Forest and Society - Assignment Example

Forest and Society Institution’s name: Forest and Society The forest cover of a country or a region is extremely valuable since it shares a very intricate relation with the society as a whole. In fact, going by the constitution, the forest is considered a valuable national resource in the U.S. and is protected by the laws. In the U.S. forests cover almost 751 million acres which is approximately 1/3rd of the total land area of the country (U.S. Forest Service). Nevertheless, forests around the world have always been beneficial for the society owing to the plethora of valuable services it provides in various forms ranging from subsistence, economically valuable resources to protection. America also enjoys several benefits such as recreation, water, wildlife habitat, forest products and carbon storage from the huge forest cover that it has been naturally blessed with. But, one cannot say the same for society. Owing to the close relation that the society of man shares with the forests, the impact of most of man’s activities also befalls on the forest. Forests have always bore the brunt of society’s ambition. Owing to expansion in the population and need for rapid urbanization, man has degraded the forests, depleted the regions and has used the valuable forest resources unsustainable. Though Nature, continues to provide, the Society continues to destroy without knowing that the ultimate harm would befall on society itself if it continues to act selfishly and unsustainably. Forest’s Impact on Society Today, with increased efforts the worldwide forest cover has grown a little (Figure 1)The forests that covers most of the United States ranges from broadleaf and coniferous to plain plantations in the coastal areas. The forests regardless of their area, provides various services to the society. Society benefits from the presence of forest cover both ecologically and economically and relies heavily on the various services that the forests provide. Figure 1: Global Forest Cover Increase (The World bank, 2015). Timber and economy One of the most important economically important products that society obtains from forest is timber. The forest of the United States provide timber with extremely high market value. The presence of trees does not only meet the timber demands but also provides various other forest products as well such as building materials, firewood, cooking oil etc. The United states is leading as the top consumers and producers of timber today. Eco products Recently, the trend of using ecological products have gained immense popularity among the common masses. In the United States, at present, there exists several legal environmentally certified companies which have the rights to procure forest resources and make products from them ranging from raw timber to paper towels (Teisl et al, 2002). Almost all of these products that have been procured from such certified companies are labelled. Therefore, in one way, eco products from the forests is helping people to become aware about the different products that the forest is capable of providing. Moreover, these ecological products also helps to boost the economy owing to the increasing demand of environmentally friendly products in the market. Indigenous people and the Forests The forests are revered and held sacred by all indigenous tribes especially the Native Americans since the forests have always been their dwelling place. Most tribes depend entirely on the forests for their sustenance. Some decades ago in order to procure money, these tribes would often sell logs to timber companies. However, eventually, this was stopped after the verdict of the United States vs. Cook case of 1873 was passed according to which no tribal has the right to sell land and therefo0re neither the trees and wood that grew on them (Yazzie, 2007). Nevertheless the value of the forest has not deteriorated among the tribal who continue to help protect them. Therefore, we may say that the indigenous people of the society depend heavily on the forest ecosystem. Globally, almost 60 million indigenous tribes are almost entirely dependent on the forests. These tribes live within the forest and have adapted themselves to the ways of the forest. They are expert at using forest material to their maximum and also know the importance of keeping the forest well conserved. In a forest in Rajasthan, India dwellers worship the trees and hence protect the forest against deforestation. Forest as carbon sequester Forests serve as important agents for sequestration of carbon. It also acts as a major sink. In fact, forest play a pivotal role in controlling the carbon cycle. Forest act as natural carbon sinks since the trees that grow in the forests have the ability to capture, accumulate and store the carbon while they are growing and release the same when they are burnt. This act of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it within itself is known as carbon sequestration. This is particularly important since carbon dioxide is the most important greenhouse gas i.e the gas responsible for global warming. Society releases a lot of carbon dioxide each and every day. From running a vehicle to production processes in large industries, each of these activities leaves a huge carbon footprint. The United States is one of the major contributors to this carbon footprint. Therefore, forest of the country play a very important role in capturing the released carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. For example in 2004, the United States forests sequestered almost 10.6% of the total carbon dioxide emitted owing to combustion of fossil fuel and coal (EPA, 2008). The ability of the trees to store carbon and make it available upon burning makes it an alternative for fossil fuels. Hence, forests not only help sequester but also provide alternative to the fossil fuels, the deposits of which are rapidly deteriorating. The ability of the forests, to capture and store and then to release the stored carbon when burnt makes the forests important contributor to the global carbon budget Figure2: Role of Forest in Carbon Cycle (Luyssaert et al, 2010) Tourism and recreation Forests have multiple outputs and tourism is one of the major areas which adds to the economy as well. 865 of the American forest land is available for recreation (Society of American Foresters, 2007)Besides adding an economical advantage forest services such as recreation adds to the overall life quality of the society. Today forest and biodiversity have started to attract many visitors who want to spend some time away from the bustling city life. Forests provide recreation opportunities such as bird watching. In some forests in Europe, hunting in the forests also serves as a pastime during hunting seasons. Other possible tourism opportunities are trekking, picnics and camping which are areas where the forest department can make huge earnings as well. Forest biodiversity Biodiversity refers to the existence of different forms of flora and fauna. Forests are home to most of the terrestrial biodiversity that exists on earth today. Various ecosystems exists within the forests which provide living habitats to a wide array of plants, animals and microorganisms. It is the presence of these diverse forms of life that contributes significantly to the various ecological services that the forest provides. For example, the presence of medicinal plants, fruit trees, spice trees etc.In addition to the various plants that we find in the forest, the forest serve as homes to several species of animals. Hundreds of taxa inlcuing animals, insects, birds, butterflies and plants are present in the US forests. According to data the forests have almost 1486 animals specia and 667 tree species (The Society of American Foresters, 2007). Impact of Society on forests Forests have always helped society and met its demands but society has not only affected the forest cover directly but his activities have also had indirect effect on forests. History is witness that society’s bad decisions and greed has led to destruction and degradation of acres and acres of forest cover. For example, during the Vietnam War, the U.S army used Agent Orange, a powerful defoliating herbicide which had the capability to defoliate leaves. They sprayed the chemical agent on the entire forest cover of Vietnam to destroy the forest so as to expose and detect the presence of Vietnamese guerillas who has taken cover in the dense forests. Overlooking, the politics and the war ideologies, society’s decision to destroy the forests had extensively annihilated the cover which has not yet recovered to this day. Thus, we can understand that forests have always suffered because of societal actions and forces. Indirect impact of Climate Change on Forests Today, climate change is a very important global phenomenon. It refers to the growing temperatures of the earth owing to release of greenhouse gases. Climate change is a result of society’s activities. Burning of fossil fuels, usage of gadgets and industrial emissions contribute majorly to the problem of release of huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Climate change has a major impact on forests both directly and indirectly. Directly, climate change affects the productivity of the forests and its growth. For example, carbon dioxide is required for photosynthesis. Given the presence of sufficient sunlight, water and carbon dioxide which are the primarily raw material, trees of the forest will be able to grow and thrive well. Therefore, in places with good supply of water and sunlight, increase in carbon dioxide will help forest cover to grow rapidly. However in the United States the lands in the West and Southeast lack water and the growing amount of carbon dioxide will not help in enhancing the growth of trees (USGCRP, 2009). The increasing temperature of the world, will also change vegetation n and forestry patterns. Trees have a certain optimum temperature under which they grow well. Since, the global temperature and climate are changing, there might be a shift in the geographical locations of some of the tree species of the forests which would induce a change in the forest pattern of the area. There exists other threats that have the ability to destroy forests such as forest fires and insect outbreaks. Normally, these are natural threats. But, climate change also plays a role in increasing these threats and therefore, we may say that society somehow controls these natural threats as well. Insect outbreaks often destroys large areas of trees. Pine beetle destroy large areas up to 1.5 million acres of forests in Colorado while in Alaska spruce beetle have destroyed almost 2.5 million acres of forests. These insects’ populations are majorly controlled by presence of hosts, presence of predators and climatic conditions. Climate change plays a role here since it may allow some of the insect species to develop rapidly and expand their range (USGCRP, 2009). In another case, invasive plants which also destroy forests can thrive more owing to global climate change since they have an enhanced ability to adapt quickly to climatic conditions and thrive in unfavorable ones as well. Yet another important threat to forest expanse are wildfires. Wildfires have the potential to destroy forest habitats and threat the existence of several animal and plant species that live in the forests. For example, in Alaska, wildfires have destroyed almost 6.25 million acres of forests. The forest fires were attributed to drought conditions and high temperature. Climate change can affect the occurrence of such fires since it creates drought conditions, dries out woods and increases temperatures which create an ideal situation for a fire. Deforestation Deforestation is a brutal act of destruction and refers to cutting down of the forests to acquire land. Today, owing to the expanse in human population and the ever-growing need for land not only for urbanization but also to meet the food demands of the growing population, forests around the world are being destroyed. Even though forests today cover almost 30% of the World’s total area, massive areas of forests are being degraded rapidly each year. Deforestation is another drive of climate change. Under normal forest cover soils keep moist but destruction of the trees exposes the soils to sun’s rays which dries the soils. On top of this, deforestation also hampers the ability of forests to sequester carbon dioxide. Introduction of genetic modification After man’s success with recombinant DNA technology, extensive research has taken place on producing genetically modified agricultural crops and other organisms. Already in the United States we do find that genetically modified crops or GM crops are readily available in some supermarkets. From a scientific perspective, the technology of being able to control the genome and splice genes is a boon since it will establish food security and enhance productivity and shelf life of the genetically altered food products. Yes, there exists some disadvantages of introducing these genetically modified crops in the environment since it challenges the wild genes. However, the problem that is now evident is that researchers are planning to bring the science of recombinant DNA technology to the forests. There is no way of saying if this though process would be successful or not. Forests trees such as teak or eucalyptus have immense economical values and hence from an economist’s perspective if the growth of such economically valuable trees can be enhanced, subsequently economy of the country would also grow. In the United States, two biotechnology companies- International Paper Co and MeadWestvaco Corp. are planning to degrade the forest of southern United states by replacing the native pine trees that thrive today with a more economically valuable option such as genetically modified eucalyptus trees which is a rapidly growing tree originally brought from Australia (Voosen, 2010). While, this technology would help in growing more wood on the land it would mean destroying the native forest species and having an impact on the area’s established ecological balance. Conclusion Everything in this world is inter-related and so are forests and society. We are already aware of how exactly forests are a boon upon society. Forest provide food products, helps in reducing greenhouse gases, provide recreation and tourism and help boost economy while in return society unsustainably exploits the forest services and creates future problems for themselves. For example, the greedy act of deforestation to acquire land for urbanization will in fact harm society is several ways since it would destroy all the services that are provided by the forests. No forest would mean, no wildlife habitats, no forest products, no clean water and no carbon sequestration. Many of the indigenous tribes of the world depend entirely on the forests for their needs. In return, society has always had a negative impact on the forests. We have used the forest to meet our needs and have ended up exploiting them. Thus, the most important thing would be to value forests and understand the important role that forest play in our lives. We need to accept the fact that our actions have impacts on the forest which would ultimately have an impact on us in the coming years. We need to live sustainably and endeavor to keep the forest ecosystem intact for our own good. References EPA. (2008).Land use, Land Use Change and Forestry. Soceity of American Foresters. (20070. State of American Forests. Retrieved from https://www.safnet.org/publications/americanforests/StateOfAmericasForests.pdf on 26/4/2015. Teisl,M.F. et al.(2002). Consumer reactions to environmental labels for forest products: A preliminary look. Forest products jurnal, 52 (1): 44-50.  USGCRP (2009). Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States . T.R. Karl, J.M. Melillo, and T.C. Peterson (eds.). United States Global Change Research Program. Cambridge University Press, New York, NY, USA.  U.S. Forest Service (undated). USDA Forest Service: An Overview (PDF). Voosen,P. (2010). Genetically Modified Forest Planned for U.S. Southeast. Scientific American. Retrieved from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/eucalyptus-genetically-modified-pine-tree-southwest-forest/ on 27/4/2015 Yazzie, V. 2007. The tribal perspective of old growth in frequent-fire forests—its history. Ecology and Society 12(2): 21. [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol12/iss2/art21/ Pictures Luyssaert,S. et al .(2010).Global Change Biology. 16: 1429-1450. The World bank. (2015). Forest Cover (%). Retrieved from http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/AG.LND.FRST.ZS/countries?display=graph on 26/4/2015. Read More