Annual Reports
Message from the Director
In May 2005, the Brazilian government revealed that 2004 had been one of the worst ever years for destruction of the Amazon rainforest. At the same time, discussions in the United Nations, which have been running for more than 10 years, about how to prevent global deforestation, ground to a halt.
The World Bank, one of the international organisations entrusted by the UN to help protect forests has, in fact, been contributing to their further destruction. Amongst other damaging initiatives, the Bank presses ahead with projects that could open a vast area in the Congo for industrial timber felling.
However, there are also signs of hope amidst the devastation. The Rainforest Foundation has long argued that, in the face of governmental and UN incompetence and impotence, the strongest hope of conserving rainforests lies with local communities living in and around the forest and depending on it for their survival. With the collapse of the UN’s efforts, our view may at last find wider support.
Even amongst the ashes, there are reasons for optimism. Satellite images show clearly that the areas of Amazonia best surviving the onslaught of timber companies, cattle ranchers and soya bean farmers are those that have been legally designated and protected as territories for indigenous people. Areas that the Foundation helped to protect during the 1990s for various rainforest peoples now stand out as islands of green in a sea of destruction. As other areas of forest – even those supposedly set aside as strict conservation areas, such as national parks – continue to be destroyed or damaged, so the value and effectiveness of our approach becomes all the more apparent.
The Rainforest Foundation does not promise quick-fixes or grand plans in response to the problem of rainforest destruction. However, our painstaking, long term work with local communities and partner organisations does offer the hope of long-term, sustainable solutions.
Simon Counsell
Director of the
Rainforest Foundation
In May 2005, the Brazilian government revealed that 2004 had been one of the worst ever years for destruction of the Amazon rainforest. At the same time, discussions in the United Nations, which have been running for more than 10 years, about how to prevent global deforestation, ground to a halt.
The World Bank, one of the international organisations entrusted by the UN to help protect forests has, in fact, been contributing to their further destruction. Amongst other damaging initiatives, the Bank presses ahead with projects that could open a vast area in the Congo for industrial timber felling.
However, there are also signs of hope amidst the devastation. The Rainforest Foundation has long argued that, in the face of governmental and UN incompetence and impotence, the strongest hope of conserving rainforests lies with local communities living in and around the forest and depending on it for their survival. With the collapse of the UN’s efforts, our view may at last find wider support.
Even amongst the ashes, there are reasons for optimism. Satellite images show clearly that the areas of Amazonia best surviving the onslaught of timber companies, cattle ranchers and soya bean farmers are those that have been legally designated and protected as territories for indigenous people. Areas that the Foundation helped to protect during the 1990s for various rainforest peoples now stand out as islands of green in a sea of destruction. As other areas of forest – even those supposedly set aside as strict conservation areas, such as national parks – continue to be destroyed or damaged, so the value and effectiveness of our approach becomes all the more apparent.
The Rainforest Foundation does not promise quick-fixes or grand plans in response to the problem of rainforest destruction. However, our painstaking, long term work with local communities and partner organisations does offer the hope of long-term, sustainable solutions.
Simon Counsell
Director of the
Rainforest Foundation
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