The renowned international scientific journal, Nature, recently published an article confirming that tropical forests managed by FSC-certified companies are home to more large mammals than non-FSC forests.

The 3-year study by Joeri Zwerts of Utrecht University (the Netherlands) and his team, with support from the Worldwide Wildlife Fund, analysed and compared 1.3 million photos collected by almost 500 trap cameras in 14 forest concessions – seven non-certified forests and seven forests certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) in Gabon and the Republic of Congo.

The study found that 2.7 times more critically endangered mammals, such as gorillas and elephants, were observed in FSC-certified forests. This result underlines the effectiveness of the measures implemented in certified forest concessions to protect biodiversity.

This is a fine endorsement for FSC-certified forestry companies in the Congo River Basin, proving once again the importance of certification for biodiversity, and an important reminder that sustainable management continues to be an effective tool in tropical forests and that its standards translate into tangible impacts.

The study observed higher mammal encounter rates in FSC-certified than non-FSC logging concessions. The effect was most pronounced for species weighing more than 10 kg, and for species of high conservation priority such as the critically endangered forest elephant and Western Lowland gorilla.

Across the whole mammal community, non-FSC concessions contained proportionally more rodents and other small species than did FSC-certified concessions. The study also found fewer signs of hunting in FSC-certified forests.

This study reinforces the idea of maintaining sustainable management certification among foresters by all possible means, and biodiversity certificates could be the solution thanks to this type of result.

More than a quarter of the world’s tropical forests are exploited for timber1. Logging impacts biodiversity in these ecosystems, primarily through the creation of forest roads that facilitate hunting for wildlife over extensive areas.

The priority for species protection should be to maintain unlogged forests with effective law enforcement. But for logged forests the scientists’ findings provide convincing data that FSC-certified forest management is less damaging to the mammal community than is non-FSC forest management.

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