§ Mrs. ClwydTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy that none of the environmental projects that the Overseas Development Administration funds in Guyana should involve logging or deforestation.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydI gave details of the projects the ODA is currently funding in my reply to the hon. Lady on 9 July.
The ODA's policy on development projects in tropical forest areas is set out in our manual of environmental appraisal, copies of which are in the Libraries of the House. The manual makes it clear that natural forests should be managed on a sustainable basis and that aid projects should aim to conserve forest resources and should avoid indiscriminate logging or deforestation. It would not be right, however, to rule out all forms of tree-felling, for example logging on a trial or experimental basis, designed to demonstrate that controlled economic use is compatible with conservation, and part of sustainable management.