Are the native people capable of conserving the forest?
The American Indians are special in that they have never cut their links with the natural environment in which they live. It is in their culture, in their way of life, in their cosmogony. Zero-Deforestation gives the resources to native people who have clearly expressed their desire to protect the forest, to continue to manage their territories collectively and completely independently, in order to be able to participate fully in what is called avoided deforestation. • Shouldnt we rather replant new forests? Replanting cannot reconstitute the vast biodiversity of ancient forests. It may even appear to be a disguised economic operation (palm oil, eucalyptus plantation). It takes 600 years to constitute a full primary forest, according to Francis Hall, a renowned French botanist. Each hectare of primary forest in the Amazon region holds 650 tons of carbon, which is 50% more than a plantation or the ancient deciduous forests. For instance, the Shiwiar territory which was recently restitut
