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Group of distinguished ecologists ask Obama to help save rainforests mongabay.com September 23, 2009 In an open letter published Wednesday, dozens of U.S. ecologists called for the Obama administration to support forest conservation as a means to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Deforestation and forest degradation accounts for 15-18 percent of human-caused CO2 emissions, a share greater than all the world's cars, trucks, planes, and ships combined.
"We are facing an ecological and a climate crisis, and we have the knowledge to act wisely, but we need decisive global political leadership to get the job done," said Steve Hamburg Chief Scientist of Environmental Defense Fund in a statement. "We need global climate policies to conserve tropical biodiversity." "The handwriting on the wall says we need the living planet -- especially forests -- to address climate change," added Tom Lovejoy of the Heinz Center. The text of the letter appears below. The Letter Dear President Obama: We commend your leadership at the 2009 G-8 Summit in L'Aquila, Italy as well as the July 2009 Major Economies Forum, in particular on their recognition of the scientific consensus that the global average temperature should not exceed 2°C above pre-industrial levels. This threshold was also identified in the American Clean Energy Security Act, H.R. 2454, as passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. To realize the goal of limiting warming below this critical threshold, immediate and strong action is needed to reduce America's greenhouse gas emissions. The G-8 declaration calls for developed countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 80% or more of 1990 levels by 2050, a target that should be matched with ambitious nearer-term emission reductions for industrialized nations. Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) can be a critical piece of this near-term action. We write specifically to urge you to make the conservation and restoration of native forests in the tropics and sub-tropics a central pillar of U.S. climate policy. Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation in tropical forest countries, coupled with aggressive action in our own country to reduce emissions, can play a crucial role in limiting warming to no more than 2°C above pre-industrial levels, and in helping nations adapt to the impacts of some unavoidable climate change.
We commend you on the 2009 G-8 declaration's commitment to "support the development of positive incentives in particular for developing countries to promote emission reductions through actions to reduce deforestation and forest degradation, and to "consider the inclusion of financial mechanisms within the future global agreement on climate change. REDD has a significant role to play in making this commitment a reality. It requires no new technology, but rather policies that acknowledge the value of forests and by incentivizing their preservation. A wide range of policy tools is available to achieve this goal. The benefits are many — for the climate, for the world's biodiversity, for our shared future. We suggest the following as priority actions:
Signed David Ackerly Associate Professor of Plant Ecology and Evolution Department of Integrative Biology University of California, Berkeley Fred Adler Professor of Biology and Mathematics Department of Mathematics University of Utah Peter Ashton Charles Bullard Research Professor of Forestry Harvard University Walter Carson Associate Professor University of Pittsburgh William L. Chameides Dean and Nicholas Professor of the Environment Nicholas School of the Environment Duke University F. Stuart Chapin, III Professor of Ecology Institute of Arctic Biology University of Alaska Robin Chazdon Professor of Tropical Forest Ecology Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of Connecticut Deborah Clark Research Professor Department of Biology University of Missouri, St. Louis Phyllis Coley Distinguished Professor Department of Biology University of Utah Gretchen Daily Bing Professor of Environmental Science Department of Biological Sciences Stanford University M. Denise Dearing Professor Department of Biology University of Utah Ruth DeFries Denning Family Professor of Sustainable Development Department of Ecology Columbia University Christopher P. Dunn Director Lyon Arboretum University of Hawaii at Manoa Paul Fine Professor of Plant Ecology and Evolution Department of Integrated Biology University of California, Berkeley Peter Frumhoff Director of Science & Policy Union of Concerned Scientists Cambridge, MA Steven Hamburg Chief Scientist Environmental Defense Fund New York, NY Henry Howe Distinguished Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences Biological Sciences University of Illinois at Chicago Michael Kaspari Presidential Associate Professor of Zoology Department of Zoology University of Oklahoma Thomas A. Kursar Associate Professor Department of Biology University of Utah William Laurance Senior Staff Scientist Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Panama City, Panama Gene Likens Distinguished Senior Scientist Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies Milbrook, NY John Longino Professor of Neotropical Myrmecology Evergreen State College Thomas E. Lovejoy Biodiversity Chair The Heinz Center Washington, D.C. Margaret Lowman Director of Environmental Initiatives, Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies New College of Florida Pamela Matson Goldman Professor of Environmental Studies, Dean, School of Earth Sciences Stanford University Nalini Nadkarni Professor of Environmental Studies Evergreen State College Gretchen North Professor of Plant Biology and Ecology Department of Biology Occidental College
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