LAW VS ILLEGAL LOGGING
[PHOTO - MT. PULAG (MT.
PULOG), Luzon's highest mountain at risk from illegal logging,
farming]
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN, JANUARY 26, 2012
(ABS-CBN) ABS-CBNnews.com - Filipinos in Sweden urged the
Philippine government to be stricter in implementing laws against illegal
logging, following the wrath of tropical storm Sendong that triggered
flashfloods and killed thousands in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan.
"Kulang po yung pangil para ipatupad yung ating batas at kulang po yung
initiative ng ating mga namamahala sa gubyerno. Sana po mapatupad ng tama ang
ating batas na nauukol po sa ating kapaligiran," said overseas Filipino worker
Erik Tuazon.
Another OFW, Ramil Lasin, also stressed the important role that the local
government plays in implementing the law.
"Ang problema lang kasi is implementation ng programang ito. Siguro dapat ang
gubyerno magkaroon ng sapat na ngipin upang parusahan ang magba-violate ng
programang ito. Secondly, dapat magkaroon din ng responsibility ang local
government para ma-implement ang programang ito dahil sila ang may direct
contact sa mga nasasakupan nila," said Lasin.
For his part, Fr. Nelson Caserial maintained that each one has a role to play
in keeping the environment safe, particularly the private sector.
"Malaki po ang katungkulan ng bawat isa, especially po ang pribadong kumpanya
na nagiging dahilan sa mga paminsalang sakunang ito. Nawa ang ating gubyerno ay
mapagtibay ang mga batas na talagang magbibigay ng matagalang solusyon para sa
ating mga kababayan," said Fr. Caserial.
In Spain, the Filipino community prayed for those who died in Cagayan de Oro
and Iligan City during Sendong.
"Itong banal na misa ay iniaalay ng komunidad ng Pilipino para po sa
nasalanta ng bagyong Sendong na puminsala po sa Cagayan de Oro at sa Iligan
noong nakaraang buwan," labor attache Ramon Tionglo said.
A second collection was also made for the rehabilitation of communities
ravished by Sendong.
Meanwhile, Ambassador Carlos Salinas thanked Spain for the financial support
it provided to the Philippines.
"I am very thankful to the very good response that we have received
especially to the government of Spain," she said. With
reports from Vangie Jorquia and Dianne Malonzo, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau
correspondents
Filipino Events in the UK LOVE BOAT (The Next
Wave)
A Valentines Party in aid of Typhoon Sendong Relief Appeal on 5 February
2012, 10:30.
Entrance by pre-booked tickets only. Adults £10 (Children 4-12) £5
(under
4) £2. Inclusive of buffet food, entertainment & disco.
P&O Pride of Rotterdam Show Lounge, King George Dock, Terminal 1, Hull
The YMFC MAHARLIKA in association with the Philippine Embassy UK are
initiating TYPHOON SENDONG RELIEF APPEAL thru this party.
If any of you are unable to attend this event, you can still support us by
donating cash from .50p to any amount you want.
100% of the proceeds will go to the PHILIPPINE RED
CROSS.
Programme as follows: Guest's: arrival @ approx 10:30 hrs in Terminal No 1,
King George Dock, Hull.
All guests * must have in their possession a passport or photographic ID to
present to the Terminal security prior to boarding the vessel.
2 x ships staff to assist with embarkation, positioned in the Terminal from
10.30 hrs. 11.30 – 13.00 hrs
Gift and Perfume shop to be open – No alcohol or tobacco products will be on
sale 11.30 – 15.00 hrs
Show Bar open for the sale of soft drinks / minerals / tea & coffee – The
sale of Alcohol and Tobacco is NOT permitted.
12.00 – 14.00 hrs (Hot / Cold buffet selection) in Show Bar 11.30 - 14.00
hrs.
FUN-D-RAISING (Stand up/Sit down BINGO), Raffle Draw and Auction 14:00 -
15:30 hrs.
Show Bar (Entertainment)/Disco 15:30 hrs – event ends - guest vacate the
vessel
*** All proceeds in aid of Typhoon Sendong Relief Appeal
**** Attire: Formal shades of red. Please contact Lolita Boddy of Yorkshire Maharlika
Filipino Club (you need to log into facebook)
FROM THE www.bbc.uk
'Peak timber' concerns in tropics
[PHOTO - Tropical timber production exceeds forests' ability to replace
the felled trees, the study says]
Current tropical timber practices are not sustainable and nations should
consider the "implications of 'peak timber'", a study has suggested.
A team of researchers says the standard cutting cycle of 30-40 years is too
short to allow trees to grow to a volume required by commercial loggers.
As a result, they add, the pressure to harvest primary forests will continue,
leading to ongoing deforestation.
The findings have been published in the journal Biological
Conservation].
The scientists used logging on the Solomon Islands as an example because it
was, in some respects, "a microcosm of the challenges facing sustainable forest
management in the tropics".
They said the industry had been a major source of government revenue for a
number of years.
Yet, they added: "For nearly a decade, the nation had been warned that the
volume of timber annually harvested from native forests was too high and, if
unchecked, that timber stocks would be seriously depleted by 2012.
"In 2009, the Central Bank of the Solomon Islands asserted that (the)
exhaustion of timber stocks had arrived even earlier that predicted and its
economic consequences were likely to be severe."
Pushing the limit
The team - made up by Dr Phil Shearman and Jane Bryan from the Australian
National University, and Prof William Laurance from James Cook University,
Australia - said the trajectory of the country's timber production (a rapid
increase in production, followed by a peak and then a decline) was akin to the
'Hubbert curve', which has been observed in the exploitation of non-renewable
resources, such as oil.
"It is occurring in the Solomons because timber extraction has occurred at a
rate far in excess of the capacity of the forests to regenerate commercial
timber stocks," they wrote.
The researchers suggested that there were three main factors that made it
difficult to find examples of sustainable forestry in the tropics:
* Low level of marketable timber production - many tree species having
unsuitable wood properties, and the slow growth rate of commercially viable
specimens is another factor.
* Collateral damage - while logging in the tropics tends to focus on a
small fraction of the trees, many others are damaged or killed as a result of
the network of access roads to the area being logged.
* Second-wave clearance - the "labyrinths of logging roads have opened
up vast swaths... for colonisation, hunting, illegal mining and other
destructive activities".
[PHOTO - Deforestation accounts for up to 20% of annual greenhouse gas
emissions from human activities]
As well as these factors, the problem of illegal logging was also threatening
primary forest cover in many nations.
A joint
World Bank and Interpol project called Chainsaw produced a report in
2010 that highlighted the widespread nature of the problem.
"Illegal logging is one, very significant, component of a complex array of
problems that are leading to a worldwide crisis of forest loss and degradation,"
it reported.
It went on to say that Interpol estimated that an area of forests "equivalent
in size to the territory of Austria" disappeared worldwide every year as the
result of illegal logging.
The report added: "They also estimate that the percentage of timber marketed
worldwide of illegal origin stands at between 20% and 50% of all marketed timber
products."
Prof Laurance and the team said that the Redd (Reducing emissions from
deforestation and forest degradation) concept could be an avenue that offered
some hope in the future.
Redd is essentially a way of paying developing countries or communities
within them to preserve their forests.
"We believe that some Redd+ funds should be directed at initiatives designed
to keep loggers and their associated road networks out of forests, rather than
merely modifying logging operations," they wrote.
The team concluded with a stark warning: "Unless something fundamental
changes... we believe that logged tropical forests will continue to be
over-harvested and, far too frequently, cleared afterwards, leading to an
inevitable global decline in native timber supplies.
"It has become common these days to speak of 'peak oil'. In the tropics, we
assert, we should also begin to seriously consider the implications of 'peak
timber'." Source (www.bbc.co.uk)
Chief News Editor: Sol
Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE
NEWS ONLINE
All rights reserved
PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS
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