Conservation and Sustainable Use of the Biosphere - WBGU

Intensity of the Overexploitation Syndrome G 4.2
269
Intensity of the
Overexploitation Syndrome
Low
High
Intensity = 0
No data
Figure G 4.2-3
Intensity of the Overexploitation Syndrome. See Fig. G 4.1-2 for type specifications.
Source: Cassel-Gintz et al, 1999
tion with corruption (in the South) and lobbying (in
the North) constitutes a grave problem for forest
resources. As long as there are no sufficient alternative
sources of income, the tide cannot be expected to
turn.
By contrast the syndrome is relatively weak in the
US and large parts of Europe and North Africa. In
the US and Europe in particular, well organized
forestry industries with a long tradition ensure low
intensity, ie long-term economic and thus also ecological
interests dominate generally over short-term
economic considerations. By contrast, in the other
regions of Africa, particularly the Sahel region, the
proportion of Overexploitation Syndrome in deforestation
can be estimated to be very low. For here it
is the Sahel Syndrome with its firewood collecting
component that dominates.