Clinton Plans to Double US Funding for Rainforest Protection

VICTORY

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

WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

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

Forest Networking a Project of Forests.org

http://forests.org/ -- Forest Conservation Archives

http://forests.org/web/ -- Discuss Forest Conservation

2/4/00

OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY

This has been quite a hopeful and positive week for the Global Forest

Sustainability agenda. Conservationists, governments, multi-national

organizations and the public are all united in demanding an end to

global forest decline. Here is the latest: President Clinton is to

unveil $150 million for rainforest conservation for next year's

budget, double previous funding levels. While the money helps, this

is also important because it shows renewed leadership by the US in

addressing the destruction of tropical rainforests. In some small

way, all of our efforts are contributing to this and other recent

policy advancements. Keep up the work, don't get discouraged, and

never doubt that the most committed side wins.

g.b.

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

RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:

Title: Clinton Plans to Double U.S. Funds to Protect Rain Forests

Source: Washington Post, Page A15

Date: February 4, 2000

Byline: Joby Warrick, Washington Post Staff Writer

The Clinton administration today will unveil plans to nearly double

federal spending on protecting the world's tropical rain forests,

pledging $150 million to fight logging practices that each year lay

waste to an area the size of North Carolina.

The "Greening the Globe" initiative--one of the environmental

initiatives in the White House's 2001 budget--would represent the

biggest increase in U.S. aid for rain forest conservation on record,

administration officials confirmed yesterday.

The money would assist developing countries' own efforts to crack down

on overlogging and illegal burning in tropical forests, while giving a

boost to international efforts to preserve endangered tigers,

elephants and rhinos, according to a draft of the proposal obtained by

The Washington Post.

"Despite growing attention and considerable debate worldwide, tropical

forests continue to be destroyed at a disturbing rate," said George T.

Frampton, acting chairman of the White House Council on Environmental

Quality. He predicted the initiative would win the backing of

congressional Republicans, who in recent years have sponsored

legislation to preserve rain forests and the creatures that inhabit

them. In last year's budget vote, Congress approved $80 million for

conservation efforts.

Under the White House proposal, the biggest single chunk of money--

about $100 million--would be channeled through the U.S. Agency for

International Development for targeted programs in countries where

rain forests are under assault. The spending would, for example, train

new forest managers in Indonesia, the top producer of tropical timber,

while helping Kenyan officials develop economic alternatives to

logging, such as eco-tourism.

An additional $37 million would go to so-called "debt-for-nature"

swaps, in which the United States would forgive some of the debt of

developing countries in exchange for promises to create new

sanctuaries.

The plans drew raves from environmentalists. Conservation

International President Russell A. Mittermeier said the measures would

reassert U.S. leadership on forest protection. "It's not just the

money but the fact that the United States is really investing in

this," he said.

Jim Leape, executive vice president of the World Wildlife Fund, called

the plan "bold and critically important."

"The forests are the single most important harbor of biological

diversity," he said, "and they are disappearing on every continent at

a rate of an acre a second."

Today's scheduled announcement was to be the second major

environmental initiative to be unveiled this week. Yesterday, the

White House unveiled proposals for $4 billion in spending on combating

global warming. That initiative included $2.4 billion on tax breaks to

encourage energy-efficient technology and $1.7 billion for new

research.

###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's Forest

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

Networked by Forests.org, Inc., gbarry@forests.org