A diverse array of trees and plants were introduced on storm and trade winds. Photo Betsy Crowfoot
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called for decreases in deforestation and forest degradation, saying these measures complement measures to reduce greenhouse emissions.
Speaking in Borneo late last week, Secretary Ban was on site to support the UN’s Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) initiative. The program puts a financial worth on forests and their carbon value, and promotes sustainable low-carbon development, conservation, and the management and improvement of existing forested lands.
Roughly one-third to one-half of the planet’s forests have been lost – mostly in the last century. The clearing of forested land, in itself, is said to account for almost 20 percent of carbon emissions globally, according to Secretary Ban.
Trees are Cool
Several species of fruit grown in the reserve. Photo Betsy Crowfoot
But just as critically, the reduction in trees diminishes nature’s ability to cool the earth and mitigate unstable weather. Forests provide shade; serve as buffers to wind and storms; support further growth by inhibiting erosion and fertilizing the soil; and stabilize and promote aquifers (the UNEP report indicated deforested regions lose as much as 90 percent of their rainwater as runoff, which also erodes topsoil).
In addition, forests are vital for drawing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and purifying the air. The reduction of trees from the face of Earth has resulted in a lesser ability to process CO2, causing global warming and volatile weather.
While there has long been a correlation between deforestation and poverty, in developing nations, a report on Livelihoods, Forests, and Conservation in Developing Countries from World Development pointed out, “One should keep in mind that the converse of poverty — a high standard of living — can also be a cause of forest destruction.”
Private Reserve Provides Model for Forest Rehab
On the Caribbean island of Sint Martin/St Maarten, where high-rise resorts and development have scoured much of the landscape, a private reserve is seeking to reintroduce and protect forest habitat.
Loterie Farm is a 135 acre (54 hectare) sanctuary near the French town of Rambaud, in the middle of a volcanic island rimmed with beaches, rocky shorelines and mangrove lagoons.
Loterie Farms’ manager Pierre Lenoci describes the medicinal benefits of the Sour Sop tree. Photo Betsy Crowfoot
Established in 1721 as a sugar cane plantation – ill-placed, on the steep rocky terrain of one of the island’s highest points: Pic Paradis – the lush forests of teak and mahogany were razed for sugar cane production. Eventually agriculture was abandoned when slavery was abolished, and the parcel enabled to revert to natural growth.
According to Operations Manager Pierre Lenoci, the entire island was forested at one time, and the currently lush hillsides of Loterie Farm represent what the island looked like centuries ago.
There is a dense canopy of greenery: Silk Cotton and Gum trees, Tropical Cedars, Sour Sop and all types of fruit trees: mango, breadfruit, banana, avocado, guava berry and papaya. Many of the species are introduced. “Hurricanes and storms spread seeds around,” Lenoci noted. “As devastating as storms are, in the grand scheme of things, they help spread species and increase biodiversity.” The property is home to endemic geckos and lizards; to bats and Green Vervet monkeys; and a wide variety of birds including Gray Flycatchers, Antillean Crested Hummingbirds, Lesser Antillean Bullfinches, Bananaquits, and Black-faced Grassquits.
In the late 1990s Loterie Farm guardian and steward William “BJ” Welch created a network of trails and began taking schoolchildren and other locals on educational hikes. Since then, the reserve has grown to incorporate restaurants and a lounge, a spring-fed pool, and a ropes course through the forest.
Recently they introduced “tree-hab” parties – giving away hundreds of trees to promote forest restoration of the island. “People don’t realize what one tree can do,” said Lenoci. “It’s a symbiotic relationship: the rain creates trees, and the trees create rain.”
Developed Nations Called to do Their Part
All of Sint Martin/St Maarten was once densely forested. Photo Betsy Crowfoot
While REDD and other UN programs and policy focus on developing regions, world leaders are called to stop pointing fingers and look within their own borders.
The Ecosystems Climate Alliance of NGOs has charged “rich developed countries” with “hiding carbon emissions from logging,” in a press release. “Many countries, almost exclusively from the developing world, have challenged developed countries to genuinely cut logging emissions. But developed countries have resisted, and persisted in proposing new accounting procedures that create the illusion they are doing more than they are to stop catastrophic climate change.”
“All of climate science says we need at least a 25 to 40 percent reduction in global emissions by 2020, but you’ve got the richest countries in the world using a logging loophole to actually go below their commitments,” said Sean Cadman of The Wilderness Society. “What we have here is a compromised situation for the climate.”
