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Looking up from the base of a kapok tree. (Photo by R. Butler)
LOGGING
OVERVIEW
In most tropical countries forests are government-owned and ownership by parties other than the state is often
prohibited. Timber is often harvested under concession agreements awarded to private logging firms who, without
securimg legal rights to the land, are reluctant to make investments in forest management. Thus it is no surprise
that a recent study found that less than 0.1 percent of tropical forests are sustainably managed and less than 1 percent of the area used
for logging is under any form of management. Nevertheless, tropical countries see timber as a major source of revenue
and continue to grant huge concessions at below their market rates. Forestry is important to the world economy,
contributing 2 percent to world GDP (4 percent of GDP in developing countries) and making up 3% of international trade; it is also vital to
the local economies of many countries. For example, the logging of tropical timber provides work for 100,000 people
in the Sarawak province of Malaysia and generates US$ 1.5 billion annually in exports. However, the resource management
of tropical forests is grossly underfunded, causing numerous problems.
Many countries have passed forestry laws, sometimes as a genuine
effort, but more often as a nominal gesture to please international financing organizations. Where forestry laws
exist they are often ignored or widely abused. In the absence of regulation, loggers often ignore the negative
environmental impacts of their actions, since they derive little or no financial benefit from mitigating them. For
example, Malaysia, one of the largest exporters of tropical wood, has good forestry laws that would almost guarantee
sustainable use of its forests. However, the laws are not put into practice because of a lack of forestry officials and
a lack of government interest. Many in government prefer the extra cash in their pockets from the intense lobbying
by timber companies instead of actually enforcing forestry laws. Thus Malaysia's national parks and reserves continue
to be exploited, and the recommended maximum felling quantities are exceeded. Typical management problems include:
improperly conducted pre- and post-harvesting inventories, re-logging at more frequent intervals than required,
cutting outside concession boundaries, and ineffective control and supervision by the forest ministry. Many governments
around the world partake in such activities in an effort to raise quick cash. However these governments are selling
themselves and their peoples short. Many are effectively selling their wood at below market prices while others are losing millions
worldwide from illegal logging activities by not enforcing their forestry laws. Instead of collecting taxes and
duties on all timber extracted from the forest, governments receive only partial revenue as illicit wood goes untaxed. The problem is especially
bad in Indonesia where an estimated 500,000 hectares (42 percent of annual logged area) of forest are illegally logged
each year at a loss as high as US$3.5 billion in revenues to the government. Worldwide, the World Bank estimates, governments lose about US$5 billion in revenues annually as a result of illegal logging while overall losses to the national economies of timber-producing countries add up to an additional US$10 billion per year.
What is desperately needed is a new type of forestry that departs from the older mentality where forests only exist
to serve immediate human demands and are considered non-exhaustible resources. New forest management adds both rural development
and conservation projects to traditional tree harvesting and aims to keep forests as functional ecological systems
while providing multiple economic benefits. Among the innovations of the new forest management are a greater involvement
of local communities, diversification of forest products to include NWFPs, and the development of plantation forests
on degraded lands. Great strides have been made in recent years to develop more sustainable management policies,
but traditional logging firms still have a long way to go.
Tropical deforestation is 'one of the worst crises since we came out of our caves'
(5/15/2008) Speaking at the Asia-Pacific Forestry Week in Vietnam, keystone speaker Dr. Norman Myers stated: "I'm going to give you my bottom-line message right now, up front, this is a super crisis that we are facing, it's an appalling crisis, it's one of the worst crises since we came out of our caves 10,000 years ago. I'm referring of course to elimination of tropical forests and of their millions of species."
No sacrifices to ending deforestation in the Amazon, only gains
(4/29/2008) Regular columnist and co-creator of Brazil's environmental news website, O Eco, Sergio Abranches has great credibility in Brazil's eco-awakening. A professor of political science, Abranches uses his unique talents to reach a widening audience in Brazil for environmental, energy, and climate change news and discussion. He speaks expertly on any number of topics: from Amazonian deforestation to the current food crises to economic and political transformations for a warming world.
Fast-food industry destroying forests in the Southern U.S
(4/28/2008) The Southern forests of North America supply 60% of US and 15% of global paper demands. Deforestation for wood and paper products, along with urban sprawl, has resulted in a total decline from 356 million acres in colonial times to 182 million acres today. The South contains more threatened forest ecosystems than anywhere else in the US. A major perpetuator of deforestation in the South is the fast food industry. With nearly 100 paper packaging mills in the South and thousands of restaurants worldwide, major fast food retailers such as KFC and Taco Bell are leaders in paper consumption and subsequent waste. The Dogwood Alliance, a nonprofit organization formed to increase awarness of the importance of Southern forests and the threats their survival, has launched a new campaign at nofreerefills.org which specifically targets the paper packaging practices of the fast food industry.
Peru fails to investigate murder of Amazon environmental leader
(4/22/2008) Peruvian authorities failed to respond to requests for protection from Julio Garcia Agapito, the environmental leader who was gunned down in southeastern Peru in late February, according to a new petition which calls for an investigation into his murder. Julio Garcia's killing at the hands of an illegal logger set off international outcry and highlighted rising tensions over the paving of a highway in the Amazon rainforest.
Borneo's pygmy elephants are an alien species
(4/18/2008) A new study suggests that the Borneo pygmy elephant -- one of Borneo's best known and charismatic animals -- is actually an invasive species introduced from a neighboring island by a former sultan. The finding offers hope that in Borneo, the elephant can avoid the fate that befell it in its native Java: extinction.
