Timber News
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India´s First Forest Stewardship Council Certification for Natural Forests Awarded to Maharashtra Forest Department´s Bhamragarh Forest Division by SCS Global Services
The Bhamragarh Forest Division of India's Maharashtra Forest Department has become the country's first natural forest management program to earn Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification for responsible forestry. Third-party certifier SCS Global Services (SCS) conducted the audit of the 378,000-hectare area and issued the certification. In addition to being the first natural forest in ...
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‘Himalayan viagra’ harvesters threaten forest resources
Declining harvests of caterpillar fungus, also known as yarsagumba in the Himalayas, could lead to a relapse in efforts to conserve forests and biodiversity in the mountain region, according to two recent studies. A paper in Ecosystem Services this month (05 February) suggests that shrinking yarsagumba supplies could lead to local villagers returning to the gathering of endangered medicinal ...
By SciDev.Net
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Updated guide helps businesses source sustainable wood and paper products
Forests are vitally important for the global environment, economy, and population. The forest sector employs 13.7 million workers and contributes to about 1 percent of the global GDP. Plus, an estimated 500 million people around the world directly depend on forests for their livelihoods. But forests are also under threat. From 2000-2010, about 15 million hectares of the world’s forests ...
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Guide for Business Drives Better Decisions on Forest Products
The World Resources Institute (WRI) and World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) today released the third edition of Sustainable Procurement of Wood and Paper-based Products to help businesses buy products from sustainably managed forests and improve forest management. The full guide resource kit is available online here or at www.SustainableForestProducts.org. With the third ...
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Mapping tool to support sustainable palm-oil farming
Two online mapping applications, designed to support sustainable production in Indonesia by helping to identify degraded lands that could be used to produce palm oil, were launched by the US-based World Resources Institute (WRI) last month (30 October). The Forest Cover Analyzer and Suitability Mapper aim to support government efforts to reduce deforestation in Indonesia. Through the ...
By SciDev.Net
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`REDD+ actions can have varying impacts`
Impacts of actions under Reduction of Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) – a UN mechanism to stem deforestation and degradation – on biodiversity and carbon vary across forest types and landscape conditions, a new global assessment shows. Key findings of the preliminary assessment of links between biodiversity, carbon, forests and people, prepared by the International Union of ...
By SciDev.Net
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BIO Pacific Rim Summit to Showcase Role of Biomass in Building Biobased Economy
The Biotechnology Industry Organization’s (BIO) 2012 Pacific Rim Summit on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy will feature breakout sessions focused on using biomass to replace fossil fuels in creating bioenergy, biofuels and other bioproducts. The Summit takes place October 9-12 at the Westin Bayshore in Vancouver, Canada. Online registration is available. “Biomass has great ...
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Let`s add climate knowledge to agroforestry plans
We need to know more about how smallholder agroforestry can help farmers adapt to climate change, write James Roshetko and Rodel Lasco. Much is known about agroforestry — the mixing of tree species with crops and livestock to enrich farmers' livelihoods. But less is known about how it can help farmers adapt to climate change. This gap in our knowledge is increasingly worrisome. With ...
By SciDev.Net
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An inside look at Latin America’s Illegal Logging – Part Two
This post was co-authored with Eduardo Arenas Hernández Jr. and Ana Domínguez, who work for Reforestamos Mexico. This is the second post in a two-part series on illegal logging in Latin America, with key insights coming from the Forest Legality Alliance’s recent event, “Legal Forest Products and International Trade: A Regional Perspective.” The first installment ...
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An inside look at Latin America’s Illegal Logging – Part One
This post was co-authored with Eduardo Arenas Hernández Jr. and Ana Domínguez, who work for Reforestamos Mexico. This is the first post in a two-part series on illegal logging in Latin America, with key insights coming from the Forest Legality Alliance’s recent event, “Legal Forest Products and International Trade: A Regional Perspective.” The first installment ...
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Book Byte: We Can Reforest the Earth
Protecting the 10 billion acres of remaining forests on earth and replanting many of those already lost are both essential for restoring the earth’s health. Since 2000, the earth’s forest cover has shrunk by 13 million acres each year, with annual losses of 32 million acres far exceeding the regrowth of 19 million acres. Restoring the earth’s tree and grass cover protects ...
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New Online Tool Supports Fight Against Illegal Logging
The World Resources Institute (WRI) today announced the launch of the Forest Legality Risk Information Tool, an open-access global information website designed to assist purchasers of forest products in securing fiber from legal sources. The risk tool, a project of the Forest Legality Alliance, was partly funded by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative®(SFI®) through its Conservation and ...
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North Korea lifts the veil on its agroforestry practices
A new study offers a rare glimpse into North Korea's agriculture and forestry policies, and may open up new international connections with the country, say researchers. The report describes how locally appropriate, participatory agroforestry is helping reverse food shortages and land degradation. According to Meine van Noordwijk, co-author of the study and chief science advisor at the ...
By SciDev.Net
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Equatorial Guinea Participates in Global Environment Facility Project for Sustainable Forestry
Equatorial Guinea is now part of a Global Environment Facility (GEF) project titled 'A Regional Focus on Sustainable Timber Management in the Congo Basin', an initiative backed by international development organizations, national NGOs, and government officials. One of three pilot countries, Equatorial Guinea will begin a series of regional activities in which all GEF participants will collaborate ...
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Project launched to support conservation and improved forest management in the Congo Basin
Global Environment Facility begins pilots in Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea and the Republic of Congo The Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC), United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), World Resources Institute (WRI), and Rainforest Alliance joined with officials from government, national NGOs, the private sector, and international development organizations throughout the ...
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Slash-and-burn `improves tropical forest biodiversity`
Slash-and-burn agricultural practices, banned by governments because of the risk of uncontrolled fires, provide better growing conditions for valuable new trees than more modern methods of forest clearance, a study suggests. Starting in 1996, researchers cleared 24 half-hectare areas of tropical forest in Quintana Roo state, in southern Mexico, using three methods: clear-felling, where most of ...
By SciDev.Net
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Carbon canopy initiative aims to sustain Appalachian forests for climate and certified timber
While much has been written from a theoretical perspective about markets for ecosystem services, few on-the-ground projects currently exist. Yet the projects that do exist provide one of the best windows onto what actually works in practice. That’s why WRI has issued a new brief, Insights from the Field: Forests for Climate and Timber to discuss an innovative initiative called the Carbon ...
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ASTM D5456 - 11a Standard Specification for Evaluation of Structural Composite Lumber Products
This specification recognizes the complexity of structural glued products. This specification, or parts thereof, shall be applicable to structural composite lumber portions of manufactured structural components. Tests shall be performed to determine the properties of the material in accordance to the ...
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Top ten counties losing forests to development in the U.S. South
Today, WRI releases a new map that identifies the hotspots where urban and suburban development are putting forests at risk in the southern United States. Areas experiencing the most forest loss to development between 2001 and 2006 (the most recent years for which data are available) were counties near Houston, Atlanta, Raleigh, and Charlotte. Counties around San Antonio, Jacksonville, and ...
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ASTM E2579 - 11 Standard practice for specimen preparation and mounting of wood products to assess surface burning characteristics
Significance and Use Solid board, lumber and timber products (including solid boards, lumber, timber, fingerjoined lumber, glulam, laminate wood, laminated veneer lumber and parallel strand lumber products); panel products (including fibreboard, hardboard, oriented strandboard, waferboard and plywood panel products); decorative wood products and shingles and shakes used as interior wall and ...
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