Forestry and climate change bulletin
Clash over plan to save tropical forests (Guardian 21 August). Developing countries and human rights groups will clash today (21 August) at a key UN climate change meeting intended to arrest the destruction of tropical forests. The felling is responsible for almost 20% of annual global carbon emissions, making it a crucial target in the battle against global warming. Diplomats from more than 100 countries are meeting in Accra, Ghana, to open negotiations on whether tropical forests should join the emerging global carbon market. This would allow countries and companies to earn money from not cutting down their trees. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/aug/21/forests.carbonoffsetprojects
FSC statement on forests and climate change (FSC website 22 August). The FSC has released a statement on forests and climate change. The statement maintains that carbon management cannot be separated from the many ecosystem services that well managed forests provide. There is a need for credible and affordable auditing tools to assess and monitor avoided deforestation and forest carbon sequestration. The FSC system provides the context for which carbon management and carbon crediting can be harmonized with other uses and values of the forest. http://www.fsc.org/news.html?&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=49&tx_ttnews[backPid]=107&cHash=0839ac0520
Beauty spots to be devoured by sea (Observer 24 August). According to the National Trust, some of Britain's most famous coastal landmarks will be radically changed or even lost because it is no longer possible to hold back rising seas and coastal erosion. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/aug/24/endangeredhabitats.conservation1
Global warming time bomb trapped in Arctic soil: study (Physorg.com 24 August). Climate change could release unexpectedly huge stores of carbon dioxide from Arctic soils, which would in turn fuel a vicious circle of global warming, a new study warned Sunday. Previous estimates of the Arctic carbon pool relied heavily on a relative handful of measurements conducted outside of the Arctic, and only to a depth of 40 centimetres (15.5 inches). The study, published in the British journal Nature Geoscience, found that the stock of organic carbon "is considerably higher than previously thought" -- 60 percent more than previously estimated. http://www.physorg.com/news138803036.html
Schemes to offset carbon 'overpriced and unfair' (Independent 25 August). Britain's booming carbon offset industry is riddled with inconsistencies and clashes of interest that have caused a "crisis of legitimacy" which threatens to dissuade consumers from contributing to cutting their greenhouse gas emissions, leading academics claim. An authoritative study by Omega, a coalition of experts on aviation and the environment based at leading British universities, found the potential benefits of offsetting in mitigating some of the effects of climate change were being undermined by a failure to produce uniform prices, and difficulties with proving how much CO2 is saved by schemes in developing countries. http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/schemes-to-offset-carbon-overpriced-and-unfair-907794.html
Submerged Ghana forest may point to timber bonanza (Reuters 25 August). Logging of a Ghanaian forest submerged 40 years ago by a hydroelectric dam could point to an underwater timber bonanza worth billions of dollars in tropical countries, a senior Ghanaian official said on Monday. Exploiting submerged rot-resistant hardwoods such as ebony, wawa or odum trees in Lake Volta, the largest man-made lake in Africa, can also slow deforestation on land and curb emissions of greenhouse gases linked to burning of forests. http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN550657.html
UK 'should end biofuel subsidies' (BBC 26 August). The government should stop funding biofuels and use the money to halt the destruction of rainforests and peatland instead, a think tank has said. Policy Exchange said the switch would have a bigger impact on climate change because trees and peatland remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7581436.stm
Threat to Lebanon's symbol of survival (BBC News 27 August). Environmentalists are concerned that climate change could affect Lebanon's emblematic cedar trees. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7583757.stm
UN climate change negotiations speed up in Accra (Climate Action 28 August). The latest round of UN-sponsored global Climate Change Talks in Accra, Ghana concluded Wednesday with clear signals that the pace of negotiations to get to a deal on long-term strengthened international action on climate change is picking up. Important progress was made in Accra on a number of key issues for the deal, to be clinched at the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December 2009. Furthermore, Parties under the Kyoto Protocol advanced their work on the tools and rules available to developed countries to set ambitious reduction targets beyond 2012. http://www.climateactionprogramme.org/news/article/un_climate_change_negotiations_speed_up_in_accra/
Arctic ice is at tipping point (BBC News 28 August). Arctic sea ice has shrunk to the second smallest extent since satellite records began, US scientists have revealed. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7585645.stm
Forthcoming events
16-17 September, Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe (MCPFE)/Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy (PEBLDS) drafting meeting, Malahide, Ireland. Delegates will discuss draft European guidelines for afforestation and reforestation
30-31 October, International Conference on Water and Forests: A Convenient Truth?, Barcelona, Spain http://www.efi.int/portal/about_efi/organisation/regional_offices/efimed/information_and_dissemination/water_and_forests_conference_2008/
10-12 March 2009 - UNFCCC COP-15 Lead-in Congress, Copenhagen, "Climate Change: Global Risks, Challenges and Decisions", Session: "Climate change and ecosystem services" Call for abstracts for Poster session; deadline: 1 Sep 2008 http://climatecongress.ku.dk/call-for-abstracts