THE RACE TO SAVE
THE WORLDS FORESTSby David Boyd, Executive Director, Sierra Legal Defense Fund Logging poses a dire threat to the world's forests, despite absurd claims to the contrary by the logging industry. In the science fiction world of the logging industry spin doctors, clearcutting creates 'temporary meadows' and liquidating old-growth forests is good for biodiversity. Better yet, clearcutting causes reforestation not deforestation.
And now, back to reality. We have lost nearly half--almost three billion hectares--of the forests that once blanketed the earth. In the past five decades alone, nearly a fifth of the earth's forested areas have been cleared. Industrial logging, a major factor in the loss of forests, has doubled since 1950. Seventy-six countries have lost all of their frontier forest (large tracts of relatively undisturbed original forest). The numbers don't lie--our forests are disappearing.
Forests are vital to the health of the planet. Old-growth forests in particular play a critical role in storing water and carbon, filtering air, moderating the climate, conserving soil and providing habitat for wildlife. Yet according to the U.N., we are losing over 16 million hectares of forest each year. The consequences of this loss for biodiversity, global warming and indigenous cultures have, not surprisingly, caused environmentalists to make protecting forests an international priority.
For years, environmentalists have fought the crisis in the tropical rainforests. Only recently have we realized the imminent threat facing our temperate forests. The World Resources Institute has determined that temperate rainforests are the most endangered forests on Earth. For every hectare of temperate rainforest still standing, there are thirty-six hectares of tropical rainforest. B.C., Alaska and Chile are home to the majority of the world's remaining temperate rainforests. In this context, B.C.'s policy of liquidating our old-growth forests is economically short-sighted and biologically indefensible.
Boreal forests are also threatened by large scale deforestation, primarily by industrial logging. These forests are found mainly in Russia, Canada, Alaska and to a lesser extent northern Europe. Once thought to be 'uneconomic' for logging, high demand for wood is now enticing logging companies into the boreal forest, with grave consequences for global warming, since boreal forests hold a huge amount of carbon.
Industrial logging and deforestation
Webster's Dictionary defines deforestation as "the action or process of clearing of forests". The argument advanced by forest industry spin doctors that clearcutting "causes reforestation, not deforestation" is ludicrous. It is like arguing that having a heart attack improves your health because of the medical treatment you receive afterwards.
The two main causes of deforestation worldwide are industrial logging and land clearing for agricultural and fuelwood purposes. Globally, 6 million hectares of tropical forests are logged annually. Most deforestation in temperate and boreal forests is due to industrial logging. The World Resources Institute has identified logging as the predominant threat to the future of the world's frontier forests.
Deforestation causes serious problems: it pushes wildlife toward extinction, degrades soil and water, devastates genetic diversity, adds carbon to the atmosphere (contributing to global warming), increases erosion and worsens flooding. Deforestation also threatens indigenous cultures like the Penan in Malaysia, the Kayapo of the Amazon and the First Nations of North America.
Are all forests equal?
By suggesting that industrial logging poses no threat to the world's forests, forest industry spin doctors fail to distinguish between old-growth forests and tree farms. Are all forests really equal? Of course not. Replacing an old-growth forest with a tree farm is like trading Wayne Gretzky for Gino Odjick and arguing that its a fair deal because they are both hockey players. In reality, old-growth forests are vastly superior to tree farms in their carbon storage capacity and the diversity of habitat they provide, not to mention recreational, tourism, wilderness and other values.
The impacts of industrial forestry upon old-growth forests include destruction, fragmentation and simplification. Destruction refers to the damage to soil and water systems caused by clearcutting. Fragmentation means that clearcuts and logging roads break forests into pieces that are unsustainable. Simplification refers to the replacement of diverse, complex forests by uniform, even-aged, often monocultural tree farms. Because of simplification, tree farms are more susceptible to diseases, pests, fires, and the impacts of climate change.
Patrick Moore describes a forest as a factory. To describe old-growth forests as factories is irresponsible and arrogant. We can build factories but we cannot build old-growth forests. Our understanding of forests is so poor that we have yet to even identify or name a large percentage of forest species (perhaps even the majority in tropical forests), let alone grasp the complex interactions of forest ecosystems.
International forest treaty
Environmentalists oppose the current proposal for an international forests treaty for several good reasons. As it stands, the treaty would legitimize existing practices, and do nothing to protect forests. By entrenching the status quo, such a treaty could actually impede progress, just as B.C.'s Forest Practices Code has provided the B.C. government and forest industry with a public relations tool for marketing B.C. forest products internationally, while doing little to reduce the impacts of logging. Skepticism about the treaty is reinforced by the fact that its main proponents are Malaysia and Canada, the world's largest tropical and temperate forest product exporters respectively. If the treaty did protect forests, then environmentalists would obviously support it.
Reducing consumption
Increasing consumption means more logging and less forest. Between 1950 and 2000, annual wood consumption for nonfuel purposes will have quadrupled. People in developed countries consume more than ten times the amount of paper and wood products that people in developing countries use. Thus environmentalists are attempting to reduce excess consumption and waste as a means of relieving pressure on the world's forests.
The fact that old-growth forests are being clearcut to make toilet paper, phone books and newspapers (with all due respect to the Sun) also disturbs environmentalists. Alternatives exist, such as agricultural waste, which are more sensible both economically and ecologically. It makes sense to take reasonable steps to reduce paper consumption and also to explore alternatives so that we can protect more of the remaining old-growth forests.
Logging and endangered species
Scientists recognize that the main cause of extinction is habitat destruction, and that logging destroys habitat. The loss of old-growth forest because of industrial logging in North America has placed hundreds of species ranging from the marbled murrelet to the mountain caribou on the endangered species list. In the eastern forest of the U.S., four bird species (including the ivory-billed woodpecker) are extinct, in part due to extensive logging of old- growth forests (Note to Patrick Moore: Campehilus principalis, Vermivora bachmanni, Conuropsis carolinensis and Ectopistes migratorius). To suggest that industrial logging has no connection to extinction is like saying over-fishing had nothing to do with the cod crisis or over-hunting had nothing to do with the demise of the buffalo.
There is consensus among scientists that we are losing species from tropical forests before they can even be identified and named, and this is likely true in temperate rainforests as well, given recent insect discoveries on Vancouver Island. Given the current rates of forest loss and the high number of species that depend on forests, most scientists agree that we are in the midst of an extinction crisis.
Industrial clearcut logging also devastates genetic diversity, which refers to diversity within a particular species. For example, B.C. has lost 142 runs of salmon since 1900, with logging identified as one of the three main causes. Genetic diversity is essential because it allows species to adapt to environmental change.
Conclusion
Environmentalists seek to save remaining old-growth forests, while logging companies seek to cut these forests down. Environmentalists see the forest, while logging companies see only the trees. On one side are wisdom, humility and generosity, while on the other side is money. People should take these facts into consideration when deciding whom to believe in the debate over the future of the world's forests.
Sierra Legal Defence Fund #214-131 Water Street Vancouver, B.C. - V6B 4M3
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