SFM for biodiversity conservation
Forests harbour most of the Earth’s terrestrial biodiversity. Tropical rainforests alone support over 50 percent of terrestrial species. Forests and their biodiversity serve as a safety net for humanity, providing clean air, regulating water cycles, sequestering atmospheric carbon, mitigating natural disasters, and bolstering livelihoods. Forests also have an important role in maintaining human health and psychological well-being, as well as in sustaining our economies.
Even though biodiversity conservation has been an important global agenda for at least three decades, forest biodiversity continues to be lost at an alarming rate. Deforestation is the single most important driver of forest biodiversity loss. Forest biodiversity is also being eroded through forest degradation, in particular by overharvesting of plants and wildlife, as well as from invasive species, fires, pests and diseases. Biodiversity loss compromises the ecological functioning and stability of forests, therefore undermining the provision of ecosystem services to humanity.
Ample scientific evidence shows that SFM can help stem biodiversity losses and secure sustainable benefits. Biodiversity concerns should be integrated in all types of forest managed for various purposes. There is a need to ensure that adequate areas of forest representing the full suite of forest types are managed specifically for biodiversity conservation. In production forests, SFM should ensure that vulnerable species and genetic resources, as well as the diversity of ecosystems, are maintained. In intensively managed forests, conservation set-asides may be needed, and the impacts of silvicultural practices on biodiversity should be taken into account in forest management planning and implementation. All forests need to be protected against wildfire, pests, invasive species, encroachment and illegal activities. Biodiversity conservation also requires landscape-level measures (e.g. addressing deforestation drivers, establishing ecological corridors, reducing habitat fragmentation) based on cooperative intersectoral efforts. Specific measures may also be needed in buffer zones around protected areas.
FAO serves as the Biodiversity Mainstreaming Platform and has developed the FAO Strategy on Biodiversity Mainstreaming across Agricultural Sectors. In 2020, FAO, together with CIFOR, published "Mainstreaming biodiversity in forestry" which reviewed the current state of biodiversity mainstreaming in forestry, assessed the various approaches and tools available, and identified good practices that balance conservation and sustainable use of forest biodiversity.
