THE ROLE OF ANIMALS IN NATURAL REGENERATION AND THE MANAGEMENT OF EQUATORIAL RAIN FORESTS FOR CONSERVATION AND TIMBER PRODUCTION

SUMMARY Many aspects of tropical rain forest regeneration are still not understood, but it is clear that the majority of tree species depend on animals for pollination and dispersal. The widespread destruction of tropical rain forest means that the presence of these animals can no longer be guaranteed unless positive action is taken to give them adequate protection and to manage production forests accordingly. The continued production of timber in the humid tropics based on natural regeneration after logging therefore demands that representative and viable areas of high forest be retained within production areas. Such protected forest must perpetuate viable populations of the plant and animal life typical of the local forest. This will ensure the maintenance of the biological processes upon which timber trees and many other commercially valuable plants depend directly or indirectly for their regeneration, establishment and subsequent survival and growth. Conservation of the forest ecosystems must be recognised to be an essential condition for the continued production of timber, fruits, nuts, bark, exudates and many other valuable forest products.