The Debt-for-Nature Swap
In recent decades, the issue of biodiversity loss in developing nations has captured the attention of many environmental groups in the global North. Since the vast majority of the Earth's plant and animal life lies within the borders of developing nations, efforts to protect global biodiversity through the promotion of environmental conservation have largely been focused in the global South. Because of this regional focus, financial mechanisms have been seen as an effective way for groups in the industrialized North to promote their environmental interests in the developing world. Debt-for-nature swaps, which became popular in the early 1990's, are one such mechanism in which an indebted developing nation agrees to invest in conservation projects or environmentally friendly actions in exchange for the cancellation of a portion of its foreign debt by a creditor.
(Patterson, 4) "The location of much of the world's most diverse biota often forces agreements to trade-off conservation and conventional development goals." (Moran, 63) Debt-for-nature swaps take this into account and attempt to balance out the economic costs that an LDC (less developed nation) incurs when investing in environmental conservation. Debt-for-nature swaps can be implemented through either bilateral or commercial swap mechanisms. A bilateral debt swap may be assisted by an NGO but is primarily an agreement made between a creditor government and a debtor government. The creditor government forgives the debt owed to it, and in exchange the debtor government agrees to set aside a pre-determined amount of money to fund conservation programs within its borders. A commercial debt swap occurs when a transnational NGO purchases debt at ...
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Conservation banking was modeled after the U.S. wetland mitigation banking system and the two programs share many similarities. However, unlike the wetland mitigation system, conservation offsets do not have a stated ‘no net loss’ goal, but instead have a species recovery goal. Both conservation and wetlands mitigation banks are privately or publicly owned lands which are protected and managed for its ecological value. By doing this, the bank sponsor generates habitat or wetland or stream credits to sell to developers or transportation departments who need to offset their impacts and comply with the legal requirements for the permitting of development or roadway projects. Both types of banks offer benefits to both the landowner that owns the natural resource and the developer that needs to purchase the credits. The landowner can take portions of their property that may have been considered unusable and turn it into an asset. The developer can streamline their permitting process by purchasing credits instead of implementing a mitigation plan themselves.
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...e Martians was if you had no guns and you were not seen as a threat. The way that the warship killed the second Martian was that the ship exploded and fragments collided with the Martian.
It was this new style of story that would bring about and create this brand new, exciting and often educational form of literature. It is The War of the Worlds that really epitomizes what science fiction is and what it should be. The enchanting but gruesome tale of Martian invasion became the beginning of the modern science fiction story and was the first ever story about life on other planets attacking the human race (a now very popular theme). Although this exclusive, appreciated and amusing style of writing was graced with instant success in its current form, it too, like any other style of writing changed with the times. Unfortunately the new variation was a change for the worse.
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There is no mere man capable of exacting revenge without consequence, though it is hard for some to overcome the past without closure. In Alexandre Dumas’ novel, The Count of Monte Cristo, Edmond Dantes, and later the titular count, is torn between a pursuing vengeance against enemies who had him wrongfully imprisoned for fourteen years and reinventing himself with the riches he obtained shortly after his release. Though Dantes begins a genuine, hardworking young man, his imprisonment in the Chateau d’If allows the seed of revenge to fester in his heart. Dumas illustrates the conflict between Dantes’ begrudging his false accusers and letting go of the past through the employment of a reversed baptism in Dantes’ escape from prison, the juxtaposed personalities of Dantes’ aliases, and his later regret for the innocent victims claimed upon his revenge-scheme’s fruition.
Set in France during the turmoil of the Napoleonic Era, The Count of Monte Cristo is an intricate tale of obsession and revenge. Alexander Dumas uses brilliant language and spell binding characters in order to weave the plot together to form a masterpiece. Falsely accused of treason, Edmond Dantes, a young sailor with a promising future,is arrested on his wedding day and imprisoned on the island fortress of the Chateau d'If with no hope for release. Dantes is the victim of the envy of Danglars, the lust of Fernand, and the political ambition of Villefort. The selfishness of these three men separate Dantes ...
* Daily, Gretchen C., ed. Nature’s Services: Societal Dependence on Natural Ecosystems. Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 1997.
Many people count on the production of deforestation to bring in a consistent income and livelihood. There is a heavy reliance on the production of deforestation. “Trees can be very valuable. In North America, they are used for landscaping, building material, maple syrup production, and pulp wood for paper products. In the more tropical regions, the wood products may be cut down for fuel, cleared for farmland, or exported, such as teak or mahogany” (Salata, 2015). In fact, according to Combes, Motel, Minea, & Villieu, in countries that are underdeveloped this is a reliable and significant source for government revenue (n.d.). Without this profit generated from cutting the down trees, these countries may not be able to obtain sustainability, due to the lack of financial funds. Thus, by not being able to proceed with infrastructure to areas such as these, most communities will not be able to maintain effective living
...ation to location to be successful. In the case of Tanzania and the East Arc Mountains region, it was shown that individuals were prompted by direct annual cash payments as opposed to group payments (Kaczan et al, 2013). Equally, payments in the form of fertilizer proved to be exceedingly attractive to local agriculturalists (Kaczan et al, 2013). Such a payment could result in improving the productivity of agroforestry and other sites, in the long-term reducing the continued fragmentation and destruction of forest as well as the complete conversion of land to open field crops (Kaczan et al, 2013). In turn this would help maintain biodiversity levels of the forest, as well as prevent the exhaustion of soils by supplementing them with nutrients. Such a policy has greater viability by providing financial incentives while addressing several key issues under one policy.
The Australian Rainforest Memorandum, which recognizes the rights of traditional land owners is endorsed by over 40 NGO’s. Working Towards an end to foreign debt is yet another crucial role to ending deforestation. The condition imposed by the International Monetary Fund often forces heavily indebted countries to sell their national resources far in excess of sustainable exploitation.