Tropical Forest Update

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Paying our dues

People are accustomed to benefiting from tropical forest environmental services for free or at minimal cost. We use the clean water tropical forests deliver, take for granted their function in absorbing and storing carbon, and exploit their biodiversity in agriculture, the pharmaceuticals industry and forestry.
The time has come, however, for the world to start paying for these environmental services-or face the consequences of losing them. An underlying cause of tropical forest loss is that agriculture out-competes forest as a land use, and, as a result, tropical forests continue to be cleared or degraded. On the other hand, demand for tropical forest environmental services is increasing: expanding cities need more drinkable water, biodiversity is increasingly seen as an essential resource for ecotourism, science and agriculture, and climate change due to rising atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases looms as a global calamity, which can partly be mitigated by maintaining healthy tropical forests.

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The ITTO Tropical Forest Update is published quarterly in English, French and Spanish.
The French and Spanish editions are usually posted about one month after the English.

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Latest editions

Issue 33 No. 2

Lighting the path to sustainable development

The latest edition of the Tropical Forest Update features articles on work by ITTO and others to support the sust...

Issue 33 No. 1

Science and technology: anchoring the drive for sustainable timber

Applying good science and technologies can help maintain social and political support for sustainable developme...

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The latest edition of the Tropical Forest Update examines ITTO-supported efforts to increase the sust...

Issue 32 No. 2

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As global temperatures soar and unprecedented heatwaves and wildfires hit countries around the world, ITTO is urg...

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Content does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of ITTO. ITTO holds the copyright to all photos unless otherwise stated. Articles may be reprinted without charge providing the Tropical Forest Update and author are credited and the editor notified (tfu@itto.int).