Strangely Like War: The Global Assault on Forests
It is possible that many of us might think that the issue of deforestation in nothing new. We have heard for years the problems surrounding deforestation, particularly when it is done in far away places like tropical rainforests. What Derrick Jensen and George Draffan demonstrate in Strangely Like War is that there is a great deal we don't know and how we even look at the issue can contribute to our inability to act.
According to the authors, logging contributes to about two-thirds of global deforestation, with the other contributing factors being fires and other forms of human activity. Sometimes environmentalists will say that this needs to stop in order to save "our forests." Others will argue that destroying rainforests, which are extremely bio-diverse, will "rob us of the opportunity to discover medicines that can counter modern diseases." The authors are clear up front that one of the problems with how we address the issue of deforestation is that we need to stop calling the forests or the trees "ours."
Jensen and Draffan remind us that deforestation is a major contributor to global warming and that about 150 acres of forests are cut every minute of every day around the world. Deforestation causes erosion, flooding, landslides, destabilization in streams and lower water quality. Trees create oxygen, stabilize soil, enrich the soil and provide habitat for millions of species of animals and birds.
The bulk of the book is devoted to an analysis of what contributes to deforestation and the institutional factors involved. The authors note that much of the "demand" for wood and paper products has increased in recent decades. The authors state, "Output per employee in the US paper industry has increased fourfold in the last fifty years." The efforts to recycle have been beneficial, but the US is way down the list of countries in terms of what percentage of their paper output is recovered. The author point out that for every 10% of recovered waste paper that will prevent a million acres of trees from being cut.
The logging and paper cartels that exist in the US are a major force behind deforestation. They influence domestic logging policy by lobbying Congress. Jensen and Draffen point out that this type of political influence is nothing new and that the Clinton administration has been just as guilty as the Bush administration in terms of providing favors to the logging and paper cartels. The authors don't spend a great deal of time on partisan politics, rather they look at how the US Forest Service functions in the service of the logging and paper cartels. These companies have become very good at making claims that they are actually improving forests through a tactic known as "greenwashing."
Draffen and Jensen do an excellent job of debunking the greenwashing claims of the industry. For example, the logging/paper cartels will claim that there are more trees now than 70 years ago. While it is true there are more trees now than 70 years ago it doesn't address to difference between old growth forests and new trees. Secondly, the trees that these companies have been planting are usually mono-crops (meaning one variety of tree), which increases the likelihood of disease. The authors also point out that the trees these companies plant are mostly for future harvesting by the paper and pulp industries.
Another myth promoted by the logging/paper cartels is the idea that logging roads are essential to putting out forest fires. The reality is that most fires are started by the logging industry itself and logging roads are themselves do tremendous destruction to forest ecosystems. There are so many logging roads, if you were to combine them it would be like driving back and forth from Washington, DC to San Francisco one hundred and fifty times. Logging roads disrupt migratory patterns of some animals and contribute to the death of thousands of mammals hit by logging vehicles every year.
Another area of analysis is how deforestation fits into current globalization policies. The authors cite numerous examples of how the World Bank and IMF use their so-called debt cancellation program and structural adjustment policies to force poorer countries to open their forests to US/European logging and paper companies. These policies tax and tariff structures, transfer pricing, and engage in price-fixing to benefit these logging/paper cartels.
Strangely Like War does not provide a simple 5-point plan to protect the world's forests. The authors do acknowledge some efforts by grassroots activists and indigenous communities around the world who have been battling the logging/paper cartels. There is an excellent appendix with a list of organizations the authors encourage readers to support, but more importantly this book can be a great tool to just get us to think differently about our relationship to forests. At the beginning of one of the chapters they quote Margaret Mead who provides us with a framework on how to think about what we will do to stop deforestation.
"We would never buy paper made from the dead bears, otter, salmon and birds, from ruined native cultures, from destroyed species and destroyed lives, from ancient forests reduced to stumps and mud; but that's what we're doing when we buy paper made from old growth clear-cut trees."
Derrick Jensen and George Draffan, Strangely Like War: The Global Assault on Forests, (Chelsea Green, 2003).
