Sustainable management of tropical forests

Over the last thirty years, more than four hundred million hectares of tropical forest have been destroyed. Alongside this deforestation comes forest degradation, which in some regions of the world, such as the Amazon, affects an area just as large as deforestation. Safeguarding tropical forests has therefore become nothing less than a priority for the survival of humanity. One way forward involves setting aside forests as protected areas, thereby limiting the use of their resources by humans. The other is to manage them sustainably, so that they continue to provide vital goods and services to local communities and society as a whole. Foresters favour this second method, based on the idea that a forest that is valued for the goods and services it provides to populations, the State and society will be protected and conserved. Yet reality on the ground tells a different story. Illegal logging, which is still widespread in many tropical countries, causes significant damage to forest stands, undermining their ability to regenerate and withstand the effects of climate change. Timber harvesting is thus often blamed for a host of ills and widely regarded as the main driver of deforestation. This book does not set out to justify logging. Instead, it offers a clear, factual and accessible account of its true environmental impacts. More importantly, it reveals how timber harvesting, rather than being an enemy, could become a powerful ally in the fight to conserve the world’s tropical rainforests.