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Mon, 08 Jul 2024 Feature Article

Would universal basic income for fringe-forest communities help protect biodiversity-rich old-growth forests worldwide?

Would universal basic income for fringe-forest communities help protect biodiversity-rich old-growth forests worldwide?

Dear critical-reader, the question that environmental activists worldwide who do lateral-thinking to resolve challenges, ought to ponder over, is: Would universal basic income for fringe-forest communities help protect biodiversity rich old-growth forests worldwide more effectively and preserve them for unborn generations?

As we speak, apparently, researchers are on the cusp of reversing ageing (https://www.sciencefocus.com/news/slow-ageing-t-cells).

Surely, dear critical-reader, were that to happen, we would need to better protect the remainder of our biosphere's oxygen-laden-air-producing biodiversity rich old-growth forests, worldwide, for the benefit of reverse-aged Dorian Grey-type humans? No?

It is in light of that astonishing scientific breakthrough, that it suddenly occurred to me (when a local intelligence source informed me of the dispiriting news, earlier today, that illegal gold miners and illegal loggers in hock with chainsaw bushcut lumber producers, had invaded part of my extended family clan's freehold 14-square mile biodiversity rich upland evergreen rainforest, which lies in the Akyem Juaso section of the Atewa Range designated a Globally Significant Biodiversity Area (GSBA)), that were all the world's disparate environmental organisations dedicated to the preservation of forests globally, to unite, and pull their resources together, they could provide all the world's fringe-forest communities with universal basic income, sufficient enough to enable them to live well, by all standards, and devote their time and energies to protecting forests across the planet in effective fashion.

In our now-bankrupted Motherland Ghana, which is the global superpower of the world's junk currencies, they could purchase Treasury Bills that are rolled over, upon maturity, in nine-month-cycles, and use the accrued interest to pay universal basic income, monthly, to fringe-forest farming communities, nationwide, could they not?

To see what response it would elicit, I thereupon decided to pose Meta's WhatsApp's AI-Lhama3 the question: Would universal basic income for fringe-forest communities help protect biodiversity-rich rainforests worldwide?

Please peruse Meta WhatsApp's AI-Llama3's response to said question, dear critical-reader:

"Yes, implementing Universal Basic Income (UBI) for fringe-forest communities could be a innovative approach to protect biodiversity-rich rainforests worldwide. By providing a financial safety net, UBI could:

  1. Reduce poverty and economic pressures that drive deforestation and land degradation.
  2. Encourage sustainable forest management and conservation practices.
  3. Support community-led conservation initiatives and ecotourism.
  4. Foster education and awareness about the importance of rainforest conservation.
  5. Empower communities to resist external pressures from logging, mining, and agriculture industries.
  6. Promote sustainable livelihoods, such as agroforestry and non-timber forest products.
  7. Help maintain cultural heritage and traditional knowledge of indigenous communities.

UBI could be a powerful tool in conjunction with other conservation efforts, like protected areas, reforestation programs, and sustainable land-use planning. It could help address the root causes of deforestation and support communities in preserving the world's precious rainforests."

End of quoted response to the question "Would universal basic income for fringe-forest communities help protect biodiversity-rich rainforests worldwide?".

Above all, as wise and aspirational Africans, who know and appreciate the fact that in a warming planet, the known world's biodiversity rich old growth forests are priceless green economy assets that are more valuable than all the minerals underneath them combined, we must merge all the non-military security agencies (the Ghana Police Service, the Ghana Immigration Service, the Ghana National Fire Service, the Ghana Prison Service), plus the Forestry Commission, into the 4th Armed Service of the Ghana Armed Forces, to be known as the Homeland Force, personnel of which will enjoy the same compensation packages, as personnel of the Army, Air Force and Navy, Forest Reserves across the entire territorial landmass of our Republic, will suddenly become security zones, which only those with permits issued by the Military High Command, can lawfully can venture into, without risking being shot to death.

Finally, if we have the nous and gumption, as wise and aspirational Africans, to execute all the above, dear critical-reader, and use donated hard currency amounting to a few hundred millions, and convert same into Ghana Cedis, to purchase Treasury Bills that are rolled over at maturity, interest on which will provide universal basic income for fringe-forest communities, Ghana's priceless biodiversity-rich rainforests will be protected for unborn generations, till the very end of time, oooo, Ghanafuor. Full stop. Case closed. Yoooooooo. A word to the wise...

Kofi Thompson
Kofi Thompson, © 2024

Writer & activist for environmental justice & human rights. . More Born into a farming family, I speak truth to power to amplify the voices of victims of injustice.Column: Kofi Thompson

Disclaimer: "The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect ModernGhana official position. ModernGhana will not be responsible or liable for any inaccurate or incorrect statements in the contributions or columns here." Follow our WhatsApp channel for meaningful stories picked for your day.

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