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Biodiversity loss accelerates with 1 million species at risk of extinction, UN report finds

PBS - May 6, 2019

People are putting nature in more trouble now than at any other time in human history, with extinction looming over 1 million species of plants and animals, scientists said Monday.

But it’s not too late to fix the problem, according to the United Nations’ first comprehensive report on biodiversity.

“We have reconfigured dramatically life on the planet,” report co-chairman Eduardo Brondizio of Indiana University said at a press conference.

Species loss is accelerating to a rate tens or hundreds of times faster than in the past, the report said. More than half a million species on land “have insufficient habitat for long-term survival” and are likely to go extinct, many within decades, unless their habitats are restored. The oceans are not any better off…

Plan has new rules on killing wolves that prey on livestock

Associated Press Monday, April 15th 2019

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — With Oregon's wolf population growing, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife on Monday issued a draft conservation and management plan that established a new timetable involving when wolves can be killed for preying on livestock.

The old plan allowed for hunts after two confirmed wolf depredations of livestock in an area. The new plan would allow hunts only after two confirmed depredations within a nine-month period, said Derek Broman, state carnivore biologist.

The new plan also includes a hefty section on how to attempt to resolve conflicts involving livestock without killing wolves, which environmental groups prefer, Broman said.

The goal of the 160-page proposal remains the same as previous plans issued in 2005 and 2010: "To ensure the conservation of gray wolves as required by...

Wolves ‘Established’ in Netherlands for First Time in 140 Years

Olivia Rosane Apr. 10, 2019

For the first time in 140 years, wolves have an official home in the Netherlands.

Ecologists told BBC Radio 4 that a female wolf they had been tracking had stayed in the country for six months and could therefore be called "established," BBC News reported Tuesday.

 

The ecologists had been tracking two females in the Hoge Veluwe nature reserve, which has now been designated as a wolf habitat, Dutch News reported. There is also evidence that a male wolf has been moving in and out of the area, and scientists told BBC that the wolves could form a pack within...

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Biodiversity loss accelerates with 1 million species at risk of extinction, UN report finds

PBS - May 6, 2019

People are putting nature in more trouble now than at any other time in human history, with extinction looming over 1 million species of plants and animals, scientists said Monday.

But it’s not too late to fix the problem, according to the United Nations’ first comprehensive report on biodiversity.

“We have reconfigured dramatically life on the planet,” report co-chairman Eduardo Brondizio of Indiana University said at a press conference.

Species loss is accelerating to a rate tens or hundreds of times faster than in the past, the report said. More than half a million species on land “have insufficient habitat for long-term survival” and are likely to go extinct, many within decades, unless their habitats are restored. The oceans are not any better off…

Plan has new rules on killing wolves that prey on livestock

Associated Press Monday, April 15th 2019

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — With Oregon's wolf population growing, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife on Monday issued a draft conservation and management plan that established a new timetable involving when wolves can be killed for preying on livestock.

The old plan allowed for hunts after two confirmed wolf depredations of livestock in an area. The new plan would allow hunts only after two confirmed depredations within a nine-month period, said Derek Broman, state carnivore biologist.

The new plan also includes a hefty section on how to attempt to resolve conflicts involving livestock without killing wolves, which environmental groups prefer, Broman said.

The goal of the 160-page proposal remains the same as previous plans issued in 2005 and 2010: "To ensure the conservation of gray wolves as required by...

Wolves ‘Established’ in Netherlands for First Time in 140 Years

Olivia Rosane Apr. 10, 2019

For the first time in 140 years, wolves have an official home in the Netherlands.

Ecologists told BBC Radio 4 that a female wolf they had been tracking had stayed in the country for six months and could therefore be called "established," BBC News reported Tuesday.

 

The ecologists had been tracking two females in the Hoge Veluwe nature reserve, which has now been designated as a wolf habitat, Dutch News reported. There is also evidence that a male wolf has been moving in and out of the area, and scientists told BBC that the wolves could form a pack within...

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Stop the Oregon State Forest Extinction Plan!

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Defend the
Endangered Species Act

Welcome to Forest Web…

Forests precede civilizations and deserts follow them...This simple quotation lives at the heart of Forest Web. If we want to change this sad truth, we need to change the concepts of how we relate to the natural world on which all of us depend.
Root systems may occupy an area four to seven times the surface area
occupied by the crown of the tree. Not only do these roots provide
nutrients to the tree and prevent soil erosion, they also play host to a
variety of fungi, or Mycorrhizae, forming symbiotic relationships.
These fungi receive sustenance from the tree and, in turn, increase
the efficiency of the tree’s root system, creating a web throughout a
healthy forest.
 
Forest Web applies this lesson from Nature to our organization,
working with a variety of environmental groups and individuals,
co-hosting events and hikes, collaborating on lobbying efforts and
united campaigns, and sharing information and support to nurture
all our common goals.
 
And, to continue building this network, we operate an ever-growing email list, Facebook page and group, YouTube channel,Instragram account,Forest Web blog, and this website to activate, educate and inform. To receive updates, action alerts, and event notices, please contact us at forestweb.cg@gmail.com.
Forest Web

Fire Ecology of Spotted Owls -
Conversation with Dr. Monica Bond

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Environmental Groups Call for a National Forest Policy to Protect Mature, Old-Growth, Trees, Forests

Forest Web is proud to be a part of a coalition of more than 70 groups who launched a new campaign on February 15th called the Climate Forests Campaign and called on the Biden administration to take executive action to protect mature trees and forests on federal lands, which are critical in the fight against climate change.
Missing Link in Biden’s Climate Agenda: Letting Older Trees Grow
“It’s completely unacceptable that federal land managers lack strong policies to protect old trees and forests, given all we know about how critical they are to our climate and biodiversity,” said Randi Spivak, public lands program director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “We’re calling on President Biden to safeguard these beautiful, life-giving ecosystems to have a shot at a livable planet. It’s cheaper, smarter, and quicker than logging them. We just need to let them grow.”
Today’s campaign launch comes a year after Biden signed an executive
order setting a path to achieve net-zero emissions economy-wide by
2050 and work with partners internationally to put the world on a
sustainable climate pathway.
This month marks the 117th anniversary of the U.S. Forest Service. For
more than a century, the agency has focused much of its resources on
logging and timber sales. The Climate Forests Campaign is calling on
the Biden administration to kick off a new era of climate and forest
policy that values trees and forests as key pieces of the climate solution.
Forests, particularly older forests, store vast amounts of carbon and
continue absorbing carbon as they age. Logging trees in these areas
releases most of that carbon back into the atmosphere. Even under the
best-case scenario, newly planted forests would not reabsorb this carbon
for decades or centuries —timescales irrelevant to avoiding the worst
consequences of climate change.
Older trees and forests also are more fire resistant and help curb the effects of climate change by slowing soil erosion and moderating temperatures.
Carbon-absorbing older forests are also the best habitat for thousands of wildlife species, including spotted owls, red-cockaded woodpeckers, and pine martens.
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The last comprehensive federal policy to protect national forests, the Roadless Rule, was enacted in 2001 under President Bill Clinton. The rule was adopted to protect nearly 60 million acres of designated roadless areas from logging and roadbuilding, safeguarding significant stands of remaining old growth. Though these areas act as a critical carbon sink, most older trees on federal land lie outside of roadless areas.

“Older forests on federal lands work as a natural climate solution, drawing down massive amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere,” said Spivak. “The science is clear that we should be protecting existing old-growth trees and allowing mature trees and forests to grow. This would show the world that Biden takes his pledge to end global forest losses seriously.”
Other members of the coalition include the Center for Biological Diversity, Earthjustice, Environment America, Natural Resources Defense Council, Oregon Wild, Cascadia Wildlands, Standing Trees, Sierra Club, Southern Environmental Law Center and Wild Heritage.
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Oregon State walks away from Elliott Forest plan, but backers say forest in good hands

By April Ehrlich and Monica Samayoa

OPB Nov. 16, 2023

 
OSU President Jayathi Murthy announced she won’t recommend the university’s participation in the research forest. The governor and longtime stakeholders said they were disappointed, but the plan to study the forest is in good shape.
Oregon State University is stepping back from a years-long effort to turn the Elliott State Forest into the country’s largest research forest, but state leaders and longtime advocates say they aren’t concerned about the long-term designs to rehabilitate the forest.
The announcement marks another twist in a lengthy story involving the 82,000-acre Elliott State Forest. For more than four years, OSU has worked with the Oregon Department of State Lands on a proposal that would make the Elliott a “world-renowned” research forest to help better understand how climate change is impacting forests, contributing to sustainable forest products while also allowing public access and timber harvesting.
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Let forests grow old to store huge volume of carbon – study

Report says cutting emissions should still be key priority as it cautions against mass monoculture tree-planting
By Patrick Greenfield
The Guardian - November 13, 2023
 
Forest conservation and restoration could make a major contribution to tackling the climate crisis as long as greenhouse gas emissions are slashed, according to a study.
 
By allowing existing trees to grow old in healthy ecosystems and restoring degraded areas, scientists say 226 gigatonnes of carbon could be sequestered, equivalent to nearly 50 years of US emissions for 2022. But they caution that mass monoculture tree-planting and offsetting will not help forests realise their potential.
 
Humans have cleared about half of Earth’s forests and continue to destroy places such as the Amazon rainforest and the Congo basin that play crucial roles in regulating the planet’s atmosphere...
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Protect forests, don’t plant new trees to fight climate change, scientists warn

New mass plantations absorb CO2 but don’t benefit biodiversity, experts say.
By Louise Guillot
E&E News – November 13, 2023
 
Governments need to step up efforts to preserve the world’s existing forests, rather than planting new trees to absorb carbon, according to scientists.
 
In a new report out today in the journal Nature, more than 200 scientists argue that the world’s forests have the potential to store up to 338 gigatons of carbon but stress that they can only act as carbon sinks if they are adequately restored and protected.
 
The report, conducted by public research university ETH Zürich, aims to counterbalance a previous study by the same institution, which argued the world could absorb significant amounts of CO2 by planting 1 trillion new trees…
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Who Will Own the Forest?

On September 26-28, Wall Street investors will join timber corporations, carbon offset & biomass companies in Portland for their annual “Who Will Own the Forest?” conference. This “signature timberland investment conference” brings together some of the biggest climate polluters, corporate forest clear-cutters, and false climate solutions peddlers.
While communities around the world suffer record-breaking impacts of the climate crisis, these rich elites will convene to schmooze & network over cocktails & catering, discussing their plans to maximize profits: corporate land-grabbing, extractive clear-cutting, financializing nature, and pushing false climate solutions like carbon offsets & biomass to keep big polluters in business. In the face of the climate emergency, these big polluters and investors are sacrificing communities and the ecosystems we depend on to stay in business & keep their profits rolling in.
Capitalist investors grow profits, not forests. But communities know our forests can be vital solutions to the climate emergency, if we protect & restore them instead of exploiting them. We’re rising up and fighting back; we won’t let our forests, communities, and climate be sacrificed for the rich to get richer.

 

‘Who Will Own the Forest?’ Protest Rally

When: Wednesday, September 27th, starting at 12:00pm
Where: World Forestry Center, 4033 SW Canyon Rd, Portland, OR
On Wednesday, September 27th grassroots activists and leaders from the forest defense & climate justice movement will converge at the World Forestry Center, for a massive demonstration to confront these Wall Street capitalists and put them on notice that managing forests to maximize profits for the rich & stall climate action will be met with increasing resistance. There will be speakers, music, marching bands, theatrical performances, art & creative resistance, and more.  Come out to show these Wall Street elites that extractive forestry and false solutions will be risky investments in the face of staunch grassroots opposition!
 

Forests Over Profits Conference

When: Thursday September 28th  from 10:00am to 5:30pm
Where: 1st Unitarian Church, 1211 SW Main Street, Portland, OR
Communities and forests need real solutions to the climate emergency, industrial logging, and colonial land grabbing. On Thursday, September 28th come to the Forests Over Profits conference in Portland.  In contrast to the corporate ‘Who Will Own the Forest?’ conference, communities and activists will come together to elevate real solutions and the need for fundamental systems change in the face of capitalist exploitation and the climate & biodiversity crises.
From 10:00am-5:30pm we’ll learn from speakers & panelists about approaches to forest management that support ecosystems, empower communities, and grow climate resilience, including Land Back and other indigenous land management systems, community forestry & land trusts, and sustainable forest management. Through presentations and discussions, participants will be encouraged to support real alternatives to corporate, profit-driven management.
 
To Learn More
 
Register for the conference
 
Link to World Forest Center website
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