IN FOCUS --- Metafore's Weekly Newsletter
September 9, 2010, Issue 322 |
Lance Hosey Named GreenBlue President and CEO
CSR Wire: GreenBlue on Wednesday announced the appointment of Lance Hosey as President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
Burger King to stop buying oil from Indonesian co.
From the Associate Press: Burger King is getting thumbs up today from environmentalists after the giant hamburger chain decided to stop buying palm oil from an Indonesian company accused of destroying rain forests.
Most new farmland comes from cutting tropical forest
From The Hindu: Stanford researcher have also noted that big agribusiness has largely replaced small farmers in doing most of the tree cutting in Brazil and Indonesia, which may make it easier to rein in the trend.
New carbon markets may pose ‘serious challenge’ to UN program
From Bloomberg: The lack of progress on climate talks may prompt nations to consider new programs posing a “serious challenge” to the world’s second-largest emissions market, a top envoy at the United Nations said.
Yalies win prize for demystifying forests
From Yale News: Parisa invented a satellite image analysis process, now being used by SilviaTerra, to collect forest data from outer space. Together with some on-the-ground measurements, the process requires less time and also utilizes less manpower than traditional methods, which typically involve people going out to measure ground plots. This technology appears to be more successful than light detection and ranging (LIDAR) methods — which uses lasers to construct a perfect model of every tree in a forest — for collecting forest data, said Uhlenhuth, who is in charge of the company’s business development.
Kremlin eyes forest management reform after fires
From Reuters: President Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday he would consider radically reforming Russia's forest management, currently under the control of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, after the worst forest fires in 30 years.
Forest carbon stores may be massively overestimated
From the New Scientist: Rainforests may store much less carbon than we thought. It could be time to dramatically revise our estimates following the discovery that apparently similar forests hold vastly different amounts of the stuff.
Govt ups ante against illegal logging, mining and plantations
From The Jakarta Post: President Susilo Bambang Yu-dhoyono has pledged to intensify the government’s battle against companies operating illegally in rainforests to cut forest losses and help regain the trust of foreign countries.
Despite pledge to crack down, illegal logging continues in Madagascar's rainforest parks
From Mongabay: Despite government assurances that it would crack down on the rosewood trade, illegal logging continues in Madagascar's rainforest parks, according to new information provided by sources on the ground.
Should carbon management be a strategic priority for companies?
From Reuters: Evolving social and market expectations have played a role in pushing carbon management higher onto corporate agendas. For example, firms in the report view carbon management as a tool to attract new talent and engage employees, while companies are also facing pressure to manage their carbon footprints from competitors, investors, business customers and consumers.
NASA satellites reveal surprising connection between beetle attacks, wildfire
From Science Daily: If your summer travels have taken you across the Rocky Mountains, you've probably seen large swaths of reddish trees dotting otherwise green forests. While it may look like autumn has come early to the mountains, evergreen trees don't change color with the seasons. The red trees are dying, the result of attacks by mountain pine beetles.
Peru's rainforest highway triggers surge in deforestation, according to new 3D forest mapping
From Mongabay: Scientists using a combination of satellite imagery, airborne-laser technology, and ground-based plot surveys to create three-dimensional high resolution carbon maps of the Amazon rainforest have documented a surge in emissions from deforestation and selective logging following the paving of the Trans-Oceanic Highway in Peru.