§ Mr. WrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the measures adopted by Her Majesty's Government or by European Community countries for the protection of rain forests; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Chris PattenDetails of Her Majesty's Government's activities to protect rain forests are given in a supplement to the December 1988 issue of "British Overseas Development", a copy of which I have placed in the Library. We have no record of the action taken by other countries to protect the rain forests. We and other members of the European Community support the tropical forestry action plan, which promotes action to conserve the tropical forests. As signatories to the international tropical timber agreement the United Kingdom and 10 other Community countries are pledged to encourage the development of international policies aimed at the sustainable use and conservation of tropical forests. The European Community's aid programme finances several rain-forest-related projects.