Indonesia yesterday approved a rainforest conservation project that sets aside an area roughly the size of Singapore and rewards investors with tradeable carbon credits in the first of its kind to win formal backing in the country. Source: Business Times Asia-Pacific

New initiatives to cut New Zealand's horrific forestry sector accident rate have been announced, with the new code of practice setting out guidelines for complying with health and safety regulations. Sources: Otago Daily Times, The New Zealand Herald

Government-owned ports authority TasPorts has revealed plans to buy Gunns' Burnie port facility. Chairman Dan Norton said the board was in the process of acquiring the facility before Gunns went into the receivership. Source: ABC News

The jobs of more than 100 Tasmanian timber workers have been secured with processor Ta Ann Tasmania confirming it will remain in the state. But the company has warned it will collapse if the Upper House scuttles forest peace deal legislation. Source: ABC News

The North East Forest Alliance (NEFA) of New South Wales wants Premier Barry O'Farrell to rule out any logging in National Parks, ever. The Forest Products Association, representing saw-millers in the region's forests wants a million hectares of new reserves opened to logging. Source:

The timber union says a new anti-dumping commission will help to protect jobs in the timber and pulp paper industry in the Green Triangle. The Federal Government announced the commission would ensure goods imported into Australia are not sold below cost. Source: ABC News

Prime Minister Julia Gillard is proposing $15 million for biomass power stations under the forest peace deal, which could have been met by an existing Government program, if not for a pact with the Greens. Source: Timberbiz

As organizations like the Federal Trade Commission issue revised guides to help ensure marketers make accurate claims about their products' environmental benefits, the American Consumer Institute (ACI) Center for Citizen Research today issued a new report that compares competing fores