From the BBC: For years, the story told about the Amazon has been one of destruction – the world’s largest rainforest, a region of amazing biodiversity, key to the fight against climate change, being remorselessly felled. But that is no longer the whole truth.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16295830

From National Geographic: A recent reporting assignment concerning Sweden’s forest industry took me from Stockholm to areas far to the north and west, where the country’s forestry model, trumpeted as the most sustainable forest cutting system in the world, was on full display.

http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2011/12/28/a-green-veneer-sweden%E2%80%99s-forestry-industry-gets-low-marks-despite-reputation/

From Science Daily: Wildfires cause tragic losses to life, property, and the environment. But even after the fire rages, the damage is far from done. Without vegetation, bare, burnt soil lies vulnerable to erosion, which can impede efforts towards natural forest regeneration.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111222133459.htm

From Science Daily: Forest thinning to help prevent or reduce severe wildfire will release more carbon to the atmosphere than any amount saved by successful fire prevention, a new study concludes.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111220133913.htm

From Science Daily: The forests of the world supply a significant amount of moisture that creates rain. A new study published in Global Change Biology reveals how this important contribution of forests to the hydrologic cycle is often overlooked in water resource policy, such as that of the EU.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111215094923.htm

From Nature: The Malvinas natural-gas plant might seem the ultimate insult to a largely unspoiled tropical paradise, particularly for a lifelong conservationist such as Babbitt, who served as Secretary of the Interior — responsible for managing much of the United States’ federal land and natural resources — under US President Bill Clinton from 1993 until 2001. But where others see blight, Babbitt sees a vision of the future. He looks past the pipes and pollution and focuses instead on what makes this project stand out: seen from the sky, Malvinas is an island of industrial activity in a sea of trees. There are no roads into the site; everything that enters or leaves Malvinas, including gas, rubbish, food and people, does so by plane, boat or underground pipeline.

http://www.nature.com/news/fighting-for-the-forest-the-roadless-warrior-1.9494