World-News

Your help is needed to protect bald eagles, wood storks and other birds in Louisiana, by ensuring the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not allow use of one of the world's most potent bird-killing pesticides. Rice growers from Louisiana are seeking an emergency exemption from the EPA to use the banned pesticide carbofuran on 200,000 acres in order to control rice water weevils that feed on rice plants. For the third time in five years, Louisiana is requesting a special exemption for carbofuran use.

Carbofuran has been responsible for more avian deaths than any other pesticide, killing an estimated 1 to 2 million birds annually in the United States. Application of carbofuran to crops has resulted in as many as 17 bird kills for every five acres treated. Use of carbofuran has been restricted for years. If the EPA allows its use in Louisiana, bald eagles, wood storks and other migratory birds will be at risk.

The widespread carbofuran use Louisiana is requesting will cause injury to wild birds and the environment, and will violate the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Bald and Gold Eagle Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The EPA revoked a similar carbofuran exemption request by Louisiana in 2002 and requested that Louisiana withdraw another application in 2005.

This exemption is not needed because there are a number of economical and effective chemical and non-chemical alternatives and environmentally feasible management practices available to Louisiana rice growers to control these pests. Rice farmers can reduce rice water weevil infestations by early planting, delayed flooding, and draining of fields, and numerous less toxic pesticides posing much less risk to birds are effective against rice weevils.

Please send the sample letter below to the EPA urging them to deny any request to allow the use of carbofuran.

Take Action under:
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/carbofuran

Oil Palm Threatens Indonesia's Rainforests and Orangutans

Action Alert

The alert can be found at:
http://www.rainforestportal.org/alerts/send.asp?id=indonesia

Chinese funded development a ploy to access rainforest timbers; will devastate Borneo's biodiversity, regional sustainability and largest remaining wild orangutan population.

By Rainforest Portal, a project of Ecological Internet - February 20, 2006

Rainforest picture Natural ancient rainforests are too valuable to be replaced by oil palm plantations (link)
http://www.rainforestportal.org/action/images/indonesia_dipforest_lg.jpg

Indonesia plans to cut a 2,000 kilometer long, five kilometer wide swathe through one of the world's largest remaining areas of pristine rainforest to create a massive oil palm plantation. The project would destroy two million hectares of ancient rainforest in West and East Kalimantan, traversing almost the entire border with Malaysia, and slicing through three national parks. These remote rainforests on the island of Borneo are home to countless species of rare birds, plants and mammals including the largest remaining wild orangutan population.

This Chinese-funded "agricultural development" is almost certainly a thinly veiled ruse to access timber. Several studies have found the region is too mountainous to support effective palm oil farming, and is economically unviable as it would cost the country billions of dollars a year. In the past many supposed oil palm developers have abandoned projects after completing rainforest clearance. Indonesia has huge land areas of abandoned, unproductive palm oil plantations and degraded forest areas that would be suitable for oil palm development.

The project would be environmentally devastating to Borneo, a hotspot for biodiversity. Palm oil plantations - which completely clear the rainforests and are biologically depauperate - are the number one enemy of orangutans and all wildlife in Borneo. Orangutans need vast areas of interconnected forest to survive, and this ill-conceived project would speed up their extinction. According to Friends of the Earth, the business as usual palm oil trade will cause the extinction of the orangutan within 12 years. Further, these rainforests encompass over half of Borneo's watersheds, and their clearing would damage clean water sources for much of Indonesian Borneo.

Indonesia is already losing two million hectares of rainforest every year. It is vital to Indonesia and the World's ecological sustainability that no more ancient primary rainforests are cleared for oil palm. Let the Indonesian President know he must cancel the Kalimantan project, and that new oil palm plantations should be built only in previously cleared and unused areas.

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ACTION ALERT
PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY!

Indonesia's Rainforests and Orangutans Still Gravely Threatened

By Rainforest Portal, a project of Ecological Internet, Inc. http://www.RainforestPortal.org/ April 6, 2006

TAKE ACTION Initial progress must be consolidated, and further rainforest protections established

http://www.rainforestportal.org/alerts/send.asp?id=indonesia

The Indonesian government recently announced it was abandoning plans to destroy 1.8 million hectares of rainforest by establishing oil palm plantations in prime orangutan habitat. While political maneuvering continues by those supporting the project, this strategic victory is encouraging and important. We believe the Indonesian government should be taken at its word, even as we work to consolidate this initial victory and to otherwise protest the state of Indonesia's rainforests which are in dire crisis. Ecological Internet asks that you send the Indonesian President a congratulatory email making further policy requests. It is important the project cancellation is formalized and permanently laid to rest, and the ancient rainforests that were threatened are given permanent protected status that is effectively enforced. Please also express support for the Indonesian government's recent preliminary announcement of its participation in the "Heart of Borneo" tri- country conservation initiative which aims to preserve one of the most important centers of biological diversity in the world, covering approximately 220,000 km2 of rainforests and numerous wildlife species including the critically endangered orangutan. To be maximally effective the rainforest movement must acknowledge progress, however tentative and inadequate, even as we intensify our efforts.

Take Action! http://www.rainforestportal.org/alerts/send.asp?id=indonesia

Discuss this alert: http://www.rainforestportal.org/issues/2006/04/indonesias_rainforests_and_ora.asp

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ALERT UPDATE

FOREST CONSERVATION NEWS TODAY European Oil Palm Market Causing Indonesian Rainforest Loss

Rainforest Portal a project of Ecological Internet, Inc. http://www.rainforestportal.org/ -- Rainforest Portal http://www.rainforestportal.org/news/ -- Rainforest Newsfeed

April 13, 2006 OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY by Dr. Glen Barry, Forests.org

Below is an important update on the global campaign to protect Indonesia's ancient rainforests from unfettered oil palm plantation development. It comes from WALHI (Friends of the Earth Indonesia), an important Indonesian NGO. Their new report importantly links the rapidly expanding European market for oil palm for biofuels (which Ecological Internet was amongst the first to publicize) and other products with wholesale Indonesian rainforest destruction from oil palm plantations. They are demanding - as is Ecological Internet in our recent alert at http://www.rainforestportal.org/alerts/send.asp?id=indonesia - that the Indonesian government officially cancel the proposed mega oil palm plantation along the Malaysian border that threatens the orangutan and other species with extinction. Earlier loose assurances that the project will not proceed must be followed by formal government statements, and the area given permanent protected status that is enforced. Please continue to take action on this important issue. g.b.

RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:

Title: European hunger for palm oil triggers expansion of plantations Source: Copyright 2006, Friends of the Earth Indonesia (WALHI) Date: April 12, 2006

MEDIA ADVISORY

Friends of the Earth Netherlands * Sawit Watch * Friends of the Earth Indonesia (WALHI) * Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland *

INDONESIA: EUROPEAN HUNGER FOR PALM OIL AND TIMBER TRIGGERS EXPANSION OF DESTRUCTIVE PALM OIL PLANTATIONS

JAKARTA (INDONESIA), LONDON (UK), AMSTERDAM (THE NETHERLANDS), 12 April 2006 -- A new report released today shows how the Indonesian government might develop up to 3 million hectares of oil palm plantations on the island of Borneo, threatening wildlife and local livelihoods to cater for international demand for cheap palm oil. [1]

One of the justifications given for this huge plantation project is the increasing international demand for palm oil to be used in food, feed and biofuels.

The report reveals how earlier plans to develop a 2 million hectare plantation on the Indonesian side of the border with Malaysia, are not yet off the table. Indonesia's initial proposals to develop the border area had met with international protest.

The Indonesian president Yudhoyono acknowledged there were conservation concerns to be taken into account. But the Indonesian Ministry of Public Works appears to have responded to this in January 2006 by simply enlarging the area defined as the "border zone". In this broader area, up to 3 million hectares of oil palm could be planted, according to the Ministry.

The project still threatens mayhem, damaging wildlife and the livelihoods of local people in the Kalimantan region. Friends of the Earth Indonesia (WALHI) and local palm oil organisation Sawit Watch ('Oilpalm Watch') are calling on the Indonesian government to officially cancel the border mega-plantation plan.

The new report reveals that the area deemed suitable for oil palm includes forests used by thousands of people who depend on them for their livelihoods. In new larger border zone, a special regulation (Presidential Decree No. 36/2005) would allow the government to take land away from communities that do not want oil palm plantations in the name of 'public interest'.

The report shows that those communities who are aware of the new proposals are strongly opposed to the plans.

Evidence shows that in the last decade, many areas have been deforested supposedly to make way for oil palm plantations but have then been abandoned after the timber has been sold. In East Kalimantan alone, 3 million hectares of forest disappeared for oil palm concessions. Of those, only 300.000 hectares have actually been planted with oil palm.

Sixty per cent of the forests converted into oil palm plantations in 2004-2005 were still good forests, despite the commitment made by the Indonesian government in 2000 that no more forests would be converted to palm and pulp plantations.

"Communities should not be forced to change their livelihoods simply for the benefit of oil palm companies and consumers overseas. They have not been consulted on these proposals and certainly have not agreed to abandon their land," said Rudy Lumuru of Sawit Watch, in the Netherlands to present the report.

'European importing countries should not increase their imports of palm oil until environmental and social issues are solved,' added Anne Van Schaik of Friends of the Earth Netherlands. 'This also means we should be very hesitant to embrace palm oil as a biomass-solution to the current energy crisis. To start with, companies and governments should ensure that palm oil used in food and feedstock is in line with the criteria laid out by the so-called Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil as soon as possible," said Van Schaik.

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

IN INDONESIA: Sawit Watch: Rudy Lumuru + 62 812 110 1016 Friends of the Earth Indonesia (WALHI) Rully Syumanda + 62 813 199 66998

IN EUROPE: Friends of the Earth Netherlands (Milieudefensie) + 31 20
5507333 Friends of the Earth in London: Alison Dilworth + 44 20
7566 4084 or + 44 7952 993283

NOTES TO EDITORS:

[1] The report "The Kalimantan Border Oil Palm Mega Project" can be downloaded as pdf from http://www.milieudefensie.nl/globalisering and from http://www.foenl.org

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Why are biofuels, palm oil, fueling deforestation?
http://freepage.twoday.net/stories/1885511/

Demand For Palm Oil Threatens to Wipe Out Orangutan
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0523-06.htm

*From:* GlenBarry@EcologicalInternet.org
*Sent:* Wednesday, March 22, 2006 1:50 PM
*Subject:* RAINFOREST ALERT: Massive Gas Pipeline to Pierce the Amazon

ACTION ALERT
PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY!

By Rainforest Portal, a project of Ecological Internet, Inc. http://www.RainforestPortal.org/
March 22, 2006

TAKE ACTION Project Will Devastate South America's Rainforests, Water & Climate http://www.rainforestportal.org/alerts/send.asp?id=amazon_pipeline

Venezuela, Brazil and Argentina plan to build a massive natural gas pipeline of up to 9,000 km in length from Venezuela to Argentina through Brazil's Amazon rainforest. Construction of the pipeline would be the most ambitious physical infrastructure initiative in South America's history, costing up to $25 billion and taking up to seven years to build. The pipeline would pierce the heart of the Amazon and ensure its destruction as a large, operable whole. Large areas of pristine rainforests will be destroyed during construction, and new roads will open the rest for colonization by ranchers and loggers. The multitude of waterways traversing the Amazon will be polluted during construction and inevitable pipeline leaks. The pipeline will contribute to global warming through deforestation and oil production to access the gas. The similar existing Camisea gas pipeline through rainforests in Peru - which was touted as a model of sustainable development, environmental protection and respect for indigenous peoples - offers a cautionary tale of the damage caused by gas pipelines during construction and their operation. In three years of operation is has already experienced five major spills, severely damaging the environment and local communities. The proposed pipeline is a major threat to the existence of the Amazon rainforest, as well as regional and global ecological sustainability. The leaders of Brazil, Venezuela and Argentina must be called upon to scrap plans for its construction. Take action now: http://www.rainforestportal.org/alerts/send.asp?id=amazon_pipeline


Informant: Teresa Binstock

It comes as a surprise to many people that the province of Newfoundland and Labrador is three times the size of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island put together. Although the Province is known world-wide for its once-proud marine fish stocks, many other globally significant natural features occur there. These include seabirds (up to 40,000,000 every year), rare and endemic plants, and the Province's spectacular geology and fossils. Yet, many of these globally significant features remain unprotected because the Provincial Government has not released the protected areas strategy called the "Natural Areas Plan".

The Natural Areas Plan, or NAP, has been "sleeping" for over 10 years. The candidate protected areas were originally designed by a Government committee in 1995-1996. When the committee submitted its final report in 1996, they recommended the immediate release of the plan for public and industry review. As of February 22, 2006 the plan and the candidate areas had not been released. Unfortunately, this means that Newfoundland and Labrador is the only Province in Canada that has not released (let alone implement) its protected areas strategy. More importantly, candidate area boundaries are being revised or even eliminated without public debate.

The current administration of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador was elected in 2003. One of their election platforms was the release of the Natural Areas Plan. They have been in office now for over two years, yet the plan remains hidden in the halls of Government.

Please help CPAWS-NL by letting Premier Danny Williams know that you support the release of the Natural Areas Plan.
http://www.actionworks.ca/clientfiles/cpaws/actioncentres/nl/takeaction.jsp

http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/panama_rainforest

Four proposed hydroelectric dam projects threaten free-flowing rivers, rare tropical species, indigenous cultures and a biologically diverse World Heritage Park in the remote rainforest of western Panama. Promoted by the Panamanian government and major Columbian and U.S. corporations, the dam projects would forever alter the free-flowing rivers of the Changuinola basin.

Rio Teribe begins in the heart of La Amistad Biosphere Reserve in western Panama and flows into Rio Changuinola, where three dams are proposed. Construction of the lowest Changuinola dam alone would biologically deplete over 500 miles of streams. A fourth proposed dam on Rio Bonyic, a major tributary of the Teribe, would permanently impact more than 100 miles of stream habitat. The dams, roads, bridges and power lines slated for construction as part of these projects would devastate unique native fish, impact the entire ecosystem of the Changuinola basin and open this remote jungle for development.

La Amistad Reserve contains Central America's largest intact tropical rainforest, is designated a World Heritage Site by the United Nations, and harbors incredible biodiversity including 115 species of fish. Most of the fish in the Teribe and Changuinola Rivers depend on access to the ocean to complete their life cycles. The dams would hinder migration and prevent successful reproduction for fish that migrate downstream to the estuary to spawn or rely on currents to carry eggs or larvae back to the sea. The dams would also flood portions of the territories of the indigenous Naso and Ngobe Tribes, destroying the centerpiece of their cultural and natural heritage.

The Panama National Environmental Authority (ANAM) recently approved flawed Environmental Impact Assessments for the four proposed dams. Please join the growing international movement to protect this ecological jewel of Central America and voice your opposition to the proposed Changuinola and Bonyic Hydroelectric Projects to ANAM.

Tell me more
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/panama_rainforest/explanation

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai says people worried about the environment should rely less on government and more on themselves to protect the planet's limited resources. "The planet does not belong to those in power ... It's the little things that we can do that are important," she said.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/031406EA.shtml

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Plant trees, lots of them, you can never plant enough!
http://freepage.twoday.net/stories/3515163/

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Wangari Maathai: Mutter der Bäume

ARTE | 06.07.08 | 18:15 Uhr | Wiederholung: 12.07.08 | 06:45 Uhr

"Wangari Maathai - Mutter der Bäume" ist das spannende Portrait einer Frau, die beweist, dass mann mit dem eigenen Verstand und gemeinsamer Tatkraft nicht nur Bäume versetzen, sndern die Welt verändern kann.

http://sonnenseite.kjm4.de/ref.php?id=d8741683895ms108



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Maathai
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