Articles containing the keyword 'deforestation'

The area of world forests is gradually declining because of various human activities, such as shifting cultivation, uncontrolled logging and industrial pollution. Continuation of the trends would have detrimental ecological, economic and social effects on global scale. The diversity of the problem is wide. The situation in the tropical developing countries differs from that in the industrialized world. With the present rates of population growth and unchanged forest policies, the fuelwood shortage in developing countries is rapidly aggravating. The need for more agricultural land tends to prejudice conscious efforts to increase wood production.

The industrialized countries are experiencing problems in introducing forest policy means to maintain sufficient timber supply. Rapidly increasing pollution problem cause a serious hazard to the existence of the whole forest ecosystem. Forestry has primarily been a national issue of relatively low priority in political decision-making, which has resulted in insufficient action to remedy the situation at national and international level.

The renewability of forest resources represents a strategic asset, the importance of which is bound to increase in the long-run potential for badly needed economic and social change in the world’s poor rural areas will be lost.

The PDF includes a summary in Finnish.

• Simula, E-mail: ms@mm.unknown

Metsähallitus (Forest Service) commissioned a study about condition of forests on the coast of Gulf of Finland in the Karelian Isthmus. The study was made because of a growing concern on overcutting of the private forests in the area. Dominant tree species in the area is Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.). In fresh mineral soil sites Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.) grows in mixed forest with pine or as pure stands. The forests are in average 50 to 70 years old. Younger or older stands are less frequent.

At the beginning of 18^th century the local peasants sold plots for Russians, and a villa area was created along the coast. When Finland became independent, many of the properties changed owners. Timber harvesting of the forests increased and many small sawmills increased the demand of wood. Because of the cuttings, productivity of the forests decreases and danger for wind damage in the forests increases.

The author suggests that legislation created to prevent deforestation as well as counselling should be applied to improve forest management. In addition, a protective area should be formed in the Karelian Isthmus where forest preserving directives should be followed.

A summary in German is included in the PDF.

• Ilvessalo, E-mail: li@mm.unknown

Using fine-resolution satellite imagery from multiple satellite data products, we assessed the change in forest cover of a state-managed Reserve Forest (RF) located in India’s Eastern Himalaya biodiversity hot-spot. 4.6% of forest cover was lost from Papum RF between 2013 and 2017 at the rate of 8.2 km² year^–1. Three species of hornbills: Great Hornbill Buceros bicornis Linnaeus, 1758, Wreathed Hornbill Rhyticeros undulatus (Shaw, 1811) and Oriental Pied Hornbill Anthracoceros albirostris (Shaw, 1808), that are functionally important are found here with nesting habitat in the areas affected by illegal logging. Therefore, we assessed the habitat loss within a 1 km radius around 29 nest trees. From 2011 to 2019, forest cover declined from 38.55 km² to 21.94 km² around these hornbill nest trees. Illegal logging is the main driver that is depleting forest cover within this important bird area. Our results highlight the ongoing threats to biologically-rich forests and the need for urgent measures to halt this loss. We suggest that this study has practical implications for the monitoring and governance of state-managed forests in Arunachal Pradesh.

• Sheth, #4 Ananda Nilaya, 4th Main Road, Siddhivinayaka Layout, Bengaluru 560097, Karnataka, India E-mail: chintz604@gmail.com
• Datta, Nature Conservation Foundation, 1311,“Amritha”, 12th Main, Vijayanagar 1st Stage, Mysore 570017, Karnataka, India E-mail: aparajita@ncf-india.org
• Parashuram, Nature Conservation Foundation, 1311,“Amritha”, 12th Main, Vijayanagar 1st Stage, Mysore 570017, Karnataka, India; Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, CB2 3EN, United Kingdom E-mail: dp608@cam.ac.uk

• Hyde, Centre for International Forestry Research, Bogor, Indonesia E-mail: wfhyde@aol.com
• Köhlin, Göteborg University, Göteborg, Sweden E-mail: gk@nn.se

• Mazgajski, Polish Academy of Sciences, Museum & Institute of Zoology, Wilcza 64, PL 00-679 Warsaw, Poland E-mail: mazgaj@miiz.waw.pl
• Zmihorski, Polish Academy of Sciences, Museum & Institute of Zoology, Wilcza 64, PL 00-679 Warsaw, Poland E-mail: mz@nn.pl
• Abramowicz, Department of Ecology, University of Warsaw, Banacha 2, PL 02-097 Warsaw, Poland E-mail: ka@nn.pl