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Solutions to deforestation
The obvious solution to the problem of deforestation is to stop cutting down the trees and
thereby halt the deterioration. But is this the only answer? Global trade in tropical
timber is now worth in excess of £5 billion per year,
so calls for its abolition would certainly be met with a degree of hostility! But perhaps
there is no need to halt timber production absolutely. Forest management schemes are being
set up all over the world, with the emphasis on sustainability. These allow logging to
take place, whilst laying down strict guidelines as to how it is to be carried out with
the least enduring effects upon the environment.
Among the organisations seeking to minimise the
impact of commercial logging on the world's forests is the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). This is a non-profit organisation which was founded in 1993
to provide an independent certification of timber from well-managed forests. With an
internationally recognised trademark that was launched in 1996, the FSC enables
responsible consumers to identify those timber products which have originated from
sustainable sources. Because the FSC has members from every sphere associated with the
timber industry, such as environmental institutions, the timber trade, the forestry
profession and indigenous peoples' organisations, it has been able to lay down ten
principles and criteria, adherence to which will ensure that logging will not exceed the
capacities of the forests concerned, allowing long-term sustainable harvesting. On a
global scale, more than 8 million hectares of forest have been certified to the FSC's
exacting standards.
Regions of rain forest which are deemed too sensitive even for well managed logging can
be designated as protected areas, and together with suitably enforced legislation this can
be an effective defence against many of the problems affecting rain forests.
Perhaps the most important step is to educate and inform those people whose actions,
either directly or indirectly, pose a threat to the forests. Indigenous people can be
helped by WWF and other conservation organisations to make the very best use of their
natural resources - and at the other end of the scale, consumers in developed countries
have to understand the increasingly damaging impacts of the forest products they buy. That
is why WWF advises them of the alternatives available, and encourages them to make
informed decisions about their lifestyles. Only in this way will we be able to stop, and
eventually reverse, the degradation of the tropical rain forests.
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photo by WWF-UK
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