Debt swap yields $39m for Costa Rican rainforests.In what amounts to the largest "debt-for-nature" swap in history, the U.S. government last week forgave for·gave v. Past tense of forgive. forgave Verb the past tense of forgive forgave forgive $26 million owed it by Costa Rica Costa Rica (kŏs`tə rē`kə), officially Republic of Costa Rica, republic (2005 est. pop. 4,016,000), 19,575 sq mi (50,700 sq km), Central America. on the stipulation that the funds be spent on the preservation of tropical rainforest Tropical rainforests are rainforests generally found near the equator. They are common in Asia, Africa, South America, Central America, and on many of the Pacific Islands. tracts important for the survival of a wide range of endangered and as-yet unknown species of plants and animals Plants and Animals are a Canadian indie-rock band from Montreal, comprised of guitarist-vocalists Warren Spicer and Nic Basque, and drummer-vocalist Matthew Woodley.[1] They are signed to Secret City Records. in the lush Central American nation Noun 1. Central American nation - any one of the countries occupying Central America; these countries (except for Belize and Costa Rica) are characterized by low per capita income and unstable governments Central American country . The U.S. is also kicking in an additional $12 million to help spur on forest conservation efforts, while The Nature Conservancy and Conservation International, the two leading international conservation nonprofits that helped broker the deal, also put in almost $1 million. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] According to Zdenka Piskulich, The Nature Conservancy's Costa Rica program director, this particular debt swap Debt swap A set of transactions in which a firm buys a country's dollar bank debt at a discount and swaps this debt with the central bank for local currency that it can use to acquire local equity. Also called a debt-equity swap. is unique not just for its monetary size but also in that it uses scientific analysis to determine the six sites throughout the country where the funds are most sorely needed. She adds that the funding will also help local communities "to pursue sustainable and economically viable livelihoods, thus improving their lives and sustaining the biodiverse resources on which they depend." Countries with large intact swaths of tropical rainforests (and democratically elected governments There is some question as to whether a given election is "democratic" and whether the regime resulting from a given election is a "democracy". Proponents and opponents of certain regimes wrangle over whether the government was "democratically elected", particularly when another country committed to economic reform) are eligible for a debt swap with the U.S. as long as they use the funds to finance forest conservation under the guidelines of 1988's Tropical Forest Conservation Act. The former largest debt-for-nature swap took place in October 2006, when the U.S. forgave $24.4 million in Guatemalan debt to be used for forest conservation efforts. To date, the U.S. has arranged more than a dozen debt-for-nature swaps worth upwards of $170 million for conservation's sake, not only in Costa Rica and Guatemala, but also Bangladesh, Belize, Botswana, Colombia, El Salvador, Jamaica, Panama, Paraguay, the Philippines and Peru. Source: Nature |
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