By: Anne Lambert, Founding Director
As usual, The Economist, in its October 23rd leader (editorial), puts it succinctly:
Chopping down rainforests is daft. The social costs of clearing a typical patch of Brazilian Amazon are perhaps 30 times the benefits of rearing cows on it, by one estimate from 2023. The problem is, those costs, which include aggravating climate change, are spread across the entire world’s population, whereas the profits from cutting down the trees go to the men commanding the chainsaws. Somehow, the world has to find a way to make conservation pay.
As representatives of the world’s countries meet in Belem, Brazil, for the latest climate summit, what are called nature-based solutions are competing for attention with technological and demand-side solutions that combat accelerating climate change.
We, at Biome, say: it’s about time! Nature-based solutions are highly cost-effective and work both by lowering emissions (notably from deforestation and farming practices) and measures to withdraw more CO2 from the atmosphere. Tropical forests offer the largest potential—they are extensive, and 95% of deforestation is occurring in the tropics—while peatlands and mangroves offer exceptional value per unit area. Tropical forests also generate rainfall needed for agriculture over a wide geographic area. And natural ecosystems supply pollinators for food crops, seafood, livelihoods, and homes – biomes – for the Earth’s ten million or so species.
An article in the same issue of The Economist cites a surprisingly high figure of $40,000/year for the value provided per square km of standing Amazon forest. This is the theoretical value, and not what the world has been prepared to pay. In any case, that figure says Kayapo lands alone provide a value of $3.5 billion annually! This is orders of magnitude greater than the cost of the Kayapo Project – the very thing that is keeping that forest intact, thanks to the Kayapo people and their international partners (led by Biome).
At the COP, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has begun pitching a new multibillion-dollar fund to protect tropical forests. Called the Tropical Forests Forever Facility, the fund will reward countries that succeed in halting deforestation, channelling up to (US) $4 billion a year to as many as 74 nations. Countries conserving their forests will receive $4 per hectare per year, adjusted according to verified performance using satellite monitoring. Seed money will come from investor countries contributing to a blended investment mechanism where dividends are shared between investors and forest nations.
Will governments listen? Will they back this new fund or other measures to preserve tropical and restore ecosystems? We hope so. Regardless, conservation philanthropy continues to play a much-needed role in tackling conservation priorities. To our donors, I say that means you and us: Biome, our field partners, and our supporters.