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Rainforest in Malaysia. (Photo by R. Butler)
Intergovernmental Institutions
Until recently the concept of sustainable development was foreign to the principal organizations funding development
projects, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The World Bank, a multilateral development
bank that lends money to help countries develop economically through financing infrastructure and new industries, has
historically funded numerous projects that resulted in the destruction of rainforests. The IMF shares a similar record.
The bank has traditionally funded "mega-projects" because they are easier to administer than a number
of small projects. Because of the size of these projects, World Bank loans to developing countries are usually
substantial, sometimes in the billion-dollar range, adding further debt pressure. In 1987 the bank granted loans
exceeding US$15 billion to tropical countries. Some developing countries lack heavy-equipment industries, so a portion
of the loan is often returned to the contributing countries in the form of payments for industrialized products
and materials.
The influence of the World Bank is powerful, and other organizations follow its lead by sponsoring similarly destructive
projects. The bank primarily used economic rate of return as its means of selecting projects, and virtually ignored
the social and ecological costs. The result has been many socially and environmentally damaging projects like the
Brazilian Tucuri Dam, which displaced 25,000 people and submerged 900 square miles of rainforest; the Polonoroeste
road-building project, which promoted the colonization of the rainforests of Rondonia, Brazil, by one million peasant
farmers; and the Indonesian transmigration program.
However, in recent years, the World Bank and such organizations have designed a number of useful and successful projects
that are considerably more sustainable, while promoting economic returns as well. Today these institutions staff environmental
consultants to raise concerns over the impacts of new projects.
The Global Environmental Facility (GEF), established in 1990 by the World Bank, UN Environmental Program, and UN
Development program, has committed hundreds of millions of dollars to setting up national parks, promoting sustainable
forestry, and establishing conservation trust funds in developing countries. In August 1994, the World Bank inspection
panel was established as a independent body to create a legal mechanism for individuals and organizations
whose interests are adversely affected by bank-backed projects. Through it, investigation can be conducted to correct
mistakes and ensure that the bank enforces its own policies. The panel was put to the test in 1995, for the first time,
when Latin America challenged a World Bank project, Planafloro—a loan of US$167 million to Rondonia, Brazil.
The challengers cited mismanagement and social/environmental degradation from a previous loan as their reason for submitting
their claim. In 1996, the World Bank withheld a loan to Papua New Guinea after it failed to conform with its timber
regulations (although the bank has since granted the loan). In 1999 the World Bank weakened the panel.
The World Bank is currently wooing loggers to participate in sustainable forestry projects. The implementation
of these and future reforms may prevent the bank from sponsoring further Tucuri-scale projects. Environmental reform
of the World Bank lies in the hands of the developed nations since they control the majority of the votes. The
member nations vote on what projects to finance and therefore have control over World Bank activities.
In December 2005, the World Bank granted the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) $90 million to support the central African country's transition from instability and civil war. The grant addresses key areas in DRC's forestry sector including strengthening an existing moratorium on new logging concessions "until such a time when a strategy for the use of DRC's forest resources is elaborated, in consultation with all affected and potentially affected stakeholders, including indigenous people, and is duly adopted," according to a bank statement. Further, the grant requires an independent review of the legality of all existing concessions and the publication of all concessions awarded to date. The World Bank says these measures are expected "to help increase transparency and to promote the environmentally sustainable and socially responsible use of DRC's forests."
The World Bank is increasingly funding small community projects that more directly benefit the local economy and
are often less environmentally destructive. Because decisions are made on a local level, projects can be better
adapted to local conditions.
In June 1997, WWF and the World Bank announced a global alliance for forest conservation and sustainable use. The
plan called for the protection of 10 percent of each of the world's major forest types by the year 2000 by establishing large areas of
forests under "real" sustainable management. While the plan failed to meet its goal, it was a major commitment towards greener practices on the part of the World Bank. In 2005 the WWF-World Bank Forest Alliance announced an ambitious global program aimed at reducing global deforestation rates by 10 percent by 2010. The Forest Alliance continues to look promising because it forces countries to live up to their conservation commitments or risk their standing with international financial institutions. Such alliances between groups with different constituents are vital to future conservation efforts.
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.
