Mainstreaming biodiversity conservation: a Peninsular Malaysian case

Abstract

SUMMARY The contention is examined that forests can contribute to biodiversity conservation either as protected areas or as production forests, especially where the latter are managed for timber extraction. This notion is explored for the Peninsular Malaysian forests, and it is shown that biodiversity conservation would be optimized if the system of protected areas is located within a broader matrix of carefully managed production forests. A model is developed to illustrate how the biodiversity value of protected areas would be enhanced through interaction with production forests. In no way is the suggestion being made here that production forests could serve as critical centres for the conservation of biotic diversity, but then neither should they be dismissed as areas completely devoid of any contribution to the biodiversity cause. These findings are especially significant in Peninsular Malaysia where two-thirds of the forests legally set aside as Permanent Forest Estate is to be managed as production f...