Tag - forests

 
 

FORESTS

Mercian's vineyard in Koshu, Yamanashi Prefecture
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Mar 18, 2024
Major Japanese beverage groups focusing more on sustainability
Initiatives have diversified to include water source preservation as well as winery tours under the theme of the U.N.'s Sustainable Development Goals.
Awang Suang trims weeds from palm trees on his small plantation in Membakut, Malaysia on Feb. 12. He has been cultivating oil palms for more than 50 years after switching from rubber trees. Palms require less labor and produce more frequent harvests — roughly every two weeks, year round — providing a steadier income, he explained.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Mar 18, 2024
Can Europe save forests without killing jobs in Malaysia?
A new regulation aims to rid the palm oil supply chain of imports that come from former forestland.
Firefighters tackle a forest fire ravaging the Bolivian Amazon, in San Buenaventura, Bolivia, in November 2023.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Mar 18, 2024
Reading the ruins of Amazon fires, scientists see crisis ahead
Fanned by drought, high winds and human felling, the forest is suffering unprecedented early-year fires.
Shintaro Tajima (left) and his son, Daisuke, pose in their forest in Hita, Oita Prefecture, in January. At their feet is wasabi growing in clusters.
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Mar 18, 2024
Oita forestry firm signs carbon trade deal with Line operator
LY, which operates Line and Yahoo services, will purchase 1,500 tons of carbon credit per year from Tajima Forest for 10 years.
A man sits near the remains of burnt houses following the spread of wildfires in Vina del Mar, Chile, on Saturday.
WORLD
Feb 4, 2024
Wildfires threaten 2 Chilean cities, destroying 1,000 homes and killing 46
The disaster comes as Colombia battles its own blazes the mountains around Bogotá, in what officials say is the hottest January there in 30 years.
An old growth forest near Fort St. James, British Columbia, Canada, in an area where pellet producer Drax is permitted to cut.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Jan 14, 2024
Japan's thirst for biomass is having a harmful impact on Canada's forests
Experts and activists say biomass is not the climate solution it might appear to be on the surface and is far from being sustainable.
Workers plow a field at the site of an economic land concession outside Praeus K'ak village in Cambodia's Preah Vihear province on Dec. 6.
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 24, 2023
'Doom for forests': Fears over new Cambodia land grants
Thousands are affected by economic land concessions (ELCs) — land grants to businesses that experts say have driven deforestation and dispossession.
Sacks of coffee beans at a storage unit in the Sidama region of Ethiopia.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 20, 2023
Coffee firms switch sources, evading impact of EU deforestation law
Under the new law, importers of various commodities and products that use them must prove goods did not originate from deforested land.
Researchers prepare to conduct a mapping survey of a reforested area on a hillside near Chiang Mai, Thailand.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Dec 18, 2023
In Thailand, drones help solve forest carbon capture riddle
Drones are part of an increasingly sophisticated arsenal used by scientists to understand forests and their role in the battle against climate change.
The Mai Po nature reserve in Hong Kong neighboring mainland China's southern city of Shenzhen (background).
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Dec 18, 2023
In bustling Hong Kong, forest bathing offers a therapeutic escape
Following a bout of depression and a chance encounter, the founder of Moments In Woods discovered the therapeutic practice of immersing in nature.
People in New York watch drones creating a 3D display outside the United Nations Headquarters calling attention to the Amazon rainforest and climate change.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Nov 29, 2023
Amazon rainforest destruction slows sharply year to date, report says
Destruction across the Amazon rainforest so far this year has slowed dramatically, down 55.8% from the same period a year ago.
Bears doing yoga? If you’re in the city, why not?
PODCAST / deep dive
Nov 16, 2023
Bear goes the neighborhood? Japanese wildlife is on the move.
This week, Alex K.T. Martin joins us to discuss why people are encountering bears, boars and other wildlife in the most unlikely of places.
Armando Aroca, environmentalist, former guerrilla and current nursery manager of the Common Community Multi Active Cooperative (COMUCCOM) farm, points to a mural with the image of murdered environmentalist Jorge Santofimio in Puerto Guzman, Colombia, on June 27.
ENVIRONMENT
Nov 16, 2023
How the murders of activists hurt Colombian ecological preservation
Conservationists are targeted as their work poses a threat to illegal activities
Port Plus is a training and education facility in Yokohama built by and for general contractor Obayashi, a storied Japanese builder that traces its roots back to 1892.
BUSINESS
Nov 16, 2023
Wooden high-rise in Yokohama grows Japan’s timber ambitions
Port Plus, which was finished last year, is composed mainly of 540 wooden rigid cross-joints.
An agent inspects a tree extracted from the Amazon rainforest during an operation to combat deforestation in Para State, Brazil, on Jan. 20.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 14, 2023
Forests key to climate fight along with cutting fossil fuels: study
Restoring global forests could sequester 22 times as much carbon as the world emits in a year, meaning trees are a key tool in fighting climate change.
If you spot a wild animal in the city, it's likely lost. Still, alert authorities immediately to prevent any unpleasantness.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife / Longform
Nov 13, 2023
The concrete forest: Bears, boars and more head to the cities
Warmer winters, less food and an aging society all play a part in why wild animals are increasingly venturing into human-populated areas.
Sections of the forests in Colville, Washington, have already been thinned, allowing trees to grow less densely and reducing the risk for wildfire.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Oct 26, 2023
How to prevent forest fires by building cities with more wood
Not everyone is convinced mass timber will help forest health.
A bear waits for passing cars that might provide food, on a road in Covasna, Romania.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Oct 23, 2023
Keep or cull? Romania divided over its bear population
In Romania, bear attacks are on the rise as the creatures venture out looking for food, often brought by tourists or left in unsecured garbage cans.
Tourists enjoy the sunset at Bali's Canggu beach in 2021.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Oct 19, 2023
In Bali, 'sea-sun-sand' tourists threaten ancient rainforest
The island seeks to limit visitors without scaring off too many job-creating visitors with exorbitant taxes.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attends a ministerial meeting on hay fever at the Prime Minister's Office on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 11, 2023
Japan to revitalize forestry industry to counter hay fever
“We will aim to resolve hay fever, which is a social issue, and revitalize local communities through the promotion of forestry,” Kishida said.

Longform

A statue of "Dragon Ball" character Goku stands outside the offices of Bandai Namco in Tokyo. The figure is now as recognizable as such characters as Mickey Mouse and Spider-Man.
Akira Toriyama's gift to the world