Press release: High loss of biodiversity, even in protected tropical forests

Nr. 139/2012 - 25.07.2012

Scientists from Göttingen document illegal destruction in Indonesian national park

(pug) Protected forest areas in the tropics may harbour the greatest diversity of animal and plant species anywhere on Earth, but, in recent decades, half of these protected areas have suffered a dramatic loss in their biodiversity. Forest destruction is considered to be the primary factor behind this, as shown by an investigation of 60 protected tropical areas worldwide. Scientists from the University of Göttingen have contributed to this study for over ten years with the results of their investigations into the biodiversity in Lore Lindu National Park on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. The results have been published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature.

On a daily basis, the researchers from Göttingen observed illegal activities within the National Park, such as logging, hunting and rattan harvesting. This even included large-scale forest destruction. This was caused by the arrival of thousands of settlers and the subsequent deforestation of thousands of hectares of rain forest. The destruction and damaging of the National Park went hand-in-hand with increasingly intensive land use in its periphery, as was observed in almost all 60 of the protected areas investigated. In Indonesia, this was the result of the clearing of ecologically important shade trees in cocoa agro-forestry systems. “Large animals and trees, as well as fresh-water fish and amphibians, proved to be the groups that had suffered population losses in more than half of the protected areas. Interestingly, the destruction of habitats within the protected areas was closely linked to destruction outside of these areas. That is why we are calling for sustainable land use and buffer zones all around the protected areas“, says Professor Teja Tscharntke, agricultural ecologist at the University of Göttingen and one of the co-authors of the study.

Prof. Tscharntke is also in favour of better National Park management: “The protection of the National Parks cannot rely on legal regulations alone, the government also has to enforce them. I welcome current initiatives to develop a buffer zone concept for large protected areas in Indonesia.”

Original publication: W. F. Laurance et al. (2012): Averting biodiversity collapse in tropical forest protected areas. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/nature11318.

Contact:
Prof. Dr. Teja Tscharntke
Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
Faculty of Agricultural Sciences
Department of Crop Sciences - Agroecology group
Grisebachstraße 6, 37077 Göttingen
Phone +49 551 39-9205
Email: ttschar@gwdg.de
Internet: www.agroecology.uni-goettingen.de