Fighting deforestation: Bolivia's green gains the media isn't talking about

[Judi Lynn]

Fighting deforestation: Bolivia's green gains the media isn't talking about
Monday, July 27, 2015
By Federico Fuentes

When Bolivian President Evo Morales announced in May that his government was allowing oil and gas drilling in national parks, mainstream and progressive media outlets alike were quick to condemn his supposed hypocrisy on environmental issues.

Writing for the Associated Press, Frank Bajak argued that although Morales is known internationally for his outspoken campaigning on climate change, at home he faces constant criticism from conservationists “who say he puts extraction ahead of clean water and forests”.

Bajak said this contradiction was a result of Morales’ strategy of developing extractive industries as a means of cutting poverty, regardless of the environmental cost.

Similarly, Emily Achtenberg wrote on the progressive NACLA website that Morales’ announcement highlighted a central contradiction his government faces, that is, having relied on oil and gas to finance successful wealth redistribution programs, his government now finds itself “at odds with indigenous, environmental, and other civil society organizations who argue that extractivism destroys nature and communities…”

More:
https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/59596

Environment & energy:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/112789509

[Peace Patriot]

1. You have to click on the article to get to the green gains...

...in Bolivia that the media isn't talking about. But here it is, a bit later in the article:

None of these media outlets, however, have devoted a single article to how the Bolivian government has presided over one of the most remarkable environmental achievements in recent years.

Deforestation

For many years, Bolivia came under fire for having one of the highest deforestation rates in the world.

Morales has also earned the ire of many environmental NGOs due to his government’s stance of opposing “carbon offset” schemes that seek to pay communities — and NGOs — in the global South to protect forests. This is intended to “offset” ongoing pollution by companies in other countries.

But few have paid attention to figures from both the governmental Forests and Land Authority (ABT) and the independent World Resources Institute that indicate the Morales government has overseen an astonishing 64% cut in the deforestation rate between 2010 and 2013.--from the OP (my emphasis)

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On another matter: The Associated Pukes' Frank Bajak is...well, I think I will refrain from saying bad words...let me just say, he is a reliable propagandist for the U.S. MIC/CIA on Latin America.

[Judi Lynn]

2. A 64% reduction in the deforestation rate is a real accomplishment, and it has been ignored.

If people still continue to swallow what they read in corporate "news" without really paying attention, they will never know.

It's impossible to dispute such solid, impressive progress. That's why the right-wing establishment chooses to deny it's happened.