REPAIR WORK

 
In 1996 Alan Watson Featherstone had an idea which made people smile at its
simplistic audacity: regenerate the Caledonian forests of the Scottish Highlands,
which had been denuded over the centuries of 99% of their trees. Since then,
1,000 volunteers in the organisation he founded, Trees for life, have planted
500,000 Scots pines and native broadleaf  trees, built fences to protect 150,000
naturally regenerated native trees from grazing deer, and won prizes for their
efforts. Now Featherstone has another idea: restore the Earth.
Ideally, he says, every country would launch projects to repair the damage
suffered over the decades by forests, lakes, oceans, marshes, urban and rural
landscapes. He wants the UN to declare this "the Century of Restoring the
Earth", inviting member states to earmark funds; employ restoration workers,
and order armies to plant trees and help clean up the mess. But Featherstone is
not waiting for the UN.
He and fellow members of the Findhorn community in Scotland, where he lives,
will unilaterally declare the century of restoring the Earth on April 5 - the last
day of an international conference which will launch a global forest restoration
information service.
About 150 activists and NGO* staff plan to use the conference to set up a
network to link existing projects and make skills and experience available for
new ones. A restoration service will encourage volunteers to become involved.
New projects will be launched in places which have suffered the worst
degradation, such as Madagascar, Haiti and the Sahel region of Africa. Decades
ago, while working among displaced peasants in Latin America, Featherstone
became a passionate opponent of conventional development and advocated
direct remedial action. His new project has been endorsed by UNESCO and the
UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and he hopes to get it on the agenda of
the environment summit due to take place in Johannesburg next September.
Featherstone admits that his concerns have less priority for governments since
the Rio Earth Summit nine years ago. "People feel the worst predictions have
come true," he says.
"Also the corporate stranglehold over governments has tightened. So, while
waiting for governments and the UN to act, we've got to get moving. Action and
results will eventually be the most persuasive argument. " He is encouraged by
success stories like the tropical dry evergreen forest established by the Auroville
community in India, the subtropical rainforest in northern New South Wales in
Australia and the reforestation in Costa Rica and Vietnam. The first application
of Featherstone's project - the database of forest restoration - is due to be aired at
UNEP's World Conservation Monitoring Centre in Cambridge, and later
expanded to include wetlands, mountain regions and oceans. Longer-term plans
include a global resource base so that anyone can look up their own country's
needs, and opportunities for voluntary action.
To win high-profIle UN support, Featherstone's project needs government
sponsorship. Approaches have been made to Sweden and Britain with no
success. Featherstone is undeterred and is now arguing his case at international
meetings. Setbacks have only strengthened his conviction that fundamental
change comes from the bottom up.
 
* NGO: non-governmental organization
 
 
1. What percentage of the original Caledonian forests has remained? 1%
2. What is the name of the organisation Featherstone started?
3. What endangers the newly regenerated trees in Scotland?
4. According to Featherstone should the UN countries employ the military in
forest restoration? (Write only YES/NO.) No
5. Besides starting a forest restoration information service, mention another aim
of the April conference!
6. Name a) one country with the biggest tree loss
              b) one country where the restoration work has had positive results.
7. Where will the next environment meeting be held?
8. According to Featherstone what will surely convince people of the importance
of restoration work? (a, b)
9. How many countries denied financial support?
10. How does Featherstone react to rejection?