Activists seek fresh ban on Sierra Leone timber exports

WOOD PILE

by Staff Writers
Freetown (AFP) Sept 1, 2008
The Environmental Forum for Action, one of the most influentual activist groups in Sierra Leone, called Monday on the government to reimpose the ban on timber exports that was lifted in July.

"With less than five percent of forested areas left in the country, the decision by the minister of forestry (Sam Sesay) to lift the ban will be disastrous for the environment and will lead to severe scarcity of timber in the local market," it said in a statement to local news media.

It said the decision "threatens Sierra Leone's rich biodiversity of 3,000 plants, 74 of which are endemic, and several species of mammals, reptiles and birds which can never be replaced".

It went on to express "concern over developments in the logging industry," citing the presence in Sierra Leone of Taakor Tropical Hardwoods, a global timber operator, "despite the small area of forest remaining in the country".

Chinese and Southeast Asian outfits dominate the logging market in the west African state, squeezing out small-scale operators to an extent that has led to constant friction, environmental observers said.

Although timber export data is disputed, trade ministry figures show that a total of 20,000,000 dollars worth of timber was exported to East Asia in 2007.

Environmental bodies contend that twice that amount has been smuggled into neighbouring Guinea and Liberia and then re-exported.

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS
Solar Energy Solutions
Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ...

Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News

WOOD PILE

China's former richest man gets jail for illegal logging: report

Beijing (AFP) Aug 29, 2008
A Chinese businessman once listed as the richest in the country has been jailed for more than ten years for illegal logging, state media said Friday.

AEROSPACE Chinese airlines fly into headwinds in Olympic year The M2-F1 - An Aircraft Without Wings China's Tianjin building runway for Airbus test flights: report NASA evaluates new wing sensor	CAR TECH Rice University And Zipcar Help Students To Share Cars Car Tires To Lose Lead Weights Japan to start leasing new fuel cell hybrid World's First Full-Sized, Long-Range, All-Electric Luxury Sedan At 2008 DNC
MILITARY COMMUNICATIONS DataPath Wins Suppport Contract For US CENTCOM SatComm Hubs Satellite's Data Collection Will Support Warfighter Boeing Awarded E-6B Upgrade Contract Defense Support Program Satellite Decommissioned	MISSILE DEFENSE Missile Defense Elements Participate In Air Force Test BMD Games And The Caucasus Crisis Part One Aerojet THAAD Boost Motor Passes Final Qualification Test BMD Focus: Patriots for Poland
FARM NEWS Overfishing Pushes Baltic Cod To Brink Of Economic Extinction CSIRO Scientist Wins Major Cotton Industry Award TVA Fertilizer Technology Used Worldwide Going veggie can slash your carbon footprint, study says	DISASTER MANAGEMENT Vulnerable children ride out Hurricane Gustav in hospital Cuba weighs huge Gustav damage, Castro hails evacuations 6-10 bln dlrs insured losses from Gustav: expert Republicans shut down most of convention over Hurricane
TECH SPACE North Korea marks long-range missile test Eyes turn to dawn of 'visual computing' NPL To Create Encyclopedia For Space Nanomaterials Key Advance Toward Micro-Spacecraft	ROBO SPACE Robots Learn To Follow Robot-assisted surgery repairs fistulas Japanese Researchers Eye e-Skin For Robots Robots may enhance disabled people's lives

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright Space.TV Corporation. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space.TV Corp on any Web page published or hosted by Space.TV Corp. Privacy Statement