![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
. | ![]() |
. |
![]() by Brooks Hays Washington (UPI) Mar 22, 2019
Across the island of Borneo, conservationists are preparing to rewild palm oil plantations. The project will see agricultural acreage turned back into near-natural rainforest. The list of species threatened by deforestation as a result of palm oil production in Malaysia and Indonesia includes the orangutan, Sumatran elephant, Bornean pygmy elephant, Sumatran rhino and Sumatran tiger. Conservationists and ecologists presented the details of the reforestation project this week in Malaysia at the Heart of Borneo conference. The effort is being organized by the Rhino and Forest Fund, or RFF. RFF is German-based organization that is supported by the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research and dedicated to protecting the Sabah rhino, as well as "the remaining lowland rainforest in Malaysia and its unique flora and fauna." The reforestation project is designed to meet the Aichi Biodiversity Targets set by the Convention on Biological Diversity. The project will also meet goals set at the United Nations Climate Change Actions Summit Climate Change Actions Summit held in New York in 2014. In its current form, the project will reforest 1.3 million square miles of rainforest, as well as re-naturalize degraded land by 2030. The end goal is large, but project organizers plan to start modestly and learn as they go. "There is a lack of evidence-based experience in practice," conservationists acknowledged in a news release. "With this pilot scheme, the Rhino and Forest Fund would like to close this knowledge gap." To begin, project leaders plan to turn 15.5 hectares, or 38 acres, of palm oil plantations back into rainforest. "The signing of a purchase agreement at the current Heart of Borneo conference in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, marks a breakthrough in the creation of a significant wildlife corridor," said Robert Risch, a RFF board member and scientist at the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research. "In order to prevent mass extinction of species, isolated forest areas must be reconnected as soon as possible." The initial project will provide conservationists a chance to develop best practices as they scale their reforestation efforts. "The challenge is to investigate the optimal transformation of oil palm plantations and their degraded soils into near-natural rainforests," said Swiss researcher Philippe Saner, an environmental scientist and founding member of the RFF. "Knowledge gained from this enables us to make statements about future optimal surface reconstruction." Scientists are keen to find out how long it takes for biodiversity to return to palm oil plantations once they have been rewilded.
![]() ![]() Floodplain forests under threat Freiburg, Germany (SPX) Mar 20, 2019 A team from the Institute of Forest Sciences at the University of Freiburg shows that the extraction of ground water for industry and households is increasingly damaging floodplain forests in Europe given the increasing intensity and length of drought periods in the summer. The scientists have published their results in the journal Frontiers in Forests and Global Change. Floodplain forests dominated by oaks are among the most at risk in Europe. Through conversion to arable land and pastures, as we ... read more
![]() |
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us. |