Biodiversity
Francis Hallé’s account of the biodiversity
BIODIVERSITY
The botanist Francis Hallé announces the death of these ecosystems in 10 years.
By Eliane PATRIARCA
QUOTIDIEN Libération : Monday 27th November 2006
After a passionate liason of 40 years, Francis Hallé remains devoted to trees. The botanist, a specialist in tropical rainforests, has led scientific missions abord the Forest Canopy Raft from 1986 until 2003. Like the forests he studies, Francis is a tortured soul. The logging industry, the gold mining and soya plantations are wiping the forests from the face of the earth. Francis is also an angry man: in Paris on Saturday, during the 21st Century Dialogues organised by UNESCO, he denounced ” the massacre before our eyes, by the industrialized world, of the last tropical rain forests.”
Which forests are under threat?
The primary forests, those which have never been exploited by Man. The last primary forests in Western Europe disappeared at least five centuries ago.Usually they are found in tropical regions but these, too, are disappearing rapidly. In Indonesia it is already too late. China is a major actor in deforestation. Brazil is clearing the Amazonian, in order to plant soya. In Guyana, gold mining is causing terrible devestation. In Australia and Tasmania, the eucalyptus forests are dwindling. In ten years it will be over; there will be no more tropical rainforests left.
In what way is their disappearance so dangerous?
These are important ecosystems which, because of the difficulty in studying them, remain unfamiliar. Superb environments, they regroup 75 to 90% of the earth’s biological diversity. The forests are home to a multitude of ecological niches and are, as much, multiplication tables of life. They are also very tolerant environments which permit the development of unique types of life.
What is the difference with a secondary forest?
We are used to seeing secondary forests in films and magazines: dense, impenetrable, the hero has to cut his way through them with a machete. The primary forest is more accessible, as little grows on the forest floor because of the rarity of light. The canopy, the upper strata of the trees, where 80% of the leaves are concentrated, allows for only a tiny pourcentage of light to reach the undergrowth.
If we were to leave it in peace, could the secondary forest return to being a primary forest?
Yes, although it would need seven centuries to do it. A secondary forest contains five times less species than a primary one.
You denounce France’s active role in this destruction.
Our country is a major actor in the commercial sector of tropical wood and, hand in hand with private French companies such as Palliso, Rougier Océan, Bolloré, Leroy Gabon, an active perpetrator of deforestation… I find it scandalous how successive French governments continue to allow the sacking of Central Africa’s forests, after those of West Africa.
Here you put aside the scientific discourse.
My commitment was really triggered by the experience of the Forest Canopy Raft. Confronted with the local collectivities, with men who cut down the forest, with roads constructers… We were given a site to study, but the moment our back was turned, the site was erased! Sometimes the scientific discourse becomes clichéd. Faced with this massacre, I believe there is no alternative but to speak one’s mind loudly and clearly. I’m not just a botanist, I’m a humanist.
So its a lost cause?
I’m not normally a pessimist but, today, the disappearance of the rainforests is inevitable. I’m desparately looking for a producer to make a film about the tropical rainforests, so at least we will have a record of them. Jacques Perrin is interested but he’s booked until 2025, by which time it’ll be too late.
