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Partners pitch 'exclusive' access to Mt. Waterman ski resort. The Forest Service has concerns

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Tuesday, November 26, 2024

Prospective new owners intend to revitalize the vintage Mt. Waterman ski resort in the Angeles National Forest — in part by selling exclusive access to coveted powder days to well-heeled customers and ferrying them to the mountains in chartered helicopters.But there’s a snag: The federal agency that has the final say on what can be done at the homey 390-acre resort hasn’t approved such a plan and said it would be hesitant to sanction anything that smacked of exclusivity.“I’m pretty confident we would not allow … any kind of exclusive use,” said the U.S. Forest Service’s Justin Seastrand, who oversees the public services staff area of the Angeles National Forest.That could throw a wrench into the business plan of the prospective owners, known as Angeles Mountain Partners LLC. They say the proceeds from what they call the Waterman100 club — a nod to the number of members — could bankroll improvements that would benefit all visitors. The words “exclusive,” “exclusively” and “exclusivity” appear at least 20 times in a presentation aimed at potential members.Beyond the “country club-style” membership, Angeles Mountain Partners co-founders Joshua Shelton and Scott Towsley envision transforming the no-frills, more than 80-year-old resort into a contemporary outdoors playground replete with glamping, mountain coaster, tubing hill, high-end dining and snowmaking capabilities.Club members would get to claim the mountain for themselves on “powder days,” or blue bird days immediately following a storm when conditions are peak, Shelton said. He acknowledged, however, that the owners can’t guarantee snow.“The risk they’re willing to take will help us underwrite our entire winter season and the resort as a whole,” Shelton, an attorney, said of prospective members. His partner Towsley is a winter resort industry veteran who operates alpine coaster parks in Big Bear and Arizona.How to get around the fact that heavy snowfall often closes the serpentine stretch of Highway 2 leading up to the resort? “The solution is a helicopter,” the presentation says, pointing to an on-site helipad where chartered flights could quickly ferry snow seekers up to the mountain. Shelton describes a plan to enlarge the helipad at the resort and transform it into a scenic point for visitors. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) A business plan provided to The Times pegged the price for the first 25 members at $100,000. The cost rises by $50,000 for each additional 25 members, so that members 76 to 100 pay $250,000, according to the plan. That adds up to $17.5 million in revenue — in addition to annual membership dues of $5,000 per member, per the plan. Shelton said the membership costs are not finalized, and that these figures were used for modeling. He also believes Forest Service officials misunderstood his plans for the club, saying they thought the intent was to sell the land to those people and totally shut out the public. “That’s the furthest from what we’re hoping to do here,” he said. Shelton’s team has since pulled down a description of Waterman100 from a web page for the club, citing an “overflow of submissions” and a plan “to make small language edits.” A grand plan — but not guaranteedWhat’s billed as the closest resort skiing to millions of residents in the L.A. Basin began with a modest rope tow in 1939, according to the resort website. That same year, Highway 2, also known as Angeles Crest Highway, breached the San Gabriel Mountains, paving the way for crowds. The resort located right off the highway expanded over time, opening its first chairlift in 1941 and then two more over 40 years. But the digs remain rustic and bare-bones. Shelton stands with Bodhi, his Bernese Mountain Dog, near the base of the resort right off Angeles Crest Highway. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) The resort — including three chair lifts, ticket booth, warming hut with a full kitchen and a handful of snowcats and snowmobiles — was listed earlier this year for $2.3 million. Shelton said Angeles Mountain Partners has entered into a purchase agreement with the owners, a group of friends led by Rick Metcalf, who grew up in the foothills neighborhood of La Cañada-Flintridge and learned to ski at the resort as youngsters. A press release put out by Angeles Mountain Partners in October said the group had acquired the resort. Shelton said in an interview that the sale hasn’t yet closed. The resort, topping out at more than 8,000 feet of elevation, is located on federally owned national forest land, and anyone who hopes to operate a business on it needs a special-use permit from the Forest Service. As of last week, Seastrand said the agency hadn’t received an application for a permit, though the prospective buyers had begun discussions with the agency and started handing over documents and other information. Marc Ramirez, listing agent and longtime resort employee, said he’s excited by the prospect of a reinvigorated business under the prospective owners. “You go down in L.A. and 10 out of 100 people only know of Mt. Waterman,” he said. “What the heck is that?” (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) Providing a place for people to hit the slopes is a “good use” of the land, Seastrand said, though the benefit of gliding down powder needs to be balanced with visitor safety, as well as protecting plants and wild animals.Shelton stressed that his group is committed to working closely with the federal land manager and moving through all the required steps. Pointing to his legal background, he called regulations “a guide to how to do things the right way for us.”Seastrand said the agency looks forward to working with the prospective owners. Messages may have gotten crossed, and “that’s OK,” he said. “We want what’s best for the public that can come and use the land, and we want what’s best for our business partners, too.”Hope for a hidden gem fallen into disuse Newcomb’s Ranch, a former restaurant located down the road from the ski resort, is closed, but some say it could reopen under new ownership. “In theory,” an activated resort “would help them,” the U.S. Forest Service’s Justin Seastrand said. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) Shelton, a lifelong snowboarder, grew up in the L.A. area but never ventured into the majestic mountains dotted with fragrant pines to the north, let alone cruised down the slopes of Mt. Waterman. When he saw the resort come up for sale, it instantly piqued his interest.“I felt like this weird vibration that I’d somehow be involved,” Shelton said. Towsley is a neighbor of his in a Mojave Desert community, and when they encountered one another they both brought up the listing, he recalled. Shelton, now a resident of Seal Beach in Orange County, said he has experience working out deals in a variety of industries. And Towsley, a skier, boasted resort operation credentials. While Angeles Mountain Partners’ plans raised eyebrows — an SF Gate headline said the historic ski area was poised to “become a haven for the rich” — many have pointed out that it hasn’t exactly been a paradigm of public access under previous owners.When Metcalf and company scooped up the resort in 2006, it hadn’t operated for several years and was on the verge of losing its Forest Service permit altogether, according to the resort website.“Our goal was to save the place,” said Craig Stewart, 62, one of the current owners. “We all learned to ski here. This is our backyard.” But it never became a reliable haven for ski-minded Angelenos, only opening occasionally to the public over the years, said Marc Ramirez, the listing agent for the property. Ramirez, a longtime resort employee, said he’s “excited to see it come back to what it can be.”Not all local skiers are jazzed about the plans for the resort. “It’s been the butt of jokes in every group ski chat I’ve participated in,” Highland Park resident Ethan Ayer said of the idea for heli-skiing, the term for plopping skiers on mountaintops via helicopter. Helicopter rides aren’t cheap, and those who heli-ski are often whisked to harrowing peaks in Alaska or British Columbia. “If you’re going to invest that much money, you would likely be a passionate skier, and the terrain at Waterman isn’t for passionate skiing,” Ayer, 46, said. Craig Stewart, a co-owner of the ski resort, called the mountain where he learned to ski “our backyard.” The goal of purchasing the property many years ago was to save it from shuttering for good. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) Making up for Mother NaturePerhaps the biggest possible impediment to the team’s success is the region’s frequent lack of snow — and a current lack of snowmaking capabilities to make up for what Mother Nature doesn’t provide. Two other resorts in the San Gabriels — Mountain High and Mt. Baldy — can manufacture powder.Waterman’s prospective owners say they intend to bring in snowmaking, which could expand a season from a couple of weeks to almost half a year. However, it is another aspect of the vision that isn’t assured. Seastrand, a supervisory natural resource specialist for the Forest Service, said there was reason to be optimistic it could pan out but it would hinge on finding a water source.“It’s a relatively dry part of the forest,” he said. “There’s not a giant river anywhere around there.” Typically, a well would be the answer, but “you’re not guaranteed to just go drill a well and tap sufficient water.”Shelton said his team feels “very comfortable with the available water supply on the mountain.” Ramirez said there are three wells on the property, as well as a 4-million-gallon reservoir. Towsley has expertise in the matter, having designed and installed snowmaking systems for ski resorts across the U.S., according to company documents. It wouldn’t happen overnight, though. The first step would be securing conceptual acceptance from forest officials as part of a long-term planning document. Before installing lines and developing a water source, they’d need to go through environmental and other review, officials said.Shelton estimates it would take at least three years from their launch date. Until then, he expects to open for about 18 to 20 days for general public use. Dreaming of a shiny new futureOn a recent visit, Shelton walked the humble grounds and began painting a picture of what could be, with his 154-pound Bernese Mountain Dog, Bodhi, ambling amiably by his side. He gestured toward a patch of land off a path covered in pine needles and construction vehicles. That’s where he says 20 yurt-style tents will go. At the edge of a precipice, a flat surface formed a small helipad. Their intention is to expand it so it will double as an overlook offering sweeping views of the mountains that seem to repeat endlessly until they fade into the crisp blue November sky. That would make it more worthwhile for folks who take the lift up, he reasoned. “This I think could kind of tie that together with, like, let’s go up there, have a glass of wine and sit on the edge of the scenic point,” he said. Shelton stands with his dog, Bodhi, inside the no-frills warming hut. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Partners seeking to buy the ski resort raised alarm bells among Forest Service officials when they announced plans for a club with special access to the slopes.

But there’s a snag: The federal agency that has the final say on what can be done at the homey 390-acre resort hasn’t approved such a plan and said it would be hesitant to sanction anything that smacked of exclusivity.

“I’m pretty confident we would not allow … any kind of exclusive use,” said the U.S. Forest Service’s Justin Seastrand, who oversees the public services staff area of the Angeles National Forest.

That could throw a wrench into the business plan of the prospective owners, known as Angeles Mountain Partners LLC. They say the proceeds from what they call the Waterman100 club — a nod to the number of members — could bankroll improvements that would benefit all visitors. The words “exclusive,” “exclusively” and “exclusivity” appear at least 20 times in a presentation aimed at potential members.

Beyond the “country club-style” membership, Angeles Mountain Partners co-founders Joshua Shelton and Scott Towsley envision transforming the no-frills, more than 80-year-old resort into a contemporary outdoors playground replete with glamping, mountain coaster, tubing hill, high-end dining and snowmaking capabilities.

Club members would get to claim the mountain for themselves on “powder days,” or blue bird days immediately following a storm when conditions are peak, Shelton said. He acknowledged, however, that the owners can’t guarantee snow.

“The risk they’re willing to take will help us underwrite our entire winter season and the resort as a whole,” Shelton, an attorney, said of prospective members.

His partner Towsley is a winter resort industry veteran who operates alpine coaster parks in Big Bear and Arizona.

How to get around the fact that heavy snowfall often closes the serpentine stretch of Highway 2 leading up to the resort? “The solution is a helicopter,” the presentation says, pointing to an on-site helipad where chartered flights could quickly ferry snow seekers up to the mountain.

Attorney Joshua Shelton talks about the changes he would like to make at the resort.

A business plan provided to The Times pegged the price for the first 25 members at $100,000. The cost rises by $50,000 for each additional 25 members, so that members 76 to 100 pay $250,000, according to the plan. That adds up to $17.5 million in revenue — in addition to annual membership dues of $5,000 per member, per the plan. Shelton said the membership costs are not finalized, and that these figures were used for modeling.

He also believes Forest Service officials misunderstood his plans for the club, saying they thought the intent was to sell the land to those people and totally shut out the public. “That’s the furthest from what we’re hoping to do here,” he said.

Shelton’s team has since pulled down a description of Waterman100 from a web page for the club, citing an “overflow of submissions” and a plan “to make small language edits.”

A grand plan — but not guaranteed

What’s billed as the closest resort skiing to millions of residents in the L.A. Basin began with a modest rope tow in 1939, according to the resort website. That same year, Highway 2, also known as Angeles Crest Highway, breached the San Gabriel Mountains, paving the way for crowds. The resort located right off the highway expanded over time, opening its first chairlift in 1941 and then two more over 40 years. But the digs remain rustic and bare-bones.

The resort — including three chair lifts, ticket booth, warming hut with a full kitchen and a handful of snowcats and snowmobiles — was listed earlier this year for $2.3 million.

Shelton said Angeles Mountain Partners has entered into a purchase agreement with the owners, a group of friends led by Rick Metcalf, who grew up in the foothills neighborhood of La Cañada-Flintridge and learned to ski at the resort as youngsters. A press release put out by Angeles Mountain Partners in October said the group had acquired the resort. Shelton said in an interview that the sale hasn’t yet closed.

The resort, topping out at more than 8,000 feet of elevation, is located on federally owned national forest land, and anyone who hopes to operate a business on it needs a special-use permit from the Forest Service.

As of last week, Seastrand said the agency hadn’t received an application for a permit, though the prospective buyers had begun discussions with the agency and started handing over documents and other information.

Providing a place for people to hit the slopes is a “good use” of the land, Seastrand said, though the benefit of gliding down powder needs to be balanced with visitor safety, as well as protecting plants and wild animals.

Shelton stressed that his group is committed to working closely with the federal land manager and moving through all the required steps. Pointing to his legal background, he called regulations “a guide to how to do things the right way for us.”

Seastrand said the agency looks forward to working with the prospective owners. Messages may have gotten crossed, and “that’s OK,” he said. “We want what’s best for the public that can come and use the land, and we want what’s best for our business partners, too.”

Hope for a hidden gem fallen into disuse

The Newcomb Ranch restaurant has been closed since March 2020.

Shelton, a lifelong snowboarder, grew up in the L.A. area but never ventured into the majestic mountains dotted with fragrant pines to the north, let alone cruised down the slopes of Mt. Waterman. When he saw the resort come up for sale, it instantly piqued his interest.

“I felt like this weird vibration that I’d somehow be involved,” Shelton said. Towsley is a neighbor of his in a Mojave Desert community, and when they encountered one another they both brought up the listing, he recalled.

Shelton, now a resident of Seal Beach in Orange County, said he has experience working out deals in a variety of industries. And Towsley, a skier, boasted resort operation credentials.

While Angeles Mountain Partners’ plans raised eyebrows — an SF Gate headline said the historic ski area was poised to “become a haven for the rich” — many have pointed out that it hasn’t exactly been a paradigm of public access under previous owners.

When Metcalf and company scooped up the resort in 2006, it hadn’t operated for several years and was on the verge of losing its Forest Service permit altogether, according to the resort website.

“Our goal was to save the place,” said Craig Stewart, 62, one of the current owners. “We all learned to ski here. This is our backyard.”

But it never became a reliable haven for ski-minded Angelenos, only opening occasionally to the public over the years, said Marc Ramirez, the listing agent for the property. Ramirez, a longtime resort employee, said he’s “excited to see it come back to what it can be.”

Not all local skiers are jazzed about the plans for the resort. “It’s been the butt of jokes in every group ski chat I’ve participated in,” Highland Park resident Ethan Ayer said of the idea for heli-skiing, the term for plopping skiers on mountaintops via helicopter.

Helicopter rides aren’t cheap, and those who heli-ski are often whisked to harrowing peaks in Alaska or British Columbia. “If you’re going to invest that much money, you would likely be a passionate skier, and the terrain at Waterman isn’t for passionate skiing,” Ayer, 46, said.

Craig Stewart, a co-owner of Mt. Waterman, walks through the lodge at the resort.

Making up for Mother Nature

Perhaps the biggest possible impediment to the team’s success is the region’s frequent lack of snow — and a current lack of snowmaking capabilities to make up for what Mother Nature doesn’t provide. Two other resorts in the San Gabriels — Mountain High and Mt. Baldy — can manufacture powder.

Waterman’s prospective owners say they intend to bring in snowmaking, which could expand a season from a couple of weeks to almost half a year.

However, it is another aspect of the vision that isn’t assured. Seastrand, a supervisory natural resource specialist for the Forest Service, said there was reason to be optimistic it could pan out but it would hinge on finding a water source.

“It’s a relatively dry part of the forest,” he said. “There’s not a giant river anywhere around there.” Typically, a well would be the answer, but “you’re not guaranteed to just go drill a well and tap sufficient water.”

Shelton said his team feels “very comfortable with the available water supply on the mountain.” Ramirez said there are three wells on the property, as well as a 4-million-gallon reservoir. Towsley has expertise in the matter, having designed and installed snowmaking systems for ski resorts across the U.S., according to company documents.

It wouldn’t happen overnight, though.

The first step would be securing conceptual acceptance from forest officials as part of a long-term planning document. Before installing lines and developing a water source, they’d need to go through environmental and other review, officials said.

Shelton estimates it would take at least three years from their launch date. Until then, he expects to open for about 18 to 20 days for general public use.

Dreaming of a shiny new future

On a recent visit, Shelton walked the humble grounds and began painting a picture of what could be, with his 154-pound Bernese Mountain Dog, Bodhi, ambling amiably by his side. He gestured toward a patch of land off a path covered in pine needles and construction vehicles. That’s where he says 20 yurt-style tents will go.

At the edge of a precipice, a flat surface formed a small helipad. Their intention is to expand it so it will double as an overlook offering sweeping views of the mountains that seem to repeat endlessly until they fade into the crisp blue November sky. That would make it more worthwhile for folks who take the lift up, he reasoned.

“This I think could kind of tie that together with, like, let’s go up there, have a glass of wine and sit on the edge of the scenic point,” he said.

Joshua Shelton stands with his dog in a rustic building

Read the full story here.

Photos courtesy of

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It is the second-largest tropical forest on Earth, and one of the most vital carbon sinks, but is losing out when it comes to climate policy and fundingIn October 2023, leaders, scientists and policymakers from three of the world’s great rainforest regions – the Amazon, the Congo, and the Borneo-Mekong basins – assembled in Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo. They were there to discuss one urgent question: how to save the planet’s last great tropical forests from accelerating destruction.For those present, the question was existential. But to their dismay, almost no one noticed. “There was very little acknowledgment that this was happening, outside of the Congo basin region,” says Prof Simon Lewis, a lecturer at the University of Leeds and University College London, and co-chair of the Congo Basin Science Initiative (CBSI). Continue reading...

In October 2023, leaders, scientists and policymakers from three of the world’s great rainforest regions – the Amazon, the Congo, and the Borneo-Mekong basins – assembled in Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo. They were there to discuss one urgent question: how to save the planet’s last great tropical forests from accelerating destruction.For those present, the question was existential. But to their dismay, almost no one noticed. “There was very little acknowledgment that this was happening, outside of the Congo basin region,” says Prof Simon Lewis, a lecturer at the University of Leeds and University College London, and co-chair of the Congo Basin Science Initiative (CBSI).“It didn’t really fly as a conference or a set of policy proposals to better invest in that region of the world.”The people of the Congo basin have tightened their belts so that the world can breathe – and we receive no compensationDespite being the second-largest rainforest on Earth – and one of the most vital carbon sinks – the Congo basin remains the rainforest the world forgot, often overlooked when it comes to global climate policy and funding.Spanning six countries across central Africa and home to roughly 130 million people, the basin is often called the “lungs of Africa”. Its vast canopy shelters thousands of rare species.“It has about 10,000 plant species and 30% of these can only be found in the region,” says Dr Yadvinder Malhi, a leading ecologist at Oxford University. Unlike the Amazon, the Congo’s forests remain largely intact – home to endangered animals such as forest elephants, okapis, mountain gorillas and bonobos.Its significance extends far beyond its borders. The basin’s rainfall feeds main river systems across the continent, sustaining life as far away as the Sahel.A forest elephant in the Lekoli River, Republic of the Congo. Rainfall in the Congo basin feeds river systems across Africa. Photograph: Education Images/Universal Images/Getty“Africa is largely an arid continent,” says Malhi. “This fountain of water in the heart of the continent circulates and [also] ends up feeding into the Nile. That sustains the lives of millions of people.”Crucially, while encroachments of logging and mining are increasing, much of the forest remains untouched. As a result, the Congo basin is believed to be the last big rainforest to remain a strong carbon sink – with enough trees left to absorb more carbon than it emits.Logging is rising but much rainforest remains untouched. Photograph: Alamy“It’s what we believe,” says Lewis. “But we are lacking recent data to see if that is still the case. We know carbon-absorption rates have declined in the Amazon in the last decade or so, but we’re not sure what’s happening in the Congo now.”In a report released on Monday, as the Cop30 climate conference began in Belém, the Science Panel for the Congo Basin found that the Congo basin absorbs 600m tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, but this number is falling due to accelerating deforestation. Prof Bonaventure Sonké, co-chair of the panel, said the researchers hoped it would bring international attention and support for “the Earth’s most important but least-studied tropical rain forest”.While scientists agree on the Congo basin’s critical importance, it continues to be funded at a far lower rate than its counterparts. A report published earlier this year by the Centre for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) revealed the scale of the financial imbalance. Between 2008 and 2022, the world’s three main rainforest regions received a combined total of $20bn (£15bn) in international funding. Of that, $9.3bn (47%) went to the Amazon basin, $7.4bn (37%) to south-east Asia, and only $3.2bn (16%) to the Congo basin.Germany was the leading donor for central Africa during this period, providing 24% of total funding, followed by the Global Environment Fund (12%), the World Bank (9.4%), and the US (8.8%). Most of the money (30%) went towards biodiversity protection, with another 27% supporting environmental policy. Yet funding for scientific research accounted for just 0.1%.“The basin countries don’t prioritise research,” says Dr Richard Sufo Kankeu, a lecturer at the University of Le Mans and one of the report’s authors.Loango national park in Gabon, which forms part of the Congo basin, the world’s second-largest rainforest. Photograph: Lee Dalton/AlamyThe result is a wide gap in scientific understanding. A 2023 study examining relative levels of climate and biodiversity research on different rainforests found about 2,000 published academic papers for the Congo basin, compared with 10,611 for the Amazon.“You’ve got this critical ecosystem, but there just aren’t enough local scientists working to understand it,” says Lee White, an honorary professor at the University of Stirling and former environment minister in Gabon.White and Lewis have recommended that Congo basin countries aim to train at least 1,000 PhD-level scientists over the next decade to strengthen regional expertise. But better funding is also needed now.“We don’t want to wait 10 years,” says Raphael Tshimanga, a professor of hydrology and water at the University of Kinshasa, and a member of CBSI. “It needs to start happening now. How does this happen? By mobilising human resources and attracting funding. We don’t just want nice speeches at summits.”Part of the reason for the lack of resources lies in an enduring perception of the region as Joseph Conrad’s “‘heart of darkness’”, says White. “Central Africa has this reputation as a place of corruption and instability.”The canopy in Republic of the Congo’s Odzala-Kokoua park. Photograph: Danita Delimont/AlamyCorruption is a significant concern in the region, particularly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) – however, it can also be wielded as an easy excuse for lack of investment.The Republic of Congo’s environment minister, Arlette Soudan-Nonault, describes that view as “the tree that hides the forest”, adding: “It’s very easy and lazy to say that Africans are corrupt.”Beyond reputation, there are obstacles such as security, infrastructure and capacity. The DRC, which contains about 60% of the basin’s rainforest, has endured intermittent conflict for more than three decades.“It’s not just an issue of instability,” Soudan-Nonault says. “We need to look at ways of creating sustainable economic growth.”While the Congo basin is often seen as humanity’s last line of defence against human-made climate breakdown, deforestation in the region has begun to rise. “It is the last frontier of climate change,” the minister says. “Supporting the Congo basin is not charity. It’s about recognising its role in protecting the Earth through its carbon sink.“The people of the Congo basin have tightened their belts so that the world can breathe – and we receive no compensation.”Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow the biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield in the Guardian app for more nature coverage

Forests

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Science

Brazil's Amazon rainforest at risk as key protection under threat

Brazilian farmers want to end a ban on planting soya on cleared land, which critics say would spur deforestation.

Brazil's Amazon rainforest at risk as key protection under threatJustin Rowlatt,Climate editor and Jessica Cruz,South America producerBBC / Tony JolliffeThe Amazon rainforest could face a renewed surge of deforestation as efforts grow to overturn a long-standing ban that has protected it.The ban - which prohibits the sale of soya grown on land cleared after 2008 - is widely credited with curbing deforestation and has been held up as a global environmental success story.But powerful farming interests in Brazil, backed by a group of Brazilian politicians, are pushing to lift the restrictions as the COP30 UN climate conference enters its second week.Critics of the ban say it is an unfair "cartel" which allows a small group of powerful companies to dominate the Amazon's soya trade.Environmental groups have warned removing the ban would be "disaster", opening the way for a new wave of land grabbing to plant more soya in the world's largest rainforest.Scientists say ongoing deforestation, combined with the effects of climate change, is already driving the Amazon towards a potential "tipping point" – a threshold beyond which the rainforest can no longer sustain itself.Getty ImagesSoya beans imported to the UK are an important animal feedBrazil is the world's largest producer of soya beans, a staple crop grown for its protein and an important animal feed.Much of the meat consumed in the UK – including chicken, beef, pork and farmed fish - is raised using feeds that include soya beans, about 10% of which are sourced from the Brazilian Amazon.Many major UK food companies, including Tesco, Sainsbury's, M&S, Aldi, Lidl, McDonald's, Greggs and KFC, are members of a coalition called the UK Soy Manifesto which represents around 60% of the soy imported into the UK.The group supports the ban, which is known officially as the Amazon Soy Moratorium, because they argue it helps ensure UK soy supply chains remain free from deforestation.In a statement earlier this year the signatories said: "We urge all actors within the soy supply chain, including governments, financial institutions and agribusinesses to reinforce their commitment to the [ban] and ensure its continuation."Public opinion in the UK also appears to be firmly behind protecting the Amazon. A World Wildlife Fund survey conducted earlier this year found that 70% of respondents supported government action to eliminate illegal deforestation from UK supply chains.BBC / Tony JolliffeThis soya port on the Amazon River in Santarém helped spark the campaign that led to the soya moratoriumBut Brazilian opponents of the agreement last week demanded the Supreme Court - the highest court in the country – reopen an investigation into whether the moratorium amounts to anti-competitive behaviour."Our state has lots of room to grow and the soy moratorium is working against this development," Vanderlei Ataídes told the BBC. He is president of the Soya Farmers Association of Pará state, one of Brazil's main soya producing areas."I don't understand how [the ban] helps the environment," he added. "I can't plant soya beans, but I can use the same land to plant corn, rice, cotton or other crops. Why can't I plant soya?"The challenge has even divided the Brazilian government. While the Justice Ministry says there may be evidence of anti-competitive behaviour, both the Ministry of the Environment and the Federal Public Prosecutors Office have publicly defended the moratorium.The voluntary agreement was first signed almost two decades ago by farmers, environmental organisations and major global food companies, including commodities giants such as Cargill and Bunge.It followed a campaign by the environmental pressure group Greenpeace that exposed how soya grown on deforested land was being used in animal feed, including for chicken sold by McDonald's.The fast-food chain became a champion of the moratorium, whose signatories pledged not to buy soya grown on land deforested after 2008.Before the moratorium, forest clearance for soya expansion and the growth of cattle ranching were the main drivers of Amazonian deforestation.After the agreement was introduced forest clearance fell sharply, reaching an historic low in 2012 during President Lula's second term in office.Deforestation increased under subsequent administrations – notably under Jair Bolsonaro, who promoted opening the forest to economic development - but has fallen again during Lula's current presidency.Bel Lyon, chief advisor for Latin America at the World Wildlife Fund - one of the agreement's original signatories – warned that suspending the moratorium "would be a disaster for the Amazon, its people, and the world, because it could open up an area the size of Portugal to deforestation".Small farmers whose plots are close to soy plantations say they disrupt local weather patterns and make it harder to grow their crops.BBC / Tony JolliffeRaimundo Barbosa farms cassava and fruitRaimundo Barbosa, who farms cassava and fruit near the town of Boa Esperança outside Santarém in the southeastern Amazon, says when the forest is cleared "the environment is destroyed"."Where there is forest, it is normal, but when it is gone it just gets hotter and hotter and there is less rain and less water in the rivers," he told me as we sat in the shade beside the machines he uses to turn his cassava into flour.The pressure to lift the moratorium comes as Brazil prepares to open a major new railway stretching from its agricultural heartland in the south up into the rainforest.The railway is expected to significantly cut transport costs for soya and other agricultural products, adding yet another incentive to clear more land.BBC / Tony JolliffeScientists have been monitoring detailed changes in the Amazon for decadesScientists say deforestation is already reshaping the rainforest in profound ways. Among them is Amazon specialist Bruce Fosberg, who has spent half a century studying the forest.He climbs 15 stories up a narrow tower that rises 45 metres above a pristine rainforest reserve in the heart of the Amazon. From a small platform at the top, he looks out over a sea of green stretching to the horizon.The tower is bristling with high-tech instruments - sensors that track almost everything happening between the forest and the atmosphere: water vapor, carbon dioxide, sunlight, and essential nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus.The tower was built 27 years ago and is part of a project - the Large-Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment (LBA) - that aims to understand how the Amazon is changing, and how close it is to a critical threshold.Data from the LBA together with other scientific studies show parts of the rainforest may be nearing a "tipping point", after which the ecosystem can no longer maintain its own functions."The living forest is closing down," he says, "and not producing water vapour and therefore rainfall".As trees are lost to deforestation, fire, and heat stress, the forest releases less moisture into the atmosphere, he explains, reducing rainfall and intensifying drought. That, in turn, creates a feedback loop that kills even more trees.The fear is that, if this continues, vast areas of rainforest could die away and become a savannah or dry grassland ecosystem.Such a collapse would release huge amounts of carbon, disrupt weather patterns across continents, and threaten the millions of people – as well as the countless plant, insect and animal species – whose lives depend on the Amazon for survival.

Forests

Animals

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The Day She Stole The Sun

In 2019, after years of severe drought, Australia endured an unprecedented bushfire crisis. The fires spanned almost the entire length of the country… and one small village on the New South Wales South Coast was hit by the full force of its destruction. The village became a national symbol for resilience and unbreakable Australian spirit. Told by the people who were there, this is not a story about tragedy, it’s a story about community. This is the story of Cobargo.

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An academic woman in Texas becomes concerned when a massive red oak in her backyard seems to be ailing, though she isn’t sure why it bothers her so much. At the same time, in her small cottage, her attention to her work is distracted by news reports she sees and hears. They tell in graphic terms of the out-of-control forest fires up and down the West Coast. Her attention is further pulled in the direction of other stories about the worsening conditions of the world’s rainforests which she discovers are disappearing at the astounding rate of 200,000 acres a day. Suddenly such stories are all she seems to hear and see on the radio or television or on her computer. But when she hears/sees a science report about how trees actually communicate with each other, she begins to realize there may be a connection between her tree and what she is learning from the news. She begins to recall a strong connection she herself has with that tree and allows that connection to regrow…..

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