External News

Bamboo charcoal is a viable, clean and sustainable alternative to fuelwood and may be the key to combating soil degradation and massive deforestation in Africa while still meeting domestic energy needs, say experts.

Brazil, which last week moved to reform its Forest Code, may find lessons in Russia's revision of its forest law in 2007, say a pair of Russian scientists.

Spearheaded by Former Head-of-State Bharrat Jagdeo, and after much ranting and raving on his part, the Guyana Government is still to spend a dime of the money from the Kingdom of Norway under a Memorandum of Understand signed in 2008.
Two tranches from the US$250M promised to Guyana and payable over a five year period have been placed in a Bank Account but Guyana is still unable to spend the money until Norway is satisfied with the checks and balances are in place to ensure satisfactory transparency and accountability.

Few studies have attempted to address the carbon emissions resulting from the degradation of tropical forests. Selective forest logging represents an important form of degradation of tropical forests, and may lead to future deforestation of the area by providing accessibility to these areas.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is lending EUR 100 million to finance the modernisation and expansion of an integrated pulp and paper mill in Syktyvkar in the Russian Federation. This is the first EIB loan provided by the Bank under the Eastern Partners Facility (EPF).