Even when sustainable management regulations and logging cycles established by the law are strictly followed, logging causes irreversible losses in the productive value of Amazon forests, according to a study by the Luiz de Queiroz Higher School of Agriculture at the University of São Paulo. Brazilian legislation establishes a 30-year cycle for so-called sustainable logging. But the researchers found that over this period of time, the growth of commercial tree species planted to replace the trees that have been logged does not match the volume that had initially been extracted.

"We used an area of 200 hectares, divided into three sections: logging with forest management practices, predatory logging, and forest conservation. We extracted species of commercial value and assessed their growth," head researcher Edson Vidal told Tierramérica.

"Since the volume extracted is not replaced in the time period established by the law, management practices do not succeed in maintaining profitability beyond the first cycle," he said.