Web based Health Care Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Web based Health Care - Essay Example Sites need to sign up for the HONcode to ensure that they follow the eight principles of this code. Through this then individuals can check out for the red and blue seal of the HONcode on the websites they visit to look for information on different health conditions. One example of a site is the American Diabetes association that provides continuous care to the diabetes patients and enables other individuals to learn about the management, diagnosis and symptoms of diabetes. It also advises individuals on what to eat and what foods to avoid by giving out recipes. The main objective of this site is to cure and prevent diabetes and to improve the lives of all the individuals affected by diabetes. The eight principles of the HONcode comprise of: the authority of the data provided, information privacy and confidentiality; accurate attribution of sources; the transparency of economic sponsorship; the significance of evidently separating editorial content from advertising; complimentary data that does not replace but supports the patient-doctor relationship, and back up assertions concerning performance and benefits. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) website is one of the sites that are abiding by the eight rules of the HON code. In authoritative, when the site publishes a journal about diabetes and made available online for individuals to access it and benefit from the information, the authors of the journals and their qualifications are always indicated. Besides, the sites abides with the third code which is privacy, since if a visitor shares information online to the site, the site does not let the information known to any user of the site as it ensures the information is made private and confidential. Also, if information has been acquired from other sources, the site ensures that it has included the citations, the page of the journal from where the information was retrieved, and the date the journal was published. Through this, the site is trying to

Effect of Globalization on Poor Countries

Effect of Globalization on Poor Countries This paper discusses the development of the globalization process, the meaning of the term globalization and the impacts of globalization and global companies on the world economy, global community, inequality and different living standards in the wealthier and poorer countries. It is pointed out that globalization has both, negative and positive aspects, but it certainly brings a significant change. The developed countries and global companies are carriers of the globalization process which are using very well the global conditions. With the development of information and communication technologies the world has become a single system where a connection between two subjects in different parts of the world is made within a few minutes. An eternal theme during the development of globalization is the discussion of problems of economic inequality and poverty. The question is what are the concrete effects of globalization causes? Who are the losers and who are the winners in this process ? In response to this question there are two opinions. Someone think that if merging the developed and underdeveloped countries follows an increase of inequality and dislocation of production, while others argue that the winners actually are both sides. Is it a game with two winners or one loser? Globalization means a dynamical, political and cultural process that has enabled the rapid development in the fields of transport and communication, which is often driven by the desire of large corporations to conquer new markets. Globalization is a controversial process. There are three types of globalization: Economic globalization means primarily the creation and regulation of a single world market with free competition and encourages development. Opponents on the other hand argue that the large multinational corporations have been using already-earned capital to prevent the creation of competitors with whom to share the market. Political globalization is closely associated with economic globalization. The existence of a single world market reduces the ability of national governments to directly stimulate the development of their economies by setting rules that give priority to our own companies. City decision-making is transferred from state to international institutions, thereby reducing the ability of people to direct election of representatives of government influence in their own development. Cultural globalization is the encounter of diverse world cultures and customs. The flow of goods, capital and people across national borders brings with it the flow of habits, customs and cultures. This process of different people often provokes a different reaction. Some consider the impact of a new culture positive development that enriches the existing culture, while others in the new culture they see a threat to established values and rules (http://bs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globalizacija). Globalization is preceded by an incredibly rapid technological development. There was a combination of information technology and communications. Computer technology, satellite communications, optical cables and mobile phones allow a quick and cheap communication that has, among other things; result in geographic branching of companies. Plants are moved around the world depending on the benefits of natural resources and cheap labour. In most developed countries are formed knowledge industries, while manufacturing plants are located in less developed and underdeveloped countries. Economic globalization has an appropriate infrastructure in which are basic liberalization and free market trade within countries and between them. It is not an ordinary interdependent economy, but it is a system based on strict rules that provide free production and exchange in the world. The globalization process is independent of our will, because it is conditioned by objective laws. Society should be aware of the great advantages and bad effects of globalization. One of the most serious consequences of globalization is certainly excessive increase in economic inequality and poverty. Below I will try to explain more clearly the relationship between globalization, global companies and the differences in living standards. The Affect of Globalization and Global Companies on Poor Countries Globalization creates certain problems for even the most developed countries, because the modern technology leads to a reduction in employment and related social problems and the multinational companies (MNC) often give priority to their own interests over the interests of other countries. Through globalization, developed countries have getting privileges, leadership, profit, control, influence and power, conquer new markets, and expand their sphere of influence and looking preferably for new investments. Developed countries and the multinational companies impose globalization and its rules to developing countries like a long development vision, using the fact that for development of these countries foreign investments are needed and this are offering only developed countries with their rigorous criteria. Who owns the capital of the world? According to Anderson and Cavanagh, among the largest 100 economies in the world, 51 are multinational corporations (MNCs), whereas only 49 are countries. The analysis is based on a comparison of the corporate sales of MNCs and the GDPs of the countries. The study further shows that, out of the 200 largest economies of the world, 144 are MNCs. The combined sales of the top 200 corporations are bigger than the combined economies of all the countries of the world, minus the largest 10. The income of MNCs is 18 times higher than the combined annual income of the 1.2 billion people of poor countries (24 percent of the total world population). The study has found that the growth of sales of top 200 corporations is faster than overall global economic activity. Between 1983 and 1999, their profits grew by 362 percent whereas their combined sales grew from 25 percent to 27.5 percent of the world GDP. Most of these MNCs belong to the rich countries; therefor e, it is natural that MNCs and their respective countries should safeguard their mutual economic, political, and cultural interests under the cloak of globalization. Economies are the catalysts of the globalization process, and they are represented by MNCs and transnational corporations (TNCs), which maintain the highest stakes and stand to gain the maximum benefits. Having poor economic infrastructure and little capital, developing countries very easily agree to host MNCs. At times, their weak regulatory positions are subsequently exploited by MNCs. MNCs either buy out the local companies of the host countries or push them out of the markets by offering cheaper and better quality goods for some time. MNCs carry out research to identify human needs, problems and lifestyles and come up with multidimensional responses, including the development of products and services. What causes them to conduct such researches and produce goods accordingly? Is it for the good of public or maximizin g their own profits? This puts the whole process of globalization in question as its generally proclaimed goal is the good of common people. Before examining what happens when MNCs enter host societies to achieve their commercial objectives, it is pertinent to discuss the problems and strengths of the host societies. (Anderson and Cavanagh. 2000. quoted in Rahman K., n.d.). Unlike developed countries that use the positive effects of globalization, undeveloped countries are not able to actively participate in the expansion of world trade and to attract a greater volume of private foreign investment, resulting in lagging behind the development of global economy. Structural weaknesses and problems of external and internal debt of these countries is a key constraint to economic growth. This limitation is related to the lack of the market, underdeveloped technology and private sector, entrepreneurial and marketing skills, as well as non-transparency of legal and regulatory framework. Globalization is imposing further restrictions in terms of the need to adapt the new competitive international environment to these countries. Globalization and Living Standards It is quite difficult to measure the living standards in the global economy; it is even more difficult to measure these standards in relation to globalization. The living standards are different from country to country because of their national economic structure. Standards of living in the global economy are devised of income, health and education. These broad terms are indexed by GDP per capita, literacy, infant mortality, GNP per head, secondary and primary education, doctors per 100.000 people and so on. Living standards differ because of national economic structure high-income countries are based on agricultural production. They differ within the population and labour market factors with high-income countries have a population with a high level of education and relatively high rates of production. Institutional factors stable government and policies allows for better living standards, economic growth influenced by culture, access to capital and ease of establishing a business, global relations and levels of foreign debt (http://www.exampleessays.com/viewpaper/53146.html). However, the standards of living, or quality of life is not simply a measure of the level of economic growth or change in real GDP, but it is a measure that takes into account the literary levels, education, health care, technological changes and mortality rates. An example of a quality of life indicator is the Human Development Index (HDI) which measures changes in those factors as a result of globalization. Over the last few decades, the HDI of the worlds richest countries have increased as a result of globalization, where growth and development has been attributed to these economies through willingness to embrace market liberalization. However, the HDI of the poorer nations have grown at a slower rate to the richer nations which, as some economists put in, shows that globalization is another word for the continual plundering of the poorer and weaker nations by the rich and powerful economies. It has been strongly argued that the benefits of competition go only to those who can com pete, and poor countries have to negotiate on unequal terms (http://www.bukisa.com/articles/92708_impact-of-globalization-on-economic-growthm-quality-of-life-external-stability-on-market-economies). There have been two important trends since about 1980. The first of these has been acceleration in economic growth in many of the worlds most populous countries particularly the Asian countries of China, India, Bangladesh and Vietnam. These countries, which were among the worlds poorest as recently as 1980, have all grown faster than the rich countries, in per capita terms, in the period since then. Largely as a consequence of this improved economic performance in these populous Asian countries, the poorest one-fifth of countries in 1980 had a population-weighted annual per capita growth rate of 4 per cent from 1980 to 1977, compared with 1.7 per cent for the richest fifth of countries over the same period. The second, and much more problematic, trend has been the continued poor economic performance of most of the countries in Africa, with some countries experiencing declines in average living standards, not only relative to the rich countries, but even in absolute terms. These two opposing trends have had important implications for global poverty and inequality over the past decades (Gruen D. and OBrien T., 2002.). As everyone knows, much of the world has been left aside. Most of Africa and Latin America, Russia, all of the Middle East, and large parts of Asia.  Moreover, for many countries, the degree of participation in the global economy varies by region.   In fact, globalization is not global but is mainly limited to northern latitudes.   Linda Weiss points out that as of 1991, 81% of the world stock of foreign direct investment was in high-wage countries of the north: mainly the United States, followed by the United Kingdom, Germany, and Canada (Kenneth N. Waltz. 1999 quoted in Sidani K. 2003.). The concept of globalization is not really global but based on the very few dominant and powerful countries, and especially the United States.   Many globalizers believe that America had stumbled into the right way of controlling the global market.   Globalization is not such a happy thought for most poor countries, because they are being used by the richer countries.   The rich countries buy the raw material from the poor countries, and then sell their finished products for relatively high prices, thus increasing the financial gap between themselves and the poor countries (Sidani K., 2003).   Conclusion Globalization is a process that has started and that cannot be stopped anymore. It has brought an increasing interaction among the participants of international trade, global networking of the financial markets and growing power of multinational corporations. Today, globalization is seen as a world without borders. Everything begins to be reflected globally. So, today are global products, fashion, consumers and citizens. Globalization can be understood as a stage in the development of the civilization. Globalization often confronts with some anti-globalists all over the world. They have common responses to globalization; regionalism, nationalism and patriotism in order to preserve national and cultural particularities and to some extend protect their economic independence. The strengths and power of the Multinational Corporations are more and more visible in the globalization process. Many countries where these corporations operate and especially those small and poor are just having affiliates of the Multinational Companies because of the enormous financial resources of these corporations. The GDP (Gross National Product) of these countries cannot be even remotely compared with the profit that realizes the MNC. Multinational corporations, however, spread their influence and power in all countries, none can escape. Investment decisions are taken by corporations at global level, transferring capital or resources from one country to another, impacting (un)employment of millions of people and level of economic activity in some countries. What brings the globalization, global businesses and economies and the developing world in the future remains uncertain.

Chap.7 State Of The World :: essays research papers

Critical Analysis on Chapter 7, State of the World 1999 Feeding Nine Billion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   While reading chapter 7 of State of the World I was very interested in the changing course because it made me think about the things that our world can do that can drastically benefit the future of our agricultural production and food prospect. We must be able to solve the two major food issues currently facing our world, which are malnutrition and price stability. All governments need to establish a population policy so that their country does not exceed the limitations of its carrying capacity. It is important that we can produce enough food for our country, which is estimated to increase by 74 million in the next fifty years. A quote from the book, â€Å"The worst mistake political leaders can make entering the new millennium is to underestimate the dimensions of the food challenge†. I certainly agree with this because most of the future food growth in the world is going to be croplands and we need to understand that we are going to need to be able to produce as much crop as possible for the land. I also agree with the fact that the governments that are experiencing rapid population growth must figure out their future population carrying capacity by calculating how much land is available for crops and how much water is available for irrigation. It is estimated that 3.3 billion more people will be living on this world in the first half of the next century and unfortunately many of those people will be born into already over populated countries. For example, India with some of the highest poverty rates in the world will have an additional 600 million people inhabiting the country by the year 2050. It was interesting to learn that educating young females would be a good way to control future population growth because â€Å"the more education that women have, the fewer children that women have†. Another way to ensure food supply in the future according to the book is to eat food in moderation to keeping a healthy diet, which helps conserve food, and at the same time keeps you healthy. I definitely do not agree with this approach because even though it would work with everyone’s cooperation, you are not going to get everyone’s cooperation because there are still all those people who love to eat and they don’t care if they are overweight or obese. Chap.7 State Of The World :: essays research papers Critical Analysis on Chapter 7, State of the World 1999 Feeding Nine Billion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   While reading chapter 7 of State of the World I was very interested in the changing course because it made me think about the things that our world can do that can drastically benefit the future of our agricultural production and food prospect. We must be able to solve the two major food issues currently facing our world, which are malnutrition and price stability. All governments need to establish a population policy so that their country does not exceed the limitations of its carrying capacity. It is important that we can produce enough food for our country, which is estimated to increase by 74 million in the next fifty years. A quote from the book, â€Å"The worst mistake political leaders can make entering the new millennium is to underestimate the dimensions of the food challenge†. I certainly agree with this because most of the future food growth in the world is going to be croplands and we need to understand that we are going to need to be able to produce as much crop as possible for the land. I also agree with the fact that the governments that are experiencing rapid population growth must figure out their future population carrying capacity by calculating how much land is available for crops and how much water is available for irrigation. It is estimated that 3.3 billion more people will be living on this world in the first half of the next century and unfortunately many of those people will be born into already over populated countries. For example, India with some of the highest poverty rates in the world will have an additional 600 million people inhabiting the country by the year 2050. It was interesting to learn that educating young females would be a good way to control future population growth because â€Å"the more education that women have, the fewer children that women have†. Another way to ensure food supply in the future according to the book is to eat food in moderation to keeping a healthy diet, which helps conserve food, and at the same time keeps you healthy. I definitely do not agree with this approach because even though it would work with everyone’s cooperation, you are not going to get everyone’s cooperation because there are still all those people who love to eat and they don’t care if they are overweight or obese.

Identify Factors That Help Your Company to Survive and Prosper

Well-structured business ensures that the business processes flow smoothly, and any problem that they face which hindrances their process can be solved immediately. Commonwealth Bank restructured the organization in 2001, and according to their strategic plan they will restructure in the future, to make sure the business to advance with the times. * Explanation and information As commonwealth Bank enters the global market the explanation for their services is vital. This is not only because of different cultures and languages in foreign markets, but also for the expanding in those markets through thorough explanation and providing information which includes the offer itself, price, conditions, rewards, benefits, etc. * Diversification and innovation During the 1970s, the Commonwealth bank diversified its business into areas like insurance and travel. After 1974, the bank also became more heavily involved in foreign currency trading and international banking in general. Commonwealth Bank created the first credit card in Australia in 1974 when it established Bankcard. In later years the bank began offering MasterCard (1984) and Visa (1993) cards as well. It is very for a firm in a service industry to be heavily innovative in order to survive in this fast growing demanding world. * Leadership, strategy and competitive advantage Commonwealth bank has a team of experienced people in its management which helps in organizing the workforce strategically. It also organizes leadership and talent based programs which allow the employees to learn the correct work attitude which they should adopt at work. Apart from this, it has also opened centers for the development of the advisors. CBA has a number of products and services which stand out from other banks. This is why at present products and services which Commonwealth has to offer have won numerous awards. On the other hand, it holds the number one position in the retail management fund of Australia and life insurance. * Maximize product satisfaction for customers CBA always makes a priority to provide products that satisfy their customers. Take credit card as an example, CBA has introduced a credit card for students with little or absolutely no income at all. By applying online for this credit cards the customers (students) get $50 cash bank into the account after activation. This can increase satisfaction level for customers and in turn make them loyal. (Commonwealth Bank, 2011). * Ethics In terms of the ethical and legal responsibilities, Commonwealth Bank has shown a firm commitment in maintaining an ethical workplace. The policy anticipates from the employees that they can easily raise their voice against the fraud and faulty conduct and bad administration done by others. The bank gives due attention to the implementation of these policies. These standards are communicated to the staff and employees from time to time. Apart from this, on the official website for Commonwealth Bank, there is a special link that lists the codes of conduct, which ensure the organization provides customers with a professional level of services.

Forest Conservation Essay

INTRODUCTION The June 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), underlined the necessity for all countries to develop harmonised approaches in the management, conservation and sustainable development of global forests is essential to meet the socio-economic and environmental needs of the present and future generations. To achieve this goal, the UNCED also realised, among others, the need to sustain the multiple roles and functions of all types of forests, as well as the need to enhance forest conservation, management, and global forest cover as outlined in Programmes A and B of Chapter 11 under Agenda 21, respectively. In addition, the need to ensure the conservation and sustainable utilisation of biological diversity is also emphasised under Chapter 15 of Agenda 21. While all these are now being recognised, the priority is to operationalise and implement the UNCED programmes, bearing in mind that the full implementation of the adopted Statement of Forest Principles and the various forestry programme areas under Agenda 21 is feasible only on the basis of international efforts towards attaining concrete goals. Hence, this paper is intended to provide a basis for discussion on the implementation of specific aspects of these programmes, particularly that on forest conservation, enhancement of forest cover and the roles of forests, as well as to suggest possible areas of collaboration for national and international actions. 2. FOREST CONSERVATION Forests are influenced by climate, landform and soil composition and they exist in a wide variety of forms in the tropical, temperate and boreal zones of the world. Each forest type, evergreen and deciduous, coniferous and broadleaved, wet and dry, as well as closed and open canopy forests, has its own uniqueness and together these forests complement one another and perform the various socio-economic, ecological, environmental, cultural and spiritual functions. Recent surveys on a global basis suggest that there are about 1.4 million documented species, and the general consensus is that this is an underestimate – perhaps 5 – 50 million species exist in the natural ecosystems of forests, savannas, pastures and rangelands, deserts, tundra, lakes and seas. Farmers’ fields and gardens are also importance repositories of biological resources. In this context, it has been acknowledged that forests are rich in biological resources. Though covering only 13.4 per cent of the Earth’s land surface, these forests contain half of all vertebrates, 60 per cent of all known plant species, and possibly 90 per cent of the world’s total species. However, recent studies have shown that temperate and boreal forests with their extremely varied ecosystems, especially those in climatic and geographical areas where old-growth forests still occur, may be even more diverse than tropical forests in terms of variation within some species. Eventhough temperate and boreal forests generally have far fewer tree species than tropical forests, often having a tenth or less in total, certain temperate and boreal forests are now thought to be as diverse, or even more diverse, than their tropical counterparts. For example, old-growth forests in Oregon, U.S.A. are found to have arthropods in leaf litter approaching 250 different species per square meter; with 90 genera being found in the H.J. Andrews Memorial Forest research area alone (Lattin, 1990). It has been suggested that a network of 500 protected and managed areas, with an average size of 200,000 hectares, covering 10 per cent of the remaining old-growth/primary forests be the minimum acceptable target (Anon, 1991 & IUCN/UNEP/WWF, 1991). To enhance this networking and to optimise the global representativeness of these biogeographic areas for the conservation of biological diversity, a list of these areas based on mutually agreed terms by national governments should be formulated. It should also include the identification of these biogeographic areas and the development of joint mechanisms, as well as the quantification of the costs involved and the identification of sources of fund needed to manage and conserve these areas. Joint mechanisms for possible international cooperation to establish transboundary biogeographic areas should also be implemented. However, it has been recognized that totally protected areas can never be sufficiently extensive to provide for the conservation of all ecological processes and for all species. Nonetheless, there is a need to establish a minimum acceptable national target to be designated as forest conservation areas in each country. This effort could be further enhanced by establishing buffer zones of natural forests around the protected area where an inner buffer zone is devoted to basic and applied research, environmental monitoring, traditional land use, recreation and tourism or environmental education and training; and an outer buffer zone where research is applied to meet the needs of the local communities. Such management practices are in consonance with Principle 8(e) of the Forest Principles. Besides the need to set aside conservation areas, it is now being increasingly realised that sustainable production of wood, through environmentally sound selective harvesting practices is one of the most effective ways in ensuring in-situ conservation of the biological diversity of forest ecosystems. Such selectively harvested and managed forests will retain most of the diversity of the old-growth/primary forests both in terms of numbers and population of species. The economic value of the wood and the environmental benefits produced would fully justify investments made in maintaining the forest cover as exemplified in such practices in ensuring its sustainability. The implementation of environmentally sound selective harvesting practices would go a long way in promoting in-situ conservation of biological diversity and the sustainable utilisation of the forest resources. In this regard, the establishment of tree plantations would alleviate the pressure on over-harvesting the natural forests in view of the increasing demand of wood from the forests. The sustainable production of forest goods and services and the conservation of biological diversity in forest ecosystems, as well as the equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilisation of the genetic resources would require concrete actions at both the national and international levels. In this context, it is imperative that national policy and strategies, among others, should set target on the optimum forest area for forest conservation and for the sustainable production of goods and services, as well as outline relevant measures to enhance both ex-situ and in-situ forest conservation during forest harvesting. In some cases, long term measures may include the rehabilitation and re-creation of old-growth/primary forests. In this connection, it is imperative that countries having a high proportion of their land areas under forest cover, especially the developing countries, have access to new and additional financial resources and the â€Å"transfer of environmentally sound technologies and corresponding know-how on favourable terms, including on concessional and preferential terms†, as reflected in Principles 10 and 11 respectively, of the Forest Principles; in order to ensure the sustainable management, conservation and development of their forest resources. Moreover, â€Å"trade in forest products should be based on non-discriminatory and multilaterally agreed rules and procedures consistent with international trade law and practices† and â€Å"unilateral measures,incompatible with international obligations or agreements, to restrict and/or ban international trade in timber or other forest products should be removed or avoided† as called for in Principles 13 (a) and 14 respectively, of the Forest Principles should be respected by the international community, in order to attain long-term sustainable forest conservation and management. 3. ENHANCEMENT OF FOREST COVER Enhancement of forest cover is to be viewed as a proactive measure taken to arrest and reverse the current trend of forest decline and degradation. In this context, the world’s forests have been under threat and are declining. It is estimated that forests covered four-fifths of the existing area at the beginning of the Eighteenth century. Of this total, approximately half were in tropical regions and half in temperate and boreal regions. However, these forests are declining as a result of deforestation. By the mid-Nineteenth century, it was estimated that global forest cover had decreased to 3,900 million hectares or 30 per cent of the world’s land area. The latest figure by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations as reflected in the Forest Resources Assessment 1990 had estimated that global forest cover as at the end of 1990 had further decreased to 3,188 million hectares or about 24.4 per cent of the world’s land area. Processes of reduction and degradation of forest cover have led to an average annual loss of 0.6 per cent. Although the annual loss of temperate and boreal forests is said to be negligible in recent time, historically, large- scale deforestration had taken place in Europe during the Industrial Revolution to cater for the needs of agricultural expansion, building materials and industrial development (Hinde, 1985). In fact, it is estimated that almost 200 million hectares or more than 50 per cent of the original forest cover had been lost (UN, 1991). On the other hand, deforestation in the developing world is a rather recent phenomenon due to poverty, indebtedness and the increasing need for food, shelter and energy to cater for the growing population. In this regard, the four main causes of deforestation in developing countries are shifting cultivation, conversion to agriculture and pasture, wood removals for fuelwood and inappropriate timber utilisation, and the need for infrastructural development. For example, 39.5 per cent of the 1.54 million hectares of closed forest deforested between 1981 and 1990 in Africa was due to agriculture fallow and shifting cultivation, 35.1 per cent due to conversion to mainly permanent agriculture, and the balance 25.4 per cent due to over-exploitation and over-grazing (FAO, 1993a). However, as a result of improved socio-economic development in Africa, the rate of deforestation due to agriculture fallow and shifting cultivation had in fact decreased by 27.2 per cent when compared to 66.7 per cent which was recorded during the period 1976- 1980 (UN, 1991). Besides the loss of forest cover through deforestation, there has been a general degradation in the quality and health of global forests due to acid rain and other atmospheric pollutants, especially in developed countries, as well as through forest fires, unsustainable use as a result of inappropriate logging and fuelwood exploitation. The depletion of global forests and their degradation are causes for concern as they involve not only the loss of forest areas, but also the ultimate quality of the forests. If this trend is unchecked, the implications on the world would be catastrophic. Not only would the existence of all forest types be threatened, but the capability of these forests to perform their various roles and functions in perpetuity would also be seriously undermined. Hence, the need to address the decline in global forest areas and its degradation through enhancing forest cover is immediate. In this context, is the current global forest cover of 24.4 per cent sufficient? If not, what level of forest cover should we aim for in order to ensure that forest resources and forest lands are sustainably managed to meet the needs of the present and future generations? At the Ministerial Conference on Atmospheric Pollution and Climate Change held in the Netherlands in November, 1989, the Noordwijk Declaration on Climate Change advocated a world net forest growth of 12 million hectares per year by the turn of the century while a global forest cover of 30 per cent by the year 2000 was proposed at the second Ministerial Conference of Developing Countries on Environment and Development held in Malaysia in April, 1992. There is every indication that the existing global forest cover should be enhanced through greening of the world. In this connection, restoration of all deforested lands in the industrialised world to close to the original levels of forest coverage is improbable, but this does not mean significant reforestation and afforestation are impossible. All countries which aim for a sound environmental future should set themselves a target of a minimum level of forest cover to be maintained in perpetuity. Countries having more than 30 per cent of their land areas under forest cover after taking into account their socio-economic development needs, particularly the developing countries, should be given incentives to improve the quality of their forests, as well as assistance given to reduce their dependence on wood especially as fuel. On the other hand, countries having less than 30 per cent of their land areas under forest cover, but have the means must increase and enhance their forest cover through rehabilitation and afforestation, which may include, in some cases, the conversion of heavily subsidised farms back to forests. As for those countries which are rich but are constrained by physical and climatic conditions to grow trees because of their geographic locations, they could play their roles by assisting the poorer countries in increasing and enhancing their forest cover. As the future of forests are not only dependent on their quantity, but their quality as well, it is pertinent that all forests, especially those temperate and boreal forests of the developed countries should be protected against air-borne pollutants, particularly that of acid deposition, which are harmful to the health of the forest ecosystems. Appropriate measures should also be taken to protect forests from fire. 4. ROLES OF FORESTS A well-managed forest is a constantly self-renewing resource and provides a wide range of benefits at local, national and global levels. Some of these benefits depend on the forest being left untouched or subject to minimal interference while others can only be realised by harvesting the forest. Among the most important roles of forests are sustainable production of wood and timber products, provision of food, shelter and energy, mitigation of climate change, conservation of water and soil, as well as for recreation and ecotourism. Forests are also important repositories of biological diversity. In this regard, wood is of major economic importance as in 1990 the world’s production of industrial timber was about 1,600 million cubic metres, of which about 75 per cent came from the developed countries, while international trade in wood and wood products, as well as paper and pulp is estimated to worth US$96,000 million a year, of which about US$12,500 million comes from developing country exports (FAO, 1993b). Besides, currently fuelwood comprises about 85 per cent of the wood consumed in the developing countries and accounts for more than 75 per cent of total energy consumption in the poorest countries and that over 2,000 million people use fuelwood as the primary source of fuel (UN, 1991). In recent years, attention has also been focused on the importance of non-wood forest products which include plants for food and medicinal purposes, fibres, dyes, animal fodder and other necessities. Indonesia, for example, earns an estimated US$120 million a year from rattans, resins, sandalwood, honey, natural silk and pharmaceutical and cosmetic compounds (FAO 1990), while the local production of bidi cigarette from the tendu leaf (Diospyros melanoxylon) in India provides part-time employment for up to half a million women (FAO, 1993b). In this connection, it has been estimated that more than 200 million people in the tropics live in the forests (FAO, 1993b) and in some parts of Africa as much as 70 per cent of animal protein comes from forest games such as birds and rodents (FAO, 1990). The economic value of forests in relation to floods and soil conservation is that they may allow for agricultural and even industrial development on floodplains because they contribute to the mitigation of the effects of floods and in minimizing soil erosion especially in mountainous and hilly areas. In fact a well- managed forest would provide a number of goods and services to meet basic human needs as outlined in Annex I. 5. RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1 Forest Conservation (a) To strengthen efforts in forest conservation and the sustainable management of forest resources, it is imperative to ensure the participation of local community and that all national policy and strategies must indicate the forest area set aside for forest conservation and in the sustainable production of forest goods and services. In this context, developing countries must have access to new and additional financial resources and the transfer of environmentally sound technologies. (b) To further ensure sustainable forest conservation and sustainable forest management, the prices of timber and timber products at the market place must fully reflect both their replacement and environmental costs, and that trade in forest products should be non-discriminatory and any unilateral measures to restrict and/or ban their trade should be removed or avoided. Moreover, expenses needed for sustainable forest management, including reforestation and afforestation must be included into the cost of all kinds of production obtained from the forest resources. (c) A global network of well-managed and adequately funded protected areas be established. In this regard, a list of biogeographic areas that is mutually agreed by national governments should be prepared to ensure global representativeness of forest conservation areas. (d) In order to ensure the sharing on mutually agreed terms of benefits and profits, including biotech- nology products derived from the utilisation of biological diversity, efficient and cost-effective methodologies should be developed to assess the biological resources of forests at the genetic, species and ecosystem levels, including the development of techniques to ascribe economic values to these resources. (e) In the light of the agreement at UNCED and in accordance with the requirements of the Convention on Biological Diversity, existing forest harvesting practices should be critically reviewed to ensure effective in-situconservation of biological diversity during forest utilisation. Countries should also endeavour to identify forest ecosystems or even landscapes that are threatened with irreversible changes, as well as their causes so as to enable prompt actions to be taken to arrest them. 5.2 Enhancement of Forest Cover (a) Maintaining and enhancing forest cover, reforestation or afforestation will incur costs, either from opportunities foregone for alternative uses, or from benefits lost from existing land uses. Policy responses must take this into account. The legitimate rights of countries over their natural resources must be upheld. An equitable framework must be found to provide adequate compensation to those countries who undertake action to sustainably manage their forests in the wider interests of global environmental enhancement. (b) All countries should work towards increasing their level of forest cover to be achieved over a speci- fied time-frame and actions be taken to prepare and implement national forestry action programmes and/or plans for the management, conservation and sustainable development of forests as called for in para 11.12(b) of Chapter 11 under Agenda 21. Countries having less than 30 per cent of their land areas under forest cover, but have the means must undertake concerted efforts to increase their forest cover while rich countries which are constrained by physical and climatic factors to increase their forest cover could assist the poorer nations in increasing and enhancing their forest cover. Countries having more than 30 per cent of their land areas under forest cover after taking into account their socio-economic development needs should be recognised and appropriate incentives should be given to encourage them to improve the quality of their forests. 5.3 Roles of Forests (a) To effectively enhance the roles of forests in meeting basic human needs, it is extremely important that the underlying causes of deforestation such as poverty, population pressures, the need for food, shelter and fuel, as well as indebtedness, particularly in the developing countries, must be critically addressed. A consultative and participatory approach should be adopted involving all stakeholders. (b) For the development of management measures to be effective, full knowledge on the distribution and values of non-wood forest resources should be made available at the level compatible to those currently available for the wood resources. (c) At the landscape level, each territory should set a minimum area of forest land to safeguard the climate-and-water characteristics of the forest and that the integrity of the forest ecosystem is protected. (d) Public awareness of the roles of forests should be strengthened at the level of social and professional groups, as well as at the family level so as to ensure that the important ecological and environmental functions of forests are further enhanced for both the present and future generations. 6. CONCLUSION The above recommendations are some of the possible options that could be considered for the effective implementation of specific UNCED programmes, particularly that on forest conservation, enhancement of forest cover and roles of forsts in meeting basic human needs. Concrete actions both at the national and international levels are imperative for their effective implementation.