Swapping Debt for Nature

If you imagine this planet to be a single organism with a body of its own, then tropical forests would rank as one of its most vital organs of circulation and respiration. They capture, store and recycle rain, control floods, drought and erosion, regulate the global climate and play a major role in the earth's life support system. But if present trends continue, most of these forests will be stripped bare in 20 years, and the planet will suffocate.

One major factor contributing to the wholesale murder of this planetary organism is the debt crisis, with developing countries now owing close to a trillion dollars of borrowed currency. To pay back this debt, or in many cases, just to pay back the interest, nations deplete their natural resources in a mad rush to meet payments. Forests are cut down, the earth is ripped open by mines, and the natural bounty is consumed like fast-food to generate exports and cash. The debt crisis, in short, is blocking development and promoting the torture of the planet and its people.