Poor Farmers & Loggers Threaten Forests
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WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS
Report Indicates Poor Farmers Could Destroy Half of Tropical Forests
(with Logging Threatening the Rest)
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Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises
7/5/96
OVERVIEW & SOURCE by EE
A widely reported study by the Consultative Group on International
Agricultural Research states that half of the world's remaining tropical
forests are threatened by slash-and-burn agriculture. In a familiar
display of chauvinism, this threat gets the headline, while the fact that
the rest of the forest (which would also be half) is threatened by logging.
Despite the fact that it is easier to blame poor people than logging
corporations for tropical deforestation, the fact remains that unfragmented
tropical forests landscapes may cease to exist from the combined threats.
The study lists better agricultural extension, more agro-forestry and
development of sustainable forestry as potential policies to address the
crisis. Add to this an immediate halt of industrial forestry practices in
ancient rainforests, and immediate transfers of financial resources and
appropriate technology to developing countries where rainforests exist, and
we may have a fighting chance. Following is a photocopy of an Associated
Press article on the report.
Study: Poor farmers could destroy half of tropical forests
August 4, 1996
Copyright 1996 Associated Press.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Nearly half of the world's remaining tropical forests
could be lost, mostly because of poor farmers who are forced to use
slash-and-burn agriculture to feed their families, a new study warns.
The rest of the 5-billion-acre forest cover is endangered by logging, said
a study by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural
Research. The group is sponsored by the World Bank, the United Nations
Development Program, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the United
Nations Environment Program.
The study said that despite rising global awareness, increased aid for
tropical forestry and a decade of international efforts to shape
coherent global strategies for saving the forests, 38.1 million acres are
lost annually -- 72 acres a minute.
The study said that the slash-and-burn agriculture practiced by poor
farmers to grow crops results in the loss or degradation of about 25
million acres of land per year.
Ismail Serageldin, the group's chairman, said that while not every acre of
tropical forest could be protected, the loss of the forest cover could be
diminished through a combination of new agricultural practices and
government policies.
"There is no magic bullet to saving the world's tropical forests," said
Serageldin, who is also a World Bank official. "What is needed is a
comprehensive effort on a solid scientific basis to attack the root causes
of deforestation - - poverty, rising population, bad natural resource
management and distorted forest policies."
Among the initiatives suggested by the study:
* Assisting farmers in raising their output on their present land,
improving farmers' access to markets and removing bureaucratic obstacles
that hinder small-scale farmers.
* Integration of trees into farming practices, which would provide farmers
with a convenient source of food, fuel and timber for construction and
fences.
* Developing environmentally sustainable logging practices that would not
damage the forest.
This document is a PHOTOCOPY and all recipients should seek permission from
the source for reprinting. You are encouraged to utilize this information
for personal campaign use; including writing letters, organizing campaigns
and forwarding. All efforts are made to provide accurate, timely pieces;
though ultimate responsibility for verifying all information rests with the
reader. Check out our Gaia Forest Conservation Archives at URL=
http://forests.org/gaia.html
Networked by:
Ecological Enterprises
Email (best way to contact)-> grbarry@students.wisc.edu
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