organization:carnegie institution for science

World’s tallest tropical tree discovered, along with nearly 50 other record-breakers
▻https://news.mongabay.com/2016/11/worlds-tallest-tropical-tree-discovered-along-with-nearly-50-other-re

https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/11/10002439/Screen-Shot-2016-11-09-at-7.23.48-PM-copy.jpg

A few months ago, it was announced that there was a new record for the world’s tallest tropical tree: a Yellow Meranti (Shorea faguetiana) found in Sabah, one of the two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo, that stands some 89.5 metres (about 294 feet) tall.

But that record was not destined to last long. Gregory Asner of the Carnegie Institution for Science at Stanford University announced at the Heart of Borneo conference today that he had not only found a taller tropical tree, but 50 taller trees.

The tallest is a towering 94.1-meter (nearly 309-foot) tree with a canopy that measures 40.3 meters (132 feet) in diameter, discovered in Sabah’s relatively undisturbed Danum Valley. Asner was able to observe the tree first-hand during a helicopter ride on Monday to the remote region. “I’ve been doing this for a solid 20 years now, and I have to say, this was one of the most moving experiences in my career,” Asner told Mongabay.

The tree is in the genus Shorea, though the exact species has yet to be determined. Asner and his colleagues also found 49 other trees taller than 90 meters spread all over Sabah, and plan to visit each of them in the coming weeks.

#grand_arbre

Destruction of Peru’s rainforest by illegal gold mining is twice as bad as experts thought - Americas - World - The Independent

►http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/destruction-of-perus-rainforest-by-illegal-gold-mining-is-twice-as-ba

The destruction of a global biodiversity hotspot deep in the Peruvian Amazon by illegal gold mining is twice as bad as previously thought, an authoritative new study using ground-breaking technology has revealed.

http://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/article8909382.ece/ALTERNATES/w620/31_Peru_Rainforest_AFP-v2.jpg

According to the report by the US-based Carnegie Institution for Science, 15,810 acres of rainforest in Peru’s Madre de Dios region, home to various nature and indigenous reserves as well as a booming eco-tourism industry, have vanished per year since the start of the 2008 global economic crisis.

#forêt #pérou #mines

Destruction of Peru’s rainforest by illegal gold mining is twice as bad as experts thought
►http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/destruction-of-perus-rainforest-by-illegal-gold-mining-is-twice-as-ba

According to the report by the US-based Carnegie Institution for Science, 15,810 acres of rainforest in Peru’s Madre de Dios region, home to various nature and indigenous reserves as well as a booming eco-tourism industry, have vanished per year since the start of the 2008 global economic crisis.

The crisis saw international gold prices rocket as investors rushed to put their cash into the ultimate financial safe haven. In response, thousands of Peruvians have flooded into Madre de Dios, near the Bolivian border, in search of gold, dredging river beds and digging vast holes in the forest, largely beyond the reach of the law.

http://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/article8909382.ece/ALTERNATES/w620/31_Peru_Rainforest_AFP-v2.jpg

[...] “ The gold rush exceeds the combined effects of all other causes of forest loss in the region , including from logging, ranching and agriculture. “This is really important because we are talking about a global biodiversity hotspot. The region’s incredible flora and fauna is being lost to gold forever.”

[...] Although the Carnegie research detailed only the amount of deforestation directly caused by the mining, the impact on the Amazon, and its people, is thought to be far greater . That is due largely to the tons of mercury used to extract the gold; it now permeates the water table and accumulates in the bodies of fish, which are a staple of jungle populations. Local people, including children, have now been found to have unhealthy levels of the element in their blood.

And the invasion of the rainforest by the miners has had many other devastating repercussions, from underage girls being forced to perform as sex workers to the wiping out of game and fowl through overhunting with rifles.

Ernesto Raez Luna, an adviser to Peru’s Environment Minister and co-author of the report with Dr Asner, added: “We are using this study to warn Peruvians of the terrible impact of illegal mining. It must be stopped.”

#or #pollution #Perou #Amazonie #foret #deforestation