Policy paper – forests initiatives across

the world

Ana-Maria Boca
IRES2
Introduction

Forests are one of the Earth’s most valuable resources, but because of issues such as
climate change and, more precisely, deforestation, the world we live in today is greatly
damaged. As the global population are in a continuous growth, the demand for more and more
valuable resources also increases. That is why deforestation has emerged as a serious issue,
and its effects have caused the environment to turn more sensitive and made parts of the
planet suffer from permanent damage. As a possible solution, planting trees and forests
initiatives have gained growing attention in the eyes of NGO’s and governments. Forest-
friendly policies have been implemented by thousands of companies in order to make a
change in the environmental problems.

The concepts

Deforestation refers to the permanent loss of trees in a certain area, through intentional
or natural means. The removal of trees can produce several significant consequences: natural
habitats are destroyed which, in turn, alters the ecosystem and the biodiversity; there is an
increase in greenhouse gases; soil erosion and flooding are more likely to occur and lastly,
homelands of indigenous people are destroyed permanently, affecting their lifestyle. In legal
terms, the definition is provided by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations in the “The Forest Resources Assessment Working Paper 180”: “The conversion of
forest to other land use or the permanent reduction of the tree canopy cover below the
minimum 10 per cent threshold.”1
Planting trees involves planting seeds over an area which has been affected either by
natural disasters, such as wild fires, or by human activities, such as farming or logging. Tree
planting does not only solve the problem of deforestation, but also impacts political and
economic issues like global warming and food security. The benefits on the environment are
that tree planting prevents soil erosion, stops flooding and conserves water during droughts,
and it increases land fertility, because trees absorb the greenhouse gases.
A forest policy, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations is “A set of orientations and principles of actions adopted by public authorities in
harmony with national socio-economic and environmental policies in a given country to guide

1
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 2015. “The Forest Resources Assessment
Working Paper 180”, p. 5
future decisions in relation to the management, use and conservation of forest and tree
resources for the benefit of society”.2

The problem
Forest initiatives across the world are meant to come up with a solution and change the
problem of deforestation. To better understand them and why world governments urgently
need to implement such actions, I chose to look at the case of the Amazon Forest, world’s
largest rainforest. It incorporates approximately 40% of the South African continent and
covers nine countries: largest part of the forest is found in Brazil, followed then by Peru and
Colombia and lastly by Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana.
The tropical rainforests are the most biologically diverse and, according to a report of World
Wide Fund for Nature, 17% of the Amazonian rainforest has been lost in the last half century
due to human activity.3 This shows that the problem of deforestation has been subject to an
increase and needs to be addressed immediately.

This issue that appeared in the Amazonian forest began in the 1970’s and ever since
more than 700,000 square kilometres have been destroyed. Nowadays deforestation has
become a problem caused not only by large-scale agriculture, but also by industrial activities.
If in the beginning it was mainly generated by farmers who needed to produce crops for their
families, the problem soon spread and became one at a global scale that has impacted the
whole planet. Until the mid-2000s, vast areas of the Amazon rainforest have been transformed
into cattle-ranches or soy farms, they have either been dug up in order to build dams or
destroyed so that towns and other urban areas can emerge. All these activities have damaged
more than 1.4 million hectares of forest, all of which have been cleared since the 1970’s.4

However, since 2005 there has been a reduction in the deforestation rate across the
Amazon, but it is still not enough to make a significant difference and it still threatens the
forest’s biodiversity and ecosystem. Enormous losses occurred from 2001 to 2012, resulting
in a total disaster of 17.7 million hectares, out of which Brazil was responsible for 75% of
them, but the numbers reach as far as 90% if we look at the damaged caused also by Peru and

2
Idem, p. 26
3
World Wide Fund for Nature. n.d. “Forests”
4
Butler, Rhett A. 2019. "The Amazon Rainforest", in Mongabay
Bolivia. By 2030, the figures could be much higher, almost double, if deforestation continues
at this rate, according to a report published by World Wide Fund for Nature.5

The same study also offers an insight to the major sources that lead to deforestation.
The most problematic is cattle ranching, as Brazil is the largest exporter of cattle in the entire
world. This is followed by mechanized agriculture and small-scale agriculture, which have
seen an increase in the last years in regions such as northern and eastern Bolivia. More than
that, dams and roads that interfere in protected areas and affect the territories of indigenous
people are also among the main factors that lead to deforestation. Lastly, forest fires, mining
and illegal timber trade contribute to the Amazon rainforest’s degradation.6

As much as the problem advanced, as important legislation to address it became. The

biggest percentage of deforestation in the world occurs in the Amazon and drastic measures
are needed to be urgently implemented in order to prevent a world scale irreversible damage
that will affect the entire ecosystem. The Brazilian Government has taken upon itself the
responsibility to address the situation: in the beginning of the 2000’s it had established
multiple protected areas in the region, as well as implemented a deforestation reduction
programme that consists, among others, of increased law enforcement and satellite
monitoring.

In pursuing planting trees and forests initiatives concerning the Amazonian rainforest,
the non-governmental organizations have taken the leading role. Some of the driving forces
that engaged in these kind initiatives are the Greenpeace and the World Wide Fund for
Nature, previously known as World Wide Fund. The former has lead several successful
campaigns against the largest leaders of deforestation, such as issuing reports that linked
world’s famous brands to illegal destruction of the Amazon rainforest7, while the latter pushes
the Amazon governments to create awareness regarding the problem of deforestation and
recognise the rights of the indigenous populations, along with facilitating cross border
dialogue in order to establish more protected areas.8 In pursue of this view, countries need to
work closely together in order to make a change and ameliorate the issue.

5
World Wide Fund for Nature. 2015. "Living Forests Report: Saving Forests at Risk ", p. 19
6
Idem, p. 20
7
Butler, Rhett A. 2010. “How Greenpeace changes big business”, in Mongabay
8
World Wide Fund for Nature. n.d. “Amazon Deforestation”
 The United States Government has also given major interest to forest policies by
adopting laws like the Endangered Species Act or the Wilderness Act that protect woodlands
and put an end to bringing illegal wood products on the U.S. market. More than that, the U.S.
has signed global treaties such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species that aims to protect the forests and the wildlife that inhabits within.9

Proposal of a policy
Forest policies set guidelines that governments should follow in order to achieve the
objective of administering the wood resources so that they meet the demand of the society and
provide for future generations. Given the current problem of deforestation that the Amazonian
rainforest is facing, I propose that illegal and unsustainable logging should be stopped. In
order for the resources of the forest to be preserved, we need to better manage them and
ensure that they are used in the most advantageous manner possible. Because millions of
people depend on the forests, as they provide for daily needs or play a major part in economy,
we should be aware that the resources are limited and thus shall use them in a sustainable
manner.

In the case of the Amazon, illegal logging is linked to cutting down more trees than
the authorized number, or cutting them in areas that are not designated for this kind of
activity, in protected areas or on the land of indigenous populations. The Brazilian
Government had not succeeded in the fight against deforestation, and the problem became
more and more threatening when recent policies that did not promote environmentalism
reduced area under protection. Taking these things into consideration, the Government should
impose stricter regulations and legislation on forest management which ensures that legal and
sustainable logging is carried out in accordance to proper norms. By enforcing stricter laws
that address this problem and by implementing severe sanctions, such as sentencing huge
fines for those who breach the law, this illegal activity should be halted. However, it is not
only the Government that should take a stand against illegal logging, but also multinational
companies that are supplied by the illegal logging that occurs in the Amazon.

9
Greenpeace. n.d. “Solutions to Deforestation”
 By implementing this policy, the objective is to contribute to the Government’s efforts
to achieve sustainable development.10 If logging and timber exports are to be executed
according to appropriate standards, this will lead to a decline in the rainforest’s overall
deforestation activity. Firstly, the policy would strengthen the Government’s ability to
manage climate change issues. The benefits would include that the species habitat, as well as
the territories of indigenous people, are left unharmed. By reducing the total loss of forests,
areas in the Amazon would not be exposed to extreme weather conditions that ultimately lead
to the appearance of wildfires. In this way, long-term advantages would allow the Amazonian
ecosystem and biodiversity to recover, and implicitly, this would benefit the entire global
ecosystem. Still, in order for all those advantages to take effect, they should be closely
monitored by the responsible institutions.

From an economic point of view, the enforcement of the policy would help the
developing countries’ economy, because the price of timber that is sold world-wide will
increase. In addition, the policy would pressure the suppliers that are involved in these
activities to pay fees and be accountable for their actions and, more importantly, they would
also stop being a threat to companies who follow the rules, as it is harder to compete on the
market with others that engage in illegal activities and succeed to have higher gains.

However, we still have to take into considerations the reasons for which implementing
this policy would not work. To begin with, it is very difficult for national authorities to track
and follow if logging occurs in accordance with the pre-established norms. Even if there are
special bodies and institutions that deal exclusively with this issue, not all operations can be
controlled. More than that, it is not only the Brazilian Government that should take action
against illegal logging, but also all countries that are involved in timber trade. For example,
national authorities should refuse to accept timber that enters their territories if it comes from
illegal activities. In regard of this reason, it is a very delicate situation as not every legal
authority is prepared to do so either because of poor law enforcement or because sometimes
they are more interested in maximizing their profits and receiving the best gains even if the
harm upon the environment is huge.

10
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 2018. “Climate change for forest
policy-makers – An approach for integrating climate change into national forest policy in
support of sustainable forest management – Version 2.0.”, FAO Forestry Paper no.181,
Rome, p. 1
Conclusion
In the last century climate change, and especially deforestation, has become a serious
issue at a global scale and national governments and NGO’s are confronted with it on a daily
basis. The Amazon rainforest is the number one area in the world that is damaged by
deforestation and this activity has greatly caused the deterioration of the forest’s biodiversity,
affecting also protected areas by the law and the land of indigenous people. There are many
reasons that lead to such enormous parts of the Amazon to be cut down, but one of them that
has seen an increase is illegal and unsustainable logging. The number of areas harmed by this
could double if deforestation continues at the current rate and no actions are taken to minimise
it. In pursuit of this, one proposal that could decrease the damage that the Amazon rainforest
is facing could be that illegal logging is stopped and governments implement stricter
legislation that would determine suppliers and companies to not engage in this kind of
activities.
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