ITTO and partners create new Wikipedia page on reduced impact logging

At a logging company in East Kalimantan. Photo: Intu Boedhihartono

The International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) has led the compilation of pertinent information on Reduced Impact Logging (RIL) and its role in sustainable forest management (SFM), which is now featured in an article on Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia.  

The article explains in a concise manner how RIL involves the selective logging of natural forests by trained workers, according to detailed management plans, to minimize harm to the forest and risk to forestry workers, while conserving forests for the future.

Subsections detail the emergence of RIL in response to unsustainable mechanized logging, including the set of recommended low-impact practices it comprises, its adaptation for different regions, its potential benefits for forest ecology, biodiversity, and carbon sequestration, and its implications for timber operators and the timber industry.

While tropical countries, including Gabon, Guyana, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Republic of the Congo have embraced RIL, economic constraints, weak implementation in-country and the continued influence of conventional logging norms are barriers to wider adoption, the article notes.

Organizations that have contributed to the development and promotion of RIL, including the ITTO, the Association Technique Internationale des Bois Tropicaux (ATIBT), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the Tropical Forest Foundation (TFF), are described in the last section.

ITTO Executive Director Sheam Satkuru expressed appreciation to the partners involved in this joint initiative. “Harvesting logs remains a sensitive and often misunderstood issue,” she said. “That’s why ITTO is committed to sharing science-based information on sustainable logging practices. We work hand in hand with our partners to broaden outreach and foster informed public dialogue and best practice.”

The article can be accessed at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reduced-Impact_Logging