A forest is defined by Botkin & Keller (2011) as a major kind of landscape that is normally grown over certain amounts of years and then harvested, forest products are mostly subjected to vigorous commercialization. Forests are also known for their important contribution to biological conservation. Forests have been an integral part of people and civilization from the very earliest centuries for their major product which his wood. Wood began to be viewed as an important building resource at the start of civilization. This was because wood was always easily and readily available and accessible. With wood, people built their houses, boats and even used it for heating up their homes. Amongst many reasons why people value the importance of forests,
(2016) defines sustainable forest management as a process or an approach of managing forests with an aim of achieving various objectives of management which are clearly defined or specified in terms of continuously producing desired forest products and services without unduly decreasing its inherent values and future productivity and also without imposing negative effects on the physical and social environment. One of the main challenges which is facing many forest policies and planning entails conciliating many different interests and finding a balance so as to satisfy the economical requests without jeopardising the integrity of forests ecological functions (Corezzola, 2016). This is said to be of greatest importance for the concept of Sustainable Forest Management (SFM). In a broader clarity of the SFM definition it can be mentioned that it is “an approach that balances environmental, socio-cultural and economic objectives of management in line with the Forest Principles adopted at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED1) in 1992” (FAO 2003 in Matteusi, 2016). In another broader definition, Sustainable forest management refers to the ‘‘stewardship and use of forests and forest land in a way, and at a rate, that maintains their biodiversity, productivity, generation capacity, vitality, and their potential to fulfil relevant ecological, economic, and social functions at local, national, and global levels for current and future generations” (FAO 2003 in Matteusi,
Pagdee, A., Kim, Y., Daugherty, P. J., 2006. What makes Community Forest Management Successful: A meta-Study From Community Forests Throughout the World, Society and Natural Resources, 19(1): 33-52
Forests cover 31% of the land area on our planet. They produce vital oxygen and provide homes for people and wildlife. Many of the world’s most threatened and endangered animals live in forests, and 1.6 billion people rely on benefits forests offer, including food, fresh water, clothing, traditional medicine and shelter (drug war facts, Page 1).
Tropical rain forests and temperate forests are two different types of forests. They differ in density, diversity of species, regions, altitudes and their usefulness to humans. This usefulness is referred to as values. The values obtained from forests are aesthetics, scientific and educational purposes. In addition forests have the ability to absorb and store carbon dioxide released into the air from man’s endeavours. This CO2 contributes to the sudden increase in global warming. The total value of a forest ecosystem is the combined value of each individual species living within that habitat.
FAO: State of the World's Forests. Rome: Food and Agriculture Office of the United Nations; 2007. Print.
Now is a critical time to address the issue of deforestation. Around the world forests are logged for timber and paper pulp. South America contains a large amount of mahogany and rosewood—highly coveted types of wood—within the Amazon basin. Forests are also cleared to make room for the planting of cash crops, such as coffee and soy, as well as livestock farms. After only a few years, overuse of these lands for crops typically causes soil erosion that quickly turns deforested regions into wastelands. Deforestation is responsible for 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, which is more than all emissions all motorized transportation added together. The destruction of forests does not just threaten our climate; it threatens the livelihoods of billions of people that rely on forests for food and economic activities. The modern world relies on rainforests more than for the well-known reason. People receive many of their fruits and medicines from plant species that survive solely within the heart of a rainforest. Let’s not forget that forests also serve as habitats to wildlife a...
Governments in these countries need to stop thinking of forests as a renewable resource. The rate at which they are harvesting these areas drives them beyond the boundaries of sustainability. The efforts required by reforestation may not initially be cost effective, but it will result in not only the survivability of the environment, but of the country’s economy. Widespread awareness of these ideas will help fight against the natural human tendency towards instant gratification and short-term goals. Different methods of logging can be utilized to allow the rainforests to survive and regrow naturally and at a sustainable
There are many species of trees that get turned into lumber and then manufactured. By harvesting lumber, we are cutting down many trees which are very important to many cycle in the environment. Fortunately we are able to grow back. Forests are burned or clear-cut to facilitate access to, and use of, the land. This practice often occurs when the perceived need for long term sustainability is overwhelmed by short-term sustenance goals. Not only are the depletion of species-rich forests a problem, affecting the local and regional hydrological regime, the smoke caused by the burning trees pollutes the atmosphere, adding more CO2, and furthering the greenhouse effect. For thousands of years, wood has been used as a building material and the fact is wood has huge environmental benefits over other building products. It is completely biodegradable, works as an effective insulator, and is 100 percent
One of the most predominate ecosystems is the forest community. Covering about one-fourth of the land area on Earth, forests consist mainly of trees and other woody vegetation, growing closely together. The trees can be large and densely packed, as they are in the coastal forests of the Pacific Northwest, or they can be relatively small and sparsely scattered, as they are in the dry tropical forests of sub-Saharan Africa. Forests are complex ecosystems that also include “soils and decaying organic matter, fungi and bacteria, herbs and shrubs, vines and lichens, ferns and mosses, insects and spiders, reptiles and amphibians, birds and mammals, and many other organisms” (Audesirk, 2003). All of these components constitute an intricate web with many biological interconnections. A bird may depend on the upper branches of a tree for nesting, while the tree may depend on the fungi surrounding its roots to obtain water and nutrients. A forest performs a number of vital environmental services, such as cleansing the air, moderating the climate, filtering water, cycling nutrients, providing a habitat for animals and provides humans with recreation and beautiful scenery. Resources from the forest supply raw materials, such as lumber, paper products, greenery and pharmaceuticals. Some of the developing issues today concerning forests are fires and what we as a society can do to restore the natural ecosystems within the forests around our world. Many aspects are to be considered when looking at the ecology and bioremediation of forests such as, human activities, wildlife, endangerment and environmental changes. This paper will discuss the effect wildfires have on the forest ecosystem.
Tropical forests provide important renewable resources that can contribute significantly to national economic growth on a continuing basis. Forests products like fruits and timber play a crucial role in the economy of developing countries. Deforestation by means such as logging and cattle ranching is also economically profitable and lucrative. The forest produce generates more than $120 billion, in reported income in the late 2000s, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation. Hence this shows that there are indeed benefits that rainforest can bring to the human
The Western forests are drastically different from what they were like before the European settlement. In pre-European time, the forests were open and park-like with only 25-35 trees per acre surrounded by areas of open grasslands. One could easily ride a horse through the spacious forest. This, however, is not possible in today's forests. Today, for example the Ponderosa pine forests, have over 500 trees per acre, creating thick dense areas of trees, brush, and bushes (President Bush, 4). The pre-European forests were subject to frequent low inte...
Environmental issues affect every life on this planet from the smallest parasite to the human race. There are many resources that humans and animal needs to survive; some of the most obvious resources come from the forests. Forests make up a large percentage of the globe. The forests have global implications not just on life but on the quality of it. Trees improve the quality of the air that species breath, determine rainfall and replenish the atmosphere. The wood from the forests are used everyday form many useful resources. Moreover, thinning the forests increases the amount of available light, nutrients and water for the remaining trees. Deforestation (forest thinning) is one of the most critical issues of environmental problems that are occurring today.
The forests around the world a supply a plethora of community amenities and commercial goods , nevertheless forested terrain progressively is becoming transformed to accommodate other uses, including cropland, pasture, mining, and urban areas, which can produce superior private financial returns. The wide array of benefits the forest provides that vanish directly tied to deforestation have resulted in several policies drafted with the sole intention to reduce the frequency of deforestation. This paper has two primary objectives. First, this paper will review and summarize both the preceding and current research on deforestation. Second, it will emphasize the significance of future research and development, as well as other solutions needed
Rainforests once covered 14% of the worlds land surface, however now it only covers a mere 6%. It is estimated that all rainforests could be consumed in less than 40 years. Trees are becoming more needed and used everyday. We need them cut down for many reasons such as paper and timber, while also needing them ‘untouched’ for other reasons like oxygen, we have to ask ourselves, which is more important? At the current rate, most of the rainforests are being cut down for resources like paper and timber, but less importance is being placed on main resources like oxygen.
The idea of forestry in the sense that we know it today is only about four hundred years old. Forestry developed mainly out of the need for a continual supply of wood products. There were a few forest reserves for hunting or preservation in Europe, but the idea of managing a forest for a number of resources is quite new. There are four stages that almost all societies have gone through when trying to develop this idea of forestry. The first stage has to do with the unregulated abuse of forest products to be used as energy, building supplies and also to be cleared to make way for agricultural land. This creates a kind of domino effect on forests everywhere. The overexploitation of regional forests means there will be a scarcity of products that are considered valuable, which in turn leads to the abuse of more outlying forests and the overexploitation of them and so on and so forth. In the United States this stage was seen with the colonization of America. Colonization began in the eastern U.S. and as a result led to the destruction of forests there. People needed forest supplies to build their homes and farms, and when the regional forests were almost depleted they began taking resources from outlying forests (Kimmins, 1992). The U.S. prior to colonization had an estimated one billion acres of forested land. By the year 1900 that area had been reduced to 567 million acres (Berger, 1998, p.29).
Let us keep our forests! Due to forest conservation to augur well for the environment, as well as the destruction / damage to the forest will bring havoc to the lives of us all. Well, for that, support forest conservation efforts in the area where you live, support the environmental advocacy movement to reject any rules or policies that are not appropriate for the preservation of our forests! and be diligent to plant in the yard of your house ya! Let me immediately feel the benefits of trees in your