Blueprint to Address Global Forest Crisis Presented by Former Top World Leaders
The World Commission on Forests and Sustainable Development has released its final report, claiming "We can satisfy the world's material needs from forests without jeopardizing their ecological services". The Commission includes some world leaders with dubious records in forest management. Co-Chairman Dr. Emil Salim is a former Minister of Environment and Population in Indonesia, a country with a lamentable record in forest conservation. Mr. B.C.Y Freezailah of Malaysia, a member of the Commission, has presided over the International Tropical Timber Organisation's farcical attempts to reconcile logging and conservation of tropical forests. Nevertheless, the Commission makes some appropriate recommendations.
World Commission on Forests
and Sustainable Development
Final Report Released
The Commission has released its Final Report. The ten
recommendations were:1.Stop the destruction of the earth's forests: their material products
and ecological services are severely threatened.2.Use the world's rich forest resources to improve life for poor
people and for the benefit of forest-dependent communities.3.Put the public interest first and involve people in decisions about
forest use.4.Get the price of forests right, to reflect their full ecological and
social values, and to stop harmful subsidies.5.Apply sustainable forest management approaches so we may use
forests without abusing them.6.Develop new measures of forest capital so we know whether the
situation is improving or worsening.7.Plan for the use and protection of whole landscapes, not the
forest in isolation.8.Make better use of knowledge about forests, and greatly expand
this information base.9.Accelerate research and training so sustainable forest
management can become a reality quickly.10.Take bold political decisions and develop new civil society
institutions to improve governance and accountability regarding
forest use.
Source: For more details, go to http://iisd.ca/wcfsd/default.htm
For more information about the Commission and its follow up activities, contact:
Ajit Krishnaswamy, WCFSD Secretariat – 204/958 7700, 204/958 7756