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Clear-cutting in Peru. (Photo by R. Butler)
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LOGGING
Logging is one of the most prominent and best-known forms of rainforest degradation and destruction. Despite improved logging techniques and greater international awareness and concern for the rainforests, unsustainable logging of tropical rainforests continues—much of it practiced illegally by criminal syndicates.
In the late 1990s, after depleting much of their own timber stocks, Asian logging companies began aggressively moving into rainforest areas including northeastern South America (Guyana, Suriname); the Brazilian Amazon; the Congo Basin of Central Africa; the South Pacific, particularly the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea; and Central America. Chinese timber firms have been particularly active of late, after the government banned domestic logging in much of the country following catastrophic flooding in 1998. With a construction boom fueling demand for wood, China has recently been linked to logging in Africa, the Amazon, Burma, and Indonesia.
Typical logging operations are quite damaging to the rainforest ecosystem. Problems stem from the nature of limited-term timber concessions, which encourage short-term resource depletion, and poor forest planning and management. Corruption is rife in many tropical timber-producing countries, making existing forestry laws nearly unenforceable, while lack of transparency in commercial transactions means that corrupt officials can grant concessions to cronies without regard for the environment or consideration of local people. The structure of the rainforest itself—where no one species dominates and attractive timber trees are widely dispersed—means that it can simply be more profitable to clear- cut forest. Even without clear-cutting, the construction of logging roads to reach forest resources is destructive in the its own right and encourages settlement of previously inaccessible forest lands by speculators, land developers, and poor farmers. Studies by the Environmental Defense Fund show that areas that have been selectively logged are eight times more likely to be settled and cleared by shifting cultivators than untouched rainforests because of the access granted by logging roads. Research has found a high correlation between the presence of logging roads and consumption of "bushmeat"—wild animals hunted as food.
Logging roads aside, selective logging itself—where only one or two valuable tree species are harvested from an area—can take a heavy toll on primary tropical forests. A late 2005 study conducted by scientists from the Carnegie Institution at Stanford University determined that "selective logging" creates twice as much damage as is detected by satellites while resulting in 25 percent more greenhouse gas emissions than previously believed.
Selective logging—as usually practiced—is degrading to the forest because the felling of a single large tree can bring down dozens of surrounding trees which are connected to the target tree by vines and lianas. The thinning of the protective canopy exposes the forest to increased sunlight and drying winds that can kill symbiotic soil organisms essential for decomposition and nutrient-fixing, while drying leaf litter and increasing the forest's vulnerability to fire. Further, the use of tractors for removing trees tears up the soil and increases erosion. Selective logging has been found to reduce global biodiversity by destroying habitat for primary forest species.
These tropical logging operations widely fail to safeguard timber stocks for future harvests and fail to protect logged-over forest from fire, biodiversity loss, over-hunting, and subsequent conversion for agriculture or pasture. But the damage caused by clear-cutters is even worse. Operators who do not practice selective logging may instead simply burn a forest tract after valuable trees have been removed.
Chart: wood removal from tropical countries
Chart: industrial roundwood removal from tropical countries
Logging . . . Amphetamine Style
An Account of Illegal Logging in Thailand
Poor economics
Developing countries often see only a fraction of the money they deserve from legal logging operations, and even less from illegal logging, which, according to World Bank estimates, costs governments about US$5 billion in lost revenues annually and hits national economies for another US$10 billion per year. Logging firms can often find or create loopholes in legislation that allow them to pay very little for concessions while sometimes avoiding excise taxes on the logs they remove. For example, a 1994 logging agreement in Suriname granted 25 percent of Suriname's land area (7.5 million acres or 3 million hectares) at less than $35 an acre, while lacking provisions to safeguard the environment, reforest logged areas, or even allow the country to adequately monitor logging activities. Estimates at the time from the U.S. Forestry Service and Harvard Law School project that while loggers would earn some US$28 million annually, the country will only see US$2 million. Meanwhile, in the late 1990s, the Cambodian government was losing so much revenue from its failure to collect taxes on timber that the IMF canceled a $120 million loan and the World Bank suspended direct aid to the government until the corruption in the forestry sector was resolved. Apparently these actions were not enough to stem forest loss: between 2000 and 2005, Cambodia lost nearly 30 percent of its primary forest cover. In Nigeria, which suffered the highest rate of primary forest loss (55.7 percent) in the first half of this decade, WEMPCO, a Hong Kong logging firm, reportedly paid US$28 to the government for each mahogany tree while reselling the wood at US$800 per cubic meter, roughly US$2,900 per tree.
Tropical Hardwood Log Imports into Japan
Total Tropical Timber Imports into Japan Tropical countries also lose potential revenue by exporting logs before processing, when wood has its lowest value. Several countries, including Cambodia, the Solomon Islands, and Burma, have banned raw log exports in an effort to increase revenue for local operators and the government, but raw logs are commonly smuggled by crime syndicates.
"Sustainable logging"
Sustainable forestry is possible, but according to the International Tropical Timber Organization, less than 1 percent of logging in the tropics is truly sustainable. In a recent survey none of 34 sites in the Para state of Brazil had met ITTO harvesting requirements that Brazil had agreed to implement by the year 2000. Several techniques like strip logging and reduced impact logging (See Ch 10: Solutions: "sustainable logging") show potential, but do little good if they are not adopted.
Rainforest logging operations are also particularly subject to "greenwash" where a firm claims to be committed to sustainable harvesting techniques but in practice is failing to implement the most basic safeguards.
Review questions:
- Why can selective logging be destructive in the rainforest?
- What is the hunting of wild animals for food called?
- What is greenwash?
[print version | spanish | french | chinese | japanese]
Continued: Mining in the Rainforest
Recent news on logging [all logging news]
Amazon timber industry declares ban on illegal logging
(7/17/2008) The Brazilian state of Pará today announced a ban on the sales of illegally logged timber from the Amazon rainforests.
Forests cover 1/3 of U.S. but are responsible for 2/3 of its water supply
(7/16/2008) The single most important function of U.S. forests is their role in securing the country's freshwater supply at a time when water demand is surging but climate risks to forests are also increasing, say the authors of a new federal report released by the National Research Council.
Wal-Mart to ban sales of wood products from threatened rainforests
(7/14/2008) Wal-Mart, America's biggest retailer, has joined an initiative to conserve the world's most valuable and threatened forests.
Environmentalists protest proposed logging of Malaysian forest reserve
(7/10/2008) Nineteen environmental groups launched a protest against a Malaysian state government plan to log Hulu Muda forest reserve, reports Bernama.
Palm oil industry moves into the Amazon rainforest
(7/9/2008) Malaysia's Land Development Authority FELDA has announced plans to immediately establish 100,000 hectares (250,000) of oil palm plantations in the Brazilian Amazon. The agency will partner with Braspalma, a local company, to form Felda Global Ventures Brazil Sdn Bhd. FELDA will have a 70 percent stake in the venture. The announcement had been expected. Last month Najib said Malaysia would seek to expand its booming palm oil industry overseas. The country is facing land constraints at home.
20% of Amazon timber illegally harvested from protected areas
(7/7/2008) 20 percent of Amazon timber is illegally harvested from protected areas according to a report published in O'Globo.
Australia's largest retailer Woolworths greenwashes rainforest destruction in Indonesia, allege activists
(7/7/2008) Despite a year of protesting, Woolworths continues to carry paper sourced from 'the worst fibre manufacturer in the world'. Woolworths Limited is Australia's largest retailer and the world's 25th largest; it is also the only Australian company to make into the top twenty-five. It is the "Wal-mart of Down-Under". And much like Wal-mart, Woolworths has attempted to become more green recently. Though, according to a recent campaign entitled "Wake Up Woolworths", this is merely the worst in greenwashing.
Orangutan populations drop due to logging, expansion for palm oil
(7/3/2008) Orangutan populations have fallen sharply on the two islands where they still live, reports a new study published in the journal Oryx.
Sarawak to continue logging forests for oil palm plantations
(6/30/2008) Despite a prime minister's directive banning conversion of forest reserves for oil palm plantations, the Malaysian state of Sarawak will continue to open up forest land for oil palm plantations, reports the New Straits Times.
Rainforest destruction becomes industry-driven, concentrated geographically
(6/30/2008) New analysis of global deforestation reveals that the bulk of tropical forest loss is occurring in a small number of countries. The research — published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) — shows that Brazil accounts for nearly half of global deforestation, nearly four times that of the next highest country, Indonesia, which makes up about an eighth of worldwide forest clearing.
Sarawak to continue logging forests for oil palm plantations
(6/26/2008) Despite a prime minister's directive banning conversion of forest reserves for oil palm plantations, the Malaysian state of Sarawak will continue to open up forest land for oil palm plantations, reports the New Straits Times.
China's log imports fall in Q1 2008
(6/20/2008) China's log imports fell 11.5 percent in volume during the first quarter of 2008, but higher prices resulted in an 8.2 percent rise in the value of imports, reports the International Tropical Timber Organization's (ITTO) Tropical Timber Market Report
EU may mandate certification system for Amazon timber
(6/20/2008) According to O Estado de Sao Paulo and the International Tropical Timber Organization, the European Union is considering a green-labeling program for certifying the origin of timber imports. The label is said to target widespread illegal logging in the Amazon. Europe about 47 percent of timber produced in the Amazon region.
Rainforests face array of emerging threats
(6/15/2008) Tropical forests face a number of emerging threats said a leading biologist speaking at a scientific conference in Paramaribo, Suriname.
Hunting, deforestation wipe out 6 of 7 hornbill species in Borneo park
(6/14/2008) Logging, forest conversion for palm oil, and hunting have triggered a precipitous drop in key wildlife populations in Malaysia's Lambir Hills National Park, on the island of Borneo, said a biologist speaking at a scientific conference in Paramaribo, Suriname.
Does logging contribute to AIDS deaths in Africa?
(6/14/2008) Logging activities in tropical Africa may pose hidden health risks to wildlife and humans according to a veterinary pathobiologist speaking at a scientific conference in Paramaribo, Suriname.
Forests face governance challenges
(6/12/2008) Governments "own" about 86 percent of the word's forests, but recent changes in forest management structure means they effectively control far less than they did just a generation ago. As such, the fate of forests is increasingly determined by concesssionary agreements with extractive industries and the whims of market demand for commodities produced on forest lands. Climate change and rapid economic growth are poised to further complicate effective management of forest areas.
Brazil levies $279 million fine for illegal Amazon logging
(6/11/2008) Brazilian authorities slapped the largest-ever fine on a timber company now owned by a Swedish sporting goods magnate for alleged illegal logging, according to the Associated Press.
Papua New Guinea's rainforests disappearing faster than thought
(6/2/2008) Logging is taking a heavy toll on the forests of Papua New Guinea, suggests a new study. Using satellite images to reveal changes in forest cover between 1972 and 2002, researchers from the University of Papua New Guinea and the Australian National University found that Papua New Guinea (PNG) lost more than 5 million hectares of forest over the past three decades — total forest cover declined from 38 million hectares in 1972 to 33 million hectares in 2002. Worse, deforestation rates may be accelerating, with the pace of forest clearing reaching 362,000 hectares (895,000 acres) per year in 2001. The study warns that at current rates 53 percent of the country's forests could be lost or seriously degraded by 2021.
Photos of arrow-wielding uncontacted tribe in the Amazon rainforest
(5/30/2008) A fly-over of a remote part of the Amazon rainforest spotted members of what is believed to be one of the world's last uncontacted tribes. The Amazonians reacted aggressively to the fly-over, with bow and arrows aimed at the plane, according to Survival International, a group that works to protect indigenous peoples.
Unless otherwise specified, this article was written by Rhett A. Butler [Bibliographic citation for this page]
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