Azoning Strategy
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JapanJapanSociety Society ofForestof Forest Planning 39 Article Trends on and Strategy . inSilyiculturethe Brazilian AZoningmazonla Megumi Maruyama'i, ShigeakiIIattori"iand Katsuhiro Kitagawa*2 ABSTRACT International tropica] timber trade clemonstrated a turning point in the ]99e's. Some of the southeast Asian countries such as Phi]ippines and Thailand turned into importers of round-wood, after being big exporters up til] 1994. This change reflects the presence of many logging companies of those Asian ceuntries in the Brazilian Arnazon in the late 1990's. In this paper, Amazonian timber production ancl the forest situation of Legal Amazonia (the nine Brazilian states of Amazon{a) were studied based on a field-study carried out in August 1997. During the study, it was confirmed that, due to depletion of round-wood resources, international loggers were advancing further into the Amazonian rainferests. To promote the conservation of the Amazonian ecesystem, the Braz{lian government has established a zoning strategy in Legal Amazonia, clearly dividing conservation areas and farming areas since l990. For better understanding of the Iand-uses in that region, the zoning strategy was examined in the field, mainly in the Amazonas State and in Rond6nia State, in August 1997. Also, ITTO's ]997 statistical data on tropical tirnber trade and Zachow's 1998 clata on forest manageinent were analyzed. As a result, it was found that most of that region has no proper control on the forests yet. In Rondania, dep]etion of rainforest was observed along the BR-364 highway and adjacent roads, due to Iack of infrastructure (supply of electricity and fuel gas). This fact accelerated the forest burning beyond the authorized rate of 20% for each settlers' land, which vary from 100ha to 25ha, depending on their settlement year. In heavily logged stands in Rond6nia and Amazonas, there was a luxuriant growth of liana and palm trees, replacing the original (shade-tolerant) species. This kind of alteration clearly shows the induced anthropogenic change in the climax forest, Out of 3,648,OeOl{m2 of Amazonian ra{nforest, only 26kmZ is under sustainable management treatment. Local people should be assisted more intensively by the government, to plan and implement the sustainable management of the forests. Zoning strategies should be clearly defincd a]1 over the region Lo avoid depletion of the virgin forest and to promote good use of the abandoned lands after burning. timber, sustainable management, Kayword: Legal Amazonia (Brazilian Amazonia) , deforestation,tropical silviculture northern and southern regions. Amazenian rainforest and INTRODUCTION savanna (cerrado) mainly cover the northern region, with very litt]e practice of si]viculture. Pine forest and Eucalyp- Brazilian forests show different charaeteristics in the tus plantations represent the major vegetatien cover of the southern region, with wood production Tnain]y based on silviculture. In this paper, log production and land-uses of 'iForest Resources Uti]ization Laboratory, the Brazilian Amazon, as well as causes of dcforestation, NAcoyA UNis,ERs[Ty, School of Agricu]tural Sci- are discussed, based on the field study carried out in August ences, Dept. of Biol. Rescjurces and Environ- 1997. Development projects too]{ place in that region in the mental Sciences, Chikusa Nagoyu 464-8601, JapanS2International ear]y 1970's, including colonization projects and construc- Cooperation Center for Agricul- t{on ef national roads. The annual deforestedarea of Legal tural Education {ICCAE), Division of Amazonia achieved a peak of 29,059km2 in 1995, decreas- Coeperative-Network Development, Nagoya in 1998199 National Institute for University, Chikusa Nagoya 464'8601, Japan ing to 16,926km! (INPE J/ FloLPlan".6;39-45{200Q) NII-Electronic Library Service JapanJapanSociety Society of Forest Planning 40 Manayama et aL Spatial Research), amounting to 10% deforestation of that and HiGucHf (1997), Their experiments indicated that region between 1970 and 200e. Among the ITTO (Interna- logging resulted in the first 3-4 years in mortality increase tional Tropical Timber Organization) mernbers, the top 4 and growth of light-demanding species. However, the round-wood producers in,1995-1997 were Brazil, India, forest stand regained a positive balance after eight years, Inclonesia and Malaysia. Due to the round-wood produc- with growth rates nearly reaching those of a primary tion ban introduced by those southeastern Asian countries, un]ogged forest. Also, managed forest with proper Brazil has turned to be the main round-wood producer silvicu]tural treatment showed an increase in the timber since 1995(Fig.1). There are two important forest man- procluction rate compared to the primary forest. With the agement research programs within Legal Amazonia: one intention of addressing ecological problems and achieving has been carried out in the National Forest of Tapaj6s social and econornic benefits from proper land use, the (EMBRAPA-CPATU-The Brazilian Agricu]tural Brazilian government introduced the zoning strategy to Research Organization-Agroforestry Research Center for iinprove ferest management. A field study was earried out the Eastern Amazonia) since 1978, and another one in in Rondania SLate to evaluate the functioning of the zoning Manaus (INPA-National Institute for Amazonian strategy. Research) since experimental 1980. Seme important The purpose of this paper was to analyze the actual results on silviculture and forest management carried out rainforest depletion rate ancl examine how the silvicu]ture in Legal Amazonia were presented by SiLvA et aL (1993), and zoning strategy worked to achieve sustainable forest management in Legal Amazonia. 60 1 STUDY AREA l50 The field study was carried out in Legal Amazonia 40-Eeo (Fig. 2 ) in August 1997, in the settlement lots administerecl i by INCRA (Nationa] Institute for Colonization and Agrar- MMEIeysie 1 30x2D ElndenesiaNlndis-Brszilian Reform) JiparanE of Rond6nia State and INPA Study l!/I10 Forest ZF-2, located 90km to the north of Manaus in 1 ・1 Amazonas State. Area, population and deforestation rates of Legal Amazonia are shown in Table 1. 1 ! LOGGING IN THE BRAZILIAN AMAZON lol lggl 1992 1993 1994 t995 1996 1997 Amazonian tree species are extremely heterogeneous Fig.1 Top four tropical log producers, 1991-1997 and the average commercial tree yield is one m31ha!year in natural Source: ITTO, l997 a forest.The ferestcrown can be seen below the INPA's ZF-2 45rn Observation Tower, in the terra f{rme Table 1 Deforestation in the Brazi]ian Amazon States since 1970 (km2) COLUotBIA States Area Population Defoiestedarea (Aug.1ee6) AcreAmapaAinazonas 153,1499 483,726 13,742 PEPU 143,453.7 379,479 1,782 1,577,820.2 2,389,279 27,434 Maranhao' 333,365.6 5,222,565 99,338119,141176,]38 Mato Grosso 906,806 9 2,235,832 ParARond6nia 1,253,164 5 i510,S49 238,512.8 1,231,O07 48,648 RoraimaTocantins 225,116,1 247,131 5,361 278,420,7 1,048,642 25,483517,069 ARGENTIFU. Legalilmazonia{Teta1)5,109,81e 4 18,748,510 * Only 50% of the state is in Legal Amazonian region. Fig. 2 The nine states of Legal Amazon Source: INPE, 1998 & IBGE, 1998 NII-Electronic Library Service JapanJapanSociety Society ofForestof Forest Planning 1>Tnds on Silviculterre and Zbning Strategy inthe Biueigian A1ua2oma 41 are some species with export were (upland)forest. However, there the Brazilian tin]ber in 1996 Europe (45%), 50-60m heights (Fig. 3 ). The dominant botanic families in North America (40%) , Central America and Andean coun- Amazonia are Laguminosae, Leclithiclaceae and Smpoinceae tries. in terra firme, and Alyristicaceae in varzea (periodically Tax incentives to carry out the farming projects in flooded plain}. The main species of lumber exported from Amazonia were eliminatec! in 1990, following which felling Legal Amazonia in 1994 were CZTmpa guianensis, Diniaia and se]ective exploitation of timber became more intensive, excelsa, Bagassa guianensis, Ced7Tlla spp., Amburana cearen- mainly in southern Para State (MCT-INPAIDFID, 1997). sts, Ilymenaea coztiibali, Cordia goegdiana, Astronium spp., Demancl for Amazonian timber is increasing, not only for Ocotea Porosa, 7kebebuia spp., S2tJietenia macropdyllke, Bowdi- the national market, but also for exports. In 1997, chin nitidu, Ced'relinga catenaqfornzis and Vi}ola sun'namen- BraziliRn production of logs was 48,OOO,OOOm3, including sts (ITTO, 1997) . Among these species, mahogany 26,OOO,OOOm3 from non-conifers (Arnazonian hardwoods). (Sevietenia macmplaylla) or mogno is commercially the Most of the profit frem Brazilian timber exports most va]uable, fo]lowed by virola ( Virola sun'namensis). comes from paper and pulp production obtained from In l990-1996, 743,840m3 of mogne was exported from Eucalyptus in the southern regions. However, finished Legal Amazonia (AIMEX, I997) . The main destinations of manufactures are also prodiuced from Amazonian hard- woeds (Fig.4). Usually, they are harvested predatorily from virgin forest. However, some of them are produced from plantations: Teca (Tectona gltzndis}, A]bizia (Albgia fateata), Balsa (Ochroma P}'mmihale), Gmelina (Gmelina aitorea) and Seringueira (Hbvea btzzsiliensis). Forest productien {n southeast Asia achieved its peak in the early 1990's after which some ef the Asian tropica] tirnber companies stepped up their operations in the Am- azon. Philippines and Thailand, big tropical timber exporters in the past, turnecl to be importers in this decade because of depletion of timber resources in their own countries.