Wildlife flee Kenyan forest fires

Hundreds of thousands of flamingos and other wildlife are at risk after five forest fires erupted in Kenya on Saturday, say wildlife officials.
The BBC News website reports that police say they suspect some of the still-raging blazes were started by communities to make space for farmland.
The fires have had an adverse effect on [...]

DR Congo cancels timber contracts

The Democratic Republic of Congo government has cancelled nearly 60% of timber contracts in the world’s second-largest tropical rainforest, the BBC News website reports.
It follows a six-month review of 156 logging deals aimed at stamping out corruption in the sector and enforcing legal and environmental standards.
At the end of the World Bank-backed process, government ministers [...]

Challenge to plant methane link

The recent finding that plants could be a major source of the atmosphere’s methane is challenged by new research, reports BBC News environment correspondent Richard Black.

A 2006 study suggested plants could account for almost half of the global production of the greenhouse gas.
But a UK-based team now reports that under normal conditions, plants just convey [...]

Escaped beaver felling trees in SW England

A beaver that has been felling trees in south-west England after escaping from a farm is being hunted by conservationists, the BBC News website reports.

The beaver is one of three that broke out of the farm in Lifton, Devon, in October, owner Derek Gow said.  The other two have since been re-captured.
The last six-stone (38kg) [...]

Prince calls for rainforest bills

Prince Charles has called for rich countries to pay an annual “utility bill” for the benefits given to the world by its rainforests, the BBC News website reports.
Speaking in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, the prince called rainforests the “world’s greatest public utility”.
They act as an air conditioner, store fresh water and provide work, he said.
The [...]

Time to invest in nature’s capital

Amid the global financial crisis, it is time to recognise the wealth we enjoy from nature’s capital, says Andrew Mitchell, director of the Global Canopy Programme.
Writing on the BBC News website, he argued that there would be no government bailout if we fail to protect the vital services provided by the world’s forests.
The world’s largest [...]

UK city stages ‘tree-athlon’

Hundreds of trees have been planted in Greater Manchester as part of the city’s first “tree-athlon” event, reports the BBC News website.

About 500 people took part in a 5km (three-mile) run in Heaton Park, before each was given a sapling as a prize.
Competitors could either plant the tree at home or in specially-created woodland in [...]