Preservation of Tropical Forests
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Deforestation in tropical countries is contributing some 20% to global greenhouse gas emission, as carbon stored in trees and soils is released into the atmosphere. The UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol call for sustainable management of forests and enhancement of carbon sinks, including forests. However, the destruction of tropical forests has been going on, and was even further pushed by the conversion of forest land to plantations of agrofuels.
Whether forest conservation should be eligible for the Clean Development Mechanism was one the controversial issues during the debates on the implementation of the Kyoto Mechanisms. In the Marrakech Accords, it was finally decided to exclude forest conservation projects due to substantial problems with baselines and leakage.
In the year 2005, at COP11 in Montreal, a group of tropical countries brought up the issue, which is since then part of the agenda as the topic “REDD” (reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation). Various options have been proposed how incentives can be provided, such as including tropical forests into the carbon market. There is general agreement on the importance of action in this field, and COP13 in Bali concluded in a mandate for work on the policy options and pilot actions to halt deforestation.
Gender Dimension
Among the hundreds of millions of people who are depending on forests for their livelihood, women are in the majority. The gender roles existing in societies are reflected in the different ways women and men use forest resources. In many countries, forest women’s livelihoods and social roles rely directly on forest resources to meet the nutritional, health, and cultural needs of their families and communities. They gather forest products such as fuel wood, food for the family, fodder for animals and medicinal plants.
Forest resources are also crucial to women’s income-generating capacities., while men are involved in timber extraction and the use of non-timber forest products for commercial purposes.
For these women, intact forests are a question if survival. Thus, they are differently and often disproportionately harmed by deforestation and have a stronger inherent interest in forest preservation. Men are more likely to benefit in the immediate or short term from deforestation in many forms, through jobs in the timber industry, or other ways of participating in the commercial use of the cleared land.
Women are virtually invisible in formal forestry, particularly in decision-making positions. Thus, policy-making in the forest sector is male-dominated and tends to neglect women’s needs and interests.
Women’s specialised knowledge of forestry, botany, biodiversity, and water management makes them critical resources in combating deforestation.
Recommendations
Climate change is just one, though severe, problem related to forests. A one–dimensional approach to forests taking into account only their carbon content, is therefore not appropriate. A forest strategy should therefore focus on the preservation of forests and their biodiversity while maintaining and enhancing the livelihood of forest peoples, and creating co-benefits for the global climate.
Expanding the carbon market to tropical forest preservation doesn’t seem to us a viable and just solution. Efforts should rather focus on addressing the real direct and underlying causes of deforestation, such as overconsumption, agrofuel expansion, fossil fuel extraction, the replacement of natural forests by monoculture tree plantations, and the lack of respect for indigenous peoples’ rights.
An international regime to protect the forests must be an outcome of a broad consultation process of indigenous and forest communities ensuring an effective participation of women. Forest women’s experience and needs must be duly taken into consideration during all further deliberations on REDD.
Any policies and measures related to tropical forests need to be ruled by a set of principles ensuring the recognition of the contribution of indigenous peoples and other forest dependent communities to forest protection, and their legal and traditional rights over forests. In particular, the historical role and positive contribution of women in the governance and nurturing of forests must be recognised and their full participation in decision making must be ensured.
