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Role of forests |
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A well-managed forest is a constantly self-renewing resource and provides a wide range of benefits at local, national and global levels. Some of these benefits depend on the forest being left untouched or subject to minimal interference while others can only be realised by harvesting the forest. Among the most important roles of forests are sustainable production of wood and timber products, provision of food, shelter and energy, mitigation of climate change, conservation of water and soil, as well as for recreation and ecotourism. Forests are also important repositories of biological diversity.In this regard, wood is of major economic importance as in 1990 the world's production of industrial timber was about 1,600 million cubic metres, of which about 75 per cent came from the developed countries, while international trade in wood and wood products, as well as paper and pulp is estimated to worth US$96,000 million a year, of which about US$12,500 million comes from developing country exports (FAO, 1993b). Besides, currently fuelwood comprises about 85 per cent of the wood consumed in the developing countries and accounts for more than 75 per cent of total energy consumption in the poorest countries and that over 2,000 million people use fuelwood as the primary source of fuel (UN, 1991).In recent years, attention has also been focused on the importance of non-wood forest products which include plants for food and medicinal purposes, fibres, dyes, animal fodder and other necessities. Indonesia, for example, earns an estimated US$120 million a year from rattans, resins, sandalwood, honey, natural silk and pharmaceutical and cosmetic compounds (FAO 1990), while the local production of bidi cigarette from the tendu leaf(Diospyros melanoxylon)in India provides part-time employment for up to half a million women (FAO, 1993b). In this connection, it has been estimated that more than 200 million people in the tropics live in the forests (FAO, 1993b) and in some parts of Africa as much as 70 per cent of animal protein comes from forest games such as birds and rodents (FAO, 1990).The economic value of forests in relation to floods and soil conservation is that they may allow for agricultural and even industrial development on floodplains because they contribute to the mitigation of the effects of floods and in minimizing soil erosion especially in mountainous and hilly areas. In fact a well- managed forest would provide a number of goods and services to meet basic human needs as outlined in Annex I.
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2 Comments
thank you katherine
Posted 21-11-2014 02:05
Nice Article!
Posted 16-11-2014 17:27