BIOL3465 Tropical Forest Ecology and Use

TROPICAL FORESTS IN THE 21ST CENTURY: STATUS, TRENDS AND

PROSPECTS

Report into Rainforests in the 21st Century: Status, Trends and Prospects

Jessica Ghingooree

Table of Contents

Introduction............................................................................................................1

Background Summary.......................................................................................3

Main Threats to Tropical Rainforests Globally.......................................................5

Sustainable Industries for Tropical Rainforests.....................................................6

Conclusions:..........................................................................................................6

Recommendations:...............................................................................................7

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Introduction

The term “Biodiversity” as proposed by the United Nations (UN) is “the variety

and differences among living organisms from all sources, including terrestrial, marine,

and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are a part.

This includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems” (Baydack,

Campa, & Haufler, 1999; Canhos, de Souza, De Giovanni, & Canhos, 2004).

Conservation is defined as management of human use of biosphere so that it may yield

sustainable benefit to the present generation while maintaining its potential to meet the

needs and aspirations of posterity (Frissell & Bayles, 1996; Grumbine, 1994).

Biodiversity is an important element in any assessment of conservation as it is

the cornerstone of our existence here on Earth. Biodiversity enhances ecosystem

efficiency where all species, play an important role no matter how small. In terms of

economics approximately 40% of the world’s trade market and 80 % of the necessities

of the poor are derivatives of biological resources (Yachi & Loreau, 1999). Moreover,

the more affluent the diversity of life, the grander the opportunity for higher economic

development, research and development in medical discoveries, and more importantly

adaptive responses to such new challenges as climate change (Canhos et al., 2004).

Latin America and the Caribbean account for a relatively modest 12 percent of

the world’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (Kurukulasuriya & Rosenthal, 2013), with

Trinidad and Tobago probably being the higher contributor among CARICOM nations.

The effects of these emissions are already being felt by communities across the region

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that suffering adverse consequences from climate change and variability in terms of

higher sea levels, flooding, loss of mangroves habitats, inundation of coastal cities, and

large-scale ecosystem transformations. (Verner, 2010, 2011).

This brings to the fore the importance of tropical rain forest to act as a sink for

GHG in an effort to reduce global warming. Therefore it’s no wonder that rainforest

destruction is one of the most studied but intractable global environmental problems

today. In that no longer does the world view tropical forests ingenuously as commodities

to be exploited to the maximum extent possible. Contrary to earlier thinking, rainforests

are biologically rich, an extremely fragile and complex ecosystems with limited

regeneration potential. Their biological affluence is in the canopy not in the soil/ and

thus intensive development effectively converts rainforests into a non-renewable

resource. Thus, science counsels that these resources should be conserved and

managed to sustain a variety of commodity and non-commodity uses, but the

economics and culture of under development propel the host countries toward rapid

exploitation.

Therefore the purpose of this project is to manage the Trinidad and Tobago

natural resource rainforest which is still makes up 46% of the countries natural

vegetation (Kenny, 2008). The current status quo of Trinidad highly industrialize sector

together with government policies for housing and development the need for land

resources are highly prevalent. In Trinidad and Tobago very little polices exist for the

protection of these rain forest and it is the direct intervention of non-governmental

organizations provides the impetus to help deter private and public sector advancement

into our rain forest.

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The recent two year ban on hunting has brought much controversy to the fore but

the need to maintain a balance within our ecosystem is of critical importance to ensure

its survivability. It is with this view, the use of environmentally sustainable and

conformity to conservation of biodiversity principles is needed in order to protect the

countries rain forest ecosystems.

Background Summary

Deforestation in the tropics, together with effects of climate change, loss of

biodiversity, and taking away of constructive ecosystem functions, has arisen as a

challenge of global significance. Policy-makers and researchers have established many

mechanisms and tools to slow or stop the loss of tropical forests; including establishing

protected areas and reducing or eliminating subsidies and other incentives which

encourage deforestation. As part of this process, there is a need to expand the

understanding of the range of values which can be attributed to rainforests. These

values include medicinal, non-timber products, biodiversity and ecotourism values

(Laurance, 1999; Maloney, 1998; Menkhaus & Lober, 1996). These latter values are

often excluded or inaccurately measured in most market transactions.

The deforestation and degradation trends of tropical rainforest globally can be

seen in Table 1, where it is shown that in each country every year some portion of the

rain forest is being destroyed. Countries such as Brazil and Indonesia are of particular

concerns. Deforestation (cutting down trees) is a major problem caused by humans in

the tropical rainforest. Laurance (2009) indicated that the global rates of deforestation is

at 2.47 acres (1 hectare) is destroyed per second: equivalent to two U.S. football field.

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Even though, the historic and present economic and institutional incentives that

promote rapid timber harvest, agricultural conversion practices, and the local, regional,

and global environmental economic costs of rainforest loss are well understood

(Cassells, Bonell, & Hamilton, 1987). There is a huge body of popular and scholarly

literature which extols the virtues of rainforest conservation and condemns rapid

exploitation for short term economic profit (Grether, Millie, Bryant, Reznick, & Mayea,

2001; Kenny, 2008; Liang et al., 2011; Menkhaus & Lober, 1996; Scatena, 2001). But,

like over-fishing of straddling ocean stocks, over hunting of our forest animals, illegal

logging and mining shows that the problem persists (Laurance, 1999, 2009; Lefevre &

Rodd, 2009).

Tarlock (1997) indicated that international law alone cannot solve the host

countries' lack of capacity to control destructive uses. If tropical rainforest destruction is

to be replaced with sustainable forest use practices, the primary implementation burden

falls on the host countries. However, international law can perhaps make a modest

contribution to the development of indirect restraints which can influence and reinforce

both international and domestic rainforest conservation policies by providing a standard

that can measure specific actions, serve as a deterrent to the adoption of destructive

policies, and provide a basis for internal and external sanctions.

The main determinants of forest exploitation are population pressures and

national development and settlement policies. The creation of counterincentives to the

historic pattern of under regulated exploitation involves the highly politically sensitive

issues of population control and distribution, economic growth rates, and property

entitlement regimes. Therefore the only the concept for rain forest protection is that of

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sustainable conservation development practice which holds out the possibility of

addressing the legitimate development needs of the rainforest host nations (Laurance,

1999, 2009; Verner, 2010, 2011).

Table 1: Showing the state of the world’s tropical rainforests: statistics on the forests

and human populations of major rainforest countries

Main Threats to Tropical Rainforests Globally

Several Forest Reserves have lost a significant proportion of their forest to illegal

logging, hunting, fires, agriculture - shifted cultivators, cattle ranching, fuelwood, building

of dams, mining and industry, colonization schemes and tourism. The underlying cause

for this is lost is due to countries need for development and overconsumption: the basic

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cause colonialism, exploitation by industrialized countries that is the need for resources,

the debt burden of a country and the role of poverty and overpopulation (Laurance,

2009; Maloney, 1998).

In Trinidad and Tobago one of the major problems to deforestation is squatters,

the problem is especially serious on the hills of the northern range where watershed

protection functions are likely to be seriously compromised by squatters who clear land

on steep slopes. Squatting may be the most serious threat to the sustainable

development of the forests of Trinidad and needs urgent government attention.

However the issue is apparently highly politicized. Another major cause is strip mining

of sand and gravel has degraded forests in large areas of the Forest Reserves

especially along the southern foothills of the Northern Range. The Valencia forest

Reserve in the NW Conservancy has been especially hard hit. Mined areas are never

rehabilitated and are abandoned to grasslands and scrub. Again there is a problem of a

lack of inter-departmental co-ordination. The Ministry of Energy and Mines awards

leases without adequate consultation with the Forest Department - in addition many

mines are illegal. But the capacity and political will to bring this situation under control

appears to be lacking (ITTO, 2003).

Sustainable Industries for Tropical Rainforests

Sustainable industries for tropical rainforests, is the use of timber labelling

Certification of timber traded on the international market has been seen as a tool for the

protection of primary forests. By far the most successful certification scheme was

initiated by the Forest Stewarship Council (FSC) in 1993. The FSC is an independent

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international organization based in Oaxaca in Mexico. Consumers are able to buy

timber which has been certified by the FSC in preference to those which have no

certification. If there is sufficient support for the FSC-certified timber, then demand for

timber from operations which are environmentally unsound will diminish, thereby

reducing the pressure on forests.

Poor farmers opening up rainforest land for subsistence farming are the agents

of more rainforest loss than any other single factor. Unless land reforms are enacted in

the near future, most tropical forests will perish. The logging industry also contributes to

the problem of land clearance by poor farmers because the roads constructed by

logging companies are the usual way that these farmers gain access to the forests.

Poverty, Debt and Inequality remains at the forefront in that more than $US1300 billion

is owed by the third world to rich countries (Laurance, 1999) and poor nations are

paying rich nations $50 billion a year more than they are receiving in aid (Verner, 2010).

Some of the countries with largest debts are also the countries with relatively large

areas of rainforest left. To repay the huge amounts owed, these countries have to

sacrifice their environment (as well as health and education). A spiral of poverty-induced

ecological degradation occurs.

It is clear then that without the cancellation of much of the third world's debt to

the industrialized countries, tropical deforestation is bound to continue. All international

debts entered into before 1980 for the 40 or so nations in trouble could be cancelled

immediately and the rest phased out over the next ten years. With the need to repay

loans removed, third world countries would be under less pressure to earn foreign

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exchange by selling tropical timber and cash crops grown on cleared rainforest land

(Plumwood & Routley, 1982).

There needs to be greater equality of land, resources and income within third

world nations as well. Otherwise, exploitation of the poor by the ruling elites in third

world counties will perpetuate the current patterns of destruction. The current global

economy is based on the desire for continual, unlimited growth. This means using more

and more resources, encouraging overconsumption and waste. This is in direct conflict

with conservation and is based on the false assumption that the earth's resources are

infinite. It also requires that the rich minority of the world's population use resources

which belong to the world's poor, and this can only be done through the exploitation of

third world countries (Maloney, 1998; Olson & Dinerstein, 1998; Plumwood & Routley,

1982).

Long term security for the world's tropical forests can only be achieved if the

waste and injustice of the present global economic system is ended. Much theoretical

work has been done on this issue. What is needed for these theories to be applied is a

widespread change in values (Maloney, 1998; Olson & Dinerstein, 1998; Tarlock, 1997).

Other issues that need to be addressed for sustainable industrial practices are

population control. Although the role of overpopulation in the destruction of tropical

forest has been misrepresented, there can be no lasting solutions to this or any other

global environmental calamity until the problem of overpopulation is successfully

confronted. Solving the problem of overpopulation will involve: more widespread

acceptance of the importance of replacement reproduction (no more than two children

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per couple), equality for women, education, particularly for women and cheap and

available contraception (Plumwood & Routley, 1982).

Further, education and research will play a big role in halting the destruction of

our forests. There is a need for more research into identifying species (before they

become extinct) and other services forests provide, apart from timber. These include

medicinal drugs, biological control of pests and diseases, dust removal from air, soil

generation and climate stabilization. These services need to be recognized. Education

regarding social values is also needed. An improved education system where people

learn to think for themselves and recognise themselves as part of nature is important.

Values of conformity, greed and dominion have contributed to our current predicament

(Maloney, 1998; Verner, 2010).

Conclusions:

For sustainable development of the rainforest ecosystems the need for aid and

enough resources will be need for the development and to action change. If this exists it

will aid in the protection of our rain forest for future generations to use and enjoy.

However a number of measures must be taken. These include afforestation techniques

where trees should be replanted in areas of deforestation. Shifting Cultivation should be

monitored where farmers should move on after 2-3 years to allow the rainforest to

recover. Rubber tapping more sustainable methods of exploiting the rainforest should

be pursued and the use of recycled paper. Measuring trees in that trees should only be

cut down when they reach a certain size. This will ensure younger trees survive longer

and will encourage careful management of the rainforest.

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Recommendations:

The best tropical rainforest industries that are sustainable and profitable for

investment in the 21st Century will be that of cocoa and coffee plantations both of which

are rainforest type industries and can provide a strong economic backbone for a country

to earn foreign exchange. Other practices are to use indigenous forest for medicinal and

pharmaceutical companies. It is a well document that many of these indigenous trees

hold a variety of medicinal value. Further, as population recognise the importance of

tropical rain forest and the large amount of biodiversity and animal life is present, eco-

tourism will flourish. Persons from develop nations will flock to eco sites to observe both

fauna and flora and the trend will increase as this commodity becomes a rare site.

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