The Marmora, the largest lowland forest in Morocco, is under threat from over-collection of firewood and expanding agriculture. Reports suggest that it may be lost within 50 years. Its area was estimated at 148,200 acres 40 years ago, but today it has shrunk to 24,700 acres of actual woodland. The forestry authorities have recently started a new project for biological control of two major forest weeds. Government botanist Pierre Sigala reports.
Heathland plants fade away .
Most significantly, heathland plants declined severely even in designated protected areas. Edible fungi come in from the cold . Mycologists in Sweden and Oregon have successfully cultivated chantarelles, richly flavoured yellow fungi of Northern Hemisphere coniferous forests prized by gourmets. West Cork yields its floral treasure . John Akeroyd has reached the end of a personal odyssey in West Cork, at Ireland's far south-western tip.