Organization of Rainforest Conservation Efforts

Saving What Remains

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.

Review questions:

Why do government agencies responsible for biodiversity conservation in the developing nations need reform?

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Continued: Conservation Role of Developing Nations

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