# Active restoration in secondary and degraded tropical forests as a nature-based solution to answer the global wood demand

Marie-Ange Ngo Bieng, Manuel Boissière, Emilien Dubiez, Bruno Hérault, Philippe Guizol, Jean-Pierre Morales, Jean-Marc Roda, Roger Villalobos, Plinio Sist, Bryan Finegan

► To cite this version:

Marie-Ange Ngo Bieng, Manuel Boissière, Emilien Dubiez, Bruno Hérault, Philippe Guizol, et al.  
Active restoration in secondary and degraded tropical forests as a nature-based solution to answer  
the global wood demand. FTA 2020 Science Conference: Forests, trees and agroforestry science for  
transformational change, Sep 2020, Bogor, Indonesia. pp.164-164. hal-05177172

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Submitted on 22 Jul 2025

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FTA
Science
Conference

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RESEARCH
PROGRAM ON
Forests, Trees and
Agroforestry

FTA 2020 Science Conference

Forests, trees and agroforestry
science for transformational change

14-18 | 21-25

September 2020

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Book of Abstracts

Corrigendum of 10.03.2021
FTA 2020 Science Conference

Forests, trees and agroforestry
science for transformational change

14-18 | 21-25

September 2020

Book of Abstracts
Book of Abstracts

© 2020 The CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA)

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Content in this publication is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0), http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

DOI: 10.17528/cifor/007925

Gitz V, Meybeck A, Ricci F, Belcher B, Brady MA, Coccia F, Elias M, Jamnadass R, Kettle C, Larson A, Li Y, Louman B, Martius C, Minang P, Sinclair F, Sist P, Somarriba E. (Editors). 2020. *Book of Abstracts: FTA 2020 Science Conference - Forests, trees and agroforestry science for transformational change*. 14–18 | 21–25, September 2020. Bogor, Indonesia: The CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA).

CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry
CIFOR Headquarters
Jalan CIFOR
Situ Gede, Sindang Barang
Bogor Barat 16115
Indonesia

T +62-251-8622-622
E cgiarforestsandtrees@cgiar.org

foreststreesagroforestry.org

We would like to thank all funding partners who supported this research through their contributions to the CGIAR Fund. For a full list of the 'CGIAR Fund' funding partners please see: http://www.cgiar.org/our-funders/

Any views expressed in this publication are those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of The CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA), the editors, the authors' institutions, the financial sponsors or the reviewers.
## AUTHORS

Ngo Bieng Marie Ange† Manuel Boissière†
Emilien Dubiez‡ Bruno Herault†§ Philippe Guizol†|
Jean Pierre Morales‡ Jean-Marc Roda†Δ
Roger Villalobos‡ Plinio Sist† Bryan Finegan‡

## E-MAIL ADDRESS OF PRESENTER

marie-ange.ngo_bieng@cirad.fr

## ORGANIZATIONS

† Cirad, Université de Montpellier, UR Forests & Societies, Montpellier, 34398, France

‡ CATIE, Forests, Biodiversity and Climate Change Programme, Turrialba, 30501, Costa Rica.

§ Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphouët-Boigny (INP-HB), Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast

| CIFOR, Yaoundé, Cameroon

Δ Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia

# Active restoration in secondary and degraded tropical forests as a nature-based solution to answer the global wood demand

In this talk, we will address issues related to the potential of tropical secondary and degraded forests (SDFs) as sustainable and complementary alternatives for wood production, from case studies in Central American countries. We will also discuss the potential of wood production in SDFs as an effective NBS for the climate crisis, i.e. associated to effective mitigation in the future.

Tropical secondary (1) and degraded (2) forests are disturbed forest areas, growing in formerly deforested areas (1) or which have suffered from unsustained human activities, such as unplanned and repetitive logging or fire (2). They have consequently lost their capacity to provide a high level of goods and services.

SDFs are important worldwide as they account for swathes of forest landscapes and are invaluable forest ecosystems related to biodiversity recovery, carbon storage, but also a diversity of other forest ecosystem services.

However, they are fragile and endangered forest ecosystems, as they are located in highly dynamic pressured landscapes and are susceptible to catastrophic events. Without appropriate silvicultural management designed to increase their economic value, they may well be cleared for more economically productive activities.

Moreover, the increasing demand for tropical timber in recent decades and in the near future may worsen the pressure on these fragile ecosystems.

We suggest that active restoration implemented towards wood production in SDFs may amount to a sustainable and complementary alternative for wood production in the future. Wood production is definitely an opportunity for SDF conservation in the context of the increase in wood demand, while limiting pressure for wood demand on the remaining natural forests. Moreover, SDF maintenance and restoration through secondary forest dynamics contribute significantly to the maintenance of crucial ecosystems services in the context of the climate crisis.

Following the CATIE project on secondary forest dynamics and valuation in Central American countries (IKI Funding program 2017–2020), we are setting up with FTA support (2020), work on the assessment and the improvement of wood production potential from secondary forests through analysis of data from national forest inventories in Central American countries.

During the FTA science conference 2020, we will present the first results of this work. We will discuss the limitations and opportunities associated with wood production in tropical SDFs nowadays in the global context, but also the mitigation potential associated to wood production in these SDFs.

## KEYWORDS

Active restoration, secondary forests, degraded forests, increase in timber demand, mitigation potential

## REFERENCES

Poorter L, Bongers F, Aide T, et al. 2016. Biomass resilience of Neotropical secondary forests. *Nature* 530:211–14. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature16512

Putz FE, Zuidema PA, Synnott, T, et al. 2012. Sustaining conservation values in selectively logged tropical forest: the attained and the attainable. *Conservation Letters* 5(4):296–303. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1755-263X.2012.00242.x

Ngo Bieng MA, et al. submitted. Wood demand is an opportunity and a challenge for restoring tropical secondary and degraded forests. *One Earth*.

Ngo Bieng MA. Tapping the potential of restoring disturbed tropical forests. IUFRO SPOTLIGHTS #67. http://blog.iufro.org/2019/06/11/iufro-spotlight-67-tapping-the-potential-of-restoring-disturbed-tropical-forests/