Côte d’Ivoire : new farms and deforestation (Technorati / Indonesia Morning)

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Technorati : desertification (see Blogroll in left column)

Indonesia Morning

http://indonesiamorning.blogspot.com/2007/05/cote-divoire-new-farms-new-lives-at.html

COTE D’IVOIRE

KORHOGO, northern Côte d’Ivoire, May 3 (IPS) – For Katienéfoha Yéo, two decades of cotton farming that resulted in nothing but debt were enough to get him on the road, out of Tanikaha in northern Côte d’Ivoire to Sarala in the west. “At Tanikaha I worked the land for more than 20 years without ever managing to own the least thing. Almost all my agricultural seasons ended with significant (harvest) shortfalls because the soil was no longer good (fertile),” he told IPS. In 2000 Yéo finally left his village of Korhogo to set up a new home in the Fouyagôrô encampment in the region of Sarala, where land is still productive. Since then the man who was once in debt to cotton companies for fertilizer and pesticides has built two houses: “I rebuilt the house of my father in a more proper way in the village, and I built (a house) for myself and my family. Before, I lived in a hut on depleted land.” The good harvests that that his new fields have regularly produced even enabled Yéo to buy a vehicle to transport goods by road between Korhogo and Sarala.

Desertification in Nigeria (Google Alert / allAfrica / Daily Trust)

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Googla Alert for : desertification

allAfrica

http://allafrica.com/stories/200704301376.html

Daily Trust (Abuja)

Nigeria: 600 Metres of Borno Land Consumed Annually By Desert, FG Warns

Daily Trust (Abuja)

April 29, 2007
Posted to the web April 30, 2007

Ahmed Mohammed Maiduguri

Statistics from the Federal Ministry of Environment have shown that about 600 meters of land in Borno state is annually consumed by the Sahara Desert. The general manager of the Borno State Environmental Protection Agency, Alhaji Abba Aji Agid, disclosed this to Kanem Trust in his office. Alhaji Abba Aji said the main ecological problems of Borno state are drought and desertification which threaten agriculture and the eco-system unless the government intensifies effort to save the situation. He lamented that the situation is exacerbated by the habit of cutting trees for cooking especially in the southern parts of the state where trees are felled and even transported to neighbouring states of Kano and Adamawa.

Loss of natural resources in Vietnam (CCD-Coalition / OLYecology)

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CCD-Coalition 192 : Earth’s Tree News

OLYecology

http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=01ENV210407

VIETNAM

A new environmental report shows Viet Nam’s biodiversity, the number of different plants and animals in its ecosystem, and water resources are fading fast due to pollution and fewer intact forests. The report was released by the National Committee on Clean Water Supply and Environmental Sanitation in Ha Noi on Wednesday. Members said looking at current rates of deforestation and clear-cutting, more than three-fourths of the country’s mangrove forests would be gone in the next 50 years. Water resources are faring little better, according to the report.

Illegal deforestation in China ? (CCD-Coalition / OLYecology)

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CCD-Coalition 192 : Earth’s Tree News

OLYecology

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-04/05/content_843721.htm

 CHINA

China will investigate allegations that an Indonesia-based firm has been engaged in illegal logging in the southern island province of Hainan, an official at the State Forestry Administration (SFA) said yesterday in Beijing. The China office of Greenpeace, an international environmental group, last Wednesday accused Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) of illegally clearing primary forest to build roads and plant a “large area of eucalyptus pulp and paper forest” in Yinggeling, a nature reserve in Hainan. “China welcomes foreign investment in forestation on the condition that it protects the local ecosystem,” said Jin Zhicheng, an official in charge of news releases at the SFA. “But any actions that destroy the ecosystem and biodiversity are not permitted and will be firmly punished.”

Virgin forest or Brazilian soy (CCD-Coalition / OLYecology)

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CCD-Coalition 192 : Earth’s Tree News

OLYecology

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/23/AR2007042301903.html

BRASIL

It was an unusual group to be sharing a small boat making its way up the Amazon River. There were four environmental activists from Greenpeace — Brazilians and others who flew in from Europe for the trip. And there were four corporate leaders of McDonald’s, the world’s largest fast-food chain, from its Chicago headquarters and from Europe. The eight were in the rainforest together on a mission to see firsthand where farmers were cutting down virgin forest to grow soy beans for, among other customers, McDonald’s. And though Greenpeace had not long ago been accusing McDonald’s of complicity in the deforestation, by the time of the Amazon trip in January, the eight officials were calling each other partners. Those weren’t just words. The ubiquitous fast-food company and the global environmentalists had already jointly pressured the biggest soy traders in Brazil into placing an unprecedented two-year moratorium on the purchase of any soy from newly deforested areas.

Deforestation in South Africa (CCD-Coalition / OLYecology)

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CCD-Coalition 192 – Earth’s Tree News

OLYecology

http://www.sabcnews.com/south_africa/general/0,2172,147741,00.html

South Africa

One of the world’s largest remaining indigenous forests in St Lucia in KwaZulu-Natal has been damaged, because of informal settlements. Now the race is on to protect part of the Dukuduku forest, which remains untouched and once a haven of plant diversity, animal species and water resources. Landless subsistence farmers occupied the forest in the late 1980s. Inhabitants were relocated to a new settlement a decade later but many refused to leave. Violent protests and court battles over the land ensued and it was left unattended. Vusi Kubheka of the water affairs forestry department, says South Africa has laws, people have rights in terms of occupation of the land and government has certain laws that they need to apply to be able to make headway in terms of resolving this problem. He says they are currently rehabilitating the land, and are aware in terms of the studies that have been done with various other stakeholders that it could take up to 20 to 30 years to rehabilitate the forest. However it is too late to lobby as the damage has been done and it will be too costly to revive it. But on the other side, environmentalist want government to protect this section before it is invaded. Plans are in the pipeline to protect it, giving South Africa’s heritage a better chance of survival.

Jatropha curcas, biodiesel and benefits (Technorati / Biopact)

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Technorati : desertification

Biopact

http://biopact.com/2007/04/stat-owned-finnish-oil-major-is.html

Finnish oil major is considering jatropha oil for next-generation biodiesel

Finnish oil major Neste Oil, in which the government of Finland holds a majority stake, is looking into using Jatropha curcas oil as a feedstock for its innovative second generation biodiesel. The announcement came as representatives of the company visited India.

Jatropha needs no introduction to our readers, but a quick reminder of some facts: the crop is a perennial shrub that thrives in semi-arid and poor soils, and requires relatively little water and fertiliser inputs. Yields vary but under optimal conditions may reach up to 1500kg/ha upon maturity (harvests commence after the third year). As they grow, the small trees become carbon sinks with a life of up to 30 to 50 years, after which their woody biomass can be used as a bioenergy feedstock. Many developing countries (from Senegal and Kenya to Ghana, Zambia, China, Burma and Indonesia) are studying the use of the shrub, the seeds of which contain around 35 to 40% oil, as a raw material to supply a global nascent biodiesel industry. However, jatropha is not an ideal crop, because seeds have to be harvested manually, which requires considerable inputs of labor (earlier post). Mechanisation efforts are under way though and consist of trials with and designing of equipment similar to olive harvesters (personal communication from a jatropha expert).

Combating desertification with solar cookers (Technorati)

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Technorati : desertification

http://friends-world.org/bellsonmytoes/?p=98

SOLAR COOKERS

The solar cooker is an extremely simple and innovative piece of technology that can be used anywhere that has decent sun coverage to cook any food that a conventional oven can. Unlike a conventional oven, however, with the exception of the initial cost to build or buy one, solar cookers are completely free to run. Using the basic principals of reflected heat from solar energy, solar cookers use no electricity, and require no wood to burn.

Deforestation worldwide (CCD-Coalition / olyecology)

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CCD-Coalition 190 : Earth’s Tree News

olyecology

DEFORESTATION WORLDWIDE

Deforestation can be defined as the large scale removal of forests. Deforestation occurs when forests are converted to non-forest areas for urbanization, agriculture, and other reasons without sufficient reforestation. It is the permanent destruction of forests and woodlands. At present, forests are considered among the most endangered on the planet.

Highest deforestation rate in Indonesia (CCD-Coalition / olyecology)

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CCD-Coalition 190 – Earth’s Tree News

olyecology

INDONESIA

Already having the highest deforestation rate in the world, Indonesia’s Minister of Forestry announced the country would increase its harvest quota for natural timber for 2007 by 12 percent to 9.1 million cubic meters according to the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO).

Deforestation in New Delhi (CCD-Coalition / olyecology)

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CCD-Coalition 190 – Earth’s Tree News

olyecology

INDIA 

A week after ‘Trees for Delhi’, a forum of citizens and environmentalists, took out a silent protest march to express their concern over the disappearing green cover of Delhi, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has invited them for a meeting Wednesday. The forum, which is only six-months-old, has been raising alarm by initiating several campaigns, taking out peace protests, distributing flyers and staging plays, in a bid to sensitise people about the huge amount of deforestation that has been taking place in the capital.