22 U.S.C. § 2431 — Findings and purposes
submitted 28 years ago by Pub. L. 87-195 to r/title-22-FOREIGN-RELATIONS-AND-INTERCOURSE · 372 words · no verdicts yet
Congress identifies benefits and threats involving tropical forests and coral reef ecosystems, including biodiversity, climate, water cycles, poverty, logging, agriculture, debt, and local economic benefits. The subchapter aims to protect these ecosystems, prioritize threatened and biodiverse areas, use debt relief to support protection, and redirect resources toward it.
(a) Findings. Congress finds that—
(1) the established policy of the United States is to support and seek protection of tropical forests and coral reef* ecosystems worldwide;
(2) tropical forests benefit humanity in many ways because they—
(A) contain a large share of Earth’s biological and land-based resources, which support development of medicines and renewal of agricultural crops;
(B) act as important carbon sinks that reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and therefore moderate possible global climate change; and
(C) regulate water cycles on which agricultural and coastal resources depend;
(3) international negotiations and aid programs to conserve forests have multiplied over the past decade, but tropical deforestation continues rapidly;
(4) developing countries with urgent needs for development investment and capital have assigned significant parts of their forests to logging concessions;
(5) poverty and economic pressure on people in developing countries have over time caused vast forest areas to be cleared for agriculture, which is often unsustainable in the poor soils beneath tropical forests;
(6) reducing debt can reduce economic pressure on developing countries and lead to greater protection of tropical forests and coral* reef ecosystems; and
(7) finding economic benefits for local communities from sustainable uses of tropical forests and coral reef ecosystems is essential to protecting those areas.
(b) Purposes. This subchapter aims—
(1) to recognize the benefits U.S. citizens receive from protecting tropical forests and coral reef ecosystems;
(2) to provide greater protection for tropical forests and coral ecosystems, giving priority to areas with the greatest biodiversity and most serious threats, by easing debt in countries where these ecosystems are located. This allows additional resources to protect them and reduce the economic pressures that have caused deforestation;
(3) to ensure that resources freed by debt relief in those countries are directed toward protecting tropical forests and coral reef ecosystems and their related values; and
(4) to redirect existing resources to help protect tropical forests and coral reef ecosystems.
The Congress finds the following:
It is the established policy of the United States to support and seek protection of tropical forests and coral reef* ecosystems around the world.
Tropical forests provide a wide range of benefits to humankind by—
harboring a major share of the Earth’s biological and terrestrial resources, which are the basis for developing pharmaceutical products and revitalizing agricultural crops;
playing a critical role as carbon sinks in reducing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, thus moderating potential global climate change; and
regulating hydrological cycles on which agricultural and coastal resources depend.
International negotiations and assistance programs to conserve forest resources have proliferated over the past decade, but the rapid rate of tropical deforestation continues unabated.
Developing countries with urgent needs for investment and capital for development have allocated a significant amount of their forests to logging concessions.
Poverty and economic pressures on the populations of developing countries have, over time, resulted in clearing of vast areas of forest for conversion to agriculture, which is often unsustainable in the poor soils underlying tropical forests.
Debt reduction can reduce economic pressures on developing countries and result in increased protection for tropical forests and coral* reef ecosystems.
Finding economic benefits to local communities from sustainable uses of tropical forests and coral reef ecosystems is critical to the protection of such areas.
The purposes of this subchapter are—
to recognize the values received by United States citizens from protection of tropical forests and coral reef ecosystems;
to facilitate greater protection of tropical forests and coral ecosystems (and to give priority to protecting areas with the highest levels of biodiversity and under the most severe threat) by providing for the alleviation of debt in countries where tropical forests and coral reef ecosystems are located, thus allowing the use of additional resources to protect these critical resources and reduce economic pressures that have led to deforestation;
to ensure that resources freed from debt in such countries are targeted to protection of tropical forests and coral reef ecosystems and their associated values; and
to rechannel existing resources to facilitate the protection of tropical forests and coral reef ecosystems.
Source credit: (Pub. L. 87–195, pt. V, § 802, as added Pub. L. 105–214, § 1, July 29, 1998, 112 Stat. 885; amended Pub. L. 115–440, § 3(a), Jan. 14, 2019, 132 Stat. 5580.)
- 1998Enacted · Pub. L. 87-195 · 112 Stat. 885
- 2019Amended · Pub. L. 115-440 · 132 Stat. 5580
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 87-195 on 1998-07-29.
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