Dear Editor,
Caricom Secretary General, Dr Edwin Carrington said a call was made for new policies and incentives to be a central part of the negotiations with respect to the development of mechanisms to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD). Tropical forests moderate local climates by heating and cooling the air and water, helping maintain humidity and offering protection from wind.
More than half the precipitation that falls on land is ‘breathed out’ by plants, and contributes to the rainfall received by downwind regions. It is estimated that half of the Amazon region’s rainfall is generated by the forest itself. Tropical forest may play a critical role in global climate patterns, and continuing deforestation could alter those patterns. Deforested lands reflect sunshine back into space, affecting convection patterns, wind currents, and rainfall in areas far from the tropics. In 1980, the clearing of tropical forests added an estimated 1.7 billion tons of carbon to the atmosphere each year as carbon dioxide. That CO2 contributes to the ‘greenhouse effect’ which is believed to be causing global warming, rising ocean levels, and increased climate variability.
Vigorous efforts are needed to slow and reverse current rates of deforestation. These include establishing tropical forest reserves to protect forested lands, and improving management of unprotected forested lands to ensure their sustainable use. Development projects involving unstainable land use practices must be halted. Reforestation projects and other programmes to make deforested land productive must be expanded. Land reform and improvements in agricultural productivity are also important. Population growth must be slowed, and the demand for forest products curbed.
Tropical forests provide essential services, not only for their immediate surroundings, but also for the earth as a whole. Forests moderate air temperature, maintain the hydrologic cycle by absorbing rainfall and releasing moisture to the atmosphere, and take in carbon dioxide and generate oxygen through photosynthesis. They recycle nutrients and waste, control soil erosion and sedimentation of waterways, and regulate stream and river flows, helping to moderate floods and droughts. Tropical forests also prevent or limit landslides and rockfalls during rainstorms and earthquakes and moderate damage from tropical cyclones. When tropical forests are degraded, these essential functions are lost or jeopardized.
Every effort should be made to reduce greenhouse emissions and deforestation.
Yours faithfully,
Mohamed Khan
