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Pico Bonito, Honduras. (Photo by R. Butler)
Communication
One of the most essential parts of saving the world's rainforests is keeping an open line of communication between
all parties. Communication from all parties, including indigenous peoples, local populations, business interests,
governments, scientists, and conservationists, is key to understanding how to best approach balancing conservation
with development. The information gained from conferences can be used to help devise a plan that will be acceptable
to all parties. No group should be excluded or misrepresented and every effort should be made to keep conferences
open and non-threatening. Conferences should meet regularly and have some legislative muscle so that decisions
can be implemented. So far no such ideal conference has taken place, but in all fairness the whole rainforest conservation
issue is relatively recent as a worldwide concept.
The conferences that have met to date have brought up important issues, but their decisions tend to lack power
and usually go unimplemented. The largest environmental conference took place in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and was
host to some 100 heads of state, the largest gathering of such officials ever.
Since Rio, there have been countless small conferences which have discussed environmental issues. In June of 1995
the World Commission on Forests and Sustainable Development (WCFSD) met in Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo), aiming
to raise the level of understanding of rainforests' dual role in preserving natural environment and contributing
to sustainable development. The conference recognized the need for policy reform together with renewed efforts
to enforce existing regulations to stop deforestation. It promised more local community involvement in forest conservation
and management and placed special emphasis on reconciling conflicts between factions with different views on
forest use. The conference discussed better definition of land titles for local communities and various financial
mechanisms for ensuring more equal distribution of forests' benefits and revenues. This conference serves as an
example of what conservation conferences propose and how little things actually change afterwards.
Education
Education is one of the most important ingredients in saving the rainforests. Unfortunately, education is not a
high priority in many countries with tropical rainforests. When there are schools, conservation subjects are rarely
taught.
Education can teach the next generation lessons not learned in the past: that rainforests are worth saving. With
this information, children will be more aware of the problems they may face in the future when they become leaders.
NGOs promote the role of the ordinary individual in conservation efforts. Recent surveys have suggested that the
American public is interested in conservation efforts both on a local and an international level. A 1999
poll conducted by the Mellman Group, Inc., found that the majority of those questioned nationwide favored a proposal
to protect all roadless areas of at least 1,000 acres in national forests. So the will exists; it is only a matter
of taking action.
Purchasing and consumption
Things you can do to help save rainforests
Don't buy products made from wildlife skins
Don't buy exotic pets that have been collected from the wild. You can ask pet stores whether animals are "wild-caught" or "captive bred." "Captive-bred" animals are more friendly for the environment
Buy recycled paper.
Don't buy wood products from Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil, or Africa unless you know they come from eco-friendly suppliers. A good way to know if wood is rainforest-safe is if it has a "certification label." An example of a certification label is "FSC-certified," which means the wood comes from sustainably managed forests.
Learn more about rainforests and the plants and animals that live in them. Tell others why rainforests are important.
People in developed countries stimulate the unsustainable harvesting of tropical timbers by demanding such
wood products. Try to buy wood products that come from sustainably managed stocks (having a legitimate seal of
approval) or non-rainforest woods. Though not as much of a problem now, in the 1980s people in developed countries
may have contributed indirectly to rainforest destruction by demanding cheap beef products (the "U.S.-Central
American connection") and livestock feed (the "Europe-Southeast Asia connection") in the form of cassava
grown on former forest lands. Be ecologically aware when you purchase products.
Support sustainably harvested forest products like nuts and natural dyes and the organizations that provide these
goods. Without consumer demand, these products will not be supplied.
Always try to reduce power and water usage. Americans use more resources per capita than any other group of people
on earth. Much of the electricity we use is fueled by the combustion of fossil fuels which add to global warming.
Recycle and reuse as many materials as possible.
Information
Many conservation and consumer groups maintain that lack of information is one of the greatest hindrances to
eco-friendly consumption. Stay informed and be aware of newly threatened areas and new developments in conservation methods, along with campaigns
against forest destroyers. Numerous resources exist on the internet and in print.
Travel
If you have the ability to travel abroad, practice eco-tourism and support only environmentally friendly travel
in areas that are environmentally sensitive. Just because a tour is advertised as "eco-tourism" it does not mean
that it is environmentally sound. Ask around and try to find those operators who are legitimate. When traveling,
try to be a responsible tourist and respect local customs.
Discourage the killing of endangered animals and rainforest species by refusing to buy products made up of or containing
such parts. Gently remind locals that it is illegal to kill such animals and say that you would rather see the colorful
macaws flying in the sky than having their feathers on your souvenir.
Action
Write to your government representatives and let them know how your feel about environmental issues. Express your
concern for the future of tropical rainforests.
Join a biodiversity conservation group or rainforest organization and support campaigns and boycotts against companies
responsible for reckless deforestation. If you resolve never to purchase goods from one of these firms, the company
loses tens of thousands of dollars of potential revenue over the course of a life time.
Deforestation emissions should be shared between producer and consumer, argues study
(11/19/2009) Under the Kyoto Protocol the nation that produces carbon emission takes responsibility for them, but what about when the country is producing carbon-intensive goods for consumer demand beyond its borders? For example while China is now the world's highest carbon emitter, 50 percent of its growth over the last year was due to producing goods for wealthy countries like the EU and the United States which have, in a sense, outsourced their manufacturing emissions to China. A new study in Environmental Research Letters presents a possible model for making certain that both producer and consumer share responsibility for emissions in an area so far neglected by studies of this kind: deforestation and land-use change.
New report: boreal forests contain more carbon than tropical forest per hectare
(11/12/2009) A new report states that boreal forests store nearly twice as much carbon as tropical forests per hectare: a fact which researchers say should make the conservation of boreal forests as important as tropical in climate change negotiations. The report from the Canadian Boreal Initiative and the Boreal Songbird Initiative, entitled "The Carbon the World Forgot", estimates that the boreal forest—which survives in massive swathes across Alaska, Canada, Northern Europe, and Russia—stores 22 percent of all carbon on the earth's land surface. According to the study the boreal contains 703 gigatons of carbon, while the world's tropical forests contain 375 gigatons.
Declaration calls for more wilderness protected areas to combat global warming
(11/11/2009) Meeting this week in Merida, Mexico, the 9th World Wilderness Congress (WILD9) has released a declaration that calls for increasing wilderness protections in an effort to mitigate climate change. The declaration, which is signed by a number of influential organizations, argues that wilderness areas—both terrestrial and marine—act as carbon sinks, while preserving biodiversity and vital ecosystem services.
Hunting across Southeast Asia weakens forests' survival, An interview with Richard Corlett
(11/08/2009) A large flying fox eats a fruit ingesting its seeds. Flying over the tropical forests it eventually deposits the seeds at the base of another tree far from the first. One of these seeds takes root, sprouts, and in thirty years time a new tree waits for another flying fox to spread its speed. In the Southeast Asian tropics an astounding 80 percent of seeds are spread not by wind, but by animals: birds, bats, rodents, even elephants. But in a region where animals of all shapes and sizes are being wiped out by uncontrolled hunting and poaching—what will the forests of the future look like? This is the question that has long occupied Richard Corlett, professor of biological science at the National University of Singapore.
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.
