Region Archives: International

AUSTRALIA — A new green policy offering cash to plant more natives aims to thicken Perth’s ailing tree canopy. In a bid to turn around Perth’s tree coverage – the worst of all Australian capitals – Labor announced on Tuesday it would plant one million trees across the metropolitan region by 2035 if re-elected in March. The $16.9 million commitment includes a Western Australia-first “treebate”, allowing 10,000 households a year to receive $150 to plant native trees on their property. The “treebates” would be available to all WA residents 18 and over, redeemable via the ServiceWA app, and would help fund the purchase of native trees from WA nurseries and other retailers. …Environment Minister Reece Whitby said the “treebate” would help the state government get Perth’s canopy coverage to 30 per cent by 2040, bringing the city in line with Melbourne’s current coverage and above Adelaide’s.

AUSTRALIA — A war of words – and glossy brochures – has flared up in the scientific world over whether Western Australia’s major prescribed-burning program across the forests of its south-west is doing more harm than good. The South-West Forests Defence Foundation launched its publication Prescribed Burning Fact Sheets – August 2024 outlining scientific research arguing current prescribed burning practices in the south-west forest regions does not give effective protection from wildfires, is hazardous to people’s health and is causing irreversible loss of biodiversity. The foundation favours a rapid detection and suppression response to bushfires. …In response, the Bushfire Front advocacy group has released its own pamphlet critiquing the foundation’s “flawed” proposal, saying it’s not based on sound science and would have disastrous outcomes in the event of a major bushfire. It states… that the response-only method was trialled and failed in the early 1900s.

Global deforestation rates have declined, but forests remain under significant pressure. Rising demands for forest products and climate-related challenges have led to calls for better conservation measures. The European Union had 160 million hectares of forest in 2022, covering 39 per cent of its land, an increase of 8.3 million hectares since 2000. The largest forest areas are in Sweden, Finland, and Spain. According to the European Environment Agency (EEA), the EU’s average forest connectivity, a crucial indicator for supporting biodiversity, was 80.6 per cent in 2021, a slight decline of 0.8 per cent compared to 2018. Larger forest areas, such as those in Slovenia, Romania, Finland, and Sweden, contribute significantly to higher connectivity, while smaller fragmented forests rely on forest strips to maintain connectivity. …Initiatives such as the Nature Restoration regulation, forest and biodiversity strategies for 2030, and a pledge to plant three billion trees by 2030, aim to enhance connectivity.

Nicholas Winston Ong

The Indonesian International Student Mobility Awards (IISMA) program has served as a gateway for Nicholas Winston Ong, a student from Universitas Airlangga’s (UNAIR) Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, to expand his academic horizons. This prestigious initiative enabled him to study at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Canada. Known as Winston, he chose UBC to further his commitment to enhancing Indonesia’s natural ecosystems by specializing in forestry at one of the world’s premier institutions in the field. “I selected the University of British Columbia because I am deeply committed to advancing Indonesia’s natural ecosystems. UBC, with its globally renowned forestry research, aligns perfectly with this vision,” Winston explained. …Winston acknowledged the rigorous academic environment at UBC, noting the university’s reputation as Canada’s largest research institution. He described UBC students as highly competitive, with coursework often centered on critical reasoning and case studies.