Tripoli protesters set Hezbollah flags ablaze

July 30, 2011
By Antoine Amrieh

TRIPOLI, Lebanon: Supporters of Syria’s popular uprising set Hezbollah flags ablaze during a small protest in the northern city of Tripoli Friday, while the imam of one of the city’s mosques lashed out at the party and Syria’s Baath party.

Following Friday prayers at the Hamza Mosque in the Qibbeh neighborhood of Tripoli, dozens of worshipers began to march to the nearby Ibn Sina Square, in what has become a weekly rally. The protesters were joined by others from Al-Wadie Mosque.

The demonstrators, some of whom are Syrian students residing in Tripoli, raised Islamic banners and posters of victims of the Syrian regime’s violent response to the uprising, which is now in its fifth month.

They also chanted slogans in support of Syrian protesters, a sign of solidarity and support for the popular movement.

The protesters burned the flags of Hezbollah, Syria’s ruling Baath Party and Israel, and several speeches were made at the Ibn Sina Square.

The imam of the Qibbeh Mosque, Sheikh Zakaria Masri, who speaks at the square each Friday, called on President Michel Sleiman, Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Najib Mikati to make Hezbollah into a political party like any other in Lebanon, as a punishment for its domestic use of arms and attempts to dominate Lebanon.

He also lashed out at Hezbollah’s sit-in, which the party held for around 18 months in a bid to topple the Cabinet of then-Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. The sit-in ended following the Doha accord.

Masri also lambasted the ruling Baath Party in Syria, saying that the Syrian regime “has used its arms against the Syrian people and commits against them all types of persecution, injustice … arrests, killings and torture only because they demand freedom and oppose the Baath party’s monopoly on power.”

Source: The Daily Star.
Link: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2011/Jul-30/Tripoli-protesters-set-Hezbollah-flags-ablaze.ashx.

Egypt's Islamists lead Tahrir Square protests

CAIRO (BNO NEWS) — Hundreds of thousands of Islamists on Friday gathered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square to participate in the “Friday of Unity” protests, Ahram Online reported.

Protesters chanted Islamic slogans such as “Islamic state, Islamic state” and “What has Allah done to you so you reject his Shariaa (Islamic) Law”, while others raised flags with “There is no God but Allah” written on them. Security forces were stationed at every entrance to secure Tahrir square by searching all protesters and checking their identity cards.

Secular activists were not pleased with the overwhelming presence of Islamists, saying that they have violated the agreement reached with non-Islamic groups for unity. Youth organizations such as the 6 April Movement and the Revolution Youth Coalition have been organizing the Friday protests in the past months, but a few weeks ago Islamist groups joined the protests to defend what they call the ‘Islamic identity of the nation’.

After negotiations, however, 21 political forces and Islamists agreed to join forces to seek common demands. Now, political forces believe that the Islamists have violated the terms of the agreement.

Twenty-eight political movements and parties, including the 6 April Movement and the Revolution Youth Coalition, held a press conference after midday prayers and stated that they will continue the sit-in they began in Tahrir Square on July 8. The group said they will not participate in today’s mass protests.

Thousands of Salafists and other Islamists also gathered in Alexandria, which was expected to witness the largest ever nationwide gathering of Islamists. They called on Egyptian authorities to “respect the will of the people, which was reflected in the referendum on the constitutional amendments.”

Islamists pushed for a “Yes” vote to pass the amendments to the constitution months ago since they fear that any future amendments may change Egypt’s religious status to secular.

The assistant to the minister of health, Adel Adawy, said that about 265 protesters fell sick due to the hot weather. He said that the dense crowds have led to several cases of suffocation, fainting, low blood pressure and low blood sugar levels.

The 6 April Movement, the Union of Revolution Youth and other revolutionary groups have been organizing demonstrations to protest that the demands of the revolution have not been met. They have also shown their dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Essam Sharaf’s newly reshuffled cabinet.

The groups rejected the new law proposed by Sharaf and the ruling military council to regulate parliamentary elections, as well as the steps which both have taken to address the grievances of families of those killed during the January 2011 uprising. They are also reiterating their previous calls for the nullification of Sharaf’s law which criminalizes certain demonstrations and strikes.

Sharaf reshuffled 14 posts in his interim Cabinet last week, hoping to quell protesters. They, however, were not satisfied with the reshuffle since some of the ministers who stayed are those they wanted out for alleged links to the Mubarak regime.

According to Amnesty International, at least 840 people were killed and over 6,000 people were injured in the violent repression that took place during the January uprising.

Ousted President Hosni Mubarak, who ruled Egypt in a 30-year-long regime, stepped down after the uprising. Mubarak will stand trial for corruption and murder charges on August 3, along his sons, Alaa and Gamal, and businessman Hussein Salem.

Friday, July 29th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19137/egypts-islamists-lead-tahrir-square-protests/.

Jordanian protesters demand constitutional reform

AMMAN (BNO NEWS) — Thousands of people on Friday took to the streets across Jordan to demand constitutional reform and vowed to continue demonstrating until they witness genuine measures to combat corruption.

Ammon News reported that nearly 4,000 pro-reform demonstrators participated in the rally dubbed “Oath Friday” in downtown Amman following midday prayers. The protesters took an oath in which the movement pledged “to remain the voice of the oppressed and those who are deprived of their freedom.”

Protesters condemned the endemic and rampant corruption in the country, while many chanted slogans such as “The people want to reform the state” and “The people want justice and freedom.” They also demanded public freedoms and rejected any attempt to restrict the media and mislead people through government propaganda.

A number of Islamist leaders and representatives of youth and political opposition movements called for reform in their speeches during the rally and denounced the recent attacks on journalists.

At least 10 journalists were injured on July 15 when policemen tried to disperse protesters in a demonstration organized by a coalition of youth activists. Several cameras were also destroyed or confiscated as journalists covered the pro-reform demonstration in downtown Amman.

Jordanian protesters have been demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit’s government for its failure to carry out political reforms. They are also demanding the trial of corrupt officials and have stressed that they will continue protesting until they witness “real and tangible measures” to combat corruption.

Earlier this month, Jordan’s King Abdullah II issued a decree approving a cabinet reshuffle in Bakhit’s government. This was the first reshuffle of the cabinet, which was formed in February after protesters called for the resignation of then-current prime minister Samir Rifai and his government. The previous government was blamed for price hikes, excessive taxation, unemployment, and difficult economic conditions.

Friday, July 29th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19139/jordanian-protesters-demand-constitutional-reform/.

Nafusa Mountains resist Kadhafi

An opposition leader from Libya's western mountains tells Magharebia how revolutionaries are holding out.

Interview by Asmaa Elourfi for Magharebia in Benghazi – 29/07/11

Libya's Nafusa Mountains were long neglected by Moamer Kadhafi's regime. Home to a large Amazigh population, they were among the first to rise up after the February 17th revolution. To learn more about how the mountain communities are faring in the months-long war, Magharebia spoke to Nalut native Issa al-Nalouti.

He read the town's oath that renounced Kadhafi's control and pledged support to the Transitional National Council. Al-Nalouti eventually escaped the mountains through the Wazen-Dhiba border crossing with Tunisia and then boarded a plane to Benghazi, where he sat down with Magharebia to explain the situation.

Magharebia: What are the conditions in Nalut?

Issa Al-Nalouti: As far as the geography of Nalut is concerned, it is located on the mountain. Kadhafi's battalions are stationed at the mountain foothill. The roads leading to Nalut are under the revolutionaries' control. However, the battalions that came from Tripoli are based at the areas of Tiji and Badr, and most of Jafara plain is also under the control of Kadhafi's battalions.

As to the areas over the mountain, they are all under revolutionaries' control. Nalut has a population of 25,000 people. The city joined the revolution on February 19th through the young people of the area who actually played an effective role. They set fire to the revolutionary committee headquarters and other facilities that were symbols of the former regime. There was no resistance on the part of the internal or external security units. After that, daily marches started to be organized in the city calling for the removal of regime.

Magharebia: When was the independence flag first raised in Nalut? Al-Nalouti: It appeared with the uprising of the revolutionaries and with the formation of a local caretaker council in Nalut. This was a spontaneous move that took place without any contacts with liberated cities. Such a council consists of some committees, such as subsistence committee, health committee and a military committee, etc. Magharebia: What were the confrontations with Kadhafi's forces like?

Al-Nalouti: In fact, the confrontations took place outside the city, at the Wazen crossing, at the area of al-Ghazaya and Nalut crossroad. These were the locations where there were clashes. There was another clash over the mountain at the area of al-Majabra. All of these confrontations are documented by dates and military communiqués listing the details of numbers of wounded people and martyrs, revolutionaries' seizure of weapons, and the number of prisoners of war.

In addition, the city of Nalut was not spared the threat of mercenaries, but we arrested them, and they included an al-Qaeda member. That person came from Tunisia, and he came along with a group from Algeria. They were arrested in the Tunisian-Libyan border at an area called Makrif. The Tunisian army arrested two of them, while a third fled to Libyan soil, and precisely to the city of Nalut as the nearest area. He came to the local council. We conducted investigations with him, and he told us that he was Libyan from the city of Derna, but was living in Algeria. He just came to us, and he was afraid of the battalions and of the Tunisian army. God only knows the truth about him. He is a young man, with his age ranging between 20 and 22. Through our investigations with him, we knew that al-Qaeda wanted to enter Libya. It seems that there has been some sort of co-ordination between that young man and the battalions. He claims to be afraid of the battalions. They are now detained at a prison in Nalut.

As to the mercenaries, some of them are alive. We ascertained that they were mercenaries through the documents they had on them. They came from Mali, Niger and some other African countries which I'm not sure of. I'm sure that they are Africans and they don't speak Arabic.

Magharebia: How much damage was caused by Kadhafi's forces in Nalut?

Al-Nalouti: There is a lot of damage. The battalions are still shelling cities in the Nafusa Mountains up till now. It's arbitrary shelling, but thanks to God, the city has a strategic location and this was the fact that protected us from the battalions. The city of Nalut is located above the mountain and the valley surrounds it from three sides. The battalions are stationed beneath the valley, especially from the northern side at the direction of Tripoli. The shells that are fired from a distance by Kadhafi's battalions reach but fall in the valley.

Magharebia: How did the families of Nalut get to the Wazen crossing with Tunisia?

Al-Nalouti: The families went out in two stages. In the first stage, families moved from the areas of Yafran, Rajban, al-Qala and Zintan to Nalut because Nalut was not initially bombarded. Then the second stage came when they moved to Dhiba in Tunisia. Kadhafi's battalions started to shell Nalut. Fearing for the safety of our women and families, we moved them to Tunisia before the arrival of battalions. We set up camps at the border, such as Dhiba, Armada and Tataouine. God bless the Tunisians who did all they could with us. Meanwhile, there are a small number of families in Nalut who didn't leave and preferred to stay.

Magharebia: How well armed are the Nalut and Nafusa Mountain revolutionaries?

Al-Nalouti: As far as revolutionaries' weapons are concerned, they have very simple weapons with which they use to defend themselves. The violent clashes took place at Wazen crossing because it is the only crossing that was getting us food supplies and medicines from Tunisia to the people in the Nafusa Mountains. That crossing was under the control of battalions, but the revolutionaries were able to seize control of it following violent clashes. It is not in the interest of Kadhafi's battalions to have that crossing under revolutionaries' control because it is the artery through which all supplies are now entering to all areas of the Nafusa Mountains.

Magharebia: What was the situation in Nalut before you came to Benghazi?

Al-Nalouti: There is little movement on the streets in Nalut because people just left. The shops are closed. Some houses were destroyed, and major sections of the mosques that were shelled were destroyed. There are 25 martyrs in the city, and even more wounded.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/07/29/feature-02.

Rural jobs, recovery project slated for Tunisia

2011-07-29

The Tunisian government, the World Food Program (WFP) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization will launch a large-scale project for livelihood recovery in rural areas, TAP reported on Thursday (July 28th). The project includes compensation and training for farmers, and job creation for young people in rural areas. WFP Regional Director Daly Belgasmi said Thursday in Tunis. Some 240,000 Tunisians will benefit from the program, set to start in September.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/07/29/newsbrief-05.

Syrian opposition ready to lead

DAMASCUS, Syria, July 29 (UPI) -- The Syrian opposition has entered a new phase of organization with the goal of taking on a leadership position once the regime collapses, an activist said.

High-ranking officials in the U.S. State Department told lawmakers on Capitol Hill that despite the repressive tactics used by Syrian President Bashar Assad, the Syrian opposition is starting to articulate an agenda for Syria's future.

"President Assad can delay or obstruct it but he cannot, however, stop it," they testified.

Najib Ghadbian, a member of the so-called Syrian Opposition Consultative Council, told London's pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat the anti-regime movement was preparing to take over the country following the collapse of Assad's regime.

Assad's government recently passed measures that allow opposition groups to organize into political parties. The reforms come as Syrian security forces continue their assault on pro-reform demonstrators, leading Washington to question Assad's regime.

"The opposition is seeking to show the world's leaders that there is an alternative to the Assad regime that is capable of filling the vacuum in the forthcoming stage," Ghadbian was quoted as saying.

Syrian security forces fired on anti-government groups protesting in Homs, killing at least one person and injuring several others Friday, CNN reports, citing the Arabic-language Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/07/29/Syrian-opposition-ready-to-lead/UPI-73261311948722/.

Nigeria's president considers term limits

ABUJA, Nigeria, July 28 (UPI) -- Any future Nigerian president would serve only a single term but it may be extended by two years under a proposal from Nigeria's current leader.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, who assumed office last year after the death of President Umaru Yar'Adua, received more than half of the votes cast in an April election, beating his primary challenger Gen. Muhammadu Buhari by about 10 million votes.

Jonathan said he was calling on members of Parliament to consider a constitutional amendment that would outline a single term in office for president.

The BBC notes that Nigerian newspapers were speculating whether Jonathan was seeking to extend his own term. He suggested, however, that the rules wouldn't go into force until after he leaves office.

Though Jonathan didn't indicate the length of the new single term, the British broadcaster said it's thought to be for six years.

Riots broke out in the predominantly Muslim north after news that Jonathan, a Christian, defeated Buhari, a Muslim.

Human Rights Watch said it had evidence to suggest more than 800 people died in post-election violence and another 65,000 were displaced.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/07/28/Nigerias-president-considers-term-limits/UPI-79651311866554/.

South Sudan becomes newest member of AU

LONDON, July 29 (UPI) -- The decision to accept South Sudan into the African Union demonstrates the country is taking its place on the international stage, a British official said.

The African Union announced this week that it received the requisite number of written approvals for the admission of South Sudan following the country's request to join the bloc.

The 53-member African Union noted that 33 member states, including Sudan, backed South Sudan's request. Admission is decided by a simple majority.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague in a statement said London welcomed South Sudan as the 54th member of the African Union.

"Following accession to the United Nations, this is a further demonstration of South Sudan taking its rightful place among the international community," he said in a statement.

South Sudan was welcomed as the 193rd member of the U.N. General Assembly shortly after gaining independence July 9. Independence was part of a comprehensive peace agreement reached in 2005 that ended Sudan's bloody civil war.

Issues like revenue-sharing, currency and border demarcation continue to hamper the security situation in the region.

The United Nations sent peacekeepers to the disputed region of Abyei and rights groups have called for similar action in South Kordofan, the site of alleged ethnic killings along the border between the two Sudans.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/07/29/South-Sudan-becomes-newest-member-of-AU/UPI-60341311955869/.

Jordan jails mentor of al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Zarqawi

28 July 2011

The former mentor of Iraq's slain al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has been sentenced to five years in prison in Jordan.

Abu Mohammed al-Maqdessi was convicted of recruiting people in Jordan to join the Taliban in Afghanistan.

He faced a military court with three fellow Palestinian-born Jordanians.

As the ruling was handed down, he shouted at the judges: "Even if you sentence us to death, we will continue to be fighters until the day we die."

Maqdessi - whose full name is Isam Mohammed Taher al-Barqawi - was often praised by al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in a US air strike north-east of Baghdad in 2006.

In 1995, the two men were jailed in Jordan for five years for membership of an outlawed Islamist organization, but freed as part of a general amnesty in 1999.

They later fell out over "ideological differences", said aides quoted by the AFP news agency.

Three other men were tried alongside Maqdessi. The military court sentenced two of them to two-and-a-half years each, while a third was sentenced in absentia to five years in prison.

Source: British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-14333487.

Hordes of bats delight Texas city residents

By Karen Brooks
AUSTIN, Texas | Thu Jul 28, 2011

(Reuters) - A drought in the state of Texas, where 1.5 million bats are living under a bridge in the city of Austin, has fueled a bat frenzy with locals gathering each night to view the nocturnal creatures.

The drought has destroyed crops in Texas and killed delicious pests that the Mexican free-tailed bats eat.

The lack of food means the bats leave home earlier than usual each night to find nourishment -- giving the locals more time to watch the normally-nocturnal critters fly before the sun goes down.

Each night they stream from under a bridge by the hundreds of thousands in a black cloud so large that it shows up on local weather radar.

"It's wonderful for people to be able to see them, and they are really spectacular," said James Eggers, director of education for the Austin-based Bat Conservation International. "But it's an indicator that things are a little tougher for the bats."

But naturalists do not see any negative long-term effects if the drought ends soon.

"If we just have one to two years of drought, it's a natural cycle and it's not going to affect the species as a whole," Eggers said. "What some scientists fear is that this is not a regular drought, but could be indicative of change coming because of global warming. If we have an extended drought for many years, that could affect the population of the Mexican free-tails."

An extended drought could be a double whammy for central Texas farmers, who depend on the bats to remove some 1,000 tons of insects and pests from the air each night.

A study in 2006 showed that area cotton farming, which was a $4.5 million-a-year industry at the time, saved some $750,000 a year from pestilence thanks to the Mexican free tails.

Experts say about 100 million bats live in Central Texas. The largest bat colony in the world, about 20 million, resides in a cave northwest of San Antonio. The Mexican free-tails summer in central Texas and winter in Mexico.

Around March, about 750,000 pregnant females come to downtown Austin and nest under the Congress Street bridge, just blocks from the governor's mansion.

A few months later, they have their babies and their numbers double to 1.5 million. The nightly spectacle, which draws visitors from all over the world, lasts through about October, when the bats return to Mexico.

The bats moved into Austin in the 1980s when the bridge, then 70 years old, was reinforced with beams that surprisingly turned out to be a perfect habitat for them.

After initial resistance Austin now welcomes the creatures. There is a huge bat sculpture next to downtown. The Official Drink of Austin is the Bat-ini and the bat conservation group moved its headquarters from Milwaukee to Austin.

The Texas Department of Transportation works closely with Eggers' group to adapt new bridges and roadways across Texas to attract bats.

In Austin alone, the bats bring in some $8 million from eco-tourism.

"The bats are our unofficial mascot," Austin resident Susan Floyd said. "Their return each spring marks the beginning of festival season. And, they're weird. Just like Austin. "

(Editing by Greg McCune and Patricia Reaney)

Source: Reuters.
Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/28/us-bats-drought-idUSTRE76R42E20110728.

After the Flood, Green Homes

By Zofeen Ebrahim

KARACHI, Jul 28, 2011 (IPS) - Subhan Khatoon’s brand new home is nothing like the one that got washed away, along with all her worldly goods, in the 2010 monsoon floods that submerged a fifth of Pakistan and left 2,000 people dead.

Before that deluge, Khatoon, 45, could not have dreamed of owning a well-ventilated house with such luxuries as an attached toilet and a clean kitchen.

Khatun was lucky that the district administration of Khairpur identified her village Darya Khan Sheikh, on the banks of the Indus in Sindh province, as one of the worst affected, and her house as one that had been completely destroyed and, therefore, merited replacement.

Paperwork over, architects and engineers from the voluntary Heritage Foundation (HF) began designing Khatoon’s new home using locally available materials under its ‘Green Karavan Ghar’ initiative, which runs a similar rehabilitation project in the Swat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The vision behind the HF initiative is the use of local materials and a workforce backed by students from schools of architecture and engineering.

Established in 1984 by Yasmeen Lari - incidentally Pakistan’s first woman architect - the HF basically documents historic buildings and works for their conservation, but came forward to help with post- disaster reconstruction.

"These young professionals must learn to respect the traditional ways of building and also get hands-on training both technical and humanitarian in nature," Lari told IPS.

They have already handed over 104 homes in two villages in Sindh, all built with bamboo, lime (as opposed to cement) and mud. Not only can these be made speedily, they are cost-effective at Pakistani Rs 55,000 (647 US dollars) and have a low carbon footprint.

"We showed everyone in the housing business that you can make a home without wood, cement or steel," says Lari, adding that the production of steel and cement is highly consumptive of energy.

Khatoon, who cannot shake off memories of being rescued in a boat along with 500 other people, worries that that her new house too may end up getting swept away by the next major flood.

Her fears are not unfounded. Climate change experts predict an increase in the frequency of floods as even minor changes in temperatures can have huge impacts on the environment and food security, as the 2010 floods demonstrated.

But Naeem Shah, head of the project, assures Khatoon that her new house will last a good 20 years. "Even if the waters flood the area, the walls of your home will remain intact, only the plaster will come off, but you can always apply a new coat."

Shah gains his confidence from having worked in making structurally sound and eco-friendly housing since the massive earthquake of 2005 that rocked northern Pakistan.

"The homes that we built in Swat using the same materials have withstood three feet of snow and excessive rains, so there is every likelihood that these can resist the weather in Sindh."

Bamboo, the basic material used for the homes, is "fast growing, extremely strong and environmentally sustainable," says Shah. Local stone is used for foundations and cross bracing infill and different mixes of mud and lime for mortar and plaster.

"We were pleasantly surprised by the insulation provided by mud and lime," says Lari, adding that by using indigenous material "the locals develop an instant comfort level as they know how to use it even after you leave".

Best of all is the ease and speed with which the new homes can be constructed. "It takes about eight days for a house to be completed by a team of four skilled people and four laborers," says Shah

That is fast considering that for six months after the floods, the 56 families of Darya Shah Khan camped out in the open, dependent on hand-outs.

Many in the village say the deluge has come as a boon for them. The use of local material and workforce has resulted in economic regeneration.

A neighboring village, where reed panels are made, has become the supplier of the prefabricated roof panels while such items as bathroom screens made from date palms, come from another nearby village.

"All this would not have been possible had we used concrete blocks and galvanized iron sheets to make walls and roofs," says Shah.

Along with providing clean, structurally sound homes, HF has brought about a gradual change in the lifestyles of the villagers, nudging them towards cleaner, greener living.

This was possible because HF sought the help of architecture students who worked dedicatedly alongside the villagers.

"In the evenings, these students would pick up issues identified by the villagers and, through short skits and discussions, try to bring about awareness on such things as hand-washing," said Shah.

"No longer will you have to watch your step for fear of stepping on animal dung as you make your way around the village," points out Shah. The villagers have seen the wisdom of corralling their livestock in a common area instead keeping them next to their homes.

"The place was littered with not just dung. There was rotting fish all over the place. So we introduced them to the simplest and oldest known preservation method - low-cost salting and sun drying," Shah said.

But if you ask the village women, what is the best thing that has happened to them after the floods, they all point to the women’s center, a hexagonal structure on stilts.

"We never had a place of our own and we never got together the way we do now," says Shahun Bibi, 30. "Here we listen to each other’s problems and try and find solutions to them."

Source: Inter-Press Service (IPS).
Link: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=56657.

Small-Scale Land Speculators Contribute to Amazon Deforestation

By Stephen Leahy

UXBRIDGE, Canada, Jul 28, 2011 (Tierramérica) - Many migrants from southern Brazil who clear forests in Brazil’s state of Amazonas are making their living as small-scale land speculators and not as farmers or as cattle ranchers, new research has found.

This on-the-ground reality and the proposed changes to Brazil's Forest Code are likely to ramp up deforestation rates again, despite the country's commitment to reduce deforestation 80 percent by 2020, experts say.

The Forest Code (Law 4771) was adopted in 1965 and has undergone numerous reforms, the most recent in 2001. This past May 24, an overwhelming majority in the Chamber of Deputies voted in favor of a bill to relax its requirements with regard to forest conservation. The bill is currently under study in the Senate.

A detailed study conducted in the municipality of Apuí along the Transamazon Highway in Amazonas found that many families in the region earned little income from cattle.

Instead, they were clearing the land in order to claim land titles to sell the land to large corporate ranchers, according to the study "Forest Clearing Dynamics and the Expansion of Landholdings in Apuí, a Deforestation Hotspot on Brazil’s Transamazon Highway", published in the journal Ecology and Society in June.

From the early 1990s the population of Apuí has tripled, and the municipality has had some of the highest rates of deforestation in all of the state of Amazonas. Approximately 90 per cent of the area has been converted into pasture, the study found.

"These families are always moving into new forest areas to deforest so they can claim land title. And after a few years they sell it for a much higher price," said study co-author Gabriel Carrero of the Institute for Conservation and Sustainable Development of Amazonas (IDESAM).

Carrero's co-author is noted tropical forest expert Philip Fearnside of the National Institute for Research in Amazonia (INPA).

Under Brazilian law, land title can be given to those who "improve" unclaimed lands. Those families clearing forests in Apuí are "just trying to make a better life for themselves," Carrero told Tierramérica from Manaus in Amazonas.

They do have cattle, but it is more of a hobby that can raise some cash, he said, based on detailed interviews with 83 households who owned more than 300 properties in the region.

"The real incentive is to sell their property to large farmers who have sold their lands in southern Brazil or Paraguay and are looking to buy large consolidated tracts of land," said Carrero.

Then the families move away from the frontier, go up the road into untouched forest and do it again, he explained. "This is just their way of life."

Access to the unclaimed forest land follows roads. When roads and other infrastructure improve, land values jump, facilitating speculation, he said.

"Our study proves that roads are the most important driver of deforestation," he added.

Globally, deforestation puts an astonishing 2.9 billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere every year, according to the first detailed calculation published 15 July in the journal Science.

For comparison, total yearly emissions from all fossil fuels (coal, gas, oil) plus production of cement are just under 8 billion tons.

There is a "huge influx of carbon from deforestation and it is much larger than previously thought," said Pep Canadell, executive director of the Global Carbon Project in Canberra, Australia and co-author of the study published in Science.

The potential benefits of the Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) carbon credit scheme – which would pay communities and countries to conserve forests – could be even more important than anyone thought, Canadell told Tierramérica in an interview.

"I'm much more familiar with Indonesian forests, and REDD has had no effect on deforestation so far," he said. However, large donations from Norway, Australia and the United States totaling close to 1.5 billion dollars are having an impact on the ground in that country.

The U.N.-backed REDD is likely years away from putting cash in the hands of families in Amazonas or Indonesia or anywhere else, Canadell said.

"Families struggling to make a living aren't going to wait years to see if the international community gets its act together on REDD," he commented.

No one in Apuí is making money from carbon credit programs like REDD, said Carrero. "Land speculation is more profitable," he added.

Deforestation and land sales will be even more profitable with proposed changes to Brazil's Forest Code, Carrero warned.

Those changes will allow landholders with less than 400 hectares to deforest all of their land in the "legal" Amazon region, as well as granting an amnesty for the many who have violated the conservation requirements now in force.

The Code currently allows the clearing of only 20 percent of the forest on landholdings in the "legal" Amazon, a geographic division that includes all states partially or totally covered by the Amazon rainforest biome.

"I'm 100 percent certain that this will increase deforestation and result in a big increase in greenhouse gas emissions from the Amazon," Carrero said.

Brazil's agribusiness is behind the proposed changes and is pressuring politicians for more flexible laws.

"It is cheaper to deforest a hectare of land than to improve a hectare of degraded land," Carrero noted.

Ironically, it is Brazil's success in reducing deforestation rates by 70 per cent from 2004 to 2009 that is behind the big push to change the laws.

"The recent crackdown on municipalities with high deforestation rates was so successful, farming and ranching interests want to get the laws changed," Rhett Butler, writer and conservationist at the NGO Mongabay.com, told Tierramérica.

The Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC), the world's largest scientific organization devoted to the study, protection and sustainable use of tropical ecosystems, has warned that the proposed changes to the Brazilian Forest Code will result in higher levels of deforestation.

In early July the Association issued an official resolution urging the government to do a science-based assessment of the potential ecological impacts before proceeding.

Brazil officially pledged to cut deforestation by 80 percent from historic levels by 2020 under the 2009 Copenhagen Accord.

*This story was originally published by Latin American newspapers that are part of the Tierramérica network. Tierramérica is a specialized news service produced by IPS with the backing of the United Nations Development Program, United Nations Environment Program and the World Bank.

Source: Inter-Press Service (IPS).
Link: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=56666.

Finding New Ways to Manage Forests

By Conan Milner
July 28, 2011

A new system for managing nearly 200 million acres of U.S. forests and grasslands is expected later this year. The U.S. Forest Service says a new plan is urgently needed, and experts suggest that the forest-planning rule is one of the most important conservation policies the Obama administration will address. However, designing a plan that pleases everybody isn’t so easy.

Forest management plans provide guidance for protecting the health of the nation’s 155 national forests and our wildlife, while contributing to recreational and economic sustainability of the land. These plans are typically designed to last 15 years, but the last one was written under the Reagan administration in 1982. It focused on using the national forest for logging, but it was also written with a strong national mandate to protect wildlife.

When the plan was due for an update, President Clinton drafted a proposal that was later rejected when President Bush took office. The 2005 and 2008 Bush administration proposals were struck down in federal courts for failing to adequately protect watersheds and for eliminating mandatory wildlife conservation requirements.

With no update to replace it, the 1982 planning rule has remained the basis for all existing Forest Service land management plans, but critics say it’s too complex, too expensive, and makes it too cumbersome for the public to provide input. In addition, the U.S. Forest Service wants a plan that reflects the latest scientific evidence on climate change.

Tribes, lawmakers, industry groups, and about 300,000 individuals weighed in on the draft. The 90-day public comment period to address the proposal ended in May, but many are concerned how the final version, expected this November, will read. Will it strike the right balance between conservation and industry?

One contentious issue in the draft proposal is how it addresses the critical watersheds found on these lands. These watersheds form the single largest source of fresh water in the nation—providing fresh water to 60 million people and thousands of wildlife species. Environmentalists observed that while the plan addressed the need for watershed protection, it wasn’t explicit enough on requirements for managing them.

Another issue for environmentalists is wildlife protection. Since President Regan first proposed the original wildlife conservation standard, the Forest Service has been obligated to provide for the health of all species on its land. However, the recent draft proposal only pertains to animals with "evidence demonstrating significant concern.”

“The wildlife conservation proposal embedded in the draft rule only requires attention once the species is on life support. This is a problem for anyone who likes to hunt, fish, or view wildlife in our national forests," said Kristen Boyles, attorney for environmental group Earthjustice in a statement. "As it written, this proposal delivers on theories but misses on accountability and delivery.”

Others, however, don’t like the proposal for different reasons. Livestock producers and representatives of other industries say that the draft contains requirements that would be impossible for them to meet. Last month, nearly 60 members of Congress sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsak calling for a redraft of the proposal rule “to make it simpler and less process oriented and to eliminate the ‘species viability’ clause, which goes beyond the statutory requirements set out in the National Forest Management Act.”

“By adding more process requirements and introducing new technical terms, you are increasing the likelihood that, like previous attempts at reform, the proposed rule will be tied up in courts for years,” lawmakers told Vilsak.

The debate to shape the new forest management plan continues to burn after the enormous wildfires in Texas, Arizona, Georgia, Florida, and New Mexico this year. Industry groups have argued that logging and grazing would have effectively thinned the Arizona forests and could have prevented that state’s devastating fires. Environmentalists, meanwhile, maintain that better forest planning is required to prevent future wildfire catastrophes.

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/united-states/finding-new-ways-to-manage-forests-59703.html.

Head Military Command of Libyan Rebels Killed

By Jack Phillips
July 28, 2011

The military commander for Libyan rebels fighting against forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi was killed by assassins on Thursday, according to media reports.

Mustafa Abdel Jalil, the head of the rebels’ National Transitional Council said General Abdel Fatah Younes was shot dead by gunmen at a press conference in Benghazi, the stronghold for opposition fighters, reported AFP.

Younes was called back to Benghazi from the field for questioning regarding his family’s ties to Gadhafi. Before the start of the uprising in February, he served as the minister of the interior for the veteran strongman.

Jalil said that there were rumors that Younes was captured and killed by rebel forces. “I ask you to refrain from paying attention to the rumors that Gadhafi’s forces are trying to spread within our ranks,” he said.

Once considered the number two man in Gadhafi’s regime, Younes remained a controversial figure within the rebel ranks as some questioned whether or not he had really joined their side. When he joined the rebels, it was seen as a key boost in the battle against Gadhafi.

Jalil said Younes was “one of the heroes of the 17th of February revolution,” according to Al Jazeera, in reference to one of the first protests against Gadhafi’s rule, following protests that swept through other Arab nations.

Two of Younes’ aides, Col Muhammad Khamis and Nasir al-Madhkur, were also killed on Thursday’s attack, reported the BBC.

Several media reports noted that the circumstances around Younes’ assassination were not clear. Jalil did not say whether or not he was killed by pro-Gadhafi forces.

The rebels are attempt to overcome a military stalemate after nearly six months of fighting against Gadhafi’s regime.

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/head-military-command-of-libyan-rebels-killed-59712.html.