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Rethinking the `back to wilderness' concept for Sundaland's forests

Traditional biodiversity conservation approaches emphasize the protection of pristine forests. However, it has become increasingly difficult to secure large tracts of undisturbed forests, particularly in the developing tropics. This has led some conservation scientists and organizations to explore t...

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Main Authors: Giam, X., Clements, G.R., Aziz, S.A., Chong, K.Y., Miettinen, J.
Format: Article
Published: Elsevier 2011
Subjects:
Q Science (General)
Online Access:http://eprints.um.edu.my/14636/
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spelling my.um.eprints.146362015-11-07T02:31:31Z http://eprints.um.edu.my/14636/ Rethinking the `back to wilderness' concept for Sundaland's forests Giam, X. Clements, G.R. Aziz, S.A. Chong, K.Y. Miettinen, J. Q Science (General) Traditional biodiversity conservation approaches emphasize the protection of pristine forests. However, it has become increasingly difficult to secure large tracts of undisturbed forests, particularly in the developing tropics. This has led some conservation scientists and organizations to explore the conservation potential of human-modified habitats, such as selectively logged forests. On the other hand, other scientists have highlighted the perils of overselling the conservation value of degraded habitats and advocate for re-focusing of efforts and resources on protecting primary forests. While there are merits to both contentions, we argue that the ``back to wilderness'' paradigm has limited relevance in the Sundaland region. This is because: (1) primary forest only makes up a small minority of the remaining forest in the region and most of it is already protected by law; (2) vast areas of selectively logged forest are still susceptible to plantation conversion; and (3) selectively logged forest are important habitats for some of the world's most endangered species. To meet both conservation and development goals, we suggest that tracts of selectively logged forest be assessed for their ecological value and forests of high conservation value be prioritized for better protection through their inclusion into existing protected area networks and/or improved sustainable forestry management. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Elsevier 2011 Article PeerReviewed Giam, X. and Clements, G.R. and Aziz, S.A. and Chong, K.Y. and Miettinen, J. (2011) Rethinking the `back to wilderness' concept for Sundaland's forests. Biological Conservation, 144 (12). pp. 3149-3152.
institution Universiti Malaya
building UM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Malaya
content_source UM Research Repository
url_provider http://eprints.um.edu.my/
topic Q Science (General)
spellingShingle Q Science (General)
Giam, X.
Clements, G.R.
Aziz, S.A.
Chong, K.Y.
Miettinen, J.
Rethinking the `back to wilderness' concept for Sundaland's forests
description Traditional biodiversity conservation approaches emphasize the protection of pristine forests. However, it has become increasingly difficult to secure large tracts of undisturbed forests, particularly in the developing tropics. This has led some conservation scientists and organizations to explore the conservation potential of human-modified habitats, such as selectively logged forests. On the other hand, other scientists have highlighted the perils of overselling the conservation value of degraded habitats and advocate for re-focusing of efforts and resources on protecting primary forests. While there are merits to both contentions, we argue that the ``back to wilderness'' paradigm has limited relevance in the Sundaland region. This is because: (1) primary forest only makes up a small minority of the remaining forest in the region and most of it is already protected by law; (2) vast areas of selectively logged forest are still susceptible to plantation conversion; and (3) selectively logged forest are important habitats for some of the world's most endangered species. To meet both conservation and development goals, we suggest that tracts of selectively logged forest be assessed for their ecological value and forests of high conservation value be prioritized for better protection through their inclusion into existing protected area networks and/or improved sustainable forestry management. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
format Article
author Giam, X.
Clements, G.R.
Aziz, S.A.
Chong, K.Y.
Miettinen, J.
author_facet Giam, X.
Clements, G.R.
Aziz, S.A.
Chong, K.Y.
Miettinen, J.
author_sort Giam, X.
title Rethinking the `back to wilderness' concept for Sundaland's forests
title_short Rethinking the `back to wilderness' concept for Sundaland's forests
title_full Rethinking the `back to wilderness' concept for Sundaland's forests
title_fullStr Rethinking the `back to wilderness' concept for Sundaland's forests
title_full_unstemmed Rethinking the `back to wilderness' concept for Sundaland's forests
title_sort rethinking the `back to wilderness' concept for sundaland's forests
publisher Elsevier
publishDate 2011
url http://eprints.um.edu.my/14636/
_version_ 1643689864022982656
score 13.211869

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