By Richard Black Environment correspondent, BBC News

Illegal logging can remove vital wildlife habitat, leading to conflict with people. Illegal logging in the world's forests has fallen by nearly a quarter since 2002, according to what claims to be the most thorough analysis yet.

The London-based thinktank Chatham House says consumer pressure, legal restrictions by importing countries and media attention have all contributed.

Some important forest countries such as Brazil, Cameroon and Indonesia have seen much larger cuts, its report says.

But further improvements will be harder to make, it concludes.

Jeremy Hance - mongabay.com - June 24, 2010

The Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC) has released a resolution urging the UN to change its definition for 'forest', before the controversial definition undermines conservation efforts, biodiversity preservation, carbon sequestration, and the nascent REDD (Reducing Emissions through Deforestation and forest Degradation).

http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0624-hance_atbc_forests.html

Wed Jun 23, 2010 3:28pm IST

By David Fogarty, Climate Change Correspondent, Asia 

 (Reuters) - Indonesia needs to quickly settle rules for deciding what is degraded land and spell out how much is available to palm oil and timber firms in order to strengthen investment certainty, an environmental expert says.

Such a move would also boost a $1-billion climate deal signed last month by Indonesia and Norway.

The deal involves a two-year moratorium from January 2011 on conversion of natural forests and peat land with the intent of using degraded land to allow Indonesia's multi-billion dollar palm oil industry to keep expanding.

http://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-49564520100623

Jeremy Hance
mongabay.com
June 03, 2010

 Last week the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) program received a jump start with a four billion US dollar pledge from a number of industrialized nations. Under REDD tropical forest nation will be paid to keep forests standing, however the program-as it currently stands-has provoked concern over the rights of the some 350 million people living in or adjacent to forests.

http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0603-hance_redd_locals.html

Jeremy Hance
mongabay.com
June 03, 2010

With four billion US dollars pledged last week to kick-start the Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD), a new report by Global Witness warns that the funds could do little to stem deforestation if governance and accountability are not improved and corruption tackled. The REDD program provides funds to tropical nations to keep forests standing as a means to sequester carbon.

http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0603-hance_corruption_redd.html

Jeremy Hance
mongabay.com
June 02, 2010


Glen Barry, head of Ecological Internet, takes on the FSC and NGOs that support it, while warning that the world is headed toward ecological collapse if global society continues business-as-usual track.

Radical, controversial, ahead-of-his-time, brilliant, or extremist: call Dr. Glen Barry, the head of Ecological Internet, what you will, but there is no question that his environmental advocacy group has achieved major successes in the past years, even if many of these are below the radar of big conservation groups and mainstream media.

http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0602-hance_barry.html