1 global connections: forests of the world activity 5 understanding the effect of forest uses

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Global Connections:

Forests of the World

Activity 5

Understanding the Effect of Forest Uses

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Objectives

Analyze different uses of forests in terms of benefits and of both positive and negative effects.

Determine which of the uses may be sustainable

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Searchable Key Words

forest products forest uses forest utilization wood products wood utilization

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Background

Activity 5

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How humans use forests has varied over time depending on the type and location of the forest,

as well as on the forest’s ownership and productivity.

Activity 5 - Background

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Traditionally (and in many developing countries today):

People use forests for…

food by hunting animals and by gathering fruits and nuts.

leaves as fodder for their livestock.

harvest wood for cooking fuel and building materials.

fibers for use in clothing and shelter,

raw materials for medicines and tools.


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The pressure on forests has grown as the world's population has increased

The case of use of wood and charcoal for energy:

Almost three billion people worldwide - approximately 80 percent of households in developing countries - depend on forest fuels for their cooking, heating, and lighting.

As an energy source, wood is fast disappearing in many regions. As the fuelwood close to the home or village is depleted, women (and girls) spend an increasing amount of time meeting this basic need

Example: In Nepal, for example, women spend an average of three hours a day collecting firewood.


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In developed countries

In Austria, Finland, and Sweden, wood energy provides about 12% to 18% of the country’s total primary energy supply.

Forests are used primarily for building materials, paper, and packaging.

The forests are more intensively managed for timber production, not fuel production.

Value forests for recreation and wildlife conservation, resulting in an increase of forest cover* in some areas.

* the % of land that is covered by a forest’s tree crowns


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Developed countries

Account for most of the demand for wood products, other than wood used for energy.

Example: Countries in North America and Europe, plus Japan, have just one-sixth of the world’s population, but they consume two-thirds of the world’s paper and paperboard and half of its industrial wood. In addition, demand for wood products has risen in developing countries, along with the demand for additional fuelwood.


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Still, the supply of forest products does not meet the demand, and many developed countries do not meet their wood product needs and must import a variety of forest products from other

countries.


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Forest productsActivity 5 - Background

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How can humans sustain the forests of

the world?


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The answers is not simple! Check the complexities involved:


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An important first step has been to define what sustainability is and to identify the critical aspects of forests that must be sustained.


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Sustainability concept

“Sustainable development is a term that implies two concepts: the concept of needs and the concept of limits.

The needs of present and future generations must be met with the full support of human ingenuity, but within

the limits of a stable biosphere. For the forests, this requires that if we want to benefit from the material

goods and services of the forests, it has to be done in a way that does not jeopardize their ecological functions. Both forests and development have to be sustained.”

(Report of the World Commission on Forests and Sustainable Development )


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Doing the activity

Activity 5

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Now, time to work!

1.Discussion a. What percentage of the world’s population do you think

uses wood for cooking, heating water, and heat?

b. In many families around the world, one person must spend an hour each day to find and carry home the firewood the family needs for cooking. How would it affect your day if you had to spend almost an hour just getting wood for cooking?

c. How might meeting this basic need affect the forest?

d. What other ways, in addition to fuelwood, do people around the world use forests?

e. How might these uses affect the forest in the same way?

f. Which ones seem to have a greater or lesser effect?

Activity 5 – Doing the activity

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2. How People Use Forests?

In pairs or small groups, read one case study of “How People Use Forests”

and then analyze it by answering questions 1–8 on the

“What are the Consequences?”

(student page 72)


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How People Use Forests: Case A Fertilizer in the Indian HimalayasPeople in the Indian Himalayas depend on two harvests

a year for their survival: rice and millet in the monsoon season and wheat in winter. This intense farming takes a lot of nutrients from the soil, and the farmers use leaves from the forest to make up this shortage of nutrients. One way that Himalayan farmers use leaves as fertilizer is to lay them directly on the fields as mulch. They also feed leaves to their oxen and water buffalos, which, in turn, transform fresh leaves into manure that can be applied to the soil as com post. In addition to processing compost material, the farmers use the livestock for plowing the fields and for milk and meat for their families. As in most parts of India, forests are now found only on steep slopes and other inaccessible places. Every year, women work harder and travel farther to collect leaves, putting themselves increasingly at risk for injury when lopping off branches from high in trees and walking long distances with their heavy loads of leaf fodder. To save time, they often take leaves from the nearest trees, and those trees die more rapidly as a result of overharvesting, thus causing the forest to diminish more.


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How People Use Forests: Case B Ecotourism in Costa RicaThe Costa Rican rainforest is rich and vibrant, with more than 12,000

native plant species and some 300 native animal species. The wildlife is spectacularly diverse. Because Costa Rica is the bridge between North and South America, many species migrating between the two continents can be seen in Costa Rica. In the 1960s and 1970s, Costa Rica’s rainforest had been threatened by the increase in human population. Confronted with the tasks of daily living, local people were cutting trees both to clear land for farming and cattle grazing and to obtain firewood for cooking. Looking for a way to sustain the rainforest while providing a living for local people, Costa Rica began an ecotourism program in the mid-1980s. Ecotourism encour ages tourists to visit an area so that they can learn about and enjoy the natural environment there. Ecotourists may hike, boat, or watch birds in the forest. In the ory, this is a win-win situation where the forest prospers because it is no longer being cut and where the local inhabitants prosper with employment and income. It makes an intact rainforest a valuable resource. By 1994, ecotourism was second only to bananas in the money it brought to Costa Rica from foreign countries. Although ecotourism has helped the rainforest, it has also presented new problems. For example, ecotourism brings thousands of tourists to parks that aren’t set up for so many visitors; the parks have no parking lots, trails, or nature centers. In some areas, there have been problems with trash and trail erosion. There is also some concern that the large numbers of foreign tourists could cause part of the local culture to be lost.


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How People Use Forests: Case C Charcoal Production in the

Democratic Republic of the CongoCharcoal is one of the main sources of energy for cooking and food

production in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Many people prefer charcoal because it has been a part of their culture for hundreds of years. It is a concentrated form of energy, burning hotter and more cleanly than wood. Meat from the forest is typically cooked over charcoal and is considered a delicacy prepared that way. Because it is made from wood, charcoal is actually a type of fuelwood. Charcoal production begins in the for est, where trees are removed and cut. The wood is then burned slowly with limited oxygen in kilns. This process reduces the wood to its most basic carbon content. Making charcoal brings important jobs to rural areas and can be done in conjunction with farming. Producers can use free raw materials (wood from natural forests) and can turn them into a marketable commodity in high demand. However, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, charcoal production is also a threat to the forest because people cut trees at a faster rate than the trees can regrow. This problem has lead to shrinking forest lands and to an increase in the price of charcoal. Because the charcoal has to be trucked from ever-greater distances, the price has steadily increased. This increase, in turn, has hurt small-scale industries that use wood and has put pressure on household budgets. In addition, charcoal use results in high carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, which is the primary greenhouse gas responsible for global warming. For those reasons, many people feel that charcoal production should be stopped altogether. However, because the Congolese people prefer charcoal for cooking, and alternative energy sources are more expensive, attempts to ban the production or the use of charcoal have been mostly unsuccessful.


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How People Use Forests: Case D Senior Housing in Korea

The Republic of Korea (formerly South Korea) was once lushly wooded, but by the 1900s its forests were nearly gone due to centuries of overuse, foreign occupation, and warfare. In the 1980s, Korea began planting trees and setting aside protected forestland. Until these forests mature, Korea must import all of its wood for construction and other uses. Traditionally, Korean houses included lots of wood and stone building materials. Today, the typical Korean fami ly lives in a cement high-rise apartment or condominium building in an industrialized city. The individual units in this type of housing are generally too small and too expensive to support multi-generational living. Besides, many Korean seniors would prefer housing that is filled with light and wood, and that has views of forests and mountains. By planning for senior housing that takes into consideration social, economic, and environmental needs, Korea hopes to find a viable solution for sustainable growth. Elements of this “green' approach include placing senior housing at the edges of cities, away from pollution and noise and closer to natural areas; and using sustainably harvested and efficiently-produced wood materials, which also happen to be more insulating and energy efficient than other options.


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How People Use Forests: Case E Peruvian Mahogany – “Green Gold”

People have long treasured mahogany wood for its beautiful color, workability, and durability. It is used to make expensive desks, entertainment systems, guitars, and high-grade paneling, among other things. Once crafted, products from a single mahogany tree may be worth up to $100,000. For that reason, the multimillion dollar mahogany business has been given the nickname “green gold.‘ Mahogany trees grow in the tropical rainforests of Central and South America. Brazil used to be the largest exporter of mahogany, but because Brazil began cracking down on illegal logging, most mahogany now comes from Peru. In 2002, Peru exported 45,000 cubic meters (1,600,000 cubic feet) of mahogany to American ports alone, which were 20 times its 1992 exports. Mature trees, which can reach more than 37 meters (120 feet) tall, once towered over much of the Peruvian rainforest east of the Andes. Loggers have removed trees from the easily accessible areas and are now moving deeper and deeper into the rainforest. Trees are being taken from areas set aside for Indians—and even from national parks and reserves. Even though Peru has adopted United Nations’ guidelines for logging mahogany, up to 90 percent of the mahogany from Peru is illegally logged. Exporters are supposed to obtain a document certifying that the wood was legally logged, but the permit system is so corrupt that documents can be bought for as low as US $120, or they can be doctored easily.


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3. Discussion

a. For each of the cases, what are local people’s perspectives on why they use the forest the way they do?

b. How did each group define the term “essential”? What criteria did you use to determine whether a use was essential?

c. How do those forest uses compare in terms of short- and long-term effects?

d. What conditions affect whether an activity has a high or low effect?

e. What were some of your suggestions for reducing the effects? (Have students try to classify or group their responses into common categories.)

f. What additional information would you have liked to have had?


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4. Sustainability

a. Come up with a definition for the word “sustainable”

b. Identify key components of the definitions you shared

c. What might the term “forest sustainability” mean?

d. What things would you expect to be true if a particular forest use is sustainable?”


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5. “The Three Elements of Forest Sustainability”

Read this page and discuss in small groups the merits and weaknesses of this definition of

forest sustainability and how it differs from the one you crafted.


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The Idea of Sustainability

Many people define forest sustainability in a way

that is consistent with the 1987

Brundtland Commission Report,

which defined sustainable development as:


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6. Revisit your case and answer

question 9 …

• Is this use sustainable?

• If not, what element of sustainability is missing?


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7. No free lunch in the forestShare your conclusions and try to see how changing one

element might affect other people or other resources. Read the example below:

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8. Discuss:a. The three elements of sustainability need to be viewed

from local and global perspectives. In your group’s case, how might the local perspective be different from an outsiders’ perspective?

b. What do you think might happen when the local people’s views and outsiders’ views differ?

c. In what situations should local people have complete say on how the forest is used? Under what circumstances should outsiders be involved in the decision?

d. Developing countries and developed countries use wood at about the same rate, but for differ ent purposes. The number one use in developing countries is fuelwood (including charcoal) while the number one use in developed coun tries is paper. How would you compare these two uses in terms of their effects?


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Assessment

Responses on the “What are the Consequences” student page (pg 72)

Write a response to the following:

What would you do to enhance the sustainability of each case? How?

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Enrichment

Activity 5

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Media and news

Look for news articles dealing with issues of forests and sustainability, and bring the

articles to class to share.

Activity 5 – Enrichment 1

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Other models of sustainability

Explore other models of sustainability and compare them to the one in the activity.

For example: Educator Max Oelschlaeger identifies six core interactive variables of sustainability: appropriate technology, democratic process, ecological integrity, economic sufficiency, human dignity, and social justice.

Activity 5 – Enrichment 2

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Careers

Talk to foresters, store keepers, or other local people who are concerned with sustainability of

different forest uses either on a local or international level.

Ask for each person’s perspective (a) on sustainability, including how humans affect forest

sustainability;

(b) on whether sustainability is achievable; and

(c) on what people can do to work toward sustainability.

Activity 5 – Enrichment - Careers

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Resource

•The TED [Trade and Environment Database] Case Studies is an online journal of The American University that focuses on global trade and its relationship to the environment, culture, human rights, labor issues, and other aspects of life. http://www.american.edu/TED/.

http://www.american.edu/TED/

1 global connections: forests of the world activity 5 understanding the effect of forest uses

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