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| Sunday, 19 June 2005 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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The (US)
Tropical Forest Conservation Act
Dr. W. W. D. Modder, President, The National Academy of Sciences of Sri Lanka The National Academy of Sciences was given its mandate and empowered by an Act of Parliament, the National Academy of Sciences of Sri Lanka (Incorporation) Act, No. 66 of 1988. One of the general objects of the Academy as set out in Section 3 (d) of the Act is "to report on the management and the rational utilisation of the national resources of Sri Lanka so as to ensure optimal productivity consistent with continued use of the biosphere on a long-term basis taking into account the repercussions of using a particular resource on other resources and the environment as a whole, and to help in making use of the resources of the country in national development". The concerns of the Academy, with regard to the United States' Tropical Forest Conservation These concerns are expressed in the present document which was duly adopted by the Council of the Academy, and approved for release to concerned policy-makers in government, and to civil society and the general public. Forest for Debt Reduction The (US) Tropical Forest Conservation Act (TFCA) of 1998 is intended putatively to serve as a means of debt alleviation offered by the United States of America, whereby a fraction of the debt owed by a country to the USA could be substituted by local currency and used for tropical forest conservation activities. It applies to countries that have within their territory at least one tropical forest and which owe money to the USA. One of the major national resources of Sri Lanka are its forests, presently covering 24 per cent of the island's land extent, inclusive of the Sinharaja forest which is a World Heritage Site. Our forests have singular levels of biodiversity and endemicity. Sri Lanka's debt to the USA at the end of 2004 was approximately 570 million US dollars (Annual Report 2004, Central Bank of Sri Lanka), and if we enter into an agreement with the USA under the TFCA, we shall have a small fraction, apparently 6.5 million dollars, of that total amount 'cancelled'. The eligibility of countries to avail themselves of the provisions of the Act is conditional. In the terminology of the Act, "eligibility for benefits" will depend on the fulfilment of certain conditions including the "conclusion of a bilateral treaty with the United States, implementation of an investment sector loan with the Inter-American Development Bank, World Bank-supported investment reforms, or other measures, as appropriate". Final determination rests with the President of the United States. 'Yes' to TFCA, but 'No' to Global Conventions for Protection of the environment. The TFCA document commences with statements of fact relating to the economic and ecological value of tropical forests. It also recognizes the importance of these forests as a 'carbon sink'. The TCFA then goes on to refer to the continuing deforestation that is taking place, the logging concessions in developing countries used as a means of providing capital for investment, the poverty and economic pressures in developing countries, and the important contribution that debt reduction could make in reducing economic pressures. The purpose of the Act is said to be to facilitate greater protection of tropical forests, by providing for the alleviation of debt for countries where tropical forests are located. Let us examine the supposed threats to the survival of tropical forests. As far as Sri Lanka is concerned, there are no logging concessions; in fact, logging is illegal in our tropical rainforests. The conservation of Sri Lankan forests is catered for: thus, the legal provisions and administrative set-up for safeguarding the forests are in place, and the laws are regularly reviewed and amended. We have to contrast the concern for the protection of tropical forests, expressed in the United States' TFCA, with the steadfast refusal of that country to ratify two of the most far-reaching international conventions governing protection of the global environment. These conventions are the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the Kyoto Protocol, that are aimed at safeguarding the environment by protecting biodiversity (and hence the biodiversity-rich-tropical forests) and reducing carbon emissions. It is difficult to reconcile the intransigence of the USA in the matter of ratifying these conventions, with its magnanimity and concern for environmental protection, as expressed in its TFCA. The Eppawala Example The National Academy of Sciences of Sri Lanka is mindful of an earlier proposal by a commercial enterprise in the USA to exploit our Eppawala phosphate deposits, with claims being made that Sri Lanka would receive a host of benefits from this venture. Had the proposal been accepted, the phosphate deposits would have been on the way to exhaustion within a relatively short period of time, leaving nothing for future generations. Serious environmental, social and cultural damage would be the end result, while the financial benefits to our country would be minimal. Environmental benefits, or profits from Pharmaceuticals? The benefits to the USA from the TFCA are said to be their share in the global environmental benefits, resulting from the improved protection of tropical forests that the implementation of the TFCA is expected to bring about. But is this the full story? The particular interest in tropical forests, evinced by certain corporations and companies in the USA, seems to us to be the rich biodiversity of these forests. It is well known that a great many pharmaceuticals used in modern medicine were derived from plants. These pharmaceuticals are of immense value in treating diseases afflicting mankind. But at the same time, of course, they rake in billions of dollars to the large drug companies which develop and patent these plant products, while hardly any benefits flow to the developing countries from which the genetic material was extracted, or to the communities in those developing countries who, in the first place, provided the traditional knowledge regarding the use of the material. This is one of the pitfalls of research in medicinal plants, which the Convention on Biological Diversity strives to avoid (vide Articles 16 and 19 of the Convention). Sri Lanka is particularly rich in biological diversity. Also, we have a long tradition in the use of plants for treating diseases, and there is a wealth of information in the medicinal formulations, numbered in thousands, available in the country. These formulations, coupled with the availability of the named plant material, are the ideal starting point for research on plant products for the treatment of particular diseases. Research on these lines is of course a praiseworthy objective. However, what safeguards are there to ensure that Sri Lanka would benefit through "sharing in a fair and equitable way the results of research and development and the benefits arising from the commercial and other utilization of genetic resources" (Article 15 of the convention on Biological Diversity)? What is there to ensure that Sri Lankan scientists would be actively involved in the research? We need to be mindful of Sri Lanka's national interest. Section 809 of the TFCA refers to the agreement which a country, availing itself of the provisions of the Act, has to enter into with the Secretary of State of the USA. According to this agreement, an administrative body has to be set up, and this body will include inter alia "one or more individuals" appointed by the United States government. We are of the view that administrative bodies of this sort, whenever such bodies are established, should be composed entirely of Sri Lankans appointed by the government of Sri Lanka. We are dealing with a national resource, Sri Lanka's state forests, which are mainly under the control of the Sri Lankan government's Forest Department. We see no reason why any external government should take a hand in administering any of these forests. If the government of the USA in their magnanimity offers financial support for promoting the conservation of certain forests, it should abide by the established mechanisms whereby local institutions, receiving financial grants within the purview of bilateral or multilateral agreements, only report to the donors, from time to time, the progress of activities undertaken. We are of the view that the provisions in Section 809 of the TFCA could prove to be inimical to the interests of Sri Lanka. Another clause in Section 809 is the inclusion, in the administrative body, of three representatives of "environmental non-governmental organisations of, or active in, the beneficiary country". It would only be necessary for a non-governmental organisation, concerned with research on medicinal plants in the USA, to register locally (and hence become "active" in the country) to be eligible to serve on the administrative body and influence the decisions of that body. We are in fact opposed to any non-governmental organisation serving on the administrative body of a foreign-funded project. Medicinal research not pertinent to the TFCA Among the eligible activities, as stated in Section 809 (d) of the TFCA, are 'research and identification of medicinal uses of tropical forest plant life to treat human diseases, illnesses, and health related concerns'. This is not an activity that is among the purposes of the TFCA as set out in Section 802 (b), all of which relate to the USA's concern for protecting tropical forests. We consider that matters relating to research on the medicinal uses of plants should have no place in an Act of this nature. Certainly, research on uses of plants is important and, if we find that foreign scientists' collaboration is necessary (whether from the USA or elsewhere), it should be addressed through an entirely different arrangement that pays heed to the safeguards embodied in the Convention on Biological Diversity. Under the TFCA, the indebted country has to enter into two separate agreements: first, a Debt Reduction Agreement and, second, a Tropical Forest Agreement. We understand that the critical agreement that has to do with activities relating to the forest (that is, the second of the aforementioned Agreements) is confidential. Has Sri Lanka had access to all the agreements that the five countries, that have so far joined this scheme, signed? What is the need for confidentiality when the purpose of this Tropical Forest Agreement is said to be the global environmental benefits that would result from the improved protection of tropical forests? What is confidential about protecting tropical forests and involving local people in the exercise? This is exactly what the Sri Lankan Forest Department is engaged in, and openly engaged in, at present. We are of the view that there should be total transparency in any action taken to safeguard our forests. The Academy's Advice: Leave the FCTA Alone The National Academy of Sciences of Sri Lanka, as represented by its Council, believes, for the very cogent reasons stated above, that Sri Lanka should not subscribe to this scheme. The many objectionable features, entrenched in the different sections of the TFCA, could prove to be seriously detrimental to Sri Lanka's long-term interests. |
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