Increasingly threatened by poverty and floods, the mountain villagers took action to protect their livelihood, demanding that the resources of the mountain forests should benefit the mountain communities, providing work and the means of survival. Their struggle won them an active role in the management of their forests. An excellent article. The world's forests continue to deteriorate despite international efforts to save them. Deforestation rates in tropical countries are increasing, sustainable forest management is rare, mature forests are being replaced by even-aged, highly simplified stands.
International accords are of limited use.
But there are promising avenues for international action, some of the most important of which are being stimulated, nurtured, and implemented by non-governmental institutions, including private business interests. Includes six case studies of local initiatives. The possibility that we could have both timber products and a beautiful forest is rarely considered, perhaps because it is rarely exemplified. Sustainable forestry works. The World Rainforest Movement is a global network of citizens' groups of North and South involved in efforts to defend the world's rainforests against the forces that destroy them.