A new study by World Land Trust partner Fundación Jocotoco has found that tropical forests can regain more than 90% of their biodiversity within just 30 years.
Judging by the volume of reports, insights and expert opinion on the effects of global warming, you would be forgiven that the world is currently on course for climate-driven destruction. Of course, increasing carbon emissions, deforestation and rising temperatures are all leading to environmental disaster on a global scale and only the collective efforts of all the world’s people, businesses and governments can reverse it, but there are a few bright lights at the end of the long tunnel. One of those lights is the work by World Land Trust (WLT) and Carbon Balanced Paper partner Fundación Jocotoco.
Based in Ecuador, Fundación Jocotoco was established to protect globally threatened bird species in the Ecuadorian Andes, but has expanded to create 15 reserves and a 60,000 km² marine reserve. Alongside its conservation work, Fundación Jocotoco also collaborates with leading scientists on ecological research, and has recently worked on a study that’s found clear evidence that tropical forests can rebound far faster than previously thought, recovering more than 90% of their original biodiversity within 30 years.
Remarkable resilience
Published in leading science journal Nature, the study is one of the most detailed assessments of tropical forest recovery ever conducted, bringing together over 30 universities from Ecuador and around the world to examine areas that had previously been cleared for cacao plantations and cattle pasture, and comparing them with mature rainforest.
By analysing more than 10,800 species and using AI?assisted analysis, bioacoustic monitoring and environmental DNA, the study not only found that overall species diversity and animal biomass recovered to over 90% of that in old?growth forest within three decades, but up to 75% of the animal and plant species typical to primary forest returned, and forest structure and ecological function began to rebalance naturally.
Given that tropical rainforests are the most species-rich terrestrial ecosystem on Earth – home to almost two-thirds of all vertebrate species and three-quarters of all tree species – this is highly encouraging for conservation groups and the global environment.
“Rainforests, as complex ecosystems and species-rich communities, demonstrate remarkable resilience and the ability to return to their original state,” said lead author of the report Timo Metz. “This stability has often been modelled theoretically, but until now could not be demonstrated on the basis of such extensive empirical data.”
Proof of protection
This work adds yet more importance to the work of WLT, which works with over 30 partner organisations around the world to protect threatened areas of land and the wildlife within it from deforestation due to agriculture, mining and poaching. By proving that effective conservation enables a forest to regain the vast majority of its biodiversity in a relatively short period of time, they provide the evidence for governments and other organisations for their own conservation projects.
“Our findings that 75% of species composition and 90% of species diversity return under their own steam within a single human generation show just how effectively we can protect nature,” said Director of Fundación Jocotoco, Martin Schaefer. “By purchasing and protecting land, we can preserve the diversity of life and the foundations of our societies – soil, water, and the pollination of the plants that form the basis of our food supply.”
