This forest road in winter creates the perspective of infinity. Beams of sunlight, shades and shadows merge into one. Is this the road to eternity?
Forest road
Forest floor palette
In early December, this is what this palette of the frosty forest floor is telling us. Quite a set of late autumn colours of lost leafs. They look up to where to came from, the high canopies.
We should be very thankful to them for their incredible service this season, this for their production of O2 (oxygen) and binding CO2 (carbondioxide), for their delivery of sugars for trees, fungi and animals, for filtering the dusty air.
Leafs are key for life. They actually are the master servants in the Empire of the Sun. Now they rest in peace on the forest floor, waiting to find their way in the circle of life. Winter is coming.
Picture: © Jack Kruf
December Forest
The forest at this time of the year seems to come to a standstill, leading to fascinating colour palettes. The whole forest ecosystem is in fact in full preparation for the year to come. Here the beautiful browns and yellows of the eagle fern (Pteridium aquilinum L.) at an open place in the forest.
The Forest and Sustainability
The European Commission.
Once adopted and applied, the new law will ensure that a set of key goods placed on the EU market will no longer contribute to deforestation and forest degradation in the EU and elsewhere in the world.
Since the EU is a major economy and consumer of these commodities, this step will help stop a significant share of global deforestation and forest degradation, in turn reducing greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity loss.
This major agreement comes just before the start of the milestone Conference on Biodiversity (COP15) which is set to define protection goals for nature for decades to come.
Explanation
Apart from timber, the products concerned are cocoa, coffee, soy, palm oil, beef and rubber. Derived products such as leather, chocolate, furniture, paper and charcoal will also be banned if they contribute to deforestation, the European Commission said in a statement.
Products will be classified as banned if they come from land deforested after December 2020. Traders will have to start proving that the products are deforestation-free and legal. Importers must be able to provide “precise geographical information on agricultural land” to show where raw materials come from.
If the rules are not followed, member states must impose sanctions. The commission says the list of goods covered by the directive is regularly reviewed and updated. This takes into account new data, such as changing deforestation patterns.
The Commission welcomes the provisional political agreement just reached between the European Parliament and the Council on an EU Regulation on deforestation-free supply chains.
Once adopted and applied, the new law will ensure that a set of key goods placed on the EU market will no longer contribute to deforestation and forest degradation in the EU and elsewhere in the world.
Since the EU is a major economy and consumer of these commodities, this step will help stop a significant share of global deforestation and forest degradation, in turn reducing greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity loss.
This major agreement comes just before the start of the milestone Conference on Biodiversity (COP15) which is set to define protection goals for nature for decades to come.
Explanation
Apart from timber, the products concerned are cocoa, coffee, soy, palm oil, beef and rubber. Derived products such as leather, chocolate, furniture, paper and charcoal will also be banned if they contribute to deforestation, the European Commission said in a statement.
Products will be classified as banned if they come from land deforested after December 2020. Traders will have to start proving that the products are deforestation-free and legal. Importers must be able to provide “precise geographical information on agricultural land” to show where raw materials come from.
If the rules are not followed, member states must impose sanctions. The commission says the list of goods covered by the directive is regularly reviewed and updated. This takes into account new data, such as changing deforestation patterns.
Bosbeheer in beeld
Ongewis of bosbeheer beoogde resultaten op termijn levert. Het beeld dat de laatste jaren is ontstaan dat Staatsbosbeheer overal in het land grootschalig bossen kapt, is onjuist. Onderzoek van de Algemene Rekenkamer wijst uit dat Staatsbosbeheer niet meer oogst dan er bijgroeit. Maar of de werkwijze van de grootste bosbeheerder van Nederland en andere boseigenaren op lange termijn de beoogde resultaten geeft, is echter op landelijk niveau onbekend.
Het rapport Bosbeheer in Beeld gaat over (Staats)bosbeheer en bossenstrategie. Het beeld dat de laatste jaren is ontstaan dat Staatsbosbeheer overal in het land grootschalig bossen kapt, is onjuist.
Onderzoek van de Algemene Rekenkamer wijst uit dat Staatsbosbeheer niet meer oogst dan er bijgroeit. Maar of de werkwijze van de grootste bosbeheerder van Nederland en andere boseigenaren op lange termijn de beoogde resultaten geeft, is echter op landelijk niveau onbekend.
“De landelijke bossenstrategie, door de rijksoverheid en provincies gezamenlijk in 2020 ondertekend, vereist landelijk 10 % meer bos op termijn. Die doelstelling wordt waarschijnlijk niet gehaald. Sinds 2013 verdwijnt er namelijk bij alle natuurbeheerders opgeteld meer bos in Nederland dan dat er aangeplant wordt. Er is ruim 6.000 hectare bos minder dan bij de start van de bossenstrategie.”
De conclusies laten zich samenvatten in de volgende punten:
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- Aantal gestelde doelen van de strategie worden niet gehaald.
- Er is geen centraal inzicht in de resultaten van het bosbeheer.
- Er is geen transparante afweging.
- Er zijn geen financiële prikkels die aanzetten tot meer houtkap.
- Art is geen garantie voor duurzaam bosbeheer.
De conclusies liegen er niet om. De gedane aanbevelingen zijn boterzacht en vooruitschuivend. Nadere informatie en afspraken moet gemaakt worden. Inderdaad. Had dat niet al gemoeten dan?
De bossenstrategie faalt. En dat is niet goed. Helemaal niet.
Kruf Huyssons 