Global Forest Coalition critiques unreliability of Market-based Conservation Mechanisms

Barcelona, Spain, 9 October 2008--As the international financial crisis grows
and markets become more unstable, Global Forest Coalition [1] launched a timely
new report, "Life as Commerce: the Impact of Market-based Conservation" [2]
today at the IUCN World Conservation Congress.
 
"Life as Commerce" features case studies from India, Costa Rica, South Africa,
Paraguay and Colombia about the impact of market-based conservation mechanisms
like ecotourism, forest certification, biodiversity offsets and carbon trade on
Indigenous Peoples, local communities and women. These impacts are particularly
important in light of the proposal by some countries to include forest
conservation into the global carbon market.
 
At IUCN World Conservation Congress in Barcelona, Global Forest Coalition
managing coordinator Simone Lovera said:
"The report provides a number of fascinating real-life stories on how these
mechanisms work out at the community-level.  It forms an important addition to
the increasing number of studies that focus on the potential benefits of these
mechanisms for local communities and the rules and standards that are needed to
generate these benefits. As the case studies describe, such rules and standards
seldom exist, and even where they exist, they are not well-implemented as
market mechanisms make it attractive for powerful actors to circumvent them.
The costs of these mechanisms, also in terms of undermining community
governance, seem to outweigh the benefits in real-life situations."
 
Market-based mechanisms are often seen as solutions to the lack of funding for
public conservation, but they are false solutions.  The current economic crisis
has also shown the unreliability of global markets as a potential funding
source for conservation.
 
Wally Menne from the Timberwatch Coalition, who coordinated the case study of
South Africa related:
"Take for example forest certification.  Our case study showed that the Forest
Stewardship Council's certification system, as practiced in South Africa,
actually seems to be masking many of the environmental, social and economic
problems experienced by communities living alongside monoculture timber
plantations.  The expansion and development of the sector to meet increased
global demand for timber products has increased unemployment and functional
poverty into the area, and has led to encroachment into land and water
resources required for food production and food security."
 
Emphasizing the importance of food security, a biofuel (agrofuels) review [3]
issued this Tuesday in Rome, Italy from the Food and Agriculture Organization
of the UN stated, "food security concerns loom large....Particularly at risk
are poor urban consumers and poor net food buyers in rural areas. Many of the
world's poor spend more than half of their incomes on food."  The Global Forest
Coalition welcomes the FAO's call to review biofuel policies and subsidies in
the light of their impact on food security and precious ecosytems like forests.
 
Simone Lovera, GFC managing coordinator mobile +31 6 15345379
Orin Langelle, GFC media coordinator mobile +34 6 71253660
 
NOTES:
[1]  The Global Forest Coalition is a worldwide network of Indigenous Peoples
Organizations and non-governmental organizations that promotes effective
rights-based forest conservation policies. Global Justice Ecology Project is
the North American focal point for Global Forest Coalition.  See
http://www.globalforestcoalition.org for more information.
 
[2] The Life as Commerce report can be downloaded:
(English)
http://www.globalforestcoalition.org/img/userpics/File/publications/LIFE-AS-COMMERCE2008.pdf
(Spanish)
La vida como mercancia
http://www.globalforestcoalition.org/img/userpics/File/publications/Spanish%20Website/LA-VIDA-COMO-MERCANCIA2008.pdf
(French)
La Commercialisation de la vie
http://www.globalforestcoalition.org/img/userpics/File/French/LA-COMMERCIALISATION-DE-LA-VIE.pdf
 
[3]  http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2008/1000928/index.html

(For photo of IUCN conference and press release in Spanish please visit our
website: www.globaljusticeecology.org)