This post is to draw attention to the need for a rethink of how we manage natural resources
Monday, August 24, 2009
PODCAST: The time is right for new look at natural resource management
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
COUPLE PROFIT FROM $10 MILLION BANK "ERROR" - HUNT ON!
YOU WONT BELIEVE THIS ONE:
A couple who own a local service station rips off one of Australasia’s largest banks to the tune of $10 million. Then………they vanish!!!
It’s a bit like “Where’s Wally?” except its Where’s …….and……….?”
Yes, hard to believe but so very true.
It seems that the Westpac Bank made an error by depositing the 10 mill. into their account and the couple took advantage of this “error” and helped them too lots of the lovely loot. About $6,000,000 if the rumours are true.
They took off in such a hurry that they didn’t even shut the front door s of the service station or turn of the lights. They were like “Seeya”.
BP has been in with the tankers emptying out the petrol tanks etc and has taken to the petrol pumps with jack-hammers to remove them. All that is left is an empty petrol station surrounded by industrial fencing which has just been put up and a couple of lonely trailers.
Right now we all hate banks, right? After all these are the guys who have succeeded in losing several countries' fortunes without really trying.
There will surely be a lot of people who are quietly thinking to themselves what goes around comes around.
But, at the end of day theft is theft. The money in that bank includes the finances of many small business people in Rotorua, many of them forestry contractors and suppliers.
When credit is so hard to obtain and people are working all the hours under the sun to try and survive and not have to lay off staff it must make it very hard to swallow for a lot of people.
A couple who own a local service station rips off one of Australasia’s largest banks to the tune of $10 million. Then………they vanish!!!
It’s a bit like “Where’s Wally?” except its Where’s …….and……….?”
Yes, hard to believe but so very true.
It seems that the Westpac Bank made an error by depositing the 10 mill. into their account and the couple took advantage of this “error” and helped them too lots of the lovely loot. About $6,000,000 if the rumours are true.
They took off in such a hurry that they didn’t even shut the front door s of the service station or turn of the lights. They were like “Seeya”.
BP has been in with the tankers emptying out the petrol tanks etc and has taken to the petrol pumps with jack-hammers to remove them. All that is left is an empty petrol station surrounded by industrial fencing which has just been put up and a couple of lonely trailers.
Right now we all hate banks, right? After all these are the guys who have succeeded in losing several countries' fortunes without really trying.
There will surely be a lot of people who are quietly thinking to themselves what goes around comes around.
But, at the end of day theft is theft. The money in that bank includes the finances of many small business people in Rotorua, many of them forestry contractors and suppliers.
When credit is so hard to obtain and people are working all the hours under the sun to try and survive and not have to lay off staff it must make it very hard to swallow for a lot of people.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Financial crisis puts crimp in ENCE big Uruguayan pulp plan
Wednesday, 18 February 2009
The global financial crisis has put a crimp in the plans of Spanish pulp company ENCE to build a million ton a year pulp plant in Uruguay.
It's reported ENCE has told officials in Uruguay plans for a million-plus ton pulp plant in the small Latin American country will go on hold until an investment partner can be found.
Media reports in the Uruguay capital, Montevideo, said that ENCE had, however, rejected any suggested it was abandoning the whole operation at this stage, Morcosur reported.
It was reported that the mayor of Colonia - where the plant was to be built - Walter Zimmer said he had met with an ENCE delegation.
He said they had hold him they “would continue with the essentials to keep the free trade zone status and construction permits for the foundations of two jetties, but the whole operation in Uruguay will be delayed and the plant is to be postponed.”
ENCE delegates said that an associate was needed “to share the volumes and cost of the operation” since pulp prices internationally had plummeted 50% and “we need to share the investment.”
However, Zimmer is quoted as saying the delegates said that “six potential partners in the industry have expressed an interest”, so there were no chances of abandoning the project.
In January this year, ENCE informed the Madrid Stock Exchange that it was looking for a partner to share the Uruguay project, “given the new context of the world market”.
The Punta Pereira project of a million plus tons of pulp required an investment of more than a billion Euros of which ENCE has already spent 250 million.
The global financial crisis has put a crimp in the plans of Spanish pulp company ENCE to build a million ton a year pulp plant in Uruguay.
It's reported ENCE has told officials in Uruguay plans for a million-plus ton pulp plant in the small Latin American country will go on hold until an investment partner can be found.
Media reports in the Uruguay capital, Montevideo, said that ENCE had, however, rejected any suggested it was abandoning the whole operation at this stage, Morcosur reported.
It was reported that the mayor of Colonia - where the plant was to be built - Walter Zimmer said he had met with an ENCE delegation.
He said they had hold him they “would continue with the essentials to keep the free trade zone status and construction permits for the foundations of two jetties, but the whole operation in Uruguay will be delayed and the plant is to be postponed.”
ENCE delegates said that an associate was needed “to share the volumes and cost of the operation” since pulp prices internationally had plummeted 50% and “we need to share the investment.”
However, Zimmer is quoted as saying the delegates said that “six potential partners in the industry have expressed an interest”, so there were no chances of abandoning the project.
In January this year, ENCE informed the Madrid Stock Exchange that it was looking for a partner to share the Uruguay project, “given the new context of the world market”.
The Punta Pereira project of a million plus tons of pulp required an investment of more than a billion Euros of which ENCE has already spent 250 million.
EXPERT COMMENT: Bushfires' impact on global warming and forest owners under Kyoto rules
EXPERT COMMENT: Bushfires' impact on global warming and forest owners under Kyoto rules
[The following article has been specially produced for southem.com by Richard Hayes of the New Zealand company Environmental Intermediaries & Trading Group Limited (EITG) in response to discussion about the Australian bushfires and global warming.]
The impact of the Australian Bush Fires on Global Warming and the Consequences for Forest Owners under the Kyoto Protocol
Much has been said about the recent tragic bush fires in Australia. Added to the loss in human and animal life is comment on the impact on global warming.
Global warming is all about human or so call anthropogenic emissions, that is emissions from human activities on the planet.
Wild fires have been around for eons and will still probably be around if humans ceased to exist.
Whilst many of the fires are suspected arson, the counter argument of course is man fights and therefore limits all kinds of wildfires.
So where did the CO2 come from that was emitted in the fires? Answer is it was taken out of the atmosphere recently, perhaps up to only 40 years ago.
Recycling is happening with C02 moving from the atmosphere into the trees and back again over short periods.
These emissions are unlike the emissions controlled by the Kyoto Protocol. These are a result of the burning of fossil fuels which is C02 removed from the atmosphere many millions of years ago.
At the present time 22% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are created from cutting down forest (deforestation).
Growing forestry (afforestation) removes C02 from the atmosphere by photosynthesis.
Part of the Kyoto Protocol acknowledges credit to be given for afforestation and the Government may issue ‘credits’ to those who grow forests.
Due to the 1990 start date of the UN initiatives this has been adopted as an arbitrary date as from when the tracking of the afforestation carbon credits starts. A forest planted post 31/12/1989 resulting in a change of use of the land to forestry is called a ‘Kyoto Forest’ and can attract carbon credits.
Credits from growing forest are added to the limit agreed to with the UN and can be surrendered to the UN to offset emissions above the agreed cap and therefore have a value to those who emit in excess of the 1990 levels.
Signatories to the Kyoto Protocol, of which New Zealand and Australia are two, are permitted to implement the protocol by enacting legislation that creates the outcomes required by the protocol.
How the outcomes are achieved are completely up to the host Government.
Impact on Forest Owners with Carbon Credits in Australia
Under the proposed Australian Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) would forest owners be liable after the fires to surrender carbon credits if they had received them for the forest? In short the answer is no.
The reason is the CPRS is designed to grant credits on an averaging basis and the Australian Federal Government would use this averaging to smooth fluctuations in the actual carbon stored in forest.
This policy arose in part from a significant distrust on the Governments part in the forest industry and the potential inability to find the entity that was accountable for the emissions either through fire or more obviously harvest.
Some forest investment structures in Australian forestry separate land and forest ownership and leave potential disputes as to who is liable.
If the forest was non Kyoto forest this is excluded from the CPRS and no carbon credits are surrendered for deforestation or a fire causing deforestation.
Deforestation once a significant emission for Australia has slowed significantly since 1990. This is due to restrictions in new environmental regulations.
Impact on Forest Owners had the Fires been in New Zealand
So what if the fires occurred in New Zealand under the NZETS? Simply put, if the forest was pre-1990 then replanting, which is covered under most forest insurance policies, would remove any carbon liabilities.
Choosing not to replant would result in full deforestation liability.
The impact of the fires would have to be reported to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) - see the Carbon Monitor volume 14 issue 1.
If the plantation was Kyoto Forest and the owner had been issued NZU units, then there would be a definite liability and requirement to surrender to the Government at the next annual forestry return credits to the amount lost in the fires.
Environmental Intermediaries & Trading Group Limited suggests a forest owner who was part of EITG Carbon Pool would not have a problem in this situation.
EITG Carbon Pool is the process of a group of forest owners binding together to achieve economies of scale and/or to manage or offset liabilities.
In its simplest of terms, the pool is analogous to insurance where the participants collectively share a party’s loss thereby reducing the likelihood of any one party having total loss of their assets.
With the harvest liabilities of the Kyoto Protocol, government officials have suggested pooling is the only mechanism where the harvest liability can be managed to give carbon credit income while managing the future harvest liabilities.
In this case the bush fires are a dramatic example of what could happened to forest owners who are part of the NZETS and not in the EITG pool.
Richard Hayes
ph 64 21 310 301
fax 64 9 920 1093
skype richardshayes
email
richard.hayes@eitg.co.nz
www.eitg.co.nz
[The following article has been specially produced for southem.com by Richard Hayes of the New Zealand company Environmental Intermediaries & Trading Group Limited (EITG) in response to discussion about the Australian bushfires and global warming.]
The impact of the Australian Bush Fires on Global Warming and the Consequences for Forest Owners under the Kyoto Protocol
Much has been said about the recent tragic bush fires in Australia. Added to the loss in human and animal life is comment on the impact on global warming.
Global warming is all about human or so call anthropogenic emissions, that is emissions from human activities on the planet.
Wild fires have been around for eons and will still probably be around if humans ceased to exist.
Whilst many of the fires are suspected arson, the counter argument of course is man fights and therefore limits all kinds of wildfires.
So where did the CO2 come from that was emitted in the fires? Answer is it was taken out of the atmosphere recently, perhaps up to only 40 years ago.
Recycling is happening with C02 moving from the atmosphere into the trees and back again over short periods.
These emissions are unlike the emissions controlled by the Kyoto Protocol. These are a result of the burning of fossil fuels which is C02 removed from the atmosphere many millions of years ago.
At the present time 22% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are created from cutting down forest (deforestation).
Growing forestry (afforestation) removes C02 from the atmosphere by photosynthesis.
Part of the Kyoto Protocol acknowledges credit to be given for afforestation and the Government may issue ‘credits’ to those who grow forests.
Due to the 1990 start date of the UN initiatives this has been adopted as an arbitrary date as from when the tracking of the afforestation carbon credits starts. A forest planted post 31/12/1989 resulting in a change of use of the land to forestry is called a ‘Kyoto Forest’ and can attract carbon credits.
Credits from growing forest are added to the limit agreed to with the UN and can be surrendered to the UN to offset emissions above the agreed cap and therefore have a value to those who emit in excess of the 1990 levels.
Signatories to the Kyoto Protocol, of which New Zealand and Australia are two, are permitted to implement the protocol by enacting legislation that creates the outcomes required by the protocol.
How the outcomes are achieved are completely up to the host Government.
Impact on Forest Owners with Carbon Credits in Australia
Under the proposed Australian Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) would forest owners be liable after the fires to surrender carbon credits if they had received them for the forest? In short the answer is no.
The reason is the CPRS is designed to grant credits on an averaging basis and the Australian Federal Government would use this averaging to smooth fluctuations in the actual carbon stored in forest.
This policy arose in part from a significant distrust on the Governments part in the forest industry and the potential inability to find the entity that was accountable for the emissions either through fire or more obviously harvest.
Some forest investment structures in Australian forestry separate land and forest ownership and leave potential disputes as to who is liable.
If the forest was non Kyoto forest this is excluded from the CPRS and no carbon credits are surrendered for deforestation or a fire causing deforestation.
Deforestation once a significant emission for Australia has slowed significantly since 1990. This is due to restrictions in new environmental regulations.
Impact on Forest Owners had the Fires been in New Zealand
So what if the fires occurred in New Zealand under the NZETS? Simply put, if the forest was pre-1990 then replanting, which is covered under most forest insurance policies, would remove any carbon liabilities.
Choosing not to replant would result in full deforestation liability.
The impact of the fires would have to be reported to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) - see the Carbon Monitor volume 14 issue 1.
If the plantation was Kyoto Forest and the owner had been issued NZU units, then there would be a definite liability and requirement to surrender to the Government at the next annual forestry return credits to the amount lost in the fires.
Environmental Intermediaries & Trading Group Limited suggests a forest owner who was part of EITG Carbon Pool would not have a problem in this situation.
EITG Carbon Pool is the process of a group of forest owners binding together to achieve economies of scale and/or to manage or offset liabilities.
In its simplest of terms, the pool is analogous to insurance where the participants collectively share a party’s loss thereby reducing the likelihood of any one party having total loss of their assets.
With the harvest liabilities of the Kyoto Protocol, government officials have suggested pooling is the only mechanism where the harvest liability can be managed to give carbon credit income while managing the future harvest liabilities.
In this case the bush fires are a dramatic example of what could happened to forest owners who are part of the NZETS and not in the EITG pool.
Richard Hayes
ph 64 21 310 301
fax 64 9 920 1093
skype richardshayes
richard.hayes@eitg.co.nz
www.eitg.co.nz
Industry bands together to support bushfire victims; wants housing issues examined
Monday, 16 February 2009
Industry organisations in Australia have set up a Community Support Register for anyone who wishes to volunteer their equipment, assistance or messages of support for those affected by the fires in Victoria, the peak plantation forest and paper industry body, A3P, has announced.
An A3P statement said the register is an industry-wide initiative and is hosted on the VAFI website at www.vafi.org.au.
The register is now live and the offers will be matched with those in need and co-ordinated through the TCA office in Healesville.
Anyone with something to offer is encouraged to register it on the site.
“A3P would like to acknowledge the efforts of the employees and contractors of our Victorian members and the many interstate colleagues who have joined them in the major fire fighting effort in Victoria.
“A3P's new office manager Kim Gregory contributed as a member of the 2nd ACT Emergency Services Agency taskforce sent to Victoria last week.
Once all the fires are extinguished, the salvage and recovery process will be long and difficult. A3P and its members look forward to assisting in this process as and when appropriate,” the statement said.
In an additional note, A3P said that following the tragedy that had occurred in Victoria over the past two weeks, a range of issues would arise with respect to the construction of homes in bushfire prone areas.
This matter had been specifically identified in the terms of reference for the Royal Commission the government had launched into the bushfires.
“A3P is supporting other timber industry groups in developing a rational approach…that recognises the merits of a range of initiatives aimed at ensuring existing houses, as well as new houses, can meet agreed standards of construction.”
The response must be scientifically based and meet community expectations, the A3P said.
Copyright Notice
Industry organisations in Australia have set up a Community Support Register for anyone who wishes to volunteer their equipment, assistance or messages of support for those affected by the fires in Victoria, the peak plantation forest and paper industry body, A3P, has announced.
An A3P statement said the register is an industry-wide initiative and is hosted on the VAFI website at www.vafi.org.au.
The register is now live and the offers will be matched with those in need and co-ordinated through the TCA office in Healesville.
Anyone with something to offer is encouraged to register it on the site.
“A3P would like to acknowledge the efforts of the employees and contractors of our Victorian members and the many interstate colleagues who have joined them in the major fire fighting effort in Victoria.
“A3P's new office manager Kim Gregory contributed as a member of the 2nd ACT Emergency Services Agency taskforce sent to Victoria last week.
Once all the fires are extinguished, the salvage and recovery process will be long and difficult. A3P and its members look forward to assisting in this process as and when appropriate,” the statement said.
In an additional note, A3P said that following the tragedy that had occurred in Victoria over the past two weeks, a range of issues would arise with respect to the construction of homes in bushfire prone areas.
This matter had been specifically identified in the terms of reference for the Royal Commission the government had launched into the bushfires.
“A3P is supporting other timber industry groups in developing a rational approach…that recognises the merits of a range of initiatives aimed at ensuring existing houses, as well as new houses, can meet agreed standards of construction.”
The response must be scientifically based and meet community expectations, the A3P said.
Copyright Notice
Australian Govt commits more funds to long-term bushfire recovery
Monday, 16 February 2009
Australia’s Rudd Government has committed additional funding to assist with the long-term recovery of agricultural land damaged in the Victorian bushfires.
Minister for the Environment Peter Garrett and Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Tony Burke have announced in a statement received by Southem.com that more than A$5 million of uncommitted funding from Caring for our Country to support bushfire recovery projects in Victoria.
In addition, natural resource management groups across Australia now have extra time to lodge investment proposals for 2009-10 under Caring for our Country.
Groups have an extra four weeks – to Friday 3 April 2009 – to lodge proposals, which will assist those in both fire- and flood-affected areas who may have difficulty completing the paperwork.
The Ministers said the urgent priority remained searching for loved ones lost in the fires.
However, in the longer-term the funding would assist communities, including farmers, who will need significant investment and support to rebuild and recover from the fires.
The additional Caring for our Country investment could support a range of environmental and landscape repair work, including:
Planting sterile rye grass in agricultural soils at risk of erosion
Fencing around significant vegetation and aquatic sites
Erosion control work on stream banks and around wetlands
Weed control programs in fire-affected areas
Assist with the care and rehabilitation of wildlife and habitat
There are early reports of lost stock, lost fodder and significant damage to permanent plantings and dairies.
Some timber mills have been lost and 100,000 hectares of native forest for timber production has been destroyed, along with up to 30,000 hectares of plantation forests.
The fires have also impacted on some sites of high conservation value aquatic ecosystems and have burnt a range of forests, including wet and sclerophyll forests.
“These funds will give Catchment Management Authorities, community groups and individuals the opportunity to undertake some of the essential environment rehabilitation works that will be so needed as a result of the devastation these fires have caused across the landscape,” Garrett said.
Burke said many farmers were dealing with losing friends and family and it was too early to fully establish damage to farming properties.
“Eventually, this assistance will be essential to help slowly return these scorched farming properties to functioning businesses,” Burke said.
“People can easily understand the impact of a building being destroyed, but the destruction of future productivity through erosion and weeds after a fire can just as devastating.
“It will take some time to work out what has been damaged and what work needs to be done to improve the soil and re-plant native vegetation, crops or permanent plantings.
“This funding support means we will be ready to act to help farming families get back on their feet
Australia’s Rudd Government has committed additional funding to assist with the long-term recovery of agricultural land damaged in the Victorian bushfires.
Minister for the Environment Peter Garrett and Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Tony Burke have announced in a statement received by Southem.com that more than A$5 million of uncommitted funding from Caring for our Country to support bushfire recovery projects in Victoria.
In addition, natural resource management groups across Australia now have extra time to lodge investment proposals for 2009-10 under Caring for our Country.
Groups have an extra four weeks – to Friday 3 April 2009 – to lodge proposals, which will assist those in both fire- and flood-affected areas who may have difficulty completing the paperwork.
The Ministers said the urgent priority remained searching for loved ones lost in the fires.
However, in the longer-term the funding would assist communities, including farmers, who will need significant investment and support to rebuild and recover from the fires.
The additional Caring for our Country investment could support a range of environmental and landscape repair work, including:
Planting sterile rye grass in agricultural soils at risk of erosion
Fencing around significant vegetation and aquatic sites
Erosion control work on stream banks and around wetlands
Weed control programs in fire-affected areas
Assist with the care and rehabilitation of wildlife and habitat
There are early reports of lost stock, lost fodder and significant damage to permanent plantings and dairies.
Some timber mills have been lost and 100,000 hectares of native forest for timber production has been destroyed, along with up to 30,000 hectares of plantation forests.
The fires have also impacted on some sites of high conservation value aquatic ecosystems and have burnt a range of forests, including wet and sclerophyll forests.
“These funds will give Catchment Management Authorities, community groups and individuals the opportunity to undertake some of the essential environment rehabilitation works that will be so needed as a result of the devastation these fires have caused across the landscape,” Garrett said.
Burke said many farmers were dealing with losing friends and family and it was too early to fully establish damage to farming properties.
“Eventually, this assistance will be essential to help slowly return these scorched farming properties to functioning businesses,” Burke said.
“People can easily understand the impact of a building being destroyed, but the destruction of future productivity through erosion and weeds after a fire can just as devastating.
“It will take some time to work out what has been damaged and what work needs to be done to improve the soil and re-plant native vegetation, crops or permanent plantings.
“This funding support means we will be ready to act to help farming families get back on their feet
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