How to Make an Opening Speech

by peaksenchua on December 11, 2014

There have been many articles, even here on Best Delegate that talk about making speeches.
However, none have been focused directly on the much feared opening speeches. A little bit
about me as the President of the General Assembly at THIMUN Singapore X (2014), I had the
privellage of listening to at least 160 speeches from member nations and other non-governmental
organization. Here are some definitive tips to use when making an opening speech:
Writing the Speech
1. Know the details
At some conferences, only the General Assembly delegates make opening speeches. In others, all
committees have their own speeches. Make sure you know that you have to make a speech. In
addition, make sure you know how long your speech needs to be. If you dont know, stick to 50
seconds to one minute, though speeches in specialized committees are known to last from 1:30
3 minutes.
2. Focus on one topic only
We all dont prepare a resolution for each and every topic to be debated at a committee. Focus on
the issue that matters to your member nation the most and how that relates to the topics to be
debated at the conference. When trying to get people to listen, depth is more important than
breadth.
Some may argue that the purpose of an opening speech is to show your knowledge on everything
but for me, an opening speech is there to impress, to establish yourself as a leader and a good
orator, which is something all committees love and need.

3. Word limit and time

Well talk about pacing later, but many people ask how many words is a good guideline for a one
minute speech. If you are talking at the proper, slow pace 150 words maximum is a good idea.
Its important to practice your speech before you deliver your speech, but you can bet that 150
words for one minute is a good idea. Remember, its about impact and depth, not breadth.
4. Formatting
Choose a font that you are most comfortable with, preferably Times New Roman or Arial, and
make it 16 size font, justified, and 1.5 spaced. This could apply to other speeches you make as
well. If you need to do so, bold, underline, or make notes after printing to make sure you know
which words to emphasize or be careful in pronouncing. This format allows for you to be able to
read everything clearly in the confusion of nervousness or unexpected events.
5. Make it interesting, but not too interesting
Its always nice to hear a speech that does not start with Good afternoon fellow delegates,
esteemed Chairs, and distinguished guests. Be creative with your entry by introducing the topic
straight out.
Example: December 26th, 2004 is a day every expert in this room will never forget. 283,000
people were killed when an 9.1 magnitude earthquake caused one of the largest tsunamis in
human history.
By introducing the issue with a slammer, you will gain everyones attention.
Most Chairs, including myself find it extraordinarily cheesy when someone makes another
donut, mini-skirt, or Gandalf reference in their speech. Dont be pretentious, cheesy, or vain in
your speech, the opening speech isnt the occasion for that and will make you look bad.
Delivering the speech
1. Practice and be prepared
Make sure you practice at least one day in advance. Print your opening speech its
unprofessional to use an electronic device! Timing is especially important. You dont want to
work hard on your speech only for the Chair to ask you to come to your closing remarks. Make
sure you have necessary items, be it your glasses or a reading light if necessary.
2. Body Language
You arent expected to make full eye contact during the speech nor are you expected to be as
comfortable as the late Steve Jobs presenting the iPad. However, make sure you spend at least
three quarters of the time looking at your audience.

If youre unsure about what to do with your hands, put them on the podium. If youre feeling
more comfortable, use hand gestures. Never ever put your hands to your side or in your pocket.
3. Tone and Pace
I always tell Chairs I am training and delegates Im helping that when they speak, they should be
able to speak clearly and slowly enough for somebody to be able to copy what they have said
word by word on paper. If youre done saying 150 words in 30 seconds, you need to speak
slowly. Speaking quick is not a speaking style its distracts from your message and makes you
seem like you want to end the speech as soon as possible.
Make sure you are talking into the microphone if there is one, and projecting your voice
outwards. This does not mean shouting nor does it mean talking to yourself qualifies as making a
speech.
4. Be confident
When the Chair calls your nations or organizations name, walk up to the podium with
confidence. Shoulders back, back straight, and walk at a good pace with confidence and
preparedness. It definitely makes a difference seeing a confident speaker walk up and ready to
make a speech rather than a scared speaker scurrying up to the podium.
5. Let mistakes happen
If you have taken all these things into consideration, you should be fine. If you speak too quickly
or speak too slowly and get told to come to your closing remarks, that is fine. Take a mistake and
dont do anything with it. Move on.
Do not cringe to yourself or gesture that youve made a mistake, most people dont even realize.
An opening speech is a small task that requires a lot of thoughtful planning. Stand out in the
crowd and dont make a speech someone else could have made with their eyes closed. Think
about it and deliver it well, and the committee youre in will be impressed and want to get to
know you.

[UNEP's Work > Terrestrial Ecosystems > Forests ]

Forest
Terrestrial Ecosystems

Forest
Land

UN Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest

Degradation in Developing Countries (UN REDD)
The UN-REDD Programme was launched as a collaborative initiative between the UN
Environment Programme (UNEP), the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the Food and
Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO). The Programmes main aim is to
contribute to the development of capacity for implementing REDD and to support the
international dialogue for the inclusion of a REDD mechanism in a post-2012 climate regime.
The UN-REDD Programme will initially run until March 2010.
Key Facts

REDD was first introduced on the UNFCCC agenda at the Conference of the Parties
(COP11) in December 2005
At COP-13, Norway pledged an annual contribution of up to 3 billion Norwegian
Kroners (432 million US dollars) towards a global initiative on REDD

The challenge is to set up a functioning international REDD finance mechanism that can
be included in an agreed post-2012

UNEP hosts the secretariat of the UN-REDD Programme, for which Norway has donated
US$ 35 million

Reducing carbon emissions from forests

Trees and forests provide us with essential health, recreational, aesthetic, and other benefits,
many of which we literally cant live without. Unfortunately, forest management in some parts of
the world has traditionally focused less on the services provided by forest ecosystems and more
on the timber that could be produced
Between 1990 and 2005, the rate of deforestation has averaged about 13 million hectares a year,
occurring mostly in tropical countries. We are now losing about 200 square km - an equivalent of
18,100 soccer playing fields - daily
The loss of forests releases carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. The forestry sector, mainly
through deforestation, accounts for about 17% of global greenhouse emissions, making it the
second largest greenhouse source after the energy sector

As the forests disappear, the natural sink they provide for absorbing of carbon dioxide is lost
with them. This leaves more carbon in the atmosphere and exacerbates global warming At the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 13th Conference of
Parties (COP-13) in December 2007, Parties agreed to step-up efforts towards reducing
emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) in developing countries
To effectively combat deforestation and forest degradation, countries need regulatory
frameworks. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the UN Development Programme
(UNDP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) teamed up in
the UN-REDD Programme, a unique collaborative initiative It seeks to strengthen the
international policy dialogue on REDD and build confidence among negotiators and Parties to
include REDD in new and more comprehensive climate change agreements after the Kyoto
protocol expires in 2012.
The UN-REDD programme is also helping nine pilot countries to manage their forests in a
manner that maximizes their carbon stocks and maintains their ecosystem services and while
delivering community and livelihood benefits Countries that have been identified for the quick
start phase are Bolivia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Panama, Papua New Guinea,
Paraguay, Tanzania, Vietnam, and Zambia These countries are in the process of developing
national strategies, establishing robust systems for monitoring, assessment, reporting and
verification of forest cover and carbon stocks
This quick start phase will pave the way for long-term engagement of REDD in the carbon
market through payment for ecosystem services. To facilitate this, the project is working on
decreasing delivery risk and structuring transparent, equitable incentives .UN-REDDs high level
collaboration and community level engagement seeks to ensure that local experiences inform the
global legislative action that will in turn have impacts on local communities
UNEP is also working with some of the countries in the quick start phase in related initiatives
such as the Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP), which is set to launch pilot activities to
test the potential for achieving UNREDDs objectives in Central Africa and Southeast Asia
Key Facts

1988: Protected area management programme ECOFAC (Ecosystmes

Forestieres DAfrique Centrale) is born; focuses on the six countries

1996: Conference on the Dense Moist Forests of Central Africa (CEFDHAC) highlights
need for regional collaboration

1999: Yaounde Declaration on the Congo Basin forest, by Heads of State; gives birth to
COMIFAC

2000: COMIFAC meets for the first time in Yaounde approves the COMIFAC
Convergence Plan

2002: The Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) established at the World Summit on
Sustainable Development

Resuscitating the second lung

The Congo basin forest stretches across Cameroon, Central African Republic the Democratic
Republic of the Cong (DRC) Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and the Republic of the Congo Some 60
million people from these countries depend on it for their sustenance The Congo basin forest is
a natural mosaic of 400 mammalian species, 280 reptile species, 900 butterfly species and
10,000 plant species. At 2 million square kilometers, it is the second largest rainforest in the
world, second only to the Amazon forest in Latin America. However, the forest is under serious
threat from a combination of factors like illegal logging and settlements, shifting agriculture,
population growth, oil and mining industries. The forest is losing 1.5 million hectares - half of
Lesotho - every year
To stem this loss, UNEP is working with Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) to conserve 29
protected areas, and promote sustainable forestry and community-based conservation in 11
priority landscapes spanning the Congo basin UNEP is supporting the Goodwill Ambassador of
the Congo Basin Forest Ecosystem, the Nobel Laureate, Professor Wangari Maathai in her
endeavours. Her role is to engage donors in high level lobbying on behalf of the Congo Basin
Forest Ecosystem. She also serves as the co-chair of the Congo Basin Forest Fund So far the
governments of Norway and the United Kingdom have contributed US$ 200 million to the Fund.
The Fund is tailored to develop viable alternatives to logging, mining, and felling trees for
firewood and subsistence farming. Funded activities will follow guidelines established by the
Central Africa Forests Commission (COMIFAC) Convergence Plan, which is a common vision
for sustainable and joint management of the sub-regions forest resources
DRC, which hosts 54% of the Congo basin forest, is one of the nine pilot countries in the UNREDD Programme, an initiative that seeks to maintain forest ecosystem services and maximize
their carbon stocks while delivering community and livelihood benefits. The country is in the
process of developing a national strategy for monitoring, assessment, reporting and verification
of forest cover and carbon stocks. Through its Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP), UNEP
is helping countries halt encroachment into DRCs Virunga National Park, Africas oldest park.
The park is home to 50% of the mountain gorilla population and to numerous other endemic and
endangered species UNEPs work in Virunga is part of a broader initiative that is assisting
governments in drafting and developing national environmental laws, regulations and guidelines.
In addition, the wide-ranging strategy also includes post-conflict environmental assessment that
mirrors similar assessments undertaken by UNEP in the Balkans, Afghanistan, Iraq, Liberia,
Lebanon and the Sudan
Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP)
Great ape populations are declining at an alarming rate worldwide. The continuing destruction of
habitat, in combination with the growth in the commercial bushmeat trade in Africa and

increased logging activities in Indonesia, have led scientists to suggest that the majority of great
ape populations may be extinct in our lifetime.
Key Facts

GRASP is a Type II Partnership (WSSD), launched in May 2001

Great apes (chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans) are found in Africa 2009 the International Year of the Gorilla and South-East Asia

Guarding the forest guardian

"Saving the great apes is also about saving people. By conserving the great apes, we can
protect the livelihoods of many people who rely on forests for food, clean water and much else
Indeed, the fate of the great apes has both practical and symbolic implications for the ability of
human beings to move to a sustainable future "
Koffi Annan, former UN Secretary General
Great apes live in forest ecosystems of 23 African and Asian countries (range States). With the
mantle of ecosystem sustainability draped around their shoulders, great apes play a key role in
maintaining the health and diversity of their ecosystems, usually through seed dispersal and
creation of gaps in the forest canopy
This accords them a key status as flagship species. A decline of their populations is a key signal
of an underlying decrease of other species in the ecosystems
Great apes are faced with unprecedented threats from the combined effects of hunting, illegal
logging and forest land farming.They could vanish from the wild in less than 50 years UNEPs
Great Ape Survival Project (GRASP) aims to conserve viable populations of great apes and
their forest habitats through pro-poor conservation and sustainable development strategies.
These forested tropical ecosystems regulate the climate and provide food, water, medicine and
timber
Although widespread illegal logging remains a challenge, GRASPs actions led to the seizure of
70,000 cubic metres of illegal timber in Indonesia in 2007 In the same year, GRASP worked
with partners to raise awareness on the impacts of degazetting two forest reserves in Uganda
Such e orts assist to protect forests legislatively and socially, by sensitizing communities on the
value of forest ecosystems
In line with the Kinshasa Declaration, GRASP provided financial support to twenty-seven field
projects in the range countries The projects strengthened community participation in
biodiversity decision-making in seven range States They also resulted in strengthened wildlife
law enforcement in Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesia, the High
Conservation Value Forest (HCFV ) Land Assessments and models in Indonesia
Apart from facilitating the field projects, GRASP provided technical support to 20 range States
This support strengthened the policies of national authorities in nine countries It also improved

trans-boundary collaboration between seven West, Central and East African range states Such
teamwork is the essence of GRASP It plays a key role in GRASPs e ort to tap into its ability
to leverage political support and technical expertise to help mitigate dangers posed to great ape
populations and their habitats
Mau Forest Complex
The Mau Complex forms the largest closed-canopy forest ecosystem of Kenya, as large as the
forests of Mt. Kenya and the Aberdare combined. It is the single most important water catchment
in Rift Valley and western Kenya. Through the ecological services provided by its forests, the
Mau Complex is a natural asset of national importance that supports key economic sectors in
Rift Valley and western Kenya, including energy, tourism, agriculture (cash crops such as tea and
rice; subsistence crops; and livestock) and water supply.
Key Facts

The Mau Forest Complex is the origin of the main rivers flowing into five lakes:
Victoria; Turkana, Baringo, Nakuru, and Natron
Over 5 million people live in the sub-locations crossed by these rivers

The Mau Complex has a total hydropower potential of 508 MW, which represents 50%
of the current total installed capacity in Kenya

USD286 million - the current annual market value of goods and services from tea,
tourism and energy sectors in the ecosystems

Protecting Kenyas water towers

The Mau Forest Complex which at 400,000 hectares is seven times the size of Nairobi sits on
aquifers that provide water to millions of people in the Rift Valley and western Kenya. The Mau
comprises 16 contiguous forest blocks, gazetted as forest reserves or trust land forest. It also
includes six satellite forest blocks that are not adjacent to the main blocks but are part of the
same ecosystem
Over the years, almost a quarter of this forest has been lost to human settlements, illegal logging,
farming and a host of other human activities
Maus plight became national news when Kenyas Prime Minister and the Minister FOR
Environment overflew the area in UNEP-organized reconnaissance flights What they saw in
Mau were vast clearings of land that are manifestation of a dramatically receding forest
UNEP is supporting the Government of Kenya through its ecosystem management programme to
realign its environmental programmes to tackle the Mau Forests degradation
UNEPs assessments have unveiled Maus immense value. At least twelve rivers spring out from
the Mau and flow to different corners of the country. Together with other ecosystem services, the
rivers breathe life and vitality into the world famous Maasai Mara National Reserve, Serengeti
and Lake Nakuru National Parks UNEPs assessments also found that for every clearing in the

Mau forest, there was another part of the ecosystem that suffered consequences
With the advice of UNEP and its other partners, the government of Kenya has set up a Task
Force to conserve these forest ecosystems on which millions of Kenyans depend for sustenance.
As technical advisor of this Task Force, UNEP has placed on the table a set of technological and
development options Based Integrated Forest Resource Conservation and Management Project
(COMIFORM) UNEP and its partners are engaging the local community around this forest block
in managing the forest COMIFORM aims to help local communities develop alternative
sustainable sources of income without reversing the gains made in conserving the forest. The
project is anchored on participatory forest management, a system that clearly defines the stakes
that a community has in a forest, thus enabling people to embrace and protect the forest as The
Maasai Mau forest, which is one of the 16 their own forests in Mau Complex, is hosting the
Community

Agent of the World Wildlife Fund monitors commercial logging operations in Gabon
to ensure minimal damage to the forest habitat.
Photograph: Panos / Sven Torfinn

From the air the forests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) stretch as far as the eye
can see, broken only by distant, shining ribbons of rivers and streams. Dense, deep, seemingly
impenetrable, the forests of the Central African region extend over 200 mn hectares, inspiring
awe and sometimes dread among residents and visitors, and providing refuge for everything from
rare and endangered plants and animals to ferocious militias accused of brutal crimes against
humanity.

It is difficult to imagine that such vast ancient woodlands are at risk of extinction. But they are
disappearing at an alarming rate. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO), indigenous (also known as old-growth) forests in Africa are being cut down at a rate of
more than 4 mn hectares per year twice the worlds deforestation average. According to the
FAO, losses totalled more than 10 per cent of the continents total forest cover between 1980 and
1995 alone.
Saving Africas forests from the chainsaw and axe of encroaching humanity is essential to the
health and productivity of much of the continents economy, experts point out. They cite the
forests roles as watersheds, defences against soil erosion and regulators of local weather
conditions.

Trees trap greenhouse gases

But the fate of the forests could also spell the difference between success and failure in the race
against global warming. Trees, the dominant inhabitants of the diverse and complex ecological
systems called forests, are among the worlds largest and most efficient living storehouses of
carbon monoxide, the greenhouse gas most responsible for the earths temperature rise and
changes in the planets climate (see Africa Renewal July 2007).
Through a chemical process known as photosynthesis, trees and many other plants absorb carbon
from the air and combine it with sunlight to generate the energy they need for life. Trees convert
the carbon gas into solid form, store it in their trunks, branches and leaves, and release oxygen
back into the atmosphere. Because they take carbon from the atmosphere and produce oxygen,
forests are often referred to as the lungs of the world. Carbon dioxide is generated primarily by
the burning of oil, coal, natural gas and other fossil fuels for industry, power generation and
transportation.

Preserving Africas surviving tropical forests and planting new trees to replace those lost to
deforestation could help reduce the severity of climate change by absorbing more carbon from
the air, and ease the local impact of climate change by regulating local weather conditions.
But an even greater argument for protecting the forests is the role of deforestation in causing
global warming. According to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), between 20 and 25 per
cent of all annual carbon dioxide emissions are caused by the practice of burning forests to clear
the land for farming more than is caused by the entire world transportation sector. Burning
trees and brush releases the stored carbon back into the atmosphere.
Poor forest management policies including unrestricted logging, excessive harvesting of
firewood and medicinal plants, and road construction contribute to the problem, as do
drought, flooding, forest fires and other natural disasters. The collection of wood for heating and
cooking and for making charcoal is a particular problem in Africa, since wood supplies about 70
per cent of domestic energy needs, a significantly higher percentage than in the rest of the world.

AWoman with a seeding, as part of a reforestation

project in Malawi.
Photograph: Panos / Mikkel Ostergaard

Estimates of the total amount of carbon stored in the forests vary greatly. One estimate, based on
research by the UN-sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), put the total
at about 1,000 bn tonnes, or about 166 years worth of current global carbon emissions. Africa
contains about 15 per cent of the worlds remaining forests and is second only to South America
in the amount of the dense tropical forests that are the most effective in removing carbon from
the atmosphere. The vast forests of the DRC alone are estimated to contain as much as 8 per cent
of all the carbon stored in the earths vegetation.
The conversion of forest land to agriculture, both subsistence and commercial, is by far the most
common and most destructive cause of deforestation in Africa and other tropical regions. As
demand for farmland grows in response to population pressures, millions of hectares of tropical
forests are being put to the torch in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
It is generally accepted, the FAO noted in a 2000 report on sustainable forestry in Africa, that
the key to arresting deforestation and to implementing sustainable forest development lies in
improved technologies for food production.
Improving the productivity of African agriculture is a top priority for African governments and
features prominently in the continents development agenda, the New Partnership for Africas
Development (NEPAD). But transforming the poorly financed and long-neglected agricultural
sector is a costly, difficult and long-term goal (see Africa Renewal July 2006). Reform therefore

appears unlikely to progress quickly enough to prevent further severe losses to the continents
woodlands.
In the meantime, improving governments ability to manage their forest resources, expanding
reforestation programmes and changing public perceptions and economic calculations about the
value of existing forests could be the key to the survival of Africas deep woods.

Forests and people

The challenges are formidable. Humanity has long appreciated forests for the energy, food and
medicine they provide, and as a source of wood products for construction and other purposes.
But the role of forests in supporting agriculture, preserving biodiversity, protecting water
supplies and moderating the impact of climate change are less well understood. The UN
estimated that in 2000 some 1.6 billion people around the world, including many of the worlds
poorest, derived at least part of their food, income or medical needs directly from the forest. Of
those, some 70 million indigenous people depend on the forests for much of their livelihoods.

AA forest hunter in Uganda: Many

local communities depend on forests for food, medicinal plants and other supplies.
Photograph: Reuters / James Akena

Africas rural poor are particularly dependent on its forests. Although forest products, primarily
unfinished logs, account for only about 2 per cent of sub-Saharan Africas exports, forests
generate an average of 6 per cent of the regions gross domestic product triple the world
average. Eighteen African countries, including Cameroon and Ghana, are among the 24 countries
worldwide that rely on forests for 10 per cent or more of their economies.
Although environmentalists and advocacy groups have brought international attention to
unsustainable, and often illegal, logging in Central and West Africa, about half of all the wood
extracted from Africas forests is used domestically as fuel. Despite the enormous losses to
deforestation, the region is a net importer of processed wood products.

The perception of indigenous forests as a reservoir of unused land and a safety net for bad times
is understandable, UNEP forestry expert Christian Lambrechts told Africa Renewal. People
have to rely on the forest to gain access to specific products they cant buy on the market, he
says. They have no cash. They cant go to the chemist. They have to go to the forest to extract
medicinal plants.
Such subsistence exploitation of the forests is inevitable in areas of high poverty and causes no
damage when done sustainably, Mr. Lambrechts notes. But when large numbers of people are
forced to use forests for food and fuel, it has a local impact on the degradation of the forests.

Valuing forests, not the trees

Changing the way governments and people value forests, Mr. Lambrechts says, is critical to the
survival of those forests. Although the market can price the value of tree plantations and
reforestation programmes intended as renewable sources of timber and fuel, he explains, it is not
good at determining the value of old-growth forests, which provide a range of vital, but less
tangible, services to the economy.
Kenyas tea plantations, Mr. Lambrechts observes, are a good example of the linkages between
indigenous forests and the commercial economy. Tea is a major source of the countrys export
earnings and the industry enjoys considerable political clout in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital,
where Mr. Lambrechts is based. If you look at the plantations, on a map they are all near the
major forest areas. This is because tea requires very even temperature and moisture for optimum
growth. The forests provide that.
Preserving Africas surviving tropical forests and planting new trees to replace those lost to
deforestation could help reduce the severity of climate change by absorbing more carbon from
the air.
By regulating temperatures and trapping and releasing moisture during the hot dry season, Mr.
Lambrechts continues, forests create the climate conditions needed for the quality teas that
Kenya sells. If you dont have the forests you dont have tea. When comparing the cost of
preserving the forests to the wealth created by the tea plantations, he says, it makes financial
sense for the tea estates to invest in sound forestry and encourage greater government regulation
and control of forest resources.
Kenya is similarly reliant on the forests for electricity, over 70 per cent of which is generated by
hydroelectric dams fed by mountain forest watersheds. It is less about finding an exact value for
the forests than in calculating the losses if the forests disappear, he explains. If we apply the
payment-for-services principle to all the sectors that receive services from the forest
agriculture, power, water and many others we might find a good basis for having the private
sector be in favour of conservation. As forests dwindle, he notes, both government and the
private sector are beginning to realize that forest services can no longer be had for free and must
be paid for like other goods and services.

Building an environmental constituency

Enlisting industry can also broaden the political constituency for the forests, Mr. Lambrechts
points out. We are working at getting the private sector to persuade the government to protect
some of those sites, he says, noting that lobbying on behalf of stronger enforcement of forestry
laws by a range of business interests attracts more notice from policymakers. In the past, he says,
only forestry officials would respond to UNEP reports on the health of Kenyas forests. Now
they work with officials in the finance ministry and the vice presidents office as well, an
indication that the importance of the forests to Kenyas overall economic development is more
widely appreciated by government. That is the way to get support from what I would say is the
higher decision-making level, he argues. I believe that is the way forward.
Mr. Lambrechts emphasizes that different kinds of forests provide different kinds of services, and
that finding the right match is a vital part of sustainable forestry. Indigenous forests, he says,
store more carbon, regulate weather conditions better and contain more and more varied
biodiversity than tree plantations and reforested areas.
But reforestation and commercial forestry are also important for creating a renewable source of
wood products and a buffer between humanity and the ancient trees. On the one hand, people
have more produce from their existing land and thus less need to go to the indigenous forests to
extract the same products. On the other, they are basically establishing agro-forestry practices on
land outside of forests and improving the soil quality and other services the land can provide by
using trees to prevent wind and water erosion of topsoil, trap and recycle plant nutrients and
provide a renewable source of energy, wood products, animal fodder and other valuable materials
to farmers.

Greed and deforestation

Preserving and expanding Africas forests, says UNEPs Mr. Lambrechts, will require a mix of
sound forestry practices and greater appreciation of the real financial value of forest eco-systems.
But the political dimensions are also important, he maintains.
He notes that in East Africa and other parts of the continent, the main cause of deforestation is no
longer local encroachment on forested areas for farmland or high subsistence use, or even for
illegal logging. It is basically illegal settlements. These settlements are not triggered by local
people. They are instigated by leaders. Those leaders are selling public land that does not belong
to them or trying to provide people with access to land in order to get their vote in the next
election. This is very different from the classic case of local poverty and forest degradation that
we are often talking about. The root cause is greed.
He cites one case in which a Kenyan member of parliament sold 14,000 hectares of forested
public trust land to unsuspecting buyers. He brought people from different districts and secured
their vote in the election, he charges. Although the incident caused a public uproar and the
government evicted more than 10,000 settlers, the legislator was never prosecuted and never
returned the money. As a result, the buyers returned to the trust lands and the dispute has yet to
be resolved.

In one sense, Mr. Lambrechts asserts, such cases are an unintended consequence of multiparty
democracy. One of the side effects is that politicians sometimes use forest land to buy votes. In
a country where so much of the economy is based on agriculture and forest land is generally seen
as idle land, politicians promise people land in exchange for support.
Yet, civil society activists point out, democracy also offers solutions to such problems by holding
elected officials and parties accountable to the public at election time and enabling a free press to
alert voters and decision-makers to abuses. Democracy makes government more responsive to
pressure from organized grassroots groups like Kenyas Green Belt Movement, a national
womens organization that has planted an estimated 30 mn trees since its founding in 1977.
Democracy can enhance the influence of the private sector as well, allowing businesses to
choose parties and candidates most attuned to their interests including their interest in
preserving forests.

At loggerheads over logging

Commercial logging is the second largest contributor to deforestation in Africa, threatening the
continents existing indigenous forests and, in some cases, its political stability. Part of the
problem, say environmentalists and forestry experts, is the common use of clear cutting and other
unsound methods that strip large areas of trees and vegetation, damaging the forests ability to
retain water and provide habitat for animal and plant life. Clear cutting sometimes erodes the
exposed soil to a point at which natural regeneration or reforestation efforts are impossible.
UN and non-governmental researchers report that the indiscriminate, labour-intensive methods
common to logging operations in Central Africa and other developing regions waste as many as
half of the trees cut down through destruction of non-commercial varieties and clearing of
forestland for roads, logging camps and work areas. Much of the refuse and surrounding brush is
burned, releasing carbon back into the atmosphere.
The scope of the problem can be enormous. Mr. Lambrechts reports that during one three-month
period, UNEP monitors recorded the loss of 14,000 trees at a single logging camp.
Vast areas of Central Africas indigenous forests are at risk. In the DRC alone, the World Bank
estimates that logging concessions, many of which were issued improperly by unscrupulous
officials during the countrys war, cover 50 mn hectares of deep forests. In 2002 the DRC
government suspended 25 mn hectares of logging concessions granted as part of a World Banksupported review of dozens of logging and mining contracts signed by previous governments.
The government also adopted a new forestry code to improve forestry management practices and
ensure transparency in contracting procedures.
But the inability of many developing countries to regulate and manage their forests due to
conflict, weak law enforcement, poor administrative authority and corruption has allowed illegal
logging to flourish. In 2006, the World Bank estimated that annual losses to illegal logging
totalled $15 bn globally, including $5 bn in government revenues lost in unpaid taxes, royalties
and other fees. In Gabon, illegal logging is estimated to comprise 70 per cent of the entire
industry and in Ghana, about 60 per cent. The scale of the problem, and the corruption and

contempt for law that accompany it, the Bank notes, undermine any nations attempt to achieve
sustainable economic growth, social balance and environmental protection.
Both legal and illegal logging in indigenous forests can also accelerate human encroachment on
the forests by opening up the areas to settlement and commerce. Logging companies are
effectively road engineers, the international environmental group Greenpeace noted in a report
on logging in the DRC. Once the rainforest is opened up by logging roads the area becomes
vulnerable to clearance for agriculture, which leads to the permanent loss of forestland and the
release of greenhouse gases.
The organization estimates that logging concessions in Central Africas primary forests cover an
area the size of Spain, and that deforestation could release more than 34 bn tonnes of carbon into
the atmosphere by 2050 about the same amount of carbon emitted by the UK over the past 60
years. Although the World Bank, the UN and local governments have tried to reduce the scope
and impact of illegal logging, Greenpeace and other critics argue that even legal logging of
indigenous forests creates the risk of deforestation in developing countries, contributing to
climate change and environmental damage.

Avoiding deforestation
Efforts to bring the private sector into the struggle to preserve the worlds remaining old-growth
forests are also underway internationally. Under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)
established by the Kyoto Protocol the international treaty aimed at reducing greenhouse gas
emissions Northern polluters can offset some of their discharges by financing green projects
in the developing South.
In the case of forestry, the rules allow countries to receive credit for planting new trees, which
absorb carbon as they grow (see box). But similar incentives not to cut down existing forests, a
phenomenon known as avoided deforestation, were excluded from the CDM amid disputes
among governments about how to calculate their value as carbon storehouses and what to do if
protected trees are later cut down.
Heavily forested countries charge that the failure to extend CDM financing to the preservation of
old-growth forests is both unfair and unwise. In September 2007, Gabon, Cameroon, DRC, Costa
Rica, Brazil, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and Malaysia, which together contain 80 per cent of
the worlds remaining tropical forests, formed the Forestry Eight to challenge the exclusion.
If avoided deforestation were eligible for the same CDM incentives available to reforestation
programmes, they argue, they would be eligible for tens of billions of dollars in green investment
by polluting countries. That money could then be invested in other climate-friendly development
programmes. They also note that to date African and other poor developing countries have
largely failed to attract CDM investments and lack the resources to adjust to climate change and
reduce their own emissions.

In early 2007 the World Bank announced plans for a pilot $250 mn fund to finance avoided
deforestation projects in developing countries. A Bank official told Africa Renewal that the
lending agency hopes to launch the fund by the end of the year.
Although the proposal enjoys considerable support among developing countries, it remains
controversial, with questions remaining about how to calculate the carbon value of existing
forests and fears that forest nations could blackmail industrialized countries by threatening to cut
their forests down. One senior US environmental adviser, noting that deforestation is prohibited
in most countries, denounced the proposal, telling the UKs Financial Times newspaper that,
you would be paying people not to engage in an illegal activity. The proposal was approved in
Bali in December at the first of a series of meetings to negotiate a successor to the Kyoto
Protocol, which expires in 2012.
However humanity chooses to preserve them, Mr. Lambrechts concludes, the worlds indigenous
forests are simply too valuable to lose. For ten thousand years we have been conquering the
earth, he says. Now the earth is full and we have no choice but to manage it instead.

Without the community, a carbon discredit

It must have seemed like a good idea back in 1994, when a non-profit agency established by
Dutch power companies contracted with the Ugandan government to reforest an area on the edge
of Ugandas Mount Elgon National Park. The companies expected to offset their European
greenhouse gas emissions by planting pollution-absorbing trees, and to give Uganda a greener
park that had been damaged by human encroachment during years of civil conflict. But a farming
community already occupied the land, and its members were not consulted. Paramilitary park
rangers forcefully evicted some 500 families to make room for the trees. They burned homes,
assaulted residents and refused to provide alternative land or compensation as required by law.
While the Dutch non-profit went on to plant over half a million trees in subsequent years, the
former residents fought back, filing a legal challenge against the evictions and petitioning for
return of the land. When a Ugandan court ruled in the communitys favour and ordered the
government to redraw the park boundaries, the community members returned to their former
farms. They chopped down the trees and sowed maize and beans among the stumps. All the
carbon offsets awarded to the Dutch companies were lost and the non-profit agency has
suspended further plantings in the area until the dispute is definitively resolved.
To critics of the carbon-offset market, the Mount Elgon fiasco is a textbook example of just how
badly wrong such projects can go. For UN Environment Programme expert Christian
Lambrechts, it is a lesson in the importance of recognizing the legitimate interests of
neighbouring communities and actively involving them in forestry programmes. Although
consultation does not guarantee success, he says, it can head off confrontation. Once the local
community gets a little bit empowered and realizes their stake, he notes, it becomes their
forest.
Topics:

environment
climate change
NEPAD
FAO
Congo

Also in this issue

A bank in every African pocket?

AIDS deaths are declining, reports UN

Saving Africas forests, the lungs of the world

Investing in the health of Africas mothers

Building a state for the Congolese people

Africa Books

Africa Agenda

Africa In Brief

Africa Watch

- See more at: http://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/january-2008/saving-africa

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