Tropical forests are under increasing pressure from human activities. Timber extraction from tropical forests is a widespread activity, with about 400 million ha of tropical forests set aside as permanent production forests for timber and non-timber forest product extraction. Timber extraction in the tropics is done through selective logging, the selective extraction of few commercial trees per hectare for timber production, followed by natural forest regeneration. Despite the importance of logged tropical forests and their potential for conservation of biodiversity, we lack understanding on the dynamics of these forests, on their recovery rate after logging and on the factors driving that recovery. It is also not clear how different management practices affect the long-term recovery of these forests. 

In this symposium, we will  focus on logged forests, and on the effect of logging on biodiversity, forest dynamics and provisioning of ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration and timber volume. We will do so through a series of presentations focussing on long-term data from single sites and comparative studies throughout the tropics, and we will discuss management guidelines being proposed based on research. The main objectives are:



Investigate the effects of forest management and logging practices on biodiversity across different  tropical forests


Assess the consequences of these practices on ecosystem services such as timber production and carbon storage


Discuss recommendations to guarantee the long-term provision of timber, and the conservation of tropical forests through sustainable forest management.