Climate ‘adds fuel to Asian wildfire emissions’

In the last decade, Asian farmers have cleared tens of thousands of square miles of forests to accommodate the world’s growing demand for palm oil, an increasingly popular food ingredient, reports Science Daily.
Ancient peatlands have been drained and lush tropical forests have been cut down.
As a result, the landscape of equatorial Asia now lies [...]

Wild fruit trees face extinction

Scientists have warned that the wild ancestors of common domestic fruit trees are in danger of becoming extinct, reports the BBC’s Victoria Gill.
Researchers have published a “red list” of threatened species that grow in the forests of Central Asia.
These disease-resistant and climate-tolerant fruit trees could play a role in our future food security.
But in the [...]

Study links forest fires to climate shift

A warming climate will fuel larger, more frequent wildfires in the Sierra Nevada and other parts of the West, and the fires will contribute to climate change, according to a new study reported in Insurance Journal.
More than 20 international scientists, in the report published in the journal Science, said fire is not only a consequence [...]

Key role of forests ‘may be lost’

Forests’ role as massive carbon sinks is “at risk of being lost entirely”, the BBC’s Mark Kinver has reported top forestry scientists as warning.
The International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) says forests are under increasing degrees of stress as a result of climate change.
Forests could release vast amounts of carbon if temperatures rise 2.5C [...]

Taiwanese urged to plant trees for environmental protection

The Taiwanese public have been urged to participate in a tree-planting activity organised by Cingjing Veterans Farm in central Taiwan’s Nantou County, reports Taiwan News.
The annual event, called LOHAS Tree Planting Fun, was launched three years ago by the farm in conjunction with 7-Eleven of Uni-President Corp and the Good Neighbor Foundation, with the aim [...]

UK firm barcodes trees to save the world’s forests

Barcoding every tree in an African rainforest sounds as plausible as counting grains of sand on a beach, but this is exactly what one British company has set out to do, reports Kate Walsh for the Times.
Helveta, a technology firm based in Oxford, is developing a system for tracking timber that will help prevent illegal [...]

Welsh woodlands to fight climate change

Climate change experts from across Europe will be seeing how the Welsh woodlands are already helping to alleviate the effects of climate change, says a press release from the UK Forestry Commission.
Researchers in Wales are putting in place exciting new ways in which the forests can help prevent flooding as well as locking away millions [...]

UN: World’s forests facing tough tests

World forests face the dual challenge of climate change and the global economic crisis, a key UN report says.
On the BBC News website, environment reporter Mark Kinver said it suggested that although the economic slowdown might reduce deforestation rates in the short term, it was also likely to lead to other problems.
One concern, would be [...]

Dangerous climate change ‘to kill Amazon rainforest’

Global warming will wreck attempts to save the Amazon rainforest, reports the UK’s Guardian newspaper.
It says a study presented at a major climate science conference in Denmark has predicted that one-third of its trees will be killed by even modest temperature rises.
The research, by some of Britain’s leading experts on climate change, shows that even [...]

Brazil sees fall in deforestation rate

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon fell to 291 square miles (754 square kilometres) between November 2008 and January 2009, reports Mongabay.com.
This was a drop of 70% when compared to the same period 12 months earlier, said Brazil’s Environment Minister Carlos Minc.
A decrease in forest clearing had been expected.
Economic turmoil, which has reduced the availability of [...]