The Tropical Forest Conservation What?

PATIENT DIPLOMACY PAYS OFF FOR THE U.S. AS TREES DON’T FALL IN GUATEMALA.


In “U.S. debt swap to preserve forestlands in Guatemala,” the much-lauded international monetary system starts to look a bit more like barter.

The U.S. and two environmental groups have agreed to forgive about 20 percent of Guatemala’s entire foreign debt if the Central American nation will spend $24.4 million to protect four of its premier natural preserves over the next 15 years.

From North America it looks like everyone wins. Guatemala gets debt relief and maybe a bump in its credit rating; stabilization of its resource base through better policing of illegal logging in the protected areas; and large, increasingly park-like areas that might attract foreign tourists.

For its part, the U.S. finally gets to look like a regional good guy for brokering a debt-forgiveness deal involving name-brand NGOs like Conservation International and the Nature Conservancy, plus an example of patient diplomacy paying off.