Time Running Out for World's Forests
3/3/97
OVERVIEW, SOURCE & COMMENTARY by EE
Britain's Prince Philip and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) are
urging world leaders to address the current world wide forest crisis.
They estimate that at current rates of deforestation, there will be
virtually no natural forests left on the Earth in 50 years. The
Prince notes "it is a critical situation." Alarming statistics
include the fact that 94% of the world's forests are unprotected, and
that Brazilian deforestation (to 1996) has increased by 34 percent
since 1992. Clearly, the world has limited time to react to the
threat.
g.b.
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Subject: Time running out for world's forests, says WWF
Organization: Copyright 1997 by Reuters
2/26/97
LONDON (Reuter) - Britain's Prince Philip urged world leaders
Wednesday to intervene to save their forests, warning that if the
present rate of destruction continued there would be virtually no
natural forests left in 50 years time.
The prince, husband of Queen Elizabeth II, was speaking in his role as
international president of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) which
wants all nations to sign up to commitments to protect at least 10
percent of their forests.
"It is a critical situation," the prince told a news conference. "The
area of the world covered by natural forests has declined dramatically
in recent years, so much so that within the last 100 years the forest
cover has been reduced by half."
"If reduction of the world's forest cover continues at the present
rate, there will be virtually no natural forests left within 50
years," he added.
The WWF estimates that some 1.236 million acres of forest are being
lost globally every week to logging, mining and slash-and-burn
agriculture practices.
Despite pledges made at the 1992 Earth Summit, little had been done to
reverse deforestation and in some cases -- markedly Brazil -- it had
increased. Some 94 percent of the world's forests are unprotected, the
WWF says.
"Time is running out. It is not on our side," WWF director general
Claude Martin told a news conference.
"WWF is campaigning for substantive commitment and action from
governments worldwide for the complete protection of at least 10
percent of all forest types by the year 2000," he said.
Prince Philip said he had written personally to 62 heads of state or
government urging them to make this commitment. To date he has
received 36 replies, 13 of them pledging strong support and another 10
making specific pledges.
The 10 were Argentina, Australia, Austria, Canada, Lithuania, Malawi,
the semi-autonomous region of Yakutia in Siberia, the Slovak Republic,
Tunisia and Uzbekistan.
The prince said he was "very encouraged" by the response, remarking
wryly; "There is something curious about very important people and
that is that they are not keen to answer letters."
The WWF said Brazil was losing more forests a year than any other
country and expressed alarm at official government figures released in
1996 showing that the rate of deforestation had increased by 34
percent since 1992.
It said Pakistan had the highest percentage rate of deforestation,
losing 4.15 percent of its wooded areas a year even though it was
joint equal with Kenya in having the smallest amount of trees.
The WWF expressed disappointment that the United States had not
responded to Prince Philip's letter to President Clinton despite
figures showing that 741,300 acres of forest was being lost there
every year -- an area equivalent to the size of London.
The WWF said that Britain, which has zero percent of its forests
officially protected, had also failed to respond to the initiative.
But Prince Philip -- himself responsible for vast tracts of
countryside in the possession of the royal family -- noted drily
that other forms of protection already existed in Britain.
"You try cutting a tree down (in Britain) and you will have people
living in it," he said.