The preceding sections focused on the problem of forest destruction or development from the technical and theoretical point of view. In contrast, this section shows the problem from the perspective of the people in the forest communities, including their achievements and frustrations in managing their forest resources.
The chapter prepared by the Union of Forest Ejidos and Communities of Oaxaca should dispel any doubts that one might have that local communities are capable of managing their own resources. Urgent custom paper writing of high quality for those students who seek to get custom research papers prepared from scratch Their contribution demonstrates how communities can, through collective organization, work, and determination of its leaders, overcome bureaucratic, technical, economic obstacles and take control of their forest resources.
In a book on deforestation, it is tempting to ignore the fact that forest communities have multiple needs and resources beyond those of the forest industry. Eucario Martinez shows the need for governments to recognize that, at the community level, integrated resource management is the norm. He demonstrates how communities handle their development projects through a collective approach. Rather than a generalized, governmental program, he stresses the need to formulate development projects, policies, and regulations within the community, based on their needs and limitations.
Next, two Mexican peasants, Martinez and Matias, express their perception of the deforestation problem and possible solutions. They suggest alternatives to firewood consumption. They point out the need for the creation of alternative occupations for those who currently make a living out of the forest resources. Their frustration is evident when it comes to obtaining technical assistance for combating problems outside their local expertise such as beetle infestations or disease plagued trees and the cost that such disaster entails.
It is often difficult to realize the physical violence which too often accompanies the struggle between people who depend on the forest for their livelihood and those who use cattle to establish rights to land. The interview with Osmarino Amâncio Rodrigues, an Amazonian rubber tapper and organizer, provides a stunning glimpse of the front-line struggle to maintain sustained production from the tropical forest.What can foreigners do? Read his answer. These chapters present an overview of the skepticism and optimistic spirit of cooperation that exist at the community level in the process of implementation of development or conservation works.
Summary
The main reasons for the preference for development of cattle farming rather than forest based activities are financial: long gestation periods of the investment in forestry, the inflexible nature of forest investment and the fact that most of the non-timber values produced by the forest cannot be converted into cash for the owner or manager.
Governments have different reasons for accepting the deforestation development: it provides immediate, large scale employment, it can provide immediate, additional foreign exchange revenues and it does not call for skills which are not available domestically.
The attitude of both the people and the administration is to a great extent the result of ignorance of the real value of the total timber and non-timber production of the forests and of the long term adverse effects of deforestation. Online custom paper writing of high quality for those students who would like to order custom research paper completed from scratch In order to halt the current development and secure long term timber production and protection of environmental values of the forests, several requirements have to be met:
• It is necessary to review and revise government policies so that the competitive strength of forest management corresponds to its importance in the national economy.
• Research has to be devoted to establishing the full value of all products and services produced by the forests.
• Training of all categories of forest and forest industry personnel needs to be intensified and geared toward developing insight into the dynamics of various types of tropical forest.
• International cooperation in planning and implementing activities in tropical forestry need to be strengthened.
• Systems of charges for the use of forests and forest land, which correctly reflect the cost to the society of such use, need to be designed and implemented.
Financing
Increased knowledge of the total production of the forests and of the value of these goods and services must result in increased charges for the use of the resource, and these charges must grow relative to the increasing value of the remaining productive capacity of the resource. There is little else to resort to with regard to policy action if we want to introduce control and attempt to steer the development. Free editing proofreading services advice for responsible college students who want to order custom proofreading assistance without free! A taxation model must be found which will meet three criteria: • it should correctly reflect the value of the goods removed and the reduction of other production which becomes a temporary or permanent consequence of that removal;
• it should provide funds and incentives for administrative control and reinvestment into the resource, and
• it should not be so high that it discourages sustainable use of the forest resource
If these criteria are met the result will be increased revenue to the forest owner from the forest. Of course, this in itself cannot guarantee that increased funds will be available for forest management and for investment into the forest resource. There must also be a desire to give this increased flow of revenue a long term nature by recycling a sufficiently large portion back into resource development to guarantee its continued productivity.
The conversion of forests into grazing areas for cattle, which is taking place in Latin America, is likely to have a disturbing effect on the global timber supply and may adversely influence the climate of the world by reducing the carbon dioxide absorbing capacity of the vegetation.Locally it may reduce the productive capacity of the land and, in the long term, reduce earnings of people living in the affected areas. On the other hand, clearing of the forests may, at least temporarily, provide high income earning employment and increased export revenues.
Manpower Development
The disturbance which is acceptable in a wood removal operation and the treatment which is required to retain and enhance the value of forests production are basically site-specific. Affordable custom paper writing of reliable quality for those students who want to order custom papers written from scratch The forest manager must therefore be able to decide what combination of removal intensity, removal technique and post felling treatments are to be applied in any given situation. This skill or insight can, to some extent, be obtained through theoretical studies but, to a large extent, it comes from practical experience. It is therefore important that the professional and technical staff is available in sufficient number in the forest management authorities to allow a substantial portion of their time to be spent in the field and that logistics and funds for economic compensation for this are available to the staff.
The continued supply of timber and the sustainability of a healthy environment are issues of global concern which are attracting increasing attention worldwide. Though the sovereign right of individual countries to manage their own resources must be accepted, it must also be recognized that forest and environment management are becoming aspects of global economics and international relations, including international law. Such management issues are beginning to figure prominently in international assistance. This interdependence of nations, in the utilization of natural resources, calls for regional and global cooperation and coordination of planning and action in the fields of forest and environment management.
A mechanism for a broad, holistic approach to forest development planning exists in the Tropical Forestry Action Plan (TFAP) which is a new concept for international cooperation in tropical forest development. Expertise and manpower for planning and implementation of plans are available with the large number of bilateral agencies which provide assistance in forestry and forest related activities, with the development banks, with UN agencies like FAO, UNLDO, UNEP and UNESCO and with ITTO, and of course with the various agencies and institutions in the tropical countries.
