1. Land Use: Forests and Grasslands

2. Outline
World Forests
Forest Products
Tropical Forests
Swidden Agriculture
Temperate Forests
Harvest Methods
Fire Management
Grasslands
Land Ownership and Land Reform

3. WORLD LAND USES
Earth’s total land area is about 133 million km2 (29% of the globe).
Approximately 11% of the earth’s landmass is now used for crop production, and half of present forests and grazing lands could be converted.
Immediate and destructive impacts on landscape and wildlife.
Resilient if given enough time.

4. World Land Use

5. WORLD FORESTS
Forests play vital ecological roles:
Regulating climate, controlling water runoff, providing food and shelter for wildlife, and purifying air.
Provide valuable materials.
Wood, paper-pulp.
Scenic, cultural, and historic value.

6. How Much Forest Is There ?
One-third of original forests and woodlands have been converted to other uses.
Currently, forests and woodlands cover 29% of earth’s land surface. (3.8 billion ha)
Greatest concern is over protection of Old-Growth Forests.
Less than half of forests still retain old-growth characteristics.

7. Major Forest Types

8. Forest Products
Wood plays a part in more activities of the modern economy than any other commodity.
Industrial timber and unprocessed logs account for about half of worldwide wood consumption.
Developed countries produce less than half of all industrial wood, but account for about 80% of consumption.

9. Forest Products
U.S., former Soviet Union, and Canada are largest producers of industrial wood and paper pulp.
Japan is world’s largest wood importer.
U.S. is both major exporter and importer.
Buy wood and paper from Canada and processed wood products from Japan.
Sell raw logs to Japan and other countries.

10. Forest Products
At least one-third of world’s population depend on firewood or charcoal as their principle source of heating and cooking fuel.
Fuelwood accounts for about half of all wood harvested worldwide.
About 1.5 billion people have less than they need.

11. Forest Management
Approximately 25% of world’s forests are actively managed for wood production.
Sustainable harvest is key to regeneration.
Most countries replant far fewer trees than were harvested.
Many reforestation projects involve monoculture forestry.
Disrupts ecological processes.

12. TROPICAL FORESTS
Although they occupy less than 10% of earth’s land surface, tropical rainforests are thought to contain:
More than two-thirds of all higher plant biomass.
At least one-half of all plant, animal, and microbial species in the world.

13. Diminishing Forests
Tropical forests are shrinking rapidly.
Estimated 0.8% of remaining forest is cleared annually.
Estimates are very rough.
Countries have economic and political reasons to hide extent of losses.
Real losses may range 5-20 million ha annually.
Brazil has largest rainforests, and highest rate of deforestation.

15. Swidden Agriculture
Can be ecologically sound and sustainable if performed carefully and in moderation.
Slash and Burn
Hectare plot cleared, dried, and burned.
Ashes used to prepare seedbed.
Fast-growing crops planted to control erosion, shade crops, and anchor soil.
Cropped intensively for 1-2 years, and then rested years.

16. Logging and Land Invasions
Other major source of forest destruction is logging and subsequent invasion.
Bulldozed roads make it possible for large numbers of immigrants to move into the forest in search of farmland.
Forest clearing leads to river degradation through increased silt and sediment flow.

17. Debt-for-Nature Swaps
Banks, governments, and lending institutions hold nearly $1 trillion in loans to developing countries.
Conservation organizations buy debt obligations on the secondary market at a discount, and then offer to cancel the debt if the debtor country will agree to protect or restore an area of biological importance.

18. TEMPERATE FORESTS
Northern countries have a long history of liquidating forest resources.
Siberia contains one-fourth of the world’s timber reserves.
Four-million ha felled annually.
In the U.S. and Canada, two main timber management issues are:
Cutting old-growth forest remnants.
Timber harvest methods.

19. Ancient Forests of the Pacific Northwest
Redwoods can reach 3-4 m in diameter, 90 m in height and 1,000 years in age.
Temperate rainforests are second only to tropical rainforests in terrestrial biodiversity.
Accumulate more biomass in standing vegetation per unit area than any other ecosystem on earth.
Less than 10% of virgin temperate rainforest remain (80% scheduled to be cut in the near future).

20. Wilderness and Wildlife Protection
Forest products industry employs about 150,000 people in the Pacific NW, and adds nearly $7 billion annually to the economy.
1989 environmentalist sued USFS over plans to clear-cut remaining old-growth forests, arguing spotted owls were endangered and must be protected.
Timber industry claims 40,000 jobs lost.
Environmentalists dispute number.

21. Harvest Methods
Clear-Cutting - Every tree in a given area is cut regardless of size.
Fast and efficient, but wastes small trees, increases erosion, and eliminates wildlife habitat.
Early-successional species flourish.
Coppicing - Encourage stump-sprouts.
Seed-Tree - Leave few mature trees.

22. Harvest Methods
Selective Cutting - A small percentage of mature trees are taken in year rotation.
Can retain many characteristics of mature, old-growth forests.

23. U.S. FOREST MANAGEMENT
USFS has historically regarded its primary job as providing a steady supply of cheap logs to the nation’s timber industry.
Often, timber prices have not been enough to repay management costs.
Hidden subsidy to timber industry.
USFS builds roads in order for timber companies to extract trees.

24. Fire Management
For more than 70 years, firefighting has been a high priority for forest managers.
Smokey the Bear - “Only you can prevent forest fires.”
In 1989, the U.S. spent over $1 billion and lost 33 lives in efforts to stop forest fires.
2002 was one of the biggest fire years on record, with nearly 2.8 million ha of forests and grasslands burned.

26. Fire Management
Recent studies show fire plays an important role in many forested ecosystems.
Eliminating fire has allowed shrubs and small trees to fill some forest floors, crowding out grasses and forbs.
As woody debris accumulates, chances of a major fire increase.
Often, attempts to stop fires cause more ecological damage than the actual fires.

27. Fire Management
After a fire, many industry advocates encourage salvage logging.
Removal of dead or dying trees from forests damaged by fire or disease.
In 1995, Congress passed a budget bill containing a rider allowing salvage logging to bypass ordinary environmental reviews or logging limits.

28. Sustainable Forestry and Non-Timber Forest Products
In both temperate and tropical regions, many certification programs are being developed to identify sustainably produced wood products.
Forest Stewardship Council
Increasingly, non-timber forest products are seen as an alternative to timber production.

29. GRASSLANDS
Grasslands currently cover about 27% of the world’s land surface.
More than 3 billion domestic livestock producing meat and milk.
Grasslands and open woodlands are attractive for human occupation, thus are frequently converted to human-dominated landscapes.

30. Overgrazing and Land Degradation
About one-third of the world’s rangeland is severely degraded by over-grazing.
Grazing animals usually exhibit selective grazing, removing preferred species and leaving non-preferred species to survive and reproduce.
Gradually, nutritional value of forage declines.
Denudation of ground leads to desiccation and desertification.

31. Forage Conversion by Domestic Animals
Ruminants are efficient at turning plant material into protein because bacterial digestion in their multiple stomachs allows utilization of cellulose and other complex carbohydrates.
Worldwide, 85% of ruminant forage comes from native rangelands and pasture.
In U.S. only 15% of livestock feed comes from native grasslands. 90% of total grain crop is used for livestock feed.

32. Harvesting Wild Animals
U.S. National Academy of Sciences concluded the semiarid lands of the African Sahel can support kg of cattle per hectare, but can produce nearly three times as much meat from wild ungulates in the same area.

33. Rangelands in the United States
U.S. has approximately 319 million ha of rangeland.
Most in the West.
About 60% is privately owned.
Only 2% of cattle and 10% of sheep graze on public land.
BLM manages more land than any other agency in the U.S..
Strong agency inclination towards resource utilization.

34. State of the Range
Natural Resource Defense Council claims 30% of public rangelands are in fair condition, while 55% are in poor or very poor condition.
Several wildlife conservation groups regard cattle grazing as the most ubiquitous form of ecosystem degradation in the southwestern U.S..
Many call for a complete grazing ban on all public lands.

35. State of the Range

36. Grazing Fees
Fees charged for grazing on public lands are far below market value and represent an enormous hidden subsidy to western ranchers.
1999 minimum charge was $1.35 per cow per month.
Comparable private land fees were $11.10 per cow per month.
Estimates are that administrative costs alone are $3.21 per animal unit.

37. Rotational Grazing
Short duration confinement of animals to a small area (day or two) before shifting them to a new location stimulates the effects of wild herds.
Maintains forage quality.
Keeps weeds in check and encourages growth of more desirable forage species.

38. LANDOWNERSHIP AND LAND REFORM
In many countries, inequitable landownership is a legacy of colonial estate systems.
World Bank estimates 800 million people live in “absolute poverty.”
Political, economic, and ecological side effects of inequitable land distribution affect people far from the immediate location of the problem.

39. Land Reform
Throughout history, many attempts at land reform have been undertaken.
Redistribution of landownership.
Tenant farmers have little incentive to protect or improve land as they do not have any long-term benefits.
Absentee landlords have little personal contact with the land.

40. Indigenous Lands
Indigenous people make up about 10% of world’s population, but occupy about 25% of the land.
Possess ecological knowledge of ancestral lands.
Our appetite for natural resources and land puts native people and their ecosystems at risk.
Many indigenous people are fighting for their ancestral territories.

41. Summary
World Forests
Forest Products
Tropical Forests
Swidden Agriculture
Temperate Forests
Harvest Methods
Fire Management
Grasslands
Land Ownership and Land Reform