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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/feed/?location=belgium&#038;type=post" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/belgium/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
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	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>Belgium environmental news</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/belgium/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>As storms surge &#038; the sea rises, Belgium builds dunes for protection</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/as-storms-surge-the-sea-rises-belgium-builds-dunes-for-protection/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/as-storms-surge-the-sea-rises-belgium-builds-dunes-for-protection/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Dec 2025 19:57:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/18122651/a.-BANNER-Charlotte-Taelman-Raversijde-lange-wortel-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=311622</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Ocean, Belgium, Europe, and European Union]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Environment, Extreme Weather, Nature-based climate solutions, Sea Levels, Solutions, Storms, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, and Weather]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[OSTEND, Belgium — In late October, Storm Benjamin blew across Belgium and other parts of Western Europe, bringing strong winds and rain that knocked down trees and damaged homes. Powerful waves pummeled Belgium’s shoreline, eroding some parts. Jagged, cliff-like formations appeared on certain beaches. Eventually, contractors reshaped the sand to prevent further erosion and to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[OSTEND, Belgium — In late October, Storm Benjamin blew across Belgium and other parts of Western Europe, bringing strong winds and rain that knocked down trees and damaged homes. Powerful waves pummeled Belgium’s shoreline, eroding some parts. Jagged, cliff-like formations appeared on certain beaches. Eventually, contractors reshaped the sand to prevent further erosion and to keep the public safe. Yet some stretches of the Belgian coast fared far better. Among these was a 750-meter (2,460-foot) strip of beach in Raversijde, a neighborhood in the coastal city of Ostend, where a series of constructed dunes stand seaward of a promenade that doubles as a dike. I drove to Raversijde on a rainy afternoon in late November to visit these dunes, which are part of a “dune-by-dike” system. The dunes and dike are meant to work in tandem to create a double buffer between the sea and the coastline: The dunes form a soft barrier that dissipates wave energy, while the preexisting dikes play back-up as a hard barrier, should the dunes succumb to a storm. This particular site is a project of a Flemish government initiative called Living Labs. Nieuwpoort, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, October 25th, 2025, rough waves crashing onto shoreline under heavy storm clouds. Image courtesy of Bjorn B/stock.adobe.com After parking along the sand-swept road, I crossed the tram tracks that run along the coast to reach the promenade. There, I met Toon Verwaest, a coastal engineer at the governmental agency Flanders Hydraulics Research, who helps coordinate the Raversijde dune-by-dike project.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/as-storms-surge-the-sea-rises-belgium-builds-dunes-for-protection/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/as-storms-surge-the-sea-rises-belgium-builds-dunes-for-protection/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-311622</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Study: Wild meat trade from Africa into Belgium a health and conservation risk</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/study-wild-meat-trade-from-africa-into-belgium-a-health-and-conservation-risk/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/study-wild-meat-trade-from-africa-into-belgium-a-health-and-conservation-risk/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Sep 2023 17:23:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/09/12162748/deer-bushmeat-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273236</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Illegal Wildlife Trade]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Belgium, Central Africa, Europe, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Apes, Biodiversity, Bushmeat, Conservation, Crime, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Forests, Governance, Hunting, Illegal Trade, International Trade, Mammals, Monkeys, Poaching, Primates, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Researchers studying “stop-and-search” seizures from Brussels’ international airport estimate that around 4 metric tons of bushmeat are trafficked into Europe each month through this gateway from countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Togo and Cameroon. They say that this illegal trade, which includes threatened species, poses a threat to public health and biodiversity. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Researchers studying “stop-and-search” seizures from Brussels’ international airport estimate that around 4 metric tons of bushmeat are trafficked into Europe each month through this gateway from countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Togo and Cameroon. They say that this illegal trade, which includes threatened species, poses a threat to public health and biodiversity. Between January 2017 and October 2018, 1 million travelers entered Brussels-Zaventem Airport from the target countries in West and Central Africa; around 1% were searched by the airport’s border control staff. Anne-Lise Chaber, first author of a study commissioned by Belgium’s public health service, FPS Health, and an epidemiologist with the University of Adelaide, Australia, report that 687 kilograms (1,515 pounds) were seized during the study period. Based on this, they estimate that around 80 metric tons of bushmeat entered in total, amounting to nearly 4 metric tons per month. Chaber and her colleagues took confiscated meat away for analysis to determine the species. Among the seized meat — made up largely of livestock, bushmeat from rodents and mammals, and some fish — the researchers found threatened species, including endangered tree pangolins (Phataginus tricuspis), vulnerable African dwarf crocodile (Osteolaemus tetraspis) and eight other species subject to protection under CITES, the international wildlife trade convention. Importing CITES-listed species into Belgium can incur heavy fines and a prison sentence of up to five years. But enforcement of these laws is incredibly limited, the authors note. In a similar study of seizures at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/study-wild-meat-trade-from-africa-into-belgium-a-health-and-conservation-risk/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/study-wild-meat-trade-from-africa-into-belgium-a-health-and-conservation-risk/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-273236</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Belgium bans biofuels made from palm oil, soy</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/04/belgium-bans-biofuels-made-from-palm-oil-soy/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/04/belgium-bans-biofuels-made-from-palm-oil-soy/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Apr 2021 20:45:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/12/28150817/indonesia_20152243-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=241586</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Belgium, Europe, and European Union]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiesel, Biofuels, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Energy, Environment, Forests, Green, Palm Oil, Soy, Supply Chain, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Belgium will ban biofuels made from soy and palm oil from 2022 onward as part of its effort to combat deforestation, said the European nation&#8217;s Federal Minister of Environment and Climate Zakia Khattabi on Tuesday. &#8220;These fuels have little or no advantage over conventional fossil fuels from a climate point of view, but lead to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Belgium will ban biofuels made from soy and palm oil from 2022 onward as part of its effort to combat deforestation, said the European nation&#8217;s Federal Minister of Environment and Climate Zakia Khattabi on Tuesday. &#8220;These fuels have little or no advantage over conventional fossil fuels from a climate point of view, but lead to deforestation, loss of biodiversity and even human rights violations,&#8221; Khattabi said in a statement. Deforestation for an oil palm plantation in Indonesia&#8217;s Papua Province in 2019. Photo credit: Microsoft Zoom.Earth Khattabi said consumption of palm oil-based biodiesel in Belgium increased tenfold between 2019 and 2020 to 231 million liters, a volume that requires a land area of &#8220;more than 100,000 football fields.&#8221; &#8220;We know from studies that at least half of those palm oil plantations have been planted on land that has recently been deforested,&#8221; she said. In making the move, Belgium joins Denmark, France, and the Netherlands as other European nations that have barred palm oil-based biodiesel due the crop&#8217;s association with large-scale conversion of native forests and peatlands for industrial plantations, especially in Malaysia and Indonesia. Soy-based biodiesel will be banned from the Belgian transport market in 2023. Soy has emerged as a significant driver of deforestation in the Amazon and Chaco forests in South America over the past 30 years. European imports of palm oil, soybean oil, and oil 1990-2019 (Index with 1990=100). Data from FAOSTAT. Khattabi said the ban was the first measure Belgium has taken since it became a member&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/04/belgium-bans-biofuels-made-from-palm-oil-soy/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/04/belgium-bans-biofuels-made-from-palm-oil-soy/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-241586</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Bring it on,’ EU MP says of trade fight over palm biofuel phase-out</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/10/eu-palm-oil-biofuel-indonesia-malaysia-phaseout-wto/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/10/eu-palm-oil-biofuel-indonesia-malaysia-phaseout-wto/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Oct 2019 00:36:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/09/30115422/Tebang-Sawit-Illegal3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=223414</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Global Forests]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Belgium, Europe, European Union, and Indonesia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiesel, Biodiversity, Bioenergy, Biofuels, Carbon Emissions, Climate, Climate Change, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Fires, Forest Loss, Forests, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, International Trade, Palm Oil, Plantations, Politics, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, Trade, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
											<grant>
							<![CDATA[GLO-4060 QZA-16/0047.4, 2018-67916]]>
						</grant>
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BRUSSELS — The European Parliament will proceed with phasing out palm oil-based biofuel by 2030 despite threats of retaliatory action by Indonesia and Malaysia, the world’s biggest producers of the ubiquitous vegetable oil. The policy was adopted earlier this year to curb the use of crops that cause deforestation in transportation fuel, over concerns that [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BRUSSELS — The European Parliament will proceed with phasing out palm oil-based biofuel by 2030 despite threats of retaliatory action by Indonesia and Malaysia, the world’s biggest producers of the ubiquitous vegetable oil. The policy was adopted earlier this year to curb the use of crops that cause deforestation in transportation fuel, over concerns that their production contributes to global carbon emissions and thus exacerbates climate change. But both Indonesia and Malaysia have warned of restricting European imports and other trade reprisals should the phase-out go ahead. Bas Eickhout, a Dutch member of the European Parliament, said he’s not worried that Indonesia and Malaysia will take their grievances to the World Trade Organization (WTO). “To be very honest, bring it on on WTO,” he told reporters at the European Parliament in Brussels. “We have very clear environmental concerns, very clear environmental reasons why we say this [palm oil-based biodiesel] can’t be labeled as renewable.” Eickhout said he’s confident the WTO would rule in favor of the EU’s meticulously planned palm biofuel phase-out. “I think if that goes through, Europe will not back track,” he said. “This is a great policy, and the only thing that can challenge it is of course WTO. But as I said, it’s so nuanced draft that we expect WTO will say that it’s allowed in WTO. You are allowed to do specific policies for environmental reasons. We expect WTO will let that happen.” Eickhout said the policy was aimed at preventing unsustainable palm oil from&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/10/eu-palm-oil-biofuel-indonesia-malaysia-phaseout-wto/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/10/eu-palm-oil-biofuel-indonesia-malaysia-phaseout-wto/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-223414</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Gabonese timber linked to illegal logging seized in Antwerp</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/gabonese-timber-linked-to-illegal-logging-seized-in-antwerp/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/gabonese-timber-linked-to-illegal-logging-seized-in-antwerp/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Jul 2019 09:05:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jim Tan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/07/25090407/WCTSTimber_Antwerp_PhilippeVerbelenGreenpeace-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=220777</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Belgium, Central Africa, European Union, and Gabon]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Corruption, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forest Loss, Forests, Governance, Habitat Loss, Illegal Logging, Logging, Rainforests, Timber, Timber Laws, timber trade, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, and Tropical hardwoods]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
											<grant>
							<![CDATA[2019FB]]>
						</grant>
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On July 8, Greenpeace forest campaigner Philippe Verbelen was conducting routine monitoring at the Belgian port of Antwerp when he noticed a familiar name attached to a timber shipment: Wan Chuan Timber SARL (WCTS), a company that has been exposed and fined for a series of grave offenses in Gabon. Verbelen alerted customs officials at [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On July 8, Greenpeace forest campaigner Philippe Verbelen was conducting routine monitoring at the Belgian port of Antwerp when he noticed a familiar name attached to a timber shipment: Wan Chuan Timber SARL (WCTS), a company that has been exposed and fined for a series of grave offenses in Gabon. Verbelen alerted customs officials at the port, who moved quickly moved to block the shipment of padoek, a tropical timber. The Belgian government is now investigating the company receiving the shipment, Antwerp-based Compagnie de Bois Anvers, for a possible breach of the European Union Timber Regulation (EUTR). The shipment in question came from Gabon, a country that currently still has 85 percent coverage of incredibly biodiverse rainforest. In May this year, Pierre Moussavou, Gabon’s then-vice president and minister of state for forests and the environment, was fired in connection with a timber scandal. “[Gabon] is a country with a high level of corruption linked to the forestry sector,” Verbelen said. “European timber companies clearly need to identify companies active in Gabon as a high risk for doing business.” WCTS, which exported the timber, is a Chinese logging company operating in Gabon. Verbelen recognized its name from an undercover probe by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), an NGO based in Washington, D.C. The EIA came across WCTS in 2016 while investigating illegal logging activity in Gabon. “We were asking who the really bad guys were, who were the people or the companies that were just breaking all the rules with no&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/gabonese-timber-linked-to-illegal-logging-seized-in-antwerp/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/gabonese-timber-linked-to-illegal-logging-seized-in-antwerp/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-220777</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Carbon to burn: UK net-zero emissions pledge undermined by biomass energy</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/carbon-to-burn-uk-net-zero-emissions-pledge-undermined-by-biomass-energy/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/carbon-to-burn-uk-net-zero-emissions-pledge-undermined-by-biomass-energy/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Jun 2019 18:59:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Justin Catanoso]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/06/19182359/FEATURED-2-768x451.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=219649</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Belgium, Denmark, European Union, Global, United Kingdom, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Adaptation To Climate Change, Alternative Energy, Bioenergy, carbon, Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Emissions, Carbon Footprint, Carbon Sequestration, Clean Energy, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Science, Conservation, Controversial, Emission Reduction, Energy, Energy Efficiency, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Ethics, Forest Carbon, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Global Warming, Globalization, Green, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Impact Of Climate Change, International Trade, Law, Mitigation, Monitoring, Politics, Pollution, Renewable Energy, Research, Solar Power, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, and Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The UK and EU say  they plan to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, even as both pursue plans to burn massive amounts of carbon-producing wood pellets.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Drax power stations in the United Kingdom, one of the largest users of woody biomass for energy production. The Drax biomass dome, seen here, once burned coal but now burns wood pellets and chips, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. Photo credit: DECCgovuk on VisualHunt / CC BY-ND. Last week, the United Kingdom announced plans to pass a national law setting a country-wide target of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, to be achieved by 2050. The pronouncement came in response to a directive by the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, that all 28 European Union nations set binding 2050 net-zero emissions reduction goals. Those nations are meeting in the next two days to discuss the issue. Given that the national carbon reductions set by the Paris Agreement are voluntary, the fact that UK and EU climate-mitigation strategies may soon carry the weight of law is being cheered by some climate-action advocates. “As the first major industrialized country to legislate for a target of net-zero emissions by 2050, the UK is demonstrating the leadership the world so desperately needs,” Baroness Bryony Worthington, executive director of the Environmental Defense Fund Europe said in a statement. “Other countries can and must take steps to up their ambitions, too.” When the biomass industry hypes wood pellets, people often imagine the product as being consumed in small household wood burning pellet stoves. The reality is quite different and large-scale, with industrial burning of chips and pellets to make electricity, as seen here at the Drax&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/carbon-to-burn-uk-net-zero-emissions-pledge-undermined-by-biomass-energy/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/carbon-to-burn-uk-net-zero-emissions-pledge-undermined-by-biomass-energy/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-219649</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nearly four decades of cycling race video reveals climate change’s effects</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/07/nearly-four-decades-of-cycling-race-video-reveals-climate-changes-effects/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/07/nearly-four-decades-of-cycling-race-video-reveals-climate-changes-effects/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Jul 2018 11:45:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/07/05045916/Tour-of-Flanders-archived-footage-Copyright-Flanders-Classics-4-768x450.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=208033</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Belgium and Europe]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Climate Change, Climate Science, Conservation, Ecology, Ecosystems, Environment, Extreme Weather, Impact Of Climate Change, Insects, low-tech, Plants, Technology, Temperate Forests, Temperatures, Trees, Videos, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Scientists in Belgium have used 36 years of footage from an annual bicycle race to pinpoint the time each year when leaves and flowers appeared on trees and shrubs, allowing them to chart the effects of climate change. The data they collected could also help researchers forecast shifts in these patterns if temperatures continue to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Scientists in Belgium have used 36 years of footage from an annual bicycle race to pinpoint the time each year when leaves and flowers appeared on trees and shrubs, allowing them to chart the effects of climate change. The data they collected could also help researchers forecast shifts in these patterns if temperatures continue to rise. “Only by compiling data from the past will we be able to predict the future effects of climate change on species and ecosystems,” Pieter De Frenne, an ecologist at Ghent University in Belgium and the lead author of the study, said in a statement. De Frenne and his colleagues reported their findings July 3 in the journal Methods in Ecology and Evolution. The researchers counted the leaves and flowers that appeared on individual trees, such as the pear tree in the background of this picture, located at key points along the course. Image © Flanders Classics. The Tour of Flanders is a famous one-day cycling race, attracting elite riders from around the world to northern Belgium, typically in early April. Average temperatures in the region have risen by about 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since 1980. Because the race takes place in the spring every year and covers a similar route each time, De Frenne and his colleagues suspected that video from key locations could help them understand how plants responded to that temperature rise. They began by pulling together footage from the Flemish television station VRT taken during the race between 1981&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/07/nearly-four-decades-of-cycling-race-video-reveals-climate-changes-effects/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-208033</doi>				</item>
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					<title>New illegal logging ban in EU could sever all ties with companies working in DRC</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/03/new-illegal-logging-ban-in-eu-could-sever-all-ties-with-companies-working-in-drc/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/03/new-illegal-logging-ban-in-eu-could-sever-all-ties-with-companies-working-in-drc/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Mar 2013 20:15:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/03/new-illegal-logging-ban-in-eu-could-sever-all-ties-with-companies-working-in-drc/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Belgium, Central Africa, China, Congo Basin, Democratic Republic Of Congo, Europe, France, Netherlands, and Portugal]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community Development, Corruption, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Green, Illegal Logging, Law, Logging, Natural Resources, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, Trees, and Tropical Forests]]>
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											<description>
							<![CDATA[Yesterday, the EU joined the U.S. and Australia in banning all timber that was illegally harvested abroad. The new regulation could have a major impact on where the EU sources its timber, and no where more so than the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). According to a new report by Greenpeace, the DRC&#8217;s current moratorium [&#8230;]]]>
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							<![CDATA[Yesterday, the EU joined the U.S. and Australia in banning all timber that was illegally harvested abroad. The new regulation could have a major impact on where the EU sources its timber, and no where more so than the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). According to a new report by Greenpeace, the DRC&#8217;s current moratorium on industrial logging is being systematically circumvented making all timber from the country suspect. &#8220;Logging companies, including multinationals, are routinely flouting Congolese law, with complete impunity,&#8221; said Irène Wabiwa, forests campaigner with Greenpeace Africa. &#8220;Many are involved in large-scale timber laundering and as a result, the government is denied tax revenues.&#8221; Despite the moratorium on industrial logging set up in 2002, companies are using artisanal permits meant for smallscale logging, according to the new report, Cut It Out: Illegal Logging in the DRC. One of the most popular targets is the wengé tree (Millettia laurentii). Although listed as Endangered by the IUCN Red List, the tree is often illegally cut and exported to the EU or China. But the new law across the 27 countries that make-up the EU means buyers must practice diligent caution. Wengé log and stump in DRC forest, likely illegally logged. Photo: © Greenpeace. &#8220;DRC timber is clearly extremely high risk,&#8221; the report reads. &#8220;The lack of independent systems to verify legality in DRC makes it difficult&#8212;if not impossible&#8212;for EU-based timber traders to comply with the new due diligence requirements.&#8221; During recent investigative visits to DRC ports and forests in the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/03/new-illegal-logging-ban-in-eu-could-sever-all-ties-with-companies-working-in-drc/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-29469</doi>				</item>
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