OTTAWA — Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, announced that the Government of Canada will bring provincial and territorial governments and national Indigenous organizations together on May 25–26, to discuss halting and reversing biodiversity loss in Canada. The goal is to put nature on a path to recovery by 2050, including the development of Canada’s 2030 Biodiversity Strategy. It will be the first face-to-face ministers’ meeting since December’s breakthrough COP15, where the world agreed to the Kunming-Montréal Global Biodiversity Framework. …The Government of Canada recently released a Discussion Paper entitled Toward a 2030 Biodiversity Strategy for Canada and is inviting all Canadians to share their priorities on biodiversity by completing an online survey. The Discussion Paper provides information to Canadians on some of the key issues and challenges, as well as the opportunities involved in protecting biodiversity.
Over the past few years, a fascinating narrative about forests and fungi has captured the public imagination. It holds that the roots of neighboring trees can be connected by fungal filaments, forming massive underground networks that can span entire forests — a so-called wood-wide web. …The narrative — recounted in books, podcasts, TV series, documentaries, and news articles — has prompted some experts to rethink not only forest management but the relationships between self-interest and altruism in human society. But is any of it true? We have studied forest fungi for our whole careers, and even we were surprised by some of the more extraordinary claims surfacing in the media. Thinking we had missed something, we thoroughly reviewed 26 field studies… What we found shows how easily confirmation bias, unchecked claims, and credulous news reporting can, over time, distort research findings beyond recognition. It should serve as a cautionary tale for scientists and journalists alike. 
Soil microbiota transplanted from more stressful environmental conditions – drought or excessive heat or cold, for example – can enhance tree tolerance to changing climates, researchers report. The findings suggest that management of soil microbiota, especially during forest restorations, could be a valuable strategy for increasing forest resilience to climate change. Climate change is forcing many species outside of their evolved range of environmental tolerances, forcing them to acclimate, adapt, or migrate to avoid extinction. For long-lived trees, neither adaptation nor migration may happen fast enough to keep up the pace of climate change. However, research shows that diverse assemblages of microbes that live on and around plants, including mycorrhizal fungi in the soil surrounding their roots, can enhance plant tolerance to environmental stress. And since microbial taxa are likely to adapt faster than their host and disperse farther, microbial associations may offer an alternative, underappreciated source of plant community resistance to climate change.
The Seattle City Council voted Tuesday afternoon to pass an updated version of a city ordinance regulating trees on private property, which had not been adjusted since 2009. The legislation will fully overhaul the ordinance for the first time since the section of code protecting trees was adopted in 2001, years before the climate and housing crises came to dominate both city discourse and priorities. Seattleites have since become aware of the many benefits trees provide, from cooling to improving people’s health and general well-being. The city is losing trees faster than it is replanting them, and is thousands of housing units short to meet the demand of a growing population. …But the Urban Forestry Commission and tree advocates worry that the legislation so long in the making was rushed through the voting process. 
CANTON, North Carolina — The closing of the paper mill in Canton is a major loss for its 1,100 employees and a shock to the area’s economy. The ripple effects also make it very bad news for sustainable forestry in the mountains. …While historically some of the supply chain demands necessary to support these industries negatively impacted overall forest health, the paper mill’s use of only low-grade and small-diameter wood created opportunities for sustainable and beneficial forest management. …A sustainable timber harvest usually has to remove lower quality trees to let in enough sun so that a young stand of new trees can grow vigorously and compete in good conditions to develop into a healthy future forest. With no market for low quality trees, these less well adapted trees will now be left even more frequently and will become our future forests.
The Perrottet government found native logging could be ended in New South Wales without costing the budget but opposition from the Nationals blocked the proposal. A plan to end the controversial and loss-making practice of timber extraction from native forests was prepared by the environment department by October 2022. It won backing from the Liberals, including the then environment minister, James Griffin, but did not make it to cabinet because it was opposed by the junior Coalition partners. The report found Treasury could cover the cost of compensating affected workers, companies and communities by finding markets for the avoided destruction of biodiversity and release of carbon emissions. Financial firms …would secure revenue streams from firms looking to offset their environmental impacts elsewhere, exceeding the compensatory costs. …Victoria’s move, announced in Tuesday’s 2023-24 budget, brought forward the end of the industry by six years and will cost an additional $200m in support payments.
