Deforestation is accelerating due to biofuel plantations claims Friends of the Earth International and the Global Forest Coalition. The environmental organizations are speaking out against deforestation and biofuel plantations in response to new data released in the report 2009 State of the World’s Forests by the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO).
Deforestation rates continue to be extremely high in many countries despite increased awareness that forests -which host more than 70% of terrestrial biodiversity- play a key role not only in sustaining the livelihoods of more than one billion people but also in mitigating climate change, explains Friends of the Earth and Global Forest Coalition.
The environmental networks called on the FAO Committee on Forestry to stop promoting plantations and urged governments to immediately halt the conversion of forests into biofuel plantations in their countries. They ask that governments recognize indigenous peoples’ territories, promote community-based forest management and restoration, ban illegal logging and related trade, and implement an immediate deforestation moratorium.
The FAO report notes that the expansion of large-scale monocultures of oil palm, soy and other crops for agrofuel production has been a key factor in the failure to halt deforestation.
The report also states that "the potential for large-scale commercial production of cellulosic biofuel will have unprecedented impacts on the forest sector."
"If cellulosic biofuel leads to a strongly increased demand for wood, it will have a dramatic impact on the world's forests, especially in regions like Africa and Asia, which are already facing increased pressure on forests due to the failure to combat illegal logging and the rapidly rising demand for wood in general," said Andrey Laletin, chairperson of Friends of the Siberian Forests.
"Plantations are not forests", said Isaac Rojas, coordinator of the Forest and Biodiversity Program of Friends of the Earth International.
"All over the world, plantations destroy the lands and livelihoods of local communities and indigenous peoples, as well as biodiversity and water resources. They also store far less carbon than natural forests."
Resources
Friends of the Earth: http://www.foei.org
Global Forest Coalition: http://www.globalforestcoalition.org
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