ADB takes steps to preserve region's forests
Bank to back projects to stop illegal exploitation
By Nirmal Ghosh
Manila Correspondent
IN THE wake of alarming statistics on Asia’s deforestation rate, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has moved to strengthen its approach to forest conservation, to preserve what remains of the region’s forests.
In a policy paper approved yesterday, the ADB noted that the region’s total forest cover was reduced by 45 million ha or 9 percent —between 1980 and 1990.
The yearly average forest loss of 4.5 million ha was ~nearly double the replacement rate of 2.1 million ha, it said.
The worst-affected nations ~&1urlng the period were Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, India, the Philippines and China.
An AD5 statement said fuel-wood collection and slash and-burn agriculture were "as big, If not bigger, threats to Asia’s tropical forests as logging".
Communities removed about 700 million cu m of timber a year from forests in the region — seven times more than loggers.
This, said the ADB paper, meant there was a need for swift and effective action to meet the rising energy demands of poor rural households.
It said that the bank’s approach to the problem would be macro-economic and intersectoral, acknowledging the role of rural poverty, population growth, agricultural practices, the development of rural infrastructure and energy policies in deforestation.
Mr Richard Bradley, director of ADB’s agriculture department, said: "Bank-supported projects to create jobs in the countryside will be designed to draw people away from illegal forest-exploitation activities."
Agricultural projects, he said, would encourage intensive production on existing agricultural land rather than farming by clearing forest lands.
The bank would also support tree-planting in upland areas under cultivation, and reforestation on degraded forest lands.
ADB would not support logging in old-growth forests, and would persuade and help governments to set aside these forests for conservation and watershed protection.
It would not finance rural infrastructure or other public-investment projects that contributed to forest loss.
The bank would support fuel-wood production by local communities and farmers by promoting incentives such as land-use reforms, security of property rights and alternative energy sources and by restricting access to previously "free" resources.
Viet PM cracks the whip
HANOI — Vietnamese Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet has called for tough measures against Illegal timber trading as the country faces a deforestation crisis.
An official report said yesterday that Mr Kiet ordered the Forestry Minister to take steps to halt deforestation and to conduct a survey to determine the extent of damage already done.
"Severe penalties" would be taken against anyone involved in Illegal activities that caused deforestation, it said.
Forest area fell from 13.5 million ha in 1943 to 1.18 million ha last year, according to official figures.
Source : The Straits Times 7th Mar 1995
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