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WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

Study States Sustainable Logging in Tropics Doesn't Work

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Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises

http://forests.org/

7/1/98

OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY by EE

A pet peeve regarding some forest conservationists are those that

think they have the full answer to how to end forest loss and

diminishment. In all honestly, we are all grasping for answers. I am

hard pressed to deny another's honest efforts to conserve and protect

forests. This is what disturbs me with the following item.

Conservation International has published a study that indicates the

relative intact nature of biodiversity and ecosystems following

selective logging of mahogany. The have extrapolated that allowing a

once over harvest of high value trees and then protection is the best

conservation investment in most situations, and that efforts to pursue

sustainable forestry are misguided.

I share concerns that sustainable forestry rhetoric, certified in

particular, is being used as a smoke screen to enter remaining primary

forests, and that conservation of intact biodiversity and ecosystems

will require relatively intact areas not under management. Most

"sustainable" or "certified" schemes still do not go far enough

towards ecological sustainability and are not leaving enough

unmanaged, late-successional and protected areas on the landscape.

Yet, given my familiarity with Papua New Guinea and the Solomon

Islands forestry, I am not willing to dismiss efforts to sustainably

manage forests. There, the forests are clearly not in an ecological

condition following commercial logging that is conducive to follow-on

conservation use. And some type of forest management is about the

only development option most people have. It is inconceivable that

indigenous, customary land would be barred from further use. My

understanding is that this is true elsewhere and that mahogany forests

appear to be an exception, not the rule.

This said, I totally agree that it should not be assumed that impacted

and harvested forests will go to follow-on deforestation.

Conservation investment in these lands may be a very important

underutilized tool for conserving biodiversity and healthy forest

ecosystems--but it is not the only tool. Read on as Conservation

International and World Bank present their views on the topic...

g.b.

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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:

Title: Sustainable logging in tropics doesn't work - study

Source: Reuters

Status: Copyright 1998, contact source for reprint permissions

Date: June 18, 1998

Byline: By Michael Kahn

WASHINGTON, June 18 (Reuters) - Efforts to preserve tropical rain

forests with controlled logging don't work -- and "sustainable" forest

management has wasted hundreds of millions of dollars, researchers

said on Thursday.

The researchers, who published a commentary in the journal Science,

said a World Bank proposal to lift its ban on logging investment in

tropical rain forests will do little to curb deforestation even if it

leads to sustainable forest management.

"If we aim to achieve conservation results there are many more

efficient ways to do it than sustainable forest management," said Ian

Bowles, an analyst at the Washington-based Conservation International.

Tropical rain forests are a particular problem. They contain most of

the world's species -- but also many valuable trees, and are usually

found in developing countries where the economies rely on basic

industries such as mining and logging.

Sustainable forest management is meant to balance the needs of the

environment with the demand for wood, Bowles said. The idea is to give

people economic incentives to preserve the forest while harvesting

a variety of trees and planting new ones to give the forest time to

regenerate.

But this kind of logging still has a serious impact on biodiversity --

the number of different species there are -- Bowles added. It can be

ineffective because governments often lack the will or incentive to

slow logging when it is a badly needed cash crop.

"Conservation is not necessarily compatible with sustained yield of

timber from a given forest," he said in a telephone interview. "No

matter how you slice it, it has impact on biological diversity."

A solution, Bowles said, is to completely log the most valuable

trees, then close the forest off. This removes the financial incentive

to continue logging and would allow conservation groups to buy the

land cheaply, he explained.

This would be effective for logging mahogany, Bowles said.

As these valuable trees are spread out, quick logging won't damage the

forest as much as sustained harvesting over a long period would.

Increased funding for plantations in degraded areas, establishing

additional protected areas and more investment in existing parks are

other answers, he added.

"If our goal is to stem the tide of destruction and protect what

remains of tropical forests, the most appropriate investment may be in

protection itself," the authors wrote.

But Jim Douglas, the forest adviser for the World Bank in Washington,

said these solutions only work in limited situations.

"I personally do not agree with their economic analysis," he said,

adding that the Bank is merely reviewing its logging policy and any

decision to invest is at least a year away.

He said the idea of logging the most valuable trees, then closing the

forest, will not work in tropical forests thickly populated with

valuable trees. In many such areas, including most of Southeast Asia,

controlled logging prevents complete devastation of tropical forests,

he said.

"If you are intent on maintaining forests with as much integrity as

possible, then sustainable forest management is probably the only

option you have in many areas," Douglas said in a telephone interview.

"If you do nothing you are certain to lose the forest."

The only way to completely protect biodiversity is to end logging,

which is politically and economically not feasible, he added.

"Any kind of logging will damage the ecosystem. If you don't want to

damage it you don't go in there," Douglas said.

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