¿Es posible el uso sostenible del bosque en Misiones? Necesidades de manejo a diferentes escalas, investigación, intervenciones de alto impacto y más recursos económicos

VON BELLOW, JONATHAN; VILLAGRA, MARIANA; JARAMILLO, MANUEL; CAMPANELLO, PAULA INÉS; COCKLE, KRISTINA; GARCÍA, DAILY; GOLDSTEIN, GUILLERMO; HILGERT, NORMA INÉS; FRANCESCANTONIO, DEBORA DI; GAUTO, OSCAR

ECOLOGÍA AUSTRAL

ASOCIACIÓN ARGENTINA DE ECOLOGÍA

Lugar: Buenos Aires; Año: 2019 vol. 29 p. 122 - 137

0327-5477

Is sustainable forest harvesting possible in Misiones? The need for multi-scale management, research, high-impact interventions, and funding. To conserve a representative area of the subtropical forests of Misiones, a globally ndangeried ecosystem, it is necessary to find a viable economic solution for the areas destined under Law 26331 exclusively for sustainable management of native forest, and to reduce deforestation in the areas where replacement of native forest is permi􀄴ed (901617 ha and 477858 ha, respectively, accordingto the latest land use planning by the Province of Misiones). Since the middle of the last century, public policies have provided incentives for plantations of trees and other crops, promoting deforestation. Remnant forests are degraded from exploitation of the principal commercial species in cutting cycles shorter than 20 years, and productivity of wood is now too low to be economically useful. Productivity can be improved through post-harvest management (e.g., cu􀄴ing of bamboo and lianas), but on highly degraded sites more intensivemanagement is needed, such as scarifying of soils or planting seedlings of high-value, fast-growing species to allow cu􀄴ing cycles of around 30 years and increments greater than 3 m3.ha-1.year-1. Action is also needed to control illegal trade in native wood, which diminishes the prices and reduces the viability of socially and environmentally responsible enterprises. Moreover, sustainable management of the native forest should be accompanied by reductions in taxes, for example through payment for ecosystem services, or by other typesof use, such as harvesting of non-timber forest products. In the case of small and medium property owners, governments and organizations should stimulate conservation of forest through forest resources and services use, actively encourage diversification of production, and offer tools that promote independence from intensive tobacco cultivation. Funding is needed both directly to producers (through laws) and to institutions that generate knowledge that permits concrete advances in sustainable forest management.