Global Forests Set to Return? Study Gives Cause for Optimism
by Treehugger Interns on 12. 2.06
Unsruprisingly, Treehuggers love trees. The usual pessimistic headlines about the state of the world’s forests can make for pretty depressing reading. Imagine our delight then, to read here on the BBC website about a new study that claims things aren’t quite as bad as they seem. In fact, the research suggests we may be reaching a tipping point where the world moves from deforestation towards restoration – possibly increasing global forest cover by as much as 10%, or an area the size of India.
The researchers used new methods to evaluate the state of forests, looking not only at surface area covered, but also at the volume of timber, biomass, and the amount of carbon captured within the area. The overall picture is much more encouraging than previous studies, with many countries such as China, Vietnam and the US experiencing an increase in forest density. Others however, are still losing forest cover and density at an alarming rate – Indonesia and Brazil are singled out as particularly bad examples.
Encouragingly, the study seems to show that countries can move beyond deforestation, even as their population and standard of living rise. The graph to the left, for example, shows the correlation between the state of France's forest stocks and its population.
Pekka Kauppi, the lead researcher on the study, says there are grounds to be cautiously optimistic, but that the fight agains deforestation is far from over:
“Without depopulation or impoverishment, increasing numbers of countries are experiencing transitions in forest area and density. While complacency would be misplaced, our insights provide grounds for optimism about the prospects for returning forests.”
So it’s up to all of us to prove these guys right. Anyone buying FSC products, anyone boycotting Kimberly-Clark, or reforesting their valley to prevent flooding can take pride, knowing that they may be playing a key role in leading the world from an age of ecological destruction to and age of environmental restoration. We can but try.
Full details of the study can be found on the University of Helsinki website here.
[Written by: Sami Grover]
Hmm. . . one thing sticks out to me: France is experiencing reforestation. Brazil and Indonesia are being deforested.
It seems that if we look at the world as one globe, rather than as separate countries, I would wager that a good deal of the wood that is cut down in Indonesia eventually makes its way back to the developed world, including France.
And I know China has made efforts to curb their own deforestation while plundering Indonesia's forests.
I'll breathe a sigh of relief when Brazil and Indonesia slow down their chopping. . .
This is delightful news! Though I entirely agree with Mr. West's thoughts, this really makes me breathe a sigh of relief (in air that now should have less carbon dioxide and more oxygen). Man, if we really can hit that tipping point, I really hope that the timber industry as a whole does not waste this opportunity. It should completely focus its efforts on making it a sustainable industry because wood is awesome. Kind of like wool, which for ethical and environmental reasons, does not appeal to my vegan leanings, but which is so incredibly functional and natural, it practically doesn't matter.
dear treehuggers,
don't get too happy about this. there is a huge, very huge difference between a planted young tree field and a healthy, complete forest ecosystem. ever tried to hug a small coniferous sapling???
Next time you're asked?
"Paper or plastic?" Choose plastic and let the tree grow. All is equal if we recycle more.
J.C, Sr.
Recycle less! Until the recycle process becomes green, recycle less! Dont believe me?
Penn and Teller: Bullshit! Recycling
so i just watched that entire pen and teller program and i call bullshit. their major point was money, he kept going back to that 8 billion dollars a year. big effing deal, id much rather my taxes go toward recycling than wars. as to it being energy intensive, so is manufacturing something from scratch. his example of something being less energy intensive to make from scratch is plastic, but we already realize recycling plastics is downcycling. the reason for recycling plastic is just how toxic plastic is to the environment. the statement about most paper coming from tree farms flies in the face of the latest on kimberly clark (a huge company) and their clear cutting of old growth forests to make kleenex etc. as to the jobs in recycling being crappy low paying jobs, well, i had expected that. this is the united states and with the exception of executives and engineers most people in any manufacturing or warehouse industry dont get paid well. its not the fault of the recycling companies so much as the setup of our economy. im a waitress, technically nobody needs a waitress, cook at home or set up all restaurants as fast food, so according to this i guess my job is basically busy work and should be eliminated. just how many low wage service sector jobs fall into that sort of category? i recycle becos i dont want to mine the earth for more resources, i recycle becos i dont want plastic leeching toxins into the environment for the 1000 years they take to biodegrade, and becos im really not comfortable with anything that requires petroleum in its manufacture, with the state of global politics and with knowing just how bad petroleum based products are (to the point of being a lacto vegetarian but still wearing leather for footwear, as here in the midwest most fabric footwear is impractical for roughly half the year, and im unwilling to wear plastic based clothing). and you must remember that the adage is reduce, reuse, recycle. in that order. buy less, buy things with less packaging, reuse any packaging you can (my kitchen is full of reused glass jars, my home and closet are full of second hand finds) and recycle the things you cannot reuse. i dont care how much landfill space we have left, the point is i dont want to bury our garbage in the earth. period, end of story. and finally, when penn said if recycling is such a good thing, we should be getting paid for it, search old posts here on treehugger and you will see just that starting to happen.
Penn and Teller are great magicians. They make your thinking disappear.
The forests are recovering in industrialized nations because the energy is coming from fossil fuels. As competition for fossil fuel supplies grows more intense, expect the forests to take a big hit as wood energy becomes popular again.
How expensive would oil have to get for much of America to return to heating with wood?
Forests aren't coming back anytime soon, certainly not in Brazil and Indonesia. Sad, but true. People in the 3rd World need homes and furniture, and the wood has to come from somewhere. Practical solutions to develop bamboo and other fast growing substitutes are needed, not wishful thinking and a trite graph about France's forests.