Bread and Puppet Co-Founder Elka Schumann, 85, Dies

 August 2, 2021

Elka Schumann, co-founder of the Bread and Puppet theater company.

By Democracy Now

HAVANA TIMES – Elka Schumann, co-founder of the Bread and Puppet theater company, has died at the age of 85. Elka was born in the Soviet Union in 1935 and brought to the United States in 1941. She and her husband Peter Schumann began the Bread and Puppet Theater company in 1963. Their first productions ranged from puppet shows for children to pieces protesting poor housing conditions. The group later moved to Vermont.

Its processions involving monstrous puppets, some about 20 feet high, became a fixture of protests against the Vietnam War. The Bread and Puppet theater also milled its own flour and baked its own bread, sharing it with audience members. This is Elka Schumann appearing in the 2001 film, Ah! The Hopeful Pageantry of Bread and Puppet produced by her daughter Tamar, and DeeDee Halleck:

Elka Schumann: “We have a grinder over there, and we grind the grain ourselves. And the bread is not at all like your supermarket bread. You really have to chew it. You really have to put some work into it. But then you get something very good for that. And when our theater is successful, we feel it’s the same way. You’ve got to think about—it doesn’t like tell you everything. It’s not like Wonder Bread: It’s just like there it is, here’s the story, this is what it means. You’ve got to do some figuring yourself in the theater, in our theater. And if the play is successful, then at the end you probably feel it was worth the work.”

Elka Schumann died Sunday, surrounded by her five children and her partner Peter.

Amazon launches plans to reduce waste after investigation



Amazon announced Wednesday in a blog two new programs to cut waste. 

File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo

Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Amazon has announced two new programs to reduce waste after backlash from an investigation less than two months ago.

The two new Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) programs to help businesses selling on Amazon resell the e-commerce company's return or overstock items were announced in a blog post Wednesday.

"Customer returns are a fact of life for all retailers, and what to do with those products is an industry-wide challenge," said Libby Johnson McKee, director, Amazon WW Returns, ReCommerce and Sustainability. "These new programs are examples of the steps we're taking to ensure that products sold on Amazon -- whether by us or our small business partners -- go to good use and don't become waste."

The announcement follows an investigation by British broadcaster ITV News, which found Amazon destroyed millions of returned or unsold items annually in a British warehouse. Undercover footage showed Smart TVs, laptops and thousands of sealed face masks marked "destroy." The destroyed products were then dumped at recycling centers or a landfill site.

"It's an unimaginable amount of unnecessary waste, and just shocking to see a multi-billion pound company getting rid of stock in this way," Greenpeace's Sam Chetan Welsh told ITR at the time.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson criticized the amount of waste and vowed to look into the situation.

Amazon told ITV in response that the landfill site has a recycling center and none of their items go to landfills in Britain.

The first of Amazon's new programs, "FBA Grade and Resell," is now available in Britain and will be available in the United States by the end of the year, and in Germany, France, Italy and Spain by early 2022. It allows third-party selling partners to sell returned products as "used" items instead of having them sent back to them or donated. The selling price is set based on the item's condition, ranging from "like new" to "very good," to "good," to "acceptable."

The second new Amazon program, "FBA Liquidations," allows sellers to use Amazon's wholesale resale channel and technology to recover a portion of their inventory cost from returned items or overstock instead of having to return them to Amazon.

The liquidation program is live in the United States, Germany, France, Italy and Spain, and is set to go live in Britain in August.

McKee added that the two new programs build on existing programs, which also cut waste, such as the FBA Donations program, which allows sellers using FBA to donate their overstock or returned items. The program launched in 2019, and since then, has provided more than 67 million products from sellers to charitable organizations worldwide.

"We hope these build a circular economy and reduce our impact on the planet," McKee said.

Along with the programs to cut waste for sustainability, the company has also made a Climate Pledge to commit to net zero carbon by 2040 and 100% renewable energy by 2025.

Intermittent-fasting diets may prevent infections, study finds

Intermittent fasting may help prevent infections, a new study has found. Photo by LauraTara/Pixabay


Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Intermittent-fasting diets may help prevent infections in those who practice them, a study published Thursday by the journal PLOS Pathogens found.

Mice orally infected with a bacteria responsible for most stomach viruses that were put on a fast for 48 hours before exposure had fewer signs of bacterial infection compared with those that were fed, the researchers said.

The mice in the study were infected with Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, which causes gastroenteritis, an infection humans experience as abdominal cramps, diarrhea and vomiting, researchers said.

However, when fasted mice were infected with Salmonella intravenously, they did not have similar protection from illness, nor did those mice bred to lack a normal gut microbiome.

RELATED Keto diet may help brain tumor patients recover, study finds

This indicates that any protective effect from fasting was due to changes in the gut microbiome, the collection of bacteria and other micro-organisms that live in the digestive tract and help the body process what it consumes, the researchers said.

"We saw an overall change in the composition of the microbiome, meaning an increase in some bacteria and a decrease in other bacteria," study co-author Dr. Bruce Vallance said in a press release.

"However, we did not show in our study which bacteria specifically is responsible for the protective effect," said Vallance, a professor of gastroenterology at the University of British Columbia in Canada.

RELATED Earlier breakfast may decrease risk for diabetes

Intermittent fasting diets may offer some health benefits, assisting in weight loss and reducing heart disease risk, among others, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Although their role in preventing certain conditions, including infections, remains unclear, based on earlier research, some have proposed them as a way to help prevent COVID-19, though more studies, particularly those with human subjects, are needed.

Still, when people or animals develop an infection, they often lose their appetite, which suggests there may be a connection between food consumption and the onset of illness, Vallance and his colleagues said.

RELATED Less stringent fasting diets may still be effective, study shows

For this study, the researchers fasted several mice for 48 hours before and during oral infection with Salmonella while feeding others normally for comparison purposes.

The fasted mice showed fewer signs of bacterial infection, including virtually no intestinal tissue damage or inflammation, the researchers said.

However, there was a dramatic increase in the presence of Salmonella bacteria and signs of invasion into the intestinal walls when the fasted mice were fed for one day following their fast, although intestinal inflammation was still lower than normal, according to the researchers.

Additional experiments using the bacteria Campylobacter jejuni, the most common cause of food poisoning, confirmed that the effect of fasting was not limited to Salmonella, the researchers said.

Food plays an important role in regulating interactions between pathogens and the gut microbiome, they said.

When food is limited, the microbiome appears to store the nutrients that remain, preventing pathogens from acquiring the energy they need to infect the host, according to the researchers.

The findings suggest that therapeutic fasting or calorie restriction has the potential to prevent infections, as well as non-infectious gastrointestinal diseases, the researchers said.

"The microbiome as a whole is mediating most of the protective effect of fasting since mice lacking a microbiome are not as protected from the infection," Vallance said.

WHAT IS WITH DOCTORS WANTING TO ZAP OUR BRAINS

Brain 'zap' treatment may help curb smoking
By HealthDay News


New research suggests that a "zap" to the brain could help people quit smoking. Photo courtesy of Max Pixel

A kind of "zap' to the brain -- a technique called noninvasive brain stimulation -- may help hardcore smokers cut back, a new research review suggests.

Nicotine can trigger changes in the brain that make it hard to quit, so researchers have been looking for ways to use noninvasive brain stimulation, or NIBS, techniques to counter abnormal brain activity caused by nicotine addiction.

In this review, researchers analyzed 12 trials of different NIBS methods on a combined total of 710 people addicted to nicotine.

Several techniques showed promising results, but high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, or rTMS, of a brain area involved in memory and decision-making was associated with the greatest reduction in number of cigarettes smoked per day.

RELATED Study: Graphic warnings on cigarettes boost desire to quit, but only for short time

None of the NIBS techniques reviewed appeared to reduce the severity of nicotine craving or addiction.

NIBS may boost dopamine release and counterbalance the brain's reward system, helping smokers deal with craving and withdrawal symptoms, according to study author Dr. Cheng-Ta Li, of Taipei Veterans General Hospital in Taiwan, and his colleagues.

The findings were published this week in the journal Addiction.

Li and his team noted that trial dropout rates among participants undergoing any of the NIBS methods were not significantly different from control groups. That suggests these treatments are well-tolerated, the researchers said in a journal news release.

Nicotine affects the release of neurotransmitters in the brain, increasing brain activity and the release of dopamine. Higher levels of dopamine provide feelings of pleasure for smokers, the authors said.

Long-term nicotine exposure causes the brain to produce more receptors to handle the increased brain activity. When a smoker tries to quit and nicotine levels fall, a decrease in activity in the brain's reward system causes withdrawal symptoms that make it hard to cut back or quit smoking.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers a guide for quitting smoking.

Copyright © 2021 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Two HIV PrEP meds work equally well, 

one is much cheaper

By Ernie Mundell & Robert Preidt, HealthDay News

A sizable minority of patients have switched from the older and cheaper HIV "preexposure prophylaxis" (PrEP) formulation to the newer and much pricier one. 

Photo by MasterTux/Pixabay

The two HIV prevention drugs available in the United States are equally safe and effective, and the biggest difference between them is price, a new study contends.

However, a sizable minority of patients have switched from the older and cheaper "preexposure prophylaxis" (PrEP) formulation to the newer and much pricier one. In many cases that switch might not have been warranted, the researchers said.

The two PrEP medications are both made up of antiretroviral pills that are 99% effective in preventing HIV infection in people at high risk of catching the virus, when taken as prescribed.

They include the older (now generic) combo, tenofovir disoproxil fumarate and emtricitabine (TDF/FTC, brand name Truvada), as well as the newer combo of tenofovir alafenamide with emtricitabine (TAF/FTC, brand name Descovy). Descovy only received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval in 2019.

RELATED People in U.S. with HIV have near-normal life expectancy, study says

Each formulation can come with its own set of side effects: TDF/FTC/Truvada has been associated with small decreases in kidney function and bone mineral density, the researchers said, while Descovy has been associated with minor weight gain and higher cholesterol.

According to a team at Harvard Medical School in Boston, the really big difference between the two medications is price.

Generic TDF/FTC became available in the United States in October 2020 and now costs as little as $30 per month, compared with about $1,800 per month for brand-name Descovy.

RELATEDAccess to affordable drug therapy reduces HIV infections in men, study finds

Despite the significant price difference, some patients have switched to the more expensive drug, and the researchers wanted to find out if most had a good clinical reason for doing so.

"One of the most critical barriers to broad and equitable PrEP use in the U.S. has been cost, including both perceived and actual costs," study lead author Julia Marcus, associate professor in Harvard's department of population medicine and the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, explained in an institute news release.

"Generic TDF/FTC could revolutionize PrEP access, but that opportunity will be missed if resources are invested in a far more expensive medication" that's not justified by much better clinical outcomes, Marcus said.

RELATED  HIV/AIDS at 40: Progress has been plentiful, but vaccine still elusive

Digging into the issue, her team tracked data from nearly 2,900 adults in Boston who were prescribed TDF/FTC for PrEP in the year before the FDA approved Descovy, and then had at least one PrEP prescription over the following year.

The investigators found that 343 (about 12%) of the patients switched to Descovy during the first year it was available. Kidney dysfunction was associated with switching to the newer drug, while switching was less likely among patients who'd had high cholesterol.

But based on known kidney, bone, and heart risk factors, only 7% of those who switched to Descovy had good clinical reasons for doing so, according to the study. It was published online Aug. 5 in the journal Open Forum Infectious Diseases.

When indications for switching also included risk factors for developing kidney dysfunction -- such as high blood pressure and diabetes -- up to 27% of these switches were clinically indicated, Marcus' group added.

One expert in HIV care agreed that many patients who switched their PrEP meds may not have needed to do so, however.

"For the majority of patients, changing to TAF [Descovy] does not have a clinical advantage," said Dr. David Rosenthal, who wasn't involved in the new research.

"As always in medicine, we need to be certain that we 'do no harm' as medical providers and that we provide patients with the best medications for their specific health situation," added Rosenthal, who directs the Center for Young Adult, Adolescent and Pediatric HIV at Northwell Health, in Great Neck, N.Y.

He believes that cost should always be an important consideration when weighing decisions about care.

Of course, some patients will benefit from the newer drug.

"It is indisputable that TAF-containing PrEP [Descovy] has advantages for patients with decreased kidney function or decreased bone density; those patients should certainly receive PrEP with TAF," Rosenthal said.

On the other hand, "for a small group of patients with obesity and/or high cholesterol it may be disadvantageous to take TAF instead of TDF [Truvada]," he added.

The new study "reminds us that selection of the best medications for a specific patient should take into account both a patient's other medical conditions and the cost-effectiveness of the pharmaceutical options," Rosenthal said.More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on PrEP.
SOURCES: David W. Rosenthal, DO, PhD, medical director, Center for Young Adult, Adolescent and Pediatric HIV at Northwell Health, Great Neck, N.Y.; Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, news release, Aug. 5, 2021

Copyright © 2021 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Study: Farming practices, changing diets causing more in U.S. to be anemic

By Denise Mann, HealthDay News

Growing numbers of Americans aren't getting enough iron in their diets most likely due to changes in farming practices and a shift away from red meat, researchers report.

The upshot: Rates of iron-deficiency anemia are on the rise.

"Iron deficiency remains a major public health issue even in a developed country such as the United States," Dr. Ian Griffin and Dr. Marta Rogido wrote in an editorial published along with the new research. They practice at Biomedical Research of New Jersey in Cedar Knolls.

Iron helps make hemoglobin, a component of red blood cells that carries oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body.

Anemia results from a drop in red blood cells. It can cause fatigue, pale skin, dizziness and/or weakness, and can lead to other health problems, including heart failure, if left untreated, according to the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

For this study, researchers used three large government databases to track trends in anemia rates; the amount of iron found in U.S. food products; and deaths from iron-deficiency anemia between 1999 and 2018.

During that time, iron intake dropped 6.6% in men and 9.5% in women as levels of the nutrient fell in more than 500 food products assessed, including pork, turkey, fruit, vegetables, corn and beans, the researchers reported.

This was most likely due to changes in farming practices, the study authors said. Previous studies have pointed to a push to increase crop yield per acre and irrigation runoff as among those changes.

Another big change? More folks are eating chicken instead of red meat for health purposes, and red meat contains much more iron, said study author Connie Weaver, professor emerita of nutrition science at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind.

"Fortified grains and cereals increase iron intake, but low-carb diets and switching away from fortified cereal has also decreased iron intake," she added.

During the study period, deaths from iron deficiency anemia rose, and more people required treatment for severe anemia, the study found. This risk was highest among women and African Americans.

"[Going forward], agriculture practices could be improved to increase iron in foods, especially through the selection of seeds/lines of higher mineral content," Weaver said.

The findings were published recently in The Journal of Nutrition.

Jessica Shapiro, associate wellness and nutrition manager at Montefiore Health System in New York City, reviewed the study findings.

"Iron deficiency anemia has definitely increased in recent years," Shapiro said. Blood tests can diagnose it, she added, and diet changes and supplements are typically ordered to get iron levels up to where they should be.

"I always go food first when treating iron deficiency," Shapiro noted.

There are two types of iron: heme and non-heme, she pointed out.

"Heme iron is found in animal products such as red meat and is better absorbed than non-heme iron in plant-based foods like lentils, spinach, kidney beans, nuts, and some dried fruit like raisins," Shapiro explained.

Foods like citrus fruit that are rich in vitamin C can help the body better absorb plant-based iron, she said.

But, Shapiro added, iron can be a double-edged sword: While too little causes anemia, too much can tip the scale toward iron overload, which can be toxic.More information

To learn more about iron deficiency anemia and its treatment, visit the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

Copyright © 2021 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

South Korea offers ways to drastically cut carbon emissions by 2050


South Korea has pledged to tackle greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. 

File Photo by Jeon Heon-kyun/EPA-EFE

Aug. 5 (UPI) -- South Korea proposed three ways to drastically cut carbon emissions by 2050, but some proposals do not meet Seoul's pledge of zero emissions by that year, local environmental activists say.

Korea's presidential 2050 Carbon Neutrality Committee said Thursday that it has drafted road maps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the target year, JTBC television and News is reported.

The first two plans will allow some level of carbon emissions. Plan 1 proposed allowing up to 25.4 million tons of emissions and Plan 2 has suggested 18.7 million tons. Plans 1 and 2 represent a reduction of emissions by 96.3% and 97.3%, respectively, according to Yonhap.

Only Plan 3 offers a roadmap to zero emissions, reports said.

Plan 1 also allows for the continued operation of 7 new coal power plants that recently came online or are near completion. Plan 2 assumes the shutdown of all 7 plants, according to JTBC.

Plan 3 offers a scenario in which all fossil fuel-based power plants and transportation are phased out and replaced by green energy sources.

While the plans propose a more environmentally friendly future amid a global movement to reduce emissions, the capacity of Korea's natural "terrestrial sinks" including forests to absorb greenhouse gases is shrinking.

According to JTBC, the capacity of Korean forests to absorb carbon dioxide will decrease to 24 million tons by 2050, from the present-day capacity of 41.3 million tons.

The presidential committee is to gather feedback from specialists and environmental groups through September.

The Korea Federation for Environmental Movements said Thursday that the proposals are "carbon neutral" in name only, referring to Plans 1 and 2, Newsis reported.

A "low conversion rate" to eco-friendly fuels also is a disappointment, activists said.

Greenpeace Korea said in statement that it is "very worrying" that the committee made no mention of goals for 2030.

Berlin-based Climate Analytics has said South Korea should slash emissions at least 59% by the end of the decade.

Key Atlantic Ocean current system could be collapsing

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation includes the Gulf Stream and circulates warm water to the ocean's surface that contributes to mild temperatures in Europe.

 File Photo by Victoria Lipov/Shutterstock

Aug. 5 (UPI) -- A major Atlantic Ocean current system may be declining in strength, which could have consequences for weather systems worldwide, according to a study released Thursday.

The study, published in Nature Climate Change, found evidence that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation is approaching a collapse. The current system includes the Gulf Stream and circulates warm water to the ocean's surface that contributes to mild temperatures in Europe, according to a press release announcing the study.

Niklas Boers, an author of the study and researcher at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Freie Universität Berlin and Exeter University, said in a statement that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation is one of the planet's "key circulation systems."

Likened to a conveyor belt for oceans, the circulation system plays an important role in distributing heat globally. While there is evidence that the system is at its weakest point in more than a thousand years, the study examined whether it's becoming less stable.

"The difference is crucial because the loss of dynamical stability would imply that the AMOC has approached its critical threshold, beyond which a substantial and, in practice, likely irreversible transition to the weak mode could occur," Boers said.

Data measuring the AMOC does not exist, according to the researchers. But the system leaves "fingerprints" from sea-surface temperature and salinity patterns that the study used to find evidence that it is becoming less stable and could collapse.

The study found that factors linked to climate change are contributing, including the freshwater inflow from the melting of the Greenland ice sheet and sea ice, as well as precipitation and river runoff.

A different study published earlier this year found that the AMOC is the weakest it has been in a thousand years.

According to the United Kingdom's Meteorological Office, a weaker AMOC could bring less warm water northward and offset increasingly warm temperatures in western Europe. The office noted that a collapse of the system is unlikely before 2100. 

RELATED Florida Current study confirms decline in strength of Gulf Stream

 

Ghana court acquits 21 LGBTQ activists arrested during crackdown

The 21 activists who had been arrested for attending an LGBTQ event in May have been acquitted. The activists were taken into custody by police in a move that caused outrage among rights groups.

 

Ghana's LGBTQ community face an uncertain future with the proposal of a harsh anti-gay bill

Twenty-one LGBTQ activists, arrested in May on charges of "unlawful assembly," saw the charges against them dismissed by a court in Ghana on Thursday.

The 16 women and five men had been attending a paralegal training session conducted by Rightify Ghana, a human rights organization, in May. Police arrested the group for attending the training session, saying it promoted homosexuality, making it an unlawful gathering. They were released on bail by the country's High Court in June after more than three weeks of detention

Addressing the latest development, Chief Superintendent Akologo Yakubu Ayamga said: "What this means is that they cannot be brought back to court on the same charges. So they have been freed.”

The lawyer representing the 21 accused, Julia Averty, was pleased with the outcome. "We welcome the decision and that has always been our argument from the beginning of this case," adding, "it has been a rough journey since May, but, thankfully, the law has spoken." 

Ghana's stance on homosexuality

Gay sex is a criminal offense and punishable by up to three years imprisonment in the West African state. Those in the LGBTQ community are often victims of discrimination and abuse.

Ghanaian lawmakers are proposing harsher sentences and criminalizing LGBTQ advocacy in draft legislation that has made its way to parliament. The proposed bill has received global attention.

The Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill had its first reading in the House and, according to Rightify Ghana, has been referred to the Constitution and Legal Affairs Committee.

Rights groups concerned

Various rights groups, including Rightify Ghana and Human Rights Watch, had been vocal in their condemnation of the arrests. For Ghana's president, Nana Akufo-Addo, the measures on so-called family values come at a sensitive time as he tries to entice African-Americans into moving to Ghana.

Various celebrities with Ghanaian heritage lent their support to Ghana's LGBTQ community. Idris Elba and Naomi Campbell were among those who signed an open letter in which they expressed their concern about the state of LGBTQ rights in Ghana.

kb/sms (AFP, Reuters)

TINDERBOX

German Forest Summit: Three ways to revive dying woods

More German forest died in 2020 than any other year — even if spared the wildfires now blazing through southern Europe. Experts are debating solutions.


Germany's forests were spared the flames, but have been suffering from bark beetle plagues, among other things

In 2018, German forests burnt at around four times the rate they had in previous years, especially in the northern state of Brandenburg. But wildfires are not the problem for monoculture spruce conifer forests that dominate the wooded area covering one third of Germany. These forests are instead falling victim to bark beetle plagues thriving in dryer and hotter weather induced by global heating.

Germany's second national forest summit, appropriately titled "Waldsterben 2.0" (Forest Dieback), explores how to manage the German woods back to health in the midst of a climate crisis. Here are three suggestions that are on the table.

1. Better ecological forest management

One of the key themes at the second national forest summit being hosted at the Wohlleben Forest Academy in western Germany is forest restructuring and ecological forest management.

German woods have almost no old growth, and very little biodiversity. That makes them extremely vulnerable to climate change. This is due to poor forest management, say some of the experts attending the summit.

The prime target for reformation are "artificial" conifer forests that were largely planted after the war because they were fast-growing and could provide wood for reconstruction. Making up 25% of German forests today, the predominant spruce tree is an Alpine species that requires wet and cold conditions. Now they are badly struggling in non-native areas as they age, a process exacerbated by climate change.

IT'S DO OR DIE FOR GERMANY'S FORESTS

The forests are dying

German forests are dying in part due to drier and hotter summers, and heat-loving bark beetle plagues that have destroyed ubiquitous spruce trees. More trees died in Germany in 2020 than in any other previous year, including beech trees planted widely in the past decade for their climate resilience. This week's national forest summit titled "Waldsterben 2.0" (Forest Dieback) asks what can be done. 12345678

"Our forests are not natural forests," said Christopher Reyer, a researcher at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and national forest summit participant.

Planted with very few other species, and containing very little biodiversity, these historical forest management "legacy effects" are being compounded by "unprecedented climate impacts on these types of trees," Reyer told DW.

Peter Wohlleben, forester, founder of the Wohlleben Forest Academy, and author of the bestseller, The Hidden Life of Trees, said that 50% or more of German forests could die in the next decade "because of bad management."

"My suggestion is to leave the forest alone," he said. "Natural forests can create their own local climate, whereas plantations get drier and hotter and cause their own problems," he added.

2. Fostering climate resilience through biodiversity

Climate impacts on forest are compounded by invasive timber harvesting, which also compacts the soil and limits its ability to retain water. On the first day of the summit, Wohlleben described a healthy native beech forest very close to his academy which had virtually no water runoff during the heavy rains that flooded nearby regions.

But the problem is not going away as the German timber industry continues to export much of its product to China and the US for construction, notes Judith Reise, a researcher at Germany's Oeko-Institut.

"Timber harvesting is not ecologically sustainable," she said, adding that removing all the dead and fallen wood from forests — not just for timber harvesting but also as part of the aesthetic cleaning forests for recreation purposes — has also depleted the microbial processes that are essential to biodiversity. This might increase fire risk in the short term, but the nurturing of old growth will ultimately increase the climate resilience of all forests, especially in terms of remaining cool and wet.

"Don't harvest trees that have biodiversity attached to them," suggested Sebastian Kirppu, a Swedish forest conservationist, during the summit.

Kirpuu said that in terms of biodiversity, forests in "Europe and Russia are the worst in the world."

He added that Red Listed species in these forests has increased significantly in recent years. In spite of sustainable forest certification for timber products, very few species are coming off the list, and more and more are being added.

"Biodiversity protection must be the basis for whatever we do," said Judith Reise. But so far only 2.8% of German forests are protected for biodiversity, well short of a 2020 target of 5%.

3. Using wood in a sustainable way

There are no easy solutions to Germany's forest crisis. While conservationist are calling for the forests to be left alone, low carbon timber products can also help fight global heating — especially as an alternative to CO2 heavy construction materials like steel and concrete.

"If we can use wood products in the best possible way, with the best possible life cycle, and the best possible recycling and upcycling strategy. If we rethink the way we use this wood, then it's a very powerful solution," said Reyer of the climate benefits.

"It's not that harvesting is always bad," he added, even if he agrees there should be less timber cutting, and that there should be more protected old growth. "But compared to all the other land uses, forestry is an area where we can have a quite a natural ecosystem and still create useful products."

This forest design will be one of the key issues at the forest summit when deciding how to spend the €1.5 billion ($1.8 billion) promised by the federal government in 2020 to support municipal and private forest owners for reforestation, among other measures.

One strategy, as a forester from Lübeck in northern Germany said at the summit, will be to shift from clear-felling to single-tree cutting to create "an ecological system in forestry."

Whatever the solutions, they will need to holistically encompass German forest health, climate resilience and productivity.


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As Amazon rainforest is decimated by widespread fires and logging, we can look to a long German tradition of burning and clearing woodlands — and solutions that have included systematic replanting and forest management.

Germany's forests on the verge of collapse, experts report

Germany’s parched forests are nearing ecological collapse, foresters and researchers warn. More than 1 million established trees have died since 2018 as a result of drought, winter storms and bark beetle plagues.

German forest fire risk spikes amid high temperatures, drought

Sun and warmth might seem like the perfect weather for Easter. But experts warn that Germany is far too dry, almost everywhere in the country.