Protection

Protecting forests and woodlands is a fundamental aspect of sustainable forest management and has immense importance for the global carbon cycle. Globally, forests store around 1200 gigatonnes of carbon. This is more than the total amount of carbon in the form of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. When forests are cleared, or burned or fall prey to pests and diseases, the carbon is emitted to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, the most serious greenhouse gas. In addition to the damage deforestation does through exacerbating climate change, we also lose the biodiversity in forests (70% of all the world’s biodiversity is found in forests), their capacity to produce timber, their beauty and the way of life for people who depend on them.

Protection of woodlands against such hazards as pests, diseases, browsing animals, storms and fire is one of the basics of sustainable forestry. Some of these require ongoing traditional practices such as fencing and choice of species suited to the site and climate. Others are less easily tackled and events like fires and storms can cause considerable destruction. Even this is usually reversible. Trees grow back again though foresters may need to lend a helping hand. In some natural forest ecosystems, fire and storm damage are part of natural cycles of renewal.

In well-managed forests, felling trees is also part of a sustainable cycle. The felled trees are replaced by planting young tree, by natural seeding or coppice regrowth. Across the world there are forests that have been managed for timber and other products for hundreds of years and are at no risk of losing their carbon, their biodiversity or their value to society. Some of the most valued ancient woodlands in the UK are coppice systems where long-abandoned cutting cycles are being resurrected to restore their conservation value.

At present, it is protection from clearance by people that is the highest priority. Destruction of tropical rainforests for agriculture or through illegal logging is estimated to account for almost 20% of global carbon emissions – more than the whole of the transport sector. The damage may be complete clearance or logging at such unsustainably high levels that the system cannot recover.

Most countries give legislative protection to forests. In European countries these can be very stringent, not least in the UK. In the northern hemisphere, forests are expanding yet even in countries like the UK, illegal felling of trees is a cause for concern. In the developing world where the pressures are greatest the problem is huge and forests are shrinking.

The international community is considering a number of initiatives to help developing countries combat their problems with deforestation. One already in place in the EU is the ‘Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade’ Action Plan first adopted in 2003. The plan includes measures to discourage the use of illegally cut timber in EU countries and measures to help enforcement of existing legislation in producer-countries. It also allows for a licensing scheme by which producer countries can guarantee that their timber is legally produced.