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Rainforest in the Daintree of Australia. (Photo by N. Butler)
ORGANIZATION
To best meet the complex requirements for rainforest conservation, it is imperative that we balance conservation
efforts between the local, national, and international sectors. Empowerment over forests and their resources should
begin on the local level of individual communities with municipal governments overseeing parks. State agencies—with
guidance and assistance from intergovernmental institutions and non-government organizations (NGOs)— need to help
formulate broader conservation strategies and provide expertise in protecting and managing protected areas. Partnerships
between participants are necessary to fuse scientific, economic, and social information and formulate an overall
plan for the use and conservation of tropical rainforests.
Today many government agencies responsible for biodiversity conservation in the developing world find themselves
financially strained. In addition, in an era of increasing democratization, these organizations are under mounting
pressure from locals demanding access to the large tracts of otherwise productive land held in socially exclusive
reserves. To best address these financial and social pressures, other organizations—foreign governments, intergovernmental
institutions, NGOs, and "green" groups—must step up and provide expertise and financial assistance. However,
government agencies cannot expect to be bailed out completely. They will need to become more accountable to the
needs of local people and to establish measurable objectives, which can be evaluated on a regular basis. In short,
these agencies must increase their productivity and become accountable to their shareholders much like publicly
traded companies.
Governmental Agencies and Policy
Until recently, most governments have sided with the interests of rapid forest exploitation using subsidies
and economic incentives to accelerate the process and earn quick returns. The interests of the local people have
been largely ignored, as have the environmental consequences. These methods are economically flawed because they fail
to weigh the environmental costs of deforestation ranging from soil
erosion to disruption of weather cycles, to drought and floods, to outbreaks of disease. For example, India estimates that it loses 10 percent of its annual
income to environmental degradation, much of this from deforestation-induced soil erosion. If governments starting treating their forests as depreciable natural capital instead of
non-renewable income, they could better determine the costs of deforestation.
Some governments are now beginning to listen to scientists, economists, human-rights activists, indigenous peoples,
and environmentalists, and are adopting pro-environment stances. Developed, industrialized nations see their
chance to help the cause by donating financial support and technical expertise to help initiate new conservation
policies.
Developed nations
Some governments are willing to give loans and even cancel debts owed by tropical nations in exchange for environmental
protection (essentially debt-exchange programs). For example, the British government recently assigned $150 million
to preservation and sustainable development of tropical forests around the globe. Germany cleared Kenya of
its $400 million debt when Kenya agreed to pass environmental legislation.
In the late 1990s, Germany spearheaded efforts by industrialized countries to protect rainforests. In 1996, Chancellor
Helmut Kohl spoke out against the inaction of the rest of the G-8 in not intervening in the increased deforestation
of the Amazon rainforest. Germany is one of the most environmentally progressive of the industrialized countries.
In May 1998, the G-8 announced it would encourage developing countries to protect their forests by offering aid
to countries that made forest preservation a priority.
In his budget for fiscal 2001, President Clinton proposed $150 million in funds to assist developing countries
preserve their tropical forests while strengthening their economies. Under the budget, $100 million would go towards
conservation programs (through the U.S. Agency for International Development—USAID), while $37 million would be
slated for debt-for-nature swaps under the Tropical Forest Conservation Act.
Developed nations can also provide their conservation expertise to developing countries and assist in the planning
of new protected areas. Technology transfers to improve reserve management and monitoring could also be beneficial
in setting aside rainforest for preservation.
World's first video of the elusive and endangered bay cat
(11/05/2009) Rare, elusive, and endangered by habitat loss, the bay cat is one of the world's least studied wild cats. Several specimens of the cat were collected in the 19th and 20th Century, but a living cat wasn't even photographed until 1998. Now, researchers in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, have managed to capture the first film of the bay cat (Catopuma badia). Lasting seven seconds, the video shows the distinctly reddish-brown cat in its habitat.
Photos: Palm oil threatens Borneo's rarest cats
(11/04/2009) Oil palm expansion is threatening Borneo's rarest wild cats, reports a new study based on three years of fieldwork and more than 17,000 camera trap nights. Studying cats in five locations—each with different environments—in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, researchers found that four of five cat species are threatened by habitat loss due to palm oil plantations. "No other place has a higher percentage of threatened wild cats!" Jim Sanderson, an expert on the world's small cats, told Mongabay.com. Pointing out that 80 percent of Borneo's cats face extinction, Sanderson said that "not one of these wild cats poses a direct threat to humans."
Gucci drops APP in pledge to save rainforests
(11/03/2009) One of the world's largest and most prestigious fashion brands has stated it will stop sourcing paper from Indonesian forests and will drop Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) as a supplier, which has become notorious for tropical deforestation. The move comes after pressure from the Rainforest Action Network (RAN) on the fashion industry to stop sourcing paper from threatened rainforests for their shopping bags.
Crisis averted for now, Peruvian natives will meet with Hunt Oil
(10/28/2009) Indigenous groups in a dispute with Hunt Oil, over the company performing seismic tests their land, have scheduled a meeting with the Texas based oil corporation, according to Reuters.
Will Ecuador's plan to raise money for not drilling oil in the Amazon succeed?
(10/27/2009) Ecuador's Yasuni National Park is full of wealth: it is one of the richest places on earth in terms of biodiversity; it is home to the indigenous Waorani people, as well as several uncontacted tribes; and the park's forest and soil provides a massive carbon sink. However, Yasuni National Park also sits on wealth of a different kind: one billion barrels of oil remain locked under the pristine rainforest.
