Pico Bonito, Honduras. (Photo by R. Butler)
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THE ROLE OF COMMUNICATION AND EDUCATION IN SAVING RAINFORESTS
By Rhett Butler | Last updated July 22, 2007
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, environmental education is not a
high priority in many countries with tropical rainforests.
Education can provide the next generation with 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.
"There Are No Lemurs in
America?"
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Recent news
Biosphere conservation: monumental action is critical to avert global environmental crisis
(05/20/2013) Human-caused changes to our biosphere—the global total of the world's ecosystems—are now so great and alarmingly rapid that human lives and societies undoubtedly face epic challenges in the near future as our biosphere deteriorates, planetary boundaries are reached, and tipping points exceeded. We may survive, we may painfully adapt, but it is a fair bet that grave hardship, loss, and sacrifice lay ahead. The nature and extent of impacts among human populations hinges on how successfully we respond to the biosphere crisis with extraordinary leadership, balanced solutions applied at global scales, and unprecedented cooperation—or not.
Peru delays oil drilling in the Amazon to consult with indigenous peoples
(05/20/2013) Peru has delayed auctioning off 27 oil blocs in the Amazon in order to conduct legally-required consultations with indigenous groups in the region, reports the Guardian. Perupetro S.A., Peru's state oil and gas company, has announced it will auction 9 blocs off the Pacific coast, but will hold auctioning off the controversial oil blocs in the Amazon rainforest at least until later this year.
NGO: conflict of interests behind Peruvian highway proposal in the Amazon
(05/16/2013) As Peru's legislature debates the merits of building the Purús highway through the Amazon rainforest, a new report by Global Witness alleges that the project has been aggressively pushed by those with a financial stake in opening up the remote area to logging and mining. Roads built in the Amazon lead to spikes in deforestation, mining, poaching and other extractive activities as remote areas become suddenly accessible. The road in question would cut through parts of the Peruvian Amazon rich in biodiversity and home to indigenous tribes who have chosen to live in "voluntary isolation."
Debate heats up over California's plan to reduce emissions via rainforest protection
(05/07/2013) As the public comment period for California's cap-and-trade program draws to a close, an alliance of environmental activists have stepped up a heated campaign to keep carbon credits generated by forest conservation initiatives in tropical countries out of the scheme. These groups say that offsets generated under the so-called Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) mechanism, will undermine efforts to cut emissions as home, while potentially leading to abuses abroad. However supporters of forest conservation-based credits say the program may offer the best hope for saving the world's beleaguered rainforests, which continue to fall at a rate of more than 8 million hectares per year.
An insidious threat to tropical forests: over-hunting endangers tree species in Asia and Africa
(04/04/2013) A fruit falls to the floor in a rainforest. It waits. And waits. Inside the fruit is a seed, and like most seeds in tropical forests, this one needs an animal—a good-sized animal—to move it to a new place where it can germinate and grow. But it may be waiting in vain. Hunting and poaching has decimated many mammal and bird populations across the tropics, and according to two new studies the loss of these important seed-disperser are imperiling the very nature of rainforests.
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