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16 N.C.J. Int'l L. & Com. Reg. 127 (1991)
The Feasibility of Debt-For-Nature Swaps

handle is hein.journals/ncjint16 and id is 139 raw text is: The Feasibility of Debt-For-Nature Swaps I. Introduction Since the early 1980s economists have been warning the West- ern financial community of the potentially grave threats posed by the Third World Debt Crisis.' Nevertheless, Third World debt, espe- cially that of Latin American countries, has continued to increase at phenomenal rates.2 The International Monetary Fund, in its World Economic Outlook, estimates that the external debt of developing na- tions will rise by nine percent during 1990-1991.3 Recent reports estimate that Brazil's foreign debt is nearly $120 billion-approxi- mately 1.4 percent higher than it was one year previously.4 The total debt of the leading Latin American nations is estimated at $390 billion.5 Tragically, the rate of tropical deforestation in Latin America has parallelled the region's astronomical borrowing patterns. Every day, 140,000 acres of tropical forest are cut for timber, burned for cultivation, or clearcut for cattle grazing.6 Some Latin American countries, under intense pressure to meet foreign debt obligations, I Weinert, Swapping Third World Debt, 65 FOREIGN POL'Y 85 (1986). 2 The World Bank estimated total Third World or LDC (less developed country) debt at $142 billion in 1974. THE AMERICANA ANNUAL 291 (1981). By 1980, this figure had increased to $376 billion. Id. According to a survey recently conducted by the World Bank, Third World debt has now risen to over $1.3 trillion. THE WORLD ALMANAC 75 (1990). 3 International Finance-Mideast Crisis, Third-World Debt Issues for Bank-Fund Meeting, 1990 Daily Rep. for Executives, Sept. 24, 1990, at A-I. It is estimated that the total amount of external debt of developing nations will reach $1.35 trillion by the end of 1991. Id. 4 N.Y. Times, Jan. 19, 1990, at 48, col. 5. Brazil's debt represents the largest owed by any Third World country. Id. 5 See THE WORLD ALMANAC, supra note 2, at 75. The breakdown by country is as follows: Brazil-$120 billion; Mexico-$107 billion; Argentina-$60 billion; Venezuela- $35 billion; Chile-$21 billion; Peru-$19 billion; Colombia-$17 billion; Ecuador-$1I billion. Id. 6 THE NATURE CONSERVANCY, INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM, PROTECTING THE WORLD'S REMAINING TROPICAL HABITATS (1989). If deforestation continues at current rates, almost all pristine habitat will be obliterated in thirty years. Id. The Nature Conservancy postu- lates that possibly three-fourths of the millions of plant and animal species that populate the world are located in a small band of tropical forest close to the equator. Id. Many of these plant and animal species have yet to be discovered. Id. Although the Nature Con- servancy's estimate may be high, more conservative estimates are also extremely alarming. As early as 1981, the Council on Environmental Quality and the State Department esti- mated that 50% of the world's tropical forest reserves would be depleted by the year 2000. 1 THE GLOBAL 2000 REPORT TO THE PRESIDENT: ENTERING THE 21ST CENTURY 36 (G. Bar-

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