Preparation of cloves in Madagascar. (Photo by R. Butler)
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SUSTAINABLE USE OF LARGE-SCALE FOREST PRODUCTS
About 40 percent of rainforest deforestation is caused by commercial interests: the logging, cattle, agricultural development,
mining, hydroelectric, and other industries. Today these industries are mostly dependent on the one-time exploitation
of forest areas and moving on to new patches after those immediate resources have been depleted. These industries
are often encouraged by impoverished governments in search of quick and easy revenue. These governments look to the forest
as a means of bringing in foreign currency to pay off their debts and to improve their economy in the short term—overlooking the depletion of these important natural capital assets. In doing so, these governments may be retarding
future growth and further impoverishing future generations.
In promoting (through subsidies and market incentives) such false economies as those which enable tropical countries to
export cheap particle board and raw timber, governments are ignoring the best path for future economic growth.
For long-term growth, developing countries must begin to build up their technological base by encouraging industries
that promote technological progress and sustainable use. Wealth collected from extractive industries—essentially
rent earned not from hard work or ingenuity, but from the particular qualities of the land—does not build a solid
foundation for an economy. The problem lies in the rural development model based on mining of resources rather
than development. Natural resources are mined without consideration of future harvests.
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Brazil cracks down on illegal soy, cattle production in the Amazon December 24, 2007
The Brazilian government launched a new initiative to slow deforestation in the Amazon, setting the stage for the country to potentially earn billions from carbon trading schemes set in motion two weeks ago at the U.N. climate meeting in Bali.
Eco-friendly palm oil could help alleviate poverty in Indonesia April 4, 2007
Since demand for palm oil isn't going to go away, Europe's best approach is to convince Indonesian oil-palm producers to cultivate their crop in a manner that's less damaging to the environment, as exemplified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).
Palm oil doesn't have to be bad for the environment April 4, 2007
As traditionally practiced in Southeast Asia, oil-palm cultivation is responsible for widespread deforestation that reduces biodiversity, degrades important ecological services, worsens climate change, and traps workers in inequitable conditions sometimes analogous to slavery. This doesn't have to be the case.
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To save the rainforests we must find a way for these companies to remain profitable without devastating the environment.
In the future, if we value the forests, these industries must provide jobs that will save the environment and not
destroy it. We cannot reasonably expect local people to shun employment with these companies if they are the only
form of work available to feed, house, and clothe their families. Sustainable industry can provide long-term employment
for the rural poor since it, unlike logging or large-scale agriculture, will not diminish the forest's capacity
to provide for future generations if carried out properly.
There are many challenges facing industries that exploit forest resources, and difficult decisions and compromises
will have to be made. These challenges stem from the differing opinions of the value of forest products and the
services that forests provide. Developers must find a means to satisfy the growing demand for forest products and
resources, while protecting forests and the environmental services they provide.
Review questions:
- Why is it important to promote sustainable use of forest resources?
- Why are extractive industries like logging generally not the best for long-term economic growth?
[print version | spanish
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CONTENTS
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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
INTERACT
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Recent news
Black Swans and bottom-up environmental action
(02/08/2012) The defining events shaping the modern world - economic, social, environmental, progressive and disruptive - are frequently characterized as "Black
Swans."The Black Swan term and theory were characterized
by author and analyst Nassim Nicholas Taleb who explains, "What we call here a Black Swan (and capitalize it) is an event with the following three
attributes. First, it is an outlier, as it lies outside the realm of regular expectations, because nothing in the past can convincingly point to its
possibility. Second, it carries an extreme impact. Third, in spite of its outlier status, human nature makes us concoct explanations for its occurrence
after the fact, making it explainable and predictable." Taleb identifies the emergence of the internet, the attacks of September 11, 2001, the
popularity of Facebook, stock market crashes, the success of Harry Potter, and World War I as among Black Swan events.
Teaching Sustainability/Teaching Sustainably: Book Review
(02/07/2012) In Teaching Sustainability/Teaching Sustainably, Danielle Lake writes the best sentence I have ever read summarizing sustainability: "Understanding sustainability as a wicked problem, and recognizing how an egoist ethic otherizes the environment and is thus in large part responsible for the abuses that have led to a number of current environmental and social problems, are central to the resolution of this pressing situation."
Eco-toilets help save hippos and birds in Kenya
(01/04/2012) It may appear unintuitive that special toilets could benefit hippos and other wetland species, but the Center for Rural Empowerment and the Environment (CREE) has proven the unique benefits of new toilets in the Dunga Wetlands on Lake Victoria's Kenyan side. By building ecologically-sanitary (eco-san) toilets, CREE has managed to alleviate some of the conflict that has cropped up between hippos and humans for space.
11 challenges facing 7 billion super-consumers
(10/31/2011) Perhaps the most disconcerting thing about Halloween this year is not the ghouls and goblins taking to the streets, but a baby born somewhere in the world. It's not the baby's or the parent's fault, of course, but this child will become a part of an artificial, but still important, milestone: according to the UN, the Earth's seventh billionth person will be born today. That's seven billion people who require, in the very least, freshwater, food, shelter, medicine, and education. In some parts of the world, they will also have a car, an iPod, a suburban house and yard, pets, computers, a lawn-mower, a microwave, and perhaps a swimming pool. Though rarely addressed directly in policy (and more often than not avoided in polite conversations), the issue of overpopulation is central to environmentally sustainability and human welfare.
Colombian president: no oil drilling in award-winning Seaflower marine reserve
(10/03/2011) Colombian president, Juan Manuel Santos, announced over the weekend that there will be no oil exploration in the award-winning Seaflower Biosphere Reserve and Marine Protected Area (MPA). Spreading over 65,000 square kilometers (6,500,000 hectares), Seaflower MPA is home to over a hundred coral species, over 400 fish, some 150 birds, four marine turtles species, and the magnificent mollusk, the queen conch (Strombus gigas).
More news on sustainable development
More rainforest news
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