Yunnan joins ban on logging along Jinsha River
Yunnan province in China is to ban logging in the Jinsha River basin and launch a reforestation drive to limit the damage caused by future floods. Xinhua reported that the ban would take effect on October 1.Yunnan is a large exporter of timber and the ban will mean thousands of …
Forest cover damaged by floods by N Bengal
Floods have caused extensive damage to forest cover in North Bengal this year. The Haldapara and Mahananda forests and the Buxa Tiger Project are the worst hit. Continuous erosion by the Torsa since 1988 has eaten away about 80 hectares of forest land in Jaldapara.
Woodland fires cause emergency in Greece
A state of emergency was declared in the greater Athens area and in a southern prefecture as wind-whipped brushfires killed at least one person and threatened the ancient site of Olympics.
Tribals must be made protectors of forests, says panel
Parliamentarians forming the Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Environment and Forests have suggested that one of the best ways of halting depletion of valuable forest cover in the country was to make tribals protectors of forests.Participating in the first meeting of the committee since the BJP and allies came …
State woefully lagging in afforestation
A dwindling forest cover and rapid industrialisation leading to severe ecological imbalances--this is what the state may soon come to be associated with, if afforestation is not taken up urgently. While it has been stipulated that it least 33 per cent of any land area should be under forest cover …
GM focuses on 'ecological' marketing
Environment 'preservation and control' appears as an innovative marketing strategy for multinational corporations operating in India. After the much stressed upon environment-friendly refrigerators, and washing machines, India, termed as a nation with a 'potentially feasible market' , is now ready to get "environment-friendly cars". Opel Astra is the only car …
Workshop on forest workers
The National Centre for Labour (NCL) is organising a three-day workshop on forest workers at Ranhci (Bihar) from September 19. This was announced by the secretary of the NCL, Mr Ashok Chaudhury, on Thursday. According to him, more than 100 experts and representatives from different organisations will attend the workshop …
Paper units felled by revised forest policy
The present crisis in the domestic pulp and paper industries has been attributed, at least in part, by them to infirmities in the revised National Forest Policy of 1988, which, in the words of the Indian Paper Makers Association(IPMA), "completely absolves the Government and State forest departments of the responsibility …
More funds to modernise forest infrastructure
In an effort to modernise and improve infrastructure facilites for the field staff, the Tamil Nadu State Forest department is providing more funds from this year. The amount is allocated for eradicating ganja cultivation in three divisions and for constructing buildings for checkposts in forests.
Emergency in Athens, forest fires continue
Authorities declared a state of emergency in areas near Athens on Tuesday as more than 1,000 fire-fighters and soldiers battled a huge forest fire raging for the second day.Evidence suggested the blazes could be the work of arsonists, officials said.
Mystery over drying up of "sheesham" trees
Nearly 1200 sheesham or tali trees, as commonly known, have dried up over the past two years in Dehra sub-division of Kangra diwstrict. Highly placed sources in the Forest Department revealed that this year itself over 900 trees had dried up. Though the problem has been persisting during these years, …
Karen villagers oppose logging plan
Karen villagers at Ban Watchand in Chiang Mai's Mae Chaem district of Thailand have opposed a Forestry Industry Organisation plan to log the pine forest, saying it would lead to ecological degradation in the highlands. Their representatives submitted a letter of protest to Agriculture Minister Pongpol Adireksarn yesterday. The plan …
Roadside pollution levels rated high for most of August
High air pollution levels were recorded at roadside monitoring stations for more than half of last month, with Causeway Bay the most polluted area in Hong Kong. But levels for August remained below the critical level of 100, when government warnings must be issued, an Environmental Protection Department spokesman said.
Gujarat bans visit of 'anti-dam' body
The controversy over the visit of the World Commission on Dams took an ugly turn on Thursday with the commission expressing its desire to go to the Sardar Sarovar dam on the Narmada river and the Gujarat Governemnt virtualy imposing a ban on the entry of any of its members …
Forest fire hits Greek village
A huge forest fire engulfed a village near Athens, destroying at least 20 homes, and threatened several other holiday communities. Greece has been plagued by scores of forest fires this summer including several in the capital.
Probe into destruction of forest
The provincial governor has suspended the issuance of land rights documents here pending investigation into the destruction by fire of vast areas of a peat swamp forest. Yongyut Vichaidit said yesterday he had ordered the issuance of land owenership papers halted after bushfires caused great damage to Phru Khuan Khreng …
