Subject: BIOD: Sustainable Logging in Tropics Doesn't Work
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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/t.se/~w-25860/icibs/prog-reg.htm

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 (both the parts and the systems).  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 users 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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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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