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Forest
Myth-
conceptions? | | |
 LOGGING
 Logging is the
main cause of
"deforestation"?
No, it is not.
The main cause has been, and still is, clearance for agriculture.
But logging can be a major indirect cause in some areas.
What generally happens is that
removal of trees for timber is the start of a process.
Logging requires that trails and roads are built into the forest,
and this opens it up
and makes the forest more accessible to people
who need or want land for agriculture or other uses.
Sometimes people already living in the forest
are displaced to new areas.
Hence logging often acts as a catalyst.
"Logging" isn't
timber harvesting?
Logging is a loaded word -
it is currently used instead of timber harvesting in a prejudicial way,
associating it with logging companies
who are perceived to be making a mess of their job, thinking only of profit.
In actual fact,
“logging” should be just a useful short-hand term -
free of qualitative connotations -
for the process of taking logs out of the forest -
which is one and the same thing as the more refined
“timber harvesting”.
"Logging" means
clear-cutting?
Not at all -
most of the logging in tropical forests
involves the cutting of several large trees per hectacre -
but the majority is left standing.
However, if it is not done properly,
a lot of damage can be done to the remaining trees,
and it may look as though most of the forest has gone.
Clear-cutting is a term properly used
for the way a plantation is finally harvested -
all the trees are indeed cut down, and a new forest is planted.
Clear-cutting is
bad?
If natural forest is improperly harvested for timber,
then the damage done to the trees, soil, wildlife etc can be extensive.
Because many species valuable for timber require shade to grow,
the quality of the forest that grows back will be poor.
However, plantations are usually designed to be clear-cut,
and if this is done in the right way, on suitable sites,
the site will not be degraded.
Natural disasters such as hurricanes
can cause a localised clear-cut effect
that is a natural and necessary part of some natural forests.
Logging causes
floods?
Floods are generally caused by excessive rain that cannot be regulated
by soil, vegetation, or man-made drainage systems as it flows away.
Damage to forested watersheds caused by improper logging
does make matters worse,
but is not the main cause.
Many floods blamed on logging (deforestation)
would have happened anyway.
Flood damage is often made worse
by improper land-use in the flooded areas.
Logging reduces
biodiversity?
When timber is carefully harvested from natural forests at a sustainable rate,
the intention is to maintain the balance of species present,
perhaps encouraging those species
with more useful timber or other products.
Although this will tend to reduce diversity,
maintenance of adequate diversity
is not necessarily incompatible with logging.
Long concession
agreements make
logging sustainable
To be written
You can't trust the
private sector
To be written
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