Meeting reports

Hosted by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), New York, NY, USA and the Sustainable Forestry Management Project (BOLFOR), this workshop was organized to evaluate current understanding of the interactions between wildlife and timber production in the tropics, and the implications for sustainable forest management. In a mixed forum, foresters, wildlife biologists, resource managers, and policy makers, reviewed the importance of wildlife as a component of production forests, and the ways in which conventional logging practices impact their populations. Discussions focused on clarifying: the reasons for conserving wildlife in production forests; the methods needed to evaluate timber harvesting-wildlife interactions; current techniques to reduce silvicultural impacts on biodiversity; the role of natural forest management and certification programs in biodiversity conservation; and where research and management efforts should be focused in the future. Protected areas in the tropics are currently inadequate to protect the biological diversity characterizing this region, owing to their limited size, number, distribution, and composition. Within forested landscapes, production forests may contain significant biodiversity not found within totally protected areas. In many countries, the large size and varied habitats of these forests can complement the existing system of reserves, and taken as part of the landscape, can make significant contributions to biodiversity conservation. Current exploitation trends and practices within production forests, however, have direct and indirect positive and negative impacts on many plant and animal species. Steps must be taken to improve our understanding of the effects of management practices on biological diversity, ways to mitigate negative aspects associated with them, and where our efforts should focus in the future to achieve ecological and economic sustainability of our natural resources.