Logging in the Amazon rainforest

Logging in the Amazon rainforest

The global timber industry is highly lucrative and has consequently been a major cause of deforestation worldwide. Unfortunately, the Amazon rainforest has fallen victim to this industry and has suffered from large scale deforestation and biodiversity loss over the past decades as a result. Most of these logging operations are illegal and contribute to between 60 to 80 percent of all logging activities in the Brazilian amazon and 80% in Peru. These illegal operations are widely prevalent for a number of reasons. Firstly, many use false permits and get away with it due to their geographical isolation which makes it difficult for federal environmental agencies such as IBIMA to monitor them efficiently. Secondly, it is also very frequent for legal operations to break the law as they often cut more than their authorised quotas and cut outside of concession areas. In Peru for instance, 93.75% of all operations audited by OSINFOR in 2014 showed evidence of illegal practices. Sadly, it comes as no surprise that these highly unsustainable operations are causing many environmental problems which I will discuss in this blog post.

Illegal logging activities very often involve selective logging (figure 1 and 2) which consists of cutting down certain species of trees while leaving the non lucrative ones intact. This is the case in the Amazonian basin, where only a few species contain timber. As a result, the Amazon rainforest is being selectively logged at 20 times the rate at which it is being cleared causing large scale forest degradation. This can be seen in many areas such as the southwestern Pará region of Brazil for instance, where selective logging is caused by the high transportation cost of trees. Therefore, only the most profitable trees are cut down. Unfortunately, the area's cutting practices are inefficient and destructive resulting in the significant damage of surrounding trees, lianas and epiphytes. Furthermore, gaps in the canopy caused by tree cutting has been linked to increases in plant disease, fires and edge effects. As a result, since the year 2000, selective logging in that area has been responsible for more land degradation than all other cutting activities combined.

Figure 1: selective logging vs clear cutting

Figure 2: Before and after selective logging

Not only is this logging method responsible for land degradation, it is also responsible for disturbances in biodiversity. Indeed, it can result in both the death or destruction of animals and the alteration of their physiology. This is proved in a study of a selectively logged area in Brazil, which showed that two species of dung beetles decreased in abundance with the remaining survivors exhibiting higher levels of fat storage. We can therefore infer that their increased fat storage ability is a strategy used to conserve energy for vital survival processes. Evidently, not only is selective logging responsible for the death of many species, it is also responsible for sub lethal responses in living organisms.

Furthermore, selective logging seems to alter the natural equilibrium of some of the area’s animals such as bats. Indeed, Neotropical studies show that this kind of logging adversely affects the abundance of animalivorous phyllostomids whereas frugivorous and nectarivorous species tend to increase in abundance. This finding confirms a 2005 study in Trinidad, which discovered that changes in species composition are connected to the intensity of timber harvesting.

Amazonian logging has also caused many social conflicts with indigenous tribes. Indeed, although many indigenous and non-indigenous communities are recognised, most do not have legal titles. Consequently, these communities are unable to defend their land and are thus vulnerable to exploitation. It is therefore no surprise that the logging industry takes place in areas of inter human conflict and or corruption.

In conclusion, the Amazonian logging industry is principally led by illegal activities. These activities often result in selective logging which is responsible for land degradation, biodiversity changes and conflicts with indigenous tribes. Therefore, it is vital that the governments of the major Amazonian countries reform their governance over the timber industry to limit its destructive consequences.