The Value Of Forests

"United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, UNEP, FAO."

Forests throughout the world are undergoing rapid, far-reaching change as a result of natural and anthropogenic disturbances. The challenge is to manage these forests in ways that avoid formulaic approaches to complex issues. This book takes on the challenge of balancing local economies, wood products, and biodiversity by proposing diverse new approaches to forest management using new research from the moist coniferous forests of the Pacific Northwest. --

"United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, UNEP, FAO."

This paper presents green economy related definitions and concepts, and internationally developed assessment methods, notably natural capital accounting approaches, and in this way explore aligning forest sector approaches to those being used in wider contexts. It also proposes preliminary suggestions on how the forest sector’s contribution to a green economy could be measured.

Forestry cannot be isolated from the forces that drive all economic activity. It involves using land, labour, and capital to produce goods and services from forests, while economics helps in understanding how this can be done in ways that will best meet the needs of people. Therefore, a firm grounding in economics is integral to sound forestry policies and practices. This book, a major revision and expansion of Peter H. Pearse’s 1990 classic, provides this grounding. Updated and enhanced with advanced empirical presentation of materials, it covers the basic economic principles and concepts and their application to modern forest management and policy issues. Forest Economics draws on the strengths of two of the field’s leading practitioners who have more than fifty years of combined experience in teaching forest economics in the United States and Canada. Its comprehensive and systematic analysis of forest issues makes it an indispensable resource for students and practitioners of forest management, natural resource conservation, and environmental studies.

This book provides a comprehensive analysis of the economic value of Mediterranean forests, including not only the more obvious benefits (e.g. timber), but also the less commonly-measured public goods (e.g. tourism and conservation) that these forests provide. It brings together forest valuations at the national level from 18 Mediterranean countries, based on extensive local data collection, and thus allows comprehensive analyses within countries as well as comparative analyses across countries. Forest benefits were classified within the Total Economic Value (TEV) framework. The book describes the valuation techniques used and examines ways to overcome the problems encountered. The book explores the research findings in the context of the institutions and policies that affect Mediterranean forests and proposes new policy approaches for improving forest policies and management at the national, regional and local levels. It is also shown how the methodologies used can be applied to other regions.

Many terms often used to describe old-growth forests imply that these forests are less vigorous, less productive and less stable than younger forests. But research in the last two decades has yielded results that challenge the view of old-growth forests being in decline. Given the importance of forests in battling climate change and the fact that old-growth forests are shrinking at a rate of 0.5% per year, these new results have come not a moment too soon. This book is the first ever to focus on the ecosystem functioning of old-growth forests. It is an exhaustive compendium of information that contains original work conducted by the authors. In addition, it is truly global in scope as it studies boreal forests in Canada, temperate old-growth forests in Europe and the Americas, and global tropical forests. Written in part to affect future policy, this eminently readable book is as useful for the scientist and student as it is for the politician and politically-interested layman.

Tropical forests are an undervalued asset in meeting the greatest global challenges of our time—averting climate change and promoting development. Despite their importance, tropical forests and their ecosystems are being destroyed at a high and even increasing rate in most forest-rich countries. The good news is that the science, economics, and politics are aligned to support a major international effort over the next five years to reverse tropical deforestation. Why Forests? Why Now? synthesizes the latest evidence on the importance of tropical forests in a way that is accessible to anyone interested in climate change and development and to readers already familiar with the problem of deforestation. It makes the case to decisionmakers in rich countries that rewarding developing countries for protecting their forests is urgent, affordable, and achievable.