Introduction
The concerns about poor forest management, and specifically about the loss of species from logged forests, was echoed in the tropics, where concern has focused on the conversion of forests to other forms of land use, particularly those associated with agriculture (including small-holdings, ranching, industrial crops and other forms of food production). Faced with threats of boycotts of tropical timber by countries such as West Germany, tropical countries were galvanized into developing methods to manage forests more sustainably. In fact, it could be argued that ideas about sustainable forest management were actually developed first amongst the tropical countries, and that these ideas were subsequently adopted in western North America and elsewhere. This is particularly apparent with the use of criteria and indicators of sustainable forest management, which were first employed in documents related to the management of tropical forests.
In this topic, we examine the early attempts to develop guidelines for the sustainable forest management of tropical forests coordinated by the International Tropical Timber Organization. In the presentation, I examine some of the tremendous diversity of tropical and sub-tropical rainforests, using the example of primates.
Background Info
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Video Lectures
1.3.1 Tropical forests: Why the concern?
1.3.2 ITTO and sustainable forest management
Resources
- International Tropical Timber Organization. (1993). ITTO guidelines on the conservation of biological diversity in tropical production forests.
- International Tropical Timber Organization. (1998). Criteria and indicators for sustainable management of natural tropical forests.
- International Tropical Timber Organization. (1992). Criteria for the measurement of sustainable tropical forest management.
- International Tropical Timber Organization. (1997). ITTO Guidelines on fire management in tropical forests.
- International Tropical Timber Organization & International Union for the Conservation of Nature. (2009). ITTO/IUCN guidelines for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in tropical timber production forests.
- International Tropical Timber Organization. (1999). Manual for the application of Criteria and Indicators for sustainable management of natural tropical forests.
- African Timber Organization & International Tropical Timber Organization. (2003). ATO/ITTO principles, criteria and indicators for the sustainable management of African natural tropical forests.
- International Tropical Timber Organization. (2005). Revised ITTO criteria and indicators for the sustainable management of tropical forests including reporting format.
- International Tropical Timber Organization. (1992). ITTO guidelines for the sustainable management of natural tropical forests.
- International Tropical Timber Organization. (1993). ITTO guidelines for the establishment and sustainable management of planted tropical forests.
Strongly recommended reading:
- Poore, D. (1989). No timber without trees: Sustainability in the tropical forest. London: Earthscan. ISBN 1-85383-050-X
- Poore, D. (2003). Changing Landscapes: The development of the international tropical timber organization and its influence on tropical forest management. London, Earthscan Publications. ISBN 9781853839917
- Poore, D., & Sayer, J. (1991). The management of tropical moist forest lands: Ecological guidelines. (2nd ed). Gland: International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN). ISBN: 2-8317-0071-X
Self-test
Module I - Topic 3: Self-test
Quiz Description:
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Quiz Instructions:
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Answer the following questions to see how well you have learnt in this topic: