John G. Robinson, Kent H. Redford, and Elizabeth L. Bennett

About the author: John G. Robinson is vice president of international conservation at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), an organization dedicated to saving wildlife and wild lands throughout the world. Kent H. Redford is director for biodiversity analysis at WCS. Elizabeth L. Bennett is involved in WCS projects in Malaysia.

Commercial logging poses a threat to rain forest wildlife. Commercial logging increases the harvest of wildlife in the rain forest by opening up remote forest areas to increased hunting and consumption of wild meat. The harvest in the Brazilian Amazon is estimated at 9.6 to 23.5 million mammals, birds, and reptiles. Logging also sets off a chain of events in local communities that further increases the threats to wildlife populations. Preventing the excess loss of wildlife is critical...