08/09/00 -- UN Reports Rate of Tropical Deforestation Slowing, But Not by Much

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WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

UN Reports Rate of Tropical Deforestation Slowing, But Not by Much

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08/09/00

OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports

that the rate of tropical deforestation has slowed, having fallen at

least 10 percent in the 1990s compared with the previous decade.

Until now, the best estimation of the extent of tropical rainforest

cover and the rate of tropical deforestation was based upon an FAO

analysis of the period from 1981-1990. FAO stated there were some

1,756 million hectares of natural tropical forests in 1990. During

the 1980s, FAO stated that 15.4 million hectares was lost annually,

and that another 5.6 million hectares a year were significantly

altered and thus ecologically diminished.

The news account below is somewhat sparse in terms of detail,

providing preliminary data in anticipation of FAO's Global Forest

Resources Assessment 2000, due to be released by the end of the year.

But before we get too excited and proclaim the rainforests saved, or

even deforestation meaningfully reduced, we should look a bit closer

at what a reduction of 10% in deforestation means. Back of envelope

calculations would indicate that rather than 21 million hectares a

year of rainforests being lost or diminished as in the 1980s, we lost

"only" 18.9 million hectares a year in the 1990s, or a total of "just"

189 million hectares of tropical rainforest no longer existing in an

intact, ecologically operable condition.

The long and short of it is a 10% reduction in cancer is not likely to

save the patient. A 10% reduction in tropical deforestation after

decades of mayhem and slaughter is not a victory, or even encouraging.

It means that atrociously large amounts of the World's life sustaining

ecosystems are being dismembered. Meaningful and long-lasting

conservation of the World's rainforests requires reductions in rates

of deforestation that are orders of magnitude higher than a 10%

statistical blip. No amount of spin will make this good news.

g.b.

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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:

Title: UN: Global Rate of Deforestation Slowing

Date: August 8, 20

ROME, Italy, August 8, 2000 (ENS) - Tropical countries continue to

suffer deforestation, but the rate is slowing down the United Nations

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said today.

Analysis of more than 300 satellite images shows that the rate of

deforestation in tropical countries was at least 10 percent less over

the past 10 years compared with the previous decade.

Half the satellite images showed a reduced rate of deforestation, but

20 percent showed an increase, said the FAO study. The results will be

published as part of the FAO's Global Forest Resources Assessment

2000, due to be released by the end of the year.

The assessment aims to standardize individual countries' data on

forestry resources. It will include information on forest ecology and

the economic potential of forests.

"These preliminary results do not mean that the battle against

deforestation is over, and a reduction in deforestation must not be

used as an excuse for unsustainable forest practices," said Hosny El-

Lakany, assistant director general of the FAO Forestry Department.

The new information should spur efforts to accommodate sustainable

forest management, El-Lakany predicted.

Forests and other wooded lands cover almost one third of the planet,

but between 1990 and 1995, 65.1 million hectares (160 million acres)

of forests were lost in developing countries alone.

At the same time, there is increasing recognition that forests may be

the best line of defense against climate change because of their

ability to absorb carbon dioxide, the major heat trapping greenhouse

gas.

A reduction in deforestation and uncontrolled forest fires would

increase this capacity of the forests to act as a carbon sink.

The global trade in forest products amounted to $135 billion in 1997.

With between 70 and 100 countries unable to meet their current needs

for forest products, this trade is likely to increase, the United

Nations Commission on Sustainable Development says.

Principal causes of deforestation are large economic development

programs involving resettlement, agriculture and infrastructure in

Latin America and Asia. Overharvesting of wood, overgrazing, fire,

insects, diseases, storms and air pollution add to forest degradation,

the FAO study shows.

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