Jakarta, Indonesia - Greenpeace welcomes today’s decision by Indonesia’s Forest Minister, Mr. Zulkifli Hasan, to temporarily stop paper giant Asia Pacific Resources International Holding Limited (APRIL) from destroying the carbon-rich forest peatlands of Indonesia’s Kampar Peninsula, Sumatra.

The move follows a Greenpeace protest on 12 November to prevent the company destroying the forest and peatland in the area in order to grow acacia plantations for the international pulp and paper market. Containing 2 billion tonnes of carbon, the endangered Kampar Peninsula is one of the planet’s largest natural carbon stores. It is under threat of destruction by APRIL and Asia Pulp & Paper (APP).

"Deforestation is one of the roots of the climate crisis. We will only avert this crisis if President Yudhoyono and other world leaders permanently stop all companies like APRIL and APP from destroying the planet’s forests," said Steve Campbell, Campaign Director, Greenpeace Australia Pacific.

Deforestation causes about a fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions. Over a million hectares of forest, mostly tropical rainforest, are destroyed every month – an area of forest the size of a football pitch every two seconds. Rainforest and peatland destruction in Indonesia emits such huge quantities of CO2 that is has driven the country to become the world's third largest climate polluter after China and the US.

"To pull the world back from the brink of a climate crisis, we need Kevin Rudd and his counterparts to commit to deep cuts in emissions from fossil fuels and to provide the critical funds needed so that countries like Indonesia can end deforestation. If they fail, we will face mass species extinction, floods, droughts and famine before the end of the century," added Mr Campbell.

Greenpeace set up a ‘Climate Defenders Camp’ on the Kampar Peninsula three weeks ago to bring urgent attention to the role that rainforest and peatland destruction play in driving dangerous climate change in the run-up to the UN Copenhagen Climate Summit.

Over the last week, 13 international Greenpeace activists have been deported from Indonesia, even though they all held valid visas. Two independent journalists have also been detained, questioned and subsequently deported - despite holding valid permits and visas. This has prompted criticism and condemnation from parliamentarians, civil society and journalist associations both nationally and internationally.

"We hope the Indonesian authorities stop intimidating peaceful protestors who are trying to help President Yudhoyono fulfill the commitment he has made to cut Indonesia’s massive CO2 emissions," said Bustar Maitar of Greenpeace Southeast Asia. "Instead, they must continue to investigate companies like APRIL that are destroying the forest and driving global climate change."

Greenpeace is calling for an end to deforestation globally by 2020 as a key part of the UN climate negotiations this December.

Source: Greenpeace

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Recent tree loss, largely driven by climate stress, in forests around the world could portend increased tree mortality under climate change, according to a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) report recently released online in the journal Forest Ecology and Management.

The USGS-led review suggests that many of the world's forests are sensitive to climate-related drought and heat stress, raising the concern that forests may become increasingly vulnerable to future mortality, even in environments that are not normally considered water-limited. The results suggest risks to ecosystem services that are valuable to forests and societies around the world.

"Trees can die much more quickly than they grow," said Craig D. Allen, USGS scientist and lead author of the report. "The widespread examples of drought and heat-induced tree mortality that we document illustrate how climate can drive abrupt, broad-scale impacts to essential forest services ranging from timber and protection of watersheds and biodiversity to recreational, aesthetic and spiritual benefits."

Although tree mortality episodes occur in the absence of climate change, the report's results are consistent with projections of future increases in tree mortality due to climate-related stresses. These heat and drought stresses could fundamentally alter the composition, structure and biogeography of forests in many regions, as well as affect how forests sequester carbon.

"This work by USGS underscores multiple risks that climate change poses to our forests and our world," said Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. "It also illuminates the importance of our efforts to develop practical, on-the-ground land management strategies that will help us adjust to the stresses that climate change is placing on our forests."

The report details 88 cases of significant tree mortality around the world associated with heat and drought since 1970, documenting climate-induced tree losses from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America.

"From northern forests of spruce, pine or oak to tropical savannas and rainforests, many forest types appear vulnerable to such climate-driven mortality and to forest pests that are also highly sensitive to temperature," Allen said.

The report also identifies key information gaps and scientific uncertainties that currently hinder our ability to identify climate-related trends in tree mortality and to predict future losses in response to climate change, including lack of species-specific knowledge about tree water and temperature stress limits and the absence of a globally coordinated observation system.

However, in conjunction with other recent observational and experimental studies indicating that higher temperatures can drive increases in tree mortality, this article highlights risks that tree mortality could become more frequent and extensive as global climate change progresses.

Source: USGS

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Five giant non-native snake species would pose high risks to the health of ecosystems in the United States should they become established here, according to a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) report.

The USGS report details the risks of nine non-native boa, anaconda and python species that are invasive or potentially invasive in the United States. Because all nine species share characteristics associated with greater risks, none was found to be a low ecological risk. Two of these species are documented as reproducing in the wild in South Florida, with population estimates for Burmese pythons in the tens of thousands.

Based on the biology and known natural history of the giant constrictors, individuals of some species may also pose a small risk to people, although most snakes would not be large enough to consider a person as suitable prey. Mature individuals of the largest species -Burmese, reticulated, and northern and southern African pythons - have been documented as attacking and killing people in the wild in their native range, though such unprovoked attacks appear to be quite rare, the report authors wrote. The snake most associated with unprovoked human fatalities in the wild is the reticulated python. The situation with human risk is similar to that experienced with alligators: attacks in the wild are improbable but possible.

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Source: USGS

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