§ Mr. Jackasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action Her Majesty's Government are taking to contribute to international attempts being made to stop the destruction of the world's rain forests.
§ Mr. Chris PattenThe Government play an active part in the Food and Agriculture Organisation's tropical forestry action plan, which is coordinating donor action on the problem of deforestation. The Overseas Development Administration participates in missions802W arranged under the auspices of the action plan to discuss the need for conservation with the Governments of affected developing countries and their requirements for institutional and financial support. This has led to the funding of projects under the British bilateral aid programme, in which aid for forestry projects has increased threefold over the last five years.
The Government also ratified the international tropical timber agreement in 1984 and are a member of the related Tropical Timber Organisation, which was established in 1986. One of the principal aims of this organisation is to encourage trade in tropical hardwoods on the basis of sustainable and renewable resources.