Forests Flashcards
(5 cards)
STATS
An estimated 1.6 billion people depend on forests and more than 90% of these are in developing countries
Forests are essential for human well-being through their services as well as being the source of 80% of global biodiveristy
An estimated 13 million hectares of forests between 2000 and 2010 were affected by deforestation
Forests functions
Supporting Functions:
Nutrient cycling
Soil formation
Primary production
Provision of Goods
Provision of goods:
Food
Freshwater
Wood and Fibre
Fuel
Regulation of Earth’s Systems
Regulation of Earth’s system:
‘Green lungs’, regulating climate, floods and disease
Water purification
Cultural Value
Cultural value:
Aesthetic
Spiritual
Educational
Recreational (inc. tourism)
Kuznets curve
The environmental Kuznets curve suggests that communities reach a tipping point where exploitation of forests changes to more protection
Measures the correlation between environmental degradation and economic growth (GDP per capita)
- Pre industrial economies = environment worsens
- Industrial economies = turning point
- Post-industrial economies = environment improves
Example of Kuznets curve
Uk = post industrial society and according to the model the environment should be improving
China = just before the ‘tipping point’ as they have a mixture of an industrial economy and national parks
