Importance of Forests
Forest Products • In poor areas where wood is scarce, people, usually women, walk long distances to gather wood for cooking; • Forests provide useful wood products; • Forests are the source of numerous non-wood products, including bark, dyes, fibers, gums, incense, latexes, oils, resins, shellac, tanning compounds & waxes.
Ecosystem Services • Forests influence climate; • Forests protect the top soil and husband important nutrientes; • Forests harbor tremendous biological diversity, and have the potential to provide us with new crop varieties and medicines.
Carbon Sequestration • Deforestation thus is an important potential source of carbon. • But what if we allow forests to regenerate? •
» As they grow, forests will store or sequester carbon, but this Still, there is good evidence that the regrowth of previously-deforested areas in Europe and North America during the 20th century has sequestered considerable amounts of CO² from the atmosphere, but this only happens after 100 years.