There was an interesting trend on the Rainforest Newsladder this week. Our contributors (why doesn't this include you yet?) have been looking for answers. For what you ask? They have been looking for answers as to how to better conserve and protect the rainforest. There doesn't seem to be any shortage of good ideas. The United Nations has declared 2010 the Year of Biodiversity, so as attention shifts to conservation and protection this year, it is important that these fresh and creative ideas get some attention and gain some traction. We thank everyone who has posted to to the Rainforest Newsladder this week, and along with our partner Rainforest Alliance, we welcome everyone else to get involved in the conversation. It is no longer enough to know that the problem exists, we must now begin on the road to fixing them.
Much has been made about the role economics will play in the Green Revolution (last week's post was dedicated to it). There have been many clever ideas forged on how economic tools can spurn our transition away from fossil fuels to clean energy technologies. The largest problem that any idea has is how do we pay for such a shift. There needs to be a major influx of money to create the infrastructure and systemic change that is needed if a clean energy economy is ever going to be built. Professor John Mathews of Australia's Macquarie Graduate School of Management and his colleague Sean Kidney think they have a simple answer. Climate bonds. The two researchers cite the historic success of bond in funding large-scale infrastructure projects: US interstate highway system, European sewer systems, and US Liberty bonds during the wartime.
Sometimes in our ever-so-digitally-connected lives we forget that old ideas can still have worth. This is exactly what is happening in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso ("thick forest"). As part of a government run expertimental program on land use practices, farmers are now beginning to grow crops, raise cattle, and replant timber all on the same plot of land. This idea of regeneration has been used in other parts of the world where land is more scarce for centuries. Researcher Flavio Wruck is already seeing results, "Our integration system rapidly increases the efficiency of crop and pasture land, allowing, for example, ranchers to graze as much as five times more cattle on the same piece of ground." The plan seems to be working as the cycle of clearing out more forest is being broken one farmer at a time.
The United Nations is evening throwing its hat into the ring of new ideas. "Boosting biodiversity can boost the global economy," is the theme of UN Environmental Program's "Year of Biodiversity". Their idea is pitted around supplying dollar values to the natural world. For example, a 2009 UN backed study found a hectare of intact coral reef can be worth up to $1 million a year for tourism, up to $189,000 for protecting coasts from storms, up to $57,000 as a source of genetic materials and up to $3,818 for fisheries. The idea of backing away from the cute polar bear on an small, solitary ice block and engaging corporations and commerce as the primary actors for conservation is very welcome. Who else has the resources to create the systemic changes need to make a real impact?
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