Tree plantation wildfires in Spain are a warning sign
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Temperatures have peaked record high in many parts of Europe this week and the consequences are directly felt also in Europe’s forests. As highlighted in a discussion document published by the EPNearlier this year, there’s an increasingly clear link between climate change, large scale industrial tree plantations and forest fires.
Eating forests
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In a decade big consumer brands caused forest twice size of UK destroyed, to be replaced with soy or oil palm plantations and livestock farms. According to a report released by Greenpeace, “Countdown to extincion”, these brands had committed to eliminating deforestation by 2020. A commitment that that has remained on the paper.Congo, intimidation of environmentalists
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All over the Congo Basin pressure on civil society is growing, with an alarming rise in violence and other restrictions on civil society. In the Republic of Congo, repressive measures range from constraints on freedom of assembly, to excessive red tape and limitations on NGOs’ being able to freely express opinions without fear of retaliation.
1 million species at risk of extinction UN report says
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Human society is in jeopardy from the accelerating decline of the Earth’s natural life-support systems, the world’s leading scientists have warned, as they announced the results of the most thorough planetary health check ever undertaken. From coral reefs flickering out beneath the oceans to rainforests desiccating into savannahs, nature is being destroyed at a rate tens to hundreds of times higher than the average over the past 10m years, according to the UN global assessment report.
87 per cent of europeans support new laws to combat global deforestation, new poll shows
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An overwhelming majority of Europeans want new laws to ensure that the food they eat and the products they buy don’t drive global deforestation, according to a YouGov poll. Eighty-seven per cent of those polled across 25 EU countries agreed that legislation was necessary to protect forests. Ninety-one per cent also said they cared deeply about forests and agreed that deforestation is harmful for people and wildlife.