Engaging governments to reduce the impact of forest conversion
Talking with governments
Let’s go to the corridors of powers of the nations where forest conversion is rampant.
To ensure that national policy is supportive of responsible forest conversion, WWF sits down with decision-makers to explain the advantages of responsible agriculture and plantations.From South America to Southeast Asia, we collaborate with central and regional governments so that forest conversion does not happen at the expense of High Conservation Value Forests (HCVF).
At a time when many countries are decentralizing power, this calls for WWF’s presence both at the central government and in the regions to ensure that policies are coordinated.
Champions for HCVF
In the process, we are finding new champions for our work. For example, the Governor of West Kalimantan Province in the Indonesian part of Borneo has endorsed WWF’s HCVF, which he considers to be in line with the decentralized policy that West Kalimantan has adopted.
A win-win situation for the Atlantic Forest and soy
In Paraguay, a temporary 2-year "zero deforestation law" that prohibits conversion of forests in the eastern part of the country - namely the Upper Paraná Atlantic forest which is threatened by soy expansion - has borne remarkable results.
WWF commended the Paraguayan government for its achievement with a “Leaders for a Living Planet” award, in recognition of its successful efforts to reduce deforestation rates by 85% since the end of 2004. WWF also worked with partners to implement a "social pact" with agriculture producers in the Upper Paraná Atlantic Forest.
Data from Oil World indicates that the deforestation law has not affected soy production in Paraguay, the world's fourth largest soybean exporter. In fact, production has increased in spite of the law.
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 Paraguay is demonstrating that expansion of agriculture and exports can take place without necessarily encroaching in valuable natural forests Leonardo Lacerda WWF Global Forest Programme |
