Photo: Kyle Cleveland | Unsplash
Tropical rainforests are more resilient than previously thought, a new study shows, with a high capacity for natural regeneration in areas that are only slightly degraded adjacent to patches of native vegetation. In the space of less than 20 years, these patches of secondary forest can regain important characteristics and functions of the original forest, such as soil fertility and a significant amount of carbon stock. But enabling this low-cost regeneration and supporting restoration and conservation projects requires three things: understanding each area’s different characteristics; halting the deforestation; and keeping nearby healthy primary forests standing. The unprecedented study involved over 100 scientists in 18 countries. While the news is positive, scientists are quick to caution that the resiliency of forests to recover should not be read as license to continue cutting down forested areas. “The mature forests must be protected so that others have good ecological conditions to be able to recuperate…If we promote regeneration without protecting leftover standing forest, we won’t get anywhere,” said one of the study’s co-authors Pedro Brancalion, professor of forest sciences at the University of Sao Paolo’s Luis de Queiroz Graduate School of Agriculture.
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