The edge of a patch of forest cleared for agriculture. (Photo by R. Butler)
|
|
INCREASING PRODUCTIVITY AND REHABILITATING DEGRADED HABITATS
In reducing the loss of tropical rainforests, we must not only be concerned with the transformation of existing
natural ecosystems, but also with the more rational utilization of already cleared and degraded areas. To lessen future
forest loss we must increase and sustain the productivity of farms, pastures, plantations, and scrub land in addition
to restoring species and ecosystems to degraded habitats. By reducing wasteful land-use practices, consolidating
gains on existing cleared lands, and improving already developed lands we can diminish the need to clear additional
rainforest.
INCREASING PRODUCTIVITY
Increasing productivity of cleared rainforest lands is possible using improved technology to generate higher yielding
crops. Taking advantage of improved germ plasm developed through careful selection can produce grasses and crops
that will grow on degraded forest soils. While technology may have accelerated the development and impoverishment
of tropical rainforests, it will be one of the keys to saving them.
Bioengineering Backlash
HABITAT AND SPECIES REHABILITATION
There is still time to save some of the most threatened species and ecosystems that have been pushed so close to
extinction that they will perish unless we intervene. We can make a positive difference in preserving a species
that mankind has practically destroyed. One of the most heart-warming examples is the story of the Mauritius kestrel. However,
saving a single species takes incredible time and resources and can hardly be a practical solution. Instead the
concentration must be on saving and restoring entire ecosystems.
The restoration of entire ecosystems is most possible in regions where parts or at least remnants of the original
forest still remain and there are few human population pressures. Small clearings surrounded by forest recover
quickly and large sections may recover in time, especially if we provide some assistance in the reforestation process.
After several years, a once-barren field can again support vegetation in the form of pioneer species and secondary
growth. Although the secondary forest will be low in diversity and poorly developed, the forest cover will be adequate
for some species to return (assuming they still exist). In addition, the newly forested patch can be used for the
sustainable harvest of forest products and low-intensity logging.
Tracts of replanted forest may have ecological returns in addition to economic ones. In the short term, forests
absorb large amounts of atmospheric carbon and the more trees that are replanted, the more atmospheric carbon will
be sequestered. Replanting and rehabilitating secondary forests around the world has tremendous potential for offsetting
greenhouse-gas emissions. One such project, known as INFAPRO, has been established in Malaysia in a cooperative
venture between the FACE Foundation (Forest Absorbing Carbon Emissions) and the Innoprise Corporation. The objective
of the project is to rehabilitate 61,000 acres (25,000 ha) of logged rainforest over 25 years using dipterocarps,
forest fruit, and pioneer trees. The project uses the technique of enrichment planting where seedlings are planted
in the understory of degraded forest and given preferential treatment to ensure growth. The FACE Foundation, a
Dutch firm (from a nation which stands to lose much if global warming causes a sea-level rise) has similar projects
in Uganda and Ecuador.
|
Birds and bats may help restore tropical forests September 27, 2005
Scientists believe they may have found a way to regrow tropical forest on deforested lands. The plan would involve planting fast-growing, fruit-producing trees, like figs, in the formerly forested areas. These trees would attract birds and bats which would deposit seeds from nearby forests onto the ground below. The dropping of these seeds would, in effect, return native forest species to the deforested patch. Scientists will test the theory in Veracruz, Mexico, to see if coaxing birds and bats back into the area will help restore the forest's biodiversity.
|
One promising area of research looks at ancient societies that lived in the Amazon rainforest before the arrival of Europeans in the 15th century. Apparently these populations were able to enrich the rainforest soil, which is usually quite poor, using charcoal and animal bones. By improving soil quality, large areas of the Amazon that have been deforested could be used to support agriculture. This could help reduce pressure on rainforest areas for agricultural land. Further, the "terra preta" soil could be used to help fight global warming since it absorbs carbon dioxide, an important greenhouse gas.
Ancient Amazonian technology could save the world
Review questions:
- Why is increasing productivity on deforested lands important for rainforest conservation?
- How do birds and bats help in habitat rainforest regeneration?
[print version | spanish
Other pages in this section:
|
|
| |
CONTENTS
Other languages
WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
INTERACT
|
Recent news
Could biochar save the world?
(08/16/2010) Biochar—the agricultural application of charcoal produced from burning biomass—may be one of this century's most important social and environmental revolutions. This seemingly humble practice—a technology that goes back thousands of years—has the potential to help mitigate a number of entrenched global problems: desperate hunger, lack of soil fertility in the tropics, rainforest destruction due to slash-and-burn agriculture, and even climate change. "Biochar is a recalcitrant form of carbon that will stay almost entirely unaltered in soils for very long periods of time. So you can sequester carbon in a simple, durable and safe way by putting the char in the soil. Other types of carbon in soils rapidly turn into carbon dioxide. Char doesn't," managing director of the Biochar Fund, Laurens Rademakers, told mongabay.com in a recent interview.
Congo biochar initiative will reduce poverty, protect forests, slow climate change
(05/19/2009) An initiative using soil carbon enrichment techniques to boost agricultural yields, alleviate poverty, and protect endangered forests in Central Africa was today selected as one of six projects to win funding under the Congo Basin Forest Fund (CBFF). The scientific committee of the CBFF awarded Belgium's Biochar Fund and its Congolese partner ADAPEL €300,000 to implement its biochar concept in 10 villages in the Equateur Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The approach improves the fertility of soils through the introduction of "biochar" — charcoal produced from the burning of agricultural residues and waste biomass under reduced oxygen conditions — thereby increasing crop yields and reducing the need to clear forest for slash-and-burn agriculture.
Biochar and its Role in Mitigating Climate Change
(12/17/2008) The growing concerns about climate change have brought biochar, a charcoal produced from biomass combustion, into limelight. Biochar is a carbon-rich, fine-grained residue which can be produced either by ancient techniques (such as covering burning biomass with soil and allowing it to smolder) or state-of-the-art modern pyrolysis processes. Combustion and decomposition of woody biomass and agricultural residues results in the emission of a large amount of carbon dioxide. Biochar can store this CO2 in the soil leading to reduction in GHGs emission and enhancement of soil fertility. Biochar holds the promise to tackle chronic human development issues like hunger and food insecurity, low agricultural productivity and soil depletion, deforestation and biodiversity loss, energy poverty, air pollution and climate change. Thus, biochar could make a difference in the energy-starved countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America as well as the industrialized world with its vast array of benefits.
Pre-Colombian Amazonians lived in sustainable 'urban' society
(08/28/2008) Researchers have uncovered new evidence to support the controversial theory that parts of the Amazon were home to dense "urban" settlements prior to the arrival of Europeans in the 15th century. The study is published this Friday in the journal Science. Conducting archeological excavations and aerial imagery across a number of sites in the Upper Xingu region of the Brazilian Amazon, a team of researchers led by Michael Heckenberger found evidence of a grid-like pattern of 150-acre towns and smaller villages, connected by complex road networks and arranged around large plazas where public rituals would take place. The authors argue that the discoveries indicate parts of the Amazon supported "urban" societies based around agriculture, forest management, and fish farming.
Heavily-populated Amazon was decimated by old world disease
(06/09/2008) Ecologists and archaeologists agree that when Columbus struck the Americas in 1492 everything changed, but questions persist over the kind of world Columbus and his followers would soon transform. Recently the state of the pre-Columbian Amazon has been under increasing debate among scientists across numerous fields. In a lecture given at the ATBC conference (Association of Tropical Biology and conservation) in Paramaribo, Suriname, Dr. Francis Mayle weighed in on the debate.
Indonesia to set aside 45% of Kalimantan for conservation
(01/19/2012) Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) on Thursday announced a regulation that would protect 45 percent of Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo, according to a statement issued by his office.
The other side of the Penan story: threatened tribe embraces tourism, reforestation
(12/19/2011) News about the Penan people is usually bleak. Once nomadic hunter-gatherers of the Malaysian state of Sarawak on Borneo, the indigenous Penan have suffered decades of widespread destruction of their forests and an erosion of their traditional culture. Logging companies, plantation developments, massive dams, and an ambivalent government have all played a role in decimating the Penan, who have from time-to-time stood up to loggers through blockades, but have not been successful in securing recognition of legal rights to their traditional lands. Yet even as the Penan people struggle against the destruction of their homelands, they are not standing still. Several Penan villages have recently begun a large-scale reforestation program, a community tourism venture, and proclaimed their a portion of their lands a "Peace Park."
Wildlife official: palm oil plantations behind decline in proboscis monkeys
(12/05/2011) The practice of palm oil plantations planting along rivers is leading to a decline in proboscis monkeys (Nasalis larvatus) in the Malaysian state of Sabah on Borneo, says the director of the Sabah Wildlife Department, Laurentius Ambu. Proboscis monkeys, known for their bulbous noses and remarkable agility, depend on riverine forests and mangroves for survival, but habitat destruction has pushed the species to be classified as Endangered by the IUCN Red List.
Deforestation could be stopped by 2020
(11/28/2011) If governments commit to an international program to save forests known as REDD+, deforestation could be nearly zero in less than a decade, argues the Living Forests Report from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). REDD+, which stands for Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation, is a program that would pay developing nations to preserve forests for their ability to sequester carbon. Government officials begin meeting tomorrow in Durban, South Africa for the 17th UN climate summit, and REDD+ will be among many topics discussed.
Putting people to work: restoring our ecosystems, sequestering carbon
(10/02/2011) President Obama's sole focus of his September 8th speech to the United States Congress was job creation. He closed his speech by summoning an earlier time of promise: "President Kennedy once said, ' Our problems are man-made—therefore they can be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants.' These are difficult years for our country. But we are Americans. We are tougher than the times we live in, and we are bigger than our politics have been. So let's meet the moment. Let's get to work..." Inspiration is surely needed because in addition to the United States, where unemployment remains at about 9 percent, severe unemployment is found throughout the world, with Greece, Spain, and South Africa, for example, having 2011 summer unemployment rates at over 16, 20, and 25 percent, respectively.
More news on reforestation
More rainforest news
|
|
|
