By Baher Kamal Madrid, May (IPS) – Amazingly organised social communities, bees ensure food chain. ‘Bee’ grateful to them… at least on their World Day! While the (surprisingly) still called homo sapiens continues to destroy Mother Nature, bees and other…
Tag: Forestry
Ensuring the ‘lungs of the planet’ keep us alive
Forests are vitally important for sustaining life on Earth, and play a major role in the fight against climate change. With the 2019 session of the United Nations Forum on Forests wrapping up on Friday in New York, we delve…
SC upholds CCF Osman Gani’s 12-year in prison sentence
Dhaka, Jan 22 – The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the High Court verdict that upheld a lower court judgement sentencing former Chief Conservator of Forest Osman Gani to 12 years’ imprisonment in a corruption case.
Turning mangrove trees into sustainable assets
By Stella Paul SHWE THAUNG YAN, Myanmar, Jan 7 2019 (IPS) – In 2015, Worldview International Foundation began a mangrove restoration project, planting saplings of the trees on about 121 hectares of land in Myanmar’s Ayyerwady region.
30 individuals, institutions to receive PM’s tree plantation award
The government has finalised the nomination of 30 individuals and institutions for the Prime Minister’s National Award for TreePlantation 2015. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will hand over the awards to 30 individuals and institutions at the end of July, said…
Alberta officials say oil sands city saved from fire’s worst
Alberta premier’s declared Canada’s oil sands city saved and said a plan will be put together within two weeks so 88,000 residents forced to evacuate can return to their homes. At least two neighborhoods in Fort McMurray were scenes of…
11 sued over Apr 27 Sundarbans fire
Bangladesh Forest Department has filed a case against 11 suspects in connection with the fire that broke out in Tultala area of the Sundarbans under Chandpai Range in Sharankhola upazila on April 27 last. Station officer (Dhansagar station) of Chandpai…
Hand over Sundarbans arsonists to police: Minister
Dhaka – Environment and Forests Minister Anwar Hossain Manju on Sunday urged all to hand over to law enforcers those involved in setting fire to the Sundarbans, saying stern action will be taken against them. He made the call while…
Smoke still billowing at Chandpai of Sundarbans
Bagerhat – Three days into the forest fire that broke out in Tultala area of Chandpai range of the Sundarbans in Sarankhola upazila, smoke was still billowing around the burnt out area on Friday.
Forest Department suspends 3 employees over Sundarbans fire
Dhaka – The Forest Department has suspended its three employees for their negligence of duties in connection with the recent fire incidents in the Sundarbans in Sharankhola upazila, unb news agency has reported. The suspended employees are M Nasir Uddin,…
Youth fined for grazing buffaloes on Sundarbans
Dhaka – A mobile court here on Wednesday fined a young man Tk 4,000 for grazing buffaloes on the protected Sundarbans, unb news agency reported.
14 fire incidents at Chandpai of Sundarbans in 12 years
Bagerhat – The only Chandpai Range of the Sundarbans saw 14 incidents of fire in the last 12 years, raging through some 40 acres of forest and causing damage to its unique ecosystem, say officials.Forest Department data show that the…
Massive tree farms may be a really bad climate idea
World-wide tree plantations, soil modification or bioenergy crops could add to the planetary harm of global warming, scientist warns. A worker lays out biochar to dry in the sun before it is packed at the Eco Fuel Africa factory in…
Sundarbans fire extinguished
Dhaka – The fire that broke out on Sunday evening at Shikdar Bari Shila in Chandpai Range of the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest, was doused on Monday afternoon. Station officer of Dhansagar in Chandpai Range, Sultan Mahmud, said…
Unesco team to meet officials Monday on Rampal plant
Dhaka – The three-member high-profile Unesco delegation that visited the Sundarbans to assess the possible impacts of the proposed coal-based Rampal power plant and vessel plying through the mangrove forest left Jessore for Dhaka on Saturday. The ‘Unesco Reactive Monitoring…
Plants adapt to climate change better than many thought
Plants respond a bit better to global warming than scientists had thought, according to a new study that suggests their potential contribution to worsening global warming is not likely as bad as researcher believed. When it gets hotter, plants breathe…
Vessel plying thu’ Shela River of the Sunderbans suspended
Dhaka – The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) has suspended the plying of vessels through the Shela River following the capsize of a coal-laden cargo vessel in the river at Harintana of the Sundarbans under Mongla upazila. BIWTA Chairman…
Coal-laden vessel sinks in Shela River of Sundarbans
Dhaka – A coal-laden cargo vessel sank in the Shela River in Harintana area of the Sundarbans in Mongla upazila on Saturday evening. Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Sundarbans East Zone M Saidul Islam said Khulna-bound cargo vessel ‘Sea Horse’,…
For deforestation-free palm oil
The Palm Oil Innovation Group – a collective of companies and organisations which advocate for stronger industry standards on sustainable palm oil – has unveiled a new set of criteria to verify that the commodity is truly deforestation-free. The Palm…
‘Coal plant threatens world’s largest mangrove forest, Bangladesh’s future’
Mowdud Rahman & Greig Aitken As COP21 has reached its endgame, there are plans to build 2,440 coal-fired power plants around the world, write Mowdud Rahman & Greig Aitken. Their completion would send global temperatures, and sea levels, soaring. Yet…
“Our global strength is our local strength”
Montreux (Switzerland) – “As a grassroots organization, we have extremely important role to play in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as we can deliver them on the ground,” said Ben Gunneberg, CEO of PEFC International, as he opened the…
Unplanned navigation degrade Sunderbans, cloak its animal poaching
Mostafa Kamal Majumder The need for making lasting arrangements to secure the Sunderbans forests from oil spill and other abuses by ships navigating through its rivers and canals instead of relying on contingencies to face accidents was emphasised at a…
CPB, BSD ‘Save Sundarbans March’ ends at Bagerhat
The ‘Save Sundarbans March’ which was launched by Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) and Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal (BSD) on October 13 aiming to raise awareness against all environmentally destructive activities in the world’s largest mangrove forest, will be ended in…
Forest Deptt lacks capacity to conserve Sunderbans?
Bangladesh Forest Department has little capacity to conserve the Sundarbans, the country’s only natural tiger habitat, admits a top forest official. “The Forest Department lacks the capacity to conserve the Sundarbans…it requires more skilled manpower, arms and ammunition, and training,”…
Myanmar jails 153 Chinese illegal loggers for life
A court in northern Myanmar has sentenced 153 Chinese nationals to life in prison for illegal logging. The group were arrested in January in Kachin state, close to the Chinese border, during a military operation to crack down on illegal…
UN postpones action to halt deforestation under industry pressure
New York: The Global Forest Coalition [1] reacted furiously to the final draft of the Sustainable Development Goals released this week. Despite the fact that most Sustainable Development Goals were agreed upon in July 2014, the latest draft, which will…
Sunderbans flora, fauna under fresh threat as fertilizer ship sinks
A cargo vessel carrying potash fertilizer capsized in the Bhola River at Swarankhola Range of the Sundarbans East Zone. Amir Hossain Chowdhury, Divisional Forest Officer of the Sundarbans East Zone, has said that the cargo vessel – ‘Jabalenoor’ – ran…
Radiation from Fukushima disaster newly detected off Canada’s coast
Radiation from Japan’s 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster has for the first time been detected along a North American shoreline, though at levels too low to pose a significant threat to human or marine life, scientists said on Monday.
Deforestation could shift monsoons, leaving India high and dry
Large-scale deforestation could cause monsoon rains to shift south, cutting rainfall in India by nearly a fifth, scientists say.
Satellite data suggests forest loss is accelerating
Satellite images suggest tropical forests from the Amazon to the Philippines are disappearing at a far more rapid pace than previously thought, a University of Maryland team of forest researchers say.