GCSE Geography | Rainforest Management: International Level (Tropical Rainforests 8)

We need to ensure that there is a balance between using valuable rainforest resources, without causing long-term damage. Sustainable rainforest management is all about using goods and services in a way which means they will still be there for future generations to use. Without sustainable management the tropical rainforests will be lost, along with their valuable goods and services - and of course, deforestation on a large-scale has no place in sustainable management strategies.

Management of tropical rainforests occurs at three levels - international, national and local, however some strategies can work across all three scales, such as education and conservation.

This page of notes focuses on sustainable rainforest management at the INTERNATIONAL LEVEL.

International agreements

There are many international agreements in place to protect rainforest resources and biodiversity.

• 2006 International Tropical Timber Agreement - this restricts trade in tropical rainforest hardwoods, making it more difficult to sell them and make money from them. This is important as tropical hardwoods are extremely valuable, so millions of trees have been illegally cut down because loggers know that people will pay high prices for the timber. Illegal felling often goes unnoticed by officials, and therefore unpunished, because it tends to take place in the most remote parts of the rainforest. The 2006 Agreement means that all hardwood timber has to be marked with a registration number, which shows where it was felled, so buyers can see that it was sustainably sourced.
• 1973 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) - this treaty stops people trading in rare and endangered species of plants and animals, which is a huge global problem despite being illegal. However, 60 years after the agreement was put in place, the illegal trade in rare and endangered species is still worth millions of pounds annually.
• The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) - the FSC promotes sustainable forestry and tries to encourage manufacturers and consumers to buy sustainable hardwoods such as mahogany, in the hope that this will reduce the demand for rare hardwoods, that are at risk. Products that have been sustainably sourced carry the FSC label.

Debt reduction - 'debt for nature' swaps

Tropical rainforests are usually located in developing nations with large debts linked to loans and overseas aid. In order to combat this some countries arrange 'debt for nature' swaps, such as the scheme in place between the USA and Brazil. The USA agreed to allow Brazil to convert the £13.5 million it owed in debt repayments, into a fund to protect large areas of the Amazon rainforest. Western governments also agreed to reduce what Costa Rica owed them in debt repayments, as long as they spent £27 million on conservations projects.

These 'debt for nature' swaps are part of a wider debt reduction initiative which sees high income countries writing off the debt of developing nations, to enable them to invest in conservation projects within their own countries. These agreements are important for all parties involved - it means that the developing nations can protect valuable wildlife habitats, and they help the HIC governments meet their own targets for supporting conservation and tackling climate change.

Education and conservation

Education and conservation is supported by non-governmental organisations (NGOs). These are charities that rely on dedicated volunteers and fundraising to finance important projects, such as Greenpeace, the WWF and Birdlife International. Education and conservation NGOs are interested in all global biomes, not just tropical rainforests, so you may have also come across them when studying hot deserts or cold environments. Their aim is to protect ecosystems that are being seriously threatened.

These charity groups promote their conservation aims in a number of ways - they write education programmes which include schemes of work, resource packs and classrooms videos to be used in schools and colleges; they train up conservation workers to ensure that they can protect vulnerable areas as effectively as possible; they provide practical help to help set up conservation programmes which helps ensure their sustainability; and sometimes they buy threatened areas of land to turn into nature reserves to ensure long-term protection. NGOs working in conservation believe that it is essential that those involved in rainforest exploitation and management are fully aware of the negative consequences of their activities.

Conservation initiatives can also operate at national and local levels.