Deforestation and desertification can be largely explained by the necessary extension of areas brought into cultivation to feed the inexorable increase in population. (…) Therefore, the Fondation will support actions aiming to counter deforestation and desertification, in an effort to promote the logic of sustainable resource management and the creation of income for local populations – the only logical approach able to reconcile otherwise contradictory objectives.
According to the last report from the International Panel on Climate Change, tropical deforestation is responsible for approximately 20% of world greenhouse gas emissions. Halting this destructive trend is now recognized as the most efficient and economical way to effectively counter global warming, which is its second biggest cause (Report by Nicholas Stern on the economics of climate change – October 2006), but also to preserve the rich and irreplaceable biodiversity contained in these forests.
Every year, 13 million hectares of the world’s tropical forests are destroyed, mainly by clearing, owing to the rush to expand cultivatable land, and by uncontrolled logging.
Approximately 800 million of earth’s inhabitants depend on tropical forests for survival. Sustainable development of these resources in Latin America, South Asia and Africa, is still the exception. In the interest of all, it must become the rule.
The idea of creating a “Center of Social Excellence” in the field of sustainable forest management evolved from a successful experience tested in the Republic of the Congo where in 2006 a 365,000 hectares forest concession managed to obtain the FSC certificate guaranteeing sustainable management for the first time in Africa. It achieved this exploit by utilizing cutting-edge technologies enabling the forest communities to map the forest themselves in ways that took into account their rights and ways of life.
Issuing reliable titles is vital to a balanced organization of a country's land market. To achieve this, the implementation of land reform is generally necessary. Therefore, in partnership with the Conseil Supérieur du Notariat français (CSN), the Fondation Chirac supports those countries who request aid in the establishment of a secure land tenure system through "title transfers" of their land system.
Over the past 15 years, the supply of tropical timber has been multiplied by 10; 100 million hectares are currently FSC certified in over 78 countries. As for temperate timber, nearly 230 million hectares were PEFC certified in 2009. Consumers, however, remain unaware of certification issues. Because the choice of timber is guided and defined primarily by architects, it is essential to involve them in the certification process.
Bastien Sachet is the Managing Directorfor fight against deforestation and desertification. He is assisted by Sarada Loock.