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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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