Rainforest Park Needed, Anthropology Prof Says

A reserve to protect the African rainforest should be established in Zaire, despite the objections of many Western governments and the country that would host it, a visiting professor of anthropology told about 50 people in Boylston Hall last night.

In a speech entitled "Foragers, Farmers and Rainforest Conservation," David Wilkes said 1986 plans to create a 1.25 million hectacre "biosphere reserve" have been stalled by a lack of political willingness and financial support. As a result, the rainforest and the species that inhabit it are in danger of extinction.

He added that a national park is needed to keep the area free from slash-and-burn farmers, huntergatherers, poachers and industrialists.

The plan has the support of and was partly devised by the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF), the Zaire National Conservation Agency (ZNCA) and the Agricultural Production Association (APA). But Wilkes said politics and money are indefinitely delaying the project.

Wilkes said ethical questions also contributed to Zaire's cool reception of the plan, citing the difficulty of preserving the fauna of the area without threatening the subsistence of its population.

He said the Zaire area is limited in resources, adding that the boundaries would have little effect on subsistence practices. In addition, he said, huntergatherers could be trained as park rangers because of the tourist industry that the park would spawn.

Wilkes cited a study by the National Academy of Sciences that found that at least 50 million acres of rainforest a year are lost--an area the size of England, Wales and Scotland combined. These areas are home to about half the five to 10 million plant and animal species on the globe. Unless action is taken, the report says, by the year 2000 one-fifth of the remaining rainforest will disappear, destroying about half-a-million species.