While there are concentrated efforts on the part of international conservation groups, there is little to no reporting on the felling of tropical and equatorial forests in Africa and Asia. The Chinese have cleared most of the rosewood forests in these countries, with teaks and mahogany also in high demand. The main reason for clear felling, is to establish palm plantations for vegetable oil production, which is accelerating due to the wonderful idea of using it a fuel in the EU! The recent floods in Mozambique during last years cyclone, were due to deforestation, during cyclone Emily in 1976, I was patrolling with the army in that region, there was no severe flooding despite this being a more severe cyclone than the recent one - due to the forests still being intact. As far as the beef imports are concerned, the origin needs to be constantly monitored, as imports of beef from Brazil to the UK were found to be from abattoirs which were not licensed for export, due to being in foot and mouth susceptible regions.