France is under growing pressure to take steps to protect the rainforests of French Guiana, its territory on the Atlantic coast of South America. Fear of embarrassing criticism from conservationists at the Earth Summit in June may prompt the government to take action.
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has launched a campaign for a 'European Tropical Park', to be run by the European Commission, for nature reserves and for strict controls on forestry, hunting and road building in the territory.
'French Guiana is unique in that it is the most densely wooded country in the world, the country with the smallest population and the only country of its kind with absolutely no protected zones,' says Jean-Marc Thiollay, an ornithologist at the French national research organisation CNRS. He agrees with the WWF that conservation measures are urgently needed, even though 90 per cent of the country is covered by ...
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