--Gary ]
PRESS RELEASE
FRIENDS OF THE EARTH, 26-28 UNDERWOOD STREET, LONDON N1 7JQ, ENGLAND
11.00 BST, 10th September 1991. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DESTRUCTION OF RAINFORESTS ACCELERATES - OFFICIAL
"We told you so" says Friends of the Earth
The rate of destruction of the world's tropical forests,
including the rainforests, increased by 50% in recent years
according to figures released this week by the United Nations'
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). FAO's findings support
earlier evidence from Friends of the Earth (FoE) showing that
rates of tropical deforestation had dramatically increased during
the 1980s, a trend that FAO did not expect to uncover [1].
A review of tropical deforestation rates produced by Friends of
the Earth in 1989 [2] suggested a 90% increase in deforestation
rates over and above the FAO's 1981 estimates.
Tony Juniper, Rainforest Campaigner for FoE, said:
"The new figures show that official efforts to stem the
destruction are failing, and new measures are necessary.
The British Government must support European-wide
regulations limiting tropical timber imports as an immediate
first step". [3]
FAO sees the widely criticised Tropical Forestry Action Plan
(TFAP) [4] as offering possible solutions to the crisis,
justifying hope on the basis of the stable (and according to FAO)
improving forestry situation in the industrialied nations. Given
the great economic and ecological differences between the
developing and industrialised countries, Friends of the Earth
rejects FAO's analysis.
Tony Juniper said:
"If the FAO really believes that the situation in the
industrialised nations is comparable with that in the
rainforest countries, then it is no wonder the TFAP failed
to slow deforestation rates." [5]
ENDS
For further information, please contact:
Tony Juniper, Senior Rainforest Campaigner, Friends of the Earth:
Switchboard: (071) 490 1555
Direct: (071) 490 0336
Notes for editors
[1] In both 1981, following the publication of its earlier
findings on rates of tropical forest loss, and again in 1988, the
FAO stated that there was no evidence to suggest an acceleration
in the rates of tropical rainforest loss. The new figures have
identified a 50% increase in the rate of destruction since 1981
with annual losses of rainforests now standing at 117,000 sq km,
well in excess of the FAO's 74,000 sq km estimate for 1981.
[2] In 1989, Friends of the Earth published an overview of
rainforest destruction rates. For that year, the rate of loss
was estimated to be 142,000 sq km (Myers 1989), an area roughly
equivalent to that of England and Wales. In another survey,
Myers (1980) estimated the 1980 rate of loss at 75,000 sq km.
[3] Friends of the Earth is calling for Europe-wide regulations
to limit timber imports into the Community. These should reflect
the need to promote the sustainable use of forests.
[4] The TFAP has been criticised by a wide range of
environmental groups, including Friends of the Earth. Such
criticism was formulated on the basis of evidence showing that
the TFAP may have actually increased rates of deforestation, that
it was failing to attack the root causes of deforestation and
that its "top-down" structure rendered it incapable of meeting
the needs of local people. A reform process was initiated that
seeks to introduce changes to the TFAP in order that it might
better achieve its new aim and objectives. However, no firm
decisions have as yet been made (see [5] below).
[5] On the 13th and 14th of September, a "consultative meeting"
on the "revamping of the TFAP" will be held in Paris. This
meeting will discuss the reform package developed at a meeting in
Geneva during March that includes, among other things, the
development of a new quality control body for the TFAP. There is
evidence that the FAO will hold out against the reforms now
supported by many funders of the plan.