| Deforestation -- Responses |
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This paper by Julie Lyke, an intern at the US Forest Service,
provides an in-depth analysis of several organizations and
agreements which address the problem of deforestation and attempt
to lessen it.
Lyke's paper focuses on the Tropical Forestry Action Programme (TFAP), The International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) and the World Bank. The following is a summary of Lyke's discussion of these four organizations. The Tropical Forestry Action Programme The TFAP was launched in June 1985 with the purpose of helping nations formulate environmentally sustainable forest management plans in a coordinated manner, which could then be actively funded by developmental agencies. To date, 90 developing countries are participating and more than 40 aid agencies support TFAP. In many countries, TFAP has succeeded in bringing national attention to the issue of deforestation, and has aided countries in evaluating their available forest resources in a more organized manner. Unfortunately, the TFAP has recently come under a great deal of criticism from environmental and non-governmental organizations. These criticism center around the fact that the program tends to focus on classic forestry projects, such as logging and road building. The critics claim that, in some cases, this emphasis has actually caused the TFAP to aide in the formulation of plans which would actually increase deforestation, rather than helping to curb it. Future survival of the TFAP currently depends on whether or not it is successful in reformulating its objectives and policies so as to address these criticisms. The International Tropical Timber Organization The ITTO was originally founded for the purpose of facilitating trade in tropical timber. Since only a small portion of harvested timber is actually exported to other nations, its direct sphere of influence is rather limited. Nevertheless, the ITTO is responsible for the International Tropical Timber Agreement, which is currently one of the only binding international agreements concentrating on the subject of forest management. As such, the ITTO has become an international body for discussion of forest policies between consumers and producers, and has received pressure from non-governmental organizations in several countries to focus on environmentally sustainable forest management. It is the ITTO which has adopted the "Year 2000 Target," by which time all timber traded internationally should come from sustainably managed sources. Timber certification programs are, of course, extremely useful in this regard. The only major criticism of the ITTO and its ITTA to date has been the disturbing lack of evidence of any actual improvements in the world timber industry due to their efforts. United Nations Conference on Environment and Development The "Earth Summit," as this conference was dubbed, concluded with the signing of an unprecedented number of treaties and documents by leaders of over 100 nations on a wide variety of environmental issues. The meeting did a great deal to promote public awareness of the importance of environmental protection in economic development. The portions of the conference which dealt with forest related issues were known as "Agenda 21" and the "Forest Principles." Though there was widespread agreement on the need for sustainable management of forests, no real commitments or plans were made at the conference as to how these might be achieved. Though the UNCED conference left open the possibility of a global convention on forest management, it is unlikely that this will be pursued very quickly or that an agreement on the subject will soon be reached. The World Bank The World Bank is a major international organization, the purpose of which is to fund economic development projects in developing countries. As of 1994, the bank has financed close to 100 projects in the forest sector, with total commitments of nearly $2.5 billion. Since the publication of the Bank's first forestry related policy paper in 1978, its funding for forest management and sustainable forest use plans has increased dramatically. However, at the same time, other infrastructure and agricultural projects which it has funded have actually caused a great deal of deforestation. As such, it's difficult to judge exactly how much aid the Bank has provided to this cause.
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