Determining High Conservation Values in Production Landscapes: Biodiversity and Assessment Approaches

Abstract

Conversion of natural, heterogenous tropical forests to intensively managed, monoculture-production landscapes is a major threat to biodiversity. This phenomenon is driven by global demand for commodities such as wood, palm oil, sugar, and soybean. The economies of many countries in tropical areas depend on these commodities, and there is a need to ensure economic welfare while protecting biodiversity. Certification schemes such as those developed by the Forest Stewardship Council and Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil are intended to provide incentive to companies to employ environmentally and socially sustainable production practices. One element of these certification schemes is the concept of High Conservation Values (HCVs) which fall into six categories that encompass ecological indicators and human dimensions. The HCV process has expanded beyond production landscapes to include long-term conservation planning. Despite expansion, implementation of the HCV process as it pertains to biodiversity is challenged, in part, by a lack of specificity regarding target metrics. Another challenge is that, in practice, there is a short time period for assessment, resulting in limited collection of primary data and a reliance on secondary data sources for interpolation. HCV guidance advances a precautionary approach to assessment, but in some regions, there is not enough known about the biology, behavior, or interspecific associations of species to effectively assess what is not observed. In this paper, we assess environmental HCVs in a well-studied timber production system in Sarawak, East Malaysia. Using an original long-term multi-method dataset of avifaunal surveys as well as published datasets of other taxa, we 1) assess biodiversity metrics at the site including presence of Rare, Threatened, and Endemic species, 2) assess change over time at assessment locations, and 3) evaluate costs and benefits of the various methods and provide best practice recommendations for HCV assessment and long-term monitoring. Finally, we recommend transparent data-archiving and sharing for improved accuracy and efficiency in the HCV process. Managed landscapes are important areas for ecological research that are beneficial not only to the restoration and conservation of species and ecosystems but also to well-informed certification and long-term sustainability.

Changes in tropical terrestrial vertebrate communities along two anthropogenic gradients: Forest degradation and accessibility

“…A well‐managed production forest that combines low‐impact harvesting with such protective measures can mitigate the impacts of both forest degradation and hunting. Management of tropical production forests is increasingly shifting towards more sustainable practices, which includes further improving harvest practices and road infrastructure (Duflot et al., 2022; Ellis et al., 2019; Keller & Berry, 2007), better criteria for identifying high conservation value areas (Asner et al., 2018; Styring et al., 2022), and understanding economic benefits and trade‐offs (Boltz et al., 2003; Chaudhary et al., 2016). Further evaluating and understanding the relationships between different aspects of disturbance resulting from forest management and species communities is essential to inform effective sustainability guidelines.…”

Implications of forest management on the conservation of protected areas: A new proposal in Central Spain

“…Hence, forest management practice in some cases has resorted to establishing different areas in which the aim is to obtain one or other of these ES and/or quantifying their trade-offs (Andersson et al, 2006;Verkerk et al, 2014). In this regard, forest managers have proposed either to segregate the less productive areas of the forest for biodiversity conservation purposes (Carmean, 2007;Ponce et al, 2017) or to protect areas with high conservation value (Styring et al, 2022). Furthermore, increasing interest in biodiversity protection has led to several measures being introduced such as legally protected areas (PAs) (Parviainen and Frank, 2003) or the adoption of non-intervention areas, where forest management practices have been totally or partially abandoned (Nabuurs et al, 2007).…”