Logging in tropical forests often leads to degradation, but what if it could be conducted with careful planning and executed by well-trained professionals?
Despite widespread campaigns against logging in popular media and prominent scientific journals, a shift from “timber mining” to evidence-based “managed forestry” is underway. With poor logging practices expected to persist in around 500 million hectares of tropical forests, there is a growing need to emphasize efforts promoting responsible forestry.
In a recent report, we outline five key strategies to enhance tropical forest management.
These practices not only align with the management of non-timber forest products such as fruits, fibers, resins, and medicinal plants but also contribute to biodiversity conservation. Furthermore, they offer cost-effective ways to reduce carbon emissions and increase carbon removal.
Five Strategies to Improve Tropical Forest Management:
Enhance Logging Practices: Conduct planned harvest operations led by trained workers, duly rewarded for implementing lower-impact logging practices. This approach results in reduced soil erosion, fewer worker injuries, and a 50% reduction in carbon emissions compared to conventional logging.
Minimize Wood Waste: Train workers to maximize wood recovery during harvesting and processing. Proper felling techniques can minimize stump height and reduce the number of broken logs.
Allow Time for Recovery: Sustaining timber yields involves longer intervals between harvests (reduced harvest frequency) or limiting the amount harvested per unit area. This approach, though impacting short-term profits, ensures future timber availability and merits compensation from carbon market investors.
Protect Young Trees: Foster the growth of small trees, particularly vital in forests previously disturbed by logging. Economical methods, such as liberating future crops from woody vines (lianas), can enhance future timber yields and accelerate carbon dioxide removal.
Enrichment Planting: In areas lacking natural regeneration of commercial tree species, enrichment planting can be employed. Regularly tending to these planted trees over several years can yield substantial growth and carbon sequestration rates.
Carbon Benefits of Managed Forestry:
The carbon advantages resulting from these strategies are additional, signifying interventions that wouldn’t occur without deliberate efforts. Carbon markets should thus support the transition from exploitative timber mining to responsible forest management.
Managed forestry not only sustains a workforce but also fosters job creation for professionals. In contrast, carbon projects centered on halting logging risk displacing loggers to other areas.
Transitioning from Exploitation to Responsible Management:
Achieving the long-awaited transition from tropical forest exploitation to responsible forest management necessitates coordinated support from governments, the private sector, and society at large.
Governments must enforce existing laws to prevent revenue loss and counter the influx of illegal timber suppressing log prices. Forest industries should acknowledge the benefits of investing comprehensively in forestry, including maintaining productive timber stands.
Societal support for forestry is crucial, emphasizing the need for well-trained young foresters. Dispelling the misconception that forest management equates to degradation is vital, as is addressing the shortage of trained professionals to facilitate the transition to responsible forest management. The collective effort promises financial, environmental, and social benefits.