Non-Profit Partners

Although the situation is serious and urgent, we believe it is still possible to halt and reverse this trend through a properly funded and effectively coordinated emergency package. The response must meet several related challenges.

Control of land is a key issue. Millions of people depend directly on forest lands for their livelihoods. Gaining clarity under customary and statutory law as to which lands are controlled by which people is fundamentally important for achieving sustainable development goals, while respecting local communities and protecting the rights of indigenous peoples. We therefore seek action to clarify questions of land tenure.

Improving the living standards of the hundreds of millions of poor people who live in and around forests is also a vital priority. Improvements to health care, education and nutrition are vital for sustainable development and must be at the heart of strategies aimed at halting deforestation. We call for integrated development plans at the heart of the response.

Attending to the economic drivers of deforestation is a further central priority. We consider the large-scale expansion of commodity crops and demand for timber as priority areas for action. We call for action through more transparent supply chains to stabilise deforestation and for alternative economic strategies and development paths that reflect the true value of the rainforests.

The financial resources needed to implement this programme must be urgently mobilised. The rainforests provide benefits and services of planetary significance, and therefore all countries have responsibility to act, while recognising the sovereignty of the rainforest nations over their natural resources and territories. The industrialised countries, because of their economic wealth and ongoing consumption of resources that in part cause deforestation, should adopt a leadership position. In addition to reducing their own carbon emissions and making changes to their consumption patterns, we call on the wealthy nations to therefore allocate substantial new money aimed at halting the loss of the tropical rainforests.

A fuller understanding is needed about the rate and distribution of tropical deforestation. This is vital so as to most effectively target and monitor an adequate response. We call, therefore, for the establishment of a credible real time international forest monitoring programme.

More than half of the tropical rainforests are already gone. We cannot afford to lose the rest. We commend urgent action and invite people everywhere to support our call for the last rainforests to be protected – while there is still time.