Rehabilitation and Restoration Of Degraded Forests (PDF) - IUCN

REHABILITATION AND RESTORATION OF DEGRADED FORESTS
6.4. Interventions providing biodiversity as well as productivity benefits
The primary benefit of the approaches above is the restoration of some
or most of the biodiversity. Immediate or direct improvements in
human well-being are often limited, although considerable indirect
economic and social benefits may develop over time because of the
ecological services provided (e.g. watershed protection). The absence of
an early direct benefit necessarily limits the number of situations in
which ecological restoration might be attempted. It also means that
restoration is usually attempted only in relatively small areas.
The most common alternative method of overcoming degradation is
some form of reclamation using monoculture plantings of a single
species. These species are usually exotic trees that provide a commercial
benefit but do nothing to reverse the ongoing trend towards landscape
simplification. Some of the advantages and disadvantages are shown in
Table 2. A third alternative is the approach referred to earlier as
rehabilitation, in which are several other ways to overcome degradation
that provide a commercial or socially useful product and also increase
biodiversity across the landscape. As well as improving biodiversity,
some of these approaches may even offer better production or additional
benefits than those provided by reclamation.
6.4.1 Managing secondary forests
Secondary or regrowth forests are often viewed as having little biodiversity
value or potential for contributing to rural livelihoods. For
example, they are often thought to be exclusively occupied by trees
with low timber densities that have little economic value. These
assumptions may be wrong. Depending on their origins, they may be
able to make a substantial contribution to biodiversity protection and
also help provide a variety of goods and services. In addition, the sheer
extent of the areas of secondary forest now found in most tropical areas
demands that they receive more attention.
Several alternatives are possible depending on the origins of the forest
and the range and abundance of the species it contains. One option is
to simply protect the forest and manage the harvesting of existing
plants and animals. This requires care because of the risk that the forest
will degrade further unless harvesting is carefully regulated. On the
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