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ICTSD: Sustainable Tropical Forest Initiatives Receive Mixed Report
Sustainable management of tropical forests in key timber-producing countries has surged since 2005, according to a new report by the Yokohama-based International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO). But countries facing conflict and political turmoil continue to struggle to make any meaningful progress in protecting their forests.
“We are of course happy to see the progress that has occurred in the last five years,” ITTO Executive Director Emmanuel Ze Meka said in a press release. “But it still represents an incremental advance, and some countries are still lagging behind.”
The report is being heralded as the most comprehensive study of the world’s forest cover and forest management with 31 out of 33 major timber trade countries responding to ITTO’s inquiries in the 2010 study. The previous study in 2005 only elicited responses from 21 out of the 33 nations.
Amongst the positive findings of the report are the national cases of Gabon, Guyana, Malaysia and Peru who, after vast forest destruction throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s, are showing strong improvements in sustainable management of their forests.
Brazil made strides in its overall management as well, however 2009 showcased unnerving evidence of rapid deforestation without presenting a specific cause.
Countries affected by civil conflicts and economic strife such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Cambodia and Papua New Guinea were unable to make any substantive improvements. Forests in such regions continue to be harvested unsustainably because the countries simply lack the capacity to properly govern their resources, the report says.
With rising food volatility, biofuel initiatives, and demand for timber, wood fuel and paper, tropical forests are subject to enormous pressure to be liquidated, the study finds.
Duncan Poore, co-author of the report and former head of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) told Reuters that although awareness was growing in regards to sustainably harvested wood it is not strong enough to counter the world demand for food.
“There’s been an extraordinary change of attitude and culture. They may not be practicing it, or able to because of lack of funds, but they know it’s there,” said Poore.
In the medium term the ITTO expects deforestation and forest degradation to continue, says Andy White, coordinator of the Rights and Resources Initiative for ITTO. But, with support from aid organisations to help fund programmes in timber producing countries - such as the enhanced Reduced Emission from forest Destruction and Degradation (REDD+) - the rate of deforestation can be curtailed.
Posted By Jenna DiPaolo at 1:25pm on June 13, 2011
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