forests

Image by Lee Jordan

The government recently announced it is considering selling off large areas of woodlands. Forested areas in the UK are important for local biodiversity, and while Greenpeace campaigns are focused on tropical rainforests, the Woodland Trust is all about our own trees. Guest blogger Kaye Brennan from the Trust explains what's going on in our own backyard.

For the latest news on the proposed forest sell-off, visit the Woodland Trust's website.

First of all, let me say that yes, we are worried, and no, we're not campaigning... yet!

Shocking news burst our peaceful Sunday bubble recently, as the Guardian and several other newspapers announced that Defra were considering the mass sale of at least half of the public forest estate.

Several petitions were swiftly started, between them gathering signatures from hundreds of thousands of concerned people and they are still growing in numbers. Online, views were made clear in the hundreds of comments left on articles, blog posts, Facebook pages and tweets.

You'll no doubt be pleased to hear that deforestation rates in the Amazon have fallen, according to figures from the government of Brazil. The National Institute for Space Research reported yesterday that just 6,451km2 of rainforest were felled between August 2009 and July 2010, a drop of 14 per cent on the previous year.

Forest campaigner Daniela Montalto assesses APP's latest attempts to convince everyone that it really does like trees. Honestly.

It didn't take too long for the notorious rainforest destroyer Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) to make another desperate attempt to distract from the facts.

Some great news to start the week - the spoof KitKat video we made to protest Nestlé's use of palm oil has won an award. Our German colleagues entered it into the viral video strand of the 26th Berlin International Short Film Festival, and it scooped Best Viral! Thanks to everyone who watched, shared and took action off the back of this video - its success is down to you.

Nestlé has, of course, since taken steps to divest its supply chain of palm oil and paper products from Sinar Mas and so has joined the growing ranks of companies who refuse to do business with a group which is wantonly destroying Indonesia's rainforests.

So while the message of this video is no longer applicable, we're still chuffed to have won the award. And it was damn good fun to make.

Helen Buckland, UK director of the Sumatran Orangutan Society, reports on developments at the recent Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil meeting...

It's no secret that the palm oil industry is responsible for massive deforestation in Indonesia, but it's now gone some way towards acknowledging the value of rainforests and how vital they are for conserving endangered species, including orangutans.

With so little habitat remaining in Sumatra and Borneo, it is vital to preserve even degraded forests to ensure the survival of orangutans in the wild.