Assessment, Conservation and Sustainable Use of Forest Biodiversity

Assessment, Conservation and Sustainable Use of Forest Biodiversity
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FORESTRY IN THE BRAZILIAN AMAZON: AN ADDED PRESSURE ON
FOREST BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY 6
Boris Romaguer
Institut des sciences de l’environnement
Université du Québec à Montréal
C.P. 8 888 Montréal
Québec H3C 3P8 Canada
E-mail : Boris.Romaguer@biodiv.org
Keywords: Sustainable forest management, sustainable yield management, plantations, tropical ecosystems,
barriers, opportunities.
Introduction
The Brazilian Amazon, an administrative area of 5 million km 2 henceforth referred to as Amazonia, is
renowned worldwide for its exceptionally rich biodiversity and for being one of the world’s largest remaining
area of pristine tropical forests. It is also well known for its alarming rate of deforestation. Indeed, the average
annual deforestation rate in Amazonia during 1978-1988 was 20 000 km 2 . Although this rate declined at the
beginning of the 1990’s, it has since increased again and the latest figures indicate 19 836 km 2 were cleared
from 1999 to 2000. Assuming that the loss of forest biodiversity is grossly related to forest cover loss and that
several biodiversity hotspots are located among the cleared areas, it is safe to suggest that Brazil is rapidly
losing many of its forest species.
Historically, governmental incentives to populate the area and to convert it to agricultural lands were the
major forces behind this deforestation. However in recent years, the tax incentives and subsidies that
prompted this deforestation have been reduced. Besides the pressure of agriculture, at present, mining,
industrial activities and especially logging for timber are becoming increasingly significant in the deterioration
of forests in Amazonia. Although all these human activities exert a significant pressure on Amazonia’s
biodiversity, this paper focuses exclusively on forestry.
Some factors responsible for the emergence of forestry in Amazonia include the increasing commercial value
of tropical trees, and their increasing demand in southern Brazil and in industrialized countries (mainly Japan,
Europe and the United States). Other factors include the gradual depletion of forests in Southeast Asia and
southern Brazil as well as the fiscal incentives in the lumber sector provided by the Brazilian government.
Particularities of forestry in Amazonia
Since Amazonia is essentially composed of tropical forests, which are inherently complex systems, carrying out
sustainable forestry in such ecosystems can be considerably more challenging than in temperate and boreal
forests. Challenges include: large number of tree species, many of which being non-commercial; rapid and
luxuriant growth of vines and creepers in the open spaces created by felling; fragility of the soils and its
vulnerability when fully exposed; difficulties of access and difficulties with natural regeneration.
Consequently, the cost for sustainably managing tropical forests is higher than in temperate and boreal forests,
which makes it particularly difficult when the countries possessing tropical forests tend to have fewer financial
resources.
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This study was carried out while the author was an intern at the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
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