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by Tharuka Dissanaike

So it looks like the TFCA will get an official nod of approval very soon. For the uninitiated, the capitals stand for Tropical Forest Conservation Act- of the USA, mind you, and roughly translates into an American-guided mechanism to 'conserve' our rainforests in exchange for some light relief from debt owed to the US.

A rather innocuous news item in the Daily News announced a few weeks ago that the United States government had decided to grant the concession of US $5 million to Sri Lanka under this programme. The news items goes on- "Under the programme, debt repayments that Sri Lanka is due to make to the United States will be paid instead in to a specially established Tropical Forest Conservation Fund. The Fund will be administered by a Board of Directors, one each of whom will represent the US and Sri Lankan governments, while three directors will be drawn from among NGOs and reputed members of civil society." Sounds good enough.

So why is the TFCA evil? Is it really evil? Is Sri Lanka being forced to sell off our pristine forests (what's left of them)? Will this deal compromise sovereignty? The US State Department likes to see the TFCA as a perfect solution for poor, indebted, Third World countries, which have good tropical forests that they find difficult to conserve. They came up with a complicated mechanism through which bad debt can be converted in to a fund set up in local currency in that country which, will fund various projects aimed at conserving the bio-diversity rich rainforests. Other countries that have agreed to accept this offer are Bolivia, Costa Rica, Belize, Bangladesh and the Philippines. Discussions are ongoing with a number of other bio-diversity rich countries including Thailand to convert government debt into conservation funds.

These are fondly referred to a debt-for-nature swaps by proponents who see it as a very positive way of dealing with Third World debt, estimated to top 1.5 trillion US $. The very act of trying to pay back this money is a strain on the forest resources of these countries because they are forced to log or clear forests for large projects in order to generate the much-needed hard currency.

But many conservationists see a hidden agenda in the TFCA. There is always the underlying fear of losing control of the forest resources, and also, through such agreements, opening the doors for future exploitation of the forest wealth.

Then there is the issue- how do you measure the worth of a tropical rain forest? How do you value the bio-diversity, the richness of life and the essential natural, life sustaining functions it performs in rupees, or in this case, dollars?

The United States, according to the Ministry of Environment, has indicated to the treasury that it is offering US $5 million in debt concessions. The country's total debt to the US government is said to be in the range of a billion US$. Now this does not make sense. The concession does not make any significant impact on the total debt scenario, and the country would continue to repay huge amounts of cash to the United States.

During deliberations over the TFCA in the past two years or so, the Forest Department and many senior officials of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources have expressed their doubts and concerns. The Forest Conservators, both then and now, were confident that their own plans and projects would meet the demands of protecting and preserving our good forests like Sinharaja, the Knuckles, Peak wilderness and Ritigala.

A grave concern among environmentalists here is that the TFCA agreement and the fund which will emerge through it, will allow US research institutions unchecked access to our forests. Since research into medicinal value of tropical plants is one of the key objectives of the proposal, this possibility cannot be ruled out."

One also needs to look at why the US came up with this complicated mechanism of debt recovery. Realising that it is difficult to recover much of debt anyway, the TFCA has become the US's way of contributing to the global cause of reducing air pollution and saving the few remaining virgin forests.

But as a senior hand at the Environment Ministry put it, "It's a difficult time for the Government. The treasury will look very positively at this proposal since it talks about reducing debt, which is a huge problem for the government."

The best line of action would be- not to throw aside the proposal, but to look at it microscopic-closely and work out the best deal for the country. A transparent procedure and the involvement of as many actors is a must if the country is to benefit through this offer. Whether our public sector can stand up to this test and not be swayed by the dismal conditions of Sri Lanka's bank account and any pressure that will come from is to be seen.

Every Sri Lankan will hope in the end that the price of debt reduction will not be too high; nor compromise future generations access and right to a resource that is very much ours.

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