Rainforest Destruction – See Animals Wild

June 8, 2022June 28, 2022

A study found that 3/4 of oil palm concessions in Indonesia and Malaysian Borneo certified by RSPO were forest or wildlife habitat just 30 years ago!

It seems that so long as the initial cause of the deforestation was not palm oil (or perhaps not the current owners of the palm oil farm?), then even if it is immediately converted into palm oil plantations, it can be counted as sustainable.

I think that few people would claim that practices like this are sustainable

This is absurd. It should obviously be the case that if an area is deforested illegally, then it should be reforested, not get the right to permanently become part of the crop areas.

Not really good.

It essentially means that the RSPO affiliation means nothing, as those of us concerned about the destruction of the rainforest and the loss of the biodiversity that it contains cannot trust them at all. I have written in the past, about Newquay zoo getting its signs wrong on avoiding palm oil. What is clear, is that almost none of the palm oil from Indonesia can claim to be avoiding deforestation as you’d expect. Has the RSPO destroyed their authority for ever? Time will tell.

What is clear is that this is not a new thing. Back in 2016 the Huffington post wrote an article “RSPO: Completely Worthless, or Just Mostly Worthless? (UPDATED)” (click the article to read it in another tab) in which it basically outlines many of the points from this latest assessment. This study was more thorough, so can tell us the extent of the problem, but what is clear is that it is not new.

Should the RSPO be given a second chance? I would argue not. If they have not cleaned up shop in 6 years, then there is going to be little rainforest left before they actually get their act together. Can it be done? Ferrero is ranked number 1 out of 173 by WWF on sustainable palm oil sourcing. Clearly it can be done – However, brands that hold onto RSPO may well start being avoided by the eco-concerned. If they are that useless then why even look for their mark

June 1, 2022June 28, 2022

Deforestation in west Africa has doubled the frequency of life threatening storms

One of the main causes of these increased storms, is the fact that now the forest has been removed, there is a huge difference between the daytime temperature between the land and the sea.

This temperature gap is obviously causing winds, and so this is feeding storms.

Many lives have been lost over the last 20 year as a result of this. Unfortunately this coastal loss of forests is typical of where deforestation starts, however the climate impacts may hit us all over the next century.

April 26, 2022June 28, 2022

Bwindi impenetrable forest threatened by road plans

Ugandan authorities are considering two roads that will pass through Bwindi. These roads are likely to have two devastating impacts.

Currently this forest consists of unbroken forest – but will it?

Firstly, these roads are likely to splinter the park from the connected park across the border in the DCR. As with the proposed Serengeti road, neither side of the road is big enough for large ecosystems to survive long term, therefore you are threatening one of the biggest draws of tourists to the country – these tourists if well managed bring the means to pull millions out of poverty.

If these roads go ahead, then much damage will be done. Of greatest concern is a road that would run north to south in the far west of park, cutting the park off from its sister reserves across the border in the DRC. This could well lead the the rapid loss of the mountain gorilla population

The other problem is that roads ease the progress of poachers deep into the park. It has regularly been shown that a road is often the easiest way to remove the wildlife that lives in an area.

November 11, 2021June 30, 2022

Only 6.5% of the worlds forests are adequately protected!

Recent analysis has shown that designating an area protected, reducing threats it faces but does not eliminate them, and the study showed that deforestation inside a protected reserve is only 41% less likely to occur.

This view is repeated all over the earth

Now this is certainly a good reduction in risk, however, this still leaves substantial risk, and leaves us with the true figure of roughly 6.5%

If the earth is to avoid crippling climate change, we need all the forest we can retain.

We must do better

July 17, 2021June 30, 2022

Amazon rainforest: can it survive Bolsonaro?

I have been writing about Jair Bolsonaro for quite some time. Indeed, those who have been reading this blog for years will know that I became concerned in the run up to the election.

The destruction of the Amazon rainforest is hugely damaging. It is likely to effect the climate worldwide as well as carbon dioxide levels

He has a quite bizarre approach to many things. Indeed, his ruling style is very like Donald Trump. He doesn’t care about Brazil, merely that “his” people do well out of his presidency.

It is quite something, that academics and activists have come together to warn that with the increased attacks on the environmental protections, the Brazilian rainforest would not survive a second Bolsonaro term.

March 21, 2021March 23, 2021

Liberia has huge areas of intact rainforest: some of the last in west africa. Now its under threat

After the civil war, the Liberian government made a sensible decision in giving communities control to conserve the rainforests around their villages.

Despite this exploration companies have started turning up with permits to explore. These are often dubious, but it is quite common that by the time a permit has been proved false, it is too late.

May 25, 2020May 18, 2020

Bolsonaro has decided to open up 38000 square miles of Amazon rain forest indigenous reserves to outsiders

The latest move by Brazil’s president, while expected, goes against all of Brazil’s past agreements. Indigenous lands were given back- they are not a gift from the Brazilian government. Indigenous people have lived in the Brazilian rainforest for millennia longer than Europeans have been in South America.

March 4, 2020May 13, 2020

Dam that threatens the survival all of the rarest great ape is in the wrong place will make more carbon dioxide emissions during building and reduce emissions less than claimed

A recent analysis has shown that the the Dam that would cover 90% of the Tapanuli orangutan population has had the prospects of positive outcomes hugely hyped by it’s backers, and minimising negative facts about the Dam have been buried.

The region is already well connected to the grid with almost all Communities already served. Due to the astounding amount of Forest that would be lost if this damn were to be created, if it were to ever reduce carbon emissions it would take many decades if not centuries for the carbon cost of the dam to be offset by the electricity it creates. Given that in order to stop catastrophic climate change we need to be cutting carbon emissions now it will not help in this fight whatsoever.