From Ted Gullison and Richard Rice, Imperial College and Conservation International
London and Washington DC
It has come to our attention that some sources are misconstruing Bob Holmes’s
article on mahogany to imply that we advocate logging mahogany to save the
forest (This Week, 22 February, p 10).
This is not the case. Our report focused on what is done with forests after
mahogany has been logged. We caution here against strategies for the
regeneration of a single species, such as mahogany, at the expense of much of
the other fauna and flora. In this context, we warn against sacrificing the
forest to save mahogany.
We do not advocate wholesale logging of mahogany. On the contrary, we urge
governments, industry and the environmental community to work toward conserving
representative wild populations of mahogany, such as through the current
proposal to have international trade in mahogany regulated under CITES Appendix
II. By this means, National Parks and reserves may be protected from the
unmanaged, often illegal, logging that is currently taking place.
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