Just in from Ecological Internet:
There exist serious concerns regarding the production of plantation crops on lands cleared of ancient rainforests for production of biodiesel in Europe in particular. For example, remaining natural orangutan habitat and their rainforest ecosystems in Southeast Asia are threatened by the unsustainable harvesting of palm oil for the use of biofuels. The campaign to stop Europe's "Deforestation Biofuel" Energy Policy is now at an important decision point, as the European Commission is expected to finalize the "Biomass Action Plan" policy by January 10th for biofuels sourced from plantations cleared from ancient rainforests. Earlier the European Parliament voted for rapid market expansion before safeguards are put in place. Please tell the European Commission now that they must prevent biofuels from causing ever greater deforestation, biodiversity losses, and evictions and impoverishment of local communities both in tropical rainforests and Europe. Unrestrained industrial biofuel expansion will accelerate, not slow down, climate change; as peatlands, rainforests, forests and croplands across the world are converted to energy crop monocultures and release their carbon in the process.
TAKE ACTION NOW at: http://www.rainforestportal.org/alerts/send.asp?id=europe_biofuel
See also Birdlife International page:
Unsustainable">http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2006/06/biofuels.html]Unsustainable biofuels threaten the environment
Post edited by: Martin, at: 2007/05/29 02:49