Forestry Congress to promote sustainability

Forestry Congress to promote sustainability

The Global Forest Coalition has brought together almost 80 indigenous peoples' organisations and NGOs from 50 different countries to Durban to promote respect for the rights of indigenous people, local communities and women.

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This ahead of the World Forestry Congress, which will be held in the city next week. 

The coalition's Simone Lovera says the biggest threat facing communities globally is plantations that take up huge amounts of land but provide few jobs and are harmful to bio-diversity.

''It's a kind of economic development that provides a lot of profit, destroying a massive amount of land, a lot of profit for a couple of people. They do not protect bio-diversity, they destroy massive amounts of, not just forests but also grasslands. 

''South Africa has the most precious grasslands, probably on the planet and they've been massively destroyed by monoculture tree plantations,'' she said.

(File photo: Gallo Images)

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