The most extensive assessment of biodiversity conservation in the Amazon has found that primary rainforests are tops in terms of biodiversity.  In a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), researchers from the University of East Anglia (UEA) and Brazil’s Goeldi Museum have found that 25% of all species were not found outside native primary forest habitat.

The percentage for certain groups such as for trees, birds, leaf-litter amphibians and lizards restricted to the primary forest habitat was 40-60%, which the researchers claim are probably underestimated.

Lead author Dr Jos Barlow said, "We know that different species often exhibit different responses to deforestation and so we sought to understand the consequences of land-use change for as many species as possible.  Our study should be seen as a best-case scenario, as all our forests were relatively close to large areas of primary forests, providing ample sources for recolonization. Many plantations and regenerating forests along the deforestation frontiers in South America and south-east Asia are much further from primary forests, and wildlife may be unable to recolonize in these areas."

The results of the study are crucial at a time when more than 15 million hectares of forest have been destroyed and felled each year during the 1990s while tropical forest plantations expanded almost 5-fold since 1980.

The researchers said that the findings demonstrated the importance of conserving biologically rich old-growth forests.  The study also showed that plantations and generating forests have higher levels of biodiversity than industrial soybean farms and cattle ranches.

"Although the protection of large areas of primary forest is vital for native biodiversity conservation, reforestation projects can play an important

supplementary role in efforts to boost population sizes of forest species and manage vast working landscapes that have already been heavily modified by human-use," said Dr. Carlos Peres, who led the UEA team.
    
Peres says the new study provides insight for policymakers looking at forests as a way to offset greenhouse gas emissions. While reforestation initiatives currently qualify for carbon credits, a new proposal known as Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) would compensate countries that succeed in reducing deforestation rates. The framework offers great hope for saving the world's remaining old-growth tropical forests.

Peres said, it was "far better to save primary forest from deforestation in the first place. That way we maximize both the biodiversity and carbon value of whole landscapes."  THE END.