***********************************************
WORLDWIDE
FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS
China
Suspends Logging of Primeval Forests
***********************************************
Forest
Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises
4/4/96
OVERVIEW
& SOURCE
China
has suspended logging in a significant primeval forest
remnant
(some 100 square km), which contains a large population of
snub-nosed
monkeys. This item is from Reuters.
*******************************
RELAYED
TEXT STARTS HERE:
Subject:
China suspends logging of primeval forests
Copyright
1996 by Reuters
3/29/96
BEIJING,
March 29 (Reuter) - Chinese forestry authorities have
suspended
logging of primeval forest in southwestern Yunnan
province
that threatens the lives of 200 snub-nosed monkeys, the
China
Daily said on Friday.
The
local government planned to cut down 100 square km (38
square
miles) of the Deqing county forest to raise funds to pay
off an
8.0 million yuan ($1 million) deficit, the newspaper
said.
However,
the Ministry of Forestry ordered a suspension of the
logging
in the forest that is home to the rare monkeys
pending
a state-level decision, after a report from inspectors
sent to
study the plan.
Even
controlled logging would harm the monkeys and rare plant
species
in the forest, the China Daily quoted the
inspectors
as saying.
But the
Deqing county government said it would go ahead with
the
logging if a solution to its economic problems was not
found,
the newspaper reported.
The
forest lies outside a national park but is classified as
under
conservation.
Yunnan
has the largest tropical rain forests in China but has lost
half
the area to rubber planting and slash-and-burn
farming
since the 1949 communist takeover.
In
recent years, Beijing has tried to raise awareness of
environmental
protection, stiffening punishments for those who
damage
the environment.
Those
who kill rare animals or sell their skins face the death
penalty.
China has executed several people for killing
pandas
and elephants since 1980.
###RELAYED
TEXT ENDS###
This
document is a PHOTOCOPY and all recipients should seek
permission
from the source for reprinting. You are
encouraged to
utilize
this information for personal campaign use; including
writing
letters, organizing campaigns and forwarding.
All efforts
are
made to provide accurate, timely pieces; though ultimate
responsibility
for verifying all information rests with the
reader. Check out our Gaia Forest Conservation
Archives at URL=
http://forests.org/gaia.html
Networked
by:
Ecological
Enterprises
Email
(best way to contact)-> gbarry@forests.org