A simple act of cutting vines with a machete can help logged forests in Malaysian Borneo grow back faster. Researchers found that removing woody vines called lianas boosted tree growth by 22 percent and cut tree deaths by 33 percent over a decade. The work took place in Sabah, a state on the island of Borneo known for its tropical forests and palm oil plantations.
A decade of machete work in Sabah's recovering forests
Scientists ran the experiment at the Sabah Biodiversity Experiment, a long term research site in a forest that had been logged in the 1980s. They marked out large plots and hired local field assistants to cut lianas by hand. The team then tracked every tree for 10 years, measuring growth and survival.
Lianas are woody vines that climb up trees to reach sunlight. They compete with trees for light, water, and nutrients. In logged forests, lianas often explode in number because the canopy opens up. This can stall forest recovery for decades.
Why local communities and conservationists took notice
Sabah has lost much of its old growth forest to logging and conversion to oil palm plantations. The remaining logged forests are critical for wildlife, carbon storage, and local livelihoods. People in the region depend on forests for clean water, timber, and non timber products like rattan.
Conservation groups and government agencies in Sabah have been looking for cheap, practical ways to speed up forest recovery. Cutting lianas is low tech and labor intensive, but it does not require expensive machinery or chemicals. The study shows that a single round of cutting can have lasting benefits.
A low cost tool with lasting effects
The researchers calculated that the growth boost from liana cutting was equivalent to adding years of natural regrowth. The effect was strongest for larger trees, which are important for storing carbon and providing habitat. The team also noted that lianas did not regrow quickly after cutting, meaning the benefits lasted across the full 10 year study period.
This finding matters because tropical forests are a major natural solution for climate change. Logged forests cover a huge area across Southeast Asia, Africa, and South America. If managers can help them recover faster, those forests can absorb more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
The study was published in the journal Forest Ecology and Management. It was led by researchers from the University of Oxford and the South East Asia Rainforest Research Partnership, based in Sabah. The work was funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council and the European Research Council.
