The International Forest List Weekly News Digest - July 06, 2024

[IFL Owner]

“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” - Confucius

A day of discovery in Swedish forestry and bioenergy practices
The International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) Congress dedicated an entire day to immersive excursions, which brought global participants into direct contact with Sweden’s forest management and bioenergy production systems. Held in in…
https://www.sei.org/features/a-day-of-discovery-in-swedish-forestry-and-bioenergy-practices/

Premier Course in Forest Carbon Credits: Now Available on Coursera
A recently launched Coursera course focuses on Forest Carbon Credits and Initiatives contributing to capacity building toward high-integrity natural climate solutions. The course, "Forest Carbon Credits and Initiatives," was originally launched in 2019 as…
https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/premier-course-in-forest-carbon-credits

Indian Youth Service Corp making a difference in Oregon
At sunrise in the beautiful lands of the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest in Ashland, Oregon, a group of tribal youth gather to begin a busy day of outdoor projects in their ancestral homelands. The Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest is working…
https://www.fs.usda.gov/about-agency/features/indian-youth-service-corp-making-difference-oregon

Preserving the Forest of the Congo Basin: A Game Changer for Africa and the World
As African leaders convene in Brazzaville to discuss the forest agenda, it is crucial to reflect on how the Congo Basin and its vital ecosystem can deliver a better future for Africans and the world. The Congo Basin, known as the “lungs of Africa”, is the…
https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/africacan/preserving-the-forest-of-the-congo-basin

Preserving our planet: the vital role of forests
Forests are vital for our planet, providing clean air, homes for wildlife and resources we rely on. As researchers and policymakers from all over the world meet in Stockholm to discuss the future of our forests, one thing is certain, we will have to collaborate across sectors…
https://www.norden.org/en/news/preserving-our-planet-vital-role-forests

Human degradation of tropical moist forests is greater than previously estimated
Tropical forest degradation from selective logging, fire and edge effects is a major driver of carbon and biodiversity loss, with annual rates comparable to those of deforestation. However, its actual extent and long-term impacts remain uncertain at…
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07629-0

Advancing forest sustainability and climate resilience through enhanced forest monitoring systems
This event will highlight Indonesia's forest policies through the launch of The State of Indonesia`s Forests 2024 report and present SIMONTANA, Indonesia's national forest monitoring system for sustainable forest management and climate resilience…
https://www.fao.org/forestry/committee-on-forestry/world-forest-week-side-events/indonesia-forest-monitoring-system/en

Protect This Place: The Andean Forests of Northeast Peru
The communal reserves of the Pampa del Burro and Copallin Private Conservation Areas, and the Jardines Ángel del Sol Conservation Concession, are nestled in the forested Andean foothills of northeastern Peru. Their geographic splendor encompasses…
https://therevelator.org/andean-forests/

Herbivory Is Higher in Tropical Forests
It is widely accepted that biological interactions are stronger or more important in generating and maintaining biodiversity in the tropics than in temperate regions. However, this hypothesis has not been fully tested in ecology and evolutionary biology…
https://www.technologynetworks.com/applied-sciences/news/herbivory-is-higher-in-tropical-forests-388301

How agroforestry can help mountain coffee producers build resilience
A new publication from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) sets out how coffee produced through agroforestry can improve resilience and ensure livelihoods in the face of climate change. Coffee is the second most-traded…
https://www.fao.org/forestry/newsroom/news-detail/how-agroforestry-can-help-mountain-coffee-producers-build-resilience/en

Near Real-Time Forest Monitoring: Lessons from Viet Nam
Within the UN-REDD Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is working with various stakeholders and institutions in the Lower Mekong Region (LMR) to enhance forest governance, sustainability and legality of forest trade…
https://www.fao.org/redd/news/detail/en/c/1697681/

Crayons Made From Recycled Japanese Trees And Wood Uncover Different Hues Found In Forests
Tokyo-based design studio Playfool has presented and restocked the retail version of its Forest Crayons, a set of naturally colored crayons made entirely from recycled and wasted Japanese trees and wood. First introduced in 2021, the studio has set forth to make the…
https://www.designboom.com/design/crayons-recycled-japanese-trees-wood-forest-playfool-07-02-2024/

The Amazon Rainforest Is Urban, Too
Forget for a moment the postcard rainforest with its ten-story trees, dripping lianas and braces of brilliantly painted macaws streaking over the canopy. The precarity of this extraordinary tropical biome’s flora and fauna is only part of the Amazon story…
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-07-01/belem-site-of-cop-30-will-be-a-test-for-amazon-rainforest-cities

Mass extinction is a choice. A new study shows how we can dramatically reverse it
Extinction is a natural byproduct of life and evolution, but an alarming number of species have entered the dustbin of history thanks to human activity — which is anything but natural. In a 2023 study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy…
https://www.salon.com/2024/06/30/mass-extinction-is-a-choice-a-new-study-shows-how-we-can-dramatically-reverse-it/

Groups work to remove invasive plants from California's wetlands
Carolyn Lieberman is the Coastal Program coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife office out of Carlsbad. Along with a volunteer crew from the Agua Hedionda Lagoon Foundation, she is working to eradicate the devastating Algerian sea lavender from taking over the…
https://spectrumnews1.com/ca/la-west/environment/2024/06/28/groups-work-to-remove-invasive-plants-from-california-s-wetlands

How can we save the ‘world’s most important’ river?
Giant acacia trees, greyed by death, stand submerged in the flooded forest around the Mekong River in northern Cambodia. It looks like a cyclone has torn through the area. But the cause of the trees’ demise is more insidious. For years, upstream dam operators…
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/mekong-river-wetlands-fish-flood-conservation

Farmer’s fight against wetland designation gets boost from U.S. Supreme Court’s Chevron ruling
A Fulton-area farmer will have a chance to argue that a federally designated wetland on his property is actually regular farm ground thanks to a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision. The case will be one of the first in the nation to be re-examined as a result of Loper…
https://southdakotasearchlight.com/2024/07/03/south-dakota-farmers-wetlands-claims-get-boost-from-u-s-supreme-courts-chevron-ruling/

Preserving Wetlands Could Build Resilience in the Drought-Stricken Caribbean
The Caribbean is in the throes of a sinister drought that is ravaging islands like Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Jamaica and a slew of others. These moderate and sometimes localized droughts are sowing the seed for what is blooming…
https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2024/wetlands-drought-resilience-jamaica/805056

The UK's rivers are riddled with sewage pollution – new wetlands could help clean them up
As effluent from sewage works and agricultural pollution flow freely into rivers, researchers and local citizens are urgently seeking to clean up the UK's waterways. New wildlife-rich wetlands could be an answer…
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240704-the-wetlands-cleaning-up-the-uks-sewage-pollution

Metaproteomics-informed stoichiometric modeling reveals the responses of wetland microbial communities to oxygen and sulfate exposure
Climate changes significantly impact greenhouse gas emissions from wetland soil. Specifically, wetland soil may be exposed to oxygen (O2) during droughts, or to sulfate (SO42-) as a result of sea level rise. How these stressors – separately and together…
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41522-024-00525-5

Nigerians strive to bring mangrove forests back to life
On a riverbank in the Niger Delta, a group of residents in rubber boots has been working to restore one of Nigeria's most precious and damaged ecosystems—its mangrove forests. The team members plunge their shovels into the mud and slot in saplings at the site in…
https://www.forbesindia.com/article/lifes/nigerians-strive-to-bring-mangrove-forests-back-to-lifes/93506/1

Dazzling firefly illumination filmed in the mangrove forests of Thailand a bitter-sweet moment for scientists
An international team of scientists has warned of a dark future for the world’s fireflies, with four Southeast Asian firefly species entered into the IUCN’s (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species for the first time…
https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/southeast-asian-firefly-species-threatened

Assessing Borneo’s tropical forests and plantations: a multi-sensor remote sensing and geospatial MCDA approach to environmental sustainability
The assessment of environmental sustainability is of utmost importance for the forests and plantations in Borneo, given the critical need for environmental protection through the identification and mitigation of potential risks. This study was conducted to assess the…
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/forests-and-global-change/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2024.1337535/full

From space to swamp: AI method classifies mangrove species with unprecedented accuracy
Mangroves are crucial for biodiversity, climate change mitigation, and coastal protection but face threats from climate change and human activities. Traditional monitoring methods fall short in accurately capturing their complex features…
https://phys.org/news/2024-07-space-swamp-ai-method-mangrove.html

Innovative approaches for forest monitoring using remote sensing and cloud computing
This research demonstrates the potential of synergizing cutting-edge remote sensing, machine learning, and cloud computing technologies to tackle complex environmental challenges at a continental scale. The developed methodologies pave the way for…
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/381880030_Innovative_approaches_for_forest_monitoring_using_remote_sensing_and_cloud_computing

Direct observation of atmospheric turbulence with a video-rate wide-field wavefront sensor
Turbulence is a complex and chaotic state of fluid motion. Atmospheric turbulence within the Earth’s atmosphere poses fundamental challenges for applications such as remote sensing, free-space optical communications and astronomical observation due to its…
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41566-024-01466-3

Drone technology supports resilience, restoration of Native Hawaiian fishponds
Researchers from the University of Hawai‘i (UH) and fishpond stewards in  Hilo, Hawai‘i, have recently released a study in the Journal of Remote Sensing demonstrating the use of uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) to support integrated coastal zone management…
https://www.techexplorist.com/drone-technology-supports-resilience-restoration-native-hawaiian-fishponds/85717/

Data and international collaboration critical to combating climate-related risks
“The work to combat climate change requires commercial innovation, scientific clarity, and international collaboration,” reported an article in Planet Blog which sums up the takeaways from the Planet On The Road event on June 12, in Washington D.C., USA…
https://govinsider.asia/intl-en/article/data-and-international-collaboration-critical-to-combating-climate-related-risks

Using Remote Sensing to Study How Wild Horses Reduce Shrub and Grassland Biomass
Forests in Galicia, northwestern Spain, are frequently ravaged by wildfires, leading to significant environmental and economic damage. The increasing virulence of these fires, exacerbated by climate change, poses a heightened risk to both natural landscapes and…
https://naturalsciencenews.com/article/4761

Arkansas awarded $2 million for endangered species recovery effort
Arkansas has received a $2.2 million federal grant to support land acquisition for the recovery of endangered species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Monday. The funding is part of $48.4 million in grants to 19 states and Guam to support land…
https://arktimes.com/arkansas-blog/2024/07/02/arkansas-awarded-2-million-for-endangered-species-recovery-effort

Flirting with disaster: When endangered wild animals try to mate with domestic relatives, both wildlife and people lose
Fatal attractions are a standard movie plotline, but they also occur in nature, with much more serious consequences. As a conservation biologist, I’ve seen them play out in some of Earth’s most remote locations, from the Gobi Desert to the Himalayan Highlands…
https://theconversation.com/flirting-with-disaster-when-endangered-wild-animals-try-to-mate-with-domestic-relatives-both-wildlife-and-people-lose-231248

Livestock Industry Causing Widespread Damage to Critical Habitat for Threatened Migratory Birds in Arizona, New Mexico
Grazing by the livestock industry has damaged at least 57% of the critical habitat of western yellow-billed cuckoos in public grazing allotments in Arizona and New Mexico, according to a report released today by the Center for Biological Diversity…
https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/livestock-industry-causing-widespread-damage-to-critical-habitat-for-threatened-migratory-birds-in-arizona-new-mexico-2024-07-01/

U.S. officials plan to kill hundreds of thousands of barred owls to save another species from extinction
To save the imperiled spotted owl from potential extinction, U.S. wildlife officials are embracing a contentious plan to deploy trained shooters into dense West Coast forests to kill almost a half-million barred owls that are crowding out their smaller cousins…
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/u-s-officials-plan-to-kill-hundreds-of-thousands-of-barred-owls-to-save-another-species-from-extinction

‘Give Nature Space and it Will Come Back’: Rewilding Returns Endangered Species to UK Coast
A broad coalition of natural trusts, farmers and businessmen, and conservationists are looking to turn the southern English coastline and the lands beyond into a biodiversity hotspot—and success can be seen and felt in the numbers of aquatic species that…
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/give-nature-space-and-it-will-come-back-rewilding-returns-endangered-species-to-uks-south-coast/

These cacti are status symbols on social media. In the desert, they’re endangered
A group of cacti species native to a remote Chilean desert has been poached to near extinction, thanks in part to social media crazes continents away. According to a new report from the International Union for Conservation of Nature, 82…
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/these-cacti-are-status-symbols-on-social-media-in-the-desert-theyre-endangered

Conservation Efforts Help Our Osprey Mascot
When Stockton University chose the osprey as its official mascot in the early 1970s, it was an endangered species with only 50 or so nesting pairs left in New Jersey. Now, five decades later, the effects of statewide conservation efforts have prompted the New…
https://stockton.edu/news/2024/conservation-efforts-help-our-osprey-mascot.html

History made as critically endangered baby western lowland gorilla born at Columbus Zoo
The Columbus Zoo has welcomed the birth of a critically endangered western lowland baby gorilla, according to zoo officials. The baby gorilla was born in the early hours of Saturday morning to first-time mother Sue and experienced father Ktembe, according to…
https://abcnews.go.com/US/history-made-critically-endangered-baby-western-lowland-gorilla/story?id=111667871

How the lynx beat extinction: Lifeform of the week
Bigger than a house cat, smaller than a mountain lion, the lynx is an agile hunter, a sleek and handsome animal, and a survivor. There are four varieties of lynx: the Eurasian lynx, the Iberian lynx, the Canada lynx, and the bobcat (or red lynx). But we almost lost one…
https://earthsky.org/earth/the-lynx-extinction-conservation-win-lifeform-of-the-week/

Rare plants hidden in toys - and other trafficking tactics
When South African officials at Cape Town’s international airport came across cardboard boxes labelled as toys being sent to China they became suspicious. China is famous for exporting toys around the world - not importing them…
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd19x4qpw5qo

Google’s carbon footprint balloons in its Gemini AI era
Google’s greenhouse gas emissions have ballooned, according to the company’s latest environmental report, showing how much harder it’ll be for the company to meet its climate goals as it prioritizes AI…
https://www.theverge.com/2024/7/2/24190874/google-ai-climate-change-carbon-emissions-rise

‘Keir Starmer take note’: UK’s green transition must start now, say experts
Labour’s victory in the general election must mark the start of the UK’s transformation to a green and low-carbon economy and society, campaigners and experts have said as the scale of the election win became clear…
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jul/05/keir-starmer-green-transition-must-start-now-say-experts

South Africa’s 70,000kg rhino horn stockpile must be burnt to prevent illegal trading
Rhino horn is not particularly special in terms of its biochemistry. Its composition is close to that of various other mammal horns, hooves and hair. Despite this, and the ban on international sales, rhino horn continues to be illegally trafficked from Africa to Asia…
https://theconversation.com/south-africas-70-000kg-rhino-horn-stockpile-must-be-burnt-to-prevent-illegal-trading-232030

Extreme heatwaves highlight climate injustice while western countries fail to act – here’s how governments can help
Average global air temperatures breached 1.5°C for the first time at the start of 2024 — at least five years earlier than predicted. So, while developing countries burn, global climate injustice persists…
https://theconversation.com/extreme-heatwaves-highlight-climate-injustice-while-western-countries-fail-to-act-heres-how-governments-can-help-233356

Kazakh Tycoon Denies Role in Greek Forest Fire, as Authorities Investigate
Kazakh tycoon Daniyar Abulgazin has said he and the guests aboard a yacht he chartered in Greece had no role in starting a forest fire on the island of Hydra, adding that authorities questioned them before they flew out of the country…
https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/18853-kazakh-tycoon-denies-role-in-greek-forest-fire-as-authorities-investigate

Desertification in Iraq: Multiplying sandstorms threaten local population
Water is running out in Iraq, a country where nearly more than half of the territory is considered at risk of desertification. Year after year, the situation is becoming worse and worse. Meanwhile the vast desertified areas create an environment prone to sandstorms…
https://www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/focus/20240705-desertification-in-iraq-multiplying-sandstorms-threatens-local-population

Austria and Switzerland plan to invest €2.1bn in preventing flooding along the Rhine river
Austria and Switzerland are planning to invest €2.1 billion into flood protection on the Rhine river. An agreement was signed by both countries in May and has now been unanimously approved by the Austrian parliament. It is still awaiting approval from the…
https://www.euronews.com/green/2024/07/05/austria-and-switzerland-plan-to-invest-21bn-in-preventing-flooding-along-the-rhine-river

Keeping cool by harnessing the sun's energy
Sweltering summer temperatures are increasingly common, especially in cities where closely packed buildings and paved surfaces trap heat. When temperatures climb above 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit), it can be a serious health hazard…
https://www.dw.com/en/keeping-cool-by-harnessing-the-suns-energy/a-69555433

EU resists calls to delay deforestation law, letter shows
The European Union has resisted calls from some industries and countries to delay its flagship policy to fight deforestation, a letter seen by Reuters on Friday showed. The deforestation law will, from Dec. 30, require companies selling soy, beef, coffee, palm…
https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/eu-resists-calls-delay-deforestation-law-letter-shows-2024-07-05/

A study finds Indonesia’s deforested land is often left idle. But some see potential in that
Years after being felled, vast swathes of Indonesia’s old-growth forests are left sitting idle. And when the land is finally put to use, it’s most often for new palm oil plantations, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences…
https://apnews.com/article/indonesia-deforestation-palm-oil-eudr-0dbc5e41168439d6158a00ab6b4f53be

Compiled by Nelson Wong

IFL Owner