I Bought a Rainforest

[oldclaypaws]

I've created a seperate thread for this as it was a fantastic programme which I'd strongly recommend watching, its gripping stuff.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0461lhs/i-bought-a-rainforest-episode-1

Episode 1 plot;

Charlie is a wildlife photographer passionate about Rainforest and appalled at its destruction. A friend rings to ask if he wants a buy an important 100 acre chunk as a 'ransom strip' at the end of a road, to stop illegal logging in the adjacent National park. He buys it and flies out. He's blown away exploring it; even though its been logged, its regenerating. He finds a thinned area with Coca growing, and a hut where its been processed recently. It is still being used by the previous owner who has convictions for drug offences. Charlie is scared, and has been conned out of £6000 by someone who is still there using the forest for his own purposes. Perplexed, he visits an environmental project, explores the forest, captures pictures of wild cats, loads of species, and watches sadly as a giant mahogany is felled by natives on their land. At the end of episode 1 he goes back to his forest and comes across the previous owner, who is busy felling trees on Charlie's land. He explains his son has kids and a disabled daughter and he needs to fell the trees to support them, leaving Charlie with a dilemma about how he protects his forest without depriving a family of their means of income........... (TBC)

[jennysmate]

Thanks OCP, good synopsis, as I said in my earlier post it'll be interesting to see how he deals with it.

[wrekin]

As we all know, these kinds of land-use problems can always be resolved be arranging a suitable restrictive covenant .... not.

[oldclaypaws]

these kinds of land-use problems can always be resolved be arranging a suitable restrictive covenant

You're sorted then Smojo, no mention in woods4sale restricting you from felling the Mahogany trees or growing Coca in your Yorkshire wood. Curiously, its also never been a criminal offence to grow opium poppies in the UK, you see loads of grannies innocently growing Papaver Somniferum in their cottage gardens, cos its pretty. Who knows, maybe after watching Corry they round off the evening with a cuppa, digestive and chasing the dragon?

[Dexter's Shed]

that was interesting, thanks for the link paws

[oldclaypaws]

it'll be interesting to see how he deals with it

As the programme said, you can't protect forests without the cooperation of the locals. If it were mine, I'd try to find a compromise with the Coca growing guy whereby he continued an agreed degree of sustainable use on a portion, others bits left wild, and put him on a modest retainer as 'forest manager'. Maybe you could do something like offering a 'forest experience' package to potential tourists with Matey as a guide, so turn the current negative into a positive ?.

That said, on past record I wouldn't trust him an inch and would either fly out every year or two to keep tabs on him and the forest, or take some sort of (if it exists- probly doesn't) legal preventative way to keep him off or reverse the sale. Tricky one, its human nature to try and get the food & materials we want to sustain us, although our current record is one of utterly destroying the planet in the process.

I'm not sure we deserve to survive as a species when you see the damage we do to other species and ecosystems. Humans suck, particularly the 95% of the herd who never give a second thought to the environmental consequences of their actions.