1. Prof. Jeffrey R. Vincent Graduate School of IR/PS, UCSD April 18, 2005
Global Forests
Prof. Jeffrey R. Vincent
Graduate School of IR/PS, UCSD
April 18, 2005

2. Outline Info about me Overview: forests and people
Deforestation: causes
Deforestation: policy responses
“Score card” for forest services

3. IR/PS Graduate School of International Relations & Pacific Studies
Main degree program: Master of International Relations and Pacific Affairs (MPIA)
Combines management, political science, economics
International environmental policy career concentration
Specialized track within MPIA
For students interested in careers as environmental professionals in public, private, and nonprofit sectors
Individual courses are open to undergraduates

4. My areas of research
Biodiversity conservation and timber harvesting in Southeast Asian rainforests
Corruption in the global forest sector
Air pollution, regional climate change, and agriculture in South Asia
Adjusting national income accounts for natural resource depletion

5. Overview: forests and people

6. What is a “forest”?
IGBP: “area dominated by trees forming a closed or partially closed canopy”
According to this definition, 22% of world’s land area was forested in 1993
FAO: “areas with a minimum crown cover of 10% and minimum tree height of 5 m”
According to this definition, 27% of world’s land area was forested in 1995

9. Benefits of forests to humans
Timber production
Fuelwood collection
Medicinals and other traditional products
Recreational opportunities
CO2 sequestration
Hydrological functions
Genetic resource values

10. Undisturbed habitats are also rich in natural resources
Undisturbed habitats are also rich in natural resources. These resources drive economic development in many places. These shots were taken in a certified sustainable managed forest in northern Malaysia.

15. Undisturbed habitats especially those in tropical area are home to wealth of plant and animal diversity. This diversity hold the keys to the discovery of new drugs, help maintain the earth’s carbon balance, and provide recreational and existence values … These pictures were taken in the lowland rainforest of Borneo.

16. Human impact on forests
Deforestation: permanent loss of forest cover
Fragmentation: discontinuities in forest cover, resulting in reduced habitat value
Degradation: e.g., due to logging
Forest fires: can be natural, but 90% are human-caused
Pollution: e.g., acid rain

20. Deforestation: causes

21. Global deforestation
Between 1990 and 2000, 94 million hectares of forest were lost
About two Californias

22. How much of world’s original (pre-human) forest cover has been lost?
Matthews (1983): 16%
Bryant et al. (1997): 50%

23. Deforestation is not occurring everywhere

25. Forest cover increased during 1990-2000 in the world’s most populous countries, China and India
And also in the U.S.

27. Myth 1: Deforestation is caused by consumption of timber in rich countries
Most of wood harvested in developing countries is fuelwood, not industrial roundwood (only 21%)
Most of industrial roundwood is consumed within countries where it is harvested, not exported (only 20%), directly or indirectly
Developing countries import more industrial roundwood and wood products than they export (by 18%)

28. Myth 2: Deforestation is caused by consumption of hamburgers in rich countries
Amazonia has never been a significant exporter of beef
1982: accounted for only % of U.S. beef consumption, mainly processed beef (e.g., sausage)
Most of beef is sold within Brazil
In fact, net importer of beef in most years
Same is true for Central America

29. Why is the deforestation rate higher in poorer countries?
Because they are more dependent on agriculture, which uses land
Countries’ economies undergo structural changes as they grow
The share of agriculture decreases, while the shares of manufacturing and services increase
People leave rural areas and move to cities
Hence, deforestation slows down as countries become richer

31. Why worry about deforestation?
If farmers determine that land is more valuable in agriculture than in forest, isn’t deforestation a good thing?
Don’t the benefits outweigh the costs?

32. Reasons to expect deforestation rates to be too high
Agricultural subsidies: exaggerate benefits of conversion
Insecure property rights: discourage land owners from thinking long term
Lack of markets: discourage land owners from managing forests for nontimber values

33. Agricultural subsidies
Ubiquitous
Driving force behind ranching in Brazil until recently
From the mid-1960s forward, the government of Brazil offered numerous fiscal and financial incentives to ranchers in the Amazon
Tax exemptions for ranching income
Tax credits for ranching investments
Subsidized loans (interest rate = 6-14% of market rate)
Value of ranch without incentives: –US$2,824,000
with incentives: +US$1,875,400

34. Insecure property rights
Case studies and cross-country statistical studies provide evidence that deforestation rates are higher when property rights are less secure
And in some countries, establishing property rights requires clearing the forest

35. Timber vs. nontimber values (Dixon and Lampietti 1995)

36. Deforestation: policy responses

37. Policy responses Reduce agricultural subsidies
Strengthen property rights for forestland
Develop payment mechanisms for nontimber values, within and between countries

39. Direct payment mechanisms for forest conservation
The Nature Conservancy
Private parks
Conservation concessions

40. Conservation concessions by Conservation International

41. “Score card” for forest services

43. The world is not running out of wood
Industrialized countries harvest less timber than they grow
Harvest from all sources is 79% of growth in North America, 59% in Europe, and only 16% in Russia
There is already a “tidal wave” of plantation timber, and more is on the way