#forests

"Like many residents, Torry Nergart and his family live in the mountains of western North Carolina because they love being close to the forests, rivers and public lands.

That is making them feel particularly protective since President Donald Trump last month ordered a major boost to U.S. timber production, seeking to strip regulations and speed up approval.

Within hours of the orders being issued, Nergart and hundreds of other people gathered in the town of Brevard, at the entrance to the half-million-acre Pisgah National Forest, to share their concerns.

'It touches almost every element of life and culture here,' Nergart told Context. 'Everyone has a stake.'

Worries about the impacts on recreation, conservation, sedimentation and flooding raise questions of what could happen to the local economy, he added.

'This whole economy has grown up around this,' Nergart said."

https://www.context.news/nature/trump-logging-order-sparks-fears-for-us-southeast-forests

Palm Oil Is Ruining Kalangala Uganda — Locals Paying the Price

A catastrophic storm in #Uganda’s Kalangala district left nearly 1,000 households homeless. The real culprit? Rampant #deforestation for #palmoil. Once rich in native forests that buffered storms, Kalangala is now a fragile landscape dominated by monoculture palm oil and #tobacco plantations that does not keep villages safe from climate induced flooding and severe storms. This human-caused disaster is a wake-up call: palm oil profits must never come before people and planet. Support #indigenous-led reforestation and demand corporate accountability for ecocide! #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife #HumanRights

#News: #Forests in #Kalangala #Uganda were cleared for #palmoil. Now owing to lack of tree cover, 994 households are homeless after a #climate disaster. Palm oil destroys homes and livelihoods #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife #HumanRights @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-bm3

Editorial. (2025, March 26). Kalangala disaster and urgent need for environmental responsibility. The Observer. https://observer.ug/viewpoint/kalangala-disaster-and-urgent-need-for-environmental-responsibility

On 15 March 2025, Kalangala district in Uganda was devastated by one of the worst storms in recent memory—nearly 1,000 households were left homeless. But behind this climate catastrophe lies a man-made environmental disaster: deforestation for commercial palm oil plantations.

Once covered in lush, native forests that shielded communities from extreme weather, Kalangala has been stripped bare in recent decades. The clearance of biodiverse forests to make way for monoculture oil palm has left the region exposed, vulnerable, and unable to withstand the escalating effects of climate change.

Palm oil trees, unlike indigenous forest cover, offer little resistance to powerful winds. As a result, communities that once thrived in harmony with their environment are now suffering repeated climate-related trauma.

Uganda’s National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) has been heavily criticised for its failure to conduct robust environmental impact assessments before approving forest clearance for palm oil expansion. This lack of oversight—fuelled by a reckless pursuit of economic profit—has eroded not just forests, but also the safety, wellbeing, and futures of local communities.

This disaster is not isolated. Across Uganda, and indeed the entire tropical belt, commercial land grabs for palm oil and other export crops continue to displace communities, destroy ecosystems, and exacerbate climate collapse.

What happened in Kalangala is a brutal lesson in environmental injustice. Corporate profits were prioritised over ecological safety and the lives of ordinary people. This is a call to action for governments, regulators, and citizens alike: we must put an end to extractive industries that place short-term gain above human rights and environmental resilience.

A large-scale, community-led native reforestation programme is urgently needed. Indigenous forests must be restored to buffer future disasters and repair the broken link between people and the land. Kalangala’s tragedy is not the end—it must be the beginning of resistance.

Choose 100% palm oil-free. Reject products linked to violence, land grabs, and climate chaos. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife #HumanRights #WorkersRights

Read more: Kalangala disaster and urgent need for environmental responsibility (The Observer, 2025.

Editorial. (2025, March 26). Kalangala disaster and urgent need for environmental responsibility. The Observer. https://observer.ug/viewpoint/kalangala-disaster-and-urgent-need-for-environmental-responsibility

ENDS

Read more about human rights abuses and child slavery in the palm oil industry

Palm Oil Is Ruining Kalangala Uganda — Locals Paying the Price

A catastrophic storm in #Uganda’s Kalangala district left nearly 1,000 households homeless. The real culprit? Rampant #deforestation for #palmoil. Once rich in native forests that buffered storms, Kalangala is now a fragile landscape…

Read more

Violence for Palm Oil Against Peasant Communities in Honduras Meets Resistance

In the Aguán Valley of northern Honduras, peasant communities reclaiming ancestral lands face increasing violence and intimidation from armed groups linked to organised crime. The Dinant Corporation, a prominent palm oil producer, is…

Read more

The Great Malaysian Timber and Palm Oil Swindle

A joint investigation by Malaysiakini and Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Investigations Network (RIN) reveals alarming deforestation in Pahang, #Malaysia, caused by one of the country’s largest #palmoil plantations. The plantation threatens endangered species like…

Read more

Deadly Harvest: How Demand for Palm Oil Fuels Corruption in Honduras

Latin America is the fastest-growing producer of palm oil, but at what price for the environment and its defenders? Park rangers in Honduras tell harrowing tales of daily threats to their lives and…

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Ten Victories and Challenges to Indigenous Rights in 2024

From Brazil’s action against illegal gold miners to the Sacred Headwaters Alliance defending the Amazon, these top Indigenous stories of 2024 highlight resilience and challenges. The year of 2024 underscored the importance of…

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Take Action in Five Ways

1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.

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2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.

Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez

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Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings

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Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao

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Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

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The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert

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How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

Read more

3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20

https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20

https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here

#BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #childSlavery #Climate #climateChange #climatecrisis #ClimateEmergency #deforestation #floods #forests #humanRights #HumanRights #indigenous #indigenousRights #Kalangala #landRights #landgrabbing #News #PalmOil #palmoil #slavery #tobacco #Uganda #Ugandan #WorkersRights

#News: #Forests in #Kalangala #Uganda were cleared for #palmoil. Now owing to lack of tree cover, 994 households are homeless after a #climate disaster. Palm oil destroys homes and livelihoods #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife #HumanRights

http://palmoildetectives.com/2025/04/16/palm-oil-ruining-kalangala-uganda-locals-paying-the-price/

Dark #forests and steep #mountains in one of my favorite national parks, #Olympic in #Washington.

#OlympicNationalPark #landscapephotography #naturephotography

American cities with the most trees per square mile

Listed below are those larger American cities for whom data on tree canopies is readily available, that have the most trees per square mile. Bear in mind that some examples are solely from inside the city limits proper, while others like Miami are for both the city and surrounding county.

Most surprising from the data gathered is the extent of the tree canopies in some Texan cities, especially Dallas and its suburbs, as well as Austin. Also, an unfortunate number of cities have not estimated the extent of their tree canopy.

One would have thought that ever city with a collegiate forestry or landscape architecture program would have long since calculated the extent of their tree canopy. Certainly, some have, as Athens, Austin, Seattle, Ann Arbor, Gainesville, and Fort Collins all can attest. But to not find comparable numbers from places like Boulder, Eugene, Raleigh, or Madison was quite unexpected.

Peace!

Note: Data is for all trees on both public and private property.

_______

2. Austin, Texas = 33.8 million or 103,522 trees per square mile

3. Orlando, Florida = 7.5 million or 67,812 trees per square mile

4. Tampa, Florida = 9.9 million or 56,474 trees per square mile

5. Seattle, Washington = 4.35 million or 51,909 trees per square mile

6. Ann Arbor, Michigan = 1.45 million or 51,408 trees per square mile

7. Houston, Texas = 33 million or 49,624 trees per square mile for Houston

8. Gainesville, Florida = 2.95 million or 46,714 trees per square mile

9. Springfield, Missouri = 3.6 million or 43,742 trees per square mile

10. Bellevue, Washington = 1.4 million or 41,841 trees per square mile

11. Lewisville, Texas = 1.652 million or 38,870 trees per square mile

12. Dallas, Texas = 14.7 million or 38,103 trees per square mile

13. Washington, DC = 2.43 million or 35,578 trees per square mile

14. Denton, Texas = 3.5 million or 35, 425 trees per square mile

15. Milwaukee, Wisconsin = 3.38 million or 35,135 trees per square mile

16. Cleveland, Ohio = 2.37 million or 30,502 trees per square mile

17. Baltimore, Maryland = 2.8 million or 30,418 trees per square mile

18. Arlington, Texas = 2.965 million or 29,589 trees per square mile

19. Arlington, Virginia = 755,000 = 29,038 trees per square mile

20. Grand Rapids, Michigan = 1.28 million or 28,444 trees per square mile

21. Tulsa, Oklahoma = 5.2 million or 26,329 trees per square mile

22. New York City, New York = 7.0 million 23,133 trees per square mile

23. Plano, Texas = 1.6 million or 22,222 trees per square mile

24. Los Angeles, California = 10.5 million or 20,887 trees per square mile

25. Cincinnati, Ohio = 1.6 million or 20,566 trees per square mile

26. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania = 2.9 million or 20,322 trees per square mile

27. Providence, Rhode Island = 415,000 or 20,165 trees per square mile

28. Miami-Dade County, Florida = 36 million 0r 18,499 per square mile

29. Chicago, Illinois = 4.1 million or 18,038 trees per square mile

30. Minneapolis, Minnesota = 979,000 or 17,026 trees per square mile

31. Denver, Colorado = 2.2 million or 14,379 trees per square mile

32. San Francisco, California = 669,000 or 14,264 trees per square mile

33. Portland, Oregon = 1.4 million or 10,491 trees per square mile

34. Sacramento, California = 1.0 million or 9,990 trees per square mile

35. St. Paul, Minnesota = 500,000 or 8,897 trees per square mile

36. San Jose, California = 1.6 million or 8,825 trees per square mile

37. Fort Collins, Colorado = 500,000 or 8,741 trees per square mile

38. Irvine, California = 550,000 or 8,384 trees per square mile

39. Birmingham, Alabama = 1.0 million or 6,803 trees per square mile

40. Virginia Beach, Virginia = 3.2 million or 6,438 trees per square mile

41. El Paso, Texas = 1.28 million or 4,954 trees per square mile

42. Oakland, California = 200,000 or 2,564 trees per square mile

43. Buffalo, New York = 130,000 or 2,476 trees per square mile

SOURCES:

• https://www.texastrees.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Updated-State-of-the-Dallas-Urban-Forest-Report.pdf
• https://tfsweb.tamu.edu/content/article.aspx?id=23475#:~:text=An%20analysis%20of%20the%20Austin,oak%2C%20sugarberry%20and%20Texas%20persimmon.
• https://upwithtrees.org/Tulsa_UFMP_Final.pdf
• https://wordpress.com/post/panethos.wordpress.com/69529
• https://www.miamidade.gov/environment/library/reports/urban-tree-study.pdf
• https://www.tampa.gov/construction-services/tree-information#:~:text=Examples%20of%20protected%20trees%20include,go%20to%20the%20Accela%20website.
• https://www.tampa.gov/city-planning/natural-resource-planning/urban-forest-management-plan#:~:text=Tampa’s%20municipal%20forest%20consists%20of,species%20and%20145%20shrub%20species.
• https://research.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/53315#:~:text=An%20analysis%20of%20the%20urban,red%20maple%2C%20and%20Norway%20maple.
• https://www.clevelandmetroparks.com/news-press/2024/april-2024/cleveland-metroparks-launches-tree-planting-intera#:~:text=Total%20tree%20population%20is%20estimated,not%20tolerant%20to%20climate%20change
• https://caseytrees.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/iTree-2015-Report_English.pdf
• https://bcrp.baltimorecity.gov/forestry/treebaltimore/value#:~:text=Baltimore%20has%202.8%20million%20trees,and%20increasing%20our%20property%20values.
• https://chicagorti.org/2020-chicago-tree-census/#key-findings
• https://www.itreetools.org/documents/327/Milwaukee%20Ecosystem%20Analysis.pdf
• https://www.a2gov.org/departments/forestry/Pages/The-Urban-Forest.aspx#:~:text=The%20analysis%20estimates%20that%20Ann,produced%20by%20358%2C000%20automobiles%20annually.
• https://www.stpaul.gov/departments/parks-and-recreation/natural-resources/forestry/landmark-tree-program#:~:text=The%20City%20of%20Saint%20Paul,the%20City%20of%20Saint%20Paul.
• https://research.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/23593#:~:text=Abstract,quality%20in%20the%20Minneapolis%20area.
• https://coolgreentrees.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Bham-Urban-Forest-Management-Plan-Upper-Village-Creek-Dec-2016.pdf
• https://www.americanforests.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Seattle-Urban-Forest-fact-sheet.pdf
• https://www.americanforests.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Portland-Urban-Forest-Fact-Sheet-FINAL.pdf
• https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/2021/sf-tree-cover/#:~:text=San%20Francisco%20is%20home%20to%20an%20estimated%20669%2C000%20trees%2C%20covering,the%20wealth%20of%20its%20residents.
• https://www.oaklandca.gov/resources/tree-services-fact-sheet-frequently-asked-questions#:~:text=Estimates%20show%20that%20Oakland’s%20urban,future%20of%20Oakland’s%20urban%20forest.
• https://sanjosespotlight.com/san-jose-changes-rules-to-replenish-tree-canopy/#:~:text=There%20are%20roughly%201.6%20million,concerted%20effort%20to%20replace%20it.
• https://www.capradio.org/articles/2018/12/20/how-did-sacramento-get-so-many-trees/
• https://streetsla.lacity.org/faqs-ufd#:~:text=It%20has%20been%20estimated%20that,of%20the%20larger%20urban%20forest.
• https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/e271a008988240e8acc7321a5cf5eb95
• https://research.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/57234#:~:text=An%20analysis%20of%20the%20urban,pin%20oak%2C%20and%20red%20maple.
• https://www.arlnow.com/2023/02/14/how-protecting-outstanding-private-trees-figures-into-arlingtons-conservation-goals/#:~:text=There%20are%20approximately%20755%2C000%20trees,directly%20managed%20by%20Arlington%20County.
• https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/virginia-beach-departments-docs/parks-rec/Outdoors/CaringForParks/Urban-Forest-Management-Plan.pdf
• https://communityimpact.com/dallas-fort-worth/plano/environment/2022/03/01/trees-to-be-planted-along-road-in-effort-to-increase-planos-urban-forestry/#:~:text=By%20Erick%20Pirayesh%20%7C%207:00,Community%20Impact%20Newspaper%20staff)
• http://www.google.gemini.ai
• https://www.providenceri.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/iTreeEcoProv2014.pdf
• https://tfsweb.tamu.edu/uploadedFiles/TFS_Main/Urban_and_Community_Forestry/Services_for_Local_Government/Inventories_and_Reports/El%20Paso%20Community%20Forest%20Assessment_final%2011.26.pdf
• https://www.cityofdenton.com/1113/Urban-Forestry#:~:text=Denton’s%20urban%20forest%20plays%20a,2.2%25%20from%202008%20to%202014.
• https://www.itreetools.org/documents/37/GR_Report.pdf
• https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/FR276
• https://www.cityofirvine.org/news-media/news-article/city-irvines-50th-anniversary-arbor-day-celebration#:~:text=With%20over%20550%2C000%20trees%2C%20Irvine,lives%20due%20to%20COVID%2D19.
• https://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/oes/natural-environment/tree-canopy/#:~:text=Cincinnati%20Parks%20%E2%80%93%20Street%20Trees,aesthetics%20throughout%20the%20urban%20forest.
• https://tfsweb.tamu.edu/uploadedFiles/TFS_Main/Urban_and_Community_Forestry/Services_for_Local_Government/Inventories_and_Reports/ArlingtonFinalUFOREAnalysisReport.pdf
• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/369649665_City_of_Lewisville_HIP_Appendix_E_-_Urban_Tree_Canopy_Study
• https://www.reed.edu/math-stats/241/2020/03/20/trees-buffalo/
• https://www.accgov.com/9914/Community-Tree-Study
• https://research.fs.usda.gov/nrs/news/releases/urban-forests-count-missouri#:~:text=Springfield%20has%203.6%20million%20trees,removal%20estimated%20at%20$2%20million.
• https://bellevuewa.gov/city-government/departments/community-development/environmental-stewardship/trees-open-space#:~:text=Bellevue’s%20estimated%201.4%20million%20trees,of%20natural%20areas%20each%20year

#cities #climateChange #environment #forests #geography #history #landUse #nature #planning #travel #treeCanopy #trees #urbanForests #urbanForsts #woodlands