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Managing Tropical Rainforests Sustainably (What can be done at local level…
Managing Tropical Rainforests Sustainably
International Level
Debt Reduction
by HIC's:
Most are NEEs or LICs which may have large debts.
Debt-for-nature schemes are sometimes arranged.
2010: USA converted a debt of £13.5m into a fund to protect areas of TRF in Brazil.
Write off debts in return for conservation.
Conservation and Education by NGO's:
Eg. WWF + Birdlife International --> charities.
Promote the conservation message through education in schools.
Provide training for conservation workers.
Provide practical help to make programmes more sustainable.
Buy up threatened areas + create nature reserves.
Those involved in the exploitation + management of the RF need to be made to understand the consequences of their activities.
Inter-government agreements on hardwoods and endangered species:
The International Tropical Timber Agreement: restricts the trade in hardwoods from the TR. - high prices have encouraged illegal felling in remote areas. This agreement restricts the trade in hardwood timber to timber that has been felled in sustainable managed forest.
The CITES treaty blocks the illegal trade in rare and endangered animals + plants.
National Governments:
All gov. have the power to to protect the RF+ use it sustainably by passing laws:
Creating protected
areas
Stopping the abuse of it by developers.
Making ecology or environmental studies a
compulsory
part of education.
Problems:
Few gov. are willing to do anything that might slow down the rate of
economic development
.
Gov. seem unwilling to enforce + monitor laws aimed at protecting + conserving the RF.
Lot of
corruption
in the way RF are treated. - illegal loggers + developers paying
bribes
.
What can be done at
local level
for areas with
logging
Stopping illegal logging: Satellites + drones can help monitor this as some areas a v remote.
Agroforestry: Combining crops and trees so crops are grown in controlled areas within the RF and growing RF trees on plantations.
Replanting: It is possible to recreate a forest cover almost like the original like a project in the Atlantic RF of Brazil did. Collecting seeds from areas of primary forest, growing them into saplings and then planting them into deforested areas.
Brazil has promised to reforest 12m hectares of land.
Selective logging: - Only when fully grown + let younger trees mature + protect the ground from erosion. - cycle 30-40 years.
What can be done at local level with areas still untouched by logging.
Ecotourism is sustainable and the scenery and remoteness attract visitors. - educate + increase understanding + appreciation of nature + local cultures.
Small-scale + local
employing local people
using local produce
therefore profits stay in local community.
minimise consumption of non-renewable resources.
Sustainable actions at a local level:
Respecting env. + cultures of locals.
Traditional skills + knowledge
Giving people control over their land + lives
Generating income for local people
Appropriate technology - machines + equipment: cheap, easy to maintain + do not harm the env.
Sustainable use:
RF is cleared + replaced with tree crops which will provide protection once they have grown.
Selective logging + replanting: Only vulnerable timber trees are removed + seedlings are planted.
Biosphere reserve: Leaving parts untouched except for research + plant breeding and it is protected by a buffer zone where only certain human activities are allowed which cause little damage to ecosystem.
Making mining less destructive: Before the bauxite is exposed, a layer of topsoil + ash is removed + stored and once the bauxite has been removed the earth and topsoil is replaced and native trees planted. Most reforestation costs about 7% of the cost of the mine.
