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Non-governmental Organizations Non-governmental organizations are a driving force behind conservation efforts today. These non-profit groups fund and support all aspects of conservation from initial research to protected-area initiatives to implementation through park management and community-based conservation schemes to alliance building between government agencies and private interests. They support and coordinate grassroots movements, promote communication between all parties, and sponsor education initiatives in both developing and developed countries. Grassroots Movements With the recent worldwide trend of governmental decentralization, control of forest resources is increasingly turned over to local governments and non-governmental agencies. One result from decentralization is that forestry decisions can be made on a local level, more in relation to local conditions and the benefit of local peoples. In recent years, numerous local groups have assumed the role of promoting local sustainable use that more directly benefits those living in and around the forests. Local grassroots movements, where they exist, are often the most successful form of action. These movements are sometimes able to create enough of a disturbance to delay loggers and developers from exploiting forest lands valued by local people. Grassroots movements usually result from new or increased presence of pressures on the forest from commercial interests. These movements put up protests, work to reform local laws and education, and are quite often the site for innovation and experimentation for new ideas in forest conservation. As a general rule, small grassroots projects have been more successful than foreign conservation projects directed from a distance. There is good reason for this success, since local organizations are better able to weave conservation projects into the local fabric of life, and their projects tend to be substantially smaller. These small projects should serve as a model for the larger national and international projects. Before adopting a conservation or land-management plan, it should be proven to work on a local level. Otherwise the chances of success are small. In the past, these small movements were sometimes brutally suppressed by the government. Nevertheless, small conservation groups work feverishly around the globe. Greenbelt movements are strong in several tropical countries, resulting in the reforestation of former forest lands. Among the most successful groups are the rubber tappers of Brazil. Because the rubber tappers do not have title to the forest, they are working to set up "extractive reserves" —protected areas where forest products are sustainably harvested by indigenous communities. The Central American Tropical Agriculture Research Institute (CATIE) operates on the premise of educating local peasants about sustainable use of the rainforests. The project conserves the forests by showing the residents the economic benefits of leaving the ecosystem intact by collecting forest products in 11 categories: construction material, dyes, fibers, food, livestock feed, medicines, natural insecticides, oils, ornamentals, and resins. In addition to CATIE, there is a second Central American foundation working to educate locals about how to tap the riches of the forest without damaging it; this is known as FUNDECOR (Foundation for the Development of the Central Volcanic Mountain Chain). FUNDECOR (also see "other rainforest products" above) has contracts with more than 90 landowners to sustainably manage 30,000 acres (12,120 hectares) of forest. Engineers draw up management plans for the landowners, suggesting which trees to cut, and train local loggers to fell trees in a direction that will cause the least damage to the surrounding vegetation. The procedure cuts out the middle men so there are more profits for the locals. Review questions:
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