After more than two years of negotiations, the European Council and European Parliament have signed a provisional agreement that, if approved, would ban illegal timber from entering the EU.
KOKRAJHAR, May 28: The 135 Battalion of the Eco Task Force (ETF) of Army, presently engaged in the re-plantation in Chirang reserve forest in Kokrajhar district, has seized at least 15 cubic feet of timber which was illegally brought from deep inside the Chirang reserve forest at Lumsung today at around 1.45 p.m. The smugglers, however, fled at the sight of the the vehicle.
KOKRAJHAR May24: Though the BTC Forest department has taken some steps against illegal felling of trees and encroachment in reserve forests in BTC, the syndromes continue unabated in the eyes of the department. The valuable sal logs are smuggled without much resistance for which the famous reserve forest virtually turns denudated. Depletion of forest also threatens habitat of wild animals.
Tam Dao National Park (TDNP) is a remaining primary forest that supports some of the highest levels of biodiversity in Vietnam. Forest conversion due to illegal logging and agricultural expansion is a major problem that is hampering biodiversity conservation efforts in the TDNP region. Yet, areas vulnerable to forest conversion are unknown.
Famous for its lush forests, the Kashmir valley is slowly loosing its green cover as there is no stopping the haphazard and illegal cutting of trees and timber smuggling. The green gold in Kashmir is openly being plundered by vested interests and the authorities seem to have turned a blind eye to the forests.
Gorillas, the largest of the great apes, are under renewed threat across the Congo Basin from Nigeria to the Albertine Rift: poaching for bushmeat, loss of habitat due to agricultural expansion, degradation of habitat from logging, mining and charcoal production are amongst these threats, in addition to natural epidemics such as ebola and the new
risk of diseases passed from humans to gorillas.
TURA: Large scale felling of trees from reserve forests of Garo Hills continues to take place even as the Forest Department personnel face a challenge from timber smugglers in their fight to contain this menace.
