Forest Restoration Introductory Course

Module 1

• Introductory Video
• Ecology and Ecosystem Services of Tropical Forests
• Introduction to disturbance, regeneration, succession of tropical forests
• Ashton et al. 2001, Restoration pathways for rain forest in southwest Sri Lanka: a review of concepts and models (PDF)
• Wunder 2005, Payments for environmental services: Some nuts and bolts (PDF)
  

"Exposing people to Endosulfan is a crime" - HEAD

28 June 2008

"Exposing People to Endosulfan is a Crime" - HEAD

The delayed admission that the sunken Princess of the Stars was carrying 10,000 kilos of the highly lethal pesticide endosulfan has placed thousands of people directly in harms way. Somebody should be held criminally liable for this.

Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD) today strongly condemned the belated announcement by government officials that the ship was carrying massive quantities of a highly poisonous substance, the condition of which remains unknown and could possibly be leaking already.

"Endosulfan is a highly toxic substance that should be banned and not only strictly regulated. If it can go through government inspectors despite its enormous amount, there is either an outright collusion or a gross negligence between Sulpicio, Del Monte Philippines, Inc. (as owners), and government maritime regulatory bodies." According to Dr. Geneve Rivera, HEAD secretary-general.

"All of these parties should be held criminally liable. They have not only unduly exposed rescuers and volunteers by their late admission but they have also placed entire communities at risk."

HEAD is worried that current investigations are all for show and that in the end, no one will be penalized or held accountable.

"The Arroyo government should act decsisively and resolutely, even if the axe falls on its own agencies. Sulpicio Lines has been involved in 3 previous sea disater that victimized thousands but it continues to operate." Said Dr. Rivera, "Now we might have a double tragedy: the sinking of a passenger ship and the possible massive exposure to endosulfan."

Under Philippine laws, endosulfan is prohibited from being used near aquatic ecosystems, mainly because it is also highly toxic to fish. It is therefore surprising that it is being transported by sea and near populated areas.

"Government regulatory bodies such as the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority, and even the Department of Health, should be aware of how these substances are used, transported, and stored because these are public health concerns." added Dr. Rivera.

Aside from acute poisoning, chronic exposure to endosulfan even in small amounts is just as dangerous and lethal.

"Endosulfan is an endocrine disruptor that has an adverse effect on growth, development, and reproduction. Women and children are especially vulnerable. It can also cause nervous system disorders as well as cancer."####

Nueva Vizcaya LGU withdraws support to Australian mining firm

Nueva Vizcaya LGU withdraws support to Australian mining firm
Bayan Muna hails Provincial Board for unprecedented decision in local govt history

BAYAN MUNA Rep. Teddy Casiño today hailed the provincial government of Nueva Vizcaya for “taking the another decisive step to protect its people and its fragile forests and watersheds” by voting to withdraw its support to the entry of Australian mining firm OceanaGold Philippines, Inc. in Barangay Didipio, Kasibu town.

“We congratulate Nueva Vizcaya Provincial Board led by Vice Governor Jose Gambito and Board Members Edu Balgos and Merlie Talingdan, proponents of the move to totally withdraw support and endorsement to OceanaGold to mine a significant part of Kasibu town. Board members Glenn Afan, Efren Quiben, Tony Dupiano, Evangeline Burton of the Sangguniang Kabataan Federation and Amado Mangaoang of the Liga ng Barangay Federation also deserve commendation as they have also sided with their constituents who value their biodiversity and their peaceful way of life. These local government officials, along with their good Gov. Luisa Cuaresma and Kasibu Mayor Romeo Tayaban are making history with this move,” Casiño said.

The militant solon added that “this is an unprecedented milestone in our country’s history of local governance. This should set a shining example to all other local governments under siege by arrogant and environmentally- destructive foreign large-scale mining companies.”

The Provincial Board passed the resolution on second reading with a vote of 7-4, with one abstention, and one absence. It shall take effect on passage of the motion on third reading later this month amid the ongoing impasse between the province and OceanaGold over payment of local taxes.

“This will teach OceanaGold and power-drunk officials of the national government agencies like Environment Sec. Lito Atienza a lesson. They should heed the oppposition of the local people – indigenous peoples, small scale miners and farmers included – and local authorities who will directly suffer the long-term damage from large-scale mining operations. We also hope that other local government units take this historical move of the Nueva Vizcaya provincial government into consideration,” Casiño said.

In support the LGU move, Bayan Muna also shared the view that OceanaGold, with the help of certain national government line agencies, committed various social, civil, human rights and environmental violations.

“The provincial board was right in its decision to defend the people of Nueva Vizcaya, this will also help us in the ongoing probe into the operations and the alleged dirty tricks, bribery and human rights violations of OceanaGold at the House of Representatives,” Casiño said.

Casiño is the author of House Resolution 594 that mandated the Congressional Committee on National Cultural Communities to probe OceanaGold’s entry into Nueva Vizcaya’s remaining forestlands and the critical watershed areas in the region. #

Probe on $6 million DENR Air Monitoring Network Project sought

April 14, 2007

Probe on $6 million DENR Air Monitoring Network Project sought; Re-electionist administration solon among those in hot water

Environmental activists today urged a government probe on a $6 million air pollution monitoring project between the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and a private joint venture, expressing grave concern over highly-questionable transactions and suspicious actions of senior government officials, including DENR Secretary Angelo Reyes and a prominent administration congressman.

In a press conference held this morning by Kalikasan Peoples' Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE), environmental activists Clemente Bautista, Jr. and Ester Perez de Tagle Concerned Citizens Against Pollution (COCAP) presented a complaint sent to the Office of the Ombudsman regarding the DENR's Ambient Air Network Project, which involved the setting up, maintenance, and operation of ten (10) air monitoring stations meant to measure ambient air (or air outside and surrounding an air pollution source location) and pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, ozone, particulate matter and total suspended solids.

The contract, amounting to US$6,163,000.00, was awarded to a joint venture between Emissions Technology Inc., a Guam-based company, and its local partner Industromach Inc. (ETI-IMACH) on November 2002. However, on February 14, 2005, IMACH officially withdrew from its partnership with the ETI, citing as reasons the ETI's misrepresentation with regards to its expertise in ambient air monitoring, its use of unreliable equipment, unilateral deviation of contract obligations, project management conflicts, overcharging local expatriate and local personnel rates, and non-payment of IMACH's project operation and maintenance expenditures.

On November 2004, the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) recommended that the payments for the project's operations and maintenance by suspended in light of the contractors failure to complete the rehabilitation and improvement of all ten stations and to address nagging technical and legal issues. On October 17, 2006, the EMB and the DENR's legal departments recommended to Sec. Reyes the termination of the contract.

Despite the suspension of payments and recommendations to end the contract, the DENR has agreed to continue with its transactions with ETI. Last December 13, 2006, the DENR and the ETI, through a meeting with Sec. Reyes, agreed to pay to ETI more than $1,117,864.13 million worth of unsettled billings and to possibly extend the project for another year.

These incidents prompted IMACH Managing Director Eduardo L. Mendoza to send a complaint to the Office of the Ombudsman. Mendoza argued that the terms of the latest agreement were highly prejudicial to the government.

"Setting aside my company's interest in this transaction...I have decided to come out and expose the truth about the Ambient Air Project in the hope that those liable would be held to account for their actions and participations", Mendoza wrote. (Please refer to the letter of Industromach Incorporated dated 16 March 2007 and the briefer prepared by Kalikasan PNE).

"This transaction should merit a full-blown investigation by the [Office of the Ombudsman] involving as it does the payment of millions of dollars allocated for that component of a loan package extended by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) under its Clean Air Program as well as the highly suspicious actions of senior officials of the DENR and the participation of a prominent member of the Lower House of Congress," Mendoza wrote in a complaint received by the General Investigation Bureau-A of the Office of the Ombudsman on March 21, 2007.

The solon referred to by Mendoza is administration Cong.Edcel C. Lagman, representing the 1st district of Albay and currently running for a second term.

Lagman previously served as legal representative for ETI-IMACH during the start of the project and has received amounts of $60,000, $63,255, $100,000, $40,000 and $100,000 on various dates from 2002 to 2003, representing his initial lawyer's fee, his success fee for the awarding of the contract, and the last three amounts as partial payment for marketing expenses, respectively.

After his election to the House of Representatives during the 2004 national elections, Cong. Lagman continued to personally attend meetings related to the project in 2005 despite his active participation in two impeachment proceedings in Congress, even stating that it was his intention to mediate between the ETI and EMB on the financial issues of the contract. He even requested the EMB to convey his concern to the DENR top maangement and to pay what is due to ETI before the budget hearing started in October 2005, Bautista noted.

"These actions of Cong. Lagman betray his real interest in arguing against the termination of the [project] and securing for ETI this highly prejudicial agreement with the DENR," Mendoza said.

"Cong. Lagman's presence at the meetings is questionable and anomalous, as even the Congress' House Rules state that a solon should not be directly or indirectly financially interested in any contract with a government agency during his term in office," Bautista said.


"It's a useless and expensive failure," Bautista said of the project. "The failure to produce credible data on air pollution will not go in the way of mitigating, but in fact worsen, the state of air pollution plaguing Metro Manila. This will only pose more threats to the peoples' health, as we have no way of

"If the Arroyo administration can not even implement an efficient project to monitor air quality, how can we even expect it to solve the greater problems of massive air pollution and climate change?" Bautista said.

"We want clean air and clean electoral candidates. This case violates the principles of good governance and only reinforces the reality that a project may be approved by government agencies and be even extended for as long as one has powerful backers among the Arroyo administration, irregardless of whether it contributes to the welfare of the environment or not," he added.

Meanwhile, Joey Papa of Bangon Kalikasan Movement warned of the continuing threat of air pollution, which the project has failed to efficiently monitor to date.

"The deterioration of air quality in Metro Manila is already a grave environmental and health problem that should be correctly addressed. Metro Manila's air is reported to carry a high level of particulate matter which exceeds World Health Organization (WHO) standards by two or three times. The WHO itself lists Metro Manila as among the most polluted cities in the world, next to Mexico City, Shanghai, and New Delhi, Shanghai," he said. ###

Stench of Fuel Hangs over Philippine Marine Park

Stench of Fuel Hangs over Philippine Marine Park

August 17, 2006 � By Dolly Aglay, Reuters


TAKLONG ISLAND, Philippines � The waters of the Taklong marine reserve in the central Philippines glisten in the sunlight but stink of fuel as thick sludge washes ashore.

As disaster workers and residents of nearby villages tried again on Thursday to contain last week's oil spill from a sunken tanker off the island of Guimaras, worries were growing about the impact on fish, plants, people and tourism in the area.

"My fear is all the mangrove trees will die," Joseph Gajo, a caretaker at the 1,143-hectare marine reserve (2,857 acres), told Reuters. "If the mangroves and coral die, this will affect fishermen."

The mangroves, coral reefs and seagrass beds of Taklong, on the southern tip of Guimaras island, serve as a feeding and nursery ground for 144 species of fish and other sea creatures.

Along the coastline, men were putting up nets to try to keep the spill from washing ashore. In another area, rubber boats were being used as barriers.

The provincial government declared Guimaras a disaster zone after the spill of about 200,000 litres of bunker oil on Friday.

Chartered by Petron Corp., the largest oil refiner in the Philippines, the tanker was carrying about 2 million litres of the industrial fuel when it sank in rough seas.

Officials have warned that the pollution could take three years to clean up, with more than 15,000 people and 200 km (120 miles) of coastline affected.

"We have no catch, we are leaving now. We can't stand the smell of bunker oil," one of two fisherman shouted as they paddled a small boat near the marine reserve.

MORE OIL IN SHIP

The spill of about 200 tonnes of oil is the worst to hit the Philippines but pales against the world's biggest accident, the 1979 collision between the Atlantic Empress and another vessel that leaked 287,000 tonnes into the sea off Tobago.

Still, Philippine officials fear a wider disaster if the estimated 1,800 tonnes still inside the sunken tanker seep out.

"The ship is divided into 10 tanks. Each tank contains 200,000 litres," Arthur Gosingan, head of the Coast Guard, told Reuters. "We hope none of the remaining tanks will rupture."

Some families have moved away from the shores of Guimaras, about 470 km south of Manila, as the fuel washes up on beaches, staining sand and trees.

Health officials have advised residents not to eat anything from the contaminated waters but some people, dependent on the sea for food, have ignored the warning.

Environmental group Greenpeace said the Philippines must hold Petron and its partners accountable for the damage.

"We will go after those who may be found responsible and liable for this environmental catastrophe," said Ignacio Bunye, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's spokesman.

"In the meantime, let us focus our energies and resources on a fast clean-up to prevent the spread of pollution." (With reporting by Karen Lema)

Source: Reuters

Environmental group lobbies to UK Parliamentarian Clare Short to help stop rights violations in mining communities

August 1, 2006

Environmental group lobbies to UK Parliamentarian Clare Short to help stop rights violations in mining communities

United Kingdom Member of the Parliament and Human Rights advocate Clare Short met with the environmental activist group Kalikasan-People's Network for the Environment (Kalikasan-PNE) and Batasan 5 legislators today to discuss the mining situation and debilitating human rights situation in the country.

Clare Short is visiting the country to get first hand information on the operation of foreign mining companies in the country. She is currently a United Kingdom Member of the Parliament for Birmingham Ladywood and was the Secretary of State for International Development from 1997 to 2003. She is also known as an advocate for peace and women's rights.

Clare Short gained international prominence when she resigned as international department secretary of the Blair Government in May 2003 over broken promises of British Prime Minister Tony Blair on the future of Iraq. She similarly led calls for the British Prime Minister to step down.

"The participation of Clare Short in the mining campaign will greatly help in educating the people in United Kingdom and Europe on the social impacts, economic dislocations and environmental destruction brought about by the operations of transnational mining companies (mining TNCs) in here," says Clemente Bautista Jr., national coordinator of Kalikasan-PNE.

There are at least four European mining companies involved in the 24 priorities large-scale mining projects of the Arroyo administration. Three of these are from UK, namely, BHP Billiton, Toledo Copper Plc. of London, Queensland Nickel Inc, and Crew Minerals AS Norway.

"One of the negative social impacts of mining TNCs operations is the high incidence of human rights violations in mining-affected communities. Particular cases include the forced dislocation of Subanon families, an indigenous people in Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte to clear the way for the operation of Canadian-owned Toronto Venture Inc., and the killings of environmental activists in Mindoro Oriental which is related to the nickel mining project of Crew Minerals."

"Our records show that already 13 anti-mining activists and leaders have been killed under the Arroyo administration. Eight of them were killed in 2005 to 2006. In addition to these are the forced disappearance of Joey Estriber of Aurora Province and the attempted murder of Fr. Allan Caparro of Leyte Province, who at that time of the incidents, are both active in the campaign against foreign large-scale mining."

"These human rights violations are results of the Arroyo administration's all out support to foreign mining TNCs. Military and the police act to protect the investments of mining TNCs. Mining companies are encouraged to employ private armies by the government."

"We hope that through Ms Short's watchful concern on the local mining issues, the affected communities may get a reprieve on the problems they face and the struggle in the country will gain more supporters from the international community," Mr. Bautista ends. ###

Big Three Cars Emit 230 Million Tons of Greenhouse Gas

Big Three Cars Emit 230 Million Tons of Greenhouse Gas

June 29, 2006 — By Deborah Zabarenko, Reuters


WASHINGTON — Cars built by the Big Three automakers gave off 230 million metric tons of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide in the United States in a year, more than the biggest U.S. electric utility, environmental researchers said Wednesday.

General Motors, Ford and DaimlerChrysler cars and light trucks emitted nearly three-fourths of all carbon dioxide from vehicles on U.S. roads in 2004, the year for which statistics were available, according to the watchdog group Environmental Defense.

Nine other car manufacturers with vehicles on the U.S. market accounted for an additional 84 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, bringing the total for all cars and light trucks in operation in 2004 to 314 million metric tons, the report found.

General Motors vehicles gave off 99 million metric tons or 31 percent of the total; Ford vehicles emitted 80 million metric tons or 25 percent and DaimlerChrysler vehicles emitted 51 million metric tons or 16 percent, according to the report.

By comparison, the largest U.S. electric utility, American Electric Power, had emissions of 41 million metric tons.

Greenhouse gases, notably carbon dioxide, contribute to global warming, which in turn has been blamed for more severe hurricanes, rising seas and other environmental ills. Though greenhouse gas emissions have most frequently been associated with coal-fired power plants, the new report aims to point up comparable emissions from automobiles.

"The image of the power plant, with a smokestack and stuff billowing out of it, creates that sense of a lot of pollution in one place," John DeCicco, co-author of the report, said by telephone. "People don't necessarily understand that the millions of vehicles are part of the problem that is a really comparable scale."

He stressed a shared responsibility among consumers, auto manufacturers and policy makers.

"It's hard to pin just on General Motors the responsibility for that 20-year-old Chevy that's putting carbon up into the air," DeCicco said.

With just 5 percent of the world's population, the United States has 30 percent of the world's automobiles and produces 45 percent of the world's automotive carbon dioxide emissions, the report said. U.S. cars are driven more and burn more fuel per mile than the international average.

Source: Reuters