Ahead of the Bonn convention where representatives of countries will discuss the implementation of the Paris climate agreement (after Trump announced the withdrawal of the USA), indigenous representatives from around the world and representatives of environmental organizations gathered in London. Those gathered heard about a new study whose results show the vital need to invest more in preserving forests in the equatorial regions, while protecting the natives who live in the forests and "manage" them.
Experts call for investing much more in carbon-absorbing forests that greatly influence the need to mitigate global warming, mainly due to the fact that the investment in protecting forests is a tiny part of the billions that are invested in various ways to mitigate emissions.
According to the manager of the "environmental group" (Climate Focus), money was invested in agriculture at a rate 40 times greater than the sums invested in afforestation and conservation, when in many cases the investment in agriculture leads to deforestation, this despite the clear possibilities in the forests - the most prominent of which is the recession of warming and climate change, despite this money is invested Great in cutting them off!
According to the Paris Agreements: in order to prevent the breaking of the two-degree barrier, countries undertake to prevent the rise in temperatures as well as invest efforts in trying not to reach an increase of one and a half degrees since the industrial revolution.
Experts say that forests can absorb carbon in an amount that would save about a third of the expenditure required to meet the challenge of stopping warming. However, out of more than $160 billion invested in reducing emissions since 2010, only two percent (2%) were directed to investments in afforestation.
The researchers also showed that a quarter of the carbon is stored in equatorial forests, forests that are managed by natives and the inhabitants of the forest, natives who possess the knowledge and traditions that enable the protection of the forest. However, even though in areas where the extent of logging is (relatively) low, a large part of the all-important knowledge is not taken into account when international bodies make decisions on climate issues.
The leader of an indigenous group from Panama said that: "We are sad and concerned that billions of dollars are invested in corporations that engage in agriculture and cause the destruction of forests, but very little is invested in what works, indigenous people and their activities are the best responsibility for stabilizing the climate."
The sad and upsetting result of this for the natives and others who try to protect the forests is that in 2016 more than two hundred (200) people were murdered in attempts to protect their land from mining ventures, building dams and farming ventures. Natives are murdered trying to protect the forest where they live.
Native leaders from different regions said that: "More than they need money, they need a steering wheel and respect for their rights."
A study by "World Forestry" showed that in Brazil and Indonesia more than a quarter of all the trees in the world were cut down, when in most cases the destroyed forests were the home of indigenous people.
Now it remains to wait and see the reaction and activity of governments.
