Costly biodiversity measures undermine sustainable developmentFriday 24 May 2013 A new study published by the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) suggests that forcing timber and plantation companies to carry out costly and time-consuming biodiversity surveys actually undermines conservation efforts. In addition, CIFOR has released new research that demonstrates the importance of land tenure in promoting sustainable development outcomes.Forest management systems such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), each require the detection, identification, and management of endangered or protected species. Such systems are designed to enhance the protection of biodiversity as well as promote sustainable development outcomes. However, such resource-intensive surveys are actually undermining conservation efforts, due to the large burdens they impose on forest enterprises. Erik Meijaard and Douglas Sheil, the authors of the new CIFOR study, believe that such management systems are driving away companies that are genuinely committed to conservation, whilst allowing less scrupulous commercial ventures to fly under the radar. The authors note that 30 per cent of the world’s forests are currently managed by timber, mining and other companies, which is four times greater than the forest area designated for conservation management. Much of the world’s biodiversity therefore resides in these timber concessions. This has prompted the authors to argue for conservationists to work more collaboratively with commercial entities and find business-friendly solutions to enhance biodiversity and conservation outcomes: "Logging concessions have got to be a crucial part of forest management," says Meijaard "many protected areas really are just pure paper parks – they exist in paperwork alone." Source: AFPA Canopy |
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