EDMONTON Canada appears to be foot dragging and should be doing more to protect communities from wildland forest fires, say forestry and firefighting experts. The plan calls for replacing aging equipment such as water bombers, stepping up the recruitment and training of firefighters, developing better guidelines for building homes and subdivisions in forested areas and removing dead trees and brush near communities. The plan calls for replacing aging equipment such as water bombers,...

The landscape has become a patchwork of regenerating secondary forests and barren fields after years of illegal logging activities. While reforestation is the core project of BOS, other activities such as rehabilitation for wildlife plays an integral role in the sanctuary. An hour's bus ride and 35km north from Balikpapan, the BOS centre is located in Samboja, a small district with some 10,000 residents. BOS bought the barren grassland in 2001 and has since been committed to bringing the...

SANTA CLARA, Cuba, Oct 23 (IPS) - Efforts to restore degraded island ecosystems are already producing results in the central Cuban province of Villa Clara, where scientists from different disciplines have been fomenting environmentally-friendly practices since the beginning of this decade. SANTA CLARA, Cuba, Oct 23 (IPS) - Efforts to restore degraded island ecosystems are already producing results in the central Cuban province of Villa Clara, where scientists from different disciplines...

Those who only know him because he works there are unaware that this thin, wiry man with a face seamed with age is the life and soul of local reforestation. It was in his yard that a group was formed, which is now involved not only in forest restoration but also in managing the water in a local stream, treating solid waste and educating residents on environmental questions. Every year the community performs religious ceremonies under the still young trees, to commemorate the rebirth of the...

Ivan Petrovich Voynitsky, better known as Uncle Vanya, is an aging bachelor who lives on a country estate with his widowed brother-in-law and retired professor Alexandr Vladimirovich Serebryakov, Serebryakov's new young wife and his daughter from his first marriage. Ivan Petrovich Voynitsky, better known as Uncle Vanya, is an aging bachelor who lives on a country estate with his widowed brother-in-law and retired professor Alexandr Vladimirovich Serebryakov, Serebryakov's new young wife...