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| Imperiled Riches—Threatened Rainforests |
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DEBT In the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s, debt was driving commercial deforestation in some developing tropical countries. Strapped for cash, these countries turned toward their natural resources as the fastest and easiest way to service debt and interest payments. Readily available without capital investment or skilled labor, often non-renewable, forest products like mineral wealth, timber, oil, and hydroelectric power were liquidated in an effort to raise much-needed funds.
The origin of international debt varies from country to country, but many borrowed heavily during the 1970s in an attempt to offset the rising price of oil and to keep their economies growing. Other debts were initiated by struggles for independence and civil wars that followed. Debt increased with the reign by corrupt, heavy-handed governments, which often used loans to purchase weapons or to finance wasteful or ill-conceived projects that neither benefited the majority of the population, the economy, nor the environment. High interest rates coupled with the global recession made it harder for developing countries to pay off debt. Historically, much of the foreign aid flowing into such countries from multilateral lending organizations like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) financed projects that result in the destruction of the rainforests and thus further ensured future impoverishment and dependence on aid. These organizations funded such projects because they were most suited to large development projects and projects were chosen primarily based on those that yield the most immediate economic return, not necessarily the best long-term growth prospects. The debt of developing countries continues to grow. Tropical forest countries own roughly two-thirds of the developing world's debt. In sub-Sahara Africa, for example, the total debt in 1980 was US$84 billion, while by early 2001 the debt had climbed past US$275 billion despite frantic development and a constant stream of refinancing. Review questions:
[full photo version] Continued: Population & Poverty Bibliographic citation for this page Other pages in this section: |
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