Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
local communiies in consevaion regulaion).
The TF AP stresses the need for greater involve-
ment of people in orest management pracice. In
core protecion zones for biodiversity, eploitaion
should cease. Such prevenion needs adequate
field parolling, the ability to apprehend and ine
culprits (which may require enhancement of the
law, or greater support by local judiciary) and
conservaion educaion at the village level. It must
be remembered that uelwood cuting is not a
luxury for many rural populaions, it is essenial -
although much goes to make 'pombe', a local
alcohol. The provision of altenative fuelwood
resources must take place simultaneously with
improved protecion. Fuel eicient 'sills' would
be a useful development!
Fire prevenion and ire fighing ability must be
increased. Prevenive measures such as fire lines
must be maintained. Fireline clearing and boun-
dary demarcaion provide a monetary wage
income to the poor and so have social benefit. It is
a cost that govenments have to bear. Strip plant-
ings of Agave can act as live permanent fire lines
requiring little maintenance and also act as legal
or management boundaries. Tipsaum laxum and
Acacia melanoylon also are useful ireline species
(D. A. Wardell, in it. , 1990).
The removal of exoics should be a long-term
goal for the more important conservaion areas.
The problem varies from place to place, and may
only amount to weed infestaion around disturb-
ance sites. Some plantaion species self-seed
(Cedrella, wattles, Maespsis) and management
prescripions could consider their removal.
Hamilton & Bensted-Smith (1990) give a detailed
account of the Maesopsis problem in the East
Usambaras. D. A. Wardell (personal communica-
ion) cauions that removal of such a successul
pioneer as Maesopsis, which has already developed
huge soil seed banks, will be all but impossible.
Possible success needs the development (and
subsidy) of a ready market for the mediocre im-
ber of Maesopsis.
These effects may be atributable to the physical
pressures of extracion (roads, compacion, scar-
ring, erosion and clearing) or to the human press-
ures involved with exracion (ire, huning, plant
exploitaion, disturbance, canopy opening) or to
more complicated biological changes such as
geneic erosion. The report by F AO (l 982c),
Environmental Impaa of Foresty, illustrates the
concen increasingly expressed about logging
impacts. Similar comments are given in, for
example, Ng (l983) and Whitmore (1984).
Ideally each indiidual forest management unit,
comparment and reserve, will have its own objec-
ives for management, designed to maintain the
specific values of that unit. There is a need to
revert to the old 'comparment' basis of orest
management, zonaion should be at comparment
level and comparments ideally should be micro-
watersheds. Objecives and values for compart-
ments could be maintenance of water catchment
or naturalness, or a specific species or community,
or imber or fuelwood, or a combinaion. Logging
rules then should cater to these objecives, varing
from no exploitaion, to selecion fe lling and
minor tending, to fuller exploitaion procedures.
Slope steepness, precipitaion, stream density,
canopy and ground layer covers, preferred species
densiies, etc. all affect the intensity of logging.
Hall (1988) brings out the need to develop a set of
management srategies or catchment orests.
The pracice of sanitay felling - the removal of
dead, dying, diseased, bent or over-mature
individuals - has no beneficial role in conserva-
ion management. Indeed the removal of older
trees can materially reduce species diversiy by
removal of epiphytes, lianes, fungi, nesing holes,
insect food for insecivores, etc. A growing
literature in the USA acknowledges the benefits
of old trees ('snags') in the forest, and designs
silvicultural systems to maintain overall biodiver-
sity (e.g. Thomas, 1979; Hoover & Wills, 1987).
This has been discussed with relevance to ropical
forests in India (Rodgers, 1991).
/ndirea management praaices
This will include more intensive bufer zone
management allowing eploitaion, and the pro-
vision of alternaive fuelwood supplies as
Improving loging practice
All logging, no matter how low intensity or selec-
ive will have some effects on forest processes.
Search WWH ::




Custom Search