Yet another post about forests, but it IS the International Year of Forests! Conservation International has named the ten most threatened forest hot spots, and they include Atlantic Forest, Sundaland, Philippines and the Indo-Burma region among others.

 

National Geographic is known for its stunning photos–of people, places, anything. The magazine has collected images of the threatened hot spots on its website, and the give us a glimpse of the people and animals who stand to suffer if conservation efforts don't become a big priority in those regions.

 

Do you live near any of these hotspots? What do you think the "average" person can do to pitch in? Send us your input!

Twice a year in Hoima, a town in the northwest of Uganda, they have a parade that goes through the streets and collects plastic garbage from the ground. The town is full of plastic bottles and other things. The problem is: it is totally dry. And when it is raining, the water just flows away and doesn´t reach the roots of the trees. This problem has been well known for years. But because of the extreme dry season the problem is getting bigger and bigger. The government tried to solve the problem. But now the bishop of the Kampala region found a way to make the people more responsible. The religious leaders in the country have a huge impact on the Ugandans. The bishop for example encourages couples to plant a tree before they get married. And guess what – it is working.

This week there are national elections in Uganda. Many people I asked about the elections told me that democracy does not work in Uganda. "What we need is a new strong dictator", a woman told me. "The people just make the wrong decisions, they don´t know what is good for the country". I travelled to the countryside near the border to the Congo. Many people in Uganda live in small villages like the one you see in the video above. Many of them are disappointed – they don't have jobs. For the past two years there has also been an extreme drought. The crime rate is rising fast. The people that I asked in the villages hope for a law-and-order president. Many say that Som daid Idi Amin, the Ugandan dictator from the 1970s was not so bad. Having the freedom and democracy movements in northern Africa in mind I was kind of shocked and surprised. Are the people expecting demonstrations and riots during the election week? 'Yes', many said. Because they are quite sure that the results of the elections are going to be rigged. I'm wondering: What do they want? Free and democratic elections and a new dictator? What are they going to demonstrate for?

When the Berlinale, Germany's biggest film festival, takes place early every year even Hollywood is stopping by. For ten days lots of well known actors and directors are giving the capital the shiny flair of a movie metropolis. The eyes of the media are on Berlin.

Could you imagine a setting more fitting to highlight the importance of saving our climate?

That's why the festival is accompanied by a huge display of the iconic "HOLYWOOD" lettering from the Hollywood hills – in the "Tiergarten" park in Berlin's center. Artist Ralf Schmerberg has build up the installation to support the initiative "10,000 Trees for Berlin" and a book about the forest. The installation will be at the Tiergarten until the 20th of February 2011. You will hardly miss the sign between Potsdamer Platz and the Brandenburger Gate, because the letters are huge, 13 meters tall and all together about 53 meters wide.

So, what is the initiative meant to achieve? Well, 10,000 trees are currently missing on the streets of Berlin. The NGO's plan is to fill the empty spots in the city with new trees. Everyone can participate by sponsoring one or more of the missing trees. Trees are valuable and wood is holy, so to speak – hence the apparent misspelling in the sign.

For more information please visit the project's website.

Vestas is the biggest wind turbine producer in the world–there are currently around 41,000 of the company's turbines are operating around the world right now. Vestas has decided to locate its new Eastern Europe wind power hub in Romania. Why?

 

Vestas thinks Romania will soon turn into a booming center for wind power because the country's government has thrown its weight behind alternative energy sources, especially wind–so there's big opportunity for investments. Right now, Vestas has installed 22 wind turbines in Romania, and they're planning to put in another about another 55.

 

That means Romania could provide a big boost to the rest of Eastern Europe. In the future, its own alternative energy production could power homes across the region, and the country might even serve as an inspiration among its neighbors to make similar investments in wind power. Some experts believe Romania will get 24% of its energy from renewable sources by the year 2020. So could Romania be changing the face of energy production in Eastern Europe? We'll have to wait and see…