forest – Page 4 – See Animals Wild

November 2, 2021June 30, 2022

Ikea the Swedish flat pack giant has a green reputation but this may be less right than it should be

A large portion of Sweden is covered in forest. While native trees are grown, these vast plantations are actually cut down regularly. Given it may take a few decades for trees to grow to maturity, much of the country is left pretty wild.

Although much of Sweden looks wild, the forests are regularly cut down for timber. Still the forests support a healthy population of bears, and a growing population of wolves

While the Swedish people are quite keen hunters, there are significant numbers of bears, and even a small but growing population of wolves.

This is why it is so worrying to find that some of the wood in their products actually came from protected forests in Russia.

It was as much a surprise to Ikea as to us, and they have cut off deals with the company at fault.

This just highlights the incredible difficulty in making sure your products are completely clean. Never-the-less a similar mistake in the near future might have a bigger impact on their reputation, they must increase the level of their due diligence.

October 31, 2021June 30, 2022

JBS a beef giant in Brazil has promised to go deforestation free – in 14 years; response?

Much of the deforestation that is occurring in Brazil is to make more room for cattle grazing. The promise of a beef giant to stop deforesting in 14 years is not worth anything. Apart from anything, it is likely that the have calculated that it will take 14 years to clear the land that they currently have access to.

A promise to reform your bad behaviour in 14 years is worth nothing. Indeed in a new Soy and Cattle deforestation tracker, JBS scored 1 point out of 100. As a point of context, its nearest competitors scored 40 and 46 out of 100.It has congratulated itself as the first company in its industry to make commitments, but no one else is impressed. They have had to many chances, now we must move away from buying their product.

The fact that they felt they needed to make a commitment would suggest that market pressure is working, clearly there has not been enough pressure bought to bare on this group. A boycott would likely be a good move. Morrisons Aldi Sainsbury and Lidl all buy meat from this company. My suggestion is that you buy your meat from companies which actually worry about things like this – If one of these companies are forced to drop this beef supplier, it is likely to force the others to do the same. They managed to get good converge last September, when they remade a commitment that they originally made in 2009 to halt deforestation through its suppliers – the bigger question should have been why havent you lived up to your 2009 pledge. It should be noted, the forests they are clearing are not grown for wood, they are old growth natural woodland, coming with it are the tens of thousands of species that are endangered or eradicated as their forests are lost.

JBS has consistently worked to keep their supply chain as opaque as possible, presumably to avoid being held accountable. They have now had enough time, and so it is time for action. If you shop at any of the food chains above, ask about where the meat comes from, and avoid any beef that does not have its origin clearly labelled.

We may not have rainforests to cut down in the UK, but if you continue to eat JBC meat, you may as well have got out the axe yourself.

July 21, 2021June 30, 2022

Parts of the Amazon rainforest (as with the Congo and others around the world) are no longer carbon sinks

For as long as people have studied the carbon cycle, forests are considered essential carbon sinks. Unfortunately as we damage them, their ability to absorb carbon reduces.

A new study has confirmed, that large parts of the Amazon rainforest have crossed this line.

For many, it is hard to believe that humans could impact such a huge ecosystem, but we have, and without action this ecosystem will cease to exist

June 11, 2021June 30, 2022

Great apes predicted to loose 90% of their range in the coming decades

It is thought that between global warming and habitat loss, 90% of the remaining great ape range will be lost – potentially as early as 2050!

Wild Bonobo resting in a tree Photo taken by Alexander Georgiev

The loss of these rainforests will make climate change mitigation far harder, and I do not wish for my grandchildren to grow up in a world where there is no such thing as a large rainforest. As elsewhere, the loss of the apex species such as great apes both makes conservation harder, and imperils the ecosystem as a whole, as less visitors come so there is less money for protection.

March 11, 2021July 1, 2022

A forest is replanted after minister is found to have illegally cleared it

This story is extremely encouraging. Around the world, large plantation companies often encourage small holders to clear the land and then buy it from them.

This area of deforested land was within a protected area, and should never have been cleared

The idea that this behaviour of getting other people to clear the land is permissible is insane. I personally would like countries to punish illegal clearance by always requiring full reforestation at the cost of the guilty party – this would likely end the scourge of illegal deforestation (then we must start working on so called legal deforestation)

July 22, 2019May 14, 2020

Forest elephants make a significant difference to the amount of Carbon that trees hold

It is only in the last couple of decades that genetic research was done to find the forest elephants of Africa are a completely different species to the bush elephants found out on the Savanna – which is the species most people see. Talking about these elephant species, bare in mind that the forest elephant has been shown to be more closely related to the mammoth than to the African Savanna elephant.

July 7, 2019May 14, 2020

On the hunt for wild boar in the Forest of Dean

During half term I took my two children, aged 4 and 6, up to the Forest of Dean for a couple of days. As with many parts of Europe this forest is quite old and wonderfully wild. However this wilderness is helped by being far more natural than other forests in the UK. One of the many species that we killed off is highly important for forests as their hunting for food turns the soil and allows for regeneration. I am of course talking about wild boar.