My Rain Forest - All Mine!

[andrewducker]

Cool Earth strikes me as an interesting idea. I'm sure I've seen it before elsewhere, but I'm not sure where.

Basically you buy up chunks of rain forest and then they can't be chopped down.

Anyone care to comment on whether it's actually workable?

Comments

[octopoid-horror.livejournal.com]

I can't get to the Cool Earth site... but as I recall, there are quite a few countries with all sorts of laws about not chopping down rainforests... where the rainforests are being chopped down regardless. Faster now that there are regulations, in fact, I believe.

What would some well-intentioned environmentally aware person having a certificate or whatever do to change this?

It's good in theory, sure. But unless you go out there and guard it, whether it's meant to be chopped down or not is really meaningless.

[andrewducker]

Not so much a certificate, as ownership of a plot of land. One would hope that it would be harder to chop down a bit of rainforest owned by someone.

But not necessarily, of course.

[themongkey.livejournal.com]

It's difficult enough to stop next door chopping bits off your bramble, a rainforest 6,000 miles away has got no chance...

[octopoid-horror.livejournal.com]

Are you joking?

I can't remember which country it is, somewhere in South America, but the illegal logging has actually -increased- since they got stricter laws about not doing it.

Slash and burning protected rainforest for your own profit is kind of popular. How is someone far away owning it going to be a stronger disincentive than a government saying "No! Don't do this!"

[andrewducker]

Because, in my experience, general government prohibitions against things are less effective than property laws where a person has a specific interest in prosecution.

[octopoid-horror.livejournal.com]

I still can't get to the site... but who checks on the plot of land?

And how would you find out who did it?

If it's illegal to cut down a forest because it's against national and international laws, then it being against property laws too is really not that much of an extra threat.

Illegal logging is kind of a big problem. Might be hard to prosecute some of the people too.

I'm not saying it's a bad idea - it's not. It's just... well... much like buying a plot of the moon.

[robhu.livejournal.com]

Can I hold on to the certificate until a bit more wood has been chopped down, then sell it to loggers?