FOREST RESOURCES: CHARACTERISTICS, TYPES AND USES - ENVIRONMENT - 2024

The forest resources are biotic and abiotic elements of the forest and meet a real or potential need for humans. These resources include genetic components, organisms or their parts, populations, and benefits derived from the ecosystem.

Forest resources are found both in natural forests and in forest plantations, and can be of two types: timber and non-timber.

Tropical forest. Source: PJeganathan

A forest is a complex ecosystem from which a large number of components and properties of vital, nutritional, industrial, medicinal and aesthetic interest are derived. The forest provides abiotic resources such as water and oxygen. In addition, it contains biotic resources such as wood, fibers, plant extracts, animal derivatives, fungi and useful bacteria.

Forest resources are widely used by humans for various purposes. The forest can be used as a recreational space or as a provider of benefits such as water supply and carbon sequestration.

In some regions of the planet, forest resources have been exploited so intensively that they have disappeared. However, there are some regions like Latin America where large areas rich in forest resources are still conserved.

Latin America contains 22% of the world's forest resources, including the Amazon. This wooded area is the largest in the world, with an approximate area of ​​5.5 million square kilometers.

characteristics

Forests, depending on their specific composition, can provide a great diversity of forest resources. The more complex the forest ecosystem, the more abundant the actual and potential forest resources it offers.

Tropical forests are the most diverse in the world, which is why they have a large amount of forest resources. However, they are the least known forest ecosystems, requiring a great effort to research their resources.

Types

To classify forest resources, we must take into account whether they come from a natural forest or from a forest plantation.

In forests we find greater biodiversity, so that they will have a greater number of potential forest resources. While the forest plantation is normally conceived as a monoculture, so its diversity is minimal.

The forest plantations are destined to the use of wood directly or as raw material for paper pulp. In addition, some derivatives such as oils and resins can be obtained.

Teak plantation (Tectona grandis) Anand.osuri

For example, in forest plantations of teak (Tectona grandis), the resources that are used are wood and teak oil.

The types of forest resources, both natural forests and forest plantations, are classified according to their nature. In such a way that we can differentiate between timber resources and non-timber resources.

Timber resources

See the wood or logs that are obtained from the processing of the trunks of the forest trees or the plantation.

For forests, the management plan must include knowledge of the biology of the selected species. These species are selected for the quality of the woods according to the use considered.

The management of forest resources in forests must take into account the biological and population characteristics of each species. Based on this, the best cut-off moment is determined based on its dimensions, population density and recovery period.

For plantations, generally a single species is managed, so uniform cut lots can be planned. The extraction dates of each batch will be determined by the convenience of the logging company.

Non-timber resources

Non-timber forest resources include everything other than wood that represents a utility for humans. Among them we have fibers, plant extracts, fruits, roots, leaves, fauna and their derivatives, and environmental services.

Applications

Timber resources

One of the most exploited forest resources in forests is wood. There are many timber species that are distributed in the coniferous forests of the northern and southern hemispheres, and in tropical forests.

In the American rainforests, the trees of the genera Cedrela (American cedar), Swietenia (mahogany), Handroanthus (amapa prieta, spring or araguaney), Cordia (box or pardillo), among others, are woods of high economic value .

In Africa, the so-called pink ivory (Berchemia zeyheri) and black passion fruit (Dalbergia melanoxylon) fetch high prices on the market. Ebony, from which the word cabinetmaking (woodworking) comes, comes from several tropical species. Among them is the Gabon ebony (Diospyros crassiflora).

In the coniferous forests of temperate zones there are several timber species. In the southern hemisphere are the species of Araucaria and Wollemia. In the northern hemisphere the various species of pine (Pinus spp.) And firs (Abies spp.).

Non-timber resources

The products derived from the forest that serve as food, medicine and raw material for various industries are numerous. Among some uses we can mention the following:

Fibers

Fibers are obtained from the bark of some tree species and from the leaves and roots of understory or epiphyte species. An example is the chiqui-chique (Leopoldinia piassaba), an Amazon palm from whose pods a moisture resistant fiber is obtained.

The fibrous roots of Philodendron corcovadense (cipó-imbé), an aracea from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, are also used in basket weaving.

Vegetable extracts

Industrial

Forests have been a source of plant extracts of industrial and medicinal utility, such as species that provide tannins for leather tanning.

Another widely used forest resource is latex (milky liquid) produced by some plants, such as rubber (Hevea brasiliensis), which has industrial value. Chewing gum, shoe soles (Manilkara bidentata) and dental fillings (Palaquium gutta) are also made with the latex of the Sapotaceae family.

Rubber latex extraction (Hevea brasiliensis). Source: Irvin Calicut

To obtain aromatic oils, the use of various species of sandalwood (Santalum spp.) In India, Southeast Asia and the Pacific stands out. Similarly, frankincense (Boswellia sacra) and myrrh (Commiphora spp) resins have great commercial value.

Medicinal

Ethnobotanical studies have revealed a diversity of medicinal products obtained by local ethnic groups from forest plants.

For example, oil from the seje palm (Jessenia bataua) is used in the treatment of respiratory conditions. Likewise, the effectiveness of yagrumo (Cecropia spp.) Leaves to control hypertension has been pharmacologically proven.

Some species of the forest, such as oil stick (Copaifera trapezifolia and C. officinalis) have multiple uses. In this case, the oil-resin extracted from the trunk has both medicinal and industrial uses.

Foods

Large numbers of indigenous communities owe their subsistence to the extraction of food resources from the forest. For example, the Yanomami, an indigenous Amazonian people, obtain most of their food from gathering, hunting and fishing.

Many edible fruits found in tropical forests are underutilized and only traded in local markets. These reach consumers directly from the collection of wild plants, as in the case of the cocura or Amazon grape (Pourouma cecropiifolia).

Fruit of copoazu (Theobroma grandiflora) BjoernS

Some forest species with edible fruits are already cultivated and more widely commercialized. These include the copoazú (Theobroma grandiflora), the jaboticaba (Pliinia cauliflora) and various species of the genera Eugenia and Acca (Myrtaceae).

Forests also provide fisheries resources from their rivers and game animals.

Environmental benefits

The environmental benefits that the forest provides are intangible forest resources. Among these services we can mention the generation of water, production of oxygen and capture of CO ₂.

Forests regulate water flows by facilitating the capture of water vapor, reducing surface runoff, and promoting infiltration. In addition, the plant mass provides oxygen to the atmosphere thanks to photosynthesis and they are sinks of CO ₂.

Main forest resources in Latin America

Globally there are approximately 1,640 million hectares of temperate forests and 1,760 million hectares of tropical forests. The tropical and subtropical zones have the largest extension of these forests, with more than 1,000 hectares.

In Latin America there is a little more than a fifth of the planet's forest resources. 96% corresponds to broadleaf forests (Angiosperms) and only 4% to conifers (gymnosperms).

In relation to the surface of tropical forests in the world, more than 60% is in Latin America. The Amazon is the largest rainforest in the world with around 550 million hectares.

This large forest mass located in South America is one of the most biodiverse biomes on the planet. For this reason, its wealth in current and potential forest resources is immense.

The countries with the greatest forest resources in Latin America

The 6 Latin American countries with the greatest extension of forests are:

• Brazil (494 million hectares)
• Peru (74 million hectares)
• Mexico (66 million hectares)
• Colombia (59 million hectares)
• Bolivia (55 million hectares)
• Venezuela (47 million hectares)

Research on forest resources

Any component or process developed in the forest is a potential forest resource. However, the qualification of a forest element as a resource merits a previous investigation that links it to the satisfaction of a need.

For this reason, it is essential to carry out inventories of the resources present in the different forests. Researchers from various areas of biology carry out inventories of forest resources in the field.

Ethnobiology is the discipline that studies the relationship of human beings with their natural environment. Therefore, ethnobiological studies provide valuable information on forest resources of real or potential interest to local communities.

Finally, prospecting projects are specifically directed at the inventory of resources present in a given area. Prospects can evaluate different resources such as hydrological, mining or biological, among others.

Conservation of forest resources

Once identified and inventoried, forest resources must be exploited in a rational way. The sustainable exploitation of these resources must guarantee their availability for future generations.

Sustainability can be achieved by balancing the rate of extraction and the rate of replacement of the resource. Therefore, the rational use of forests must have a management plan for the area to be exploited.

In order to achieve a rational exploitation of forest resources, FAO has carried out a global monitoring program since 1946. This program is called Global Forest Resources Assessments (FRA for its acronym in English).

The FRA was originally conceived to monitor timber resources. However, it is currently evaluating all available resources, including environmental services.

Forest reserves

In order to ensure the sustainable availability of forest resources, governments have taken various legal measures. One of the aspects contemplated in the legislation is to define areas under special administration regime in forested areas.

Forest reserves were created for the protection and sustainable use of these forest resources. These areas are large extensions of natural forests subject to a management plan for the extraction of wood and other forest derivatives.

Nadgigomar Forest Reserve, Australia Thennicke

Even when various legal measures and administrative protection figures have been implemented, forests have suffered a drastic decline worldwide. One of the main causes of this decrease is deforestation for the use of wood.

References

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3. Global Forest Resources Assessment. Accessed 02/16/2018.
4. FAO (2015) Global Forest Resources Assessment 2015. Data Compendium. Rome. 244 p.
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