INTENSIFICATION OF TROPICAL SILVICULTURE

• Published in: Journal of tropical forest science 2015-07, Vol.27 (3), p.285-288
• Main Authors: Putz, FE, Ruslandi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Crop harvesting; Environmental protection; Forest management; Forest restoration; Forest stands; Forestry research; Logging; Opportunity costs; Plantation forestry; Plantations; Planting; Profits; Sustainability; Trees; Tropical forestry
• ISSN: 0128-1283; 2521-9847

Maintenance, in as natural a state as possible, of many of the world's 400 million ha of officially designated tropical production forests will ironically require silvicultural intensification in selected portions of some landscapes. While an increasing proportion of the growing global demand for forest products will be satisfied by plantations, most natural forests will certainly not be spared from harvesting. To sustain yields and profits, one possible option is to increase intensity of tropical silviculture. The end of the continuum of silvicultural intensification is the conversion of natural forests into plantation monocultures. The authors' made this discussion of enrichment planting on observations in the Sari Bumi Kusuma (SBK) concession in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. SBK is one of four concessions of the Alas Kusuma Group, which also operates one of the few remaining plywood/lumber mills in West Kalimantan. SBK's foresters have shown that silvicultural intensification is possible at industrial scales in a tropical forest but they now need to modify the intervention to reflect their longer-term goals.