Title: Can Sustainable Management Save Tropical Forests?
Author: Richard E. Rice, Raymond E. Gullison and John W. Reid
Tropical rain forests shelter a large array of flora and fauna, and are the homes of the most valuable species in the tropical Americas is mahogany. Sustainable management of it requires both restraint in cutting trees and investment in replacing them by planting seeds. Mahogany seedlings are very hard to grow, they only grow and thrive after natural disturbances, like floods, and can't grow under the shady canopy of the forest. However, they are very valuable and rise in value each year by at most 4 to 5%. Studies show that consumers are willing to spend up to 10% more for certified timber than uncertified wood products.
Before reading this article, I had no idea that mahogany was so valuable to the environment. I thought it was just made to make furniture like coffee tables but it's much more than that. We need to save and preserve them! To make conditions proper for mahogany to grow, we need to mimic nature and clear large openings in the forest so the mahogany can get sunlight and grow. Also, we should raise awareness of what happening to the mahogany trees because most people probably don't know that they're being logged; I didn't even know until I read this article! Together, I know we can save them!
Author: Richard E. Rice, Raymond E. Gullison and John W. Reid
- Tropical rain forests shelter a large array of flora and fauna
- Sustainable management requires both restraint in cutting trees and investment in replacing them by planting seeds
- The most valuable species in the tropical Americas is mahogany
- Mahogany seedlings only grow and thrive after natural disturbances
- Mahogany seeds can't grow under the shady canopy
- Can create the proper conditions for mahogany to grow by "mimicking nature and clearing large openings in the forest"
- Mahogany trees rise in value annually at most 4 to 5%
- Consumers are willing to spend 10% more for certified timber than uncertified wood products
- Remember that many threats to tropical forests would still continue if sustainable management was widely developed
- Road development and colonization can each pose a greater threat to tropical forests than unsustainable logging; reducing the destruction caused by these could do much more for forest conservation than changing current forestry practices
Tropical rain forests shelter a large array of flora and fauna, and are the homes of the most valuable species in the tropical Americas is mahogany. Sustainable management of it requires both restraint in cutting trees and investment in replacing them by planting seeds. Mahogany seedlings are very hard to grow, they only grow and thrive after natural disturbances, like floods, and can't grow under the shady canopy of the forest. However, they are very valuable and rise in value each year by at most 4 to 5%. Studies show that consumers are willing to spend up to 10% more for certified timber than uncertified wood products.
Before reading this article, I had no idea that mahogany was so valuable to the environment. I thought it was just made to make furniture like coffee tables but it's much more than that. We need to save and preserve them! To make conditions proper for mahogany to grow, we need to mimic nature and clear large openings in the forest so the mahogany can get sunlight and grow. Also, we should raise awareness of what happening to the mahogany trees because most people probably don't know that they're being logged; I didn't even know until I read this article! Together, I know we can save them!