The standing tree is felled by chainsaw or large -scale machinery, de-limbed and cut into logs of variable length. Ground vehicles are then used to transport (pull, carry or shovel) the logs to the designated loading points where primary processing takes place into various log grades.
Forests managed for long-term wood production are intended to follow logging cycles - also termed rotations – in which trees are harvested and the forest is then left to regenerate for several decades before being relogged. These cycles ostensibly aim to maximize the volume of timber from each harvest without compromising future yields.
The harvesting of timber from cultivated tree plantations only counts as an act of deforestation if the harvest is followed by conversion to another form of land use, and the “scientific” management of natural or native forests is based on the idea that periodic timber harvests are compatible with the maintenance of a permanent forest estate.
The effects of logging on biodiversity are driven by shifts in forest structure and abiotic conditions and by the associated changes in resource availability. Impacts are most immediately following clear-cutting, in which short-term changes strongly favor species tolerant of open habitats.
In case of Illegal and predatory logging, it leads to the depletion of natural resources, which otherwise could be used to generate sustainable socioeconomic development. Instead, perverse economic incentives for extensive ranching and land grabbing have created an unsustainable model of local rural economic development known as boom-bust economy.
What is meant by logging?
