On World Wetlands Day, February 2nd, the Dutch government voted in favor of forest protection over forest destruction and overwhelmingly adopted a resolution to halt dirty biomass subsidies for burning forests in coal-fired power plants. This is great news for our Southern forests and a strong signal that we are winning!
There is a growing need to scale up forest protection. While climate talks have resulted in increased commitments to protect forests in the tropics, the accelerated practice in recent years of burning trees from the US in place of coal to generate electricity has gone under the radar.
Dogwood Alliance asked me what the forests mean to me. I could have said clean air (because that’s true), I could have said the beautiful views (also true), or that I use the forests for recreational purposes. But, the answer that rang deeply in my being sounded more like solace.
Having a voice and telling my story are important steps in finding an acceptable resolution to the issue of industrial logging in my community. I experienced “that step” in participating in the meeting with a Dutch delegation in Richmond, Virginia early this November. On several occasions now, I have told my story regarding the impacts on my community due to Enviva’s industrial logging in Northampton County, NC and Southampton County, VA.
Dogwood Alliance enthusiastically welcomes our new Advancement Director, Holly Paar!
