Forests in a Global Age
Forests have traditionally been managed primarily as sources of timber and revenue. However, there is increasing recognition of their immense cultural, social and environmental role, focused particularly by United Nations conferences in Rio de Janeiro and Johannesburg. Increasingly the focus of forest management has shifted to include biodiversity maintenance, ecological sustainability, and the protection of wildlife and their habitats. Canadians, as custodians of 10% of the remaining global forest cover, and 25% of the undisturbed frontier forest, have both the option and the responsibility to provide global leadership in forest conservation and sustainable forest management. Forest conservationists increasingly focus on complex, emerging social and community issues, such as aboriginal rights and land tenure, protection of wilderness parklands, preservation of urban green space, and the use of forests for carbon sequestration.
The new paradigm of forest resource management is one of balance. The challenge is to meet the economic need for forest products and resources while ensuring continuity of cultural and ecological services provided by forests.
Forest research in the global age is a collaborative effort, with experts from many disciplines working towards a common goal. Modern forest management and conservation studies incorporate ecological science and applied field research, biomaterials science and engineering, and social and economic research dealing with market mechanisms and the effects of land-use management on forest-dependent communities.
Source: FAO, 2005 Global Forest Resources Assessment, showing extent of global forest cover.
According the FAO statistics, approximately 13 million hectares of forest are lost worldwide each year. This is an area about the size of Southern Ontario. Currently, around 30% of the Earth’s landmass is forested, but the remaining natural cover is under constant threat from unsustainable development and irresponsible land-use.
The Faculty of Forestry at the University of Toronto draws from the pool of diversity to address these complex issues in a collaborative, multi-disciplinary fashion.