Forestry Investment News
Mammals at risk from Brazilian deforestation
14/08/2012
New research shows that animals living in Brazil’s forests that are cut off from larger areas of forested land by towns, roads and farms are dying off at a rapid rate.
The alarming figures published in the PLOS ONE science journal suggest that conservation is even more important than previously thought to protect species of mammal that live in the vulnerable forests of Brazil.
The British and Brazilian scientists that carried out the important research visited a large number of fragmented forests, which were all that remained of a previously huge expanse of rainforests on the Atlantic coast of Brazil. The fragments are broken up and are located away from each other thanks to decades of deforestation.
The researchers were looking for 18 different types of mammals, but each fragment only contained an average of four of these mammal types. The areas of forest analyzed ranged in size from as small as a football pitch to up to 12,000 acres.
The researchers claimed that the mammals were becoming extinct in certain areas much more quickly than previously expected. They explained: "We uncovered a staggering rate of local extinctions.”
They added that one species, the pig-like White-lipped peccaries, “were completely wiped out and jaguars, lowland tapirs, woolly spider monkeys and giant anteaters were virtually extinct.”
Reuters spoke to Professor Carlos Peres of the University of East Anglia about the findings. He explained, "This is bad news for conservation.” He added that the results of the paper suggest that protecting areas more readily would help to safeguard the future of some species. “This paper is a very big positive endorsement of more protected areas," stated Peres.
Analysts are generally calling for the value of standing forests to be highlighted more actively through better engagement in the carbon trading market. Prof. Peres said that more measures should be taken to underline the economic value in standing forests and sustainable forestry management, as part of the general attempts to reduce climate change.
Sustainably managed plantations, such as those run by Greenwood Management can help to provide alternative sources of timber and charcoal to that sourced from native forests. The plantations can also provide much-needed habitats to a range of species.
The UN’s REDD+ initiative is taking measures to try to increase the benefits available to developing nations that invest in maintaining their forested land through carbon trading with wealthier countries who produce more carbon through industrial activity. The initiative already has 200 nations behind it, which, over time, will help to provide more incentives to countries, such as Brazil, to keep their forests intact and concentrate on sustainable, managed forestry with the help of foreign investment.
The alarming figures published in the PLOS ONE science journal suggest that conservation is even more important than previously thought to protect species of mammal that live in the vulnerable forests of Brazil.
The British and Brazilian scientists that carried out the important research visited a large number of fragmented forests, which were all that remained of a previously huge expanse of rainforests on the Atlantic coast of Brazil. The fragments are broken up and are located away from each other thanks to decades of deforestation.
The researchers were looking for 18 different types of mammals, but each fragment only contained an average of four of these mammal types. The areas of forest analyzed ranged in size from as small as a football pitch to up to 12,000 acres.
The researchers claimed that the mammals were becoming extinct in certain areas much more quickly than previously expected. They explained: "We uncovered a staggering rate of local extinctions.”
They added that one species, the pig-like White-lipped peccaries, “were completely wiped out and jaguars, lowland tapirs, woolly spider monkeys and giant anteaters were virtually extinct.”
Reuters spoke to Professor Carlos Peres of the University of East Anglia about the findings. He explained, "This is bad news for conservation.” He added that the results of the paper suggest that protecting areas more readily would help to safeguard the future of some species. “This paper is a very big positive endorsement of more protected areas," stated Peres.
Analysts are generally calling for the value of standing forests to be highlighted more actively through better engagement in the carbon trading market. Prof. Peres said that more measures should be taken to underline the economic value in standing forests and sustainable forestry management, as part of the general attempts to reduce climate change.
Sustainably managed plantations, such as those run by Greenwood Management can help to provide alternative sources of timber and charcoal to that sourced from native forests. The plantations can also provide much-needed habitats to a range of species.
The UN’s REDD+ initiative is taking measures to try to increase the benefits available to developing nations that invest in maintaining their forested land through carbon trading with wealthier countries who produce more carbon through industrial activity. The initiative already has 200 nations behind it, which, over time, will help to provide more incentives to countries, such as Brazil, to keep their forests intact and concentrate on sustainable, managed forestry with the help of foreign investment.
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