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Wildlife boost in African forests certified for sustainable logging

Is there a conservation benefit if tropical forests that are affected by logging gain certification from the Forest Stewardship Council? An analysis of the biodiversity outcomes in such tropical forests provides answers.
  1. Julia E. Fa

    1. Julia E. Fa is in the Department of Natural Sciences, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester M15 6BH, UK, and at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR-ICRAF), Bogor, Indonesia.

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Tropical forests stand out as being the most biodiverse terrestrial ecosystems1. They provide essential ecosystem services, such as supplying wild meat for consumption by millions of forest dwellers2, and they sequester carbon — some estimates suggest that tropical forests store 25% of global carbon and host 96% of the world’s tree species3. Despite their ecological importance, tropical forests face severe threats as a result of human activities, including deforestation by small farmers, the conversion of forest to industrial agriculture and unregulated commercial logging. Writing in Nature, Zwerts et al.4 provide insights into the consequences of managing timber from tropical forests in a sustainable manner through a certification process.

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Nature 628, 503-505 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-00878-z

References

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Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

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