Picking Berries Protects Rain Forests Best

[Guest guest]

of course i would assume there's a better way entirely, but that precludes there

being peoples..........

 

 

Picking Berries Protects Rain Forests Best, Study Shows

 

July 18, 2007 — By Raymond Colitt, Reuters

 

BRASILIA -- Small community projects for picking fruits and nuts are the best

way to alleviate poverty and protect the Amazon and other tropical forests, but

are largely ignored by governments, a study showed Monday.

 

Communities harvesting natural products generate more long-term income than many

national parks or big timber companies, said a report by the International

Tropical Timber Organization, or ITTO, released at a forestry conference in

northeastern Brazil.

 

" Someone depending on a forest for income and habitat will look after it, " said

Andy White, one of the report's authors. " We need people in forests. "

 

The 200-page report is based on 20 case studies on three continents, ranging

from raising bees in Africa to making bamboo chopsticks in China.

 

The ITTO, an intergovernmental group promoting the conservation and trade of

tropical timber, says communities living in the forest have a " longer time

horizon for resource management " than big timber companies.

 

For example, in Nepal, the extraction of juice from the Bel tree by local

communities is rejuvenating degraded forests and helping prevent unsustainable

timber extraction, the report said.

 

Community forest management has increased in recent years with political

decentralization and the recognition of historic land tenure rights in several

countries. But such efforts must overcome red tape, competition from big

business and government indifference, the study said.

 

In Brazil, local forest communities are often displaced by loggers, farmers and

miners, and many lack the infrastructure to bring products to the market.

 

Rural workers and tribal Indians delivered a letter Sunday to Brazilian

Environment Minister Marina Silva, urging the government to come up with a

policy and financial aid for community forest projects.

 

" If the government dedicated only a fraction of its farm aid to forestry

management, you would see a conservation revolution in the Amazon, " ITTO

Executive Director Manoel Sobral Filho said.

 

Each year, country-sized chunks of the Amazon are burned or cut down by loggers,

ranchers and speculators.

 

Source: Reuters

 

 

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