But the land would have far more value if the forests were preserved and developing countries were then rewarded on global carbon markets.

Such markets are an offshoot of the Kyoto agreement against global warming, letting countries that struggle to meet targets for industrial emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) pay other countries that keep their own emissions down.

About a fifth of global CO2 emissions come from tropical deforestation but these have not been harnessed into carbon markets such as the European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme, the report said.

It said that in Latin America, dense jungle is often cleared to create pastures worth as little as 300 dollars a hectare while releasing 500 tonnes of CO2 per hectare.

This implies a "CO2 abatement cost" of less than one dollar a tonne.

The report said it was believed that tackling climate change requires paying about three dollars a tonne for CO2 abatement, while EU members are currently paying up to 20 dollars a tonne.

"In other words, deforesters are destroying a carbon storage asset theoretically worth 1,500-10,000 dollars to create a pasture worth 200-500 dollars per hectare," the World Bank said.

"Yet carbon markets, such as those under the Kyoto Protocol and EU Emissions Trading Scheme, do not reward forestholders for reduced emissions from avoided deforestation."

But such rewards would require a "global commitment" against climate change, the report said, while the United States and Australia have refused to ratify the Kyoto pact in its current guise.

"Global carbon finance can be a powerful incentive to stop deforestation," said the World Bank's chief economist, Francois Bourguignon.

"Compensation for avoiding deforestation could help developing countries to improve forest governance and boost rural incomes, while helping the world at large to mitigate climate change more vigorously," he said.

The report noted also that global concern about the loss of rare species should be harnessed to compensate countries for not chopping down their forests.

In the Kerinci-Seblat National Park, on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, "avarice and opportunity" threaten an area containing 4,000 plant species and three percent of the Earth's mammal species -- including threatened ones such as the clouded leopard and small Sumatran rhinoceros.

Properly regulated logging in such places would give locals a stake in keeping their forests managed, to ensure a long-term income from timber, the report said.

Related Links
Save the Forests at Wood Pile