Not Out Of The Woods Just Yet

AMID the gloom surrounding the future of the world’s forests comes some assurance that the situation might not be that bad after all.
Adopting a new technique for measuring the state of the world’s forests, an international team of researchers suggests the world could be approaching a “turning point” from deforestation. Forests cover 30 percent of the world’s total land area, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
The world’s trees store 283 gigatonnes of carbon, 50 percent more than there is in the atmosphere. The 13 million hectares that are cleared each year have left conservationists and nature enthusiasts seriously pondering the fallout on global warming.
In a departure from the almost exclusive focus on the size of a forest area, the new study includes such other components as biomass and the amount of carbon stored. When the researchers applied this technique to data from the FAO’s Global Forest Assessment report, they discovered that forest stocks had actually expanded over the past 15 years in 22 of the world’s 50 most forested nations.
They also showed increases in biomass and carbon storage capacity in about half of the 50 countries. However, the data also revealed that forest area and biomass were still in decline in Brazil and Indonesia, home to some of the world’s most important rainforests.
From the lucrative international timber trade to the growing demand for farmland and firewood, economics has fueled deforestation. The study focuses primarily on the status of forests in relation to the problems of atmospheric pollution.
The wider imperative of conserving flora and fauna – many on the brink of extinction -- requires emphasis on strengthening natural habitats and local ecosystems. Safeguarding the hydrologic cycle and preventing soil erosion and landslides, too, require attention on specific regions and factors beyond biomass and the amount of carbon stored.
Tempting as it is to be complacent, the latest findings should encourage greater efforts towards strengthening sustainable forest cover.

Global Graft And Poverty Predicament

Transparency International’s 2006 Corruption Perceptions Index has underscored the traditional poverty-corruption nexus. A composite ranking that draws on multiple expert opinion surveys that poll perceptions of public sector corruption in 163 countries, this year’s index is more exhaustive than its predecessor’s.
As in the past, impoverished countries dominate the cluster of countries considered most corrupt, with Haiti at the very bottom of the list. Developed countries are deemed the planet’s cleanest, with Finland, Iceland and New Zealand tied on the top spot. On closer observation, the poverty-corruption linkage may not appear so conclusive. At No. 20, the United States fares somewhere close to Chile. At No. 45, Italy provides a more compelling case of the prevalence of corruption in the absence of poverty.
Theoretically, TI’s definition of corruption – the abuse of public office for private gain – encompasses a wide range of activities, many of which go beyond financial considerations. Cultural variations, moreover, tend to preclude the establishment of universal standards. Some societies may be more tolerant of practices others consider unacceptable.
In some countries, public apathy at the endurance of corruption may have contributed to a grudging acceptance. Reassuringly, TI does not encourage the use of its indicators as a condition for aid disbursements. Yet the international donor community, exasperated by the misappropriation of aid money, would be tempted to ignore TI’s stipulations. Amid a growing list of countries competing for international assistance, nations at the bottom of the TI index are at a conspicuous psychological disadvantage.
International organizations like TI, in partnership with civil society organizations and the media within countries, have thrust the anti-corruption campaign to the forefront of national priorities. Concerted and sustained action toward holding governments accountable to their commitments on transparency and good governance would contribute.
The people living in countries at the bottom of the TI index are already victims of the corruption and misrule perpetrated by their governments. They must not be punished further by efforts – well meaning – to restrict their access to international assistance.