Number: 1979-03
WHEREAS, tropical forests consist of and support tremendous numbers of plant and animal species, renewable resources with scientific, medicinal, genetic, cultural, aesthetic, nutritional, commercial and ecological values of global importance; and
WHEREAS, realization of these values is dependent on sound resource management specifically designed for tropical forest ecosystems, in particular the adoption of scientific forestry and agricultural practices; and
WHEREAS, increasing demands are being placed on tropical forests to produce food, fiber, and energy to meet the short-term needs of the people in developing countries in which these forests are found, and these demands are resulting in a rapid and accelerating clearing of forest lands; and
WHEREAS, a continuation of current land use practices and policies will result in the conversion of large areas of forest lands to other less appropriate and valuable uses by the end of the century, some of which threaten the capacity of the land to produce renewable resources; and
WHEREAS, neither scientists nor management agencies are currently able to predict the long-range ecological, climatic, sociological, or economic consequences of such vast changes in vegetation; and
WHEREAS, both the benefits associated with sound resources management and the costs of possible losses of renewable resources and adverse climatic changes resulting from deforestation will affect both developing and developed nations; and
WHEREAS, no program to change existing land use practices in tropical forests can succeed without the cooperation of the local government and financial and technical support from developed countries; and
WHEREAS, the U. S. Government, has established an Interagency Task Force on Tropical Forests, to address the deforestation problem;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation in annual meeting assembled March 22-25, 1979, in Toronto, Ontario, hereby urges the U.S. Government, through its Interagency Task Force on Tropical Forests, to develop, as a matter of highest priority, a national policy, strategy, and program statement on tropical forests; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation supports the efforts of international organizations such as IUCN, UNEP, and UNESCO to aggressively pursue programs such as UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Program which can contribute significantly to the resolution of the tropical deforestation problem, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation urges the U. S. Government to increase its support, financial and otherwise, to both research and operational programs (such as MAB) of international organizations which possess the greatest potential for resolving the tropical deforestation problem. Priorities for these programs should include:
- establishment and implementation of deforestation monitoring and assessment systems at the global, regional, national and local levels,
- identification and quantification of the economic, social, and environmental costs associated with deforestation and the benefits received from proper forest management, including the economic importance of pharmaceutical drugs, genetic materials, and wildlife,
- improvement of scientific understanding of basic physical, chemical, biological, and ecological processes, especially in tropical rain-forests, to assist in predicting the impact of large-scale clearing of vegetation and in making sound land use decisions, and
- development of alternatives to the present use of forests as well as improved reforestation and afforestation techniques; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation urges the U. S. Government to review AID, Peace Corps, and other federally supported domestic and international programs to ensure that U. S. efforts, especially in the Panama Canal Zone, Hawaiian Islands, and American Samoa are directed towards sound management of tropical forest resources.