Australia+7


 * Country:** Australia
 * Topic:** Deforestation
 * Committee:** 7
 * Name:** Gabby R.


 * __Background of the Topic__:** Deforestation is an issue that has been accelerating at an alarming rate.The amount of forest that has been lost in the last 15 years is much larger than the total land area of Mexico. The amount of forests worldwide has been decresing for centuries but it has been in about the last fifty years it has been increased. Humans need to make space for agricultural reasons, to harvest timber, and to make space for roads and other urban uses. Deforestation is most commonly found in countries of poverty, weak economy, and rapidly growing population. A poor country or one with a weak economy is being forced to use the forests natural resources. They strip the forest for paper, timber, metals, and energy for only a short term gain. The consequences of deforestation will affect all countries if it continues at the current rate.The main effects are a large amount of extinction of plants and animals, high amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Without a habitat to survive in, animals and plants will gradually die, and soon all the species that once lived in the forest will disappear from the world forever. Also, the technique used to remove forests will increase carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Forests are removed using the slash-and-burn method, where workers slash all the trees and burn them. The fires emit large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and the forest trees and plants won't be there to convert the carbon dioxide into oxygen.This unstable amount of carbon dioxide will coat our planet in a thick layer, creating the atmosphere into a greenhouse which will then cause the world's climate to increase in temperature severely.

__**United Nations Involvement:**__ The United Nations have been discussing deforestation situations and have created a forum on it. (United Nations Forum on Forests) The past conferences on deforestation have been decided to develop policies to promote the management, conservation and development of forests. In 2007, a non-legally binding policy was adopted with the purpose of "(a) stengthen politcal commitment and action at all levels to implement effectively sustainable management of all types of forests and to achieve the shared global objectives on forests.;(b) to enhance the contribution of forests to the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millenium Development Goals, in particular with respect to poverty eradication and environmental sustainability; (c) to provide a framework for national action and international cooperation". Deforestation has been a top priority for the UN for the last 15 years.

__**Country Policy and Involvement:**__ Australia wants to combat deforestation to ensure that forests are being redeveloped. It has reserved 6 million hectares from being cut down. Since Australia is abundant in forests, it is doing a lot to protect them. The Australian Agency for International Development helps to conserve tropical forests in the Asia-Pacific region. It is also a part if the United Nations' Commission on Sustainable Development's Intergovernmental Panel on Forests. Australia also hosted the International Conference on Certification and Labelling of Products from sustainably Managed Forests in 1996. It also ratified the International tropical Timber Agreement 1994. Australia is clearly trying to stop deforestation and reach the goal of having "a balanced return from all forest uses."


 * __Solutions:__** Since deforestation is still a major problem in the world, it is quite obvious that not enough is being done on this topic. Australia proposes the Worldwide Board to Combat Deforestation (WBCD). The board will meet biannually in countries that have high rates of deforestation to discuss the problem and propose policies that can solve it. The second solution is the United Nations Committee to Regrow Forests. (UNCRF) The committee will meet several times a year in countries with very high rates of deforestation and (with the country's permission) regrow and manage the forests. UNCRF will be funded by the UN countries in this committee. They will each pay a minimum of $150,000 per year to pay for the materials needed to make this opeeation a success.The third solution is the Forest Protection Policy. This policy proposes that for every 300 acres that a country cuts down, they regrow 100 acres. Countries in this group would donate money to countries who would have trouble finding money to reforest. The last solution is the Conservation of Animals and Plants from Deforestation. (CAPD) This committee would monitor countries with species in danger of extinction from deforestation. If they were to find that the extiction of a species is imminent and caused by deforestation, then they will alert the country's government so they can do something about it. Australia is sure that if some of these solutions are enacted, then the consequencs of deforestation can be avoided.

__**Sources:**__ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/Deforestation/ http://forests.org/shared/alerts/send.aspx?id=australia_tasmania_climate http://.www.un.org/esa/earthsummit/astra-cp.htm#chap11 http://www.un.org/esa/forests/about-history.html http://www.wrm.org.uy/deforestation/UNreport.html