Suggestions for a middle ground between unlogged forest and intensively managed lands

It is increasingly recognized that protected areas alone are not sufficient for successful biodiversity conservation, and that management of production areas (e.g. forestry and agricultural land) plays a crucial role in that respect. Retention forestry and agroforestry are two land management systems aiming to reconcile the production of human goods with biodiversity conservation.

The retention forestry model is, as the name suggests, based on retaining some of the local forest structures when harvesting trees in an attempt to preserve local biodiversity. Agroforestry addresses this need through the intentional management of alongside . Despite the technical differences, both systems provide an intermediary between unlogged forest and intensively managed land. A paper recently published in the open access journal Nature Conservation, draws an important parallel between the two systems.

From a conservation point of view, both retention forestry and agroforestry are expected to provide a variety of , such as the maintenance and restoration of ecosystem heterogeneity. They also provide habitat for tree-dependent species outside the forest as well as increased connectivity for within landscapes. Moreover, both systems minimize some of the off-site impacts of management. In spite of some inherent differences between the two systems, the large number of similarities suggests that both would benefit from a bridging of scientific and practical experiences.

More information: Roberge J-M, Mönkkönen M, Toivanen T, Kotiaho JS (2013) Retention forestry and biodiversity conservation: a parallel with agroforestry. Nature Conservation 4: 29, doi: 10.3897/natureconservation.4.5116

Journal information: Nature Conservation

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Citation: Suggestions for a middle ground between unlogged forest and intensively managed lands (2013, March 18) retrieved 19 March 2024 from https://phys.org/news/2013-03-middle-ground-unlogged-forest-intensively.html
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