MANILA, Philippines - The Ecological Society of the Philippines (ESP) is calling on the government to implement a total logging bar policy in all primary natural forests in the country.
According to ESP president Antonio M. Claparols, the logging ban will immediately abate the effects of global warming.
“Natural forests can store three times more carbon dioxide than reforested plantations,” Claparols said. “If we really want to miligate the effects of climate change all we really need to do is protect and conserve our natural forest and biodiversity as well as slow down on greenhouse gas emissions.”
A recent study in Australia finds that “untouched natural forests store three times more carbon dioxide than previously estimated and 60 percent more than plantation forests” and that first-time “logging resulted in more than a 40 percent reduction in long-term carbon compared with unlogged forests.”
“This is a confirmation that what we have been fighting for is true,” Claparols said. Scientists said that the role of untouched forests and their biomass of green carbon, had been underestimated in the fight against global warming. Not only did natural forests store more carbon but because they remained untouched, they stored the carbon for longer than plantation forests which were cut down on a rotation basis.
Rainforests act as natural sinks for carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. They take up the carbon dioxide and release oxygen into the atmosphere.
“If we destroy our forests, we upset this balance. With lesser trees in the forests, the more carbon dioxide shall be left in the atmosphere, thus, less oxygen shall be released,” Claparols added. “That is why we are calling on the government to stop logging our remaining natural forest and to protect and conserve them.”