Region Archives: International

Opinion / EdiTOADial

2025 is a supply-side story as demand is weak across all forest product segments

By Kevin Mason, Managing Director
ERA Forest Products Research
July 7, 2025
Category: Opinion / EdiTOADial
Region: Canada, United States, International

Kevin Mason

In looking across the entire forest products space this year, it is abundantly clear that demand is weak across all segments. There is no expectation of an improvement in 2025 as consumption remains poor and restocking efforts are expected to be limited. As such, any hopes of better supply/demand dynamics are going to come down to supply discipline (slowbacks/downtime/closures). We have some thoughts about how this might play out in the various sectors: Timber and Timberland—Timber harvest guidance will naturally follow wood products demand. Finding a home for pulpwood has been problematic for several years and will only become more difficult amid ongoing downstream capacity shuts. New demand is possible over time, but nothing is expected in the near-term.

Solid Wood—A raft of capacity closures in both Canada and the US had brought the lumber market into better balance to begin 2025. However, with demand weakening further through the first half of 20025 (and given a bleak medium-term outlook), further capacity rationalization will be required to restore balance and lift prices (Canada will be the focus, but the US could also see shuts). In OSB, prices are already at cash- cost levels, demand could slip further in the coming months, and new greenfield capacity is slated for late ’25 and early ’26. Accordingly, closures/downtime are sorely needed. For both lumber and OSB, producers may be awaiting the outcome of the Section 232 investigation before making major changes to operations.

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Business & Politics

US Trade Representative to investigate Brazil’s trade, ethanol and forestry market practices

By Joe Adamy
Michigan Farm News
July 17, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, International

Is Brazil playing fair when it comes to trade? An investigation launched July 15 by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) aims to find the answer. The Section 301 investigation will seek to determine whether acts, policies, and practices of the Government of Brazil related to a host of trade issues — including ethanol market access and forestry practices — are “unreasonable or discriminatory and burden or restrict U.S. commerce.” “Brazil has walked away from its willingness to provide virtually duty-free treatment for U.S. ethanol and instead now applies a substantially higher tariff on U.S. ethanol exports,” the USTR office wrote in announcing the investigation. The announcement also said Brazil appears to be failing to effectively enforce laws and regulations designed to stop illegal deforestation — which undermines the competitiveness of U.S. producers of timber and ag products.

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US Makes Affirmative Preliminary Determination in Trade Cases on Hardwood and Decorative Plywood from China, Indonesia, and Vietnam

By Wiley Rein LLP
PR Newswire
July 7, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, International

WASHINGTON — In a victory for US producers of hardwood and decorative plywood (HWDP), the US International Trade Commission (ITC) found that there is a reasonable indication that imports from China, Indonesia, and Vietnam are materially injuring the US HWDP industry. The Commission’s vote comes in response to petitions filed on behalf of the Coalition for Fair Trade in Hardwood Plywood. …The cases allege that unfairly dumped and subsidized imports of Chinese, Indonesian, and Vietnamese HWDP are injuring the domestic industry and threaten the industry with further injury. …The ITC’s affirmative preliminary injury determination paves the way for Commerce to move forward with its investigations. Unless extended, Commerce is expected to issue its preliminary CVD determination in August 2025 and its preliminary AD determination in October 2025. If Commerce also reaches affirmative preliminary determinations in these cases, provisional AD and CVD duties will be collected from importers based on the preliminary margins calculated.

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Firms admit laundering Russian wood into the EU, in sanctions- busting trade worth over €1.5bn

Earthsight.org.uk
July 14, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: International

Investigators at UK-based non-profit, Earthsight, have uncovered a booming trade in illegal Russian timber stretching throughout Europe and breaching war sanctions. The investigation ‘Exposing the EU trade in Russian conflict ply,’ caught firms on camera, in voice calls and through internal documents arranging a steady flow of Russian plywood into the EU. These companies are selling their illegal wood across the continent, and their customers include important manufacturers of climbing walls, toys, flooring, furniture and other products. Posing as buyers over a 9 month period, the investigators recorded traders admitting the practice is illegal, calling it a “gold mine” and suggesting techniques to avoid detection. The UK-based NGO estimates that more than 500,000 cubic metres of timber, with a retail value of over 1.5 billion Euros, has flowed from Russia through third countries and into the EU since sanctions were imposed in July 2022.

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Shaping the future of forestry through new Timber Fibre Strategy

By Julie Collins, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
The Government of Australia
July 7, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: International

The Albanese Labor Government released a Timber Fibre Strategy which sets out a pathway for the future growth of Australia’s proud forestry industry. The Timber Fibre Strategy sets out 128 ambitious actions for industry and governments to help build a sustainable, world leading sector. …A key opportunity identified in the Strategy is for the forestry sector to play a bigger role in tackling Australia’s housing challenges and delivering on the Government’s ambitious housing agenda. The Albanese Labor Government is investing $300 million in the future of the forestry industry, which includes:

  • Over $100 million for transformative research, development and innovation through Australian Forest and Wood Innovations,
  • Over $100 million to support the medium and long-term sustainability of our wood processing sector through the Accelerate Adoption of Wood Processing Innovation program,
  • Over $73 million to expand Australia’s future wood supply through the Support Plantation Establishment program, and $10 million in the industry’s training needs through the Forestry Workforce Training Program.

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Metsä readies Kemi mils to resume production after maintenance shutdown

By Igor Dugandzic
EUWID Pulp and Paper
July 3, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: International

FINLAND — Metsä Group announces that the Kemi pulp mill and the adjacent Kemi paper mill will resume production on July 4 after several weeks of maintenance and repair-related downtime. Production will be resumed in stages. …The group’s subsidiary Metsä Fibre has used the five weeks of annual maintenance shutdown to replace the pulp mill’s evaporation plant that was damaged in March 2024 explosion and had been only provisionally repaired in order to return to production as quick as possible. Other extensive maintenance work has also been carried out at the site, enabling the Kemi site to resume stable and continuous production and return to full production capacity again. The new Kemi pulp mill has a total production capacity of 1.5 million tpy, of which approximately 1.1 million tpy is market pulp. At the Kemi paper mill, Metsä Board produces coated and uncoated white top kraftliner with a capacity of 465,000 tpy.

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Finance & Economics

BC/Canada’s dilemma in the US and export markets

By Russ Taylor, Russ Taylor Global
Truck LoggerBC Magazine
July 3, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, United States, International

Russ Taylor

Today’s lower prices put BC Interior SPF mills back near break-even levels at current lumber prices and with 14.4% duties, with other Canadian regions looking to be marginally profitable. …In August, Canadian lumber will be subject to elevated US import duties (~34.5%). This factor alone will require Canadian lumber prices in the US market to rise by another 10% – 20%. Any tariffs imposed on Canada and/or other countries will only increase lumber prices further to attract enough imports into the US market. If prices do not rise enough, then expect mill curtailments in BC. …No one knows if or when tariffs could be applied to timber and wood products as well as derivative products from the US Section 232 investigation and what the tariff levels might be by country. If tariffs are applied, that will cause some major dislocations to the BC and Canadian lumber industry, as higher costs for imported lumber will ultimately cause US lumber prices to rise. 

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Trump announces deal with Indonesia, EU releases list of counter-tariffs

Yahoo! Finance
July 15, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States, International

President Trump announced his team struck a trade deal with Indonesia on Tuesday and said details would be forthcoming. …The announcement comes after Trump unveiled a new batch of letters to over 20 trade partners outlining tariffs on goods imported from their countries beginning in August. The letters set new baseline tariff levels at 20% to 40% — except for a 50% levy on goods from Brazil. …Trump has also escalated tariff tensions with Canada, Mexico, and the European Union recently. On Thursday, Trump announced a 35% tariff on Canadian goods and followed that up with promises of 30% duties on Mexico and the EU. The EU has been preparing options for a trade deal, while also preparing an extensive list of counter-tariffs that would affect 72 billion euros ($84 billion USD) of American products should talks fail. “There will be a huge impact on trade,” the EU’s chief negotiator said Monday.

Related in the Associated Press: EU ministers plan countermeasures to Trump’s 30% tariffs

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European pulp and paper sector remains resilient in uncertain times

By Steve Katz
Label & Narrow Web
July 11, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: International

The Cepi key statistics report 2024 shows that pulp and paper sector remained resilient in 2024, with a recovery that has partly offset the decline of 2021-2023. While regulatory conditions for global competitiveness is still an issue, sustainability and decarbonization remain priorities. Paper and Board consumption increased by 7.0% in 2024, slightly less than initially expected, but production recorded a higher rebound than first found in Cepi preliminary statistics, published in February (+ 5.9%). Final figures also confirm that the growth has been recorded across all segments of the pulp and paper industry. Packaging paper and board production leads the way with a 6.7% production increase and tissue paper production increased by 5.6%. Graphic paper, used for books, newsprint, and printing and writing paper, has at least temporarily halted a historical downward movement, with a production increase of 3.8% in 2024.

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UK Softwood Update: June sees cracks in structural softwood demand

By Stephen Powney
The Timber Trades Journal
July 10, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: International

UK softwood traders enjoyed a period of strong trading through the first two months of Q2, supported by a rise in demand gaining momentum through both April and May. This followed on from a stable Q1 when imports increased by just under 2% against the same period in 2024. Since the beginning of this year, a number of Nordic producers were short of spruce logs for structural grades, and in many cases switched to pine. That move had a knock-on effect on the amount of redwood available for production at some mills. With good demand and some shortages, Q2 prices moved upwards, not only to the UK but other markets in Europe and the US as well. However, the UK merchants adopted a more sceptical and cautious approach. Many held back from making longer-term commitments on the forward market to ensure the recovery and stability in the market was sustainable.

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Forests attract billions as timber becomes Europe’s new green asset

Interior Daily
July 10, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: International

Timber and forestry investment is gaining ground in Europe, as private equity increasingly shifts towards climate-aligned strategies. A recent EY report highlights growing momentum behind timber and forestry funds, previously seen as niche, now positioned as core components of sustainability-focused portfolios. Despite global private equity fundraising falling to $680 billion in 2024, the lowest since 2015, investors are favouring fewer, larger deals. Europe is leading in sustainable asset allocation, with over half of all new fund launches in Article 8 and 9 categories under the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, according to Morningstar. Timber and forestry funds attracted $8.4 billion in 2024, slightly down from 2023 but above the five-year average. These funds often deliver double-digit internal rates of return, with top-performing vintages exceeding 16 percent.

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Metsä Group’s comparable operating result for April–June 2025 will be clearly negative

Metsä Group
July 7, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: International

In its January–March 2025 interim report published on 29 April 2025, Metsä Group estimated that the company’s comparable operating result in April–June 2025 will be weaker than in January–March 2025. The comparable operating result for January–March 2025 was EUR 81 million. Metsä Group now estimates that the company’s comparable operating result in April–June 2025 will be approximately EUR -35 million, which is significantly lower than the company’s previous estimate. The negative comparable operating result was caused particularly by the weak demand for market pulp in Europe and China. The uncertainty caused by US import duties has had a negative impact on the purchasing behaviour of paperboard customers in particular. 

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Business Development Mission to Japan in November

By Jim Ivanoff
BC Wood Specialties Group
July 16, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

As the tariffs imposed by the US continue to roil long-standing trade relationships, BC Wood is ready to support members in finding new markets and customers. One of these opportunities for market diversification is the Global Buyers Mission happening on September 4th- 6th. For those with a specific interest in Japan, we will of course, be organizing the Canadian Pavilion at the Japan Home and Building Show in Tokyo from November 19th to 21st. However, based on the requests and input of BC value-added manufacturers, the BC Wood Japan Office will also be organizing an all-new mission program that will put participating companies in front of buyers for one-on-one meetings in the three main economic regions of Japan. On this mission, BC Wood members will travel to Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka, where they will be able to visit local importers and users to learn about current market demand and preferences. 

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Europe’s wood city: Sickla in Stockholm will be made almost entirely of timber

By Lucy Handley
CNBC News
July 15, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

©White Arkitekter

A huge, new city is being built in Sweden, but it’s not being constructed using steel or concrete — its main building material is wood. Part of the Swedish capital, Stockholm, is set to become the “world’s largest wooden construction project,” according to its developer Atrium Ljungberg, which will invest 12 billion Swedish krona (about $1.25 billion) into the project. Sickla — an industrial area to the south of Stockholm’s center once known for manufacturing diesel engines — is being redeveloped using cross-laminated timber, with the material being used in its buildings’ core, floors and walls. The new wooden homes, offices, schools and stores, will be interwoven with older structures, some of which have been converted into libraries or cinemas, and the area will extend to 250,000 square meters, or around 2.7 million square feet.

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Investigating the Seismic Resistance of Chilean Pine Wood for High-Rise Construction

Universidad de Santiago de Chile
July 14, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

A Fondecyt Regular project, led by Dr. Erick Saavedra from Usach’s Department of Civil Engineering, seeks to develop the scientific foundation for building high-rise structures with solid wood in seismic areas. While reinforced concrete has historically been the primary construction material in Chile, integrating new systems like wood-based alternatives presents a challenge. It requires rigorous scientific studies to validate their performance and build a solid technical foundation for their national implementation, especially crucial in a seismically prone country such as ours. Responding to this global trend, Dr. Erick Saavedra is leading a Fondecyt Regular project to develop high-fidelity multiscale computational models. These models will predict building performance during extreme earthquakes, optimize structural design, and generate new strategies to enhance lateral stability and reduce post-seismic displacement. The research will specifically utilize Chilean radiata pine, a species widely employed in the national forestry industry.

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Ireland’s Minister Healy-Rae launches new report on timber construction research needs

By Michael Healy-Rae, Minister for Forestry
The Government of Ireland
July 8, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

GALWAY, Ireland — Minister of State with responsibility for Forestry, Michael Healy-Rae, announced a new report “Research and Development Needs for Timber in Construction in Ireland”. The report forms part of the work carried out by the Interdepartmental & Industry Working Group on Timber in Construction, which aims to increase the use of wood in construction while maximising the use of Irish-grown timber. The Minister also visited the facilities in the University of Galway and saw firsthand the research in timber currently taking place. Emphasising the role of research in driving low-carbon construction, Minister Healy-Rae said: “With the construction sector seeking more sustainable alternatives, it is vital we recognise the role our forests can play in shaping the future of our built environment. The report… sets out priority research and development actions to support greater use of timber in construction, sustainable building and carbon reduction.

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Forestry

Australia NSW Forestry Corporation firefighters join international Canada deployment

By Forestry Corporation of New South Wales
Australian Rural & Regional News
July 15, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, International

Forestry Corporation firefighters from Tumut and Deniliquin will deploy to Canada this week to reinforce local and international crews battling ongoing wildfires, where close to five million hectares have been burnt, approximately 150 wildfires remain active, and multiple communities have been evacuated. Forestry Corporation’s Linda Cotterill of Tumut will deploy to the position of Divisional Supervisor in Alberta and Peter O’Toole of Deniliquin will deploy as an Incident Management Team Safety Officer in Manitoba. The firefighters will be based in Canada for four weeks, working in challenging conditions. …The deployment follows a formal request for assistance through international firefighting agreements and highlights the strong collaboration between Australia and Canada in emergency response. It is the third Forestry Corporation deployment to Canada this winter, with eight Forestry Corporation staff deployed in June and currently completing month-long deployments.

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Qarlbo Biodiversity and Woodland Biofuels Sign Agreement to Advance Sustainable Forestry

By Qarlbo Biodiversity
Cision Newswire
July 17, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

STOCKHOLM — Qarlbo Biodiversity has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Woodland Biofuels to supply up to 500,000 tons of sustainably harvested pine forest thinnings from properties it manages using its Nature+ Forest Management Strategy. This agreement marks a significant milestone in implementing the Nature+ Strategy, an innovative approach to ecological stewardship that goes beyond traditional forestry methods. Designed for biomass-intensive industries, the strategy ensures a sustainable supply of biomass by combining biodiversity conservation, native species restoration, and responsible forestry production. This integrated approach helps sequester carbon, generate biodiversity credits, and promote resilient, high-performing forest ecosystems. …The pine forest thinnings supplied under this MOU will come from Qarlbo Biodiversity’s expanded properties in the U.S. 

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Russia’s Timber Industry Faces Shutdowns Amid Sanctions, Strong Ruble and Slumping Demand

The Moscow Times
July 15, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Russia’s timber industry is warning of widespread production shutdowns as the sector reels from Western sanctions, declining demand and a surging ruble that has battered the country’s export competitiveness. …The Russian Association of Organizations and Enterprises of the Pulp and Paper Industry described the current moment as one of the industry’s most difficult periods in modern history. Industry data show that timber harvesting fell 13% in 2024 compared with pre-war levels in 2021, lumber production dropped 11% and plywood output declined 23%. Even pulp production, one of the sector’s more stable outputs, decreased by 3%. Major industry players including Segezha Group and ULK Group have been restructuring loans over the past two years in response to falling output, sliding prices and soaring costs. But the situation has continued to deteriorate, especially within the export-heavy pulp and paper sector. Compounding the problem is the Central Bank’s steep 20% key interest rate along with a hike in the profit tax rate from 20% to 25%.

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How climate change fuels wildfires in Europe

By Kate Abnett
Reuters
July 15, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

BRUSSELS – Wildfires have scorched hotspots in several Mediterranean countries this month, with blazes forcing thousands of people into lockdown in Catalonia in Spain, and encroaching on France’s second-biggest city of Marseille. …European wildfires have burnt 227,000 hectares of land since the beginning of the year – more than double the average for this time of year over the past two decades, according to the EU’s European Forest Fire Information System. …It’s not yet clear if 2025 will be a record year, as that will depend on how the fire season evolves in the coming months. The number of fires in Europe has also surged this year so far, with 1,118 blazes detected as of July 8, versus 716 in the same period last year, EFFIS said. …Scientists say the Mediterranean region’s hotter, drier summers put it at high risk of wildfires. …Climate change exacerbates this risk , by creating hotter and drier background conditions.

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Forest trees and microbes choreograph their hunt for a ‘balanced diet’ under elevated CO2

University of Birmingham
July 14, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Oak trees change their fine roots and ‘energise’ soil microbes by supplying them with a cocktail of small organic compounds, all to supplement the trees’ supply of essential nutrients when exposed to higher levels of carbon dioxide. Researchers at the unique University of Birmingham Institute of Forest Research’s Free Air CO2 Enrichment (BIFoR-FACE) outdoor forest research facility discovered that trees growing in a CO2-rich atmosphere tactically choreograph in-soil trading of carbon for nutrients through “do it yourself” and “outsourcing” strategies.Perspex-sided root boxes, buried in the forest, allowed scientists at BIFoR-FACE access to the soil and roots below giant ~180 years old English oak trees growing in what is expected to be a mid-21st-century atmosphere; that is, an atmosphere containing over a third more CO2. The trees demonstrated their ability to respond to the change of atmosphere by adjusting multiple carbon investment strategies for sourcing soil nutrients.

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Vigilance essential during current ‘Code Red’ forest fire warning

Teagasc
July 11, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

The current glorious weather provides an opportunity for all to recreate and enjoy. However, such weather patterns give rise to extreme fire risk. Teagasc Forestry advisors tell us more on the nature of such risks and offer practical advice on mitigating forest fire danger threats. On July 10, 2025, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine issued a Condition Red – Extreme Forest Fire Risk up to Monday July 14. Under such extreme fire risk conditions, any ignition source in dry vegetation will give rise to rapid and unpredictable wildfire development and spread. Such fires can be expected to cover extensive areas and pose extreme difficulties to suppression efforts and may potentially give rise to major emergency scenarios. Such conditions require very high vigilance, particularly in areas with intensive public access and recreational use. …Lighting open fires or barbeques in or around forest areas pose a huge risk and should not occur.

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Estonia considers controlled burning to improve the condition of forests

Baltic News Network
July 11, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Last year, more than 112 thousand hectares of dry forests were listed in the Estonian Natura 2000 habitats. These are forests with minimal anthropogenic load, and in Estonia they are overgrown dunes, old natural forests and spruce forests with rich ground cover. The Estonian Environmental Service, the University of Tartu and the Estonian University of Life Sciences are jointly developing a plan for the maintenance of dry forests. Taavi Tattar, Head of the Nature Conservation Planning Department of the Environmental Service, pointed out that dry forests are in poor condition both in Estonia and throughout Europe. “They’re either too uniform in age or have impoverished structure. Certain species need forests with diverse structures for their life and activities, coarse woody debris, dead trees, and so on. On a broader scale, diverse forests are also more resistant to disease and better able to adapt to climate change,” Tattar said.

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The right mix and planting pattern of trees enhance forest productivity and services

EurekAlert! Press Release
July 9, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

A new paper published in Nature Communications reveals how the way tree species are arranged in a forest can help optimise ecosystem functioning and productivity. The study was conducted using empirical field data combined with advanced computer models and simulations by researchers at the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Leipzig University, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). The researchers simulated virtual forests with multiple arrangements of tree species, such as block and mini-block designs, plantings in single and double lines, and fully random distributions. These simulations incorporated real data from the BEF-China (Biodiversity-Ecosystem Functioning) experiment, including tree growth models (based on field inventories), litterfall collections, and decomposition rate measurements. This data allowed the researchers to model the effect of spatial arrangement on ecosystem functions, such as tree productivity, nitrogen, and carbon cycling.

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Organized Crime in The Amazon: A Growing Threat to the World’s Greatest Tropical Rainforest

By Charles (Chip) Barber
World Resources Institute
July 9, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Brazil once again leads the world in the loss of primary tropical forests. New data shows the country accounted for 42% of global primary rainforest loss in 2024, largely due to widespread fires throughout the nation and in neighboring Bolivia, Colombia and Peru. The 2024 spike in Amazon forest loss was due in large part to one of the worst fire seasons on record. But what’s often missed is the fact that recent fires in tropical primary forests are by no means a “natural” disaster. Rather, the conflagration represents a perfect storm of climate change-induced environmental conditions, governance failures and unchecked, organized criminality. Fires in the Amazon are largely started by arson and related criminal activity accompanying agriculture, logging, mining and road building. In fact, a recent survey of government data concluded that 91% of forest loss in the Brazilian Amazon is linked to illegal activity like land-clearing for agriculture and artisanal mining, often orchestrated by well-structured international criminal enterprises.

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New study confirms Forest Stewardship Council certification contributes to maintaining and increasing forest cover

Forest Stewardship Council
July 7, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

A new study in The Journal of Cleaner Production confirms that Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification contributes to maintaining and increasing forest cover, especially in lower-middle income countries. These findings reinforce the conclusions of previous research and provide insights on adapting regional certification strategies to increase sustainable forest management. The study investigated the critical role of FSC certification in promoting sustainable forest management and mitigating deforestation across diverse economic and climatic contexts. Using dynamic panel data model and Generalized Method of Moments estimations on 70 countries from 2000 – 2021, the researchers examined forest cover as a measure for impact of FSC certification. Results indicate that FSC certification contributes to maintaining and increasing forest cover across diverse economic and climatic contexts. This positive impact is most strongly observed in lower-middle income countries. Scaling up certification and integrating it into national policies could benefit countries of this economic category. 

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Forestry Australia Welcomes Timber Fibre Strategy as a Science-Led Vision for Forests and the Future

Forestry Australia
July 7, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Forestry Australia has welcomed the release of the Federal Government’s Timber Fibre Strategy, congratulating Minister Julie Collins and the Albanese Government for delivering a timely and important roadmap to support a sustainable, world-leading forest and wood products sector. The Strategy recognises the critical role of science, innovation, and active forest management in ensuring that Australia’s forests can continue to deliver environmental, economic, cultural and social outcomes for generations to come. Dr Michelle Freeman, President of Forestry Australia, said the Strategy provides a clear signal that science-led forest management and a resilient forest sector are central to Australia’s future. “As the professional association representing forest scientists and professionals, we are particularly encouraged by the Strategy’s strong emphasis on science, good ecological practice and evidence-based decision-making,” Dr Freeman said.

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How can Finland’s forests soak up more emissions? The forestry ministry has a plan

YLE News
July 5, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has unveiled a broad package of measures aimed to boosting forest growth and pollution-absorbing carbon sinks. The moves will help Finland reach its goal of carbon neutrality by 2035, as required by law and stipulated in the government programme, ministry officials said on Friday. The agency is led by Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Sari Essayah, chair of the Christian Democrats. The government of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) approved the financing of forest-related climate measures during its mid-term policy review session last spring and in its second supplementary budget of 2025. The measures include moves to step up fertilisation of forests and expansion of the forest cover in an effort to increase carbon sequestration, in other words woodlands’ capacity to absorb and store carbon from emissions that would otherwise contribute to global warming.

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Safe Wood Pellet Storage – Denmark workshop and tour

The Wood Pellet Association of Canada
July 15, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, International

The Wood Pellet Association of Canada, in collaboration with FutureMetrics and Ørsted, is hosting a half-day tour and a one-day workshop, Safe Wood Pellet Storage: Preventing, Detecting, and Managing Self-Heating Incidents, in Copenhagen, Denmark, September 2-3, 2025. On day one, Ørsted will take attendees on a tour of one of their Bioenergy Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) projects. This will be followed by a full day workshop and Ørsted-hosted Dinner. This workshop will provide insights into major incidents, technical causes, risk mitigation strategies, and emergency response procedures, helping professionals enhance safety standards across storage facilities. Don’t miss this opportunity to engage with leading specialists and drive industry-wide improvements forward.

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‘It’s too late’: David Suzuki says the fight against climate change is lost

By David Legree
iPolitics.ca
July 8, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, International

David Suzuki

“Public concern in the late 1980s was right at the top and we had the first international conference on the atmosphere in 1988, where there were over 40 governments, environmentalists, scientists, private sector people. At the end, they said global warming represented a threat to humanity, second only to global nuclear war. If the world had followed the conclusions from that conference, we would not have the problem we face today and we would have saved trillions of dollars and millions of lives. Now, it is too late. I’ve never said this before to the media, but it’s too late. I say that because I go by science and Johan Rockström, the Swedish scientist who heads the Potsdam Institute, has defined nine planetary boundaries. …As long as humans, like any other animal, live within those nine constraints, we can do it forever, and that includes the amount of carbon in the atmosphere.”

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Neither ‘Biofuel’ Nor Nuclear Will Solve Our Energy Problems

By Ben Parfitt
The Tyee
July 16, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, Canada West, International

…In the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami, Japan shut down not just Fukushima but all of its nuclear plants, a move that resulted in the loss of a third of its electrical power. …Japan faced a daunting energy crisis that it addressed… with conventional fuels such as natural gas and “bioproducts” including wood pellets derived from the logging of BC’s Interior forests. …Last year, roughly two million tonnes of those pellets arrived Japanese ports from BC, linked to a dozen mills in the province that make wood pellets derived from trees logged in the province’s rapidly dwindling primary forests — natural forests never previously subject to industrial logging. …Which means that in the name of creating allegedly clean energy, forests are being razed just to burn the wood. …The strain on the province’s stressed forests is [also] coming from other bioenergy producers, including those who want to use wood to make jet fuel.

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Drax is UK’s top carbon polluter yet again, widening lead with 16% increase in a year

Ember Press Release
July 16, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Drax power station is once again the UK’s largest single source of carbon emissions, according to new analysis from think tank Ember. Emissions from the biomass-burning power plant rose to 13.3 million tonnes of CO2 in 2024, a 16% increase from the previous year. Drax biomass power plant has been the UK’s top emitter for the last 10 years running. Drax now emits more than the next four largest polluters combined and more than the six most emitting gas power plants combined. Emissions from the Drax power plant are equivalent to over 10% of the UK’s total transport emissions and nearly 3% of the country’s territorial total. Despite its emissions increase, Drax received around £2 million per day in subsidies in 2024, an average of £10 per household. The power station burned 7.6 million tonnes of wood, 99% of which was imported. Recent investigations have found instances of old growth forests being cut down for this purpose.

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Innovation helps farmers improve gut health, build soil, and capture carbon

By Lilian Schaer
Farmtario
July 16, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

A Norwegian start up is showing how a little black powder could have a big impact on farming — from healthier livestock to stronger soils and a more climate-friendly future. Why it matters: The ongoing emphasis on reducing antibiotic use in livestock production and increasing soil health means farmers are looking for new tools to help them achieve this. Obiochar, based in rural Norway about 120 kilometres north of Oslo, is using a fully automated system to turn biomass – in this case dead trees from nearby forests that can’t be used by the lumber industry – into a powerful tool for agriculture. And while biochar itself isn’t new, Obiochar ‘s unique, dual-focused approach to using biochar is setting it apart from its competitors. The company is developing biochar products both for livestock gut health in the form of feed additives and soil enhancement as an amendment.

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Illegal loggers profit from Brazil’s carbon credit projects

By Brad Haynes, Jackie Botts, Ricardo Brito and Jake Spring
Reuters
July 7, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Companies around the world have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into conservation projects in Brazil designed to protect the Amazon rainforest in return for carbon credits offsetting their emissions. Reuters found that many of those projects are profiting people and businesses fined by Brazilian authorities for destroying the rainforest. Reporters analyzed 36 conservation projects in the Brazilian Amazon offering voluntary carbon offsets on the global market’s biggest registries. At least 24 of those involved landowners, developers or forestry firms that have been punished by Brazil’s environmental agency Ibama for their roles in illegal deforestation, Reuters found. The offenses ranged from clear-cutting the rainforest without authorization to transporting felled trees without valid permits and entering false information in a government timber tracking system. Government officials and experts said these infractions reflected the range of roles in the illicit timber trade devouring the rainforest.

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Young forests could help to capture carbon in climate change fight

By the University of Birmingham
Phys.Org
July 2, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Young forests regrowing from land where mature woodlands have been cut down have a key role to play in removing billions of tons of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and combating climate change, a new study reveals. …Forest regeneration offers a cost-effective method for carbon removal, but rates vary by location and forest age. Researchers have discovered that young secondary forests, particularly those aged between 20 and 40 years, exhibit the highest rates of carbon removal—locking away up to eight times more carbon per hectare than newly regenerating forests. …Their study reveals that if 800 million hectares of restorable forest begin regenerating in 2025, up to 20.3 billion metric tons of carbon could be removed by 2050, but delays sharply reduce this potential.

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Forest Fires

New Zealand to send seven specialist personnel to support wildfire response in Canada

By Fire and Emergency Portal
Government of New Zealand
July 9, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada, International

A seven-person specialist team from New Zealand will depart to Canada Wednesday to support with the response to severe wildfires. The team will be situated in Manitoba where there are over 80 active wildfires resulting in more than 20,000 people being evacuated from their homes. This deployment comes as a result of a formal request received from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre and consists of an Incident Commander, Operations Sections Chief, Planning Sections Chief, Logistics Section Chief, Safety Officer and two Division Supervisors. They will provide crucial management and coordination support to the on-the-ground firefighting teams in Manitoba.  The team is highly skilled and includes career and volunteer Fire and Emergency personnel as well as one specialist from the forestry sector. A much larger second deployment of firefighters from Fire and Emergency, the forestry sector and Department of Conservation is set to join the team in Canada next week. 

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French warned of high-risk summer for wildfires as Marseille blaze contained

By Jon Henley
The Guardian
July 9, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: International

More than 15,000 residents of Marseille confined to their homes have been allowed out after a wildfire on the outskirts of France’s second city was brought under control, but officials have warned the country faces an exceptionally high-risk summer. Fanned by gale-force winds and kindled by parched vegetation, several fires have burned swathes of southern France in recent days, including Tuesday’s just north of the port city. The weather service has said the weeks ahead could be critical. “The fire is receding, but with a blaze this severe, over this big an area, it’s clear there may be fresh flare-ups, flames can jump, embers can reignite,” the prefect of the Bouches-du-Rhône department, Georges-François Leclerc, said on Wednesday.

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Marseille fire forces hundreds to evacuate, destroys homes and grounds flights

By Jon Henley and Sam Jones
The Guardian
July 8, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: International

Bruno Retailleau

A fast-moving wildfire on the outskirts of France’s second-largest city, Marseille, has destroyed homes and forced hundreds of people to evacuate, as a heatwave and dangerous fire conditions grip the Mediterranean. Interior minister Bruno Retailleau said the fire around Marseille could be contained overnight if the gale-force winds fanning the flames weaken, as expected. So far, 400 people had been evacuated, around a dozen houses destroyed and 63 others damaged, Retailleau said. …“But there are all the reasons to think we are headed towards a summer of high risk.” Local media reported that the cause appeared to have been a vehicle that caught fire on the A552 motorway. …City hall said 720 firefighters, including dozens from neighbouring departments, were battling the blaze with 220 emergency vehicles, helped by helicopters and water-bombing planes. About 350 hectares of land had been consumed by late afternoon.

Additional coverage from the BBC: More than 100 hurt as efforts to contain Marseille wildfire continue

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Firefighters see ‘favorable progress’ in Paüls wildfire as 18,000 remain confined

Catalan News
July 8, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: International

© femturisme.cat

Catalonia, Spain — Firefighters on Tuesday evening reported “favorable progress” regarding the wildfire burning since Monday in Paüls (Baix Ebre county, southern Catalonia), which has forced 18,000 people from several municipalities to shelter in place. The arrival of the sea breeze changed the fire’s behavior, and the firefighters have achieved their key priority: preventing the flames from entering Ports Natural Park. Their current goal is to stabilize the fire – which has affected about 3,200 hectares – between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. …Fire department inspector Francesc Xavier Boya also explained that the afternoon brought challenges when a wildfire in central Catalonia broke out, forcing resources to be redirected to the new emergency. “We couldn’t afford to face tomorrow with two large fires, so the strategy was to allocate whatever was needed to the new fire,” the inspector explained. …The affected forested area is full of ravines and valleys, making access very challenging.

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Firefighters across Europe battle wildfires as blazes continue in Germany, Greece and Turkey

By David O’Sullivan
Euronews
July 5, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: International

Firefighters across Europe continue to battle forest fires amid blistering heatwaves, as blazes broke out in Germany, Greece and Turkey on Saturday. Hundreds of German firefighters have been battling blazes for days in the forested regions of Thuringia and Saxony, including the Gohrischheide nature reserve near the Brandenburg border. …Firefighters in Greece made progress in containing a wildfire that broke out on Friday afternoon in eastern Attica. …Strong winds and dry conditions have raised the risk of wildfires across Greece, prompting heightened vigilance by emergency services. In Turkey, firefighters have reportedly brought several large wildfires under control in the western Izmir province. …Ground crews, supported by planes and helicopters, worked around the clock for three days to contain the fires, according to the Turkish forestry directorate. …Turkey also reportedly sent two aircraft and 11 fire engines along with support vehicles to Syria on Saturday to help in the firefighting efforts there.

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