Biodiversity

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Environment Hameedullah Jan Afridi said on Saturday that the Ministry of Environment was implementing mega forestry projects in all the provinces for preservation and expansion of forest wealth in the country.

He stated this at the concluding ceremony of the 2nd three-day international conference on “Biodiversity is Our Life”, organised by the Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation (CBC) and Shah Abdul Latif University Khairpur.

A recent study commissioned by the National Alliance of Forestry Owners states that a new Environmental Protection Agency rule regulating greenhouse gas emissions will severely limit woody biomass renewable energy projects if implemented as scheduled in January.

In May, the EPA issued a final rule establishing the “Tailoring Rule” to regulate greenhouse gas emissions released into the atmosphere by defining when permits are required for new and existing industrial facilities. The rule is scheduled to go into effect Jan. 2, 2011.

The Gilboa nature reserve is the first 
forestry property to be proclaimed a private nature reserve in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) under the biodiversity steward-
ship mechanism.

Delegates from 69 countries met Tuesday in Nagoya, central Japan, on the sidelines of the ongoing U.N. biodiversity talks to discuss ways to help developing nations tackle issues of deforestation in a bid to counter greenhouse gas emissions.