After two years of negotiations, legislators reached a compromise on a deal that will require companies to trace where their timber was harvested.

Up to 40% of the world’s wood production is estimated to come from illegally logged tropical forests.

MEPs will vote on the proposal in July before it is presented to the European Council in the autumn.

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David said: “As this is such a big distance, over night, in the dark I thought it deserved a reason for me to keep going and not give up half way through. That reason is the International Tree Foundation.   I have been involved with the International Tree Foundation for over 2 years as a Trustee and have enjoyed my time there immensely. The work they carry out inspires me to hope a good future is possible for all of us.”

If you would like to sponsor him and help raise funds for ITF, lease click the link to his Just Giving page to make a donation.  http://www.justgiving.com/David-Gore  .

 William Welch from Studio William said: “Studio William Cutlery is a British cutlery company. We name each range of cutlery after a type of tree – because every tree has its own unique form. Sometimes a tree has directly inspired our design. Sometimes we see aspects of a tree reflected in our design.  The Studio William team wanted to find a additional way to work with trees. In this day and age of deforestation and harvesting of ancient timbers, beautiful forests are regularly being destroyed. We decided that we wanted to help support a charity that planted new trees and chose The International Tree Foundation for their international coverage.“

“We were lucky enough to spend a beautiful day in the scenic Buckinghamshire countryside planting 120 native trees together, near some protected semi-ancient woodland.  It was a great day out for everyone, encouraging team work (our team consisted of Rackers from many different departments) and helping the environment at the same time.  We’ll be back again next year, but will ask to plant at least 300 trees next time as some of the team didn’t feel it was challenging enough!”

“The woodland planting project so far as been very successful and we have planted 4,000 native trees and shrubs this year during a very cold February with the assistance of over 60 First Diploma and National Diploma students. Using a mixture of pit and notch planting methods all trees were root dipped with mycorrhizal fungi and protected using spiral rabbit guards.

Next year we intend to plant a similar number of trees to increase the extent of our woodland to create a wildlife corridor to link the Reservoir planting to existing hedgerows and fields. We are indebted to ITF for their support to Writtle College in helping us create this fantastic new woodland habitat.”  

Sunarma – Ethiopia

Molly & Paul Childcare Foundation (MPCCF) – Uganda

NAIDD – Togo

RDIS  - Rwanda

Joliba Trust – Mali

Green Trust – India

Please visit our global pages to read these reports in full.

Last week in Oslo, Heads of State and Government, ministers and other representatives from some fifty countries concluded an agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation.  Around $4.5 billion has been pledged for the period 2010-2012 to support measures to reduce deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries.

His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales gave a keynote speech following an introduction by the co-chairs of the meeting, Prime Minister of Norway, Jens Stoltenberg and President of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Both co-chairs were kind enough to recognise that the Prince’s work had made a significant contribution to the successful outcome of the REDD+ finance programme.  Particular reference was made by them and other Heads of State to the meeting His Royal Highness hosted at St James Palace in April 2009 and the work of the PRP in bringing the forest agenda to the attention of world leaders.  

The global forest partnership that was established in Oslo marks the start of closer global cooperation on reducing deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries.  

To read more on this article please visit:  http://www.rainforestsos.org/pages/emergency-package/