Reducing Emissions from Deforestation in developing countries (RED)
 BirdLife International/Marco Lambertini
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In climate terms, tropical deforestation accounts about 20% of all human-induced emissions every year, roughly the same volume of greenhouse gas emissions as produced by the USA or China.
The loss of natural tropical forests is a catastrophe for the world’s biodiversity. Tropical forests are the most ecologically rich of all forest types. They are home to 70% of the world’s plants and animals, more than 13 million distinct species. They contain 70% of the world’s vascular plants, 30% of all bird species, and 90% of invertebrates. Deforestation is also a disaster for the many thousands of people who live in and depend on tropical forests, and yet have little say in their fate, and rarely benefit from their destruction.
Yet in countries with the highest deforestation rates there is little or no incentive to protect natural forests. Indeed, economic realities generally favour cutting the forest for timber and converting the land to commercial plantations or large scale farming. This could change under proposals for a new mechanism under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 'reducing emissions from deforestation in developing countries' (RED). The proposal would enable developing countries to benefit financially from protecting their forests. With this change could come the chance to protect the unique wildlife of tropical forests and offer sustainable livelihoods to the many people who depend on them.
BirdLife strongly supports the initiative and wishes to see the proposal firmly embedded in the global climate change regime which will be discussed at the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties in Bali 3-14 December 2007. BirdLife is in an excellent position to help push forward the initiative. We have long worked on international climate change issues, especially those concerning land use change and forestry. We can also call upon first-hand experience of managing forest conservation projects on the ground across the world.
To download the RSPB/BirdLife pamphlet on Tropical Forests and Climate Change click here (PDF 2MB)