Dynamics of logging in Solomon Islands: the need for restoration and conservation alternatives
Katovai, Eric, Edwards, Will, and Laurance, William F. (2015) Dynamics of logging in Solomon Islands: the need for restoration and conservation alternatives. Tropical Conservation Science, 8 (3). pp. 718-731.
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Abstract
Forests of Asia-Pacific islands have undergone degradation by some of the worst-known selective logging practices in the tropics. It is unclear whether severely damaged forests can return to a pre-logging state via natural regeneration, or whether active restoration is required. In this review, we highlight how the socioeconomic dynamics in the Solomon Islands promote excessive logging, resulting in highly degraded forests. We detail seven key elements currently promoting excessive logging in this region: (i) economic interests, (ii) corruption, (iii) poor employment conditions in the logging sector, (iv) high forest accessibility, (v) resource limitations for forest monitoring, (vi) contention over logging benefits, and (vii) a paucity of information for policy development. Though research on the regeneration capacity of logged forests in the Solomon Islands remains extremely limited, we suggest that some logged forests in the country may require active restoration—especially those that have been most heavily damaged. Our argument is based on previous tree planting initiatives in logged forest in the 1970s and 1980s. We propose three broad restoration techniques—enrichment planting, direct seeding, and the use of artificial perches—as viable options to help restore logged forests in the Solomon Islands. Lastly, we recommend the conservation-concession model to aid forest restoration, given its recent success in the region.
| Item ID: | 41023 |
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| Item Type: | Article (Research - C1) |
| ISSN: | 1940-0829 |
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| Additional Information: | © Eric Katovai, Will Edwards and William F. Laurance. This is an open access paper. We use the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/. The license permits any user to download, print out, extract, archive, and distribute the article, so long as appropriate credit is given to the authors and source of the work. The license ensures that the published article will be as widely available as possible and that your article can be included in any scientific archive. Open Access authors retain the copyrights of their papers. Open access is a property of individual works, not necessarily journals or publishers. A version of this publication was included as Chapter 4 of the following PhD thesis: Katovai, Eric (2016) Regeneration and recovery dynamics of logged forests in the Solomon Islands. PhD thesis, James Cook University, which is available Open Access in ResearchOnline@JCU. Please see the Related URLs for access. |
| Funders: | Australian Pacific Science Foundation |
| Date Deposited: | 26 Oct 2015 02:18 |
| FoR Codes: | 05 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 0502 Environmental Science and Management > 050202 Conservation and Biodiversity @ 100% |
| SEO Codes: | 96 ENVIRONMENT > 9608 Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity > 960899 Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity of Environments not elsewhere classified @ 100% |
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