Forests

What is a forest

An area of land spanning more than 0.5 hectares with >10% tree crown cover of trees 2-5 metres tall at maturity. land that is predominantly urban or used for argicultural purposes is not (formally) counted as forests.

What is NL provincial tree?

Black spruce

Trees as a natural resource

Wood products, foot, medicine, temperature regulation, carbon stock, etc. Canada is not the only ones with a demand on trees

Economic geography lens

Concerned with how economic value is generated and flows through processes of resource extraction, transformation, and use (commodification)

Social geography lens

Concerned with how people “organize” or resist resource extraction and use, including resource communities, land use, and work

Environmental geography lens

Concerned with ecological aspects and impacts of resource extraction, degradation, and waste (pollution), as well as resource conservation efforts

Brazil nut

Almost the entire global supply is harvested in Bolivia (53%) and Brazil (42%). Industry supports tens of thousands of rural and Indigenous households. Generates millions of dollars in annual exports. __harvesting is one of the countries main economic activities, sustaining more than 50% of local populations and accounting for 45% of Bolivia’s forest-related export. They can’t be cultivated-they must be harvested in wild, mature tropical forestry. 30% of forests are harvested for fruits, herbs, honey, and wild animals

Food

Canada produces 71% of the world’s maple syrup. Worth $600-700 million annually. We have a strategic maple syrup reserve to keep prices stable. 30% of all forested land is used for production.

What the forest can make

Building materials, furniture, paper, energu-wood biomass-85% of Canada’s bioenergy

How else can we examine trees as resources?

Deforestation. About 420 million ha of forests has been destroyed from 1990-2020 but 235 gained. Net loss of global forests

What about Canada?

Agriculture, mining, oil, and gas, hydroelectric, and other building projects are drivers of deforestation in Canada

How do we mitigate forest loss

Through protection and management/ 9% of the forests in Canada are protected

Why protect forests? So many reasons

Carbon Stocks. The boreal forest stores >20% of all global land-based carbon. This includes 50% of all carbon stored in soil on Earth. Maintaining boreal (and others) forests means that carbon does not get released into the atmosphere, amplifying climate change

Who “owns” the resource?

74% of the world’s forests is under public ownership.

Forests as a resource

Forests are important for food and income, for medicine and cultural services. Vital for storing carbon. Serve as habitual for other paint and animal species. But the growing demand for resources is converting forest areas and, in many places, increasing deforestation rates. We saw the main drivers of deforestation, but other disturbances are involves, included climate change, insects and diseases

Porportion and distribution of global forest area by domain

Tropical-45%. Boreal-27%. Temperate-16%. Subtropical-11%. Forests cover nearly 1/3 of the land globally.4.06 billion hectares=31%