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Hastings and St. Leonards Observer, 14 April 2014 | A salesman who took part in a boiler room scam which fleeced investors out of more than £4m was today jailed for three years today (MON). John Curtin, 38, sold worthless shares for up to four times the agreed value and then siphoned off the profits as part of the scam run by American Brian O’Brien and his British wife Lynne D’Albertson. O’Brien and D’Albertson, who used to live in Westfield, were also jailed for their role in the scam. D’Albertson’s son Damien Smith, of Eversfield Mews North, St Leonards was jailed for three years and four month... Prosecutor Amanda Pinto QC said: “Between 2005 and 2007 the defendant was a sales manager involved in the fraudulent sale of company shares at vastly inflated price. “The defendant would call potential investors and over a couple of months £4m was acquired..."

By Marcello Teixeira, Reuters, 15 April 2014 | Brazil, looking to offset the carbon emissions generated by construction, travel and other activities related to hosting the 2014 Soccer World Cup, said on Tuesday it wants holders of United Nations-backed carbon credits to swap them for publicity during the games. The World Cup begins June 12 and Brazil's Environment Ministry said it has launched a program to convince owners of credits to exchange them for publicity in official documents of the event. The country, which is spending 26 billion reais ($11.6 billion) to prepare for the world's top soccer tournament, has no plans to buy offsets in the market, even if carbon prices are at historical lows. "We talked to some holders of credits and they were receptive to the idea of donating the credits", said Eduardo Valente, an official working with the program. The government will accept only certified emission reductions (CERs) from Brazil-based projects of the U.N.'s CDM.

I have compiled the most common reasons for trees injured during cold weather.

Common Trees of the Eastern United States - The Tree Illustrations of Charles Sprague Sargent

Planting Tips on planting All Sizes of Tree Seedlings. Page 4.

By Lauren Cooper, Ecosystem Marketplace, 15 April 2014 | A new survey, by UC Berkeley, SIU-Carbondale, and Illinois Wesleyan University is bringing some much-needed positivity in global biodiversity news. Despite species and biodiversity figures dropping all over the world, Manu National Park of southern Peru has surpassed its own record for species biodiversity. The park continues to hold title as the richest biodiversity hotspot in the world for reptiles and amphibians. Located in the Department of Madre de Dios in southern Peru, Manu Park is already a world-renowned attraction for “eco-tourists” – specifically bird watchers, scientists, and conservationists. The World Heritage List in 1987. The nearly 1.5 million protected hectares hosts a variety of ecosystems, including lowland moist Amazonian rain forest, high-altitude cloud forest, and Andean grasslands.

Rights and Resources Initiative press release, 15 April 2014 | Despite headway in addressing land rights violations made in recent years, Stora Enso has yet to fully ensure legality of all lands acquired in the past. A new report reveals that Stora Enso Oyj (Stora Enso), one of the world’s largest pulp and paper companies, has made substantial progress in reviewing the legality of its land acquisitions in China, but has not yet fully ensured respect for local land rights in their operations. These challenges continue despite important steps by the company since 2009 to improve its land acquisition practices against the backdrop of China’s ongoing nationwide forest tenure reform.

Stabroek News, 14 April 2014 | The Chinese logging firm Bai Shan Lin is moving to construct a wood processing facility, ship building operation and exhibition centre and has applied to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for environmental authorization. In an ad in the Stabroek News, the EPA said that it has determined that an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is not required for the projects and an environmental authorization with specific conditions for environmental management may be granted to the applicants for the implementation of the projects. [R-M: Subscription needed.]

The Important American Hardwoods - Sweetgum - Liquidambar styraciflua

River Birch, A Top 100 Common Tree in North America

Flowering Saucer Magnolia | Japanese Magnolia | Tulip Tree Page 6.

A catalpa tree is a beautiful tree, a wood product but is also a source of food for the fish-loving catalpa caterpillar.

Here are the best and worst firewood species for burning rated by BTUs and density.

Tree anatomy, including leaf shape and twig parts, helps you identify and name tree species. Knowing a tree's physiology will help with identification.

Cowboy Charcoal products now available at Target and The Home Depot across Canada STOCKTON, Calif., April 17, 2014 /CNW/ - Cowboy Charcoal, maker of top selling natural hardwood lump charcoal, ch...

The president of VAB Solutions Inc. Mr Jean Berube recently announced the signing of two new contracts. The first contract covers the sale and installation of a complete Planer Mill Lineal Grading Optimizer for Eacom Timber Corporation mill located in Ear Falls Northern Ontario. “We are proud to have completed the sale and installation of this system for Eacom Timber Corporation.  This demonstrates the effectiveness of our Scanner and the benefits it provides to our business partners, “says Jean Berube President of VAB Solutions.

The second contract involves the sales and installation of a complete Transverse Optimizer for Sexton Lumber Sawmill located in Bloomfield, Newfoundland.  This new turnkey contract includes the optimization, the PLC & control and all the mechanical tasks related to this project.  VAB Solutions Inc., is now proud to offer to its business partners a new transverse optimizer at the sawmill that will stand for its unique technology,delivering an incomparable reading precision at low cost of operation.

“These new equipment at the cutting edge of the technology will enable our two new business partners to significantly increase their production efficiency by increasing their productivity and the quality of their product,” says Marc Voyer, Vice President and General Manager of VAB Solutions Inc.

About VAB Solutions Inc.:

Created in 2004, VAB Solutions Inc. is a partnership between Marc Voyer eng. and Jean Berube eng. combining both more than 30 years in the lumber industry.  The mission of VAB Solutions Inc. is to develop, manufacture, sell and commission vision instruments for the forest industry using the latest technology.  Achieving outstanding performance and offering a fair competitive price are top priorities.  The key feature of VAB Solutions Inc. line of products is the Lumber Grading Optimizer for planer mills.  With 21 systems sold, its performance and simplicity to operate is accounting for its reputation across Canada.  In 2014, VAB Solutions Inc. celebrates its 10th anniversary.

A Technological vision in the lumber industry

China understandably was a key focus for the just completed Forest Investment & Market Outlook 2014 (FIMO 2014) series run for senior forestry managers and institutional investors over the last two weeks by FIEA. Over 200 attended and the Australian leg of the series finished in Melbourne on Wednesday.

Johnathan Wu, Associate Director, Premium China Fund Management, Bill Liley, Managing Director and Bill Lu, Senior Consultant, China Operations, Indfor, Bruce Easton, Managing Director, Asia Pacific Resource Management Service and Jon Dey, Director, FORME Consulting reviewed investment options and trends in investing in China timberlands as well as providing an insight into the underlying trends and projections for the country’s growth.

Guigang was selected as one case study detailing just how the Guangxi region in Southern China has led a veneer revolution and is now a rising star in the country’s wood processing activities. Whereas just 10 years ago there was virtually no wood processing in the region, the Guigang processing centre has now over 2000 mills ( more than 3000 registered lathes) operating today.

Over 1700 veneer mills are concentrated on eucalypt veneer production with 270 plywood mills now producing plywood and concrete formwork. In 2013, Guigang’s plywood production reached 4 million m3 (which equates to 5.5 million m3 in round log form) of air dried veneer production. With each lathe needing 0.4 ha to air dry the veneer sheets, over 1200 ha is now required for a veneer drying field. The area is so large - it can be picked up quite easily on Google Earth.

As well as veneer operations the region now boasts large and modern MDF and Particle Board plants and is leading the trend in establishing new plantations, both regionally and globally. In total, Guangxi has approximately 1.4 million ha of eucalypt plantations, around 50% of China’s total eucalypt plantation area.

Guigang is an amazing new face of wood processing in China. New veneer mills will continue to be built - as there is a continued ramp up in harvesting activities. Details on how this presentation - and other presentations given as part of FIMO 2014 - can be downloaded by those participating in this latest series will be sent out to all delegates in the near future.

The Forests Minister has confirmed Forestry SA is looking to cut an estimated 95 jobs over two years in regional areas. Sources: Adelaide Now, News.com.au, The Advertiser

INTERFORST, a key event for forestry and forest technology, is on 16-20 July in Munich Germany. Source: Timberbiz