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WORLDWIDE
FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS
African
Rainforest Logging Damage Permanent
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Forest
Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises
http://forests.org/
4/12/97
OVERVIEW,
SOURCE & COMMENTARY by EE
A Duke
University researcher has completed a long-term study on the
effects
of timber cutting on a rain forest, whose results are reported
in the
new book _ Ecology of an African Rain Forest: Logging in Kibale
and the
Conflict between Conservation and Exploitation_. He has
concluded
that nearly all harvest practices "are far too intensive to
protect
rain forest ecology." Given the
drastic changes in ecology,
the
researcher advocates that rain forest preserves be spared
completely
from logging. Additionally, if rain
forests are to be
logged
sustainably, harvesting must be very light to minimize
disruption--"no
more than one large tree per hectare per century, done
by hand
to minimize forest disruption."
The prescriptive results of
this
research are wholeheartedly embraced here--larger tracts of
rainforests
must be put in preserves to insure ecological continuity,
and
local peoples that wish to carry out small scale eco-timber
operations
must be assisted to do so under an appropriate eco-forestry
management
plan. Ideally, preservation of a larger
preserve could be
coupled
to righteous eco-management of an adjoining buffer zone.
g.b.
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Rainforest
Logging Damage Permanent
The
Environment News Service
Copyright
1997
Posted
to the web: Fri Apr 11 18:06:27 EDT 1997
http://www.envirolink.org/environews/enews.html
DURHAM,
North Carolina, Apr. 11, 1997 (ENS) - The delicate ecological
web of
the tropical rain forest is permanently unraveled by heavy
logging,
according to the most comprehensive long-term study yet done
of the
effects of timber cutting on a rain forest.
The
researcher, Duke University biologist Thomas Struhsaker, concludes
that
even so-called "sustainable" harvesting practices used in some
countries
are far too intensive to protect rain forest ecology. He
advocates
that rain forest preserves be spared completely from
logging.
And, for rain forests that are to be logged sustainably,
harvesting
must mimic natural treefalls - consisting of no more than
one
large tree per hectare per century, done by hand to minimize
forest
disruption.
In a
new book, Ecology of an African Rain Forest: Logging in Kibale
and the
Conflict between Conservation and Exploitation, published by
the
University of Florida Press, Struhsaker and his colleagues detail
their
23 years of research in the Kibale rainforest of Uganda. The
study
marks the first time the interrelations of both plants and
animals
have been incorporated into a long-term study of logging.
"The
destruction of these forests is indisputably one of the greatest
ecological
disasters in the history of Homo sapiens," Struhsaker said.
Recent
estimates find that an area of tropical rain forest the size of
Greece
or the state of Florida is being converted to agriculture each
year.
The
book describes the impact of Uganda's severe political upheaval on
the
scientists' research and conservation activities. The civil wars -
in
which hundreds of thousands of Ugandans were massacred - also
thrust
Struhsaker and his fellow scientists into perilous encounters
with
soldiers and guerilla bands. And, the scientists' insistence on
reporting
poaching and official corruption in the national reserve led
to
death threats.
"This
is a study that really looks at the impact of logging on the
wildlife,"
he said. "Most of the others have looked primarily at
commercial
timber species, not even considering the rest of the
flora."
Such
breadth was particularly important in understanding rain forest
ecology,
Struhsaker said, because in tropical rain forests, animals
are
more important to the perpetuation of the trees and plants than in
temperate
forests.
"In
temperate regions many plants are pollinated by and have their
seeds
dispersed by wind," he said, "whereas in tropical forests a much
higher
proportion of these tasks are done by animals."
Understanding
the full complexities of the tropical rain forests also
is
critical given the importance of the tropical rain forests in the
planet's
ecology, Struhsaker said. Although tropical rain forests
cover
less than 10 percent of Earth's surface, they contain more than
50
percent of all species.
Struhsaker
began his work in Kibale in 1970. At first, he and his
colleagues
studied the many species of monkeys and apes in the area.
In 1976
the scientists expanded their work to include the effects of
logging
on animals and the forest ecosystem as a whole. Overall, some
28
scientists contributed to the research over its 23 years. Also,
over
the study's lifetime, the study expanded from a concentration on
basic
research to include studies of logging as well as lobbying and
conservation
efforts.
The
study found that:
* Heavy
logging severely reduced the diversity of species in the
logged
areas.
* Even
after decades, the forest - including both the animals and the
commercial
timber species - had not recovered significantly.
*
Logged forests had more and larger gaps and greater density of
thicket
plants, which reduced the survival of tree seeds and
seedlings.
* The
monkey species in logged areas still had lower densities of
social
groups at least 18 years after logging. Such reduction in
social
groups likely reduced genetic fitness of the populations.
Hunting
of the primates was also made easier in the logged areas of
West
and Central Africa.
*
Rodent populations increased considerably in logged areas, because
of the
increase in thicket growth. This population increase caused a
reduced
survival of tree seeds and seedlings, because the rodents fed
on
them, suppressing forest recovery.
*
Elephants used heavily logged areas much more than lightly logged or
unlogged
forest, further damaging young trees and suppressing forest
recovery.
The
Kibale study convinced Struhsaker that it is impractical to manage
tropical
forests to increase timber yield beyond that of a natural
forest
or even to restore damaged ecosystems, while at the same time
maintaining
viable populations of plant and animal species found in
old-growth
forests. For one thing, he said, such management is
expensive
and requires an investment in a project that may not yield
returns
for 75 to 100 years.
These
systems are so complicated, with so much natural variation in
them,
that the impact of the harvest cannot be separated from the
natural
variation until 20 years or more after the fact. In the
meantime,
wrong management decisions are being made.
Attempting
to rehabilitate habitats is incredibly expensive and not
likely
to restore a complex ecosystem on a large scale, Struhsaker
concludes.
Struhsaker's
observations of rain forest logging worldwide lead him to
believe
that logging will accelerate, and with it the loss of tropical
rain
forest.
"As
timber resources around the world become depleted, more and more
species
that are not considered valuable today will become valuable
tomorrow,
and will be logged, he said. What's more, he said, timber
companies
will move into new areas of untouched forest.
"Already,
we know that the big timber companies in Indonesia and
Malaysia
are moving to South America. They've finished the resources
in
Southeast Asia and now they're moving on."
Struhsaker
believes the only long-term solution to conserve forests in
developing
countries is population control, energy conservation to
reduce
wood use and strong forest management policies by stable
governments.
To
achieve these ends, he advocates that U.S. foreign aid and
international
development funds be predicated on a recipient nation's
commitment
to achieve goals in these areas.
Struhsaker
emphasizes that so-called developed nations, the principal
market
for tropical woods, must reduce their own rates of consumption
of
natural resources.
The
Kibale research was funded by the National Science Foundation,
National
Institutes of Health, New York Zoological Society, African
Wildlife
Fund, World Wildlife Fund, National Geographic Society, U.S.
Embassy
and the East African Wildlife Society. The researchers' local
sponsor
was the Department of Zoology in Uganda's Makerere University.
The
study was also officially supported by the Ugandan Government
Forest
and Game Departments, the Ugandan National Research Council and
the
President's Office.
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