Environmental Protection: Save the Tropical Rainforest - Germany / Federal Republic of Germany 1992 - 100 Pfennig

The last estimates of u. a. the forestry organization of the World Food Organization (FAO) on the extent of the annual destruction of tropical forests amounts to 16.8 million ha in 1990 compared to 11.3 million ha in 1980. The annual destruction of tropical forests worldwide corresponds to the total area of ​​Austria. Denmark and the Netherlands. The countries most at risk are the countries of Southeast Asia, West Africa, the Amazon region and Madagascar. The destruction of the tropical forests is not only the victims of their native plants and animals. It means the loss of employment, income or their living space for more and more people. It contributes to soil erosion and in many places also to the spread of deserts and in the long term to the warming of the atmosphere and thus to climate change. Deforestation is caused by a number of factors that vary from country to country. Worldwide, most of the destruction of tropical rainforests is attributable to peasant slash and burn (around 60%), which is mainly due to poverty, overpopulation and in many cases unfavorable land distribution. In addition, the forest destruction also goes back to large-scale development and development projects (about 30%). Improper use of wood (about 10%) is a third important factor in tropical forest destruction. Of the total amount of timber in the tropics (around 1.5 billion m3), around 83%, or even 91% in Africa, is used to generate energy. Only about 4% of this total timber volume is exported; 3% of exports go to the Federal Republic of Germany. There is an international consensus today that the destruction of tropical rainforests must be stopped. The Federal Government and many other donor countries have increased their bilateral aid for tropical forest conservation measures in recent years. Tropical forest management is also a high priority in multilateral development aid. And yet, given the immense scale of the task, the resources available are nowhere near enough to halt the destruction and reforest at least some of the ruined rainforest areas. The conservation of the tropical rainforests is a global joint task. It is for the preservation of livelihoods for the population of the tropical countries and, above all, for the preservation of an important natural heritage of humanity. It has been estimated that between 3 and 10 million animal and plant species in the world are home to 25-40% of tropical rainforests. For many species, whose population is highly endangered with increasing industrialization, especially since the middle of this century, tropical rainforest is the only survival space. In addition, the large supply of biomass in tropical rainforests is an important for the stability of the climate CO2 storage. The main cause of the anthropogenic increase in atmospheric CO2 and thus of global warming is, due to high energy consumption, above all the population of the industrialized countries, which is particularly interested in their own interest in the preservation of tropical rainforests and should therefore be willing to make a special contribution afford to. (Text: Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Bonn)