Life after logging : reconciling wildlife conservation and production forestry in Indonesian Borneo

Tropical rainforests are the most species-rich terrestrial ecosystems on earth. Yet, with land clearing for timber, agriculture and other uses, these rainforests are disappearing at a rate of 12 million hectares a year-an area almost the size of Greece. As the forests disappear so too may the many services and needs provided by their rich biodiversity. One solution has been to establish strictly protected areas. But protected areas are not a panacea. They cannot conserve the full biological diversity found within tropical forests. In fact, the fate of many species found in protected areas depends upon what happens to other forestlands. But as the world's unprotected forests continue to be exploited for timber and non-timber forest products or for conversion to agriculture, changes in the world's fl ora and fauna are inevitable. Fortunately, the extent of that change can be controlled to a large extent through improved forest management choices and operational practices. Focusing on the wildlife of Malinau District, the most forest rich area remaining on the island of Borneo, this book considers how vertebrate species are affected by logging and other associated activities, such as road building and hunting. As an area still rich in biodiversity but increasingly under threat from timber harvesting, Malinau is a prime site for studying both the effects of logging on wildlife populations, and the conservation opportunities that exist through improved forest management. Drawing on a vast and diverse literature and a broad array of expertise, this book provides the best available synthesis to date on logging and wildlife in the region. Compiling these data allows a number of new and original analyses. The book evaluates what makes a species vulnerable to certain interventions, and proposes how changes in concession management can benefi t wildlife and improve the conservation value of logged over forest. It also gives detailed management recommendations for a list of species with high local importance, protected by Indonesian law, or threatened by global extinction. In presenting a new guide to improved production forest management in the Asian tropics, this book represents a major step forward. In addition, it identifies where the most important knowledge gaps exist, and how these should be addressed in future research. (Résumé d'auteur