Rainforest robot named “Chico Mendes” (in honor of slain Brazilian environmentalist) helps protect rainforests by patrolling the ecosystem and monitoring it. Why have I not heard of this before? Only thing that made me wonder is the fact that it’s backed by Brazilian energy firm Petrobras. So I dug deeper and found that the robot was actually designed to inspect the gas pipeline for leaks, etc. Well, I guess if it’s doing both things, that’s not bad. After all, a gas leak in the amazon would not be a good thing. Whether a gas pipeline should be running through the Amazon in the first place is an altogether different question

Brazil: Amazon Destruction at Lowest Level:

It’s good to hear postive news every now and again… Annual destruction of the Amazon rain forest fell to its lowest recorded level this year, Brazilian authorities said Monday, hailing an enforcement crackdown for the drop.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/brazil-amazon-destruction-lowest-level-15091043#.Tt4VUlZa8dU

Brazil’s government has stepped up enforcement of environmental laws in recent years, mostly by sending armed environmental agents into the jungle to carry out large raids on deforestation hotspots.

Observing Deforestation from Space: Global climate change can now be observed from space. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) launched a new technology that can survey the world’s forests via satellites and provide a more accurate, global picture of common threats to the environment, such as deforestation, degradation or illegal logging.

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106036

HOPE! Deforestation could be stopped by 2020: but delaying action to save forests by even a decade means double the area of forests lost by 2030, says WWF.

According to WWF, United Nations climate talks, set to get underway this week in South Africa, provide a key opportunity for the world’s governments to unite on efforts to halt global forest loss. At these talks, details on a scheme in which developed countries pay developing countries not to cut down their forests will be agreed. This effort is called REDD+

http://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/?202538/Action-now-could-double-forests-saved

Deforestation is a growing problem with many consequences. Personally I did not know a lot about deforestation, so I went online to Youtube.com to look up videos explaining it. The following link leads you to a video, which explains the basic facts and consequences of deforestation.
Today, the majority of deforestation occurs in the tropics. In Latin America and Asia two percent of the tropical forests are removed a year and in Africa .8 percent of the forests are removed a year. Forests provide useful wood products and other non-wood products, such as bark, dyes, fibers, gums, incense, latexes, oils, resins, shellac, tanning compounds, waxes, fruits, nuts, berries, and other foods. Some of the reasons deforestation occurs are population pressures, profits, and internal social and political forces. Some consequences of deforestation include changes in climate, more floods, and the destruction of many types of undiscovered plants. There are more floods because forests protect the top soil and house important nutrients. After deforestation, summer stream’s flows increase due to the lack of transpiring water that the forest used to do. The destruction of the plants is a big consequence because many of the medicines developed come from plants. The destruction of the plants could be destroying several medicines that could have saved many lives. The following link explains and shows the trends of deforestation, how to fix deforestation, where it is happening, and much more.

Deforestation: Nigeria Ranked Worst in the World. But the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) stressed that there was still hope for the country, unless it starts paying urgent and serious attention to nature. The Project Director, IITA, Mr. John Peacock, explained that over 90 per cent of Nigeria’s forest has been lost as a result of deforestation.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/deforestation-nigeria-ranked-worst-in-the-world/103321/

Problem is that in poor rural areas of the world, where finding clean drinking water may sometimes be a challenge, deforestation is not the most important topic for day to day survival and well being.

Humans behave as if Earth isn’t something that they own, as if it doesn’t belong to them:deforesting it,polluting it and allowing the extinction of a lot of species of animals. Deforestation and constructions without permission are a clear example of how humans challenge nature and recieve a violent answer from it. In fact recent floods in Liguria prove this robbery of the territory by humans. This year is the International Year of Forests, so we have to reflect on these beautiful words of the Indian population of Amazon:”Trees are the columns which support the sky.”

Apparently, cutting down trees actually counteracts global warming. Well, it actually depends on where you you are cutting down the trees. According to a study done by Yale University, deforestation done north of the 45 degrees latitude actually has a net cooling effect. Of course, you are still removing the habitat of the many animals that live in the forest, so I’m not so sure I’ll go for the chainsaw just yet.

The Baobab trees in Madagascar are the only trees to survive deforestation. They are considered sacred and are not chopped down. Only one-fifth of Madagascar’s forest remains. They’re clearing everything out, cutting around the Baobab trees. Look at these beautiful, ancient looking, trees.

Toymaker Hasbro cuts deforestation from its supply chain: the second largest American toy company, today announced a new packaging policy that excludes the use of fiber produced via destruction of rainforests.

Hasbro says is will not use any virgin fiber that contains Mixed Tropical Hardwood (MTH), which typically indicates the fiber has been derived from clearing of natural rainforests. Mattel took a similar decision last month. It seems that companies such as LEGO and DISNEY need to follow suit.

Interesting related video on the future of sustainable packaging — paper, board and plastics industry.