Future forests: can we see the wood for the trees?

DME Lesson 1

•Global Distribution of Forests

•Forests as a Resource

Starter: Resource 1: Use the table of data to answer the questions

1. Which continent/region has the greatest forest area?

2. Approximately what % of the world’s total forest area does it have?

3. Which continent/region has the smallest forest area?

4. Which continent/region has the greatest proportion of its land surface forested?

5. Which continent/region has the smallest proportion of its land surface forested?

Answers1. Latin America

and Caribbean2. 25%3. Europe4. Latin America

and Caribbean5. Asia

Why do Asia, Europe and Africa have a lower % land surface forested?

• Dense population in some areas– Conflict over land use– Deforestation for a variety of reasons

• Climatic and physical conditions not always suitable for trees– Hot deserts/ Sahel of Africa– Cold deserts/ mountainous regions of Asia

Use atlases and resource 1 to complete the following table

Type of forest Locations (continents, regions, countries, latitudinal range)

Climatic conditions

Mangrove wetlands

Tropical & monsoon forests

Temperate rainforests

Broadleaf forests

Coniferous forests

• Temperate rainforests• Mangrove Wetlands

• Coastal• Tropical – warm oceans

What type of forest where & why?

What type of forest where & why?

• Broadleaved forests

• Coniferous forests

• Temperate Rainforests

Exam-style questions

• Describe where mangrove wetlands are found. [2]

Marking• One correct statement

about location = 1 mark

• Two correct statements about location = 1 mark

• Explain two reasons why forests are distributed in broad bands across the world. [4]

MarkingD/C (0-2)• One basic reasons = 1• Two basic reasons = 2B (3)• One basic reason + one

developed reason A (4)• Two developed reasons

Developing your answers

• To access the highest marks you have to develop your answers. This is done by

Adding relevant statistics from a resource to back up a basic answer

Adding additional text to further explain the answer Adding place specific information to the basic point Addition the opinion of a stakeholder to a basic point

It is not done by• Copying out the whole resource• Simply re-writing the same basic point in a different way• Making additional basic points e.g. writing a list

What does sustainable mean?

Achieving economic and social goals in ways that can be supported for the long term by conserving resources, protecting the environment, and ensuring human health and welfare.

Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

Task: Which use is most sustainable?

• Look at resource 2 that shows all the uses of the rainforest

• In pairs discuss each use (what does it include?) and rank them in order from the most to least sustainable.

• Write down your ranking and ideas.• Make sure you can justify your ranking

Least Most

Fuel – sustainable or not?

Sustainable if managed well• Wood fuel• Coppiced wood• Leaf litter/ undergrowth for

kindling• Needs continual re-planting

on a cyclical basis

Unsustainable • Biofuels – crops from which

ethanol is produced. – Palm Oil – Sugar cane– Maize

• A newly planted palm oil plantation.

• Most biofuel Europeans use will be imported from Brazil and Southeast Asia. In both cases, rainforests & habitats are destroyed to make way for plantations of fuel crops.

Smoke from deforestation of rainforest

Medicines

•70-80% of the world's people depend at least in part on plant medicines.•Digitalis (for heart disease) and quinine (for malaria come from forest plants)

A herbalist shop in Costa Rica

Ginger

• Ginger is commercially available in fresh, dried, and candied forms.

• Used to flavour food, it also has medicinal properties if the root is boiled to make tea. It helps with– Relief of indigestion, &

stomach ache– Relief of colds. – Motion sickness and morning

sickness.

Other Examples

• Cocoa pods contain a stimulant called theobromine. Once refined this can be used to treat asthma.

• Plants like this trumpetflower have compounds, long known to open airways during asthma

How sustainable?

• Traditionally medicines were gathered and used by shaman (‘witch doctors’)

• This was small, local scale (within the tribe) and sustainable

• Growing knowledge and medical technology mean huge-scale harvesting for multi-national companies.

A Peruvian Shaman

With the decimation of forest populations and the migration to cities, it has been said that the loss of a shaman is like the burning down of a library

Key point

• Indigenous tribes used rainforests for all the uses in Resource 2 but because it was small-scale this did not pose a problem.

• Most activities within the rainforests and most uses can be sustainable if they are

• Small scale• Carefully planned, monitored and managed• Meeting the needs of people, animals and the

environment in the long term.