Region Archives: International

BUENOS AIRES — Brazil’s soybean industry ​fears the European Union’s new anti-deforestation regulations (EUDR) could curb soymeal exports to the bloc, creating an opening for rival supplier Argentina, which says it is better ‌placed to comply with the incoming rules. Brazil is the EU’s largest supplier of soybean meal for animal feed, accounting for about half of the bloc’s imports last year, according to data from the European Feed Manufacturers’ Federation (FEFAC). …Starting December 30, the EUDR will require importers to prove their products are not linked to deforested land, with significant penalties for non-compliance. …According to FEFAC’s latest report on how anti-deforestation rules may impact supply ​chains, Brazil was assigned a “medium” risk rating, with the west-central state of Mato Grosso and others facing “structural and logistical hurdles”. …In its latest risk assessment, FEFAC assigned Argentina a “low” risk rating for EUDR-related supply disruptions.

Across the Algarve, stone pines (Pinus pinea) are a familiar feature of the landscape. Their … pine nuts have traditionally provided a valuable source of income. But in the more than 42,000 hectares of stone pine many trees produce few pine cones, leaving landowners with limited financial returns. Forestry organisations are now examining another possibility: collecting the resin produced naturally by the trees. …The connection between resin and wildfire prevention is indirect – but potentially significant. Forests that generate income give landowners a stronger financial incentive to manage them. Resin collection requires regular access to the trees, ongoing maintenance in woodland areas. …That matters in a region where rural fires can spread rapidly through poorly maintained vegetation. The proposed benefit comes from better land management… The opportunity is promising, but the economics are not yet established. …If resin harvesting proves commercially viable, it could offer landowners another reason to maintain their pine forests. 

Mexico’s armed forces have dismantled more than 123 clandestine sawmills and detained 116 suspected illegal loggers over the government’s first two years, Defense Secretary Gen. Ricardo Trevilla Trejo said on Tuesday, Mexican newspaper La Razón reported. …About 70% of wood nationwide is estimated to be of illegal origin, according to the National Forestry Commission (Conafor), cited in a January report by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime. In Chihuahua, the country’s largest timber-producing state, illegal timber is now worth about as much as the legal market, around $172 million a year, the report said. Much of the wood is turned into pallets for exports to the U.S., it found. The environmental protection agency Profepa has also stepped up raids this year. In a nationwide operation in late June it closed 28 sites and seized more than 4,268 cubic meters of timber.

Yerevan, Armenia – Six Indigenous leaders from Africa, Asia and Latin America were recognised today as the inaugural Indigenous Peoples Ambassadors for Primary Forests, celebrating their leadership, knowledge and contributions to conserving some of the world’s most important forest landscapes. The recognition took place at the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP17) at the event “Indigenous Peoples Ambassadors for Primary Forests: Celebrating Indigenous Leadership in Forest Conservation and Stewardship.” The event was organised by IUCN, the United Nations Forum on Forests Secretariat and the Global Environment Facility. The inaugural Ambassadors, Maimuna Jawara, Puyr dos Santos Tembé, Pirawan Wongnithisathaporn, Joseph Itongwa Miukumo, Julio Cusurichi Palacios and Herkulanus Sutomo Manna bring experiences from diverse Indigenous Peoples, territories and forest landscapes. Their work demonstrates how Indigenous governance, knowledge systems, community leadership and cultural continuity contribute to conserving primary forests and biodiversity. 

Environmental organization Greenpeace International has accused Ikea Group of wood sourcing practices that are destroying forests in Europe despite the furniture retailer’s reported commitment to sustainable wood sourcing standards, according to an Oct. 13 press release. Greenpeace published a report alleging that there is a gap between the retailer’s sourcing practices and its promises to use its industry influence to promote sustainable forestry. The organization also alleges Ikea has failed to measure the “true environmental footprint of its supply chain,” per the release. Greenpeace is urging Ikea to take actions to protect Europe’s forests, including halting sourcing from forest areas with high biodiversity and setting corporate biodiversity targets with measurable 2030 targets. The organization is also pushing the furniture retailer to embed ecosystem integrity as a core governance principle and align its political influence with its biodiversity commitments.

Europe is emerging from one of its worst wildfire seasons on record. Deadly blazes this year ripped through countries including Spain, France and Greece, forcing hundreds of thousands to evacuate and burning 699,000 hectares – four times the size of London. The disasters highlighted how climate change is fuelling hot and dry conditions that amplify wildfires. But another, often-overlooked factor played a pivotal role in some instances: How governments and private landowners are managing Europe’s emptying countryside. In the 195s, the countryside west of Madrid, Spain’s capital, was a mosaic of crop fields and pastures. If a fire ignited, the fragmented landscape would limit its spread. By 1975, the first signs of decline rural activity were visible in aerial photographs. …In the decades that followed, young forests took root. The woodland spread grew denser, joining together to form more continuous forest. Now, if a fire starts, the continuous vegetation provides fuel for the flames to spread.

NEW fire-fighting planes, bans on disposable barbecues and Australian-style public awareness campaigns are needed to tackle the growing threat of wildfires, MPs have urged. After one of the most severe summers on record for fires across the UK, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Efra) Committee warned “wildfire is part of our new reality”. Fires could no longer be regarded as rare or exceptional events as climate change increases their frequency and severity, the committee said, as it called for a national strategy to tackle the threat. …Meanwhile fire and rescue services need investment in specialist equipment, with new planes a “minimum requirement”, he said. …The MPs also want implementation plans for new aerial firefighting capability by January 2027, as the UK has no dedicated firefighting aircraft and its limited number of water-bombing military planes are permanently based in Cyprus.

As businesses face growing pressure to measure and disclose their impacts on nature, forest certification offers a strong foundation, says Sustainable Forestry Initiative Chief Scientist Dr. Healy Hamilton. In an interview ahead of the UN biodiversity conference, CBD COP17, Hamilton explains how investor concerns are driving demand for information on species extinction risk and ecosystem condition—and why gathering and interpreting that data remains challenging. SFI is helping certified organizations navigate these expectations through a new Sustainability Framework Crosswalk Tool and a forthcoming Conservation Values Viewer developed with NatureServe. Hamilton highlights how certification supports biodiversity conservation, water protection and landscape connectivity in working forests. At COP17, SFI will join PEFC, FSC and the International Sustainable Forestry Coalition to demonstrate certification’s role in nature-related reporting and progress toward global biodiversity goals.

Stora Enso has reversed its earlier denial and confirmed it took wood felled for Google’s planned data centres at Muhos and Kajaani, making it the last of Finland’s three largest forest companies to do so. The company said that about 5,000 cubic metres of pulpwood and sawlogs reached its Oulu operations through a supplier whose contract ended in May. “The amount is equivalent to five per cent of the daily wood use at UPM’s pulp mills in Finland,” Janne Kiiliäinen, at UPM Forest, said on Friday. Kiiliäinen. …Metsä Group took about 5,000 cubic metres from Google’s Otanmäki site at Kajaani and about 50 from Muhos, the company confirmed on Friday. …Finland’s Licensing and Supervisory Authority has given Tuike Finland, Google’s project company, until this Friday to stop felling. …Google said it acted in good faith, and the halt will stay in place until environmental impact assessments for both projects are complete.

LONDON – World leaders, diplomats and nature experts gather in Armenia this week to assess lagging efforts to halt biodiversity loss, with ​countries off track on most global targets and divisions over funding still unresolved. The 17th UN “Conference of the Parties”, dubbed COP17, is ‌the first major review of progress under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the landmark 2022 agreement that aims to protect 30% of land and sea by 2030. The climate-focused COP31 begins on November 9 in Antalya, Turkey. While the world is likely to reach an estimated 27.5% of land protection by 2030, scientists say many of the broader goals needed ​to halt biodiversity loss remain well off track. From pesticide use to unsustainable fishing and subsidies for a host of damaging activities, the ​deterioration of ecosystems threatens food production, water security and economic stability across the planet. Countries are currently not on track ⁠to meet 22 of the 23 goals set out in the Kunming-Montreal framework…

SCOTLAND must expand productive conifer planting if it is to avoid a future fall in timber supplies, protect jobs and reduce reliance on imports, according to a new national strategy for the forest and wood-processing sector. Published by the Scottish Forest and Wood-based Industries Industry Leadership Group (ILG), the document sets out a vision for the sector to 2035 and places productive forestry at the centre of its growth ambitions. The strategy argues that Scotland has a major opportunity to increase the economic contribution of forestry and wood processing over the next 15 years as timber availability rises, but warns that the gains could be short-lived unless action is taken now. Guy Watt, chair of the Industry Leadership Group said: “The strategy covers all Scotland’s sources of wood fibre from Scotland’s forests, from imported wood fibre and from reusing and recycling wood fibre.”

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is aware of concerns raised in recent reports on forest management practices and timber sourcing in Europe. Allegations relating specifically to harvesting activities in Romania’s Rusca Montană forest district have been formally registered as a complaint with the responsible independent certification body, which will carry out an on-site assessment to determine whether the operations comply with FSC requirements. …Where shortcomings are identified, corrective action is required, and failure to address them can have consequences for certification. …The concerns raised have been formally registered as a complaint by the responsible independent certification body, Soil Association, which will conduct an on-site assessment to examine the operation and determine whether FSC requirements have been met. …Regarding the harvesting method, the operation was classified as the final stage of a progressive shelterwood regeneration system.

Alterations made to Australia’s forests during British colonial rule have amplified the effects of climate change and rendered the country more prone to bushfires, a new study suggests. The research provides evidence for the value of cultural burning by Indigenous communities, scientists from the University of Melbourne say. “Climate records show seasons of comparably dangerous fire weather such as those seen during Ash Wednesday and Black Saturday reoccurred in the region repeatedly before colonisation, yet the open landscape maintained by cultural burning protected the land from catastrophic fire,” Michael-Shawn Fletcher, an author of the new study, said. “When colonisation ended that care, the forest expanded and thickened across the region, loading with fuel.” The study, published in the journal Nature, reconstructed the last 1,000 years of vegetation, fire and erosion in the Croajingolong National Park, East Gippsland, one of the most fire-prone forests in the southeast.

Algerian lawmakers adopted on Thursday a law imposing the death penalty on convicted forest arsonists, after deadly wildfires ripped through swathes of the country in recent weeks. The official death toll from the blazes, which swept through the country’s northeast during the summer, was 12 people, but witnesses have reported the deaths of dozens. Algeria had upheld a moratorium on the death penalty since 1993, but in August, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune ordered the justice minister to amend the penal code to broaden the list of crimes for which capital punishment is allowed. Lawmakers on Thursday also voted to extend capital punishment to child kidnappings involving torture, sexual assault or mutilation. “The adoption of the death penalty for these acts is the appropriate legal response to curb these crimes,” Justice Minister Lotfi Boudjemaa told parliament after the vote.

Rome – The 28th Session of the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Committee on Forestry opened on Monday with a call for stronger global action to address mounting threats to forests while fully recognizing their critical contribution to food security, livelihoods, climate resilience and sustainable agrifood systems. …During the opening session, FAO launched the 2026 edition of State of the World’s Forests, which focuses on forest and landscape restoration as a key response to food insecurity, climate change, biodiversity loss and land degradation. According to the report, 1.56 billion hectares of land worldwide are degraded, including 460 million hectares of forest land. At the same time, restoration efforts are gaining momentum, with 91 countries committing to restore 190 million hectares of degraded forests. …The report notes that achieving global restoration targets by 2030 remains a significant challenge but also represents a strategic investment that can generate long-term benefits for sustainable agrifood systems, rural development and environmental resilience.

In an interview with The Ethical Corporation, Inter-IKEA Group’s global head of forestry Mikhail Tarasov pointed to biodiversity loss as one of the biggest threats to the world’s forests. Competition for forest resources and accelerating climate change, which is driving wildfires and the spread of pests and disease, add to the challenge for IKEA. The company, which processed ​14.7 million cubic metres of round wood for its products last year, is one of the world’s largest consumers of timber, most of it sourced from Europe. That figure, however, represents a 30% reduction in its consumption since 2019, in part by recycling and reusing wood in its products. IKEA is working to promote better forest management ‌so that decisions on the harvesting of trees take account of local conditions, and combine management with protection and regeneration. The different IKEA entities own over 500,000 hectares of forest. Tarasov’s group is piloting “climate smart” forestry on 16,000 hectares in Latvia.