Rain Forest Conservation

RAIN FOREST CONSERVATION

Since the 1970s, an increasing number of national and international organizations have been established to promote rain forest conservation. In recent years, two principal approaches have been used to conserve tropical rain forests: strict protection and sustainable development. The first, outright protection through the development of national parks and preserves, has been an essential element in biodiversity conservation. In this method of conservation, entire tracts of the rain forest are set aside, and uses are carefully regulated. Protected areas are especially important for preserving the most biologically distinctive rain forests—that is, those forests with exceptionally high species diversity with many species endemic to that forest. At the end of the 20th century, the number of national parks in tropical countries increased significantly, and today approximately 5 percent of all forests are classified under some protected status. International organizations such as the World Bank and the World Wildlife Fund have launched a movement for all countries in the developing world to set aside 10 percent of their forests in protected areas.

Yet protecting these designated areas is costly, and even impossible in some areas. Communities living near the rain forests may rely on the rain forest for food and firewood. When restricted from using rain forest land, these communities find it more difficult to meet their subsistence needs. To lessen these adverse effects, community-based programs have been developed that provide sustainable economic alternatives to destructive harvesting and land use. One alternative for some forests is sustainable rain forest logging, in which the trees logged are carefully selected to ensure a minimal impact on the forest ecosystem.

In 2006 an effort was made to combine these two approaches of outright protection and sustainable development. The governor of the state of Pará in northern Brazil set aside a vast area the size of England in the Amazon rain forest. The total area encompassed 150,000 sq km (58,000 sq mi). Of this amount, nearly one-third was designated as completely protected. Access was even off limits to the general public. Only scientific researchers and indigenous people could access this area. The remaining two-thirds was earmarked for sustainable development, which meant limited logging under a strict management plan and a natural resources management plan for local communities living in the area. Moreover, the protected area was formed adjacent to existing nature reserves along Brazil’s border with the neighboring countries of Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana, so that a vast protected corridor was created.

Other alternatives to rain forest destruction include the harvesting and selling of sustainable rain forest products, such as vegetable ivory seeds from palms, known as tagua nuts, and brazil nuts. Still others involve exploring medicinal plants and drug development as ways to strengthen and diversify the economies of countries with large tracts of rain forest. More recently, farms dedicated to raising beautiful rain forest butterflies have become increasingly popular. Many rain forest communities host ecotourists—vacationers who focus on nature study and outdoor activities that have minimal ecological impact—as a way to attract tourism to their region while still preserving their fragile rain forest homeland.