Forest Management Articles

In October, the Certification Commission of the US Composting Council launched the first professional certification in the U.S. for compost operations managers. The Certification Commission of the US Composting Council (USCC) officially launched the first professional certification in the nation for compost operations managers on October 26, 2016. “There already is a lot ...

Dec. 13, 2016

By BioCycle Magazine

Location: Forest View Customer: The Village of Forest View Problem: Originally Forest View had a combined sewer and stormwater system. As the area became popular development occurred which lead to more hard surface areas, which lead to higher runoff during rainy periods. This became such a problem that, in the 1960’s the sewer and ...

Sep. 9, 2016

By Wapro AB

Somsak Sriphumthong is on a caffeine-fueled mission. After years living and working abroad, the organic farmer and community leader returned to his native Thailand several years ago — during a time when the forests were being cleared for opium fields and rice plantations. Seeking a sustainable alternative, he started growing and selling organic coffee beans on reclaimed land. Why coffee? ...

Aug. 4, 2016

By Ensia

There has been significant discussion about the merits of stacking conservation payments over the past few years. A simple explanation for credit stacking is when landowners are paid for conservation practices on their property that provide multiple benefits to the environment. Examples of credits types that might be stacked include: endangered species, water quality, wetlands, and carbon. ...

Jul. 27, 2016

By The Climate Trust

This summer, The Climate Trust, a mission-driven nonprofit that specializes in financing climate solutions, has been hosting two high-level interns for projects integral to advancing our burgeoning carbon investment fund. Our Packard Environment Fellow, Jeremy Menkhaus, will provide insight on the development of a carbon-neutral investment product, and our ...

Jul. 5, 2016

By The Climate Trust

Glyphosate, aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA), imazapyr, sulfometuron methyl (SMM), and metsulfuron methyl (MSM) were measured in streamwater collected during and after a routine application of herbicides to a forestry site in Oregon's Coast Range. Samples were collected at three stations: HIGH at the fish/no‐fish interface in the middle of the harvest/spray unit; MID at the bottom of the ...

Apr. 11, 2016

By John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A new look at the complex picture of land use change suggests that when it comes to forests, we’re far from being out of the woods. It started, as many things do, with a rumor. In 2013 Matt Finer, a researcher with the Amazon Conservation Association, heard from locals that someone was cutting down rainforest deep in the Peruvian Amazon, far from prying eyes. So ...

Jan. 21, 2016

By Ensia

This month we wanted to introduce you to Bryan, our new Partech Purchasing and Planning Controller. Hi Bryan, you’re new to the Partech team; tell us a little about yourself? Well, I’m a keen and hardworking person who’ll always go the extra mile—I like to grab life and live it to the full so I do lots of activities in my spare time ...

Jan. 18, 2016

By Partech (Electronics) Ltd.

Giving logged areas a chance to recover and limiting the expansion of roads are vital to ensuring the health of these important ecosystems. When you look to the year ahead, what do you see? Ensia recently invited eight global thought leaders to share their vision for the environment as it relates to business, culture, ecosystems, energy, food, health, water and the world ( ...

Jan. 14, 2016

By Ensia

This paper presents a case study of the Rajang Delta in Sarawak, Malaysia where peatland subsidence will cause flooding, rendering more than half of the Rajang Delta unsuitable for any agriculture cultivation due to severe floods in 50 years. The land area which will be inundated is 3 times the size of Singapore!! What a great loss! Case study summary: The case study reveals that ...

Jan. 7, 2016

By Wetlands International

Yes — if we make sure economic growth, social justice and agriculture are part of the picture. From 2005 to 2014, the rate of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest went from 19,014 square kilometers (7,342 square miles) to 5,012 square kilometers (1,935 square miles): a reduction of about 70 percent. Impressive, to be sure, but the rate still remains high. Additionally, ...

Dec. 23, 2015

By Ensia

The EUNIS habitat classification provides the context for a number of policy-related ecosystem and habitat assessments, and is a European reference to which other national or regional classifications can be cross‑referenced when sharing geospatial data. Since 1995, it has been developed and managed by the European Topic Centre on Biological Diversity (ETC/BD), formerly known as the European ...

Nov. 25, 2015

By European Environment Agency (EEA)

A European overview to support natural water-retention measures One third of European territory is covered by forests (210 million ha). Approximately 296 million European inhabitants live in — or close to — forests. European forests are also closely connected to much of the hydrological network, and serve large groundwater bodies and many river sources. Forests provide more ...

Sep. 24, 2015

By European Environment Agency (EEA)

The combination of legal and illegal logging in southwest Ghana’s tropical forests is having a devastating impact on bird populations in the region, according to new research published recently in the journal Biological Conservation. Between 1995 and 2010, logging in the Upper Guinea rain forest ...

Sep. 10, 2015

By Ensia

A new Yale-led study estimates that there are more than 3 trillion trees on Earth, about seven and a half times more than some previous estimates. But the total number of trees has plummeted by roughly 46% since the start of human civilization, the study estimates. Using a combination of satellite imagery, forest inventories, and supercomputer technologies, the international team of researchers ...

Sep. 2, 2015

By GLOBE SERIES

Soil water recharge (R) below 1 m depth was estimated via a 1-d water balance for grasslands, hardwood stands and red pine plantations on the Oak Ridges Moraine (ORM) in southern Ontario, Canada. Annual R values (431–696 mm) were in the order of previous estimates for outcropping sands and gravels on the ORM (∼400 mm); however, they only partially supported hypothesized ...

Aug. 22, 2015

By IWA Publishing

On June 17, 2015, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced the release of a report to congress that builds on the Why Biobased? report released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 2014. The new report, ...

Jun. 25, 2015

By Bergeson & Campbell, P.C.

On June 15, 2015, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued final amendments to the regulations concerning the Voluntary Labeling Program for Biobased Products. The rule is intended to incorporate statutory amendments to Section 9002 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act signed into law on February 2, 2014. Among other ...

Jun. 19, 2015

By Bergeson & Campbell, P.C.

The East African country of Malawi epitomizes the global problem of deforestation. Now, there are signs it could epitomize the solution, too, as government, community members and grassroots organizations tackle the problem together. Some 95 percent of rural Malawian households depend on wood for necessities such as cooking, clean water and sanitation. Many Malawians also depend on the ...

May 26, 2015

By Ensia

And now for some good news: It looks like some market-driven agreements around beef production in Brazil may be slowing deforestation in the country’s rainforests. That’s the finding reported by Holly Gibbs, an assistant professor of geography and environmental studies at University of Wisconsin–Madison, and a team of researchers in ...

May 15, 2015

By Ensia