Tropical Rainforest Conservation 453Certification
Another approach to encouraging the sus-
tainable exploitation of rainforest resources is
“eco-certification” or “eco-labeling,” based on the
fact that at least some consumers will prefer to buy
products that they know have been produced in
an environmentally friendly manner (Nunes and
Riyanto 2005, Putz and Zuidema Chapter 28, this
volume). Certification of forests, and the wood
products harvested from them, has the longest
track record (Rametsteiner and Simula 2003). An
increasing number of both individual consumers
andindustrialbuyersof timberandwoodproducts
in the developed world now insist on certification.
However, only a tiny proportion of tropical rain-
forest is currently certified because the costs of
meeting certification standards are rarely justified
by the premium paid for certified products.
Many products directly linked to rainforest loss
are invisible in the end-products purchased by the
consumer, so mobilizing consumer support is a lot
more difficult. Developed countries import huge
amounts of palm oil and soybean, for instance,
but few people knowingly buy either product at
the supermarket. Palm oil is used in soap, cosmet-
ics, candles, and a variety of processed foods, while
rainforest soybeans reach consumers as chicken,
pork, or beef. In such cases, private companies
that import the raw products must be pressured to
ensure that they have been produced in a way that
does not contribute to deforestation. As with cer-
tified timber, the direct impact is likely to be small,
but certification can hel pmaintain exam ples of
biodiversity-friendly practices.
Restoring the rainforest
In vast areas of the humid tropics, including much
of tropicalAsia,itisalreadytoolatetopreservethe
large, continuous tracts of little-disturbed rain-
forest needed to ensure the long-term survival
of rainforest biotas. In such areas we need to
learn how to restore forests on abandoned pas-
tures and eroded hillsides. Some conservationists
fear that focusing on ecological restoration takes
attention from more urgent problems of saving
the last viable tracts of intact rainforest. However,
there is also a “time tax” on ecological restoration,
since species are inexorably lost from unrestored
landscapes (Martínez-Garza and Howe 2003).The
technical problems of large-scale restoration are
huge and the processes slow (Florentine and West-
brooke 2004, Lambet al. 2005), so we must start
trials now if we are to have any hope of resolving
a problem that will inevitably expand.CONCLUSIONS
The situation is critical but not yet hopeless. Even
in the worst hit regions, the majority of the rain-
forest biota still survives in small protected areas,
in fragments of primary forest on sites that are too
steep, too wet, or too infertile to be worth clearing,
in loggedforests, in secondary forest on aban-
doned land, and in woody regrowth along streams
and fences (Corlett 2000).More species will sur-
viveif existingparksarefullyprotected,gapsinthe
protected area system are filled, and unprotected
areas are managed sustainably. International sup-
port on a massive scale is needed to ensure that
financing is available for protected area systems
and to encourage practices such as RIL in exploit-
ing unprotected areas. It makes no sense to expect
some of the world’s poorest countries to pay for
the protection of the world’s richest ecosystems,
when the benefits are global.ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This chapter builds on our recent book,Tropi-
cal Rain Forests :An Ecological and Biogeographical
Comparison, and all the many people who helped
uswiththebookhaveindirectlycontributedtothis
chapter. We would also like to thank Kamal Bawa,
Peter Feinsinger, Elizabeth Platt, and Billy Hau for
constructive comments on an earlier draft.REFERENCES
Achard, F., Eva, H.D., Stibig, H.-J.et al. (2002) Deter-
mination of deforestation rates of the world’s humid
tropical forests.Science297, 999–1002.
Asner, G.P., Knapp, D.E., Broadbent, E.N., Oliveira, P.J.C.,
Keller, M., and Silva, J.N. (2005) Selective logging in
the Brazilian Amazon.Science310, 480–482.