How to Save the Rainforest

By Rhett A. Butler
April 1, 2019

How to Save the Rainforest

Tropical rainforests are disappearing at an alarming rate. Despite growing international concern, deforestation continues at a pace of more than 80,000 acres (32,000 hectares) per day. Today, tropical forest cover spans approximately 2 billion hectares (7.7 million square miles)—an area roughly the size of the United States and China combined—representing about 13% of the world's land surface. However, much of this remaining forest has been altered by human activity and no longer retains its full original biodiversity.

Deforestation of tropical rainforests has far-reaching consequences, including species extinctions, loss of critical ecosystem services, depletion of renewable resources, and reduced carbon sequestration. However, this destruction is not inevitable—it can be slowed, halted, and, in some cases, even reversed. While most people agree on the need for action, the solutions are complex. Simply placing fences around rainforests or banning logging is not a viable solution, as economic, political, and social pressures make complete isolation of these ecosystems impractical.

What, then, can be done? The most effective solutions must be practical rather than purely idealistic. Conservation efforts should prioritize sustainable use and responsible development of rainforest resources. Additionally, rehabilitating degraded lands, restoring forests, and establishing well-managed protected areas are crucial steps toward securing the long-term benefits that rainforests provide to humanity.

Past Conservation Efforts

Historically, many rainforest conservation strategies have fallen short, as evidenced by the continued acceleration of deforestation. In some regions, designating forests as untouchable national parks and reserves has neither improved the livelihoods of rural communities nor effectively deterred illegal logging and land conversion. In many cases, corruption has exacerbated the problem, undermining conservation policies and enforcement.

One major shortcoming of the traditional park-based conservation model in developing countries is that it often fails to create sufficient economic incentives for local communities to support forest protection. Rainforests will only survive as functional ecosystems if they are recognized as valuable assets that generate tangible economic benefits. Both local communities and governments must see a financial return that justifies the cost of maintaining protected areas and forgoing revenue from extractive industries within these zones.

Limited Resources

Countries with significant rainforest cover are often among the world’s less affluent nations. In many rural areas, people's survival depends directly on natural resources. Many individuals living in or near forests do not have the option to pursue careers as doctors, athletes, factory workers, or office employees; instead, they rely on the land around them to meet their basic needs. The cycle of poverty not only affects these communities but also has broader consequences, including biodiversity loss and the degradation of ecosystem services such as erosion prevention, flood control, water purification, and fisheries protection.

Governments in these nations must navigate a difficult balance—addressing the needs of rural communities while managing industry interests, responding to foreign demands, and adhering to international aid requirements. In this complex environment, prioritizing long-term, ecologically sustainable development can be challenging. Without viable economic alternatives, short-term exploitation of natural resources often continues unchecked. Effective conservation efforts must reconcile the immediate needs of local populations with the long-term benefits that sustainable environmental management can provide.

Forces Behind Rainforest Loss

Deforestation is primarily driven by economic factors, though political and social motivations also play a role. A significant portion of rainforest clearing is carried out by small-scale farmers seeking to cultivate land for subsistence. Beyond subsistence agriculture, large-scale activities such as logging, cattle ranching, and commercial agriculture are major contributors to deforestation. Additionally, agricultural fires used for land clearing frequently spread beyond cultivated areas, further damaging degraded forest landscapes.

Addressing Deforestation

Addressing deforestation requires acknowledging and balancing the diverse needs and interests of the various stakeholders involved.

• Poor Farmers:
  Many small-scale farmers are simply trying to provide food for their families. A more effective approach to supporting these farmers involves improving and intensifying existing agricultural practices while promoting sustainable cultivation methods, such as permaculture. Permaculture encourages biodiversity by integrating a variety of crops, which helps diversify income sources and restore soil nutrients. These techniques allow for more sustainable use of the land while maintaining higher levels of biodiversity than conventional agricultural methods. When farms are located near secondary or old-growth forests, many species can continue to thrive.
• One promising area of research involves studying ancient Amazonian societies that enriched nutrient-poor rainforest soils using charcoal and animal bones. This process created "terra preta," a highly fertile soil that could help restore degraded land for agriculture, reducing the pressure to clear additional rainforest. Additionally, terra preta sequesters carbon, making it a potential tool for mitigating climate change.
• A crucial step in assisting poor farmers is securing formal land tenure. In many regions where land ownership is uncertain, farmers have little incentive to invest in long-term sustainability. When individuals and communities have legal rights to their land, they are more likely to practice responsible land management rather than moving to new forested areas once soil fertility declines.
• Providing credit and financial services is another essential aspect of improving farmers’ quality of life. Microfinance initiatives allow farmers to save their earnings and access loans in times of need, fostering economic stability and entrepreneurship.
• Improving market access is also critical for small-scale farmers. However, infrastructure development, such as road-building, must be carefully planned to minimize its impact on forests. While better transportation networks can help farmers reach markets, they can also accelerate deforestation by facilitating illegal logging and land conversion.
• Industrial and Commercial Developers:
  Scaling up sustainable agriculture to meet industrial demands remains a challenge. Large-scale commercial agriculture, as currently practiced, is often highly destructive to native ecosystems. Unlike smaller, diversified farms, industrial operations typically clear vast areas of forest, resulting in significant biodiversity loss. Some incremental steps, such as using natural pest control and organic fertilizers, can help reduce environmental harm. Additionally, maintaining strips of forest as wildlife corridors between agricultural areas can help moderate biodiversity losses.
• Sustainable logging, while theoretically possible, has faced resistance from the timber industry due to its lower efficiency compared to traditional logging methods. Conservationists remain divided on its environmental impact. Illegal logging and counterfeit labeling further complicate efforts to promote sustainable forestry. However, in the long term, the development of high-yield timber plantations on degraded non-forest lands could help reduce pressure on natural forests.

Restoring and Rehabilitating Ecosystems

Rather than dwelling on past deforestation, the focus must now be on how to best manage already cleared land to support both productive activities and long-term environmental sustainability. Without improving the well-being of the people living in and around forests, it is unrealistic to expect rainforests to persist as fully functional ecosystems that continue to provide essential services.

When addressing environmental challenges in rainforest regions, decision-makers must not only consider the preservation of existing ecosystems but also the responsible management of already cleared and degraded areas. To reduce further deforestation, efforts should focus on increasing the productivity and sustainability of farms, pastures, plantations, and scrublands while also restoring native species and ecosystems in degraded landscapes. By minimizing inefficient land-use practices, improving yields on already cleared land, and rehabilitating damaged landscapes, the pressure to clear additional forest can be significantly reduced.

Research and practical experience have demonstrated that ecosystem restoration is most feasible in areas where some remnants of the original forest remain and human population pressures are relatively low. Small clearings surrounded by intact forest can regenerate rapidly, while larger degraded areas may recover over time, especially with targeted restoration efforts. In many cases, native seed dispersers such as birds and bats play a crucial role in natural reforestation. Within a few years, previously barren land can support vegetation, with pioneer species and secondary growth taking hold. Although secondary forests tend to have lower biodiversity and simpler ecological structures compared to primary forests, they still provide habitat for some species—assuming those species have not been lost from the region.

Additionally, regenerated forest patches can serve as valuable resources for sustainable livelihoods. These areas can be utilized for responsible harvesting of forest products, low-intensity logging, and agroforestry, allowing people to derive economic benefits while maintaining ecosystem functions. Thoughtfully managed restoration efforts can thus help balance conservation with human needs, ensuring that both forests and communities have a viable future.

Funding Rainforest Conservation Efforts

Conservation initiatives and sustainable development programs require financial resources. Even countries that receive substantial foreign aid often struggle to implement long-term conservation efforts effectively. Direct financial assistance, while sometimes necessary, can create dependency and is not a sustainable solution on its own. Instead, innovative funding mechanisms are needed to ensure lasting success. Below are several strategies for financing rainforest conservation:

• Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES)—A promising approach to rainforest conservation involves recognizing the economic value of the environmental services provided by healthy forests. These services include biodiversity protection, rainfall generation, carbon sequestration, and soil stabilization, among others. Historically undervalued by markets, these benefits are now beginning to receive recognition. One major initiative in this space is REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation), a framework championed by organizations ranging from the World Bank and the United Nations to conservation groups and local governments. Some Indigenous communities are also engaging with REDD+ projects.

  At its core, REDD+ operates by providing financial incentives to tropical countries for reducing deforestation and degradation below an agreed-upon baseline. Funds may support activities such as developing sustainable livelihoods, promoting reforestation on degraded lands, or improving healthcare in forest-dependent communities to reduce reliance on destructive activities like illegal logging. However, despite its potential, REDD+ remains complex due to unresolved issues surrounding land rights, concerns that preventing deforestation in one area may simply shift it elsewhere, and debates over funding sources. Some advocate for REDD+ to be funded through carbon offset programs, in which polluters (such as power companies) pay for emissions reductions elsewhere (such as halting deforestation for small-scale farming). Others argue for traditional aid-based funding from governments in wealthy nations, or hybrid models that blend market mechanisms with direct aid. Beyond carbon storage, some analysts believe that the hydrological services provided by rainforests—such as generating rainfall crucial for agriculture and hydroelectric power—may ultimately prove even more valuable.

• Commodity Roundtables—Another strategy for funding rainforest conservation involves incorporating the environmental costs of deforestation into commodity prices. Under this model, agricultural producers who meet sustainability criteria, such as avoiding deforestation, could receive price premiums or preferential market access, such as reduced tariffs. Conversely, those who continue to clear forests would face financial penalties linked to the carbon emissions associated with their activities. This concept is already in practice in some countries, including Indonesia, where deforestation-linked fees have been introduced.
• Ecotourism—Well-managed ecotourism can generate revenue for rainforest conservation through park entrance fees and by creating jobs for local communities. Opportunities range from guiding and crafting to employment in hospitality services, such as hotels, restaurants, and transportation. Many eco-lodges near protected areas charge a daily conservation fee, which contributes to forest protection and community development.
• Bioprospecting Fees—Rainforest nations can generate revenue by allowing scientists to explore native plant and animal species for potential commercial applications. Costa Rica pioneered this model through an agreement with the American pharmaceutical company Merck, which sought plants with medicinal properties. Under the agreement, a portion of any profits from successful discoveries was allocated to the Costa Rican government for conservation efforts. Similarly, in 2001, the Swiss fragrance and flavor company Givaudan sent researchers to Madagascar to identify new aromas and flavors. They successfully "reconstituted" 40 unique scents, agreeing to share a portion of the resulting profits with local communities. While bioprospecting holds promise, challenges remain, including disputes over intellectual property rights and equitable compensation for Indigenous communities. Additionally, the market for bioprospecting has been smaller than initially anticipated.
• Corporate Sponsorship—Corporations have been relatively slow to invest in rainforest conservation, but they have the financial capacity to play a significant role. One potential approach was outlined in 2004 by Eugene Linden, Thomas Lovejoy, and J. Daniel Phillips in Foreign Affairs. Their proposal involved dividing rainforests into designated blocks and soliciting funding commitments from environmental organizations, development institutions, corporations, and other donors. Under this model, entities would bid to take responsibility for maintaining forest cover and ecosystem health within specific blocks. A portion of the proceeds could be placed into a trust fund to support ongoing conservation and sustainable development initiatives. Such initiatives could allow corporations to engage in conservation as part of their corporate social responsibility efforts while ensuring long-term environmental stewardship.

Further Steps Once Funding Is in Place

• Expand protected areas—As much forest as possible should be protected as soon as feasible. If protected areas are designed to generate economic benefits for local communities, their expansion can contribute to both conservation and sustainable livelihoods. Properly managed parks can create jobs in ecotourism, research, and sustainable resource use, benefiting a broader segment of the population.
• Increase surveillance and patrols in protected areas—The cost of monitoring protected areas can be significantly reduced when local communities have a vested interest in conservation. When communities receive tangible benefits—such as employment as guides, revenues from entrance fees, handicraft sales, or ecosystem service payments—they are more likely to help protect the park. Community-based surveillance has proven to be one of the most effective ways to prevent illegal activities, though park staff should also conduct regular patrols. Additionally, guides can be trained to recognize and report harmful activities to conservation authorities.
• Build research facilities to train local scientists and guides—Investing in scientific research and education can transform economies traditionally dependent on resource extraction. Unlocking the economic value of forests through research provides opportunities for countries to develop their own natural assets. For example, while many rainforest plants have medicinal potential, it is often foreign pharmaceutical companies that commercialize them. Training local scientists to conduct research and local businesses to develop commercial products could change this dynamic. Beyond medicine, advancements in sustainable agriculture, natural pest control, and soil conservation could also benefit from local research efforts. Read more.
• Establish programs that promote sustainable resource use—Sustainable resource management programs are critical for improving the livelihoods of communities living near protected areas. Not all residents will benefit directly from ecotourism or conservation jobs, so natural resource use must be optimized for long-term productivity while minimizing environmental impact.
• Compensate displaced people—Historically, the creation of protected areas has sometimes resulted in the displacement of local communities, leading to conflict and human rights concerns. To ensure fairness, new conservation initiatives should follow the principle of "free, prior, and informed consent" (FPIC), ensuring that affected communities are active participants in decision-making. When relocation occurs voluntarily, displaced communities should receive fair compensation, which may include financial payments, training in alternative livelihoods, or agricultural support programs that provide sustainable long-term income.
• Involve Indigenous communities in park management—Indigenous peoples have deep knowledge of their local ecosystems and often manage their lands sustainably. In some cases, Indigenous territories in the Amazon have proven more effective at conserving forests than traditional national parks. Recognizing and supporting Indigenous-led conservation efforts can help protect biodiversity while respecting cultural traditions. See our interview with Mark Plotkin and the Conservation Corridors Project for further insights.
• Promote ecotourism—Ecotourism is one of the most promising long-term strategies for sustaining local economies while conserving forests. However, it must be carefully managed to minimize environmental impact while maximizing economic benefits for local communities.
• Ensure economic success does not drive further deforestation—As rural communities begin to benefit financially from conservation-related activities, care must be taken to prevent these gains from inadvertently fueling deforestation. In many rural areas, increased income has traditionally been reinvested in land clearing. Establishing rural banks and savings institutions can help mitigate this trend by providing safe ways to save and reinvest funds in non-destructive enterprises.
• Encourage entrepreneurship—Supporting entrepreneurship through microfinance and small business loans can provide significant economic benefits. Studies have shown that many people in low-income communities have strong entrepreneurial skills but lack access to capital. Providing small, low-cost loans can stimulate local economies and create sustainable alternatives to destructive land-use practices.

Looking Toward the Future: Tough Choices

Simply banning logging or designating reserves will not be enough to protect the world's remaining tropical rainforests. To ensure their survival, the root causes of deforestation—including social, economic, and political drivers—must be acknowledged and addressed. Only by understanding these underlying factors can informed decisions be made about the most effective path forward.

If humanity decides that saving rainforests is a priority, then the establishment of multi-use reserves that balance conservation with sustainable development and community education would be a practical starting point. Currently, only about 6% of the world’s remaining forests are formally protected, leaving over 90% vulnerable to exploitation. However, even protected areas are not truly secure unless sustainable management practices are implemented and enforced. In addition to conservation measures, reforestation and restoration projects should be actively encouraged to help mitigate the damage already done. Without proactive efforts, the world risks facing serious, long-term consequences that will impact ecosystems, climate stability, and human livelihoods alike.

Sustainable Agriculture in Rainforests

When considering solutions to tropical deforestation—whether through debt-for-nature swaps, extractive reserves, selective logging, ecotourism, or other strategies—the fate of rainforests ultimately depends on the choices of local communities. While some may argue that restricting economic growth can "save" forests, conservation efforts will only succeed if local people see tangible benefits from preserving their environment. Parks and reserves alone will not be effective unless conservation aligns with the material interests of those who live in and around the forest.

Agriculture

For thousands of years, tropical rainforests have been managed to sustain productive agriculture, supporting dense human populations in some regions. It is estimated that, on the eve of Columbus’s arrival, more land was under cultivation in the Amazon than today. Studies suggest that as much as 12% of Amazonian terra firme (upland) forests are anthropogenic in origin—shaped by prolonged management by pre-Columbian societies. Understanding that agriculture can exist within a forested landscape is critical for developing sustainable economic models in rainforest regions.

Historical evidence shows that Indigenous communities actively shaped their environments by promoting the abundance of useful species while maintaining biodiversity. They cultivated palm forests, Brazil nut groves, and fruit-bearing trees near their settlements, as indicated by the presence of pottery fragments and anthropogenic "black soils." These ecosystems provided essential resources without undermining the ecological balance of the forest.

Actions

Today, incorporating traditional Indigenous techniques into modern agriculture can help restore degraded lands and promote sustainable use of forest resources. Agroforestry systems and floodplain orchards can reduce the need for large-scale deforestation while improving productivity and providing economic benefits to rural communities.

A significant portion of rainforest deforestation—estimated at one-third to two-fifths—is driven by small-scale farmers, often referred to as "shifted cultivators." These farmers are frequently pushed onto marginal lands due to population growth, land scarcity, or economic displacement. In many cases, wealthy landowners control the most fertile lands, leaving smallholders with little choice but to clear forests for subsistence farming. In Brazil, for example, 10% of the population owns nearly 90% of the arable land. Rather than addressing land inequality, many governments have opted to open "unused" wildlands to small farmers rather than confronting large landowners.

Some advocate for agrarian land reform as a means to reduce forest loss driven by shifting agriculture. Redistribution of productive land to small farmers, along with reducing subsidies for large landholders who leave land uncultivated, could help alleviate deforestation pressures. However, land reform alone may not be enough; complementary strategies such as improving agricultural efficiency and promoting agroforestry are also necessary.

One promising approach is the integration of agroforestry, a method modeled after Indigenous forest management practices. Many degraded lands can be restored through cultivation techniques that mimic natural rainforest ecosystems. These polycultural systems—combining perennial crops, annual crops, pastureland, secondary growth, and forest corridors—can boost agricultural productivity while reducing environmental degradation.

Historically, agriculture in the Amazon has been highly dynamic, ranging from small-scale subsistence farming to large-scale monocultures. Today, much of rainforest agriculture consists of single-crop fields of annual plants, which require frequent replanting to maintain yields. Since tropical soils are naturally low in nutrients, these systems often lead to soil depletion, forcing farmers to either rely on fertilizers or clear additional forest.

Many forest dwellers, by contrast, cultivate perennials—crops that continue producing for multiple years—such as citrus, manioc, vanilla, banana, mango, pepper, cacao, coffee, and rubber. Instead of repeatedly clearing new land, these farmers plant perennials or a mix of perennials and annuals, allowing soils to recover while generating a long-term income stream. Perennial crops help restore soil nutrients and provide economic stability in contrast to the volatility of single-crop markets.

Polycultural systems work particularly well for small-scale farmers because they offer diversified income sources and resilience against market fluctuations. Traditional home gardens in rainforest communities are an excellent example of this approach. These gardens contain a variety of useful plants, both native and introduced, such as mango, pineapple, manioc, papaya, and citrus. They provide essential household resources, including food, medicine, and materials for construction and crafts. In many cases, useful old-growth trees like Brazil nuts are deliberately left standing during land clearing, ensuring continued access to valuable forest products.

In addition to economic benefits, agroforestry systems help maintain biodiversity, soil fertility, and hydrological cycles at a far higher level than industrial agriculture. When fields are adjacent to secondary or old-growth forests, many species can continue to thrive. Shade-grown crops such as coffee, cacao, bananas, and vanilla preserve more biodiversity than conventional monocultures. In recent years, "rainforest-friendly" coffee has gained popularity, demonstrating that sustainable agriculture can also be marketable.

Polycultural fields also recover more quickly than conventional agricultural plots when abandoned, as they maintain essential ecological processes such as nutrient cycling, seed dispersal, and soil stability. Seed banks within the soil persist, and shade from crop trees creates suitable conditions for natural forest regeneration.

Despite these benefits, sustainable agriculture faces several barriers to widespread adoption. Many migrants to rainforest regions lack knowledge of agroforestry techniques and instead rely on farming methods suited to different climates and soil conditions—methods that often fail on nutrient-poor rainforest soils. Education and training programs are essential to help these farmers adopt more sustainable practices.

Another major challenge is access to markets. Many rural farmers lack transportation infrastructure to sell their products, making it difficult to turn a profit. Additionally, credit facilities are often unavailable, leaving farmers without financial support during difficult periods. Addressing these challenges—whether through road improvements, education initiatives, or microfinance programs—would go a long way toward making sustainable agriculture viable.

Agroforestry techniques can also be applied on a larger scale, incorporating forest corridors and a mix of perennials and annuals. While managing such systems requires more labor and higher harvesting costs, these drawbacks may be outweighed by the long-term benefits, including income diversification, improved soil quality, and biodiversity conservation.

Sustainable agriculture offers a promising pathway for balancing economic needs with environmental conservation. By promoting responsible land management and harvesting forest resources in a sustainable manner, rainforests can provide economic opportunities while ensuring their survival for future generations.

Saving Rainforests Through Sustainable Use of Forest Products

Rainforests provide a wide array of products that can be harvested sustainably by local communities. While poor farmers often face challenges such as lack of knowledge about sustainable harvesting and difficulties in distributing their products, collecting forest resources without destroying the ecosystem can, in the long run, be more profitable than clearing land for low-intensity cattle ranching or subsistence agriculture.

Early studies in the late 1980s and early 1990s may have overstated the economic potential of secondary wood products and non-timber forest products (NTFPs), but more recent research confirms that forest products serve as an important supplementary income source for many rural communities. A recent CIFOR study estimated that forest products contribute up to 20% of rural incomes and often provide the only means for households to access the cash economy. Additionally, NTFPs play a crucial role in food and nutritional security.

Medicinal Plants

Many medicines, drugs, and herbal supplements are derived from rainforest plants, yet the potential of medicinal plant harvesting remains largely underdeveloped. Local communities may have knowledge of certain medicinal species, but few have access to the markets needed to make harvesting a viable economic activity. These medicines—extracted from bark, leaves, roots, and other plant parts—can be sold in local markets or, in some cases, exported, provided that sustainable harvesting practices are followed to prevent overexploitation.

Local communities typically receive little direct benefit from drugs developed by major pharmaceutical companies, as the process of drug discovery and commercialization is lengthy and costly. Once active compounds are identified, they are often synthesized in laboratories, reducing the need for continued harvesting. However, in cases where synthesis is difficult or prohibitively expensive, natural extraction remains a viable alternative—an opportunity that could directly involve small farmers in sustainable cultivation efforts.

More on medicinal plants

Food Colorants

Although only about 10% of natural food colorants currently come from rainforest sources, there is potential for greater market penetration. If properly managed, local communities could collect these colorants and sell them in urban and international markets. However, establishing an efficient distribution system is essential to making this practice economically viable.

Foods

Some rainforest food products, such as fruits, nuts, and spices, can be sustainably harvested for profit. For instance, tropical nuts like cashews and Brazil nuts generate hundreds of millions of dollars in annual sales in the U.S. alone. Notably, Brazil nuts can only be collected from intact forests, as they rely on a healthy canopy and specific pollinators that are absent in plantation settings. This makes them a prime example of how economic incentives can align with conservation.

Rubber

The movement of Brazilian rubber tappers in the 1980s—led by Chico Mendes—became a symbol of sustainable rainforest use and inspired conservation initiatives worldwide. Rubber tappers earn significantly higher incomes than they would as factory workers in cities, deriving their livelihoods from the sustainable harvesting of rubber, Brazil nuts, palm hearts, and other forest products. Their dependence on a functioning forest ecosystem has made them strong advocates for conservation.

Unlike workers on industrial rubber plantations, natural rubber harvesters operate in a way that maintains forest integrity, demonstrating how sustainable livelihoods can coexist with conservation.

Secondary Wood Products

Wood can be sustainably harvested from rainforests without causing deforestation. In some areas, initiatives have been developed to utilize waste wood discarded by the logging industry, creating jobs for local communities while minimizing environmental impact. One example is Tropical Salvage, a Portland, Oregon-based company that repurposes discarded wood from building sites, mudslides, volcanic regions, and waterways in Indonesia to produce high-end furniture. Another example is a project run by FUNDECOR in Costa Rica, where villagers collect scrap wood left behind by commercial loggers, process it into boards on-site, and sell it to furniture manufacturers.

Other Forest Products

Rattan, a fast-growing rainforest liana, is one of the most valuable non-timber forest products, generating approximately $3 billion annually in the global market. It is widely used in the furniture industry and provides an important source of income for many communities in Southeast Asia.

Other valuable forest products include plant-derived fragrances for perfumes, ornamental seeds and pods, and fibers for weaving and rope-making. However, the concept of sustainable harvesting is crucial to prevent overexploitation. For instance, the fragrant pau rosa tree in the Amazon has been heavily depleted due to overharvesting for the perfume and flavoring industries. Historically, entire trees were felled for extraction, but research has shown that the valuable fragrance compounds can also be obtained from leaves and twigs. Adopting sustainable harvesting methods ensures the long-term availability of these resources.

Challenges to Sustainable Harvesting

Despite the potential of non-timber forest products, several obstacles limit their widespread adoption. One major issue is the lack of clear legal frameworks governing land and resource rights. In many countries, forests are considered common property, making it difficult to regulate harvesting and determine access rights.

Another challenge is ensuring that collection methods are truly sustainable. Many extractive activities are carried out without consideration for long-term resource availability, leading to depletion of valuable species. Establishing management plans and monitoring systems is essential to prevent overharvesting.

Market access is another critical barrier. Many rural communities lack the infrastructure needed to transport their products to buyers, limiting their ability to benefit financially. Additionally, consumer awareness of sustainably harvested forest products remains low, reducing demand for these goods.

Traditional barter systems—such as those still prevalent in parts of the Amazon—also pose challenges. Under these arrangements, local harvesters receive manufactured goods and food in exchange for forest products, often leading to a cycle of perpetual debt. Addressing these inequities through fair trade practices and financial literacy programs could help improve economic conditions for forest-dependent communities.

To address these issues, some countries have established extractive reserves, where designated areas are set aside specifically for sustainable harvesting. These reserves aim to provide long-term economic benefits while maintaining forest health. NGOs and government agencies often work with local communities in these areas to promote responsible harvesting practices.

While non-timber forest products offer valuable income opportunities, it is important to recognize that they alone cannot support large populations sustainably. Instead, they should be seen as part of a diversified economic strategy that includes other sustainable activities such as agroforestry, ecotourism, and value-added processing of forest products.

Rainforest Ecotourism

Ecotourism is one of the most promising ways for developing countries to generate revenue while preserving their rainforests. Eco-tourists are drawn to a country's natural beauty rather than the destruction caused by short-term resource exploitation. Money spent directly in local economies helps assign a tangible economic value to forest conservation, incentivizing both governments and local communities to maintain intact ecosystems. Many tourists are also willing to contribute directly to preservation efforts through park entrance fees and donations.

Ecotourism can provide economic opportunities for local communities by creating jobs as wildlife guides, park rangers, and service workers in hotels, restaurants, and lodges. This form of tourism generates income by maintaining healthy ecosystems, discouraging forest clearing that could undermine long-term earnings. Additionally, ecotourism can reduce dependence on poaching and hunting for income. In West Africa, for example, former poachers have been employed as park rangers due to their deep knowledge of local wildlife. Ecotourism also fosters educational opportunities—both directly, through job training, and indirectly, through conservation funds that support local schools.

Ecotourism can also stimulate demand for local handicrafts, providing an additional source of income for artisans and reinforcing cultural traditions.

However, despite its potential, ecotourism comes with risks. If not carefully managed, successful ecotourism operations may evolve into mass-market nature tourism, which can harm both the environment and local communities. Rapid tourist growth can lead to unsustainable hotel construction in sensitive areas, conflicts among tourism operators, local governments, and communities, and the overharvesting of resources (such as hardwoods for souvenirs). Overcrowding can degrade forest ecosystems, while an influx of wealthy tourists can widen economic disparities, sometimes leading to social issues like increased prostitution.

Examples of ecotourism’s unintended consequences abound. Some national parks in Costa Rica have suffered from excessive tourist numbers, leading to ecosystem strain. In Indonesia, inadequate regulation of orangutan tourism has increased mortality rates among wild apes, as tourists who feed the primates transmit human diseases to them. These cases underscore the importance of strict management and sustainable visitor policies.

To ensure sustainability, ecotourism must be carefully planned and monitored. If poorly managed, tourism can degrade forests as quickly as unsustainable logging. Excessive visitor numbers, insufficient infrastructure, and weak park oversight can erode the ecological and economic benefits of conservation-focused tourism. When implemented responsibly, however, ecotourism can benefit both local communities and the environment. It should not be confined to legally protected areas but also promoted in unprotected natural areas, where the presence of well-managed tourism can help shield forests from destructive activities.

Saving the Rainforest via Sustainable Development of Large-Scale Forest Products

More than half of rainforest deforestation today is driven by commercial activities such as logging, cattle ranching, industrial agriculture, mining, and energy production. With few exceptions, these industries degrade rainforest ecosystems, depleting natural assets that could otherwise support long-term economic sustainability.

Historically, the loss of natural capital was rarely accounted for in economic planning. While this is beginning to change, in many countries environmental degradation remains a secondary or tertiary concern in land-use decisions. As a result, tropical governments often prioritize short-term economic gains, subsidizing resource extraction with little consideration for long-term consequences. This approach leads to the rapid depletion of forests without sustainable plans for future harvests or ecosystem restoration.

By focusing on raw resource extraction rather than long-term stewardship, governments may be overlooking a more sustainable path to economic growth. Extractive industries generate revenue by capitalizing on the natural qualities of the land, but this model does not necessarily provide a stable foundation for an economy. In contrast, leveraging natural assets such as biodiversity, traditional knowledge, and ecosystem services can support long-term economic resilience, fostering innovation, technology development, and new industries.

The Corporate Sector

Safeguarding rainforests will require industries to find ways to remain profitable without causing environmental destruction. If forests are valued for their ecological and economic benefits, companies must offer jobs that contribute to conservation rather than deforestation. It is unrealistic to expect local communities to reject employment opportunities in resource-extraction industries if no viable alternatives exist to provide food, shelter, and basic necessities.

Navigating this challenge requires balancing economic demands with environmental responsibility. Industries that rely on forest resources must develop methods that meet growing consumer demand while also preserving the ecosystem services that forests provide. This will require collaboration between corporations, governments, and conservation groups to establish policies that incentivize sustainable practices and minimize environmental harm.

Saving the Rainforest with Secondary Forest Products

The large-scale development of secondary forest products presents a promising opportunity to generate economic benefits while preserving forests. Many forest products can be cultivated on degraded or previously deforested lands, reducing pressure on primary forests. These products—such as medicinal plants, fruits, nuts, and natural fibers—are often better suited to tropical environments than imported temperate crops, making them more productive and sustainable in the long run.

As discussed earlier, small farmers can be integrated into national and international markets through agroforestry systems that promote sustainable land use. By supporting small-scale producers, governments and businesses can help create economic incentives for forest conservation while providing rural communities with stable livelihoods.

Foods

Rainforests offer a wide range of food products that can be harvested with lower environmental impact than many widely cultivated crops. The challenge lies in scaling production, bringing these products to market, and effectively marketing them—all while ensuring that environmental damage is minimized.

Cultivated Foods

Many of the foods we consume today originated in rainforests, including avocado, banana, Brazil nuts, cassava (manioc), cashews, chocolate (cocoa), cinnamon, cloves, coconut, coffee, cola, corn (maize), eggplant, fig, ginger, grapefruit, guava, herbal tea ingredients, jalapeño, lemon, mango, orange, papaya, peanut, pepper, pineapple, potato, rice, squash, sugarcane, tomato, and vanilla. However, of the estimated 3,000 rainforest fruits, only around 200 are regularly used in modern agriculture.

Globally, an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 plant species have edible parts, yet only about 7,000 have been cultivated or collected for consumption. Even more striking, just 20 species provide 90% of human caloric intake, with rice, wheat, and maize alone accounting for over half. Conventional tropical agriculture—reliant on a few staple crops—often struggles with poor soils, pests, disease, and erratic rainfall, limiting its effectiveness in addressing rural poverty. In many cases, the benefits of large-scale tropical agriculture primarily accrue to wealthy landowners and corporations rather than local communities.

To make tropical agriculture more sustainable and equitable, experimentation with underutilized rainforest plants is needed. Certain species are naturally well-adapted to tropical conditions and could offer economic and nutritional benefits. For example, the Buriti palm of the Amazon produces a vitamin-rich fruit with a bread-like pith, while two plants from West Africa contain compounds that are thousands of times sweeter than sucrose and could serve as natural sweeteners.

Some rainforest foods have already seen commercial success. The rapid rise of açaí berries, derived from an Amazonian palm, demonstrates the potential of rainforest crops in global markets. While its expansion has had some negative social and environmental consequences, açaí can be cultivated in a manner that minimizes ecological damage. Meanwhile, sago palm—widely used as a starch in Southeast Asian sweets—thrives best in mixed forest habitats rather than in single-species plantations, providing an example of how rainforest-compatible agriculture can be commercially viable. More on sustainable sago cultivation.

Animal-Based Foods

Similarly, rainforest animals could be semi-domesticated for sustainable food production in the tropics. Native species are often better suited to tropical climates and ecosystems than temperate domestic animals, which can be highly disruptive to rainforest environments. Using native species can reduce environmental impact, increase food diversity, and enhance production efficiency compared to cattle ranching.

One example is the Amazon river turtle (Podocnemus sp.), which has long been overharvested for its meat. These turtles can be farmed in cement ponds along tropical river floodplains, feeding on aquatic vegetation and fruit. With a yield of up to 22,000 pounds of meat per acre (24,659 kg per hectare), they are over 400 times more productive than cattle pastures and cause significantly less environmental harm.

The green iguana, found in Central and South America, has been heavily hunted for its chicken-like meat and is endangered in some regions. However, iguana farming is already underway in Central America, where they can produce ten times the meat yield of cattle on the same land—reducing the need for further deforestation. Other native species with potential for sustainable meat production include the capybara (the world's largest rodent), chachalacas (ground-dwelling birds similar to chickens), and the paca (a cat-sized rodent). These species offer alternatives to conventional livestock that could help maintain rainforest ecosystems while providing protein sources for local populations.

Providers of Genetic Diversity

In 2010, wheat was cultivated on approximately 838,700 square miles (217 million hectares) of land worldwide. With an average of 2 million stalks per hectare, the total number of wheat plants exceeded 434 trillion. While wheat itself is not endangered, selective breeding has significantly reduced its genetic diversity. If a disease were to spread through this vast monoculture, scientists would likely turn to wild wheat relatives in the few remaining undisturbed ecosystems to find resistance traits.

Rainforests play a critical role as reservoirs of genetic diversity. Over time, selective breeding has prioritized traits beneficial to human consumption while often discarding those that offer natural resilience against pests and diseases. Consequently, domesticated plants and animals have become more vulnerable to agricultural threats. To safeguard food security, scientists often crossbreed domesticated species with their wild counterparts to reintroduce lost genetic traits that enhance resilience.

One of the most well-known examples of genetic diversity saving a major crop occurred in Asia during the 1970s when rice fields were devastated by grassy stunt virus. Researchers at the International Rice Research Institute screened 6,273 rice varieties for resistance and found only one—growing in a small Indian valley slated for development—that carried the necessary resistance traits. This wild variety was crossbred with cultivated rice, producing a resistant hybrid that was widely adopted across Asia. Without this critical genetic resource, the region could have faced a severe food crisis.

Today, similar efforts are underway to secure genetic diversity in commercial crops. The International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) is actively seeking new strains of cacao in the Orinoco and Amazon rainforests to improve the resilience and yield of commercial cacao varieties, which currently have a dangerously narrow genetic base. For instance, Ghana’s entire cocoa industry—one of the world’s largest—is derived from a single pod brought to the country by a blacksmith in the 1870s. Similarly, commercial oil palm and rubber plantations face significant risks from genetic uniformity, making them vulnerable to pests and diseases.

Saving Rainforests with Medicinal Plants

Rainforest plants serve purposes beyond food and genetic diversity. Increasingly, they—and to a lesser extent rainforest animals—are sources of compounds with valuable medicinal properties.

Rainforests have been called the ultimate chemical laboratory because each species has evolved unique chemical defenses to survive in a highly competitive environment. These natural compounds, synthesized over millions of years, protect against predators, infections, pests, and diseases—making rainforests an extraordinary reservoir of potential medicines and chemical templates for drug development.

Rainforest plants have already demonstrated their potential by providing remedies for ailments ranging from childhood leukemia to toothaches. The U.S. National Cancer Institute has identified that 70% of the plants with anti-cancer properties are found only in tropical rainforests.

Despite this promise, as of the early 2000s, fewer than 10% of tropical forest plant species (and only 0.1% of animal species) had been studied for their medicinal properties. When a plant with desirable properties is discovered, it undergoes chemical analysis, clinical trials, and rigorous safety testing before it can be approved for use. Nevertheless, the use of rainforest species for medicinal research has gained traction. In 1983, no U.S. pharmaceutical firms were involved in rainforest plant research; within 15 years, more than 100 corporations and government agencies were engaged in such studies.

The U.S. National Cancer Institute actively screens rainforest species for anti-cancer and anti-HIV properties. Given the vast number of species, researchers often focus on plants related to those already known to produce useful compounds. Another approach involves analyzing plants that exhibit characteristics such as insect deterrence, as chemicals toxic to insects frequently show bioactive properties in humans, making them promising drug candidates. More on insect-derived medicines.

Indigenous Knowledge and Medicinal Plants

Indigenous knowledge plays a crucial role in identifying plants with medicinal value. For thousands of years, rainforest communities have relied on plants for healthcare, experimenting with different species and formulations. Indigenous groups in Southeast Asia have used at least 6,500 plant species for medicinal purposes, while Northwest Amazonian forest dwellers have identified more than 1,300 species with healing properties.

Traditional knowledge is often highly accurate. A 1990s study in Samoa found that 86% of the plants used by local healers exhibited biological activity in humans. By leveraging this knowledge, researchers can increase the likelihood of discovering valuable medicinal compounds.

Advanced screening methods allow the U.S. National Cancer Institute to quickly test compounds for activity against 60 types of cancer. If a promising compound is found, chemists isolate the active molecule and compare its structure to known chemicals. In some cases, the molecule is already identified but has not been used medicinally; in others, it is modified to enhance its therapeutic properties. Before reaching the public, new drugs undergo extensive clinical trials—a process that can take over a decade and cost upwards of $800 million. According to the Global Bioscience Development Institute, for every 10,000 to 20,000 compounds screened, only about 250 make it to pre-clinical testing, five enter clinical trials, and just one becomes an FDA-approved drug.

Biopiracy and the Ethics of Medicinal Plant Research

Despite the immense profits generated by pharmaceutical drugs derived from rainforest plants, Indigenous communities and source countries have historically received little to no compensation. The rosy periwinkle, native to Madagascar, produces vincristine and vinblastine—two chemicals used in cancer treatment—that generate an estimated $160 million annually. Yet for years, Madagascar received no financial benefit. Only after the drug patent expired was the country able to export crude periwinkle for its own economic gain.

Uncompensated exploitation of natural resources, known as biopiracy, was once common practice. Colonizing nations and corporations frequently extracted valuable biological materials without providing fair compensation to local communities. A notorious example occurred when the British smuggled rubber tree seeds out of Brazil to establish plantations in Malaysia, ending the Amazon’s monopoly on rubber production.

In the 1990s, a high-profile biopiracy case involved the patenting of yagé (ayahuasca), a hallucinogenic plant used ceremonially by Amazonian Indigenous groups. In 1986, an American entrepreneur, Loren Miller, took a sample of yagé from Ecuador without permission and later obtained a U.S. patent for its medicinal properties. Indigenous organizations, led by COICA, challenged the patent, arguing that the plant had been used for generations and should not be privately owned. The U.S. Patent Office eventually overturned the patent in 1999, reinstated it in 2001, and allowed it to expire in 2003. The case underscored the ethical challenges surrounding bioprospecting and Indigenous intellectual property rights.

Equitable Benefit Sharing

Awareness of these injustices has led to increased efforts to ensure fair compensation for source communities. While many tropical countries lack the infrastructure to develop and commercialize drugs independently, partnerships with pharmaceutical firms can help direct benefits to local people.

Several companies and institutions have adopted benefit-sharing models. The drug Prostialin, derived from a Samoan rainforest tree, has shown strong anti-HIV activity. To ensure equitable compensation, the National Cancer Institute guaranteed that part of the royalties from its sale would be returned to Samoa. As a result, Samoa established its fiftieth national park, supporting traditional healers and promoting the sustainable use of medicinal plants.

In a similar initiative, Merck & Co. invested $1 million in Costa Rica’s National Biodiversity Institute (INBio) in 1991 to support biodiversity cataloging and medicinal research. INBio collects and identifies plant species, sending promising samples to Merck for laboratory analysis. If a compound proves commercially valuable, Costa Rica is guaranteed a share of the royalties, which are earmarked for conservation efforts.

The rainforest may one day yield treatments for AIDS, antibiotic-resistant infections, cancer, or neurodegenerative diseases. However, with deforestation rates at 1–2% per year, scientists warn that up to 25% of the world's plant species could be lost within decades. This destruction may erase potential life-saving medicines before they are even discovered.

Equally concerning is the loss of Indigenous knowledge. Many traditional healers, particularly elders, hold generations of medicinal expertise, but as their communities shift toward Western lifestyles, this knowledge risks being lost. Once a shaman dies, their unique understanding of medicinal plants often vanishes with them.

Organizations are working to preserve both rainforest biodiversity and Indigenous knowledge. The Terra Nova Rainforest Reserve, for example, was established as an ethnomedicinal reserve where medicinal plants can be sustainably harvested. The reserve also educates younger generations about traditional plant-based medicine.

Botanical gardens, such as those in Missouri and New York, play a role in propagating rare medicinal plants to prevent overharvesting. These institutions distribute seedlings to farmers, allowing them to integrate high-value medicinal plants into existing agricultural systems. In some cases, these plants provide greater income than traditional cash crops like coffee, bananas, and cocoa.

Animals as a Source of Medicine

Rainforest animals also provide compounds with medical applications. Leeches and vampire bats produce powerful anticoagulants that have been adapted for human medicine. The leech-derived enzyme hirudin is used to dissolve blood clots, while a compound in vampire bat saliva has potential for preventing heart attacks.

Amphibians have also contributed to drug research. The skin secretions of certain frogs contain compounds that have shown promise in treating infections, mental disorders, and even HIV. The poison dart frog Epipedobates tricolor has yielded ABT-594, an experimental painkiller, while crocodile blood is being studied for its antiviral properties.

Natural Rainforest Pesticides

For millions of years, plants have been synthesizing chemicals to defend themselves against insect predation and disease. As a result, rainforest plants have evolved a vast array of natural pesticides. These compounds can be extracted and, in some cases, synthesized in laboratories to create environmentally friendly alternatives to synthetic pesticides like DDT.

Unlike many synthetic pesticides, which can persist in the environment and cause harmful side effects to non-target species, natural plant-derived pesticides often degrade more quickly and have fewer unintended consequences. By leveraging these natural defenses, scientists can develop safer pest-control methods that minimize ecological disruption.

New research suggests that integrating natural predators—such as wasps and parasitic flies—with limited pesticide use is more effective in controlling crop pests in tropical environments than regular spraying with synthetic chemicals. This strategy, known as integrated pest management (IPM), reduces reliance on harmful pesticides while maintaining crop yields. In China, scientists have even bioengineered wasps to deliver lethal viruses to crop-destroying insects, offering a targeted approach to pest control.

In addition to protecting crops, many rainforest plants contain natural insect repellents. For example, the roots of a liana species—a type of climbing philodendron native to American rainforests—emit an odor that repels mosquitoes. Similarly, the bright orange berries of Bixa orellana, a plant commonly used as a natural dye and body paint, have been found to deter biting insects. These botanical repellents offer a promising alternative to conventional chemical insecticides, potentially leading to the development of more effective and environmentally friendly mosquito repellents.

Pharmaceutical and agricultural research companies are increasingly studying these natural compounds to formulate safer insect repellents that are less harmful to human skin and synthetic materials than widely used chemicals like DEET. Because they are derived from renewable plant sources, these natural repellents may also be more sustainable and economically viable for widespread use.

Sustainable Logging in the Rainforest

Overview

In many tropical countries, forests are government-owned, and private ownership is often restricted or prohibited. Timber is typically harvested under concession agreements granted to private logging firms, which, lacking ownership rights to the land, have little incentive to invest in long-term forest management. As a result, it is unsurprising that a study by the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) found that more than 90% of tropical forests are either poorly managed or not managed at all.

While many tropical countries have forestry laws designed to promote sustainable logging, enforcement is often weak due to limited resources or political reluctance. Without proper regulation, loggers have little financial motivation to mitigate environmental damage. Common management failures include improperly conducted pre- and post-harvest inventories, excessive re-logging at shorter intervals than required, cutting beyond concession boundaries, and inadequate oversight by forestry authorities.

In some countries, illegal logging is widespread. The relatively low capital investment required for small-scale logging enables unregulated operators to harvest valuable timber from poorly monitored or protected forests. Illegally cut timber is often smuggled across borders or laundered through legal operations. According to the World Bank, illegal logging generates $10–15 billion annually for organized crime.

Illegal logging not only accelerates deforestation but also deprives governments of significant revenue. Taxes that could be used to improve forest sector oversight, support sustainable rural development, or finance conservation programs are instead diverted into the pockets of illegal loggers and criminal syndicates.

However, forestry does not have to be destructive—especially in secondary forests. Some forest managers are now prioritizing maintaining forests as functional ecological systems while ensuring they provide multiple economic benefits, rather than focusing solely on short-term profit maximization. Sustainable forestry initiatives include greater involvement of local communities, diversification of forest products beyond timber to include non-wood forest products (NWFPs), and the establishment of plantation forests on degraded lands and non-forest areas. While significant progress has been made in developing more sustainable management policies, conventional logging practices in the tropics continue to have substantial environmental impacts.

Corrective Actions

Although as much as 80% of tropical timber is consumed domestically within producing nations, demand from industrialized countries—including the U.S.—continues to play a significant role in tropical deforestation. Despite having less than 5% of the world’s population, the U.S. is the second-largest importer of tropical timber, spending more than $5.4 billion annually on 21 million cubic meters of industrial roundwood, sawnwood, veneer, and plywood from the tropics. Additional tropical timber reaches the U.S. in the form of finished products from China.

Reducing the damage caused by logging requires a combination of measures, including imposing strict regulations or bans on imports of unsustainably harvested hardwoods, developing more sustainable logging practices, certifying timber based on its origins and responsible harvesting methods, and promoting alternatives to tropical wood products.

Restricting Timber Trade

Restricting or banning the import of certain tropical woods that cannot be harvested sustainably—such as mahogany, ceiba, and ebony—remains a highly debated issue. Typically, trade restrictions on these species are implemented through listings under CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna). However, placing a species under trade restrictions can sometimes drive up its price, making illegal harvesting even more lucrative.

CITES trade restrictions are controversial because they often impose economic costs on developing countries while having limited consequences for wealthier consumer nations. Critics argue that such restrictions raise key questions: Who has the authority to determine which species are listed? What are the rights of affected producing countries? Should compensation be provided to countries that bear the economic burden of conservation measures? These questions must be addressed to ensure fairness in the international market and to make trade restrictions effective in reducing deforestation.

Another challenge in restricting trade is the lack of reliable data on timber species populations and trade volumes. In many cases, little is known about the total number of individuals of a given species in the wild or how logging affects its long-term survival. Additionally, species identification in trade is often difficult, leading to mislabeling or laundering of restricted timber species into legal markets.

The goal of restricting trade in certain tropical tree species is to slow deforestation by making it less profitable to extract them. While illegal logging and smuggling may persist, total trade volumes of restricted species often decline following CITES listings.

In addition to international trade restrictions, some governments have enacted legal measures to curb illicit timber imports. In 2008, the U.S. strengthened the Lacey Act to regulate the sourcing of timber products, requiring importers to ensure their wood comes from legal sources. The European Union soon followed with its own regulation, known as FLEGT. Both measures place the burden of responsibility on importing companies, requiring them to comply with environmental laws of producing countries—even when those countries struggle to enforce their own regulations. Companies found sourcing illegally logged timber can face fines or other penalties. Gibson Guitar was the first company prosecuted under the revised Lacey Act for illegally importing ebony from Madagascar.

In response to concerns over timber depletion and revenue loss, several tropical countries have restricted raw log exports and encouraged the sale of value-added wood products such as sawnwood and furniture. This strategy allows countries to capture more revenue by processing timber domestically rather than exporting raw logs at lower prices. Nations including Myanmar (Burma), Indonesia, Gabon, Thailand, and Papua New Guinea have implemented log export bans at various times since the 1990s to support their domestic wood-processing industries. Some of these bans remain in effect today.

Another approach to slowing deforestation is implementing temporary logging moratoriums to allow governments to reassert control over their forestry sectors. In response to rapid foreign logging investment, countries such as Suriname, Guyana, Papua New Guinea, Brazil, and the Democratic Republic of Congo issued temporary bans on logging operations in the late 1990s and 2000s. However, enforcing such moratoriums is challenging, particularly in countries with understaffed forestry departments. In many cases, illegal logging continues, and temporary export bans are easily circumvented through smuggling, often with the involvement of political figures or military actors.

In 2011, Indonesia introduced a two-year moratorium on new logging and plantation concessions across 14.5 million hectares of primary forest and peatlands. The initiative was part of its participation in the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) program, an international effort to curb forest loss by providing financial incentives for conservation. The program received a $1 billion pledge from the Norwegian government in 2010 to support implementation.

Timber Certification

International trade in forest products is increasingly influenced by environmental concerns, but trade actions alone cannot ensure the sustainable management of forests. Timber certification is based on the premise that consumers are willing to pay a premium for products harvested sustainably. Certification programs label such products with a "seal of approval," indicating responsible forest management practices. One of the most well-known certification agencies is the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) [news and information], an international non-profit membership-based organization that verifies whether timber and other forest products come from sustainably managed forests. As of January 2006, the FSC had certified more than 388.7 million acres (157.3 million hectares) of forest across 80 countries. Through eco-labeling, consumers can make informed choices about purchasing products from responsibly managed forests.

In recent years, the number of timber certification programs has grown, but demand remains concentrated in a few key markets—primarily Europe and, to a lesser extent, the United States. Certification has gained traction thanks to green building standards like LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), which encourage the use of sustainably sourced materials.

Despite its potential, the certification movement faces several challenges, including:

• A limited number of forests meeting strict certification requirements.
• A lack of universally accepted definitions of sustainable forestry.
• Limited consumer demand for certified forest products.
• Insufficient knowledge among forest owners on how to meet certification standards.
• Greenwashing by companies that claim to follow sustainable practices without proper oversight.
• Contentious international relations between producer and consumer countries, with some nations framing certification as a sovereignty issue.

The FSC itself is not without controversy. Some environmentalists argue that its standards are too weak to guarantee truly sustainable forest management. Meanwhile, critics from the forestry sector contend that the certification process disproportionately benefits large companies in wealthy countries, putting smaller loggers—particularly in developing nations—at a disadvantage. The cost of certification, audits, and compliance can be prohibitive for small-scale operations, leading to concerns that certification acts as a form of non-tariff trade discrimination that disadvantages tropical countries while benefiting industrialized consumer nations.

Certification news feed

Ending Subsidies

A more effective national strategy to curb deforestation may be to eliminate subsidies that encourage unsustainable logging. Many governments provide financial incentives—whether through tax breaks, low-interest loans, or infrastructure development—that directly or indirectly stimulate deforestation. Removing these subsidies would allow timber prices to more accurately reflect the true environmental costs of logging.

For example, in several African countries, the costs of logging and processing timber exceed the revenues generated from sales. In such cases, cash-strapped governments often end up effectively subsidizing the timber industry—sometimes using donor funds or alternative revenue streams—while corrupt officials personally benefit. Similarly, in Indonesia during the Suharto era, politically connected timber and plantation magnates received large tax breaks, and the government kept pulpwood prices artificially low through subsidies to ensure profitability for paper mills. These subsidies enriched a small elite at the expense of national environmental and economic interests.

Eliminating harmful subsidies would not only help curb deforestation but also encourage the adoption of more sustainable forest management practices. Governments could redirect these funds toward reforestation projects, community-based conservation initiatives, and sustainable economic development programs that offer viable alternatives to large-scale logging.

Reduced-Impact Logging and Improved Forest Management

Although many companies claim to practice "sustainable logging," few actually do. The primary barrier is economics—waiting for timber stocks to recover after selective logging can take a generation. Many firms find it more profitable to harvest and abandon a concession or convert the land to industrial plantations.

However, forest recovery can be accelerated, and ecological damage minimized, through reduced-impact logging (RIL) practices. These include:

• Cutting climbers and lianas well before felling.
• Directional tree felling to minimize damage to surrounding vegetation.
• Establishing stream buffer zones and watershed protection areas.
• Using improved extraction technologies to reduce soil damage.
• Careful planning to prevent excessive road construction, which facilitates illegal settlement.
• Reducing waste—currently, 25-50 percent of harvested wood is discarded.
• Limiting road gradients to reduce erosion and sedimentation.

These measures can mitigate environmental degradation, reduce soil erosion, promote faster forest recovery, and lower fire risks. However, the biggest challenge in implementing RIL is the cost. These methods require more supervision, planning, and training while limiting the number of trees that can be harvested, reducing short-term profits. The key question is whether timber operators will voluntarily adopt these methods without regulatory pressure or consumer demand for sustainably sourced wood.

Increasing transparency in business transactions and standardizing concession procedures can also improve forest management. Open competition through auctions could reduce questionable concessions granted through corruption or nepotism. Instead of backroom deals, rights could be awarded to the highest bidder offering both strong financial terms and minimal environmental impact. Additionally, governments could require a "performance bond" worth 10-15 percent of a company’s investment, which would be forfeited if environmental damage occurs.

Examples of More Sustainable Forestry

Sustainable forest management seeks to maintain long-term ecosystem productivity while allowing for responsible harvesting. Some of the most promising methods involve small-scale, community-led initiatives. For example, the Amuesha people of Peru’s Yanesha Forestry Cooperatives Project practice strip logging, a method loosely based on traditional rotational agriculture. They log strips of forest only 65 feet wide and transport trees using oxen, minimizing soil disturbance. The gap allows for rapid plant colonization, and within 20 years, secondary forest regrows. By cycling through different strips, the system maintains forest cover while providing a sustainable timber supply.

Though commercial logging companies could adapt similar practices, they are often resistant due to short-term inefficiencies. Nonetheless, studies show that reduced-impact logging can cut carbon emissions by up to 40 tons per hectare compared to conventional logging while preserving biodiversity. This strengthens the case for sustainable forest management over traditional large-scale extraction.

Using Alternatives to Tropical Timber

A viable alternative to tropical rainforest logging is sourcing wood from plantations on degraded, non-forest land. Studies suggest there are 800 million to 1.6 billion hectares of degraded land globally that could support timber plantations. With advancements in remote sensing, watchdog groups and governments can monitor plantations to ensure they are not replacing natural forests.

Another approach is shifting to non-wood fibers, such as bamboo and straw, particularly for pulpwood production. The paper industry is a major driver of deforestation, especially in Indonesia. Bamboo, a fast-growing member of the grass family, is highly versatile and can be used in construction, textiles, and even biofuel production.

Reused and Recycled Wood Products

With improved paper recycling techniques and a greater reliance on plantation forests, the demand for timber sourced from natural forests can be reduced. Reusing wood products for furniture, construction, and other applications can further lessen pressure on tropical forests.

Plantations

An increasing number of timber companies are turning to plantations to meet global demand. Forest plantations function as tree farms, cultivating specific species for wood production. These plantations often feature fast-growing trees with high yields and minimal management requirements.

When properly implemented, plantations can supply industrial roundwood, fuelwood, and pulpwood while also providing ecological benefits such as soil stabilization, erosion prevention, carbon sequestration, and water cycle maintenance. However, plantations that replace primary or well-developed secondary forests result in a net ecological loss. Additionally, when established on contested community land, they can spark social conflicts.

To avoid these issues, plantations should be limited to highly degraded and non-forest lands. Provided local communities are involved in decision-making and benefit from employment and revenue, plantations can serve as buffers around protected areas, helping to reduce deforestation.

Smallholder plantations are an important source of income in tropical regions. For example, Indonesia’s "jungle rubber" plantations, managed by small farmers, support over a million people and account for more than half of the country’s rubber export revenue. Beyond timber and rubber, plantation species such as oil palms provide secondary sources of fuelwood for local communities.

Reducing the Environmental Impact of Oil Extraction in the Rainforest

The most effective way to mitigate damage from oil operations would be to prohibit oil extraction in tropical rainforests. However, given the economic dependence of many tropical nations on oil revenues and the concentration of oil reserves in forested areas, a complete ban is unlikely. Instead, the focus must be on reducing pollution, preventing spills, and limiting associated deforestation through improved management practices.

Key strategies for reducing oil-related environmental damage include:

• Improving pipeline integrity and implementing better spill detection systems.
• Using reinjection techniques to minimize toxic wastewater discharge.
• Halting methane flaring, which contributes to air pollution and climate change.
• Restricting road development and access to forest areas to prevent settlement-driven deforestation.

Biofuels

As the world seeks alternatives to conventional fossil fuels, the biofuel industry has expanded rapidly. However, first-generation biofuels—those derived from food crops like palm oil, soy, corn, rapeseed, and sugarcane—have had severe environmental and social consequences.

Negative impacts of large-scale biofuel production include:

• Deforestation driven by the expansion of biofuel crop plantations.
• Soil erosion and depletion of water supplies due to intensive monoculture farming.
• Increased competition between food and fuel crops, driving up food prices.
• Higher greenhouse gas emissions when tropical forests and peatlands are cleared for biofuel crops.

Despite these challenges, next-generation biofuels—derived from non-food sources such as agricultural waste, algae, and native grasses—hold promise for reducing the environmental footprint of fuel production. By utilizing non-arable lands and avoiding the displacement of food crops, these advanced biofuels could offer a more sustainable alternative to fossil fuels.

Efficiency

Improving energy efficiency is one of the most effective ways to reduce oil demand. Following the 1973 OPEC oil embargo, the United States implemented policies to curb wasteful energy practices, resulting in a 25 percent increase in overall energy efficiency and a 32 percent improvement in oil efficiency by 1985. Japan went even further, achieving a 31 percent increase in energy efficiency and a 51 percent improvement in oil efficiency.

Today, the global economy is increasingly decoupling from carbon emissions. Between 1990 and 2004, the U.S. economy grew by 51 percent, yet carbon emissions rose by only 19 percent. This suggests that economic growth and carbon dioxide emissions do not necessarily move in tandem. Continued investments in energy-efficient technologies, renewable energy sources, and conservation measures can further reduce dependence on oil while mitigating environmental harm.

Developing New Technologies

The developed world has the opportunity to reduce reliance on oil exploration by investing in cleaner, less environmentally damaging technologies. For instance, compressed natural gas (CNG) is a cleaner-burning fuel than gasoline and is already used in some vehicles. Electric vehicles (EVs) present an even more promising alternative, particularly as the grid shifts toward renewable energy sources.

To accelerate innovation, governments can play a key role by phasing out subsidies for fossil fuel industries and imposing higher taxes on heavy polluters. By creating financial incentives for cleaner energy sources, policymakers can help steer investment toward sustainable alternatives. However, the private sector is likely to drive most of the technological advancements. Since the mid-2000s, venture capital firms and corporations have invested billions in renewable energy and emerging green technologies, signaling a shift toward a lower-carbon future.

That said, as demonstrated by early biofuel adoption, not all alternative energy sources are inherently sustainable. Large-scale hydroelectric projects, for example, have devastated river ecosystems and flooded vast tracts of tropical forests. Wind, solar, tidal, and geothermal energy all offer promise but must be implemented responsibly to avoid unintended environmental and social consequences. Conducting thorough environmental and social impact assessments before undertaking large-scale energy projects is critical to ensuring long-term sustainability.

Conclusion

Sustainable management of tropical rainforests presents significant challenges. Multiple factors must be addressed, including:

• Resolving conflicting claims to land, particularly in cases where Indigenous and local communities depend on forest resources.
• Improving access to markets while ensuring fair trade practices for sustainably harvested products.
• Balancing economic growth with conservation to prevent over-exploitation in the face of rising demand for forest products.
• Establishing policies and frameworks that promote long-term stewardship of forests.

Ultimately, the survival of rainforests is directly tied to how well they are valued—both economically and ecologically. Rainforests must be preserved not only for their biodiversity and carbon storage capabilities but also for the sustainable livelihoods they can provide. If deforestation continues unchecked, the very resources that could support long-term development will disappear. Medicinal plants, non-timber forest products, ecotourism opportunities, and other renewable resources can only benefit humanity if the ecosystems that sustain them remain intact.

True sustainable development must balance conservation with economic opportunity. By making strategic investments in green technology, enforcing responsible land-use policies, and empowering local communities, the world can chart a path that allows rainforests to thrive while still providing for human needs.

Reducing the Environmental Impact of Oil Extraction in the Rainforest

To mitigate the loss of tropical rainforests, it is essential to focus not only on preventing the conversion of intact ecosystems but also on making more efficient use of already cleared and degraded areas. Reducing future deforestation requires increasing and sustaining the productivity of farms, pastures, plantations, and scrubland, while also restoring species and ecosystems in degraded habitats. By minimizing wasteful land-use practices, optimizing existing cleared lands, and improving previously developed areas, we can reduce the pressure to clear additional rainforest.

Increasing Productivity

Enhancing the productivity of cleared rainforest lands is possible through improved agricultural techniques that yield higher crop outputs. The careful selection and development of plant varieties suited to degraded soils can help rehabilitate these areas. While technological advancements have contributed to the degradation of tropical rainforests, they also offer crucial solutions for their conservation and restoration.

Degraded Land News Feed

Habitat and Species Rehabilitation

There is still an opportunity to save some of the most threatened species and ecosystems, which face imminent extinction without intervention. Conservation efforts can make a meaningful impact in preserving species that have been severely affected by human activities. A notable example is the recovery of the Mauritius kestrel. However, focusing on individual species alone is resource-intensive and not a scalable solution. Instead, conservation efforts should prioritize protecting and restoring entire ecosystems.

Restoring entire ecosystems is most feasible in areas where remnants of the original forest persist and human population pressures are relatively low. Small clearings surrounded by forest can regenerate quickly, and larger sections may recover over time, particularly with assistance in reforestation. Within a few years, previously barren land can support vegetation through natural regeneration, including pioneer species and secondary growth. While these secondary forests may have lower biodiversity and structural complexity than primary forests, they can still provide essential habitat for returning species, assuming they have not been lost entirely. Additionally, newly restored forest patches can support sustainable harvesting of forest products and low-impact logging.

Reforested areas offer both ecological and economic benefits. In the short term, forests sequester significant amounts of atmospheric carbon, helping to mitigate climate change. Large-scale reforestation projects hold substantial potential for offsetting greenhouse gas emissions. One such initiative, the INFAPRO project in Malaysia, is a collaboration between the FACE Foundation (Forest Absorbing Carbon Emissions) and the Innoprise Corporation. This project aims to rehabilitate 61,000 acres (25,000 hectares) of logged rainforest over 25 years using native tree species, including dipterocarps and forest fruit trees. The project employs enrichment planting, a method in which seedlings are planted in the understory of degraded forests and receive targeted care to ensure their growth.

Prioritizing Areas for Conservation

A key strategy for addressing deforestation is designating land for conservation. As emphasized throughout this site, conservation efforts must account for economic realities. The long-term success of parks and reserves largely depends on local communities, and conservation efforts are most effective when they align with improvements in people’s quality of life. Studies indicate that as living standards rise, deforestation and encroachment on protected areas tend to decrease. The previous sections explored ways to support sustainable livelihoods. This final section focuses on how we can strategically protect remaining forest areas. Conservation efforts involve two main components: (1) identifying priority areas for protection through research and ecological valuation, and (2) organizing and implementing conservation initiatives.

Prioritizing Areas for Conservation

Research

Despite increasing interest in and scientific study of tropical rainforests, much remains unknown about the species they harbor, the complex ecological interactions between them, the consequences of losing particular species, and the full role of these ecosystems. As forests disappear, in-depth research is essential to maximize biodiversity conservation and ensure sustainable resource use. Research also helps determine the optimal size and location of reserves to minimize species loss.

Additionally, further research is necessary to demonstrate the economic value of forests, strengthening arguments against short-sighted development projects. It can also provide insights into improving sustainable harvesting of forest resources and identifying new sources of food, medicine, and other essential materials.

Documenting Species: How and Why

More than 95 percent of Earth's species remain undescribed, and many are entirely unknown. Of the estimated 5–50 million species, only 1.8 million have been documented. However, even for these, information is often limited to a scientific name, a brief geographic record, and a few details about their life history. At the current rate of species documentation, it would take approximately 4,000 years to describe all existing species. While larger and more conspicuous species, such as birds and mammals, are relatively well-documented, new discoveries continue—about a dozen new lemur species have been identified since 1986, and four new primate species have been discovered in Brazil since 1990. On average, two to three new bird species are described annually. A comprehensive global species survey would significantly advance conservation efforts.

Examples of New Species Discoveries

Each year, scientists uncover species previously unknown to science. Some notable discoveries include:

• In 1985, 4,003 amphibian species were known to science. By 2012, this number exceeded 7,000.
• Approximately 2,000 new flowering plant species are added to the official list annually, including about 60 from the United States and Canada [Wilson 2002].
• Over the past three decades, the number of known mammal species has increased from 4,000 to more than 5,700, including 40 newly identified lemur species in Madagascar since 2000.
• More species discovery news

Identifying Conservation Hotspots

Species surveys help identify "hotspots," areas with exceptionally high biodiversity, particularly of endemic species found nowhere else. Several types of surveys contribute to conservation prioritization, including rapid assessment programs (RAPs) and long-term ecological studies.

The RAP approach, pioneered by Conservation International, aims to quickly assess biodiversity in under-studied areas that may be at immediate risk from development. RAP teams focus on well-documented groups such as mammals, reptiles, and birds. Based on species richness and endemicity, they assess the ecological significance of an area and provide recommendations for its conservation. Ideally, governments act on these findings by designating new protected areas.

In contrast, long-term ecological studies span larger regions over extended periods, providing deeper insights into ecosystem functions and sustainable land-use strategies. These studies often encompass multiple biodiversity hotspots and may inform broader conservation and policy initiatives. A leading example is Costa Rica’s Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad (INBio), which systematically catalogs the country’s flora and fauna, using this knowledge to advance environmental conservation and economic development.

One of the most ambitious conservation surveys was conducted by biologist Michael Fay. In 1999, Fay embarked on a 2,000-kilometer trek from the Central African Republic across Congo to Gabon’s coast, completing the journey in 455 days. His extensive ecological documentation of the Congo Basin, known as the "MegaTransect," provided critical data that informed conservation priorities across multiple African nations. The findings directly influenced policy decisions, leading to the creation of Gabon’s national park system.

The Big Picture

Beyond species surveys, accurate and objective assessments of environmental conditions are essential for understanding the state of rainforests. Key indicators such as annual forest cover, deforestation rates, climate change impacts, siltation, urban expansion, encroaching development, erosion, and pollution must be systematically recorded to establish reliable baselines for conservation efforts.

The good news is that numerous government and private-sector Earth observation programs are actively monitoring these changes. One of the most well-known initiatives is Landsat, operated by NASA, which has provided critical satellite imagery for decades. Advances in technology have made these images more accessible to the public, with platforms like Google Earth helping to visualize and analyze environmental changes over time.

Remote Sensing and Conservation News Feed

Determining Rainforest Reserve Placement

Once high-biodiversity areas and species at greatest risk of extinction have been identified, park planners must consider additional factors before designating a protected area. It is crucial to assess human use of forest lands prior to establishing a national park. The presence of trails, the location of existing and projected human settlements, and patterns of land and resource use all play a significant role in determining whether an area is suitable for protection. If local communities face restrictions on access to parklands without viable alternatives, they are less likely to support or respect conservation boundaries.

For this reason, planners often evaluate the economic potential of sustainable forest management as an alternative to deforestation. The spatial distribution and quality of habitat are also key considerations. When given a choice between degraded and intact ecosystems, priority is generally given to protecting higher-quality areas. Researchers also analyze species distributions to ensure that reserves encompass critical habitats for biodiversity conservation.

Types of Protected Areas

Studies of isolated forest reserves, such as the Lovejoy experiment and Barro Colorado Island, have shown that small, disconnected reserves struggle to conserve species diversity, genetic resources, and ecological processes. To address this, conservation strategies must integrate protected areas with surrounding landscapes, incorporating buffer zones and sustainable land-use practices.

Effective land management extends beyond the reserve itself to the surrounding areas. If the land around a reserve is deforested or allocated exclusively to corporate use, local communities may be forced to enter the reserve in search of food, fuelwood, or arable land. To prevent this, conservation plans should accommodate the needs of local populations, ensuring that they have access to sustainable resources outside the core protected area. One of the most effective approaches is the creation of multiple-use reserves.

A multiple-use reserve consists of several zones with varying levels of human activity. The outermost areas, known as buffer zones, are designated for sustainable use by local communities. These zones may support regulated harvesting of fuelwood, native plants, and animals, as well as small-scale agriculture. Low-impact commercial activities, such as selective logging, may also be permitted. Beyond the buffer zone, reforestation projects can help restore degraded land, with seeds and seedlings sourced from the reserve. Over time, these reforested areas can support additional sustainable practices.

The inner zones of a multiple-use reserve can be designated for Indigenous communities, allowing them to maintain their traditional ways of life without external interference, should they choose. This zone can also accommodate eco-tourism initiatives, with Indigenous guides and local community members leading visitors. The core area, which comprises only a small portion of the total protected area, is strictly protected and prioritized for conservation. Access to this zone is typically restricted to research scientists, ensuring the protection of the most ecologically significant “hotspots.”

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has developed eight categories of protected areas that balance biodiversity conservation with sustainable development. These categories follow a structure similar to the one described above, with buffer zones allowing for limited development while core areas (Categories I and II) remain strictly protected for research. A notable example is Manu National Park, part of the Manu Biosphere Reserve in the Amazon Basin. Manu serves as a research base for scientists while also supporting tourism and sustainable resource use in surrounding buffer zones.

Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OECMs)

Beyond formally designated protected areas, there are other forms of land and resource management that contribute to biodiversity conservation. These are known as Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OECMs). OECMs are geographically defined areas that have some form of management in place and produce sustained positive outcomes for biodiversity—regardless of whether conservation is the primary management objective.

At first glance, OECMs may seem similar to IUCN-designated protected areas, but there is a key distinction: in a protected area, conservation must be a central management goal, whereas in an OECM, conservation benefits arise as a result of management, even if the primary objective is something else. This could include areas managed for sustainable forestry, Indigenous territories with traditional land stewardship, or certain agricultural landscapes that maintain high biodiversity. For OECM supporters, this subtle distinction is critical, as it allows conservation to be integrated into a wider range of land-use strategies.

Recognizing and supporting OECMs expands the global conservation toolkit, ensuring that areas outside formal protected zones also contribute to biodiversity preservation. This approach is particularly relevant in regions where creating new protected areas may not be feasible due to existing land tenure arrangements or economic activities. By identifying and strengthening OECMs, conservationists can promote ecological integrity across broader landscapes, bridging the gap between strictly protected areas and sustainable land-use practices.

OECMs complement protected areas by enhancing connectivity between reserves, providing safe havens for wildlife, and maintaining ecosystem functions across landscapes. As global conservation targets increasingly emphasize the need to protect 30% of the planet’s land and ocean by 2030, the recognition of OECMs offers a flexible and inclusive pathway toward achieving this goal.

What's the Best Size for a Forest Reserve?

As forests are designated as reserves—often in regions of the highest biodiversity—the question of optimal reserve size becomes critical. While protecting as much land as possible is ideal, conservationists have long debated whether it is better to establish a single large reserve or multiple smaller ones. This debate, known as SLOSS (Single Large or Several Small), has been a point of contention in conservation biology for decades, sometimes diverting time, resources, and energy away from broader conservation goals.

A single large reserve offers advantages, such as supporting larger populations of species, providing a more stable environment, and reducing the risk of local extinctions due to genetic isolation. However, such reserves are also more vulnerable to large-scale disturbances like fires, floods, or disease outbreaks, which could devastate an entire ecosystem. On the other hand, dividing a reserve into several smaller areas can reduce the risk of complete population loss from a single catastrophic event, but it also results in smaller, more fragmented populations that may be at higher risk of extinction. Additionally, small reserves are more susceptible to invasions by non-native species. Studies have shown that domestic animals can penetrate up to five kilometers (three miles) into rainforests, introducing diseases, spreading invasive plant seeds, and preying on native wildlife by consuming eggs, destroying nests, and trampling seedlings. Many species also require a minimum population size or range to survive, which small reserves may not adequately provide.

Larger reserves not only protect greater areas but also encompass varied habitats—such as forest edges, interior clearings, wetlands, and ridges—which support a wider range of ecological niches and promote biodiversity (Species–Area Math). Maintaining these diverse zones is crucial, as they contribute to the resilience and richness of ecosystems.

Several landmark studies have demonstrated the consequences of reducing reserve size. Two well-known experiments in Latin America include research conducted on Barro Colorado Island, Panama, and Thomas Lovejoy's forest fragmentation experiment in the Brazilian Amazon (Are Forest Fragments Worth Saving?).

Barro Colorado Island was once a forested hilltop in the middle of a thriving tropical rainforest. When the Panama Canal was constructed, the damming of the Chagres River flooded the valley, isolating the hilltop as an island of six square miles (15.5 square kilometers) of forest. Designated as a biological reserve in 1923, the island has been a hub for scientific research since 1946 under the management of the Smithsonian Institution. Over the past century, researchers have observed significant changes in the island’s wildlife. Large predators, such as jaguars, pumas, and harpy eagles, were among the first to disappear. Without these apex predators, populations of mammals like pacas, agoutis, peccaries, and coatimundis surged to two to ten times their natural levels. However, by 1970, 45 bird species had vanished due to increased competition, habitat loss (such as the disappearance of forest edges and meadows), and the overall reduction in available land. Today, the total number of lost bird species has climbed to 65. Similar biodiversity declines have been recorded in island ecosystems created by hydroelectric projects in Thailand (Chiew Larn Hydroelectric Reservoir) and Venezuela (Guri Dam Reservoir).

To address the challenges associated with reserve size, some conservation biologists advocate for a compromise: creating a network of smaller reserves connected by forest corridors. These corridors allow species to migrate between different protected areas, reducing the risks associated with population isolation while still providing some resilience against large-scale environmental disturbances. Connectivity is particularly critical in the face of climate change, as species must be able to move to new habitats as environmental conditions shift. However, more research is needed to determine the optimal size and configuration of reserves to maximize biodiversity conservation.

Fragmentation News Feed

Funding Rainforest Conservation

For much of the past century, governments and industries have failed to recognize that tropical rainforests hold far greater value than just their hardwood timber. Rainforests play a crucial role in Earth's hydrological, biological, geochemical, and climatological systems. However, because many of these benefits cannot be directly measured or monetized, they are often undervalued by the market, leading to widespread deforestation. A more comprehensive economic analysis should account for these indirect values to correct this market failure.

Companies that exploit rainforests should be required to conduct bioeconomic and cost-benefit analyses as part of their land-use assessments. A robust bioeconomic analysis evaluates opportunity costs, identifies species with potential pharmaceutical, food, or commercial value, and assesses the ecological services provided by the forest, such as climate regulation, carbon storage, water purification, and soil protection. These analyses can also estimate the potential for eco-tourism, helping policymakers and stakeholders make informed decisions about land use. Research by economist Robert Costanza in the 1990s estimated that global ecosystems and the services they provide are worth approximately $33 trillion annually. The biodiversity of tropical rainforests offers material benefits far beyond timber alone. For example, in the late 1970s, Malaysia imported weevils from Cameroon to pollinate oil palm plantations, saving an estimated $120 million in labor costs in 1981. This cost-saving discovery was simple: weevils are the natural pollinators of oil palms, which originated in the rainforests of Central Africa. By integrating such ecological insights into economic evaluations, societies can make better decisions about whether to sustainably manage forests or deplete them for short-term gain.

Some conservationists argue that assigning a monetary value to ecosystems is the wrong approach, as nature has intrinsic and aesthetic value that transcends economic calculations. They fear that valuing a square kilometer of Malaysian mangrove forest at $300,000 for flood control alone could encourage developers to justify its destruction if they can offer slightly more for commercial development. However, in a global economy where financial considerations drive decision-making, framing conservation in economic terms can provide a compelling and widely understood argument for protecting biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Even cost-benefit analyses often underestimate the true value of species and ecosystems, as they struggle to account for unknown benefits. While bioeconomic assessments can evaluate eco-tourism potential and known commercial uses of rainforest species, they fall short of measuring many ecological services that forests provide. How much is a stable climate worth? What price would a nation pay for clean water or navigable rivers? How do we quantify the costs of global warming, melting ice caps, or the disruption of hydroelectric projects and fisheries? Rainforests play an essential role in preventing extreme weather patterns, stabilizing freshwater supplies, and mitigating climate change—services that are difficult to price but indispensable to human well-being.

Clearing rainforests for timber, cattle pasture, paper pulp, or palm oil does not maximize their long-term value; rather, it is akin to smashing an ancient Roman vase to retrieve a single coin inside. The short-term extraction of commodities fails to capture the full economic and ecological potential of these ecosystems, making large-scale deforestation a profound and irreversible loss.

Implementing Rainforest Conservation

Now that priority forest areas have been identified for protection, the next step is effective implementation and management of these reserves. Success will require collaboration across a broad spectrum of stakeholders, from local farmers and Indigenous communities to multinational corporations and government officials. Without cooperation and inclusive decision-making, any system of protected areas is unlikely to succeed.

Funding

Establishing and maintaining forest reserves, as well as implementing sustainable forest management, requires substantial financial resources. In the 1990s, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimated that the forestry sector was funded at only 27% of what was needed, while the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development estimated that protecting tropical forests through sustainable development would cost $30 billion per year—a figure that has since roughly doubled.

Many of the countries where conservation is most urgently needed face significant financial constraints, often prioritizing economic growth, healthcare, and education over environmental protection. However, innovative financing models are proving that forest conservation can align with economic development and poverty alleviation, rather than competing against them.

Funding Methods

Debt-for-Nature Swaps

One approach to financing conservation in developing countries is debt-for-nature swaps, in which conservation organizations or international financial institutions purchase a portion of a developing country’s commercial debt at a discount or persuade creditor banks to forgive it. In return, the debtor country agrees to invest in conservation initiatives, such as sustainable development programs, environmental education, and improved land management.

Debt-for-nature agreements have been in place since 1987, when Conservation International purchased $650,000 worth of Bolivian debt for just $100,000 in exchange for commitments to conservation. Within a decade, nearly $1 billion in such agreements had been arranged across 16 countries, including Argentina, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Madagascar, Mexico, and the Philippines.

In 1998, the U.S. Congress passed the Tropical Forest Conservation Act (TFCA), allowing the U.S. to forgive debt owed by developing countries in exchange for investments in forest conservation and economic reforms. By 2011, TFCA agreements had generated more than $250 million for rainforest protection. While debt-for-nature swaps will not significantly reduce the overall external debt burden of poor nations, they can dramatically increase the funds available for conservation efforts.

Emerging Conservation Finance Strategies

Other financial mechanisms may prove valuable in funding rainforest conservation, though they have yet to be fully developed. Many of these approaches are based on the idea that all nations should contribute to rainforest preservation, given that deforestation has global consequences. Wealthier countries, in particular, are expected to provide substantial funding. Some proposals suggest reallocating subsidies currently given to environmentally harmful industries, such as fossil fuel and mining companies, to support conservation.

One of the most advanced funding mechanisms for rainforest protection is Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+). REDD+ seeks to mitigate climate change by compensating tropical countries for preserving their forests, thereby preventing carbon emissions from deforestation. While challenges remain—such as securing stable financing, ensuring environmental and social safeguards, and refining implementation protocols—REDD+ projects are already operational in countries ranging from Brazil to Cambodia. If fully implemented, REDD+ has the potential to generate tens of billions of dollars annually for conservation efforts.

Another innovative approach is the concept of a rainforest bond, in which a forested country issues bonds to raise immediate funding for conservation. These bonds would be repaid using revenues from environmental taxes, sustainable logging, and payments for ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration and watershed protection. Prince Charles’ Rainforest Project has championed rainforest bonds as a mechanism for financing the early stages of REDD+ programs.

In addition, Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) programs have been gaining traction. PES schemes financially compensate landowners or communities for preserving natural ecosystems that provide essential services, such as water purification, carbon storage, and biodiversity conservation. Costa Rica’s PES program, for example, has successfully encouraged landowners to reforest and protect native woodlands through financial incentives.

The future of rainforest conservation will likely depend on a mix of these financing strategies, combining government funding, market-based solutions, and community-driven initiatives. As conservation finance evolves, securing long-term, equitable funding mechanisms will be essential to protecting the world’s remaining rainforests.

Organizing Rainforest Conservation Efforts

To effectively address the complex challenges of rainforest conservation, efforts must be balanced across local, national, and international levels. Empowering communities to manage their forests and resources is essential, with municipal governments overseeing parks and reserves. Meanwhile, state agencies—supported by intergovernmental institutions and non-governmental organizations (NGOs)—play a crucial role in formulating broader conservation strategies and providing expertise in protected area management. Successful conservation requires strong partnerships that integrate scientific, economic, and social considerations into a cohesive strategy for sustainable rainforest use and protection.

Many government agencies responsible for biodiversity conservation in the developing world face severe financial constraints. Additionally, in an era of increasing democratization, these agencies are under growing pressure from local communities demanding access to land set aside for conservation. To navigate these financial and social pressures, partnerships with foreign governments, intergovernmental institutions, NGOs, and environmental organizations are essential. However, government agencies must also take responsibility by setting measurable conservation objectives, increasing transparency, and ensuring accountability—much like publicly traded companies that report to shareholders. Conservation efforts will only be successful if these agencies work efficiently, address local needs, and engage communities in the decision-making process.

Governmental Agencies and Policy

Historically, many governments have prioritized rapid forest exploitation, using subsidies and economic incentives to accelerate logging, agriculture, and development in rainforest regions. The interests of local communities and the long-term environmental consequences of deforestation—such as soil erosion, altered weather patterns, droughts, floods, and disease outbreaks—have often been overlooked. For example, India estimates that environmental degradation, much of it linked to deforestation, costs the country about 10% of its annual income. If governments treated forests as depreciable natural capital rather than expendable resources, they could better assess the true economic costs of deforestation and adopt policies that balance conservation with development.

Some governments are now listening to scientists, economists, human-rights advocates, Indigenous leaders, and environmentalists, adopting more sustainable forest management approaches. Developed nations have recognized the urgency of the crisis and are increasingly providing financial aid and technical expertise to support conservation initiatives in tropical forest countries.

Industrialized Nations

Wealthier nations have a critical role to play in supporting rainforest conservation, both financially and technologically. Some countries provide loans or forgive debts in exchange for conservation commitments—so-called debt-for-nature swaps. For instance, the U.S. has canceled more than $250 million in debt owed by tropical nations, redirecting these funds toward forest conservation projects. In the 1990s, Germany forgave $400 million of Kenya’s debt in exchange for the passage of environmental legislation, demonstrating how financial incentives can drive policy reforms.

In the late 1990s, Germany was a leading advocate for rainforest conservation among G8 nations, with Chancellor Helmut Kohl pushing for greater international action. However, since the late 2000s, Norway has emerged as a global leader in rainforest conservation, committing 3 billion krone ($500 million) annually—an amount disproportionate to its size but reflective of its strong environmental policies.

Financial support is just one aspect of international conservation assistance. Industrialized nations also have advanced conservation expertise and technology that can enhance forest monitoring, improve protected area management, and support sustainable development initiatives. Satellite-based tracking systems, remote sensing technologies, and artificial intelligence tools are increasingly being used to monitor deforestation in real time, allowing for more effective enforcement of conservation policies.

Ultimately, rainforest conservation is a shared global responsibility. While tropical nations bear the direct burden of protecting forests, industrialized countries—many of which have benefited from historical deforestation—must continue to provide funding, expertise, and policy support to ensure that conservation efforts succeed.

How Tropical Nations Can Save Rainforests

Tropical nations are increasingly demonstrating leadership in safeguarding rainforests for future generations. Their efforts, ranging from policy reforms to innovative conservation programs, have significantly influenced global rainforest protection strategies.

The push to compensate tropical countries for the carbon stored in their forests emerged from an initiative by the Coalition for Rainforest Nations during climate negotiations in Montreal in 2005. This eventually led to the development of the REDD+ program, which provides financial incentives for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.

Beyond REDD+, Brazil and Costa Rica are widely recognized as global leaders in rainforest conservation. After losing much of its forest to cattle ranching and industrial agriculture, Costa Rica launched major conservation initiatives in the 1990s, expanding its national park system and introducing a payments for ecosystem services (PES) program. These measures transformed Costa Rica from a country with declining forest cover to one where forests are now expanding.

Even more striking is Brazil’s success in curbing deforestation in the Amazon since 2004. With the help of advanced satellite-based monitoring, Brazil launched a crackdown on illegal deforestation and implemented policies to promote sustainable agriculture and logging in the world's largest rainforest. The results have been dramatic—between 2004 and 2012, Brazil’s annual deforestation rate dropped nearly 80%. While multiple factors contributed to this decline, direct government intervention is estimated to have accounted for at least half of the reduction.

A similar trend is emerging in Indonesia, historically one of the world’s largest sources of tropical deforestation. In 2009, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono pledged to reduce deforestation and peatland degradation by 2020, with or without international assistance. Norway responded by committing up to $1 billion to support Indonesia’s efforts. The following year, Yudhoyono introduced a two-year moratorium on new concessions across 14.5 million hectares of peatlands and primary forest, marking a significant step toward forest conservation.

Strategies for Strengthening Forest Stewardship

Tropical nations can adopt several key strategies to improve forest management and reduce deforestation:

Eliminating Harmful Subsidies

One of the most effective ways to slow deforestation is to eliminate subsidies that encourage large-scale forest clearing, particularly those benefiting powerful industrial interests. Subsidies for sawmills, road construction, large-scale colonization schemes, and industrial agriculture create artificial profitability for deforestation-driven industries while undervaluing intact forests. Removing these subsidies would reduce incentives for destructive activities and help level the playing field for more sustainable land-use practices.

However, eliminating subsidies is politically challenging. In many countries, industries that rely on deforestation hold significant political influence. For example, in Indonesia, powerful players in the palm oil, timber, and pulp industries undermined efforts to enforce a strong forest moratorium. Similarly, in Brazil, the ruralistas—a political bloc representing agribusiness and large-scale forest developers—successfully pushed through a controversial revision of the country’s Forest Code in 2012. Environmentalists warned that these changes could reverse Brazil’s progress in reducing deforestation.

Reforming Land Tenure Policies

Governments can curb deforestation by reforming land-title systems so that maintaining standing forests is incentivized rather than penalized. Under current policies in many countries, landholders often need to clear forests to establish legal ownership or qualify for government subsidies. Instead, governments could reward sustainable land stewardship by offering tax incentives or land tenure security for forest conservation.

Some nations have already implemented deforestation taxes, discouraging large-scale land clearing while generating revenue for conservation programs. Expanding such policies could create a more sustainable approach to land management.

Strengthening Law Enforcement and Governance

In many tropical countries, weak enforcement of environmental laws enables illegal logging and land conversion. Few fines are collected, and even when they are, corruption often prevents funds from reaching government treasuries. In some cases, forestry officials accept bribes due to low salaries, further undermining conservation efforts.

To combat this, governments can improve forestry enforcement by:

• Boosting salaries and offering performance-based incentives to forestry officials.
• Ensuring that fines and revenues from seized illegal goods are reinvested into conservation programs.
• Deploying satellite monitoring and remote sensing technologies to track deforestation in real time.
• Enhancing transparency and accountability through independent oversight of forestry agencies.

Improving Coordination Across Government Departments

In many developing countries, conflicts of interest and poor coordination between government agencies hinder conservation efforts. Ministries responsible for environmental protection often work independently of, or in direct opposition to, agencies overseeing mining, agriculture, and infrastructure. An integrated policy approach—where conservation priorities are incorporated into national development strategies—can help resolve these inefficiencies.

Strengthening International Support

Many tropical nations argue that wealthy industrialized countries, which have already deforested much of their own land, should contribute more to forest conservation efforts. They contend that if rainforests provide critical global benefits—such as climate regulation and biodiversity protection—then the global community should help fund their preservation.

Developed nations have a moral and economic responsibility to support rainforest protection, whether through direct conservation funding, technology transfer, or fair-trade agreements that promote sustainable commodities. While rhetoric alone will not save rainforests, meaningful financial commitments and policy cooperation can help tropical nations achieve lasting conservation success.

Intergovernmental Institutions and Conservation

Until recently, the concept of sustainable development was largely absent from the agendas of major international financial institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Historically, both institutions funded large-scale development projects that contributed to deforestation, prioritizing economic growth over environmental and social concerns.

The World Bank, a multilateral development bank that provides financial assistance to countries for economic development, has traditionally favored mega-projects—large infrastructure and industrial initiatives—because they are easier to administer than multiple smaller projects. As a result, World Bank loans to developing nations have often been substantial, sometimes exceeding a billion dollars, further increasing national debt burdens. In 1987 alone, the bank granted more than $15 billion in loans to tropical countries. Since many of these nations lack heavy-equipment industries, a significant portion of the loan funds are often used to purchase industrial products and materials from donor countries, creating a cycle that benefits developed nations more than the recipients.

The World Bank’s influence is profound, shaping the priorities of other international lenders and setting precedents for development financing. Historically, the bank selected projects based primarily on economic rate of return, largely ignoring their environmental and social costs. This approach led to numerous controversial projects with severe ecological and human consequences, including:

• The Tucuruí Dam in Brazil, which displaced 25,000 people and submerged 900 square miles of rainforest.
• The Polonoroeste road-building project in Rondônia, Brazil, which triggered large-scale deforestation by facilitating the migration of one million farmers into rainforest areas.
• The Indonesian Transmigration Program, which relocated millions of people from densely populated islands to forested regions, accelerating deforestation and disrupting Indigenous communities.

In response to growing criticism, the World Bank and other financial institutions have taken steps to integrate environmental and social safeguards into their projects. Today, these organizations employ environmental consultants to assess the impacts of proposed developments, leading to a shift toward more sustainable projects.

Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and Environmental Safeguards

Established in 1991 by the World Bank, the Global Environmental Facility (GEF)—in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)—has committed billions of dollars to conservation efforts worldwide. Its initiatives include:

• Creating national parks and protected areas.
• Promoting sustainable forestry practices.
• Establishing conservation trust funds in developing nations.

To address grievances related to its projects, the World Bank created the Inspection Panel in 1994 as an independent body. This mechanism allows individuals and organizations affected by bank-funded projects to file complaints, triggering investigations into potential policy violations. The panel’s first major test came in 1995 when Latin American activists challenged a $167 million loan for the Planafloro project in Rondônia, citing mismanagement and environmental degradation from a previous loan.

In 1996, the bank withheld a loan to Papua New Guinea after the country failed to comply with timber regulations, though the loan was later reinstated. In 1999, the World Bank weakened the powers of the Inspection Panel, but that same year, it established the Office of the Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman (CAO) to handle complaints related to projects funded by the bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). The CAO gained global attention in 2009 when it investigated palm oil companies following complaints from environmental groups. As a result, the IFC halted lending to palm oil companies until adequate safeguards were implemented.

Shifting Toward Sustainable Development

These reforms aim to prevent the World Bank from financing environmentally destructive mega-projects like Tucuruí. Increasingly, the bank is funding small-scale, community-driven projects that have lower environmental impacts and greater local benefits. Decentralized decision-making allows projects to be tailored to specific regional conditions, making conservation efforts more effective and equitable.

In 2007, the World Bank launched the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) to support the development of the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) mechanism. The FCPF helps tropical countries build the necessary infrastructure and governance frameworks to participate in global carbon markets, providing financial incentives for forest conservation.

While intergovernmental institutions have historically contributed to deforestation, their evolving policies and funding mechanisms are playing an increasingly important role in rainforest conservation. Continued pressure from environmental advocates, scientists, and local communities will be essential in ensuring that these organizations uphold their commitments to sustainability.

Grassroots Movements in Rainforest Conservation

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are a driving force behind modern conservation efforts. These nonprofit groups fund and support all aspects of conservation, from initial research and protected-area initiatives to implementation through park management, community-based conservation programs, and policy advocacy. NGOs also play a crucial role in building alliances between government agencies and private interests, facilitating communication among stakeholders, and promoting environmental education in both developing and developed nations.

Grassroots Movements

With the global trend toward government decentralization, control over forest resources is increasingly being transferred to local governments and community-led organizations. This shift enables forestry decisions to be made at the local level, where they can better reflect the needs and priorities of the communities living in and around forests. In recent years, many local groups have taken the lead in promoting sustainable forest use, ensuring that conservation efforts provide direct benefits to local populations.

Grassroots movements, where they exist, are often among the most effective conservation efforts. These movements frequently emerge in response to growing pressures from commercial logging, agribusiness expansion, or land grabs. When local communities organize, they can delay or even halt environmentally destructive projects by protesting, advocating for legal reforms, and raising public awareness. Many grassroots initiatives also serve as laboratories for innovative conservation strategies, testing new approaches that can later be scaled up to national or international levels.

Given adequate resources, locally led conservation projects often have a higher success rate than foreign-led initiatives imposed from afar. The reason is simple: local organizations understand the cultural, economic, and ecological context of their communities, allowing them to integrate conservation into daily life more effectively. Smaller-scale projects, when successful, can serve as models for larger national and international conservation programs. Ideally, before adopting a broad conservation or land management strategy, it should be tested and refined at the local level.

In some countries, grassroots environmental movements have faced severe repression from governments, especially when their efforts challenge powerful commercial interests. However, this is changing as grassroots conservation efforts gain recognition worldwide. One of the most prominent examples of a successful grassroots movement emerged in the 1980s, when Brazilian rubber tappers organized to secure legal rights to forest lands. Their activism led to the creation of extractive reserves—protected areas where local communities sustainably harvest forest products such as rubber, Brazil nuts, and medicinal plants.

Another globally recognized grassroots initiative was led by the late Wangari Maathai, the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Maathai’s Green Belt Movement mobilized rural communities, particularly women, to plant trees, combat desertification, and restore degraded ecosystems. Since its founding, the movement has inspired the planting of hundreds of millions of trees worldwide, demonstrating how local actions can have far-reaching environmental impacts.

As grassroots conservation movements continue to grow, they offer a powerful model for environmental protection—one that is rooted in local knowledge, community empowerment, and sustainable livelihoods. By supporting these initiatives, policymakers and international organizations can help scale up community-driven solutions to global environmental challenges.

The Role of Communication and Education in Saving Rainforests

One of the most essential parts of saving the world's rainforests is maintaining an open and effective flow of communication among all stakeholders. Indigenous peoples, local communities, business interests, governments, scientists, and conservationists must all have a voice in shaping policies that balance conservation with development. The knowledge exchanged through conferences and dialogues can help create strategies that are both effective and equitable. No group should be excluded or misrepresented, and every effort should be made to foster open, inclusive, and constructive discussions. Conferences on rainforest conservation should be held regularly and should carry the legislative weight necessary to translate decisions into action. To date, no such ideal forum has fully materialized, but given that rainforest conservation has only recently become a global priority, progress is still unfolding.

The conferences that have convened so far have raised critical issues, but their recommendations often lack enforcement and follow-through. A landmark environmental gathering took place in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, bringing together approximately 100 heads of state—the largest such assembly at the time. While significant in its ambition, the challenge has always been ensuring that the commitments made in these forums translate into tangible action.

Strengthening Communication for Effective Forest Governance

One of the most persistent challenges in tropical forest governance is the communication gap. Without effective messaging that reaches the right people at the right time, progress in policy and conservation is limited. Too often, critical insights from research and advocacy fail to engage key stakeholders and decision-makers. Strengthening communication is therefore fundamental to improving forest governance, mobilizing public engagement, and fostering collaboration.

Raising Awareness and Public Engagement

Science communication plays a crucial role in making the complexities of deforestation, forest degradation, and ecosystem services more accessible to the general public. People need to understand why rainforests matter beyond abstract discussions of carbon storage. For example, recent research highlights the critical role of forests in regulating the water cycle—a function that directly impacts food and energy security. Because water is more tangible to the average person than carbon dioxide, reframing forests in this context can make deforestation a more urgent and relatable issue.

Broadening the Constituency for Forest Conservation

Tailoring scientific communication to local contexts can engage a broader range of stakeholders, from policymakers and business leaders to farmers and community groups. The increasing severity of environmental degradation is making ecological concerns more relevant to more people—provided they trust the science. This shift presents an opportunity to expand public support for stronger forest protections, ensuring that conservation is not just the concern of specialists but a shared priority.

Shaping Policy and Promoting Transparency

Effective communication bridges the gap between science and policy by translating complex data into actionable insights. This process enables decision-makers to design evidence-based governance strategies and strengthens accountability. A notable example is the use of satellite imagery in the Amazon, which provided real-time data on deforestation trends and directly informed policy measures in Brazil. The result was a significant reduction in the deforestation rate, demonstrating how transparency and data-driven governance can lead to measurable conservation successes.

Fostering Cross-Sector Collaboration

Rainforest conservation requires coordination across multiple sectors, from government agencies and NGOs to private enterprises and research institutions. Clear and accessible communication facilitates dialogue among these groups, helping to align priorities and enhance cooperation. Encouragingly, biodiversity conservation and forest carbon storage—historically treated as separate fields—are increasingly being linked. Emerging research shows that the loss of animal species can reduce forests’ capacity to store carbon, reinforcing the need for integrated conservation strategies.

Building Trust and Navigating Complexities

For conservation policies to be effective, they must have public support. People are far more likely to trust science they can understand. Transparent and accessible communication builds confidence in scientific findings, increasing the likelihood that policies based on these findings will be accepted and upheld. Ensuring that messages are not only accurate but also relatable can help bridge the gap between knowledge and action.

Encouraging Behavioral Change

Science communication can influence both consumer and corporate behaviors by highlighting the environmental impact of unsustainable practices. Public campaigns that expose the extent of deforestation linked to commodity production—such as palm oil and soy—have played a critical role in pressuring companies and governments to adopt zero-deforestation commitments. In Indonesia, such efforts have contributed to a significant decline in forest clearing for oil palm cultivation over the past decade, demonstrating the power of informed advocacy in driving corporate responsibility.

Inspiring Innovation and New Solutions

Beyond informing and mobilizing action, effective communication can inspire innovation. Showcasing success stories not only provides proof of what is possible but also fosters a sense of agency, encouraging people to contribute to solutions. When individuals see that progress is being made, they are more likely to believe that their actions—no matter how small—can make a difference. Out of this mindset, new technologies, policies, and conservation strategies emerge, helping to tackle broader challenges in forest protection.

Education

Education is one of the most important ingredients in saving the rainforests. Unfortunately, environmental education is not a high priority in many countries with tropical rainforests.

Education can provide the next generation with lessons not learned in the past: that rainforests are worth saving. With this information, children will be more aware of the problems they may face in the future when they become leaders.

Beyond formal education, community-based learning programs can play a crucial role in fostering environmental stewardship. Local knowledge, particularly that of Indigenous peoples, holds valuable insights into sustainable land management and conservation practices. Integrating traditional ecological knowledge with scientific understanding can empower communities to take an active role in protecting their forests.

Public awareness campaigns, school curricula, and hands-on conservation programs can help bridge the knowledge gap. Encouraging experiential learning—such as reforestation projects, wildlife monitoring, and sustainable farming initiatives—allows students to develop a deeper connection with nature. When individuals see firsthand the impact of deforestation and the benefits of conservation, they are more likely to advocate for change.

Moreover, education is not limited to students. Governments, businesses, and policymakers must also be equipped with the knowledge needed to make informed decisions about forest management. Training programs and policy workshops can provide decision-makers with the latest scientific findings, helping to align economic development with conservation goals.

Advancements in digital education tools have further expanded the reach of environmental learning. Online courses, virtual field trips, and interactive platforms enable people around the world to engage with rainforest conservation, regardless of location. These tools can amplify the voices of scientists, Indigenous leaders, and conservationists, fostering a global network of advocates dedicated to preserving these ecosystems.

Ultimately, education is a powerful tool for change. By equipping people with knowledge, fostering critical thinking, and inspiring action, it lays the foundation for a future where rainforests are valued, protected, and restored for generations to come.

What an Individual Can Do to Help Save the Rainforest

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) emphasize the role that individuals can play in conservation efforts. Surveys suggest that many people, particularly in developed countries, are concerned about environmental issues both locally and globally. The challenge is turning this awareness into meaningful action.

Purchasing and Consumption

Consumer choices can influence the demand for products linked to deforestation. For example, the global demand for tropical hardwoods has contributed to unsustainable logging practices. When buying wood products, look for certifications from reputable organizations, such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which ensures responsible forest management.

Agricultural expansion is another major driver of deforestation. In the 1980s, international demand for inexpensive beef and animal feed contributed to rainforest loss in Central America and Southeast Asia. Today, palm oil—found in many processed foods and personal care products—is a leading cause of deforestation in Southeast Asia. When purchasing goods, choose products made with certified sustainable palm oil, such as those endorsed by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).

Supporting sustainably harvested forest products, such as nuts, natural dyes, and responsibly sourced rubber, helps create economic incentives for conservation. Consumer demand plays a crucial role in sustaining these alternative livelihoods.

Reducing personal resource consumption is another impactful way to contribute. Many developed countries have high per capita resource use, including energy and water. Simple actions such as conserving electricity, reducing water waste, and recycling can help lower environmental impact. Many energy sources still rely on fossil fuels, which contribute to climate change, a key threat to rainforests worldwide.

Access to Information

A lack of information often prevents consumers from making environmentally responsible choices. Stay informed about deforestation threats, sustainable alternatives, and conservation initiatives. Many credible organizations provide up-to-date resources on rainforest conservation, eco-friendly products, and environmental advocacy. The more knowledge you have, the better equipped you are to make a difference.

Travel and Tourism

If you travel internationally, consider supporting eco-tourism initiatives that promote environmental conservation and benefit local communities. However, not all "eco-tourism" ventures are genuinely sustainable. Research tour operators to ensure they follow ethical and environmentally responsible practices.

Avoid purchasing souvenirs or products made from endangered species or illegally harvested rainforest materials. If you encounter vendors selling such items, politely express that you prefer to support conservation efforts that keep species thriving in their natural habitat.

Taking Action

Advocacy is a powerful tool for rainforest conservation. Contact your government representatives to voice your concerns about environmental policies and urge them to support stronger protections for forests and biodiversity.

Consider joining a conservation organization or rainforest advocacy group. Supporting campaigns and ethical business practices can amplify your impact. Many companies respond to consumer pressure—when enough people choose sustainable products or boycott environmentally harmful brands, businesses are more likely to adopt responsible practices.

Every action, no matter how small, contributes to the larger movement for rainforest protection. By making informed choices, reducing consumption, advocating for responsible policies, and raising awareness, individuals can play a meaningful role in safeguarding these vital ecosystems for future generations.

International Rainforest Conservation Organizations

Today, international conservation organizations serve as advisors to governments and corporations seeking to reduce environmental impact, establish protected areas, and promote biodiversity conservation. These organizations act as intermediaries, facilitating dialogue between development interests, policymakers, local communities, scientists, and activist groups to advance conservation efforts. Their work spans a broad range of activities, from organizing international conferences and funding research to supporting community-led conservation initiatives and managing protected areas. Recognizing the economic and social realities that shape conservation outcomes, they strive to integrate the latest scientific research with practical, long-term strategies for sustainability.

Activist Groups

Activist organizations, such as Rainforest Action Network (RAN), the Union of Concerned Scientists, and Greenpeace, play a critical role in rainforest protection by acting as external watchdogs. These groups focus on raising public awareness, exposing harmful environmental practices, and pressuring corporations and governments to change their policies. Through high-profile campaigns, investigative reporting, and direct action, they bring attention to deforestation and other threats to rainforests, often using tactics such as consumer boycotts, shareholder activism, and media outreach to hold industries accountable.

Activist organizations tend to function as external adversaries to agitate for change. They challenge corporations and policymakers through legal actions, public demonstrations, and market-based campaigns, applying pressure to force reforms. Their strategies can be particularly effective at generating widespread public engagement and shifting consumer behavior. However, some critics argue that aggressive campaigns may result in unintended consequences, such as companies shifting operations to regions with weaker environmental regulations rather than improving their practices.

Conservation and Environmental Organizations

In contrast, many conservation and environmental organizations take a more collaborative approach, working directly with companies, governments, and local communities to develop sustainable solutions. Organizations such as World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Conservation International (CI), and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) engage with policymakers and businesses to implement conservation-friendly practices. Their strategies often include promoting sustainable supply chains, supporting certification programs, and advising on policies that balance economic development with environmental protection.

While some conservation organizations partner with corporations to reduce environmental harm from industries such as agriculture, forestry, and mining, this approach is not without controversy. Critics argue that collaboration can sometimes lead to compromises that favor business interests over conservation. However, proponents believe that working within the system—rather than solely applying external pressure—can result in long-term, systemic change by embedding sustainability into corporate and governmental decision-making.

Rainforest Funders

Beyond government funding and public donations, private foundations play a significant role in financing rainforest conservation efforts. Many of these foundations were established by philanthropists who recognize the urgent need to protect the world’s remaining forests. Organizations such as the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and the MacArthur Foundation provide critical funding for conservation research, land protection initiatives, and Indigenous land rights programs.

Funding strategies vary widely. Some foundations focus on direct land purchases and conservation easements to prevent deforestation, while others invest in capacity-building programs that empower local communities to manage their forests sustainably. Increasingly, funders are also supporting innovative finance mechanisms, such as carbon credit programs and payments for ecosystem services, which provide financial incentives for conservation while supporting local livelihoods.

Ultimately, a diverse range of approaches is necessary to tackle the complex challenges of rainforest conservation. Activist groups apply external pressure to demand immediate action, conservation organizations work within institutions to implement long-term solutions, and funders provide the financial support needed to drive both approaches forward. Together, these efforts contribute to a broader movement aimed at preserving the world’s most vital ecosystems.

Indigenous Peoples' Role in Rainforest Conservation

Tropical forests have been inhabited by humans for tens of thousands of years, and human activities on a traditional scale may actually help promote forest diversity. Traditionally forest-dependent Indigenous peoples have rarely over-exploited the resources that sustain their communities. Many Indigenous groups practice rotational farming, agroforestry, and sustainable harvesting of forest products and game, ensuring the long-term health of the ecosystems they depend on. However, despite their stewardship, Indigenous communities have often been unfairly blamed for deforestation while facing displacement, resource exploitation, and exclusion from decision-making processes.

The establishment of protected areas has, at times, led to the forced removal of Indigenous peoples from their ancestral lands. In some cases, national park policies have restricted their ability to hunt, fish, and cultivate food in ways that have been practiced sustainably for generations. While conservation strategies have evolved to become more inclusive, conflicts still arise when governments grant land concessions to industries such as logging, mining, and oil extraction without the consent of the Indigenous communities living there. Too often, these communities have received little to no share of the economic benefits derived from forest development, despite bearing the social and environmental costs.

Indigenous peoples possess deep ecological knowledge and perspectives that are invaluable to rainforest conservation. Their understanding of plant and animal behavior, medicinal properties of flora, and sustainable land management practices offers insights that modern conservation science is only beginning to fully appreciate. Rather than being sidelined or viewed as obstacles to conservation, Indigenous communities must be recognized as key partners in forest protection efforts.

Indigenous-Led Conservation Initiatives

Many Indigenous communities are actively leading conservation initiatives on their lands, demonstrating that protecting biodiversity and sustaining livelihoods are not mutually exclusive goals. Across the Amazon, Congo Basin, and Southeast Asia, Indigenous groups have established forest monitoring programs, developed sustainable agroforestry systems, and fought for legal recognition of their territories. Studies show that deforestation rates tend to be lower in areas where Indigenous land rights are legally recognized compared to lands managed by outside entities.

Some Indigenous communities use technology to strengthen conservation efforts. In the Amazon, for example, Indigenous rangers utilize drones, satellite mapping, and mobile apps to monitor illegal deforestation, poaching, and land invasions. By combining traditional knowledge with modern tools, they are able to detect threats more effectively and advocate for stronger legal protections.

Securing Land Rights and Legal Recognition

A growing body of research underscores the importance of legally recognizing Indigenous land rights as a fundamental strategy for rainforest conservation. Land titling programs that formally grant Indigenous communities ownership and governance over their ancestral territories have been associated with lower deforestation rates and improved environmental outcomes. Organizations such as the Forest Peoples Programme and Rainforest Foundation work alongside Indigenous groups to secure land rights, advocate for policy changes, and strengthen legal protections against encroachment by industries.

In recent years, some governments have begun to recognize the role of Indigenous stewardship by creating co-managed protected areas, where Indigenous governance structures are integrated into conservation policies. However, progress remains uneven, and many Indigenous communities continue to face legal hurdles, political marginalization, and threats from land grabbers and extractive industries.

Challenges and the Path Forward

Despite increasing recognition of their contributions, Indigenous peoples still encounter significant challenges in protecting their lands. Land disputes, weak enforcement of environmental laws, and insufficient political representation can undermine their ability to defend rainforests from unsustainable development. Moreover, economic pressures—such as the expansion of industrial agriculture, infrastructure projects, and resource extraction—continue to threaten traditional ways of life.

Moving forward, effective rainforest conservation must center Indigenous leadership and autonomy. This means supporting policies that uphold Indigenous land rights, fostering partnerships between Indigenous communities and conservation organizations, and ensuring that economic development initiatives respect the cultural and environmental integrity of Indigenous territories. Conservationists, scientists, and policymakers must shift from seeing Indigenous peoples as stakeholders to recognizing them as rights-holders with the expertise, knowledge, and legal standing to shape the future of the world’s rainforests.

By respecting Indigenous sovereignty, integrating traditional knowledge with modern conservation practices, and strengthening legal protections, we can work toward a future where both rainforest ecosystems and the communities that have protected them for generations thrive together.

Saving Tropical Rainforests

Simply banning logging or designating reserves will not be enough to protect the world's remaining tropical rainforests. Effective conservation requires addressing the deeper social, economic, and political drivers of deforestation. Once these underlying issues are acknowledged, societies can make informed decisions about how to proceed. If protecting rainforests is truly a priority, solutions must extend beyond preservation to include sustainable land-use planning, economic incentives for conservation, and policies that empower local communities. Currently, a significant portion of the world's forests remains vulnerable to exploitation, even those designated as protected areas. Where possible, reforestation and ecosystem restoration should be encouraged to mitigate past damage and support future resilience. The choices made today will determine whether humanity can navigate the current environmental crisis without facing severe, long-term consequences.

By the middle of the 21st century, the global population is projected to reach between 9 and 10 billion people. While birth rates have declined in many regions, the sheer number of young people today ensures continued population growth for generations to come. This raises a fundamental question: how many people can the Earth sustainably support? The answer depends not only on population size but on how resources are consumed and distributed.

Current consumption patterns strain Earth's finite resources. High levels of material consumption and waste in wealthier nations place disproportionate pressure on ecosystems. If every person were to adopt the lifestyle of the average American, humanity would require multiple planets to sustain itself. This imbalance underscores the urgency of shifting toward more equitable and sustainable resource use.

The impacts of ecological strain are becoming increasingly evident. Global fisheries have reached or exceeded their sustainable limits. Water scarcity is a growing crisis, with aquifers being depleted faster than they can recharge. Soil erosion is degrading agricultural lands, and climate change is intensifying extreme weather events, threatening food security and displacing communities. Meanwhile, economic inequality means that while some enjoy unprecedented affluence, others struggle for basic survival. These interwoven challenges are not distant concerns—they are defining issues of our time.

Some argue that technological innovations will provide solutions: genetically engineered crops to boost food production, desalination to combat water shortages, and geoengineering to counteract climate change. While technology offers powerful tools, relying on unproven or costly interventions to compensate for environmental mismanagement is a risky bet. Even if these strategies succeed, they will be expensive to implement and maintain. Investing in natural solutions—such as preserving forests to regulate water cycles, protect biodiversity, and store carbon—remains far more cost-effective and reliable.

The attempt to recreate Earth's natural systems with the Biosphere II project in the 1990s highlighted the complexity of maintaining ecological balance. Despite sophisticated planning, oxygen levels plummeted, key species vanished, and the experiment required outside intervention to sustain human life. The lesson was clear: Earth’s ecosystems are intricately interconnected, and even our best efforts struggle to replicate their functions.

We are approaching a critical juncture. Throughout history, civilizations have risen and fallen when they exceeded the carrying capacity of their environment. The difference today is that we are not dealing with a single region's collapse but a global ecological crisis of our own making. Unlike past civilizations, however, we have the knowledge, technology, and capacity to change course—if we choose to act.

The biologist E.O. Wilson posed an essential question: if there is uncertainty about the full consequences of environmental destruction, should we not err on the side of caution? A false positive—overestimating the risk—may lead to inconvenience, but a false negative—underestimating the risk—could be catastrophic. By allowing deforestation, biodiversity loss, and climate change to continue unchecked, we are effectively assuming that future generations will manage without the environmental foundations we rely on today.

Saving the world’s forests—and the broader biosphere—may require a fundamental shift in how we see ourselves in relation to nature. For centuries, human societies have viewed the natural world as something to be conquered, reshaped, or extracted from without limits. But we are not separate from nature. We are bound by the same ecological principles that govern all life. Our well-being is inseparable from the health of the planet.

It does not matter whether one views humanity as divinely inspired, a keystone species in the Earth's biosphere, or simply another primate that developed technology to dominate its environment. What matters is that biodiversity—the vast web of life, from tigers in Bhutan to deep-sea microbes—underpins the stability of the world as we know it. Each species lost is not just a scientific curiosity or an aesthetic tragedy; it represents a diminishing resilience of the living world. Rainforests, wetlands, coral reefs, and grasslands are not just landscapes—they are the fabric of life itself.

Extinction is irreversible. Once a species is lost, it takes millions of years for biological diversity to recover. But the current mass extinction event is different from past cataclysms triggered by volcanic eruptions, asteroid impacts, or glaciations. This one is human-driven. That means it is also within our power to stop it.

The choices we make today will shape the world for generations to come. The fate of the rainforests—and the many lives they support—is not preordained. We are not passive observers of environmental decline; we are agents of change. What happens next is up to us.

REVIEW QUESTIONS

Review questions - Part I

• How should rainforests be protected?
• How can we save rainforests?
• Why is saving tropical rainforests a challenge?
• Why do national parks often fail to protect rainforests?
• Why is economics important in conservation?

Review questions - Part II

• Why are agriculture techniques important to the future of rainforests?
• What can we learn from past cultures about agriculture in the Amazon?

Review questions - Part III

• How can people living near the rainforest earn a living without logging?
• What are some examples of non-wood forest products that can be sustainably harvested from the rainforest?
• How can the harvesting of non-wood forest products damage the rainforest ecosystem?

Review questions - Part IV

• How can ecotourism help the environment?

Review questions - Part V

• Why is it important to promote sustainable use of forest resources?
• Why are extractive industries like logging generally not the best for long-term economic growth?

Review questions - Part VI

• Why is genetic diversity important for agriculture?

Review questions - Part VII

• Why are plants a good source for medicines?
• What is biopiracy?
• Why are plants a good potential source for natural pesticides?

Review questions - Part IX

• Why is illegal logging a problem for governments?
• What is sustainable forestry? Can logging be sustainable?
• How does timber certification work?
• How can Western consumers help encourage eco-friendly logging?
• How do subsidies drive deforestation?
• What are some ways to reduce the impact of logging in the rainforest?
• What are alternatives to rainforest wood?
• Why is illegal logging a problem for governments?

Review questions - Part XII

• Why is cattle grazing popular in the Amazon?
• What is intercropping?
• How can the impact of cattle be minimized in the rainforest?

Review questions - Part XIII

• What are some alternative sources of energy beyond oil, gas, and coal?
• Why can palm biodiesel be damaging to the rainforest?

Review questions - Part XIV

• Why is increasing productivity on deforested lands important for rainforest conservation?
• How do birds and bats help in habitat rainforest regeneration?

Review questions - Part XV

• Why is it important to conduct species inventories in tropical forests?
• How can satellites help in rainforest conservation?

Review questions - Part XVI

• What is a multiple-use reserve and how does it help save rainforests while providing economic benefits to local people?

Review questions - Part XVII

• How does reserve size or area impact levels of biodiversity?

Review questions - Part XVIII

• How can pollution by wealthy countries be used to protect rainforests in poor countries?
• What is a debt-for-nature swap?

Review questions - Part XIX

• Why do government agencies responsible for biodiversity conservation in the developing nations need reform?

Review questions - Part XX

• How do subsidies drive deforestation?
• Why is corruption bad for conservation?

Review questions - Part XXI

• Why were past World Bank projects often destructive?
• How has the World Bank changed its approach towards the environment?

Review questions - Part XXII

• Why are grassroots movements often successful in conservation efforts?

Review questions - Part XXIV

• Does pressure from activist groups work?

Review questions - Part XXV

• What can we learn from Indigenous people about rainforest conservation?

Review questions - Part II

• How can I help save the rainforest?

CITATIONS

Citations - Part I

• The quotation at the beginning of the chapter is taken from Schaller, G.B., "Tibet's Hidden Wilderness : Wildlife and Nomads of the Chang Tang Reserve," New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1998.
• Statistics for rainforest cover and deforestation during the 1980s comes from State of the World's Forests 1999 (SOFO) published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Myers, N. "Nature's Greatest Heritage Under Threat," Rainforests-The Illustrated Library of the Earth, Norman Myers, ed., Emmaus, Pennsylvania: Rodale Press, 1993.
  
  Agriculture
• The background for agriculture in the tropical rainforest draws heavily from T. Nishizawa and J. I. Uitto, eds. (The Fragile Tropics of Latin America: Sustainable Management of Changing Environments, New York: United Nations University Press, 1995) and Smith, N.J.H. et al., Amazonia - Resiliency and Dynamism of the Land and its People, New York: United Nations University Press, 1995. The study which suggests nearly 12% of terre firme forests in the Amazon are anthropogenic is found in Balée, W., "The culture of Amazonian forests," Advances in Economic Botany 7: 1-21, 1989.
• Myers, N. estimated in "Nature's Greatest Heritage Under Threat," Rainforests-The Illustrated Library of the Earth, Norman Myers, ed., Emmaus, Pennsylvania: Rodale Press, 1993 that roughly 60% of deforestation is caused by the shifted cultivator.
• Skewed land distribution is discussed in Wood, C.H. and M. Schmink, "Blaming the victim: Small farmer production in an Amazon colonization project," Studies in Third World Societies 7: 77-93, 1978; Myers, N. "Nature's Greatest Heritage Under Threat," Rainforests-The Illustrated Library of the Earth, Norman Myers, ed., Emmaus, Pennsylvania: Rodale Press, 1993; and Smith, N.J.H. et al., Amazonia - Resiliency and Dynamism of the Land and its People, New York: United Nations University Press, 1995.
• Padoch, C., J. Chota Inurna, W. de Jong, and J. Unruh, "Amazonian agroforestry: A market-oriented system in Peru" Agroforestry Systems 3: 47-58, 1985; Nair, P. K., "State-of-the-art of agroforestry systems," Forest Ecology and Management 45: 5-29, 1991; T. Nishizawa and J. I. Uitto, eds. (The Fragile Tropics of Latin America: Sustainable Management of Changing Environments, New York: United Nations University Press, 1995) and Smith, N.J.H. et al., Amazonia - Resiliency and Dynamism of the Land and its People, New York: United Nations University Press, 1995 discuss polycultural techniques in the rainforest including agroforestry and examines the highly dynamic nature of traditional agriculture in the Amazon.
• Greenberg, R. et al., "Bird Populations in Shade and Sun Coffee Plantations in Central Guatemala," Conservation Biology Vol. 11 No. 24 (48-59), Apr. 1997, demonstrate higher biodiversity under agroforestry systems (shade coffee plantations) than conventional coffee plantations.
• Home gardens in Amazonia are presented in Smith, N.J.H., "Strategies for sustainable agriculture in the humid tropics," Ecological Economics 2: 311 -323, 1990 and Smith, N.J.H. et al., Amazonia - Resiliency and Dynamism of the Land and its People, New York: United Nations University Press, 1995.
• The failure of many Indonesian transmigrant agriculture programs as a result of a lack of planning and administration is discussed in Brookfield, H., Potter, L., and Byron, Y., In Place of the Forest: Environmental and Socio-economic Transformation in Borneo and the Eastern Malay Peninsula (New York: United Nations University Press, 1995),
• Myers, N. ("The world's forests: problems and potentials." Environmental Conservation 23 (2) p. 158-168. 1996) estimates the population of subsistence farmers dependent on tropical forests at more than 600 million and projects their growth rate at 4-6% per year.

Citations - Part II

• The list of non-wood forest products is taken from State of the World's Forests 1999 (SOFO) published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
• Examples of sustainable harvest values come from studies in Peru (Peters, C.M., Gentry, A.H., and Mendelsohn, R.O., "Valuation of an Amazonian Rainforest," Nature Vol. 339: 655-656 1989) and Ecuador (Grimes, A. et al., "Valuing the rain forest: the economic value of nontimber forest products in Ecuador," Ambio Vol. 23 No. 7, Nov. 1994).

Citations - Part III

• The Rainforest Action Network (1995) estimates U.S. imports of tropical American nuts at more than $300 million per year.
• The story of Chico Mendes is told in Revkin, A.,The Burning Season, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1990, a variation of which has been made into a film having the same name.
• P.M. Fearnside reviews extractive reserves in "Extractive Reserves in Brazilian Amazon," BioScience, 39 (6): 387-93, 1993.
• The Rainforest Action Network (1996) is assisting in a project to develop the sustainable collection of rattan-like vines in Brazil by the rural poor.
• The practice is extracting venom by snakes on farms in the Congo is reported by T'sas, V., "Snake Venom, Congo's next Export?" Reuters 10/20/97.
• The "brief history of rubber" box is excerpted from Wade Davis' One River (New York: Touchstone, 1996). Davis provides a broad and insightful look into the rubber business.
• The overharvesting of the Wotango tree is discussed in Strieker, Gary, "Mission impossible: conserving Cameroon's natural resources," CNN Online, February 25, 1997.
• Caufield, C., (In the Rainforest, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984) lists foods with origins in the rainforest, while Wilson, E.O., (The Diversity of Life, Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press, 1992) notes that only a fraction of the world's edible plants are consumed. He suggests that rainforests could be the source of new fruits, vegetables, and nuts that are better suited to tropical agriculture. Wilson notes that currently only about 200 rainforest fruits are regularly used.
• Wilson (The Diversity of Life, Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press, 1992) goes on to point out that almost no tropical animals are exploited on a commercial basis (i.e. raised in farms). He cites several species with potential including the Amazon river turtle (Podocnemis sp). Smith, N.J.H. ("Destructive exploitation of the South American river turtle," Yearbook of the Pacific Coast Geographers 36: 85-102, 1974; and "Aquatic turtles of Amazônia An endangered resource," Biological Conservation 16(3): 165-176, 1979) and Mittermeier, R.A., ("South American River Turtles: Saving Their Future," Oryx, 14 (3): 222-230, 1978) have conducted studies on the viability of Podocnemis farming on Amazonian floodplains and has reached some promising conclusions.
• Jared Diamond (Guns, Germs, and Steel (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1998) suggests that the reason these tropical species have never been domesticated is they are poor candidates for domestication, though he does not discount the idea that they could be utilized in some manner.
• N. Myers ("Population and Biodiversity," Ambio Vol 24 No. 1, Feb. 1995) and E.O. Wilson (The Diversity of Life, Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press, 1992) discuss the declining diversity of major food crops and the associated dangers of reduced genetic stock. Wilson recalls the near miss with Asian rice and grassy stunt virus in the 1970s, while Tarnowski, A. ("Scientists to Tap Amazon for Disease-Free Cocoa Strains," Reuters, 12/10/97) notes how vulnerable the Ghanan cocoa crop is given its narrow genetic base. Holdgate, M. ("The Ecological Significance of Biological Diversity," Ambio Vol. 25 No. 6, Sept. 1996) runs down the savings from genetic resources. Also see Robinson, J.G. and Reford, K.H., eds. (The Value of Conserving Genetic Resources; Neotropical Wildlife Use and Conservation, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991).
• The importance of forests in maintaining food security is reviewed in Pimentel, D., McNair, M., Buck, I., Pimentel, M., and Kamil, J., "The value of forests to world food security," Human Ecology, 1996.

Citations - Part VII

• According to Cox, P.A. and Balick, M.J., ("The Ethnobotanical Approach to Drug Discovery," Scientific American, June 1994) fewer than 5% of tropical forest plants and 0.1% of animals have been screened for their chemical properties and medicinal values. However, Cox and Balick note that recently more pharmaceutical firms have entered the rainforest plant arena and today the National Cancer Institute screens rainforest species for anti-cancer and anti-HIV compounds.
• The drug discovery process is also discussed in Cox, P.A. and Balick, M.J., ("The Ethnobotanical Approach to Drug Discovery," Scientific American, June 1994) and Cragg, G.M., Simon, J.E., Jato, J.G ("Drug Discovery and Development at the National Cancer Institute: potential for New Pharmaceutical Crops," Progress in New Crops. J. Janick (ed), ASHS Press, Arlington, VA. 1996).
• Indigenous use of plants can provide an important clue in finding compounds with medicinal promise as presented by Schultes, R.E. and Raffauf, R.F., The Healing Forest: Medicinal and Toxic Plants of the Northwest Amazonia. Portland: Dioscorides Press, 1990; Cox, P.A. and Balick, M.J., "The Ethnobotanical Approach to Drug Discovery," Scientific American, June 1994; and Cox, P.A. and Elmqvist, T., "Ecocolonialism and Indigenous-Controlled Rainforest Preserves in Samoa," Ambio Vol. 26 No. 2, March 1997. In this regard, N. Myers (The Primary Source:Tropical Forests and Our Future, New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1984) and W. Davis (One River, New York: Touchstone, 1996) discuss the tremendous library of botanical knowledge possessed by rainforest peoples. Myers notes than forest dwellers in Southeast Asia use 6,500 species, while northwest Amazonians use at least 1,300 plants for medicinal purposes.
• The Anti-HIV compound Michellamine B derived from a liana in Cameroon is described in Cragg, G.M., Simon, J.E., Jato, J.G ("Drug Discovery and Development at the National Cancer Institute: potential for New Pharmaceutical Crops," Progress in New Crops. J. Janick (ed), ASHS Press, Arlington, VA. 1996).
• Drugs derived from the rosy periwinkle generated over a billion dollars in profit for Eli Lilly & Co, yet Madagascar - the country from which the drugs originated - saw nothing in terms of revenue. This is mentioned in Robinson, K., "The Blessings of Biodiversity," Chronicle Foreign Services, 1/19/2000.
• Biopiracy is discussed in LaFranchi, H., "Amazon Indians Ask 'Biopirates' to Pay for Rain-Forest Riches," Christian Science Monitor, 11/20/1997.
• Some alternatives to biopiracy are mentioned in LaFranchi, H., "For US Company, Tribe Partnership Is Bottom Line," Christian Science Monitor, 11/20/1997 (Bixa orellana box) and Cox, P.A. and Balick, M.J., "The Ethnobotanical Approach to Drug Discovery," Scientific American, June 1994 (Prostialin from Somoa).
• Stenson, A.J. and Gray, T.S. debate the merits of granting intellectual property rights to Indigenous communities for their knowledge of genetic plant resources in "An Autonomy-Based Justification for Intellectual Property Rights of Indigenous Communities," Environmental Ethics, Vol 21, Summer 1999.
• The INBio/Merck agreement in Costa Rica is reviewed by Tangley, L., "Cataloging Costa Rica's Diversity," BioScience, 40 (6): 633-636, 1990), E.O. Wilson (The Diversity of Life, Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press, 1992) and the World Resources Institute 1992.
• Raven, P.H, estimates that 20-25% of the world's plant species will be extinct by the year 2015 should forest cover continue to be diminished by 1-2% every year in "Our Diminishing Tropical Forests," In BioDiversity, Wilson, E.O. and Peter, F.M., eds., National Academy Press, Washington D.C. 1988.

Citations - Part IX

• According to Boscolo M. and Vincent, J.R. (Promoting better logging practices in tropical forests: a simulation analysis of alternative regulations, World Bank, 5/21/98) and Vincent, J.R. and Gillis, M. ("Deforestation and Forest Land Use: A Comment," The World Bank Research Observer, vol. 13, no. 1 (133-140), Feb. 1998) forests in many countries are government owned and private ownership is restricted.
• Vincent, J.R. and Gillis, M. ("Deforestation and Forest Land Use: A Comment," The World Bank Research Observer, vol. 13, no. 1 (133-140), Feb. 1998) note that because timber is often harvested under concession agreement, there is little incentive for logging firms to make investments in sound forest management.
• Brown, N. and Press, M., "Logging Rainforests the Natural Way?" The New Scientist, 3/14/92, report on an ITTO survey which found that less than 0.1% of rainforests are sustainably managed, while Brooks, D.S. found that less than 1% of the area used for logging is under any form of forest management (US Forests in a Global Context, General Technical Report RM-228, USDA Forest Service, 1993)
• State of the World's Forests 1999 (SOFO) published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) discloses the importance of forestry to the global economy in finding it contributes 2% to world GDP and makes up 3% of international trade.
• The Associated Press ("Quest for 'Green Gold' fells one of Earth's oldest rainforests," 5/7/96) reports that logging provides employment for 100,000 people in Sarawak alone and brings the province $1.5 billion every year.
• Boscolo M. and Vincent, J.R. (Promoting better logging practices in tropical forests: a simulation analysis of alternative regulations, World Bank, 5/21/98) note that since loggers derive little benefit from mitigating negative environmental impacts of their activities they often ignore basic management practices in the absence of regulation and supervision.
• Malaysia's poor enforcement of its forestry laws is mentioned in Manser, B. and Graf, R., "How Sustainable is Malaysia's Forest Industry?" Association for Peoples of the Rainforest, Nov. 1995.
• Illegal logging in Indonesia is reported in Media Indonesia, Jakarta. 2/1/96.
• U.S. tropical timber consumption is reported in EDF 1996, Making the Label Stick, The Environmental Defense Fund, 1997; and Brooks, D.S., US Forests in a Global Context, General Technical Report RM-228, USDA Forest Service, 1993.
• Domestic timber consumption is noted in Vincent, J. R., "The tropical timber trade and sustainable development," Science 256: 1651-1655, 1992, and Bach, C.F. and Gram, S., "The Tropical Timber Triangle," Ambio Vol. 25 No. 3, May 1996.
• FSC certification is discussed in Abramovitz, J.N., "Taking a Stand: Cultivating a New Relationship with the World's Forests," Worldwatch Institute 1998.
• Non-tariff trade discrimination as a consequence of timber certification is discussed in Kumari, K., "Sustainable forest management: Myth or Reality? Exploring the Prospects for Malaysia," Ambio Vol. 25 No. 7, Nov. 1996. Kumari also suggests that tropical countries may see such certification efforts as a Western scheme to undermine their sovereignty.
• The box entitled "Profit while reducing logging damage," comes from a report on an IMAZON study by the Associated Press, "New logging techniques could save the Amazon," August 18, 1999.
• The text box on "Sustainable forest management" is taken from Bach, C.F. and Gram, S., "The Tropical Timber Triangle," Ambio Vol. 5 No. 3, May 1996.
• The banana trade wars between the EU and US are examined in Fairclough, G. and McDermott, D., "The Banana Business is Rotten, So Why Do People Fight Over it?"The Wall Street Journal, 8/9/99.
• Uhl, C. and Vieira, I., "Ecological Impacts of Selective Logging in the Brazilian Amazon: A Case Study of the Paragominas Region of the State of Para", Biotropica vol. 21: 98-106, 1989; Brown, N. and Press, M., "Logging Rainforests the Natural Way?" The New Scientist, 3/14/92; Gillis, M. "Forest concession, management, and revenue policies." In Sharma, N., ed. Managing the World's Forests: Looking for Balance Between Conservation and Development, Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishers, 1992; Sharma, N., ed., Managing the World's Forests:Looking for Balance Between Conservation and Development, Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishers 1992; Bach, C.F. and Gram, S., "The Tropical Timber Triangle," Ambio Vol. 5 No. 3, May 1996; Costa, P.M., "Tropical forestry practices for carbon sequestration: a review and case study from southeast Asia," Ambio Vol. 25 No. 4, June 1996; EDF 1996, Making the Label Stick, The Environmental Defense Fund, 1997; Holdsworth, A.R. and Uhl, C., "Fires in Amazonian selectively logged rain forest and the potential for fire reduction," Ecological Applications Vol. 7, issue 2 (713-725) 1997; State of the World's Forests 1999 (SOFO) published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO); and The International Tropical Timber Organization (1996-2000) suggest methods to make logging more sustainable.
• A different position is taken in Bowles, I.A., R. E. Rice, R. A. Mittermeier, and G. A. B. da Fonseca, ("Logging and Tropical Forest Conservation," Science 280: 1899-1900, June 19, 1998). They argue that more focus is needed on investments in protected areas rather than in logging experiments designed to ensure "sustainability" and the conservation of biodiversity.
• The strip logging techniques of the Amuesha in the Yanesha Forest Cooperative are described in Hartshorn, G.S., "Natural Forest Management by the Yanesha Forestry Cooperative in Peruvian Amazonia," in A.B. Anderson, ed., Alternatives to Deforestation: Steps Toward Sustainable Use of the Amazon Rain Forest, New York: Columbia University Press, 1990; Wilson, E.O., The Diversity of Life, Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press, 1992; and Smith, N.J.H. et al., Amazonia - Resiliency and Dynamism of the Land and its People, New York: United Nations University Press, 1995. D. Mason ("Responses of Venezuelan Understory Birds to Selective Logging, Enrichment Strips, and Vine Cutting," Biotropica vol. 28:296-309, 1996) examines the effect of strip logging on bird diversity.
• Reduced-impact logging can be used to significantly reduce carbon emissions relative to conventional logging according to Costa, P.M., "Tropical forestry practices for carbon sequestration: a review and case study from southeast Asia," Ambio Vol. 25 No. 4, June 1996.
• Abramovitz, J.N., ("Taking a Stand: Cultivating a New Relationship with the World's Forests," Worldwatch Institute 1998) estimates that more than 40% world's industrial timber ends up as paper of which two-thirds is consumed by Europe, Japan, and the United States.
• The "Improved Harvesting Systems" box is based on recommendations from The State of the World's Forests 1999 (SOFO) published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO); and literature from the International Tropical Timber Organization (1996-2000). The logistics and viability of helicopter logging is examined in ITTO, "Helicopter logging lifts off in Sarawak," Tropical Forest Update, Volume 6, No 3 1996/3 and Blakeney, J., for ITTO project PD 107/90 (I) in Sarawak, Malaysia, January 1994.
• The State of the World's Forests 1999 (SOFO) published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports that international trade in waste paper is up 365% from 1980 levels, while consumption of such paper is up 217%.
• The "Common Plantation Species" table is taken from The State of the World's Forests 1999 (SOFO) published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Citations - Part XII

• Shane, Douglas R., Hoofprints on the forest: Cattle ranching and the destruction of Latin America's tropical forests, Philadelphia, PA: Institute for the Study of Human Values, 1986, provides a solid background of the clearing rainforest for cattle pasture.
• Smith, N.J.H. et al., Amazonia - Resiliency and Dynamism of the Land and its People, New York: United Nations University Press, 1995 explains why cattle are an attractive investment option in the Amazon.
• The use of intercropping to diversify income sources and maintain soil quality on pasturelands is discussed in Smith, N.J.H. et al., Amazonia - Resiliency and Dynamism of the Land and its People, New York: United Nations University Press, 1995.
• The table entitled "Alternatives to cattle on tropical lands" is derived from T. Nishizawa and J. I. Uitto, eds. (The Fragile Tropics of Latin America: Sustainable Management of Changing Environments, New York: United Nations University Press, 1995). The yield from turtle farms is compared with the yield from cattle ranching on vàrzea by Mittermeier, R.A., ("South American River Turtles: Saving Their Future," Oryx, 14 (3): 222-230, 1978) and Wilson (The Diversity of Life, Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press, 1992).

Citations - Part XIII

• Steps taken by Shell Oil in Gabon to reduce access to their oil site are mentioned in Judah, T., "Rumbles in the Jungle," Mail and Guardian, 7/30/99.
• The description of Shell's eco-friendly planning for their Peruvian oil project is from Friedland, J., "Oil Companies Strive To Turn A New Leaf to Save Rain Forest," Wall Street Journal, 7/17/97.
• R.C. Rockwell explains how less developed countries can avoid the long term costs of pollution by adopting more advanced energy infrastructure in "From a carbon economy to a mixed economy: a global opportunity," Consequences, Vol. 4 No. 1 1998.
• Despite the booming American economy of 1998, carbon dioxide emissions remained almost flat in the United States, while world emissions fell 0.5% as reported in Fialka, J.J. "Flat CO2 emissions give experts hope," The Wall Street Journal, 8/2/99.
• Daniel Yergin, in The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power, New York: Touchstone Books, 1991 notes that while the U.S. was 25% more oil efficient and 32% more oil efficient in 1985 than in 1973, the Japanese their energy efficiency by 31% and their oil efficiency by 51%. McDermott, D. ("Economists don't see a big inflation threat from oil"The Wall Street Journal 3/26/99) notes the U.S. is becoming less reliant on oil.
• British Petroleum's carbon reforms are noted by Brown, L. et al., "Vital Signs 1998," Worldwatch Institute, 1998 and Rosen, Y., "BP Head Tells Oil Industry to Heed Emissions Issue," Reuters, 1/24/98
• A brief overview of carbon reinjection is given in Schneider, D., "Burying the Problem?" Scientific American, Jan 1998.
• In The Economist, "Science and Technology-War, Words," June 14-20, 1997, it is noted that government spending on renewable energy was only $878 million in 1995 compared with the $5 million spent on research for nuclear power.
• Brown, L. et al. ("Vital Signs 1998," Worldwatch Institute, 1998) reported that wind power was up 26% in 1997.
• Alternative fuel systems are mentioned in Tate, R. "Entrepreneur Drives to Sell Workable Substitute for Gas," the Wall Street Journal, 8/25/99; the Environmental News Network, "Cleaner Fuels on the Horizon," 1/12/98; and US Department of Energy, Carbon Management: Assessment of Fundamental Research Notes, Office of Energy Research, Department of Energy, Aug 1997.
• Cleaner mining techniques are discussed in Coghlan, A., "Cleaner Gold Improves Miners' Prospects," New Scientist (April 6, 1996) and A. Coghlan, "Midas Touch Could End Amazon's Pollution," New Scientist (June 27, 1997).

Citations - Part XIV

• The backlash against genetically modified foods is outlined by the World Wildlife Fund and Kilman, S. and Burton, T.M., "Monsanto boss's vision of 'life sciences' firm now confronts reality," The Wall Street Journal 12/21/99.
• Increasing productivity on degraded forest lands is discussed in Plucknett, Donald L. and N.L.H. Smith, "Sustaining agricultural yields: As productivity rises, maintenance research is needed to uphold the gains," Bioscience 36: 40-45, 1986; T. Nishizawa and J. I. Uitto, eds. (The Fragile Tropics of Latin America: Sustainable Management of Changing Environments, New York: United Nations University Press, 1995); Smith, N.J.H. et al., Amazonia - Resiliency and Dynamism of the Land and its People, New York: United Nations University Press, 1995; and Dobson, A.P., A.D. Bradshaw, A.J.M. Baker, "Hopes for the Future: Restoration Ecology and Conservation Biology," Science 277: 515-522, July 25, 1997.
• The rehabilitation of the Mauritius Kestrel is discussed in Peregrine Falcon Fund 1996, D. Adams and M. Carwardine in Last Chance to See (New York: Harmony Books, 1991), and Quammen, D. (The Song of the Dodo, New York: Scribner, 1996).
• The reforestation effort of the Rio de Norte Mining Company is reported in Astor, M., "Rio do Norte's reforestation effort in Amazon focuses on replenishment," A.P. August 19, 1999.
• Offsetting greenhouse gas emissions by replanting and rehabilitating secondary forests is reviewed in Houghton, R.A., "Tropical deforestation and atmospheric carbon dioxide," in Tropical Forests and Climate Change, ed N. Myers, Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1983; Houghton, R.A., "Converting terrestrial ecosystems from sources to sinks of carbon" Ambio Vol. 25 No. 4, June 1996; and Costa, P.M., "Tropical forestry practices for carbon sequestration: a review and case study from southeast Asia," Ambio Vol. 25 No. 4, June 1996. However this ability of forests to serve as a net carbon sink has been criticized of late by the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) (B. Scholes, "Will the terrestrial carbon sink saturate soon?" Global Change NewsLetter No. 37:2-3, March 1999) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (R. Watson et al. IPCC Special Report on Land Use, Land Use Changes, and Forestry, 1999).
• Costa, P.M. ("Tropical forestry practices for carbon sequestration: a review and case study from southeast Asia," Ambio Vol. 25 No. 4, June 1996) discusses the FACE project.

Citations - Part XV

• E.O. Wilson (The Diversity of Life, Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press, 1992) estimates that 95% of the planet's species remain undescribed and at the rate we are progressing it would take nearly 4000 years to describe all the species on Earth.
• Dietz, James M. ("Conservation of Biodiversity in Neotropical Primates," from Biodiversity II, Reaka-Kudla, Wilson, Wilson, eds. Washington D.C.: Joseph Henry Press, 1997) notes that since 1990 four new primate species have been discovered in Brazil.
• The complexity of interactions within ecosystems is summed up in an eloquent fashion by E.O. Wilson in Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1998). Ecologists have attempted to simplify their understanding of these systems by linking biodiversity and ecosystem function through defining membership in functional groups as explained by Silver, W.L., Brown, S., and Lugo, A.E., "Effects of changes in biodiversity on ecosystem function in tropical forests," Conservation Biology Vol. 10 No. 1 (17-24), Feb. 1996.
• Stone, R. ("A Long March to Save Africa's Dwindling Wildlands," Science 285 (5429): 825, 6-Aug-1999) publicizes conservation biologist Fay's walk across the Congo.
• The Global 2000 conservation strategy is presented by Olson, D. and Dinerstein, E. in The Global 200: A Representation Approach to Conserving the Earth's Distinctive Ecoregions, Conservation Science Program, World Wildlife Fund, Washington, DC., 1998.
• Biodiversity "Hot Spots" are defined and pinpointed in Myers, N., "Threatened Biotas" 'Hot spots' in Tropical Forests," Environmentalist, 8 (3): 187-208, 1988. A revised look at biodiversity hot-spots can be found in Myers, N., "The Biodiversity Challenge: Expanded Hot-Spots Analysis," Environmentalist, 10 (4): 243-256, 1990.
• Studies on isolated forest reserves showing reduced diversity can be found in Laurance, W.F. and R.O. Bierregaard, Jr, eds., Tropical Forest Remnants: Ecology, Management, and Conservation of Fragmented Communities, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997 and Bawa, K.S. and Seidler, R., "Natural Forest Management and Conservation of Biodiversity in Tropical Forests," Conservation Biology Vol. 12 No. 1 (46-55), Feb 1998.
• Changes in species composition over time on Barro Colorado Island are discussed in Quammen, D., The Song of the Dodo, New York: Scribner, 1996; Laurance, W.F. and R.O. Bierregaard, Jr, eds., Tropical Forest Remnants: Ecology, Management, and Conservation of Fragmented Communities, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997; Robinson, W.D. "Long-term changes in the avifauna of Barro Colorado Island, Panama, a tropical forest isolate." Conservation Biology Vol. 13 No. 1 (85-97), Feb. 1999.
• Turner, I.M. and Corlett, R.T., "The conservation value of small, isolated fragments of lowland tropical rain forest," Trends in Ecology & Evolution Vol. 11, No. 8. August 1998 argue the answer to the question "Are Forest Fragments Worth Saving" is "yes."
• An overview of biodiversity and ecosystem valuation is presented in Wilson, E.O., The Diversity of Life, Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press, 1992. Wilson argues that by putting a price on the goods and services biodiversity provides we may be able to reduce uninformed destruction of species and ecosystems.
• Costanza, R., ed., Ecological Economics: The Science and Management of Sustainability, New York: Columbia University Press, 1991 values ecosystems and the benefits they provide at $33 trillion per year.
• Dasgupta, S., Laplante, N., and Mamingi, N., find that stock prices for individual firms in developing countries react to environmental news in "Capital Market Responses to Environmental Performance in Developing Countries," The World Bank Research Group, 1997.
• The savings from the importation of weevils for oil-palm plantations is stated in Greathead, D.J., "The multi-million dollar weevil that pollinates oil palm," Antenna (Royal Entomological Society of London), 7: 105-107. 1983 and Myers, N., "The world's forests: problems and potentials," Environmental Conservation. 23 (2) p. 158-168, 1996.
• The box "Economic Values" is taken from Kumari, K., "Sustainable forest management: Myth or Reality? Exploring the Prospects for Malaysia," Ambio Vol. 25 No. 7, Nov. 1996.
• Other forms of biodiversity and ecosystem valuation are reviewed in Oksanen, M. ("The Moral Value of Biodiversity" Ambio Vol. 26 No. 8, Dec. 1997); O'Neill, J. ("Managing without Prices: the Monetary Valuation of Biodiversity," Ambio Vol. 26 No. 8, Dec. 1997); Hawken, P. (The Ecology of Commerce: a Declaration of Sustainability New York: HarperCollins, 1993); Carson, R.T. "Valuation of tropical rainforests: philosophical and practical issues in the use of contingent valuation," Ecological Economics 24 (1998) 15-29.
• The box, "Lower taxes and save the environment" comes from Kramer, G., "Group says tax pollution, not paychecks, profits," A.P. 5/11/97.
• An overview of biodiversity and ecosystem valuation is presented in E.O. Wilson (The Diversity of Life, Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press, 1992) suggests using blocked funds as a mechanism to ease debt pressures on developing countries.

Citations - Part XVIII

• Inamdar, A., H. de Jode, K. Lindsay, and S. Cobb in "Capitalizing on Nature: Protected Area Management," (Science 283: 1856-1857, March 19, 1999) suggest that a business-oriented approach to biodiversity conservation may be the best way to strengthen existing conservation institutions.
• The merits of community-based conservation are reviewed in Western, D., Wright, R.M., and Strum, S. eds., Natural Connections : Perspectives in Community-Based Conservation, Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 1994 (a series of case studies); Fimbel, C. and Fimbel, R., "Rwanda: The role of local participation." Conservation Biology Vol. 11 No. 2 (309-310), Apr. 1997 (case study in Rwanda); and Getz, W.H. et al., "Sustaining Natural and Human Capital: Villagers and Scientists," Science 283: 1855-1856, March 19, 1999. Hackel, J.D. ("Community Conservation and the Future of Africa's Wildlife," Conservation Biology, Vol. 13, No. 4: 726-734, August 1999) discusses some of the conflicts between community-based conservation and the economic needs of local Africans.
• Kremen, C. et al. ("Designing the Masoala National Park in Madagascar Based on Biological and Socioeconomic Data," Conservation Biology, Vol. 13 No. 5 (1055-1068), Oct. 1999) note the importance of considering human use of forest areas prior to designating a protected area.
• Noble, I.R., and R. Dirzo, "Forests as Human-Dominated Ecosystems," Science 277: 522-525, July 25, 1997 argue that it is important to recognize that today many forests are human-dominated ecosystems used for logging, hunting, and agroforestry. The emphasize the need to develop strategies for sustainable management and to encourage interaction between all interested parties.
• Costa, P.M. ("Tropical forestry practices for carbon sequestration: a review and case study from southeast Asia," Ambio Vol. 25 No. 4, June 1996) examines tradable greenhouse gas emission budgets including some of the hurdles such a system must overcome. Rippel, B. ("Tradable CO2 Emissions Permits: Problems with the 'Perfect' Solution," National Consumer Coalition 11/25/97) points out that because some countries already have emissions below their 1990 levels, they will be able to sell their credits to countries with growing economies, essentially being rewarded for running polluting and inefficient industries. Daly, H. (Beyond Growth: The Economics of Sustainable Development, Boston: Beacon Press, 1996) notes the scale problems of tradeable pollution permits in that there will always be pressure to exceed self-imposed limits on carbon emissions.
• Costa, P.M. ("Tropical forestry practices for carbon sequestration: a review and case study from southeast Asia," Ambio Vol. 25 No. 4, June 1996) and Asumadul, K. ("Carbon trading: a new opportunity for tropical timber producing countries," ITTO Tropical Forest Update Vol. 8, no. 4, 1998) discuss carbon offset programs based on the idea that forests can serve as net carbon sinks. However, recent studies (B. Scholes, "Will the terrestrial carbon sink saturate soon?" Global Change NewsLetter (the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme-IGBP) No. 37:2-3, March 1999) and R. Watson et al. IPCC Special Report on Land Use, Land Use Changes, and Forestry, the Intergovernmental Pannel on Climate Change, 1999) dispute this claim. They suggest that as temperatures rise, respiration rates will increase, eventually canceling out the carbon absorbed by forests growing today.
• Mattoon, A.T., "Bogging Down in the Sinks," Worldwatch Nov/Dec 1998 points out potential problems with the greenhouse forestry-sinks program under Kyoto Protocol.
• Bolivia's agreement to protect 2.2 million acres of forest for carbon emission credit is reported in PR Newswire, "Vice President Gore Announces Approval of International Project to Protect Bolivian Rain Forest and Offset Greenhouse Gases," 12/7/96.
• The Woods Hole Research Center in "RisQue98," 1998 and Holdsworth, A.R. and Uhl, C. in "Fires in Amazonian selectively logged rain forest and the potential for fire reduction," Ecological Applications Vol. 7, issue 2 (713-725), 1997 provide an outline of steps to reduce the massive Amazonian forest fires.

Citations - Part XIX

• Cornwell, S. ("Big Powers Plan to Save Forests," Reuters, 5/9/98) reports on the G-8 announcement that it would encourage developing countries to protect their forests by offering aid to countries that made forest preservation a priority.
• EDF (Making the Label Stick, The Environmental Defense Fund, 1997) and Myers Myers, N. ("The world's forests: problems and potentials," Environmental Conservation 23 (2) p. 158-168, 1996) believe that eliminating subsidies for activities that promote forest clearing would probably have the widest ranging effect on curbing deforestation in the tropics.
• According to Hurrell, A., ("The politics of Amazonian deforestation," Journal of Latin American Studies 23: 197-215, 1990) the Amazon was thought to have great investment potential.
• MacNeill, J. ("A commentary on the politics of prevention," in Tropical Forests and Climate, N. Myers, ed. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1992) notes that there are serious conflicts of interests within government departments in many developing countries (MacNeill 1992)
• Daily, G.C., Ehrlich, A.H., and Ehrlich, P.R., ("Socioeconomic Equity: a Critical Element in Sustainability." Ambio Vol. 24 No. 1, Feb 1995) note that poor nations have little incentive to cooperate in maintaining the lifestyles of the rich through conservation efforts while they remain mired in poverty.
• According to the Rainforest Action Network (1993), in 1987 the World Bank granted loans exceeding US$15 billion to tropical countries.
• The box describing the ecological corridor project is taken from an Associated Press report, "Ecologists Trying to Restore Brazil's Dwindled Atlantic Forest," February 22, 1997.
• The Global Environment Facility is evaluated in Horta, K. "Band-aid for a battered planet: evaluating the GEF," Environmental Defense Fund, 3/21/98.
• According to Phillips, M.M. ("World Bank Board Agrees to Weaken a Watchdog Panel," The Wall Street Journal, 4/21/99) the World Bank opted to weaken the inspection panel.
• Information on RAN boycotts is provide by the Rainforest Action Network.
• EDF (Making the Label Stick, The Environmental Defense Fund, 1997) notes the effect of the Friends of the Earth "mahogany is Murder" campaign of mahogany imports to the United Kingdom.
• Epstein, J. in "Corporations enlisted in battle to save rain forests," San Francisco Chronicle, 7/7/99, notes the work of private corporations in funding and supporting rainforest conservation.
• A survey of the trend towards "green business" in American corporations is found in Arnst, C. "Green Business," Business Week Online, 1997.
• "Views on Conservation: Western vs. Indigenous" is taken from Cox, P.A. and Elmqvist, T., "Ecocolonialism and Indigenous-Controlled Rainforest Preserves in Samoa," Ambio Vol. 26 No. 2, March 1997.

Citations - Part XXVI

• The conclusion draws heavily on ideas and examples found in the last section of Edward O. Wilson's Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1998). He discusses population growth and concludes the number of people Earth can sustain depends on the quality of life future generations are willing to accept. J.E. Cohen (How Many People Can the Earth Support? New York: W.W. Norton: 1995 and P.R. Ehrlich and J.P. Holden "Impact of population growth" Science 171: 1212-1217, 1971 go into greater detail on Earth's human carrying capacity. Norman Myers ("The world's forests and their ecosystem services," in Nature's Services - Societal Dependence on Natural Ecosystems, ed G.C. Daily, Washington D.C.: Island Press, 1997) calculates that for people of developing countries to attain the standard of living enjoyed by Americans we would need the equivalent of another three planet Earths.
• Myers (1997) and Wilson (1998) review some of the signs that human population is negatively impacting the world environment such as agricultural per capita production, ocean fisheries, ground water supplies, erosion, poverty, and climate change. Vitousek, P.M. et al. ("Human appropriation of the products of photosynthesis," BioScience Vol. 36, 368-373, 1986) estimate that humans are are appropriating 40% of net primary production.
• J.E. Lovelock presented his Gaia theory in Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982.
• Technological fixes fot the world's environmental problems are mention in Wilson's consilience and discusses at greater length in J.H. Ausubel, "Can technology spare the earth?" American Scientist 84:166-178 1996. Natural plastic - a plastic made from plants rather than petroleum - is announced in Warren, S. "Cargill, Dow Chemical Join To Make 'Natural Plastic,'" The Wall Street Journal, 1/11/00.
• The UN estimate for the cost of establishing fuelwood plantations to replace harvesting from natural forests is provided by Myers, Norman "The world's forests: problems and potentials," Environmental Conservation 23 (2):158-168, 1996.
• Wilson (1998) provides a succinct review of the Biosphere II project, while J.E. Cohen and D. Tilman "Biosphere 2 and Biodiversity: the Lessons Learned So Far," Science 274:1150-1151, 1996 provide a more academic look at this elaborate experiment to recreate miniature ecosystems.
• The role of environmental degradation and overpopulation in the downfall of great civilizations of antiquity is discussed in C. Runnels, "Environmental degradation in ancient Greece," Scientific American 272 (3): 72-75, 1995 [Greece]; R. Adams, Heartland of Cities, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981 [Mesopotamia]; Sharer, R.J., The Ancient Maya, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1994 [Mayans]; and Diamond, J., "Easter's End," Discover. Vol. 16, No. 8, Aug 1995 [Easter Island]].
• The loneliness of a biologically impoverished Earth is a subject explored by David Quammen in Wild Thoughts from Wild Places, New York: Scribner 1998 and E.O. Wilson in On human nature, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1978
• Myers, N. ("The world's forests and their ecosystem services," in Nature's Services - Societal Dependence on Natural Ecosystems, Ed G.C. Daily, Washington D.C.: Island Press, 1997) notes that the actions we take today will determine whether Earth will be biologically impoverished for the 500 trillion or more humans that may inhabit the earth in the future.