Get Green Issues posts delivered to your desktop How does this work? » More WLT news feeds »

Green Issues

A weekly column on current issues by John A Burton of the World Land Trust. The views expressed are personal, and do not necessarily reflect those of the WLT. Feedback and comments are welcomed.

Read the most current Green Issues posts here.

Rainforests: Imitations or the real thing?

Wednesday, January 19, 2005

Paignton Zoo is building a new rainforest exhibit in Devon, England, and not so long ago the Eden Project opened at a cost of nearly £100,000,000. While these are very laudable efforts to show the public the importance of rainforests, they are also somewhat depressing to us at the World Land Trust.

Most of the rainforest exhibits in England (as well as other parts of the northern hemisphere) are funded at least partially with public money ? grants from the Lottery, government and foundations, but the amount of money these funders are prepared to put to funding real rainforest is absolutely insignificant by comparison. For £100,000, 000 the WLT could save around 10 million acres of land. Eden Project costs £8million a year to run ? that's another million acres that could be saved.

Obviously the money spent on Eden and other UK attractions ? probably in excess of £50 million a year, is not available for land purchase, but it does put it all into some sort of perspective. If every pound that was spent on seeing these imitation rainforests was matched with a donation for the original thing, the WLT could achieve a lot. I can speak with some authority, as for several years the World Land Trust owned and managed Wyld Court Rainforest, near Newbury (now the Living Rainforest) and compared with raising money for the real thing, fund raising for a glass-house rainforest was a walkover.

Food for thought?

Labels: Rainforest Issues

Posted by John Wednesday, January 19, 2005
 
Share this post with your friends:

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Response Policy

The WLT reserves the right to delete any comments that are inaccurate, seriously illiterate, libellous, malicious, obscene or likely to cause offence on the grounds of decency. However, we will not normally delete responses that are simply critical or expressing and alternative opinion.

Links to this post:

Read the most current Green Issues posts here.