logging

An Environmental Victory In Cameroon | Earth Wise

September 23, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The Ebo Forest in Cameroon is one of the last intact forests in central Africa and is a biodiversity hotspot, home to hundreds of rare plants and animal species, including tool-using Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzees, western gorillas, forest elephants, red colobus monkeys, and giant goliath frogs. The 600 square miles of mountain slopes and river valleys are covered by thick tree canopies that shelter a fascinating array of species.

This past July, Cameroon Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute signed a decree that turned half of the Ebo Forest into a so-called forest management unit, meaning that the government could begin to sell logging concessions.

However, on August 11, Ngute, at the direction of President Paul Biya, withdrew the decree, suspending any logging plans. President Biya also ordered a delay to reclassify an additional 160,000 acres of the Ebo, which might have opened up even more forest for logging.

Apart from its rich biodiversity, the Ebo Forest is culturally and societally important for the Banen Indigenous people, who consider it to be their sacred ancestral home. The Banen were ousted from the forest in the 1960s but took up settlements just a few miles from its borders. They still rely on the forest for food and medicines. Meanwhile, the proximity of the forest to big cities makes it an easy target for bushmeat poachers.

Both conservation groups and indigenous leaders welcomed the withdrawal of the decree but remain concerned about the future of the Ebo Forest. Conservation groups hope that the international community will seize the opportunity to work with the government of Cameroon to make the Ebo Forest a permanent showcase for long-term conservation in harmony with very challenged communities.

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Cameroon Cancels Plan to Log Half of the Ebo Forest, a Key Biodiversity Hotspot in Central Africa

Photo, posted September 17, 2005, courtesy of Salva le Foreste via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Disappearing Rainforests | Earth Wise

July 2, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Forest loss is a major contributor to climate change, and it is continuing at a rapid pace. The tropics lost about 30 million acres of tree cover in 2019, a third of which was within humid tropical primary forests, which are especially important for biodiversity and carbon storage. To put that loss in a human-scale perspective, it is the equivalent of losing a football field of primary forest every six seconds for the entire year.

The losses last year were 2.8% higher than in the previous year, and these losses have continued over the past 20 years despite worldwide efforts to halt deforestation.

Brazil single-handedly accounted for over a third of all global loss of humid tropical primary forests. Bolivia experienced record-breaking tree cover loss due to fires. The losses in its forests were 80% greater than in any previous year. The fires were often started by people who were trying to clear land for agriculture but had the fires go out of control. Several countries in Africa’s Congo Basin also experienced sustained or worsening forest loss.

Indonesia, often the focus of the world’s attention for its deforestation activities, actually saw a 5% reduction in primary forest loss in 2019. It was the third year in a row for lower losses. The now-permanent moratorium on clearing forests for oil palm plantations and logging seems to be working.

Going forward, the coronavirus pandemic poses additional threats to the world’s forests in the near future. There may be a tendency to sacrifice forests in pursuit of economic recovery, which will only lead to future complications for the health and livelihoods of millions of people around the world.

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We Lost a Football Pitch of Primary Rainforest Every 6 Seconds in 2019

Photo, posted February 7, 2011, courtesy of Chad Skeers via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Forest Regrowth In The Amazon | Earth Wise

January 20, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The Amazon is the largest tropical rainforest in the world. It covers an area approximately equal in size to the lower 48 states, and is home to an estimated 10% of the world’s biodiversity and 15% of its freshwater. These so-called “lungs of the planet” provide many important global ecological services, including carbon storage, and regulating air quality and climate.

Deforestation in the Amazon exploded in the 1970s and remains one of its biggest threats today. Since the 1970s, more than 20% of the Amazon rainforest has been cleared. Cattle ranching, soy and palm plantations, logging, and climate change are some of the biggest drivers of deforestation.

Now, according to a new study recently published in the journal Ecology, the regrowth of Amazonian forests following deforestation may happen more slowly than previously thought. These findings could have significant impacts on climate change predictions as the ability of forest regrowth in the Amazon – so-called secondary forests – may have been overestimated. The research, which was conducted in Bragança, Brazil and includes two decades of forest monitoring, reveals that climate change and the wider loss of forests could be hampering regrowth.

After 60 years of regrowth, the research team found that secondary forests only held 40% of the carbon when compared with forests undisturbed by humans. Secondary forests also take less carbon from the atmosphere during periods of drought, and climate change is increasing the number of drought-years in the Amazon. (During their 20 years of monitoring, the researchers also found biodiversity levels in secondary forests were only 56% of those seen in undisturbed forests).

More long-term studies are needed to better understand the impacts of reforestation efforts.

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Amazon forest regrowth much slower than previously thought

Photo, posted September 6, 2009, courtesy of Nao Lizuka via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Mass Timber

June 10, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Mass timber is a type of construction typically characterized by the use of large solid wood panels for wall, floor, and roof construction. Large structural panels, posts, and beams glued under pressure or nailed together in layers, with the wood’s grain stacked perpendicular for extra strength – are prized as innovative building materials, superior to concrete and steel in many ways. Mass timber has pushed the perceived boundaries of wood construction, leading to building heights and spans that traditionally have required concrete, steel or masonry for structural support. The move to mass timber has become something of a construction revolution and many see it as a significant part of a climate change solution.

The question is just how green is mass timber construction? How sustainable is it in terms of the forest management, logging, manufacture and transportation of wood products involved?

A number of environmental groups are very skeptical. There is not yet comprehensive data on the subject. Only recently have interdisciplinary scientists begun to study the potential climate impacts of the wide use of mass timber.

Despite these questions, the mass timber industry is taking off. Demand for mass timber posts and beams has led to new sawmills opening in the U.S. Northwest and many new jobs for loggers.

The aesthetics and economics of mass timber are both very attractive compared with conventional large-scale construction materials. The real unknowns relate to the environmental impact of its widespread use. If that can take place in a sustainable and environmentally conscientious way, it would be very important in the fight against climate change. Carbon dioxide emissions from the building industry account for more than a third of global emissions, primarily from the concrete and steel industries.

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As Mass Timber Takes Off, How Green Is This New Building Material?

Photo, posted March 19, 2018, courtesy of Freres Lumber Co via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The Rosewood Trade

April 3, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Illegal trafficking in endangered flora and fauna is a topic of great interest and concern. We hear a lot about elephant ivory, rhino horn, and even pangolin scales. It turns out that the most trafficked form of flora or fauna in the world is actually rosewood. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, rosewood is traded more than ivory, rhino horn, and pangolin scales put together as measured either by volume or economic value. According to Earthsight, a London-based nonprofit that investigates environmental crime, rosewood might account for 40% of overall illegal species trade.

Almost all rosewood is headed to China, where the beautiful wood is used in traditional hongmu furniture. A single bed made from particularly desirable Madagascar rosewood can cost a million dollars.

The illegal rosewood trade has decimated many species of the trees around the world. A tiny village in Madagascar has seen its population grow by 5,000 in recent years because of migrants coming to work as rosewood loggers. The rosewood trade has been banned in Madagascar for decades, but a well-established system of bribes has effectively eliminated that problem. Corruption at all levels allows Madagascar rosewood to find its way onto ships and off to China.

In 2017, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora listed all of the world’s rosewood species under its Appendix II, prohibiting all trade except in the rare cases where a local CITES authority issues sustainability permits.

As is the case for other trafficked endangered species, until the demand for the products disappears, people will find a way to make them available. And meanwhile, these beautiful trees are rapidly disappearing.

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The Rosewood Trade: An Illicit Trail from Forest to Furniture

Photo, posted November 17, 2007, courtesy of Larry Jacobsen via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Deforestation In The Amazon Rainforest

December 19, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The Amazon rainforest is the biggest in the world. In fact, it’s larger than the next two rainforests combined. The Amazon rainforest covers more than three million square miles, roughly the size of the lower 48 states. It functions as a critical sink for carbon in the atmosphere, and is home to 10% of all known species in the world. The region’s biodiversity is so rich that scientists are still discovering new plant and animal species today.

Endangered Orangutans

March 20, 2018 By EarthWise 1 Comment

Orangutans are some of the planet’s most intelligent animals. In fact, orangutans and human beings share 97% of their DNA sequence. Orangutans can only be found in the wild in Southeast Asia on the Indonesian island of Sumatra and the island of Borneo, which is a landmass shared by Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei. And while all orangutans are endangered, the critically-endangered Bornean orangutans are under exceptional duress.

Tree-Planting Drones

March 16, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

One of the major causes of the increasing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere is deforestation. We chop down about 15 billion trees each year. Over time, our activities have reduced the number of trees on earth by about 50%. We do plant trees – these days, about 9 billion a year. It is a substantial number, but still leaves a net loss of 6 billion trees annually.

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A Big Problem For The Giant Panda

November 10, 2017 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The giant panda, a national icon of China, has been the focus of an intensive, high-profile conservation campaign since the 1970s. In an update to the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species last year, the giant panda had its designation changed from “endangered” to “vulnerable” following a nationwide census that revealed its population was improving. But it appears as though this conservation success may be short-lived.

NASA And Chimpanzees

March 9, 2017 By EarthWise

Increasingly, conservation organizations are increasingly relying on satellite imagery to help save wildlife. The Jane Goodall Institute, a nonprofit focused on chimpanzee conservation, uses NASA’s and the U.S. Geological Survey’s Landsat satellite images to guide their chimpanzee conservation strategies.

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Small Forests And Climate

October 26, 2016 By WAMC WEB

Trees are the number one way in which carbon can be removed from the atmosphere and stored in vegetation over the long term. A single tree can absorb CO2 at a rate of 48 pounds per year. Because of this, the carbon footprints of 18 average Americans can be neutralized by one acre of hardwood trees. And it has been found that managed forests accumulate more carbon per acre than unmanaged forests.

Prowling Cougars

August 31, 2016 By WAMC WEB

What large mammal routinely kills 200 humans in the Eastern United States every year? Here’s a hint: It’s not cougars. It’s actually overabundant white-tailed deer.

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Pakistan’s Green Tsunami

June 22, 2016 By WAMC WEB

Pakistan has a terrible history of environmental degradation. Since it became an independent country in 1947, almost all of its primary forests have been cut down while its population has grown by an unbelievable 600 percent.

Natural World Heritage Sites

May 5, 2016 By WAMC WEB

Natural world heritage sites exemplify the world’s greatest areas of natural beauty, ecology, geology, and biodiversity. They are recognized internationally for their value as places with significance that is “so exceptional as to transcend national boundaries and be of common importance for present and future generations of all humanity.” Many of these areas also are a vital source of food, fuel, and water for rural communities, and provide a revenue stream for national economies through tourism and recreation. The livelihoods of some 11 million people are directly dependent on these areas.