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Published online 5 March 2008 | Nature 452, 8-9 (2008) | doi:10.1038/452008a
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Save the trees
Scientists and policy-makers will meet in Bonn this June to discuss one of the most pressing concerns to come out of December's United Nations climate meeting — how to manage the world's tropical forests. Jeff Tollefson examines some of the proposals.
Rainforest nations walked away from the United Nations (UN) climate meeting in Indonesia last December with pretty much all they had hoped for: a place at the negotiating table and an acknowledgement that deforestation belongs in a future global-warming treaty.
The landmark decision in Bali was accompanied by an outpouring of concern — and in some cases money — from the international community.
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God, created world advocating delicate balance among the living things to ensure its pristine environment. Humans have now realised that their selfish goals have landed them in deep trouble and desperately wish to set right the balance, if it could be referred so. Vegetation cover has blessed humans with innumerable benefits. It is indeed time that we recognise this and provide the unbiased preference that it deserves in the present day context. Is it not our responsbility to pass on the nature that we enjoyed to our younger generation?
REDD needs more debate especially regarding its rules and governance. It surely can be an important component of the policy mix to avoid deforestation. It is understandable that we have in the beginning several different paths aiming at the same goal. But now what we do need is a broad global coalition to mobilize all brain power and financial means to rapidly find the best path. Brazil is wrong in looking for a fund that fails to meet minimum standards of governance, compliance and accountability. As a note: these three terms belong to the same broader technical concept of governance. We have to move fast to be able to see REDD taken as part of the Post-Kyoto arrangement. There are at least three major points of uncertainty regarding governance this coalition should look at: leakage problems, that are related to governance and accountability matters; the EU concern about "easy credits" creating disincentives to its "harder" plan for emmissions reduction, a matter of global rules and governance; and sound and effective use of the revenues for the durable development of the poor areas where tropical forests are concentrated. Sérgio Abranches, political scientist, O Eco (www.oeco.com.br)
Another way of "SAVING OUR TREES" is for all Publishers to start publishing books and magazines in electronic form. This relatively 'simple' solution would also solve the problem of storage space in Libraries (and also in the home, for subscribers). I have tried to E-mail some of the major publishers - Elsevier - but GOT NO REPSONSE. Perhaps, NATURE's publisher could take the intitiative and set the example for the industry? For wahtever it is worth, Cecilio E. Gracias, PhD
The most important question is the amount of untouched forest we are willing to preserve. “Market doesn’t work well here†– that is, in setting national targets. We really need an approach that “reframes developing country contributions with respect to deforestation as a laudable service to the world community, rather than simply a reduction in bad behaviorâ€, as Gurney and Raymond said. (Gurney K, Raymond L: Targeting deforestation rates in climate change policy: a 'Preservation Pathway' approach. Carbon Balance and Management 2008, 3: 2. http://www.cbmjournal.com/content/3/1/2)
Trees are very important (and beautiful) as we cannot survive without them. We use trees in a 101 different ways, whether it is furniture, fuel, paper, oxygen - carbon dioxide conversion, stabilizing ecosystems and the water table, stabilizing rivers, tourism, and many many more. They are also the homes of wild life as we know it. when we cut down a tree, we take away the home of birds, squirrels, monkeys, snakes, lizards, AND we do something to make our climate less stable. We can pay for the planting of new trees by paying a little bit more for our, furniture, water, paper, energy. We can also support simple renewable energy systems in Rural areas, to reduce their need for wood as a fuel.