Asian pulp giants pressed to paper over rivalry to save rainforest
Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaThomson Reuters Foundation Asia’s pulp and paper giants – which supply materials for stationery, tissues and toilet roll – are being urged by environmentalists to follow the palm oil industry in stepping up collaboration to tackle forest loss and fires in Indonesia. Singapore’s APRIL Group and its main rival Indonesia’s Asia Pulp & […]
Survivors of California’s unending fires cook up Thanksgiving for latest victims
RNS It was almost four months ago when the Carr Fire near Redding, California, ripped through Amanda Woodley’s town. The blaze killed her 70-year-old grandmother and her four and five-year-old cousins. So earlier this month, when the Camp Fire destroyed Paradise, California, leaving thousands homeless and more than 70 dead, all she could do was […]
It’s not just the Amazon: Indonesia urged to stop deadly fires
Kuala LumpurThomson Reuters Foundation Indonesia must increase funding to detect and tackle forest fires quicker and enforce conservation laws to avoid another major haze crisis, a United Nations official said on Wednesday, as fears mount over the climate impacts of rainforest losses. Indonesia and its South-East Asian neighbours are regularly hit by thick smog from […]
Fire-setting Amazon farmers not ‘villains’, just poor, politicians say
Humaita, BrazilThomson Reuters Foundation Farmers living along the Trans-Amazonian Highway, near Humaita, a rural town deep in the Amazon, would rather not use fire to clear forest land so they can grow crops and raise cattle, their local representatives say. But without the heavy equipment they would need to remove vegetation, the mainly poor farmers […]
More than 100 Australian bushfires ‘omen’ of severe summer fire season
Melbourne, AustraliaReuters Australian firefighters battled more than 100 bushfires across two eastern states on Sunday as authorities warned that parts of the country could expected a severe bushfire season this summer. “We’ve never seen this before in recorded history, fire weather has never been as severe this early in spring,” said Andrew Sturgess, an inspector […]
Macron must take back “insults” for Brazil to accept G7 Amazon aid – Bolsonaro
Brasilia/Rio de Janeiro, BrazilReuters Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Tuesday he wants French President Emmanuel Macron to withdraw the “insults” made against him before he considers accepting a $US20 million offer from the G7 nations to help fight forest fires in the Amazon. The two leaders have become embroiled in a deeply personal and […]
Pope calls for global commitment to put out Amazon fires
Vatican City/Brasilia, BrazilReuters Pope Francis on Sunday called for a global commitment to put out the fires in the Amazon, saying the area was essential for the health of the planet. “We are all worried about the vast fires that have developed in the Amazon. Let us pray so that with the commitment of all, […]
Bolsonaro says Brazil lacks resources to fight Amazon fires
Sao Paulo/Brasilia, BrazilReuters The Brazilian Government lacks the resources to fight a record number of wildfires burning in the Amazon rainforest, President Jair Bolsonaro said on Thursday, weeks after telling donors he did not need their money. “The Amazon is bigger than Europe, how will you fight criminal fires in such an area?,” he asked […]
Indonesians hope “milestone” ruling will dampen haze-fire risks
Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaThomson Reuters Foundation Green groups have urged the Indonesian government to step up help for hundreds of thousands of people made sick by forest fires and the haze they cause each year, after the nation’s top court ruled Jakarta must do more to stem the problem. The Supreme Court last week upheld rulings […]
“FALLING THROUGH THE CRACKS”: VULNERABLE US HOMEOWNERS OVERLOOKED AFTER DISASTERS
CAREY L BIRON, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports…