Laslo Pancel – Tropical Forestry Handbook (2016)

Описание

Long ago, European forests were wild and undisturbed. Our ancestors did not
experience those forests as locations of harmony and well-being but as spooky and
scary scenes of creepy stories with kidnapped princesses, ruthless witches, and cruel
noblemen. Then, humans entered the forests, utilized their timber, and cleared forests
for other land use. They shaped forests according to their interests and later invented
treatments to increase their sustainable productivity, which resulted in uniform,
single-species stands. At the beginning of the last century, a slow shift of paradigm
took place in Europe. Forest sustainability was understood as the interplay of
different ecological, economic, and social functions and a continuous cover forestry
with mixed species stands, layered structures, and selective cutting became the
desirable forest practice. It looks as Europe has been saved by the bell.
Today, tropical forests are one of the top ecological trouble spots in the world.
They seem to share the fate of early European forests, but due to modern technology,
global markets, and pursuit of profit at a much faster progress, they are destroyed at
an alarming pace. Tropical forests find themselves in a field of tension between
different user interests. Ecosystems and their biodiversity have to be protected;
tropical forests have to be maintained as important drivers of the global climate
system and a major sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide. Wood fuel is the most
important source of energy for 70 % of the world’s population. The use of timber and
subsequent timber processing safeguards income and employment. Population
growth and the reduction of poverty and hunger enforce the extension of agricultural
areas, and the extreme excess of the politically well-anchored demands for renewable
energy and resources may complete to do the rest for the tropical forest
resources. These contradictory and partially existential user interests cannot be
denied but need to be addressed in a holistic approach. To create a fair balance
between interest groups renders sophisticated levels of knowledge necessary, incorporating
disciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary approaches. However,
where the economic interests of a minority gain the upper hand, our expertise is
helpless and powerless.
We contributed our entire professional life to counter the destruction of tropical
forests. We are in no doubt that population growth and economic development of
any country – wherever located on the globe – will result in increasing forest
utilization and conversion of forest areas to other land use. We cannot hold this
process. However, we can contribute to minimize the collateral damage wherever
tropical forests are utilized and to identify forest areas of unique value, which should
be excluded from any human intervention.
The Tropical Forestry Handbook has been prepared by professionals that are
dedicated to the protection and the sustainable management of tropical forests. They
want to make their expertise available for a wide audience. Their contributions
provide valuable insight in sustainable tropical forest management. It is our hope
that the Tropical Forestry Handbook will become a helpful tool for mastering the
current and future challenges of tropical forests. It is our hope that this book acquires
a liking for young people especially. And it is our hope that readers join us and will
not be released ever again from the miscellany, uniqueness, and fascination of
tropical forests.