As concerns over the depletion of global environmental resources heighten, the harvesting practices of the local logging industry are coming under increasing scrutiny.
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has argued that Sustainable Forestry Management (SFM) is no longer an option but an imperative in a contemporary world of environmental emergency.
In this extract from an article prepared for Stabroek Business the WWF argues that intensive harvesting can devastate Guyana’s forest resources and sets out some “primary steps in reduced impact logging.”
Apart from the environmental and social benefits, FSC can bring economic benefits as well, The FSC’s economic criteria state that forest managers should seek to minimise waste in harvesting and on-site processing, and strive to strengthen and diversify the local economy, avoiding dependence on a single forest product.
Certified forestry operations are reaping excellent economic rewards, some of which include access to new markets, higher prices in the market than equivalent uncertified timber, and a reduction in waste and loss due to bad management practices.
Apart from direct harvesting of forest trees, forests also provide other products that can also generate significant amounts of revenue. Non timber forest products (NTFPs) can be harvested without the damage that many logging operations inflict. These include medicinal products; food e.g. heart of palm, and Brazil nuts which can only be harvested from a fully functioning forest and not plantations; rubber; lianas e.g. the common rainforest liana or rattan – is a valuable rainforest product and fetches US$ 3 billion a year on a global market, in Guyana, Nibbi and Kufa are popular for furniture making. Other rainforest products include perfumes and flavourings, ornamental seeds and pods, flowers such as heliconias and fibres can all offer benefits to small collectors.
However, in some countries due to a lack of lack of clear laws regarding user rights and access to forest land, due to the fact that forest lands are considered common property, it will be difficult to monitor collection and determine who has access rights to what resources. Another problem is how to manage NWFP collection in a sustainable way without over-harvesting. To date, most products are generally collected without regard to their sustainability.
Ecotourism is fast becoming a leading way for developing countries to earn foreign revenue by preserving their rainforests. Visiting tourists pay to see a country’s natural beauty, and the destruction caused by short-run exploitation can hamper this growing but lucrative industry. Visitors are often willing to pay directly for preservation in the forms of park entrance fees and donations. This activity can benefit local people in many ways, as well as local entrepreneurs, guides, rangers, accommodation staff, and other supportive staff with varying degrees of skill.
The benefits to the environment is clear, since with ecotourism, income is earned from preserving the existing ecosystems and any habitat destruction is discouraged because it is detrimental to income.
Costa Rica is one of the best examples of using ecotourism potential to its fullest. Every year, hundreds of thousands of foreigners visit the country’s many national parks, making tourism the country’s third largest industry behind coffee and bananas.
However, while ecotourism can lucrative, it must be approached carefully, and planned properly since short-term development can doom rainforests just as logging has, with extensive damage to the environment. As with most activities a balance needs to be met, for example, the construction of lodges and other buildings required to support eco tourism requires locally cut wood, while pollution and sewage management are a problem in otherwise pristine environments. Also large amounts of visitors in a forest or natural habitat can damage trails and frighten away the wildlife that inhabit the area.
Thus, ecotourism requires careful planning and strict guidelines in order to be sustainable. Too many people, inefficiently planned accommodation and poor park management can spell the end for the “eco” in ecotourism. Ecotourism, when carried out in a sustainable fashion, can be very beneficial to local people, the economy, and the environment.
Payment for ecosystem services is another way forests can sustainably earn foreign income. In March 2008, the UK based Canopy Capital, purchased the rights to environmental services generated by Iwokrama’s 371,000-hectare rainforest reserve. This has set the precedent for a financial firm betting that the services generated by a living rainforest, will see compensation in international markets. These services include rainfall generation, climate regulation, biodiversity maintenance and water storage. Here in exchange for funding a “significant” part of maintaining Iwokrama rainforest reserve in Guyana, the agreement grants Canopy Capital the right to 16 percent profit from proceeds generated from environmental services payments, while 80 percent of the income generated would go to local communities. The Global Canopy Programme, an alliance of 29 scientific institutions in 19 countries, would receive four percent. While the environmental services market is presently limited to voluntary markets, investor interest is growing. The firm expects annual returns for selling “biodiversity credits” to developers to be in the 15-25 percent range, while at the same time developing a market for the utility value of living rainforests.
Another emerging highly sustainable way of earning foreign exchange from forests is carbon credits. Forest vegetation remove carbon (CO2) from the air during photosynthesis and this carbon get tied up in its biomass during the process of growth. This process is called sequestration. Carbon is released to the atmosphere when forests are burned, or when they are cleared for agriculture. New research by Dr. Saatchi et al, (2007) shows that the Guianas region (Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana) has one of the highest concentrations of bound carbon in the Amazon. Looking at the Amazon basin specifically, the researchers estimate the total biomass is around 86 petagrams (86 billion metric tons) of carbon, and it is estimated that the Amazon locks up at least 11 years of recent carbon dioxide emissions.
In the line of carbon credits, some countries have already benefited from this concept. Madagascar has made a deal to sell more than nine million tons of carbon offsets to fund rainforest conservation in a newly established protected area. In Aceh, Indonesia will benefit from $26 million in carbon credits for protecting rainforests from logging under a deal between conservationists, carbon traders, and the Aceh government. Here, 1.9 million-acres of Ulu Masen forest, a tract of rainforest home to the Sumatran elephant, the Clouded Leopard, the Sumatran Tiger, and the Sumatran Orangutan, will be protected. By preventing logging and conversion of Ulu Masen forest for oil palm plantations, planners expect to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 100 million tons over 30 years. The proceeds — in the form of carbon credits — will help fund health and education projects in the local community.
On July 24, 2008 it was announced that a new deal has been reached for Guyana and thirteen other countries to benefit from US83M. Initial funding will be dissembled through the Forest Caron Partnership Facility (FCPF) and is seen as an innovative approach to finance efforts to combat climate change. The aim is to reduce deforestation and forest degradation by compensating host countries. It should be noted that this not only includes deforestation from logging but also mining which is currently the biggest threat to our forests at the moment. Beneficiary countries will receive grants support to build local capacity. The implementation of this move was noted since deforestation and forest degradation is the second leading cause of global warming and responsible for 20% of green house gasses, and the main source of national emissions in many developing countries.
WWF along with other conservation organizations is continuing in its efforts for the protection and sustainable use of this important resource and strongly urges all forest users and the public at large to see the protection and stewardship of our forests as an individual responsibility.
For more information please contact: Ms. Muni Schanzenbacher, Education and Communications Officer, WWF Guianas, Tel: 223 7802 ext. 27, Email: mschanzenbaecher@wwf.gy