Forestry

South Africa has had a mixed bag of environmental ministers over the past 30 years and, bar a few, most have taken the environmental agenda forward

The energy crisis has to be resolved. But crises also typically create opportunities for unproductive rent-seeking

The invasion of this destructive beetle wiping out trees is only in its infancy and scientists expect ecological and social costs to rack up

The good news is that the drought has eased, poaching is down and the environment department is now not only focusing on the poachers but is going after crime syndicates

Planting trees in Africa is proposed by some as a quick fix for climate change. But local experts disagree — and say their voices are being sidelined

Developing countries such as ours cannot follow the same growth path that Western economies have taken over the last century and a half

It took 10 years to rescue Karura from land-grabbers and criminals and turn it into an urban refuge

Trailblazing in public spaces

Woody plants’ cover has increased across large swathes of the continent in the past three decades

Using 98% of a tree — instead of the 48% of used today — will dramatically change the industry.

Workers in sectors such as forestry have been reporting that their working conditions are worsening as casualisation continues apace.

The Sirex wasp and its deadly passenger have brought the prospect of ruin to the pine industry, but geneticists have a shrewd plan to fight back.

The world’s largest maker of glossy paper will sell 67 000 hectares of forest in Swaziland for R1-billion in order to finance debt.

The world’s third-largest paper producer Asia Pulp and Paper says it has stopped using logs from Indonesia’s natural forests.

The Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute is in war mode defending indigenous forests, writes Sharon van Wyk.