Tropical forests that have regrown after deforestation are proving more significant havens of biodiversity than previously thought, scientists said last week.

A meeting convened to highlight the controversy about tropical rainforest “comeback” heard that secondary regrowth of forests is widespread and is leading to areas rich in plant and animal life that can play an important role in conservation efforts in the tropics.

Robin Chazdon, from the University of Connecticut, told the meeting that many species considered to be old-growth forest specialists are in fact doing well in secondary forests, at least in small proportions. 

Two scientists reported at a Smithsonian symposium that the future of tropical forests may not be as bleak as some conservation experts warn. Some of the world’s tropical rainforests that had been cut down are making a quick comeback.

About 135,000 square miles (350,000 square kilometers) of the original forested areas that were cut down by humans are growing back, according to Greg Asner of the Washington-based Carnegie Institution, a presenter at the symposium.

This regrowth is relatively quick, with the shady forest canopy closing in after just 15 years as trees grow taller and denser, offering habitat for creatures adapted to just this environment, such as birds with huge eyes able to see in the leafy gloom. (Full report, including gloomier outlooks from other scientists, at ENN)

The Senate on Thursday approved a sweeping conservation measure as it tries to reverse years of rollbacks in environmental protection by the administration of outgoing President George W. Bush.  On a vote of 73-21, it passed a package of nearly 170 land and water bills and sent it to the House of Representatives, which was expected to give it final approval.

Barack Obama will sign it into law after he is sworn in as president on Tuesday, ensuring the protection of millions of acres of America’s parks, rivers, streams and trails from development. (Read more at Reuters)