Wisconsin....

[Business Wire] - EcoPlanet Bamboo Group has hired three seasoned executives from $8.5 billion timber giant Weyerhaeuser in a key step to ensure its continued success and global expansion, and has named Marvin Ray Risco as the Group president.

Tim Evans and crew are taking Brisbane’s Hoo-Hoo Club's Car 253 on the Brisbane to Sydney Variety Bash for the third time because the club wants to continue to make a difference.

Mediterranean forests provide local communities with a diverse range of products such as wood, fodder for livestock and plants and game, all of which contribute to food security and help to alleviate poverty in rural regions. Source: Cordis News

DLP Senator John Madigan revealed secret CSIRO communications indicating that CSIRO management has reportedly axed the last remaining 33 forest scientists. Sources: Timberbiz, ABC Rural

Maryvale paper workers used a visit by Nationals Deputy Leader and Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce to demand he support local jobs by ensuring his department replace its use of overseas imports with Australian-made photocopy paper. Source: Timberbiz

Apprentice joiner Mohamed Valibhai has won the Woodworking Industry Suppliers Association John Tiddy Memorial Award in woodworking. Source: The Otago Times

For the first time indigenous Australians are being called on to help shape a new set of forestry standards as part of a project launched by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Australia. Source: Timberbiz

Tradies National Health Month in August will boost and transform the health and safety of Australian tradies. Source: Timberbiz