Indigenous peoples from Alaska and the Peruvian Amazon joined enviros Monday in calling on the U.N. to act quickly to stop a global crisis of deforestation. This week in New York, the U.N. opened a final session of talks on forest protection that may result in the establishment of a legally binding convention to regulate forest management on a global level or a permanent forum to discuss forest policy issues. Rick Steiner, a professor at the University of Alaska and a representative of the enviro group Coastal Coalition, said that two acres of forest disappear every second and that some 400 million people depend on forests for their livelihoods, including about 50 or 60 million indigenous peoples. The enviros said they have little confidence that the U.N. forum will result in meaningful change.
