IUCN World Conservation Congress Session 066 Sept. 7, 2012 14:30-16:30 Rm 402

1. The Biodiversity and Climate Imperative to Protect Primary Forests: Implications for Forest Policy IUCN World Conservation Congress Session 066 Sept. 7, 2012 14:30-16:30 Rm 402

2. Should we Subsidize Industrial Logging in Primary Tropical Forest? Cyril Kormos, The WILD Foundation cyril@wild.org

3. To recap…we know that:Primary forests and primary tropical forests are critical to responding to the twin biodiversity and climate change crises. We also know that these forests provide essential social benefits.And we also know that we are losing primary tropical forests incredibly quickly.

4. How to break the pattern of tropical deforestation? Broadly speaking, 3 solutions have been proposed to address the loss of tropical forests: • Indigenous/community management; • Protected Areas; • Sustainable industrial logging.

5. But is industrial logging in primary tropical forests really sustainable? • Can you sustain timber yields from a primary tropical forest; and • Maintain the forests composition, structure, biodiversity, full range of ecosystem services, natural adaptive capacity, and resilience?

6. Characteristics of Natural Tropical Forest Regeneration (Shearman et al. 2012; Zimmerman and Kormos 2012): • High diversity of tree species: a single hectare of tropical forest typically contains well over 100 species of trees. • Tropical hardwood species have slow growth rates and long life spans. • Low densities of adult trees and sparse seedling regeneration. • Pollination and Seed dispersal often depends on specialized sets of animal vectors (insects, birds, bats).

7. Characteristics of Natural Tropical Forest Regeneration Cont’d: • Tropical hardwoods are shade-tolerant species which typically only require sunlight during some stage of their regeneration. • Sunlight reaches seedlings as a result of canopy gaps created by a tree fall – typically canopy gaps constitute 1-2% of a primary forest. • Non-hardwood, pioneer species need much more sunlight.

8. So primary tropical forest regeneration is a complex process characterized by a high degree of randomness and which requires a high degree of intactness. Disturbance must be kept to a minimum for primary tropical forests to regenerate.

9. Can the impacts of industrial loggingbe minimized so that logging is truly sustainable?

10. Reduced Impact Logging + Selective Logging Protocols • Planning concessions to minimize roads, disturbance, directional felling to minimize collateral damage, cutting vines to prevent other trees from being dragged down etc. • Government mandated cutting cycle, restrictions on cutting small trees.

11. Unfortunately RIL/government protocols haven’t been sufficient to achieve sustainability in primary tropical forests RIL reduces collateral damage to a forest by 20-50% and reduces carbon emissions by about 30% (Putz et al 2008)…but the trees still do not grow back quickly enough to sustain timber yields.

12. So…can you log a primary tropical forest sustainably?

13. Yes: the literature indicates the following are the key elements of sustainable industrial harvesting: • Reduced Impact Logging techniques; • Cutting cycle of 60 years or more (typically government mandated cycles in forestry laws are 30-35 years); • Minimum felling diameter of 60cm; • Harvest intensity of less than 5 trees per hectare; • Basal area removal of 15% or less; • Logging gaps that measure no more than 500 square meters and no more than 10% of the forest in gap; • Retention of seed trees based on specific species needs; • Post-logging silvicultural treatments in logging gaps including enrichment planting of seedlings and tending of seedlings until they reach pole size.

14. However:logging at such low harvest intensities is not economically viable.

15. So what do logging companies do? • They move to a new area of primary forest after logging out their concession. • Governance is often weak in tropical forest countries, so many companies simply log illegally – Lawson and MacFaul 2010 report states that illegal logging has decreased slightly but is still at very high levels.

16. Implications of lack of sustainability? • Logging acts as a precursor to full conversion to industrial agriculture (Asner et al. 2009) • A recent report sponsored by the UK, Norwegian govts found that 70% of degradation results from industrial logging, and conversion to agriculture accounts for 80% of deforestation (Drivers of Deforestation and Forest Degradation, Kissinger et al. 2012).

17. Policy Implications? • Clearly logging is not going away, so: • Work to improve governance in tropical countries (FLEGT, liability schemes such as Lacey Act in the U.S., voluntary agreements etc.). • Require best practices of logging companies. • But – do not subsidize industrial logging with REDD or other subsidies because this will likely accelerate forest loss.

18. The REDD Choice Industrial logging with best practices, which is 30% better in terms of carbon emissions than conventional logging in, but nonetheless causes large carbon emissions which take decades to recapture (20-30 years), causes biodiversity loss and likely places the forest on the path to conversion to agriculture. Or…

19. The REDD Choice cont’d. Invest in communities and protected areas because these activities avoid emissions completely, retains all the values associated with primary forests including social benefits. In other words, this approach maximizes benefits.

20. Thank You