This article was originally published on The Nature Conservancy.
“We rely on these forest businesses to deliver products such as timber and paper that we use every day. And whether we like it or not, we also rely on them to safeguard our forest resources, and ideally enhance the environmental services these working forests can deliver. Too often this does not happen, as economic gain is put far ahead of the forest’s other crucial contributions to the environment and society. This is where we must focus our collaborative energy.
The power of sustainable forestry is that it balances the needs of the environment, communities and economies — and the good news is that it is possible. Research conducted by a team of scientists including my Nature Conservancy colleague Bronson Griscom, shows that selective logging can retain 85–100% of a forest’s biodiversity and at least 75% of its carbon (Putz et al., 2012). Plus, well-run production forests also do a better job of safeguarding surrounding protected forest areas from illegal logging. In other words, one of the best forms of forest protection is managing better forest production.
To be clear, there remain important challenges to achieving sustainable forest management. But exciting new developments — new science, technology and tools, and business models — are enabling us to address many of these challenges today…”
Read on at: The Nature Conservancy.
