Sustaining Forests: A Development Strategy

More than 150 heads of state have declared thathalving extreme poverty by 2015 is central to theUnited Nations’ Millennium Development Goals(MDGs).1These goals include increasing schoolenrollment, reducing child and maternal mortality,expanding health services, eliminating gender disparities, and improving environmental managementfor sustainable development. The World Bank supports these goals by emphasizing the social andstructural dimensions of development, focusing itsefforts, increasing selectivity, and emphasizing partnerships and transparency. As a result, the Bank ispursuing global and corporate advocacy prioritiesand areas of core competencies.A Forest Strategy for the Bank that can make aneffective contribution to poverty reduction andenvironmental management is central to achievingthe MDGs. Forest resources directly contribute tothe livelihoods of 90 percent of the 1.2 billion peopleliving in extreme poverty and indirectly support thenatural environment that nourishes agriculture andthe food supplies of nearly half the population of thedeveloping world. Forests also are central to growthin many developing countries through trade andindustrial development. However, mismanagementof this resource has cost governments revenues thatexceed World Bank lending to these countries. Illegallogging results in additional losses of at least US$10billion to US$15 billion per year of forest resourcesfrom public lands. If captured by governments, theselosses could support expenditures in education andhealth that will exceed current development assistance to these sectors.Forests also are central to maintaining the environmental commons. Nearly 90 percent of terrestrialbiodiversity is found in the world’s forests, with a disproportionate share in the forests of developingcountries. Most of the carbon emissions of developing countries come from deforestation, whichaccounts for between 10 and 30 percent of global carbon emissions. Unfortunately, the lack of markets forthe national and global environmental servicesoffered by forests has contributed to high rates ofdeforestation in developing countries. Growingforests are a valuable resource not just for their timber and biodiversity values but also for their prospective value if a global market emerges for the sequestering of carbon from forests.