what are the social and economic benefits of forest
Answers
Explanation:
Forests provide a wide range of economic and social benefits to humankind. These include contributions to the overall economy – for example through employment, processing and trade of forest products and energy – and investments in the forest sector. They also include the hosting and protection of sites and landscapes of high cultural, spiritual or recreational value. Maintaining and enhancing these functions is an integral part of sustainable forest management.
Information on the status of and trends in socio-economic benefits is thus essential in evaluating progress towards sustainable forest management, together with the more usual statistics on the predominantly environmental values considered under the other themes.
Economic benefits are usually measured in monetary terms and may include: income from employment in the sector; the value of the production of goods and services from forests; and the contribution of the sector to the national economy, energy supplies and international trade. In addition, the economic viability or sustainability of the sector can be assessed by measures such as the profitability of forest enterprises or the level of investment.
The social functions of forests are often more difficult to measure and can vary considerably among countries, depending on their level of development and traditions. For example, in developed, post-industrial societies, the benefits of forests for recreation and amenity values or the maintenance of a rural way of life may be most important, while in developing countries, the area of forests available for subsistence activities or the number of people employed in the sector may be a better indication of their social value. Given the difficulties of measuring the social benefits of forests, social functions are often measured in terms of inputs rather than outputs (e.g. the area or proportion of forests used to provide various social functions).
All the international processes on criteria and indicators include a section on the monitoring and assessment of socio-economic functions or benefits of the forestry sector. A wide variety of variables may be measured: production and consumption; recreation and tourism; funding and investment in the forest sector; cultural, social and spiritual needs and values; forestry employment; health and safety; and community needs.
In FRA 2005, countries provided information on four measures of socio-economic functions:
Value of wood and non-wood forest product removals. FRA 2005 examines the production of primary products, excluding the benefits of downstream processing.
Employment in forestry. Figures refer to employment in forestry activities rather than employment in the whole forestry sector (i.e. they exclude employment in processing of wood and non-wood forest products) and they only include formal employment. Countries were asked to provide information for 1990 and 2000 only. No forecasting to 2005 was done.
Ownership of forest and other wooded land. Three classes of ownership were used: public, private and other. Countries were asked to provide information for 1990 and 2000 only. No forecasting to 2005 was done.
Areas of forest designated for social services. Two measures were included: area of forest for which the provision of social services was designated as the primary function and total area of forest for which recreation, education and other social services were designated as one of the functions.
In general, the measures presented in FRA 2005 are more restrictive than those proposed in some international criteria and indicators processes because they refer to benefits from forests only (rather than benefits from the whole forestry sector, which include downstream processing). No information was requested from countries on socio-economic indicators related to health and safety, funding, investment, recycling and contribution to energy supplies, owing to a lack of information on these aspects in many countries.
In general, the availability of information was highest for the area of forest designated for different functions and ownership of forests and lowest for the value of NWFP removals (Figure 7.1). In addition, the quality of information reported on the value of outputs (removals of wood and non-wood forest products) was quite weak in several respects (e.g. incompatible definitions and measurement units, partial responses from some countries, and statistics that contradict other sources or seem otherwise implausible).
Answer:
forests provide a wide range of economic and social benifits to human kind . these include contributions to the overall economy
Explanation:
for example though employment, processing and trade of forest product and energy and investment in the forest sector