The Rio state government will build concrete walls around some of the city’s biggest slums (pictured on the hillside above) in an attempt to halt deforestation of the surrounding jungle, officials said.
Seven miles of walls, reaching a height of three metres (10ft) will be built around sections of at least 11 slums this year, Icaro Moreno, the president of the state’s public works department, said.
By Alan Smith •
April 3, 2009
A new way to treat wood has trees back in the limelight: a hardwood’s reliability that even a rain forest mahogany tree can love.
Check out the world’s first heavy traffic road bridge made from Accoya® wood. The bridge, located in Sneek in the Netherlands, is “the first wooden bridge in the world that can support the heaviest load class of 60 tons”. At this week’s Wall Street Green Trading Summit, a panel on forestation introduced a new way of [...]
By Lucille Chi •
March 21, 2009
“The Prince’s Rainforests Project works with governments, business, NGOs and individuals to increase global recognition of the contribution of tropical deforestation to climate change and to find ways to make the rainforests worth more alive than dead.”- Project mission statement
The Rainforest Declaration is admirable and their site details show the rainforest nations they are trying to protect. The project includes free resources for schools, student competitions, and an awards celebration coming up this Spring at Cannes 2009.
By Jennifer Lance •
February 1, 2009
New “secondary” forests are emerging in Latin America, Asia and other tropical regions rapidly as land that was once farmed is abandoned as people move into the cities.
In fact, it is estimated that for every acre of rainforest that is cut down, 50 acres of forest is revitalized areas that were once farmed, logged, or destroyed by natural disasters.
By Dave Harcourt •
January 25, 2009
A new trade in parrot heads and tail feathers is adding to the pressure on the world’s wild population of African Grey Parrots, which is confined to the tropical forest area of West and Central Africa.
This is highlighted by a recent post by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) from Cameroon, which reports on a suspect arrested by game rangers who was found to be carrying 353 parrot heads and 2000 tail feathers. The suspect stated that he had collected the material for a witch doctor who was treating his mentally ill brother.
By Alex Felsinger •
January 12, 2009
While deforestation is clearly visible from satellite imagery, selective logging of rainforests is much harder to track. A team of some of the best scientists across the world have developed estimates of the severity of human logging in tropical regions, but say they really have no idea how accurate they are.
At today’s symposium “Will the Rainforests Survive? New Threats and Realities in the Tropical Extinction Crisis” at the Smithsonian Institution, Gregory Asner from the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Global Ecology explained the results of an extensive study on the extent of rainforest destruction worldwide.
By Jennifer Lance •
December 11, 2008
I am really excited about the Rain Tee Collection by Andira International!
Not only are these organic tees stylish, organic, fair trade, and beautiful, they were designed by children surrounded by the destruction of their rainforest.
These t-shirts were inspired by children themselves. Andira International donated school supplies to children living in endangered rainforests in South and Central America. The children were asked to illustrate what they saw occurring around them. The result is the Rain Tee Collection.
My Rain Tee Collection shirt is the “Tree of Life”. This tree is crying leaves that symbolize tears. It was designed by an 11-year-old girl living in Peru named Mariela. According to Andira:
The illustrations we feature, such as “Cut Down Trees” (left) are only part of the powerful message given to us by youth living with environmental destruction.
These children are teaching us that we are all connected. What happens in their home absolutely affects what occurs in ours.
For every Andira Rain Tee sold, a child in Costa Rica participating in Kids Saving the Rainforest will receive a tree to plant in an area of their forest that has been destroyed. The statistics on the destruction of the rainforests of Costa Rica are alarming:
By Andrew Williams •
November 3, 2008
American scientists have discovered a fungus deep in the Patagonian rainforest that makes biodiesel as part of its natural lifecycle. The fungus is the only organism that has ever been shown to produce such an important combination of fuel sources.
According to team member Prof. Gary Strobel of Montana State University, “The fungus can even make these diesel compounds from cellulose, which would make it a better source of biofuel than anything we use at the moment.”
By Levi Novey •
October 24, 2008
“We often hear of environmental catastophes but almost never meet the people who suffer the consequences.”
Those are some of the introductory words of Lou Dematteis, one of the authors and photographers of the new photo book Crude Reflections: Oil, Ruin, and Resistance in the Amazon Rainforest.
Depending on how you look at it, Obama’s meeting with Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva this past weekend could be interpreted as either a first step toward cooperating on biofuel trade or a missed opportunity to protect the Amazon rain forest.
