New research suggests even the most sustainable forms of logging in tropical forests can compromise water quality downstream.
Researchers from the University of Queensland and the Wildlife
Conservation Society found commercial logging on the Solomon Islands is
triggering large amounts of soil erosion, harming water quality and
curbing access to clean drinking water.
The unsustainable rates of erosion, researchers argue, could leave large portions of logged land unable to support agriculture.
Tropical forests on the Solomon Islands are shrinking fast as a
result of commercial logging. Ecologists and conservationists have
documented the risks posed by forest-clearing. Logging can cause a range
of environmental problems, scientists argue -- problems beyond just the
loss of habitat and carbon storage.
"When land-clearing extent reached 40 percent in our models,
international standards for safe drinking water were exceeded nearly 40
percent of the time, even if best practices for logging were followed,"
Amelia Wenger, postdoctoral researcher at the University of Queensland, said in a news release.
"Loss of the upland forest will compromise local access to clean water
essential for drinking, bathing, and household washing."
Researchers are using their findings -- published in the journal Environmental Research Letters
-- to inform residents of Kolombangara Island about the risks of
continued logging. Conservationists are working with local organizations
and government officials on the island to protect a large swath of
forest.
"Previously people in Solomon Islands made decisions about logging
from a selfish economic perspective," said Ferguson Vaghi, local
coordinator with the Kolombangara Island Biodiversity Conservation
Association. "This study highlights that we also need to consider the
impacts to the downstream environment."
Scientists say future land management plans and other parameters
governing sustainable levels of logging must account for the impacts of
deforestation on erosion rates and water quality.
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