Climate Action 2010-2011

Redd, Sustainable Forest Management and Agriculture
Biodiversity:
the essence
of forest
goods and
services
Frances Seymour, Director-General of Center for International
Forestry Research (CIFOR)
Robert Nasi, Principal Scientist and
Terry Sunderland, Senior Scientist, for CIFOR
As well as providing humanity with a wealth of goods
and environmental services, the world’s forests
also play a newly appreciated role in mitigating climate
change through carbon sequestration and buffering
communities and ecosystems from the full impacts of
extreme weather events. Biodiversity is at the core of all
these services. Any new model of forest conservation
must have biodiversity at its heart and work to protect
the whole gamut of goods and services essential for local
livelihoods and for the wellbeing of society at large.
The bounty provided by forests
Forest resources are essential to the daily lives of about a
billion people worldwide. In many developing countries,
forest-based enterprises provide at least a third of all
rural non-farm employment. Forests provide timber for
construction of houses and boats, and fuelwood or charcoal
for cooking or heating homes. In sub-Saharan Africa,
most rural energy needs are supplied by forests. Forests also
provide a wide variety of non-timber forest products such
as medicinal plants, honey, gums and resins, wild fruits
and nuts, rattan, mushrooms and wild meat. Households
located near forests in tropical countries typically derive
about a quarter of their income from forest products.
In rural areas of the Congo Basin, many communities
depend on wild meat for up to 80 per cent of the fats and
proteins in their diets. In areas where fish are an important
source of protein, forests, especially mangroves, support
the healthy aquatic ecosystems necessary to maintain fish
stocks. Fats sourced from oil palms are essential to rural
diets in West and Central Africa, while starch from the
sago palm is consumed on a regular basis by a million
people across south-east Asia and the south-west Pacific.
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Access to food and other products from the forest are
especially important for vulnerable groups and in times
of stress. Many people around the world rely on forestbased
medicines as a first recourse for health problems.
Forests are a particularly important source of income and
employment for women. Women often derive income
from the processing and marketing of non-timber
forest products and are able to combine forest-related
craft-making with other household responsibilities.
Indigenous communities in East Kalimantan, Indonesia
have documented 3,642 specific uses for 1,449 species of
forest plants and animals, and of these 119 had no known
substitute for the particular use.
Forests provide services, too
Forests provide especially important services to the
agriculture sector. They offer a source and a reservoir
of genetic diversity for many of the world’s important
agricultural crops. Cassava, banana and plantains, cocoa,
oil palm, coffee, rubber and most livestock species have
their origin in forest ecosystems, and still have wild
relatives there. Genes from wild relatives can often be
useful in breeding resistance to pests and disease and to
other sources of stress such as drought which will become
increasingly important in a changing climate.
Agricultural productivity is enhanced when forests and
trees are maintained in and around farms. Forest cover
provides natural protection to crops and livestock by
providing shade, wind breaks, mitigating floods and aiding
the control of pests. Biologically diverse forest ecosystems
support birdlife, beneficial insects and spiders, as well as
fungi, bacteria and viruses which all consume or control
pests, reducing the need for farmers to use commercial
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