Forest loss ticked up again last year, following devastating fires in Brazil and elsewhere across the globe along with deforestation for farmland.  The globe lost nearly 12 million hectares of forest in 2019, a nearly 3 percent increase in losses from the year prior, according to a report from the World Resources Institute. The decline was heaviest in tropical forests, with Brazil leading the globe in tree loss after major fires in the Amazon. Deforestation for commercial purposes, however, such as timber, farming and mining, outpaced tree loss from the fires. … The damage to the Amazon is especially concerning, as the forest is considered the lungs of the Earth for its oxygen production.

Fekadu Beyene

Ethiopia has finalized groundworks to plant 5 billion tree seedlings this rainy season amid the enduring COVID-19 pandemic challenges, Environment, Forest and Climate Change Commission stated. Since the outburst of the COVID-19 pandemic, several parallels have been drawn between the global health crisis and the climate related calamity. Ethiopia, however, has announced plans to plant billions of seedlings beginning June 2020 with a precautionary approach to avoid harmful repercussions as the nation’s move to become greener…. EFCCC Commissioner, Fekadu Beyene said [he is] encouraged by the plantation of over 4 billion trees last year … He noted that acceptable and better preparations have been undertaken since last year, with best lessons drawn from preceding year and an effective coordination established among stakeholders, to effectively plant 5 billion tree seedlings.

Business and advocacy groups are pushing for the approval of an administrative order from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to liberalize wood processing in the Philippines in anticipation of renewed investments. The groups noted that current regulations, premised on the protection of natural and residual forests, had discouraged investments in tree plantations and wood processing. “A solution is to customize the current regulations to provide a policy environment conducive for tree plantations to thrive. We, therefore, support the Department’s proposed administrative order to promote and liberalize tree plantations,” the groups declared in a position paper. …Promoting tree plantations can help meet the country’s local wood demand to support the government’s infrastructure projects and develop downstream wood industries, such as furniture and housing construction.

WARBURTON, Australia — In the Yarra Ranges, in southeastern Australia, a logging clearcut sits like a scar on the hillside. The largely barren area… was harvested by contractors working for VicForests, the state-owned business that logs, sells and regrows timber from Victoria’s native forests. After cutting down most of the trees, timber workers torched the area to simulate a bushfire and encourage the forest to regenerate. …The Warburton clearcut and others like it in the state are becoming a key battleground for Australia’s environmental policy in the wake of the worst recorded bushfires in the country’s history. A new report by a group of leading Australian scientists suggests logging of native forests increases the risk and severity of wildfires. …Logging areas might sound like a way to cut risks – but the May study suggested the reverse can be true.