Asia-Pacific sees growth in forests in impressive turn around

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has reported that the Asia-Pacific region has not only reduced the rapid deforestation seen in the 1990’s, but has reversed the trend to the point where forest is being gained at a rate of 1.5m hectares in the last decade. It is suggested that the reason for this turn around lies in low cost local projects giving communities incentives to protect habitats in exchange for employment and income.

The credit it seems, must go to ‘assisted natural regeneration’ (ANR) projects, which is a forest restoration and rehabilitation technique aimed at turning grass dominated areas back into productive forests by encouraging the process of plant succession. Felled forests often do not grow back due to the monoculture of grass created in the biodiversity vacuum; ANR looks to facilitate the process of succession by combating the problems of species like imperata cyclindrica.

The advantage of ANR is that it is cheap and much less resource intensive than other schemes like plantation projects and agro-forestry. ANR also allows local populations to get involved in the process, creating jobs while educating about the forests. ANR follows four key processes: Site selection, modifications to increase growth of succession species, planting if required and protection and monitoring of the site.

Unfortunately, this process has not been taken up around the rest of the world, with 13 million hectares lost each year globally. Primary forest is a particular concern, as untouched virgin forest is lost in large quantities each year.