From: MU The Parthenon
After collaborating on a U.N. panel in Philadelphia concerning human rights and green criminology, Tim Boekhout van Solinge spoke to the public about tropical deforestation Thursday on Marshall’s campus.
“People don’t know that their actions have detrimental effects to people on the other side of the planet,” Boekhout van Solinge said. “Everyone on Earth is equal and should have an equal share of land and ecological justice, but the consumer countries that focus on hyper-consumption create a big global problem. We have one planet and we want so much that others can’t have what they need to survive.”
Six billion people occupy in the world in only 12 hectors of land, Boekhout said. Americans are the biggest consumers of Earth’s resources, using approximately 10 hectors, while Europeans use about five.
The primary cause of deforestation in Indonesia is logging and the palm oil industry, while the Amazon Rainforest is largely deforested for meat issues, including cattle grazing and soy animal feed production, Boekhout van Solinge said.
He additionally discussed problems prevalent in Africa, which is largely threatened by mining for its many resources. Mining not only destroys animal habitats, but human lives, in the name of cobalt for mobile phone batteries, diamonds and chocolate, Boekhout van Solinge said.
Though the tropical rainforest accounts for only five percent of the Earth’s surface, more than half of Earth’s animal species and 20 to 30 percent of all species on the planet reside there, he added.
Boekhout van Solinge informed the crowd that hunters and gatherers still exist in these places, but are threatened as their natural environment is destroyed. He added that these indigenous and forest people are hard-pressed for food and cannot drink their water.
“Victims of deforestation, they are suffering from water pollution, trees and animal habitats disappearing, and food-tree destruction,” Boekhout van Solinge said. “Some have resisted, but massive suicides have occurred because the indigenous people feel they have no future and would rather harm themselves than others.”
“I am very shocked. I didn’t realize how big a problem this is, but now that I see the pictures, I know it is true,” said Ji Zhe, junior management major.
Boekhout van Solinge said international organized crime is profiting billions of dollars from sales of illegally harvested tropical timber to trusting unknowing consumers in the legal market chains.
“In nations with struggling economies where a good meal costs about a dollar, the sale of a cubic meter of these tropical timbers yields about $10 to 20, making it an easy cash crop for residents,” Boekhout van Solinge said. “These products are then sold to the U.S. or European markets for approximately 200 Euros and then sold to the consumer for about 500. The ten-fold profits of the illegal tropical timber industry are comparable to that of the cocaine trade.”
Boekhout van Solinge explained the huge profit margins allow timber trafficers to pay off officials and the army.
The U.S., Europe, Japan and China are the major consumers of these wood products, he added.
Boekhout van Solinge pointed out that national parks are targeted by criminal organizations for these exploits because of the quantity and quality of harvestable timber available.
A few hundred truckloads of tropical timber are shipped daily due to high demand for it in construction, flooring and furniture industries, he said. It is highly valued and desired because it is extremely hard and resistant to water.
In addition to logging, land conversion for cattle grazing, and fields for soy animal feed and bio-fuel are other major contributors to deforestation that he discussed.
“Clearing land for soy farming accounts for 80 percent of Amazon deforestation and Brazil is now the biggest exporter of meat,” Boekhout van Solinge said.
“The presentation was very informative,” said David Fields, a Marshall senior. “It was not surprising to hear the effects of deforestation because I am a biology major and we hear about these things all of the time. It is disappointing though, because we can’t really do anything about it,” .
“Since the ‘80’s, we’ve been exploiting the natural resources of the planet,” Boekhout van Solinge said. “Where do we want to go? We must change our behaviors or we will become victims of hunger for luxury living. We, as the main consumers, must look more at ourselves and how we use natural resources.
“It is very confronting — not everyone likes the idea of changing or being criticized, but we have to consider our responsibility to future generations,” he added.
Global climate change is increasing as tropical deforestation accounts for 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, while transportation accounts for only 15 to 18 percent,
Boekhout van Solinge said. China creates the greatest amount of carbon dioxide emissions globally and the U.S. follows in second place, while Indonesia ranks third and Brazil follows in fourth place.
Boekhout van Solinge stresses signs of global warming in our weather patterns, such as drought, flooding and hurricanes. The fifth and last global extinction occurred in the time of the dinosaurs, he added.
He cited regulation, education for global and ecological awareness and choice as the drivers that could help reduce the shift toward a sixth global extinction.
“We must work both there and here to change this,” he added.
He stressed the importance of governments and law enforcement in closely monitoring and regulating the import and export of products to stop illegal markets and unethical practices at the root and before goods reach consumers.
Boekhout van Solinge said governments should look more carefully at imported products and monitor them with certificates of authenticity that guarantee products are legal and sustainable.
“Governments have taken a great look at drugs, but are virtually absent in the logging industry,” he said.
Consumers should avoid products that are procured by unethical means or contribute to tropical deforestation, he added.
“Just like stolen electronics, when you see a car stereo being sold for $20, you know that it must be stolen and should avoid purchasing it,” Boekhout van Solinge said.
He also pointed out that illegal tropical timber is often cost-conspicuous.
Another solution he suggests is for consumers to use less beef and fuel to cut back on tropical deforestation via land conversion for cattle grazing and animal food production, as well as bio-fuel land plots.