forests

FORESTS

QUICK STATISTICS Forest covers 30% of available land. 90% of known species live in forests. 80% of virgin forests have been cut

down or have been modified. 13M km² disappear every year.

CASE STUDY – AMAZON FOREST The Amazon spreads across 9 countries. Brazil owns 60% of it. Covers 7 M km² Is the most species-rich tropical rainforest in the world.

BRAZIL Brazil is an emerging economy. You make more money with farmland

than forest.

UNIQUE SPECIES 2.5 M insect species. Tens of thousands of plants. 2K bird and mammal species. 1 in 5 birds in the world lives in this forest.

OTHER ADVANTAGES Source of sustainable revenue. Possible source of medicinal

compounds. Cultural habitat to indigenous people.

CASE STUDY 2 – QUEBEC FORESTRY Historically one of the best source of

timber for the British Empire. Timber was a reason for most of the

development of Quebec’s north, Laurentians and Abitibi regions.

In 1999 Richard Desjardins makes the movie l’Erreur Boréale. (a wordplay on aurora borealis)

ERREUR BORÉALE... REALLY? The movie is alarmist and benefits from

creative editing. Reforestation has been a part of the

forestry industry since the 1960s.

DUBIOUS LINKS A lot of “endangered species” actually

thrive in second and third growth forest, whereas they were not surviving in old growth forests.

There is definitely a link between trees and the production of oxygen...

... But a link between deforestation and “global warming”?

REVIEW QUESTIONS Should water be sold by countries who have

it to countries who need it or lack enough of it? Justify your answer.

If forests in America are relatively safe, should an international body force other countries to adopt the same policies?

Resources are often more prized for the profits than the ecosystem services they offer in their natural state, could this be changed?