§ 57. Mr. Beithasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department takes as part of its aid programme to discourage deforestation.
§ Mr. Chris PattenThe Government fully support conservation of forest resources and their use on a sustainable and renewable basis. They are giving priority to forestry projects within the aid programme, and, with other donors, support the Food and Agriculture Organisation's tropical forestry action plan. I am delighted to add that the Korup rain forest in Cameroon has just been designated a national park. Our project with non-governmental organisations to help conserve this forest will go ahead with the Cameroon authorities.
§ Mr. BeithI welcome that answer. However, are all aid-supported projects, including those under the aid and trade provision, evaluated if they are in afforested areas in order to assess whether they will do damage to existing forests? If not, will the Minister ensure that such steps are taken?
§ Mr. PattenI am endeavouring to ensure that we give environmental aspects of development aid ever greater priority. I take note of the extremely important point made by the hon. Gentleman.
§ Mr. GristDoes my hon. Friend appreciate the pleasure which it gives me, as someone who has trekked in that forest in the Cameroons, to know that the aid is going to an area which was once ruled by this country, the Anglophone part of the Cameroons? What other African countries are making similar proposals to this Government?
§ Mr. PattenWe have made progress in other countries with forestry projects, for example in Ghana. We are now spending £5.8 million on forestry projects, which is about an 80 per cent. increase over the past five years, so I hope that many other countries will benefit from that in the future.
§ Mr. BarnettThe Minister will be aware that this is a major problem, especially in tropical areas. I wonder whether he can tell the House what kind of expenditure goes on afforestation within his tropical scientific unit and how many qualified foresters are working under the technical co-operation programme? The Minister will know as well as I that there are many first-class university departments and research institutes in forestry in this country and that we have a major contribution to make.
§ Mr. PattenAs I said in reply to the last question, we are spending about £5.8 million on forestry projects and about £500,000 on research. I shall write to the hon. Gentleman about the number of foresters.