Forest Shrinking at Alarming Rate, Fires Problem

***********************************************

WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

***********************************************

Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises

http://forests.org/

10/26/97

OVERVIEW, SOURCE & COMMENTARY by EE

Forests worldwide are in decline. Following is CNN coverage of the forest

crisis, including recent highly destructive fires. In the last 6,000-8,000

years, two-thirds of the world's forests have been lost. Remaining large,

contiguous expanses of forests are being targeted for highly intensive

forest harvest. The primeval forest wilderness is to be lost within our

life times unless large-scale, commercial logging of remaining wild forests

is firmly rejected.

g.b.

*******************************

RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:

Title: Forests shrinking at alarming rate, Fires a persistent problem

Source: Cable News Network

Date: October 8, 1997

Byline: From Correspondent Margaret Lowrie

LONDON (CNN) -- Ninety percent of the world's species are found in forests.

But almost everywhere around the globe, trees are disappearing.

In Brazil's Amazon rain forest, for example, this year's dry spell is

resulting in more fires than ever before. And in Indonesia, out-of-control

fires have blanketed the region with an unhealthy haze.

There also are other culprits, according to the World Wildlife Fund for

Nature: ignorance, greed, questionable agricultural and forestry practices,

and inappropriate land development.

All are causes for international concern, says the organization's Francis

Sullivan.

"We like to think of the Amazon as the global air conditioner. It cools and

cleans the planet and rejuvenates oxygen levels in the atmosphere," he told

CNN.

"With these massive fires, we're seeing large areas destroyed. They'll

never properly recover. This, I believe, is folly for humans on this

planet."

Some wildlife -- certain birds and monkeys -- are being pushed to the brink

of extinction.

"What we're looking at is 6,000 to 8,000 years of human evolution, and

during that time we've actually stripped away a full two-thirds of the

forests that were existing before then. So we're looking at an enormous,

devastating problem," Sullivan says.

Forests disappearing fastest in Asia

According to the WWF, deforestation is most rapid in Asia, where 88 percent

of the forests are gone.

Pakistan and Thailand, for example, lose 4 percent to 5 percent of their

forests every year, and may be completely denuded in 15 years, creating

semidesert conditions.

The situation is similar in Nigeria and Ivory Coast in Africa, and in the

Latin American nations of Paraguay and Uruguay.

"These are the countries which really show what the world is going to be

like in 10 or 15 years," Sullivan warns.

"It's a chilling situation with terrible poverty, terrible soil erosion,

completely unstable agriculture, widespread flooding and, of course, a

terrible impact on wildlife populations."

Heavily forested nations such as the United States, Russia and Brazil are

among the worst offenders, he says. And Europe, which has lost 62

percent of its forests, protects only 2 percent of what remains.

Nations must preserve or restore at least 10 percent of their native

woodland before it disappears completely, according to the environmental

group.

###RELAYED TEXT ENDS###

This document is a PHOTOCOPY for educational, personal and non-

commercial use only. Recipients should seek permission from the

source for reprinting. All efforts are made to provide accurate,

timely pieces; though ultimate responsibility for verifying all

information rests with the reader. Check out our Gaia Forest

Conservation Archives at URL= http://forests.org/

Networked by Ecological Enterprises, gbarry@forests.org