THE world’s tropical rainforests should be handed back to their inhabitants, who protect them better than governments or rangers, and spend more on their upkeep. That is the conclusion of a major review to be presented this week to a UN meeting on the world’s tropical forests – talks in which, critics say, forest inhabitants do not get a look-in.
The study, Who Conserves the Forests?, by the Washington-based Forest Trends group contradicts the popular image of farmers and hunters as the primary destroyers of rainforests. In fact, forest dwellers are a bigger and more effective force for conservation than park…
