corrupt (adj.) – коррумпированный

to sacrifice (v.) – жертвовать

to harvest (v.) – сбор урожая

to argue (v.) – спорить

greedy(adj.) – жадный, скупой

imperative (adj.) – императив, насущная необходимость

income (n.) – доход прибыль

ignorance (n.) – невежество

treaty (n.) – договор

plight (n.) – затруднительное положение, проблема

environmentally conscious – экологически сознательный

so far – до сих пор

to be reluctant – делать что– то неохотно

to be keen – сильно стремиться

in theory – теоретически

Part I

Saving the rainforests

In a small group try to think of ways of saving the rainforests. What can be done in rich, developed countries and what can the developing countries do? Report your views to the rest of the class and when all your ideas have been collected, compare your views with those of the author.

We are rapidly destroying the tropical rainforests. What can we do to conserve what is left of them? One important step is to reduce the demand for new hardwood products. Governments could do this by putting a high tax on these products. The revenue from a tropical hardwood tax could fund conservation projects. So far, governments have been reluctant to introduce a tax on hardwood. Like all new taxes, it would make the government unpopular! In fact, until recently, certain Third World countries (notably Brazil) had a tax system that encouraged the destruction of the rainforests. They were so keen to promote the export of cattle that they offered tax concessions to the farmers who burned the forests! Most of these schemes have now been abolished “Sue demand for hardwood in the West is falling even without a tropical hardwood tax. The international timber trade has received a lot of bad publicity because of its role in the destruction of the rainforests. Many environmentally-conscious people today refuse to buy goods that are from tropical hardwoods. Some timber companies now concentrate on selling softwoods such as pine and beech instead. Other companies recycle hardwood by taking apart old furniture. A few companies still cut down hardwood trees but they are also planting new trees to try to rebuild the forests. However, no timber company has yet achieved the goal of sustainable timber extraction (that is, replacing as many trees as it cut down) in the tropical rainforests.

Restricting the activities of the timber trade will not, on its own, save the rainforests. We must also address the other causes of deforestation – lack of alternative fuel, the need to create grazing land for cattle and the widespread public ignorance about the ecological importance of the rainforests. In 1987, several international organizations (including the World Bank, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, and the United Nations Development Program) launched the Tropical Action Plan, a five-year plan to invest money in forestry, conservation and agricultural projects. Their aims were: to plant new hardwood forests, particularly in vital watershed zones; to provide alternative firewood supplies from fast-growing softwood trees (such as eucalyptus), to promote the practice of agroforestry (in which cattle graze within the forests so that farmers do not need to cut down trees); and to encourage research into conservation of forestry in the developing countries. The Tropical Forests Action Plan, and other similar projects, have made some progress toward reforestation. But environmentalists have criticized such projects for spending most of their money on building ugly plantations of fast-growing trees all of the same species. They spend only a small fraction of their funds on conserving the existing forests or on research. The ultimate aim (according to critics) is to grow hardwood trees as a renewable cash crop, rather than to conserve the rainforests and the great diversity of plant and animal life within them. It takes about 150 years for a hardwood tree to reach maturity, but it takes many centuries for the full rainforest ecosystem to become established.

Conservation costs money. The developing countries cannot afford to forgo the immediate revenue that they can by selling timber or raising cattle. But they could, and should, try to develop the economic potential of the rich resources that grow beneath the trees – the non-timber forest products. The medicinal plants in the rainforests have great scientific potential, but they also have enormous economic value. Harvesting medicinal herbs for the pharmaceutical industry is potentially more profitable for the developing countries than selling timber or raising cattle on the deforested land.