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14/03/06
Regional Workshop on Independent Forest Monitoring in Central America
The first Regional Workshop on Forest Independent Monitoring took place in Honduras, from February 26th to March 3rd. It had the participation of the Forest Directors from Nicaragua and the host country, the forest deputy directors from Guatemala and El Salvador, Mr. Marcos González, the Environment and Development Central American Comission's Executive Secretary, staff members of the forest institutions of Panama and Costa Rica, as well as respresentatives of NGOs and rural and indigenous communities of the region countries.
The event was conducted by ACICAFOC and Global Witness, together with the Honduran Human Rights National Comission (CONADEH) and both the UK International Development Department (DFID) and the FORD Foundation cofinancing.
9/3/06
Stronger Code for Sustainable Homes as Government implements new building standards to tackle climate change
The Government announced it will strengthen the Code for Sustainable Homes alongside the introduction of new tougher building regulations, in order to address climate change. Ministers have approved new building regulations which set mandatory standards that every new home must meet. The regulations, which will be laid in Parliament next week and come into effect on 6 April, raise the energy efficiency of new buildings by 40 per cent compared to 2002. They will also improve compliance by introducing air pressure testing for new buildings.
4/3/06
New forest management bill signed into law in Brazil
Brazil has approved a law granting licences for wood logging in publicly owned sections of the Amazon rainforest, a move aimed at halting its destruction and gaining oversight of the process. Under the new law - signed by President Luiz Lula da Silva - timber companies will be given up to 40-year licences, under the condition that all logging be sustainable. Independent inspections of licensed sites are to be carried out every five years. Environmental groups and experts have hailed the new law as a milestone in the fight to preserve the Amazon, about 17 percent of which has been destroyed to date, studies say. About 75 per cent of the rain forest is publicly owned, and the government plans to offer commercial access to 3 per cent of the rainforest in its possession over the next 10 years.
3/3/06
Indonesian Government determined to end illegal logging in 2006
The Indonesian Government is determined to end illegal logging by the end of 2006. The National Police and the Forestry Ministry are linking up with the customs and excise directorate and a financial watchdog as part of a new strategy to eradicate illegal logging in the country. National Police chief Gen. Sutanto said increased cooperation between government agencies would help create new ways to track and apprehend the masterminds of illegal logging ventures.
2/3/06
UPM, WWF and DNV won Forest Leadership Awards 2006
UPM, a leading European forest product company headquartered in Finland, the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) and DNV, a Norwegian-based foundation, won the Forest Leadership 2006 Partnership Award for a joint project on forest certification. The Award recognizes "commendable teamwork between different orgnizations such as conservation organizations and corporations to further sustainable forestry".
22/2/06
Sami Reindeer-forests’ dispute settled in Finland
According to WWF the disputes over the old-growth forests in the Sami region between WWF and state enterprise Metsähallitus have been settled. An agreement has been achieved following a revision of Metsähallitus’ conservation plan. The plan has been expanded to exclude a further state-owned 55000 hectares from all forest management operations in the region.
14/2/06
‘A Common Vision for Transforming the European Paper Industry’
A number of NGOs signed a common statement with the above title, coninciding with the ‘Paper World’ industry event in Germany. The NGOs, including FERN, Forest Ethics, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, WWF, call for using less paper and more recycled fiber, for ensuring social and environmental sustainability at the source of the raw material, and for an entirely sustainable industry (‘zero waste, zero emissions’).
13/2/06
CPET Review of Category A & B criteria and guidance
The Central Point on expertise on timber opened the comment period on Category A and Category B criteria and guidance. The comment period will run until March 18, 2006. All comments received will be reviewed by CPET and published on this website (un-attributed). A summary of comments and the CPET response will be discussed with the CPET Reference Board, and each person submitting comments will also receive a summary of the CPET response to their comments.
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