NEWSLETTERNEWSLETTER
issue 2007/1, May 2007
The International Mire Conservation Group (IMCG) is an international network of specialists having a particular interest in mire and peatland conservation. The network encompasses a wide spectrum of expertise and interests, from research scientists to consultants, government agency specialists to peatland site managers. It operates largely through e-mail and newsletters, and holds regular workshops and symposia. For more information: consult the IMCG Website: http://www.imcg.net
IMCG has a Main Board of currently 15 people from various parts of the world that has to take decisions between congresses. Of these 15 an elected 5 constitute the IMCG Executive Committee that handles day-to-day affairs. The Executive Committee consists of a Chairman (Jennie Whinam), a Secretary General (Hans Joosten), a Treasurer (Philippe Julve), and 2 additional members (Tatiana Minaeva, Piet-Louis Grundling).
Seppo Eurola, Richard Lindsay, Viktor Masing (†), Rauno Ruuhijärvi, Hugo Sjörs, Michael Steiner and Tatiana Yurkovskaya have been awarded honorary membership of IMCG.
The first IMCG Newsletter of 2007 arrives with some delay. We have been very busy at the Secretariat with too many things. Anyhow, here is another Newsletter filled with many interesting things, like some statistics on our IMCG Webpage and an overview of the first year of the IPS/IMCG Journal “Mires and Peat”.
We further bring you the good news that the Vasyugan mire, the largest uninterrupted peatland of the world, has been proposed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. We hope to provide more details soon.
The discussion on peat as a renewable resource has been rekindled by our friends from the International Peat Society. Hans has been working on a detailed reply to debunk their false claims and pseudo-science, but he did not make the deadline for personal reasons. These things happen, but we will provide you with his article in a special issue of the IMCG Newsletter as soon as possible.
A special issue, because this discussion has become a burning question that occupies a European Union that wishes to fulfil its ambitious goals of substituting at least 10% of its fossil fuels with renewable energies. Meanwhile the Dutch Minister for the Environment has proposed to ban one source of “renewable” energy: palm oil from plantations on carbon rich soils, like the massive oil palm plantations on the peatlands in SE Asia.
We plan to publish a next regular Newsletter at the end of July 2007. Please continue sending all your discussion contributions, news, publications, etc. to us. Deadline for the next Newsletter is 27 July 2007.
For information, address changes or other things, contact us at the IMCG Secretariat. In the meantime, keep an eye on the continuously refreshed and refreshing IMCG web-site: http://www.imcg.net
John Couwenberg &
Hans Joosten, The IMCG Secretariat
Institute of Botany and Landscape Ecology, Grimmerstr. 88, D-17487 Greifswald (Germany)
fax: +49 3834 864114; e-mail: joosten@uni-greifswald.de
Contents:
Editorial.............................................................................................................................................................................................. 1
A note from the Chair...................................................................................................................................................................... 2
Co-opted Main Board member....................................................................................................................................................... 2
IMCG Website is prospering.......................................................................................................................................................... 2
Mires and Peat: The first year........................................................................................................................................................ 3
The ongoing destruction of Turkey’s largest upland mire........................................................................................................ 5
Vasyugan Mire proposed for UNESCO World Heritage list..................................................................................................... 7
Buttongrass Moorlands Management Workshop...................................................................................................................... 7
International Congress Peat and Peatlands 2007........................................................................................................................ 8
Peatscapes......................................................................................................................................................................................... 9
Rospuda and Biebrza update – 20 April 2007............................................................................................................................ 10
Palm oil as biofuel?......................................................................................................................................................................... 12
Carbopeat........................................................................................................................................................................................ 13
Peatlands and energy.................................................................................................................................................................... 14
Regional News................................................................................................................................................................................ 15
New and recent Journals/Newsletters/Books/Reports............................................................................................................. 23
IMCG Main Board.......................................................................................................................................................................... 25
UPCOMING EVENTS.................................................................................................................................................................... 26