Tropical forests are now among the earth’s most threatened ecosystems. While estimates vary, two of the most reliable sources, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), have reported alarming deforestation rates of 25,000 hectares a day. Annually, about 12 million hectares of tropical forests are converted to agriculture, pasture, and other non-forest uses. Moreover, large forest areas continue to be degraded by indiscriminate, and often illegal, logging. According to the ITTO, less than 5 percent of the world’s tropical forests surveyed are being managed sustainably, which means “maintaining a forest without degrading its value, while allowing society to benefit from its resources.” The findings of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) project, a UN commissioned study involving 1,400 experts from 95 countries, underscores these concerns:

• Approximately 60 percent of the ecosystem services that support life on earth are being degraded or used unsustainably.


• More land was converted to cropland in the 30 years after 1950 than in the 150 years between 1700 and 1850.


• 35 percent of mangrove area has been lost in the last several decades.


• 10–30 percent of mammal, bird, and amphibian species are currently threatened with extinction.


• 60 percent of the increase in the atmospheric concentration of CO2 since 1750 has taken place after 1959.

Why are tropical forests important?
The many names used for tropical forests—“the last frontier,” “the cradle of diversity,” “the lungs of the planet”—indicate their many functions. These functions include: (1) acting as a repository of biological diversity providing refuge and habitats to more than half of the earth’s plant and animal species; (2) serving as important sinks for carbon; and (3) providing critical sources of livelihood to more than 1.5 billion people, 60 million of whom come from indigenous groups. The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) has estimated that “more than 10 million different species of animals, plants, fungi and micro-organisms inhabit the Earth,...[and] more than half of these plant and animal species are found in the tropical forests. Humans use at least 40,000 species of plants and animals on a daily basis for food, shelter, clothing and medicinal needs.” The “total” value of biodiversity and the overall ecological services they provide is still largely unknown; only a fraction of known species has been studied and examined for potential medicinal, agricultural, or industrial value. We are only just beginning to gain some understanding about how this rich plant and animal biodiversity helps communities and societies around the world to satisfy economic, dietary, health, and cultural needs.

Trees and forests also play an important role in moderating the carbon cycle by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and storing it as carbon in plant material and soil. It has been reported that half a tree’s total biomass is carbon; hence, large amounts of carbon are stored in forests. Again, estimates vary, but the total stored in all of the forests on Earth is believed to be 1,150 billion tonnes. The World Resources Institute has estimated that over the past 150 years, deforestation has contributed an estimated 30 percent of the atmospheric build-up of CO2.

Rescuing the tropical forests?
Increased awareness about tropical forests’ vital functions and services has propelled them to the forefront of debate and public discourse about balancing environmental, economic and industrial development. Recognizing the role forests play as a source of livelihood for poor marginalized peoples, along with the myriad environmental benefits tropical forests provide, has united the international community to devise strategies aimed at protecting (or, at the very least, sustainably managing) them. International, government, non-government, and local agencies have become unified, perhaps more than ever, to try to deal with the vanishing tropical forests. In fact, donor agencies such as the World Bank have reexamined their policies, the way they allocate their resources, and have given high priority to the sustainable management of the tropical forests.

Recognizing the efficacy of tropical forests in addressing climate change, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol stated: “All parties … shall promote sustainable management … of sinks and reservoirs of greenhouse gases… including biomass forest.” The Protocol further called for the maintenance of forests by afforestation, reforestation, and controlled deforestation. The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), which sprang out of the Kyoto Protocol, makes it possible, and cheaper, for industrialized countries to meet the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction targets agreed upon under the Protocol. Along with meeting reduction in emission targets, CDM is also mandated to “assist developing countries in achieving sustainable development.” Hence, consistent with incentive and market-based principles, an industrialized country with a CDM target can invest in a project (e.g. reforestation projects) in a developing country without a target, and make a claim for the emissions offsets. Conversely, developing nations may also establish forests, natural or in plantations, and earn carbon “credits” (estimated on the amount of carbon stored or sequestered by the forest or plantation) that can then be exchanged in a carbon trading market. Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines are three countries that have initiated efforts to take advantage of this mechanism. CIFOR has estimated that 46 million hectares in Indonesia are eligible for the afforestation and reforestation projects under the Protocol’s activities.

To protect forests from destructive logging practices, and more importantly, to bring them into sustainable management, a global initiative in forest certification was launched over a decade ago. The concept is quite simple: increasing consumer demand for certified products creates a powerful incentive for producers and forest managers to adopt ecologically sound practices, and to move away from destructive logging techniques such as clear-cutting and toward reduced impact logging techniques. To implement forest certification, an independent nonprofit international organization, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) was organized. More than 500 environmental groups, progressive companies, forestry professionals, social scientists and groups representing labor, church and indigenous peoples’ interests comprise the FSC. Since its formation in 1993, the FSC has established a set of international forest management standards (the Principles and Criteria for forest Stewardship), which set forth strict environmental and social standards for forest management. These standards became the basis on which FSC certifies public and private forests, and accredits and monitors other certification organizations like the UN Forum for Forests (UNFF). UNFF serves as the main intergovernmental platform to foster dialogue, promote, and forge common understanding of the principles of sustainable forest management. Forest certification has been widely adopted in many tropical forests. Malaysia and Indonesia are perhaps two countries that have advanced the most in the implementation of forest certification initiatives. Both countries have nationally accredited “certifier” organizations, and a recognized set of national standards for certification.

“Debt-for-nature-swap” is another significant instrument aimed towards improving management of tropical forests. “Swaps” are agreements between a developed nation, like the United States, and a developing country. In exchange for the developing country’s promise to use the proceeds of the transaction to preserve critical environmental areas such as a protected tropical forest, the developed nation forgives some of the country’s debt. Many developing nations are severely limited by huge debts they have accrued. Typically, in a debt-for-nature-swap, deals are brokered by international nonprofit organizations like The Nature Conservancy, which often contribute additional funds derived from the swap to local organizations participating in the project. Creditors agree to forgive debts in return for the promise of environmental protection. A dozen debt-for-nature swaps have been reported, which amount to forgiving $135 million worth of loans for tropical forest conservation projects in Guatemala, Botswana, Bangladesh, Belize, Colombia, El Salvador, Jamaica, Panama, Paraguay, the Philippines, and Peru.

Governance of tropical forests has also changed over the last decade, in part because government institutions failed to institute and implement sound forest management techniques. Across the tropics, particularly in Southeast Asia, new institutions are emerging that have the capacity to manage forests across jurisdictions like subnational or national ones. In Southeast Asia, national devolution polices have essentially decentralized power and transferred control and responsibility for managing forests from the national government to a variety of local organizations. Hence, at the local level, where community-based organizations now predominantly manage forests, institutional innovations have led to local government and community empowerment. These institutional reforms, now practiced widely in other regions outside Southeast Asia, create more livelihood opportunities for forest-dependent people, empower local people, and ensure equity and broad-based participation in the management of tropical forests. They have democratized access to public forests, without causing the “tragedy of the commons.”

Waxing nostalgic, I long to see the lush and green mountains that surrounded the valley where I grew up. Whether this will ever come to pass, or stay a mere dream, remains to be seen. One thing is certain, however: initiatives are beginning to be put in place to increase the possibility that the majestic beauty of the once lush forests may yet be seen in my lifetime.