http://www.rainforestportal.org/ "Rainforest Portal" is an Internet Search Tool that provides access to reviewed rainforest conservation news and information Rainforest Portal a project of Ecological Internet, Inc. info@ecologicalinternet.org (Dr. Glen Barry) http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/images/eilogo85.gif http://www.rainforestportal.org/ Wired: A massive simulation of soot`s climate effects finds that basic pollution controls could put a brake on global warming, erasing in a decade most of the last century`s temperature change. Compared to the larger, longer term task of getting greenhouse-gas pollution under control, limiting soot wouldn`t be hard. Unlike new energy technology and profound changes in lifestyle, the tools -- exhaust filters, clean-burning stoves -- already exist. "Soot has such a strong climate ... http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/07/soot-control/ http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=176209 30 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST global warming soot control | Worldwide/General | info@ecologicalinternet.org (Wired: Brandon Keim) BBC: Greenpeace says key wildlife habitats are being destroyed Greenpeace has accused a major Indonesian conglomerate of continuing to log in high conservation-value rainforests. The environmental activists' group said subsidiaries of Sinar Mas, an agribusiness giant, were logging in peat forests and orangutan habitats. Sinar Mas says it complies with Indonesian law and denies wrong-doing. The company is due to release an audit responding to previous Greenpeace ... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10798849 http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=176190 30 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST rainforest logging | East/South-East Asia | Indonesia info@ecologicalinternet.org (BBC: none given) Agence France-Presse: Greenpeace made fresh allegations Thursday that units of Indonesian paper and palm oil giant Sinar Mas are clearing high conservation-value forests including habitats of endangered orangutans. Greenpeace Indonesia forest campaigner Bustar Maitar said new investigations showed Sinar Mas subsidiaries logging peat forests and orangutan habitats on Borneo island despite repeated promises to end such practices. "Our photos provide fresh evidence of Sinar Mas's continued active ... http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100729/sc_afp/indonesiaforestsenvironmentspeciescompanysinarmas http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=176007 29 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST rainforest oil palm | East/South-East Asia | Indonesia info@ecologicalinternet.org (Agence France-Presse: Stephen Coates) ScienceDaily: Not so for Gillian Galford, a recent graduate of the Brown-MBL Graduate Program in Biological and Environmental Sciences (and now a post-doctoral fellow at Columbia University's Earth Institute) and her colleagues, who take a big-picture approach to greenhouse gas emissions. In a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team estimates future emissions of carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane in the Brazilian Amazon state of Mato Grosso. The ... http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100727201635.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29 http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=175889 29 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST Amazon trees greenhouse gas emissions | South/Central America/Caribbean | Brazil info@ecologicalinternet.org (ScienceDaily: none given) Guardian: The UN has withdrawn the Galápagos Islands from its world heritage danger list, citing improved efforts by Ecuador to protect the archipelago's unique biodiversity. The world heritage committee of the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) voted 15 to four to remove the islands from the list of sites endangered by environmental threats or overuse. "It's important to recognise the effort made by the Ecuadorean government to preserve this ... http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/29/galapagos-withdrawn-heritage-danger-list http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=176055 29 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST world heritage Galápagos endangered | South/Central America/Caribbean | Ecuador info@ecologicalinternet.org (Guardian: none given) Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/gallery/2010/jul/29/galapagos-islands-endangered-list http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=176012 29 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST island threatened Galápagos | South/Central America/Caribbean | Ecuador info@ecologicalinternet.org (Guardian: none given) Mongabay: With 18,000 islands spanning two major bigeographic realms (and a curious outlier in Sulawesi) across an area of nearly 2 million square kilometers, Indonesia is one of the world's most biodiverse countries. It has the world's third largest extent of tropical forests, has the planet's richest coral reefs, and is home to more than 12 percent of plant and animal species. Indonesia is culturally rich as well. Its hundreds of cultures speak more than 500 languages. But Indonesia's ... http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0729-interview_meijaard.html http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=175911 29 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST rainforest orangutan local people | East/South-East Asia | Indonesia info@ecologicalinternet.org (Mongabay: Rhett Butler) Reuters: Greenpeace said on Thursday it had fresh evidence that palm oil firms linked to Indonesian agribusiness giant Sinar Mas have bulldozed rainforest and destroyed endangered orangutan habitats in Kalimantan. The charges were denied by palm oil firm PT SMART Tbk, part of Sinar Mas, which has already said it would stop clearing critical forests. The accusations, leveled by Greenpeace in a new report, is the latest chapter in a long and bitter dispute between the conservationists and ... http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66R64320100729?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29 http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=175935 29 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST rainforest report | East/South-East Asia | Indonesia info@ecologicalinternet.org (Reuters: none given) Business Green: Indonesia's largest palm and pulp group is still destroying critical habitats, claims Greenpeace in an investigation published today. The non-governmental organisation (NGO) has published new photographic evidence, aerial monitoring and field analysis which seems to show that the Sinar Mas group is continuing to break its own environmental commitments on protecting forests and peat land. And confidential documents obtained by the group indicate that the firm has ambitions to ... http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2267269/palm-oil-group-destroying http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=175922 29 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST rainforest palm oil | East/South-East Asia | Indonesia info@ecologicalinternet.org (Business Green: Tom Young) Australian Broadcasting Corporation: MARK COLVIN: The story of Papua New Guinea's sinking Carteret Islands has made headlines around the world. The locals are known as the world's first climate change refugees but the publicity hasn't translated into help. A relocation process started several years ago but only a handful of islanders have moved to nearby Bougainville. They're pleading for help to save their relatives from their sinking island homes. PNG correspondent Liam Fox visited them at their ... http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2010/s2966874.htm http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=175884 28 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST climate refugees help | Pacific/Oceania | Papua New Guinea info@ecologicalinternet.org (Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Liam Fox) Agence France-Presse: Peru canceled the operating license of US-based Doe Run for a large smelter complex in La Oroya after the firm failed to meet a deadline for submitting a new environmental protection plan, President Alan Garcia said Wednesday. "The deadline has passed for Doe Run to resolve the issue of environmental contamination," Garcia told lawmakers during his annual independence day message. "The law will be strictly enforced and the operating permit canceled." Doe Run Peru's ... http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100728/ts_alt_afp/peruusminingenvironment http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=175737 28 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST air pollution smelter cancelled | South/Central America/Caribbean | Peru info@ecologicalinternet.org (Agence France-Presse: none given) Mongabay: Given the epidemic of rhino poaching across Africa and Asia, which has placed four out of five species in jeopardy of extinction, one fed-up game manager wants to take the fight beyond the poachers to the consumer. Ed Hern, owner of the Lion and Rhino Park near Johannesburg, told South Africa's The Times that he has begun working with a veterinarian on injecting poison into a rhino's horn to consumers. He told The Times that people who consumed poisoned rhino horn "would get very sick or ... http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0728-hance_poison_rhino.html http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=175731 28 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST rhino poaching Africa Asia | Worldwide/General | info@ecologicalinternet.org (Mongabay: Jeremy Hance) Mongabay: Researchers have confirmed that cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) and African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) have become essentially extinct in Cameroon. A three year study by the Institute of Environmental Sciences at Leiden University in the Netherlands found that the same factors that pushed cheetahs and African wild dogs to local extinction, have also left Cameroon's other big predators hanging by a thread, including the lion, the leopard, and two species of hyena: the spotted and the ... http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0728-hance_cameroon.html http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=175723 28 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST rainforest species local extirpation | Africa | Cameroon info@ecologicalinternet.org (Mongabay: Jeremy Hance) Inter Press Service: "Three-quarters of the fields are still under water. Maize, plantains, okra and pasture are all lost," José Asencio told IPS at the village of Santa Ana Mixtán in southern Guatemala, the area worst affected by tropical storm Agatha. The villagers have been working for food in order to survive. "We've been shoring up the banks of the Coyolate and Mascalate rivers, and the mayor has been giving us food rations, although we haven't received any for the past two weeks because supplies ... http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=52309 http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=175878 28 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST climate fuel hunger | South/Central America/Caribbean | Guatamala info@ecologicalinternet.org (Inter Press Service: Danilo Valladares) SciDev.Net: Planting biofuel crops in Africa need not damage capacity to grow food and could even enhance food security, according to a controversial review prepared for the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA). The report, with case studies on six countries in East, West and southern Africa, concludes that bioenergy production can expand across the continent and provide income and energy to farmers without displacing food crops. Potential conflicts between bioenergy and food ... http://www.scidev.net/en/agriculture-and-environment/biofuels-could-increase-food-production-says-report.html?utm_source=link&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=en_agricultureandenvironment http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=175746 28 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST biofuel food | Africa | Burkina Faso info@ecologicalinternet.org (SciDev.Net: Busani Bafana) SciDev.Net: An ambitious development partnership aimed at strengthening agricultural collaboration between Africa and Brazil was launched at the 5th African Agriculture Science Week in Burkina Faso last week (21 July). The initiative -- the Africa-Brazil Agriculture Innovation Marketplace -- recently announced in Brazil, and now formally launched, aims to enhance South--South knowledge and technology transfer and stimulate policy dialogue between the two regions. It will also promote ... http://www.scidev.net/en/agriculture-and-environment/africa-and-brazil-to-cross-fertilise-agricultural-ideas-1.html?utm_source=link&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=en_agricultureandenvironment http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=175638 27 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST agricultural research cooperation Brazil Africa | Worldwide/General | info@ecologicalinternet.org (SciDev.Net: none given) Daily Climate: A deadly infectious disease once thought to be exclusively tropical has gained a toehold in the Pacific Northwest, and health experts suspect climate change is partially to blame. Last week the CDC issued a report warning U.S. doctors to be alert for patients showing signs of a cryptococcal infection. The infection is spread by a fungus, Cryptococcus gattii, that attacks the nasal cavity and spreads to other body sites, causing pneumonia, meningitis and other lung, brain or ... http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=spread-of-deadly-cryptococcal-disease-in-northwest-linked-to-global-warming http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=175584 27 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST global warming disease Cryptococcal | North America | United States info@ecologicalinternet.org (Daily Climate: Douglas Fischer) Telegraph: Greenpeace said it shut off the flow of petrol at around 50 service stations in central London on Tuesday morning. The environmentalists claimed to have stopped the fuel supply by flipping safety switches on the forecourts and then removing them to prevent the petrol stations from reopening. They also hoisted signs saying: "Closed. Moving beyond petroleum'. The protest is an attempt to urge Bob Dudley, who is expected to replace the outgoing BP chief executive Tony Hayward, to ... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/7911747/BP-petrol-stations-shut-down-by-Greenpeace.html http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=175552 27 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST oil spill BP Protest | North America | United States info@ecologicalinternet.org (Telegraph: Heidi Blake) New York Times: With offices in 40 countries and some three million supporters, Greenpeace is unquestionably one of the world`s most influential environmental groups. Yet its origins are humble, tracing back to a chaotic and impulsive boat journey into the intended blast zone of a nuclear weapons test off the coast of Alaska in 1971. Although the mission failed to achieve its aim -- President Richard Nixon postponed the test while the boat was still en route to Alaska -- the voyage stirred worldwide ... http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/27/recalling-the-salad-days-of-greenpeace/ http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=175496 27 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST Greenpeace history | North America | United States info@ecologicalinternet.org (New York Times: John Collins Rudolf) Reuters: A proposed overhaul of Brazilian forest policy being considered in Congress is raising concern that the world's largest forest could be left more vulnerable than in decades to razing by farmers despite recent progress in protecting it. Destruction of the forest, which is a vital global climate regulator due to the vast amount of carbon it stores as well as a caldron of biodiversity, is driven mainly by farmers who clear Amazon land for crops and livestock. Supported by the ... http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66P4MR20100726 http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=175476 27 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST Amazon forest logging laws | South/Central America/Caribbean | Brazil info@ecologicalinternet.org (Reuters: Stuart Grudgings) Reuters: Brazilian native Indians on Sunday took 100 workers hostage at the construction site of a hydroelectric plant in the southern Amazon region, local media reported. As many as 400 Indians from several different tribes occupied a power plant they say was built on an ancient burial site. "They didn't take into account the situation of the Indians. The company used dynamite to blow up part of an archeological site," Antonio Carlos Ferreira de Aquino, a local administrator with the ... http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66O20L20100725?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29 http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=175215 25 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST Amazon dam opposition indigenous | South/Central America/Caribbean | Brazil info@ecologicalinternet.org (Reuters: none given) Mongabay: The last time the hairy-nosed otter (Lutra sumatrana) was seen in Borneo it was road-kill, but researchers have now photographed a living individual of this elusive and endangered species. Photos were taken by camera trap in the Dermakot forest in Sabah, a state of Malaysian Borneo. While the last specimen known in Borneo was killed by a car in 1997, the species hasn't been found confirmed in Sabah for over a century. "This is great news for Sabah and shows once again how unique and ... http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0725-hance_otter.html http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=175211 25 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST wildlife endangered otto | East/South-East Asia | Malaysia info@ecologicalinternet.org (Mongabay: Jeremy Hance) LiveScience: The astounding array of species that call the tropics home is the result of the near-constant year-round temperatures found in these areas, a new study suggests. The study, which surveyed insect diversity at a variety of latitudes and points in Earth's history, answers a question that has bugged biologists for centuries. It also shows that the exceptional biodiversity of the tropics is not a result of higher temperatures or more sunlight, as once assumed. The findings, detailed ... http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20100725/sc_livescience/tropicalbiodiversityexplainedbysteadytemperatures http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=175152 25 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST tropical biodiversity steady temperatures | Worldwide/General | info@ecologicalinternet.org (LiveScience: none given) Atlantic: When Bill McKibben first sounded the alarm about global warming 20 years ago, he was something of a voice crying in the wilderness. Now McKibben, author of The End of Nature and Deep Economy, is issuing an even more dire warning. His new book, with the science fiction-y title Eaarth, paints a picture of a depleted, overheated planet no longer suited to its inhabitants. That planet is our own, the time is now, and the book is non-fiction. Laying the blame for climate change squarely at ... http://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2010/07/interview-how-our-economy-is-killing-the-earth/59440/ http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=174969 23 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST economy killiing Earth | Worldwide/General | info@ecologicalinternet.org (Atlantic: none given) Mongabay: Scientists convening at the annual Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC) meeting in Sanur, Bali urged Indonesia's leaders to strengthen measures to protect the country's biologically-rich ecosystems. In a resolution issued on the final day of the five-day conference, ATBC commended Indonesia for recent moves to protect forests, including a pledge to cut illegal logging and a billion dollar partnership with Norway to reduce deforestation and forest degradation, but ... http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0723-atbc_resolution.html http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=174930 23 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST rainforest peatland science | Worldwide/General | info@ecologicalinternet.org (Mongabay: Rhett Butler) ScienceDaily: A study on the effect of global warming on African ape survival suggests that a warming climate may cause apes to run 'out of time'. The research, published today in Journal of Biogeography, reveals that rising temperatures and changes in rainfall patterns have strong effects on ape behavior, distribution and survival, pushing them even further to the brink of extinction. The researchers, from Roehampton University, Bournemouth University and the University of Oxford used data from 20 ... http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100722075228.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29 http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=174630 22 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST climate pimates apes | Africa | info@ecologicalinternet.org (ScienceDaily: none given) Mongabay: Tropical deforestation claimed roughly 13 million hectares of forest per year during the first half of this decade, about the same rate of loss as the 1990s. But while the overall numbers have remained relatively constant, they mask a transition of great significance: a shift from poverty-driven to industry-driven deforestation and geographic consolidation of where deforestation occurs. These changes have important implications for efforts to protect the world's remaining tropical forests in ... http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0722-greenpeace_skar_interview.html http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=174602 22 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST tropical deforestation Greenpeace | Worldwide/General | info@ecologicalinternet.org (Mongabay: Rhett Butler) Mongabay: Visitors to the Orangutan Care Center and Quarantine (OCCQ) are always delighted by the sight of playful young orangutans. Hairy orange youngsters swinging through the branches or tossing balls around always induce fits of cooing and camera clicking. These activities appear to be so natural that it is easy to forget these are orphans in rehabilitation school and one of the main classes is Enrichment. The term enrichment has become a catchword in the world of captive animal husbandry in the ... http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0722-dubman_parker_enrichment.html http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=174700 22 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST orangutan captive | East/South-East Asia | Indonesia info@ecologicalinternet.org (Mongabay: Jeremy Hance) Mongabay: Scientists convening in Bali expressed a range of concerns over a proposed mechanism for mitigating climate change through forest conservation, but some remained hopeful the idea could deliver long-term protection to forests, ease the transition to a low-carbon economy, and generate benefits to forest-dependent people. Presenting at the annual Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation, scientists and policy experts warned that the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and ... http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0722-redd_atbc.html http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=174655 22 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST forest carbon payment scheme | East/South-East Asia | Indonesia info@ecologicalinternet.org (Mongabay: Rhett Butler) BBC: Britain could soon have a privately financed, national Earth-observation (EO) service, if plans currently under consideration come to fruition. It could launch UK-built satellites to acquire imagery for the MoD and other government departments, while selling other data on the open market. The project has been dubbed "Skysight" after the City-backed Skynet system which provides a commercial satellite telecoms service to the armed forces. A report on the idea is being ... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-10725054 http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=174639 22 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST Earth satellite observation | Europe | United Kingdom info@ecologicalinternet.org (BBC: Jonathan Amos) Agence France-Presse: The United States on Thursday announced a three-year programme to help countries in the Mekong River basin adapt to the impact of climate change on water resources, food security and livelihoods. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made the pledge at a Hanoi meet with Southeast Asian countries of the lower Mekong region, whose waterway is also under threat from rapid economic development and expanding populations. "Managing this resource and defending it against threats like ... http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100722/pl_afp/aseanarfmekongusenvironmenthealth http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=174610 22 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST climate river Mekong | East/South-East Asia | info@ecologicalinternet.org (Agence France-Presse: none given) Mongabay: The vice president of Indonesia on Wednesday urged scientists and the broader international community to help Indonesia find a balance between conservation and natural resource use. Addressing an audience of nearly 900 scientists and researchers attending the annual Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation in Sanur, Bali, Vice President Boediono called Indonesia's forests a "global heritage" that benefits the entire planet. As such, he said the international community should ... http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0721-boediono_atbc.html http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=174550 21 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST rainforest global heritage | East/South-East Asia | Indonesia info@ecologicalinternet.org (Mongabay: Rhett Butler) Business Green: The UK could make great strides to improve the carbon footprint of its livestock farming if food stocks were home-grown instead of made from imported soy from South America, according to a report from Friends of the Earth. Rainforests and grasslands are being ripped up to make way for soy plantations or for beef ranching which has been displaced by soy plantations, says the report. However, the barriers to replacing soy are not so much the nutritional needs of animals or dependent on ... http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2266848/imported-food-livestock-farming http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=174435 21 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST rainforest food destroy | Europe | United Kingdom info@ecologicalinternet.org (Business Green: Andrew Charlesworth) Agence France-Presse: A first-of-a-kind map plotted by scientists using data from NASA satellites shows the Earth's tallest and shortest forests; it is hoped that the map can be used to predict the spread of forest fires and monitor the effects of deforestation and climate change. On July 20 scientists from American space agency NASA revealed a first-of-a-kind map detailing the world's forests. The map, compiled using data from NASA satellites, is the first of its kind to span the entire globe - previously ... http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nasa-plots-firstofakind-map-of-the-earthrsquos-forests-2031872.html http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=174411 21 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST forest map global NASA | Worldwide/General | info@ecologicalinternet.org (Agence France-Presse: none given) Nature: A once-in-a-century drought struck much of the Amazon rainforest in 2005, reducing rainfall by 60–75% in some areas -- and giving scientists a window on to a future coloured by climate change. The drought foreshadowed the Amazon drying that many climate modellers expect to see in a warmer world. But five years on, a spate of research, including 13 papers published on 20 July in a special issue of the journal New Phytologist , shows that researchers are still grappling with the impact ... http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100720/full/466423a.html http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=174349 21 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST Amazon drought science | South/Central America/Caribbean | info@ecologicalinternet.org (Nature: Jeff Tollefson) Press Association: Animal feed imported from South America for the UK's meat and dairy industry is causing the destruction of tropical rainforests and increasing greenhouse gas emissions, a new study reveals. Friends of the Earth said half the soy imported to the UK to feed livestock could be replaced – with home-grown alternatives such as oil seed rape, sunflower seeds or beans, and grazing on grass and clover – at a lower environmental cost. FoE is calling on the government to use EU subsidies ... http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/21/uk-south-america-soy-rainforest-emissions http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=174338 21 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST rainforest destruction animal feed | Worldwide/General | info@ecologicalinternet.org (Press Association: none given) Reuters: A quarter of villagers living near orangutans in Indonesia's Kalimantan province are not aware the rare primates are protected and say orangutans have been killed in their village, said a new survey released on Wednesday. Only a handful of orangutans are left in the wild, mostly in forests on Indonesian provinces of Sumatra and Kalimantan, where activists say logging and palm oil expansion have driven the primates close to extinction. However, many living close to remaining orangutan ... http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66K22820100721?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29 http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=174336 21 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST rainforest orangutan protected | East/South-East Asia | Indonesia info@ecologicalinternet.org (Reuters: none given) Mongabay: The bulk of illegally traded wildlife moves through two "triangles" that span the Indonesian archipelago, an ecologist told scientists attending a meeting convened in Sanur, Bali by the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation. Ani Mardiastuti, a researcher at the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB), said Indonesia has two major smuggling circuits--the Manado-Ambon-Sorong Triangle in eastern Indonesia and the Medan-Palembang-Pontianak Triangle in the western part of the ... http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0721-wildlife_trade_indonesia_atbc.html http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=174510 21 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST wildlife trafficking hubs | East/South-East Asia | Indonesia info@ecologicalinternet.org (Mongabay: Rhett Butler) National Geographic: A "catastrophic" epidemic has made 30 amphibian species locally extinct in a region of Panama--including 5 species that were lost before they were even formally identified, a new study says. The species are the latest victims of the deadly chytrid fungus, which has caused major amphibian declines in Central and South America as well as in Australia since the late 1990s. The fungus infects an amphibian's skin, sloughing off the skin's layers and causing lethargy, weight loss, and ... http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/07/100720-amphibians-lost-species-extinct-panama-science-environment/ http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=174224 20 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST amphibian frog extinction fungus | South/Central America/Caribbean | Panama info@ecologicalinternet.org (National Geographic: Christine Dell'Amore) Washington Post: This week the Lantern is taking a break from answering your green lifestyle questions to report on three studies that raise brand-new environmental dilemmas. Is meat less of a climate-change culprit than we thought? One of the Lantern's frequent tips is to cut back on your meat intake for the sake of the planet. But according to Frank Mitloehner, a researcher from the University of California at Davis, that advice is hogwash. Mitloehner takes exception to the widely ... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/19/AR2010071904750.html http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=174188 20 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST climate meat | Worldwide/General | info@ecologicalinternet.org (Washington Post: Nina Shen Rastogi) Mongabay: Consumers in the US purchasing mahogany furniture may be unwittingly supporting illegal logging in a Peruvian reserve for uncontacted indigenous tribes, imperiling the indigenous peoples' lives. A new report by the Upper Amazon Conservancy (UAC) provides evidence that loggers are illegally felling mahogany trees in the Murunahua Reserve where it is estimated some 200 uncontacted natives live. "It would be a tragedy for US citizens to continue buying Peruvian mahogany if it puts the ... http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0720-hance_uncontacted_peru.html http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=174150 20 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST rainforest mahogany market | South/Central America/Caribbean | Peru info@ecologicalinternet.org (Mongabay: Jeremy Hance) One World: The Baka, Bagyeli and Bakola people in Cameroon have raised objection to the REDD projects for mitigating climate change. They fear it could exclude them from their homes and hence their rights to their forests, and benefits from the projects be shared with them equally. Members of 'Pygmy' communities in Cameroon have issued a clear message in the wake of the Copenhagen climate change talks: their rights to their forests must be respected. According to the Forest Peoples ... http://southasia.oneworld.net/globalheadlines/pygmy-communities-disapprove-climate-mitigation-plans http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=174114 20 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST carbon rainforest REDD opposition | Africa | Cameroon info@ecologicalinternet.org (One World: none given) Jakarta Post: The government initiative to entail a five-year moratorium on peatland conversion is a half-hearted policy if the country still wants to seriously mitigate climate change, activists said Saturday. They said the moratorium to shift the peatland for business use should be permanent since the area held huge stocks of carbon emissions. "If the government wants to end peatland conversions, there is no story about timelines; it must be permanent," executive director of Forest ... http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/07/12/planned-5year-peatland-moratorium-seen-%E2%80%98halfhearted-government-policy%E2%80%99.html http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=174094 20 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST rainforest peatland carbon moratorium | East/South-East Asia | Indonesia info@ecologicalinternet.org (Jakarta Post: Adianto P. Simamora) Energy Collective: This morning I woke up in a hotel in Manaus, Brazil, had breakfast overlooking the Negro River, then went for a run along the river's beaches. It was an enjoyable way to begin my first visit to Brazil, a six-day, government-backed, jam-packed tour with a focus on the environmental issues facing the Amazon. Environmentalists have labored for decades to protect the impossibly vast rainforests of the Amazon, which make up more than half of the world's tropical forests. But until recently ... http://theenergycollective.com/marcgunther/40022/can-brazil-save-amazon http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=174086 20 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST Amazon Brazil | Worldwide/General | info@ecologicalinternet.org (Energy Collective: MarcGunther) New Scientist: IF YOU'RE a typical westerner, you ate nearly 100 kilograms of meat last year. This was almost certainly the costliest part of your diet, especially in environmental terms. The clamour for people to eat less meat to save the planet is growing ever louder. "Less meat = less heat", proclaimed Paul McCartney in the run-up to last December's conference on global warming in Copenhagen. And this magazine recently recommended eating less meat as a way to reduce our environmental ... http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20727691.200-veggieworld-why-eating-greens-wont-save-the-planet.html http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=174052 20 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST environment meat | Worldwide/General | info@ecologicalinternet.org (New Scientist: none given) Xinhua: The Myanmar Foreign Ministry has held a workshop in Yangon on biodiversity and deforestation issues and solution. The workshop in the weekend, co-organized by the ministry's Strategy and International Studies Department and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, also covered management skill, leadership and team work. Myanmar, India, South East Asia and Europe as well as an expert from Bangkok submitted a total of 14 papers. The workshop was attended by officials and representatives ... http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90777/90851/7071313.html http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=174087 20 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST deforestation mitigation | East/South-East Asia | Myanmar info@ecologicalinternet.org (Xinhua: none given) BBC: The first known photograph of a rare primate that was feared extinct has been captured by researchers in central Sri Lanka. The Horton Plains slender loris, which has short, sturdy limbs and long fur, was tracked down in highland forest. The photo shows an adult male sitting on a branch. The elusive primate has been spotted only four times since 1937 and disappeared altogether from 1939 until 2002, when it was last glimpsed. Superstitions Experts feared the ... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10681635 http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=174024 19 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST primare rare slender loris | South Asia | Sri Lanka info@ecologicalinternet.org (BBC: none given) Reuters: Farmers whose crops are raided by wild animals like elephants should try driving them away with pepper spray, using guard donkeys or booby trapping food with snakes, the U.N. said on Monday. The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) unveiled in a statement on its website a "toolkit" it suggests should be taught or handed out to farmers, particularly in Africa, to stop them killing wildlife. Competition between wild animals and humans is major source of ... http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66I3EB20100719?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29 http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=173976 19 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST elephant crops Africa | Africa | info@ecologicalinternet.org (Reuters: none given) Mongabay: With advanced genetic techniques, researchers have drawn a picture of just how devastating the currently extinction crisis for the world's amphibians has become in a new study published in the Proceedings of the Nation Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Studying frog populations using DNA barcoding in Panama's Omar Torrijos National Park located in El Copé researchers found that 25 known species and 5 unknown species have vanished since 1998. None have returned. Amphibians are threatened in ... http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0719-hance_amphibian_plague.html http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=173947 19 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST amphibian frog plague | South/Central America/Caribbean | Panama info@ecologicalinternet.org (Mongabay: Jeremy Hance) Agence France-Presse: Indonesian police have arrested two men on Sumatra island with six tiger skulls and other parts from the critically endangered species, an official said Monday. The two were held Saturday in Pekanbaru city of Riau province as they picked up a package containing the skulls, five pieces of skin and bones, the provincial conservation agency head Trisunu Danis Woro said. "It seems that the tigers have been killed a few days ago," he told AFP adding that the package was delivered ... http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100719/sc_afp/indonesiaenvironmentspeciestiger http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=173888 19 Jul 2010 11:00:00 PST tiger poaching | East/South-East Asia | Indonesia info@ecologicalinternet.org (Agence France-Presse: none given)