Report Takes a Stand On Forest Health
4/8/98
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Title: Report Takes a Stand On Forest Health
Source: Environmental News Network
Status: Copyrighted, contact source to reprint
Date: 4/8/98
Each year, at least another 16 million hectares of natural forest are
razed, an area the size of Washington state. The dramatically
increasing demand for paper and other wood products, combined with
government corruption, illegal logging and industrial burning of
thousands of hectares for quick profit, are turning local forest
destruction into a global catastrophe, according to a Worldwatch
Institute study.
"Half the forests that once covered the Earth are gone and
deforestation has been accelerating in the last 30 years," says Janet
Abramovitz, author of Taking a Stand: Cultivating a New Relationship
With the World's Forests. "When forests disappear, we lose more than
just timber," says Abramovitz, pointing to the role of forests in
climate regulation, erosion and flood control, habitat and watershed
protection and supplying non-wood forest products.
Since the 1960s, wood consumption has doubled and paper use has more
than tripled. Each year, at least another 16 million hectares of
natural forest are razed, an area the size of Washington state. From
1960 to 1995, legal trade in forest products tripled to $142 billion,
and substantial amounts of illegal trade go unreported.
But Abramovitz said governments, businesses and consumers are becoming
more aware of the dangers of deforestation and are looking into ways
to prevent more damage. More people are taking an active role in
recycling, the report says.
"People are waking up to the need for change," said Abramovitz. "The
next challenge is to scale up these initiatives fast enough to prevent
irreversible damage to the world's forests."
The report points to opportunities for waste reduction at every level
of production and consumption. For example, paper recycling is one way
of reducing the need for virgin timber. Today, more than one third of
the fiber used to make new paper comes from recovered waste paper, up
from less than one quarter in 1970. Worldwide, more than 40 percent of
paper is now recovered and recycled. Germany recovers 67 percent of
its paper, Japan 52 percent, and the U.S. 45 percent.
On the front end of the cycle, some timber companies are developing
less destructive methods for harvesting and processing wood.
Consumers are beginning to demand products from sustainably managed
forests, using their purchasing power to support companies that adopt
better management practices. The Forest Stewardship Council has
developed a set of adaptable principles and criteria for certifying
products from well-managed forests. More than 6.3 million hectares in
20 nations have already been certified. Many large retailers, like
Home Depot in the U.S. and B&Q in the United Kingdom, are selling
these products.
Some governments are beginning to change policies to better protect
their forests. Key shifts include:
* eliminating market-distorting subsidies,
* halting road building in forests,
* strengthening the enforcement of domestic and international forest
laws,
* improving the monitoring of forest health,
* and devoting more resources to forest management.
International lenders and donors can also play a role by ensuring that
their lending encourages positive reforms and sustainable practices,
rather than corruption and deforestation. The World Bank, for example,
has announced that it will help nations meet the goals of expanding
the area under sustainable forest management, and putting at least 10
percent of each type of forest into protected areas.
"By scaling up the efforts already under way, we can begin to turn
away from today's destructive relationship and move toward managing
our forests so that all of their benefits and services, from timber
and jobs to flood control and climate regulation, are available for
generations to come," says Abramovitz.
For more information, contact Janet Abramovitz, Worldwatch Institute,
(202)452-1992 ext. 534.
Copyright 1998, Environmental News Network, All Rights Reserved