General Updates from the World Land Trust

General updates and new additions to the website of World Land Trust, an international conservation organisation working to preserve the world's most biologically important and threatened lands.

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Wednesday, October 26, 2005:

Conservation & Environment News Roundup 

Latest News Headlines 

Brazilian Amazon being cut down twice as fast

"Loggers are cutting down trees in the Amazon rainforest at twice the rate of previous estimates, according to a new analysis of satellite images of the region. Earlier attempts to gauge the scale of deforestation were not sensitive enough to spot the occurrence of selective logging - the cutting down of individual trees without clearing the surrounding forest."

Read more: Brazilian Amazon being cut down twice as fast (News@Nature.com)

See also:

Selective logging 'doubles Amazon forest loss' (Science and Development Network)

Amazon 'stealth' logging revealed (BBC News)

Half of the world's coral reefs could be dead in 40 years

"Carl Gustaf Lundin, head of the IUCN's marine programme, said that up to 20 per cent of reefs had, in effect, already been destroyed. Mr Lundin said another 30 per cent of the world's reefs would be seriously affected if no action was taken in the next 20 to 40 years."

Read more: Half of the world's coral reefs could be dead in 40 years (The Independent)

'Standby culture' adds £120m a year to energy bills

"While three-quarters of employees say they have become more environmentally aware in the past five years, more than a third still fail to turn off their computers when not in the office. Energy campaigners say the "standby culture" is responsible for one million tons of carbon being pumped into the atmosphere each year."

Read more: 'Standby culture' adds £120m a year to energy bills (The Independent)

Bid to preserve Tanzania heritage

"Entry fees for Tanzania's Mount Kilimanjaro and Serengeti National Park will double next year in a bid to preserve the environment and curb the human impact of mass tourism."

Read more: Bid to preserve Tanzania heritage (BBC News)

Forest carbon storage 'depends on diversity'

"The ability of tropical forests to store large amounts of carbon and so help curb future climate change depends heavily on the tree species growing in them, say scientists.

This, in turn, is determined by logging and reforestation practices as well as environmental factors such as drought."

Read more: Forest carbon storage 'depends on diversity' (Science and Development Network)

 
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