It may come as a paradox that while interest in tropical forests worldwide has been steadily growing in the last century, this has in no way halted the continued loss and degradation of one of earth's grandest terrestrial ecosystems.
In fact, the extent and rate of degradation and biological simplification is accelerating. So much so, some places have completely lost the original forests - they have been totally cleared and replaced by grasslands. In other areas, some semblance of the original ecosystem may remain, but the structure and biomass of the forest have been irreparably damaged. Concern for this loss is not limited to the extinction of this huge wealth of animal and plant species. The clearing of the land is not only beginning to have implications on climate change, but of more immediate concern is the impoverishment of people dependent on forests for their livelihoods.
Millions of people worldwide depend on these public lands entirely or partially for their survival - the forests are their source of food, housing material, fuel, medicine, and even products for sale in the markets. Simply stated, a large portion of humankind will suffer considerably if the loss is not halted, and if something is not done to reverse the situation. So, reversing the trend may not necessarily just require filling the denuded land with trees. It must take into consideration the special needs of the people. This requires a complete paradigm shift in forest rehabilitation.
Researchers across the globe have started fashioning a variety of methods to rehabilitate the degraded lands. They include activities to assist the natural regeneration processes, eradicating weeds, rebuilding the soil, excluding animals from grazing the regenerating sites, and introducing a variety of economic species. There is also interest in reforestation techniques which aim at bringing back the biological diversity and functional processes of the original forests. These techniques show much promise, yet the rehabilitation effort remains halting and insignificant.
One constraint has been the cost - such work is sometimes considered too expensive to apply over extensive areas. But would that be the entire reason? There are a number of examples where reforestation has been successfully carried out. What was behind the success? It seems human decision making has much to do with it. When society recognizes definite benefits, usually measured in financial terms, there is much support for bringing back the forests.
It is evident that decision making on the future of land use bears strongly on rehabilitation work. Unfortunately, most of the knowledge on how to plant, where to plant, and what are the consequences of not taking any action is still in the hands of the technical experts. Whereas the decisions on land use are usually made at a different level - by policy makers, land use planners and economists who usually do not have the benefit of technical expertise. The real need therefore is to make this technically complex science accessible to the decision makers.
This publication presents, in language bereft of technical jargon, the basic issues behind rehabilitation. It explains the definitions in simple terms, exemplifies the work with interesting case studies, and points out the environmental and market forces that go into rehabilitation of landscapes. The work is further enhanced with clear illustrations, making the publication both enjoyable and insightful. I must congratulate the editors and the large number of experts for putting this work together.
It is our duty to make science work for all humankind, and one way is to make relevant knowledge accessible to all, from stakeholders and policy makers to members of the public. I believe this publication contributes significantly to this objective.
He Changchui
Assistant Director-General and Regional
Representative
FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
