#protecttheforest — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #protecttheforest, aggregated by home.social.
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Western #Kenya’s most important water-capturing forest is disappearing, satellites show
Morgan Erickson-Davis
28 Nov 2024Excerpt: "Efforts to combat forest loss in #Mau include initiatives by local organizations like the #ParanWomenGroup and #BambooJunction, which are engaging in #reforestation, #education and poverty-reduction efforts.
" '#Poverty in this area is driving #deforestation, but we are trying to educate the community on the dangers of cutting trees,' Wilfred Sanlam, a Community Forest Association official and conservationist who works with Bamboo Junction, told Mongabay in 2022. '[Bamboo Junction’s] #TreeNursery is one of the projects that will help us reverse the damage.'
"Those familiar with the situation said that more action is urgently needed to protect what remains of Mau.
" ' #MauForest is an important #ecosystem, and continued degradation will affect millions of people who depend on it for water,' Collins Keter, a local leader of the community of #Olenguruone , told Mongabay in 2022 'Our rich #biodiversity is also at stake if this shrinking continues.' "
#SolarPunkSunday #EastAfrica #ProtectTheForest #CulturalPreservation #ForestsAreLife #WaterIsLife
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#Minnesota governor signs order to stop any #mining efforts in #BoundaryWaters #Wilderness
August 18, 2026
ELY, Minn. (AP) — "Minnesota Gov. #TimWalz on Tuesday suspended state work on proposed mining projects in the #BoundaryWatersCanoeArea Wilderness, four months after Congress and President Donald Trump’s administration lifted a federal ban.
"The cherished wild area stretches for about 150 miles (about 240 kilometers) in the #SuperiorNationalForest along Minnesota’s border with #Canada. Thousands of canoeists, kayakers and campers explore the wilderness each year.
" 'It’s our duty as Minnesotans to ensure the sacred place remains wild, pristine and unharmed,' Walz, a Democrat, said.
"#TwinMetalsMinnesotaLLC, a subsidiary of #Chile -based #AntofagastaMinerals, has been seeking to mine for #copper, #nickel and other precious metals in the #NationalForest since 2019. It insists it can be done so no waste rock is stored above ground, eliminating a potential source of acid.
"The canoe area lies within the national forest just downstream from the mine site, raising concerns that digging could cause pollution.
"In April, #Trump signed a resolution approved by Congress that lifts a 2023 federal moratorium on mining in the forest. He said it would create jobs and boost the #MiningIndustry.
:Walz’s order says Minnesota regulators will not participate as a cooperating agency in any federal environmental review of a nonferrous mining project in the #RainyRiver watershed, which is linked to #BoundaryWaters."
Read more:
https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-boundary-water-mining-walz-4123863c7030bbdec88a2a2aa888fd61#USPol #NoMining #ProtectTheSacred #ProtectTheForest #WaterIsLife #ForestsAreLife
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BREAKING NEWS🚨 - Press release from the #CenterForBiologicalDiversity
#Trump Moves to Kill #RoadlessRule in Biggest Assault on #ForestProtections in U.S. History
For Immediate Release, August 18, 2026
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration today proposed scrapping the country’s most significant tool for protecting national forests, a move that would open nearly 45 million acres of wild, unfragmented forest across 37 states to road construction, logging and other development.
“Trump is pushing for the largest evisceration of public lands protection in American history and against what Americans want,” said Randi Spivak, public lands policy director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “These are some of the last truly wild forests left in the country, places that shelter endangered wildlife and protect our drinking water. Once you start bulldozing roads for commercial logging and industrial development, there’s no getting them back. Americans love their public lands and want them protected. We’re going to fight like hell to safeguard these wild places for future generations.”
Today’s announcement from the U.S. Agriculture Department will be followed by Wednesday’s release of the draft environmental analysis, giving the public until Sept. 21 to comment on the proposed Roadless Rule recission.
Here are statements from the Center’s regional experts on risks to roadless forests and wildlife across the country:
Northern #Rockies
“Roadless forests are lifelines for grizzly bears and Canada lynx across the northern Rockies,” said Kristine Akland, Northern Rockies director. “Grizzlies need these areas to den and raise cubs and lynx populations are already declining as mature forest habitat disappears. Building roads and allowing logging in these wild areas would make an already difficult situation for these species even worse. People across the region know how vital these intact forests are for wildlife, clean water and recreation, and they overwhelmingly oppose dismantling the Roadless Rule.”
“We’ll fight Trump’s monstrous proposal to gut the Roadless Rule, which would be disastrous for the Tongass,” said Cooper Freeman, Alaska program director. “Punching roads through 9 million acres of intact temperate rainforest would destroy world-class salmon streams. It would open the door for corporations to clearcut irreplaceable, centuries-old Sitka spruce for export overseas. Alaska’s wild places deserve better.”
Southwest
“Roadless forests are where wildlife live,” said Taylor McKinnon, Southwest director. “They’re home to jaguars, Mexican spotted owls, and ocelots, some of the most iconic animals on the continent. Plowing roads into their habitat will bring human-caused wildfires and disturbances that they don’t need and can’t afford. We’ve fought for years to protect the forests and animals of the Southwest and there’s no way we’re giving up now.”
"Roadless areas protect the most beloved and endangered species in the Southeast,” said Will Harlan, Southeast program director. “The South Mills River harbors the country’s strongest hellbender population. Snowbird and Tusquitee Bald shelter endangered Carolina northern flying squirrels, gray bats and longsolid mussel. These forests sustain local economies, protect iconic recreation spots like the Appalachian Trail and safeguard drinking water for millions of people in Charlotte, Atlanta and beyond. Handing them over to loggers and construction crews isn’t sound policy, it’s a tragedy."
Why we need the Roadless Rule:
- Forests free of roads and logging provide crucial and connected habitat for animals and plants, protecting them from noise, pollution and other human-caused harms.
- The forests at risk — from Oregon to North Carolina — are home to scores of threatened and endangered species, including American wolverines, Canada lynx, grizzly bears and northern spotted owls. Rescinding the Roadless Rule would not only push these species closer to extinction but threaten countless others, including Alexander Archipelago wolves and Queen Charlotte goshawks.
- More than 370,000 miles of roads already fragment U.S. national forests, with a maintenance backlog in the billions of dollars. Most wildfires are human caused and occur near roads, with a decades-long, nationwide study finding human-caused wildfires are four times more likely in areas with roads than in roadless forests.
- National forests are the headwaters of many of the country’s major rivers and the largest source of municipal water supplies, serving more than 60 million people in 33 states. The Roadless Rule protects rivers and streams from roads, a major source of water pollution because of erosion and sediment.
#USPol #ProtectTheForest #NationalForests #WildlifeCorridors #WildlifeHabitat #EndangeredSpecies #Greed #CorporateColonialism #StolenLand #LandBack #ForestsAreLife #WaterIsLife
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Scientists find building blocks of #birdsong's 'spectacular #diversity'
Victoria Gill, July 23, 2026
Excerpt: "This link between the environment and its #NaturalSoundscape, Bacquelé explained, is being transformed by #HumanActivity.
" 'I think this research has opened up a new way to see songs as something [intrinsically] linked with the environment,' he told BBC News.
" 'So, we could try to use these motifs to help us understand how birds could adapt to the new #BackgroundNoise [that we produce].'
"#NaturalSound, Bacquelé added, is an an important part of our own connection to #nature and is worth conserving.
" 'If you think of a #forest, near your town or near your house, you think about the songs of the birds in the morning when you go outside.
" 'And if a bird in a #forest has a specific song, if you destroy the forest, then that song may not be adapted any more to the new environment.' "
Read more:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy4eg5dpyzoArchived version:
https://archive.ph/eGDPy#SolarPunkSunday #PreserveNature #Birdsongs #NoisePollution #BioDiversity #ProtectNature #ProtectTheForest
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‘The environmental movement needs many hands’: saving Australia’s biodiversity is getting personal
Powered by individual donations and bequests, the country now has one of the world’s largest networks of privately protected and managed land
by James Norman, Fri 17 Apr 2026
Excerpt: "Over three decades later, #BushHeritage today owns and protects 45 bought or gifted bush reserves around #Australia – covering more than 1.4m hectares of land and providing habitat for over 9,000 native species. Working with #FirstNations communities and farmers, it supports the management of an additional 20.5m hectares beyond what it owns directly.
" 'Some of Australia’s most threatened and fragile #ecosystems and #wildlife sit outside of the national reserve system,' says Rachel Lowry, Bush Heritage Australia’s chief executive officer.
" 'They’re found on private land or pastoral country, and they may have deep cultural and ecological values, but they’re not protected from threats such as #LandClearing, #mining or #InvasiveSpecies.'
"The organisation reports a rise in the number of personal bequests, from 2,500 in 2022 to more than 4,600 bequests last year. Lowry puts the increase down to a personal desire to have a meaningful impact on the worsening global climate and #biodiversity crisis.
"Bush Heritage’s model has inspired other groups around Australia to acquire and conserve lands and forests of significant ecological value. One such example is the #NorthEastTasmania #LandTrust (#NETLT), which secretary Dr Christine Hosking describes as 'a microcosm of Bush Heritage'.
"Formed in 2009, the organisation manages donated land through weed control and regeneration of the native environment.
" 'Currently, we have 10 acres [4 hectares] of endangered eucalyptus forest in #BinalongBay that adjoins the #BayOfFires #Conservation Area, and a smaller patch of coastal habitat for the endangered swift parrot,' she says."
#SolarPunkSunday #LandConservation #EndangeredSpecies #ClimateCrisis #ProtectTheForest #ProtectTheForests #Regeneration #PreserveNature #Conservationists #IndigenousAustralians #TraditionalLandManagement
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#EmeraldAshBorer and Other #TreeHealth Concerns
#Maine #DACF Update for Cities and TownsSeptember 11, 2025
#MaineForestService"On September 11, 2025, The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry and the City of Belfast hosted a workshop to update city and town tree and forest managers and public works staff along with interested community members on the known status of emerald ash borer in Maine, local and state management efforts, municipal support opportunities, as well as a Q&A session."
Watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXFuktJRzSM#SaveTheForests #SaveTheAshTrees #Basketry #ProtectTheSacred #ProtectTheForest #AshTrees #MaineForests #MaineDepartmentOfAgriculture #MaineDepartmentOfAgricultureConservationAndForestry
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Geesh. More stuff going on behind the scenes. It could be a full-time job trying to keep track of shifty bills and corporate wheeling and dealing!
Back Track on Mining Regulation:Legislative ENR Committee Poised to Weaken Environmental Protections
Sunlight Media Collective March 24, 2024
"On Monday, March 25, the Maine legislature’s Committee on Environment and Natural Resources (ENR) will discuss a new “Zombie Bill” version of #LD1471, a bill that was tabled last year. This bill takes a dangerous U-turn on #EnvironmentalProtections protections for metallic #mining in #Maine. This new version of LD1471 replaces language about strengthening environmental and human health mining protections with language that instead weakens Maine’s mining law and creates a loophole that specifically exempts #OpenPit #LithiumMining from environmental protections in the law.
"Writing a “Zombie Bill” is sneaky, undemocratic politics. The Maine Board of Environmental Protection (BEP) missed the deadline for this legislative session to have the legislature review these new rules regarding open-pit lithium mining. Instead of going through a transparent, democratic process of review in the next legislative session, the #JanetMills administration, pushed by the mining industry and in cooperation with the ENR committee, is bringing this zombie bill forward in an attempt to rush it through without a public hearing.
"We deserve the right to a public hearing and to submit testimony on this legislation, but this undemocratic process takes away our right to do so. There is no online portal available to submit testimony, so please submit comment by email or in person."
#NoMetallicMiningInMaine #NoLithiumMining #NoOpenPitMining #ProtectTheForest #LithiumRecycling
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A look at the bills to amend #Maine mineral mining laws in this year’s Legislature
By Kate Cough
February 12, 2023"All the way back in the fall of 2021, I called a geologist to ask what he thought about plans by the Canadian junior mining company, Wolfden, to dig for zinc and copper up near Patten, just east of the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument.
We talked about the proposal for awhile, and just before we hung up, I asked the question I ask at the end of every interview, one that almost always elicits an unexpected answer and is often the very best way to find new stories: What didn’t we talk about that you want me to know? In this case it definitely didn’t disappoint: after pausing for a moment, the geologist said well, there’s something interesting going on over in #WesternMaine…
"And thus began my (armchair) adventure into the world of lithium deposits, from the salt flats of South America to the hard-rock mines of western Australia, and, of course, into what is thought to be the world’s richest hard-rock deposit, in the sleepy town of Newry, near the New Hampshire border. A year-and-a-half later the story continues, now with a new player: lawmakers, who have introduced (at last count) ten bills aimed at altering Maine’s mining regulations.
"The bills (I was only able to review the full text of one, as most are still in the Revisor’s office) run the gamut. One, #LR1624, sponsored by Rep. Maggie O’Neil of #Saco, proposes a moratorium on lithium mining, while others (LR 1304, An Act to Promote Sustainable Lithium Mining in Maine, sponsored by Rep. Mike Soboleski of Phillips) are more full-throated in their support of the activity. (It’s worth noting that moratoriums are temporary holds on an activity designed to give regulators time to put in place rules, not permanent bans, as is often thought.)
"Here’s the full list:
- LR 1624, Rep. Maggie O’Neil of Saco: An Act to Ensure a Strategic Approach to Maine’s Energy System by Imposing a Moratorium on #LithiumMining
- #LR420, Rep. Scott Landry of Farmington: An Act to Support Extraction of Common Rock-forming and Rare Earth Minerals
- #LR1121, Rep. Lydia Crafts of Newcastle: An Act to Establish a Commission to Study Mining Materials
- #LR1732, Rep. Nina Milliken of Blue Hill: An Act to Eliminate #Mining Without a Permit
- #LR1304, Rep. Mike Soboleski of Phillips: An Act to Promote Sustainable Lithium Mining in Maine
- #LR2272, Sen. Richard Bennett of Oxford: An Act Regarding #MetallicMineralMining
- #LR2138, Sen. Craig Hickman of Kennebec: An Act to Protect the People from #OpenPit Quarry Mining
- #LR930, Sen. Lisa Keim of Oxford: An Act Concerning Lithium Deposits
"The reason we’re seeing all of these bills, of course, is that Maine’s 2017 mining law prohibits mining for 'metallic minerals' in open pits larger than three acres. The deposit in Newry is already partially exposed, and numerous experts have said that open pit mining (as opposed to an underground shaft) is the only logical way to remove the rocks, which, they also point out, do not pose the same #environmental risks as other types of metal deposits. But all mining poses some risks, and not everyone is on board with the idea of digging #GiantHoles in the earth, even if the end product is an essential part of the transition away from fossil fuels.
"State regulators have acknowledged the risks involved in mining this deposit are different but say their hands are tied: because 'metallic mineral' does not have a commonly-agreed upon meaning in the scientific community, and because legislators did not specifically exclude lithium from the 2017 rules, the Newry deposit should be considered a metallic mineral. (Meanwhile, the Freemans, the gem-hunters who own the land and identified the deposit, are challenging the DEP’s decision in court.)
"Of the lawmakers I spoke to, all expressed a desire to support federal efforts to boost domestic production of critical minerals while ensuring the spirit and integrity of Maine’s 2017 mining law remains intact. (In case you were wondering whether the feds are serious, look no further than a $700 million government loan to a #NevadaLithiumMine announced earlier this week.)"
https://themainemonitor.org/maine-lawmakers-look-to-amend-lithium-mining-laws/
#WaterIsLife #MaineLegislature #MainePolitics #ProtectTheForest #Environment #CorporateColonialism #NoMining #NoOpenPitMining #RecycleLithium
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The people of #Ecuador just made #ClimateJustice history. The world can follow
Voters won a huge battle with the #OilIndustry – proving that we can’t save the planet without robust democracy
by #StevenDonziger, August 31, 2023
"Days ago, voters in Ecuador approved a total ban on oil drilling in protected land in the #Amazon, a 2.5m-acre tract in the #Yasuní national park that might be the world’s most important #biodiversity hotspot. The area is a Unesco-designated biosphere reserve and home to two non-contacted #Indigenous groups. This could be a major step forward for the entire global climate justice movement in ways that are not yet apparent.
"This vote is important not only for Ecuador and for the Indigenous peoples in the Yasuní, who now have hope of living in peace in perpetuity. It is also a potential model for how we can use the democratic process around the world to help slow or even stop the expansion of fossil fuels to the benefit of billions of people.
"The Yasuní referendum proves that real democracy that respects the popular will can be a powerful tool for transitioning to a sustainable future. Ecuador’s state oil company, #Petroecuador, had been producing nearly 60,000 barrels a day in the Yasuní. It now must figure out how to dismantle its entire operation and go home. When in history has a popular vote ever forced an oil company to cease active drilling? Never.
"The Yasuní vote was not the result of a business decision made in a boardroom or government office. It was the product of two decades of #grassroots organizing by citizens and #activists like you and me. I know because I have been to Ecuador more than 250 times to work on a historic pollution case against #Chevron on behalf of the Indigenous people there. Many of the same Indigenous leaders and activists who helped fight Chevron organized the Yasuní vote.
"At the same time, the vote underscores how important it is to protect our increasingly fragile democracy. Without a robust democracy that allows citizens to place issues of critical importance on the ballot without the intermediation of elites, the Yasuní referendum never would have happened.
"The flipside is that powerful #OilAndGas companies understand the threat a real citizen-based democracy poses to their power. They fear a society where citizens can put referendums on the ballot without the approval of business leaders. Those of us in the climate movement often can’t even stop to focus on the connection between democracy and climate justice because we’re so focused on dealing with the immediate crises taking place before our eyes, such as the Maui fire.
"In the United States, it is not broadly known that the #FossilFuel industry quietly funds a national lobbying campaign that has introduced draconian #antiprotest bills in at least 18 states. These laws threaten anyone #protesting at an oil or gas facility with huge fines and serious prison sentences; some states even impose criminal liabilities on non-profit advocacy groups that support the protesters. These are really laws of intimidation designed to stop protest before it happens. And they are also manifesting in other countries including #Australia, the #UnitedKingdom and #Germany.
"As a result, many Americans who have committed #peaceful acts of non-violent #CivilDisobedience – central to the birth of our country and a cornerstone of our political tradition – now face decades in prison. In Atlanta, #Georgia, 42 people have been charged by prosecutors with 'domestic terrorism' for trying to save the city’s last green canopy in the #WeelauneeForest. Local police are trying to raze part of the forest to build a military-style police training academy, colloquially called “#CopCity”, that already resulted in the first police killing of a climate activist in US history. (The police have said that the activist, Manuel Paez #Terán, was used a weapon; activists dispute that claim.)
"The Atlanta cases represent a frightening escalation of attacks on #FreeSpeech and protest in the US. None of those charged – whom authorities accused mainly of vandalism and arson – committed a direct act of violence against another person. Nobody was injured other than the activist shot and killed by police while sitting in the forest.
"That this is happening in a city considered to be one of the cradles of the American civil rights movement shows just how entwined corporate and police power have become in their efforts to erode democratic rights.
"The prosecutions in Georgia are also occurring in a broader context where the right to vote has been seriously impaired. Voter suppression is now a regular feature in many US states, with ludicrous laws being passed to throw out votes. In this short century, two presidents have taken office in the US who did not win the popular vote. Votes are constantly thrown out for the thinnest of reasons, as journalists such as Greg Palast have meticulously documented.
On top of these threats to democracy at the state level, the US #supremecourt and its unelected, mostly #FarRight justices are weakening both our democracy and its ability to regulate the fossil fuel industry. The court has consistently approved measures like voter ID laws and felon disenfranchisement that make it more difficult for historically marginalized groups to vote. It has also, of late, decided its role is to strike down popular legislation, so who knows what they’d do to a popularly won ban on oil drilling.
"I am an #EnvironmentalJustice and #HumanRights lawyer, but one reason I spend significant time focused on issues of democracy is because I simply cannot do my work if our political system does not allow the political space to advocate freely. After I helped Indigenous peoples win a major pollution case in Ecuador, I was detained for almost three years in the US after being targeted with the nation’s first-ever corporate prosecution. My own case is a reminder that the normal rules of democracy can easily be suspended when entrenched economic interests face a serious enough threat to their bottom line.
"As I write this, a heat dome in the US sits over the entire midwest and is affecting 100 million people. Fires have destroyed millions of acres of land. A tropical storm just smacked southern California for the first time, and the historic town of Lahaina in Hawaii burned to the ground with hundreds of people still unaccounted for. In the meantime, the oil industry is reporting record profits, creating enormous incentives for a small group of powerful shareholders to maintain their power by shrinking our democratic space.
What the referendum in Ecuador teaches us is that democratic processes when coupled with strong grassroots organizing can produce startlingly effective results. Taking a cue from our friends in that brave country, the next major move for the climate justice movement could be to launch a national campaign to put the simple question presented in Ecuador before the American people in every state that allows citizens to place their own questions on the ballot. The question is whether we can vote to end the destruction of our planet by the burning of fossil fuels.
"It is clear we cannot trust either of the two major US political parties – both of which mostly support fossil fuel expansion – to adequately address this crisis. We simply cannot save the planet without first protecting and strengthening our democracy."
#OilAndGasIndustry #ClimateCrisis #StopCopCity #ProtectTheForest #FreeDonziger #PardonDonziger
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Open Up and Say Awe
Nature’s healing power may be in its ability to blow our minds.
by Kate Siber
"Among the many studies linking time spent outside with health benefits, one of the more intriguing new areas of research is the role awe plays in our well-being. According to findings published in 2018 in the journal Emotion, the kind of amazement we experience during outdoor activities has a singular ability to predict lower stress and positive emotions like joy and contentment."
#Nature #Healing #ProtectTheForests #ProtectTheForest
https://getpocket.com/explore/item/open-up-and-say-awe?utm_source=pocket-newtab