Seeing the fruit for the trees in Borneo

Chris J. Kettle* (Corresponding Author), Jaboury Ghazoul, Peter Ashton, Charles H. Cannon, Lucy Chong, Bibian Diway, Eny Faridah, Rhett Harrison, Andy Hector, Pete Hollingsworth, Lian Pin Koh, Eyen Khoo, Kanehiro Kitayama, Kuswata Kartawinata, Andrew J. Marshall, Colin Maycock, Satoshi Nanami, Gary Paoli, Matthew D. Potts, Ismayadi SamsoedinDouglas Sheil, Sylvester Tan, Ichie Tomoaki, Campbell Webb, Takuo Yamakura, David F. R. P. Burslem

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The recent mass fruiting of forest trees in Borneo is an urgent wakeup call: existing policy instruments, financial mechanisms, and forestry infrastructure are inadequate to take full advantage of these infrequent opportunities for forest restoration and conservation. Tropical forest restoration can provide substantial benefits for biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation, and poverty alleviation. Yet the unpredictability of the synchronized flowering and consequent mass fruiting of many forest trees in Borneo presents a distinctive set of challenges for forest restoration. Significant financing and a considerable coordinated effort are required to prepare for future mass fruiting events if we are to capitalize on opportunities for ecological restoration. The continued high rate of forest clearance in this region and the rarity of mass fruiting events suggest that there may be few remaining opportunities to prevent widespread species extinctions. In this article we propose a facilitatory policy framework for forest restoration in Borneo to stimulate action in advance of the next mass fruiting of forest trees.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)184-191
Number of pages8
JournalConservation Letters
Volume4
Issue number3
Early online date25 Jan 2011
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2011

Keywords

  • ecological restoration
  • forest restoration
  • mass fruiting
  • general flowering
  • biodiversity
  • Dipterocarpaceae
  • climate change
  • poverty alleviation

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