Bolivia Finds Money Grows on Trees in Ecological Exchange

In a deal that conservationists hope will be copied extensively, Bolivia agreed today to set aside a virtually untouched rain forest in return for a reduction of its $4 billion in foreign debt.

The agreement, signed at the Bolivian Embassy, called for Citicorp to purchase outstanding Bolivian debt at the discounted market price and sell it to Conservation International, an ecological organization.

The organization then turned the note, which is valued at $650,000, over to the Bolivian government, which then agreed to set aside and protect 3.7 million acres in the northern part of the country.

Conservation International is negotiating with four other Latin debtors but it declined to name them.