PRESS RELEASE

U.N. Conference Must Protect Ancient Forests and Their Biodiversity

April 8, 2002

For Immediate Release

Contact: Glen Barry, Forests.org, Inc., grbarry@earthlink.net

Hotel Seinduin, The Hague, phone - 31-70-3551971, fax - 3505829

THE HAGUE, Netherlands - A major U.N. conference on biodiversity must

institute urgent measures to protect ancient primary forests. This

follow-up meeting to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD),

underway now in the Netherlands, must make bold commitments to end

forest loss, protect primary forests from commercial development, and

encourage community based eco-forestry management and conservation.

The World's forests - home to 60% of the World's biodiversity and

providing critical ecosystem functions - are dangerously threatened.

One-fifth of the earth's rainforests have disappeared since 1960.

Worldwide, large and fully intact ancient primary forests have been

reduced to 20% of their original pre-development extent.

A new report by Glen Barry of Forests.org indicates the CBD is

failing to protect ancient forests and their biodiversity, using

Papua New Guinea (PNG) as a case study. PNG has the World's third

largest rainforests and some 5% of its biodiversity.

The report, "An Analysis of Papua New Guinea's Implementation of the

Convention on Biological Diversity with a Focus on Forests" <

http://forests.org/pdf/png/png_cbd_report.pdf >, is part of the

Global Forest Coalition's analysis of CBD implementation in 23

countries. All reports can be found at < http://www.fern.org >.

Nearly a decade after PNG signed the convention, little progress has

been made on its implementation. This has largely been due to

government inaction and indifference. The World Bank, which was to

help develop a National Biodiversity Strategy, has not been prompt in

providing assistance; and instead has focused upon reforming

industrial forest management rather than biodiversity conservation.

"Reforming and subsidizing commercial logging for log exports is not

a biodiversity conservation strategy," notes Mr. Barry. Yet recently

Global Environment Facility funds were included in just such a

program, without the benefit of a PNG National Biodiversity Strategy.

Forests.org believes the CBD conference should focus on protecting

the World's rapidly dwindling ancient forests from commercial logging

and other industrial activities, and promoting culturally appropriate

protected areas and community based eco-forestry management. This

would complement CBD proposals to assist indigenous communities to

benefit from their genetic resources and traditional knowledge.

The 2,000 CBD delegates from some 200 countries and international

organizations must move beyond vague, previously failed programs to

promote commercial "sustainable forest management". There is no such

thing as ecologically sustainable commercial forestry in ancient

primary forests - to say otherwise is scientifically without merit.

Forests.org calls upon the World's governments represented at the CBD

to end all commercial logging and other industrial activities in all

remaining large ancient primary forests. The focus must be upon

establishing networks of large, culturally acceptable protected

areas; and establishing community-based, certified eco-forestry

timber production as the new ancient forest management paradigm.

Further, given the importance of ancient forests in maintenance of

global species and ecosystems, governments must create a global

ancient forest fund of $15 billion annually to fund these measures.

In terms of maximizing biodiversity conservation and ecosystem

sustainability, there is no substitute for establishing large,

culturally appropriate protected areas free from commercial scale

development. Planetary ecological sustainability depends upon

maintaining large, natural old-growth forests while benignly and

restoratively managing already impacted forest landscapes.

Only an ambitious program to establish global ecological reserves

will ensure the World's ancient forests survive and the Planet's

species and ecological processes are maintained. Failure to end the

era of large-scale industrial forestry in the World's remaining

primary and old growth forests will result in cataclysmic species

loss, ecosystem collapse, increased poverty and social upheaval.

Forests.org calls upon the CBD meeting to do the right thing:

urgently implement a rigorous program to protect ancient forests.

###ENDS###