Forest resources of the earth. What forests are left in the world The total area of ​​forests in the world is

: wood, resin, cork, mushrooms, fruits, berries, nuts, medicinal plants, hunting and trade resources, etc., as well as beneficial features forests - water protection, climate control, anti-erosion, health, etc. Forest resources are renewable resources. World forest resources are characterized by two main indicators: the size of the forest area (4.1 billion hectares or about 27% of the land area) and the stock of standing timber (350 billion m 3), which, due to constant growth, increase annually by 5.5 billion. m 3. However, forests are reduced to arable land and plantations, for construction. In addition, wood is widely used for firewood and wood products. As a result, deforestation has become rampant. The area of ​​forests in the world annually decreases by at least 25 million hectares, and the world timber harvesting in 2000 should reach 5 billion m 3 . This means that her annual annual growth will be fully utilized.

The largest area of ​​forests has been preserved in Eurasia. This is about 40% of all world forests and almost 42% of the total timber stock, including 2/3 of the volume of the most valuable wood species. Australia has the least forest coverage. Since the sizes of the continents are not the same, it is important to take into account their forest cover, i.e. ratio of forested area to total area. According to this indicator, South America occupies the first place in the world. In the economic assessment of forest resources, such a characteristic as timber reserves is of paramount importance. On this basis, the countries of Asia, South and North America are distinguished. Leading positions in this area are occupied by countries such as Russia, Canada, Brazil and the United States. Bahrain, Qatar, Libya, etc. are characterized by the practical absence of forests.

The forests of the world form two vast forest belts - northern and southern. The northern forest belt is located in the temperate and partly subtropical climate. It accounts for half of all forest areas in the world and almost the same proportion of all timber stocks. The most forested countries within this belt are Russia, the USA, Canada, Finland, and Sweden. The southern forest belt is located mainly in the tropical and equatorial climate. It also accounts for about half of the world's forests and total timber stock. They are concentrated mainly in three areas: the Amazon, the Congo Basin and Southeast Asia.

AT recent times catastrophically fast convergence rainforest. In the 80s. 11 million hectares of such forests were cut down annually. They are in danger of total annihilation. Over the past 200 years, the area of ​​forests has decreased by at least 2 times. Every year, forests are destroyed on an area of ​​125 thousand km 2, which is equal to the territory of such countries as Austria and Switzerland combined. The main causes of deforestation are: expansion of agricultural land and deforestation to use timber. Forests are cut down in connection with the construction of communication lines. The green cover of the tropics is most intensively destroyed. In most developing countries, logging is carried out in connection with the use of wood as fuel, and forests are also burned to obtain arable land. Reduced and degraded from pollution of the atmosphere and soil forests in highly developed countries. There is a massive shrinkage of the tops of trees, due to their damage by acid rain. The consequences of deforestation are unfavorable for pastures and arable land. This situation could not go unnoticed. The most developed and, at the same time, forest-poor countries are already implementing programs to conserve and improve forest lands. So, in Japan and Australia, as well as in some Western European countries The area under forests remains stable, and the depletion of the forest stand is not observed.

BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES

The biomass of the Earth is created by plant and animal organisms.

Plant resources are represented by both cultivated and wild plants. There are almost 6 thousand species of cultivated plants. But the most common types of crops on Earth are only 80-90, and the most common are only 15-20: wheat, rice, corn, barley, sweet potato, soybeans, etc.

Among the wild vegetation, forest vegetation prevails, forming forest resources. Like land, these are exhaustible but renewable multipurpose resources. World forest resources are characterized by three main indicators: the size of the forest area (4.1 billion hectares), forest cover (31.7%) and standing timber reserves (330 billion m 3), which, due to constant growth, increase annually by 5.5 billion m 3 . It would seem that under these conditions it is premature to talk about the threat of a shortage of forest resources. But that's not the case at all.

Wood has long been widely used as a building and ornamental material; the more it applies to our time. And today the demand for firewood is growing, and at least 1/2 of all wood harvested in the world is used for this purpose. Finally, over the millennia, beginning with the Neolithic, when agriculture arose, forests were reduced to arable land and plantations. In the last two hundred years alone, the land cover of the earth has been halved and deforestation has become rampant. It is associated with the expansion of soil erosion, and the reduction of oxygen reserves in the atmosphere.

The area of ​​forests in the world annually decreases by at least 20 million hectares, or 0.5%. World timber harvesting in the near future may reach 5 billion m 3 . This means that its annual annual growth will actually be fully utilized.

The forests of the world form two huge belts - northern and southern.

Table 15. Distribution of forest area by major regions.

The northern forest belt is located in the zone of temperate and partly cold and subtropical climates. It accounts for 1/2 of all forests in the world and the same part of the timber stock. The main logging is carried out here, especially of especially valuable coniferous wood. Despite intensive exploitation, thanks to reforestation and afforestation (in the USA, Canada, Finland, Sweden), the total forest area of ​​the northern belt is not decreasing.

The southern forest belt is located mainly in the zone of tropical and equatorial climates. It accounts for 1/2 of all forests and the total stock of timber. Previously, it was used mainly for firewood, recently exports to Japan have increased many times, Western Europe, USA. The forests of the southern belt are also heavily damaged by the slash-and-burn system of agriculture, which has been going on for many hundreds of years, and extensive pasture cattle breeding. All this leads to catastrophically fast deforestation of this belt.

wet evergreens rainforests still occupy more than 1 billion hectares, more than half of their area - in Latin America. However, Latin America and Asia have already lost 40% of such forests, and Africa 50%. Scientists believe that these forests are under the threat of complete destruction by the middle of the 21st century. Great work on the conservation of tropical forests has begun under the leadership of the UN, but so far they have not brought the desired results. Therefore, measures for the rational use of forest resources continue to be extremely relevant.

Table 16. The most and least forested countries in the world

Additional information:

34 VTL accounts for 10 countries: Brazil, Indonesia, Zaire, Peru, Colombia, India, Bolivia, Papua New Guinea, Venezuela, Myanmar.

In terms of forest area per capita, the leaders are: Guiana, Suriname, Gabon, Congo, etc.

Forest areas are shrinking in Russia, almost all forests have been reduced to nothing in El Salvador, Jamaica and Haiti.

Resources of the animal world, being also integral part biosphere, represent another vital resource of mankind, belonging to the category of renewable. On the the globe there are several million species of animals (there are much more of them than plants), some of them are domestic, others are commercial, etc. And together, plants and animals form genetic fund (gene pool) planet, which also needs protection from impoverishment.

From 1600 to 1995, more than 600 species of animals have already disappeared on Earth, another 35 thousand species are under the threat of destruction (not counting invertebrates). Particularly intense pressure animal world Europe, where many species of mammals are on the verge of extinction, from 30 to 50% of all bird species. An example of the impoverishment of the gene pool in Africa and Asia is the catastrophically rapid decrease in the herd of elephants.

Preservation biodiversity, prevention of "erosion" of the gene pool is a very important task.

Tasks and tests on the topic "Biological resources"

• 6 Tasks: 9 Tests: 1

Leading ideas: geographic environment - necessary condition the life of society, the development and distribution of the population and the economy, while the influence of the resource factor on the level of economic development countries, but the importance rational use natural resources and environmental factor.

Basic concepts: geographic (environment) environment, ore and non-metallic minerals, ore belts, pools of minerals; structure of the world land fund, southern and northern forest belts, forest cover; hydropower potential; shelf, alternative energy sources; resource availability, natural resource potential (NRP), territorial combination of natural resources (RTSR), areas of new development, secondary resources; pollution environment, environmental policy.

Skills: be able to characterize the natural resources of the country (region) according to the plan; use various methods of economic evaluation of natural resources; characterize the natural prerequisites for the development of industry, Agriculture countries (regions) according to the plan; give brief description location of the main types of natural resources, single out the countries "leaders" and "outsiders" in terms of availability of one or another type of natural resources; give examples of countries that do not have rich natural resources, but have achieved high level economic development and vice versa; give examples of rational and irrational use of resources.

In the scientific literature, one often comes across a description of the role of the forest, forest vegetation as an integral part of the biosphere. It is usually noted that forests form the largest ecosystems on Earth, in which most of the organic matter of the planet accumulates. That they are of great importance for photosynthesis, for the normal course of the processes of stabilization of the oxygen balance of the atmosphere, absorption carbon dioxide, as well as to preserve soil fertility, water purity. That they are the largest repositories of the gene pool of the biosphere, a habitat for a large number of plants and animals, an important source of wood, food, fodder, technical, medicinal and other resources. In addition to all this, forests absorb noise, many air pollutants, thereby favorably affecting the quality of the natural environment, and indirectly the mood of people who find positive emotions in communicating with nature. In a word, the economic, ecological and aesthetic value of forests is always highly valued.

Various indicators are used to quantify the world's forest resources as an important part of terrestrial biological resources. The most important among them are indicators forest area, woodland(proportion of forest area in the whole territory) and standing timber stock. However, upon acquaintance with them, a rather significant difference in estimates attracts attention. If you try to compare the estimates of the FAO, other international organizations and individual experts in this field, then such a difference will be found quite easily. For example, in various sources, the global forest area is estimated at 51.2 billion hectares; 43.2; 39.6; 36.0; 34.4;

30.0 billion hectares. Accordingly, there are also large discrepancies in the indicators of the forest cover of the earth's land (37%, 32, 30, 27%, etc.), as well as in terms of timber reserves (385 billion m 3, 350, 335 billion m 3, etc.) .

This discrepancy is explained by the fact that some of these estimates refer to different categories of forest area. The highest of them refer to the area of ​​all lands of the forest fund, which, in addition to the actual forest lands, also include shrubs, sparse areas, cuttings, burnt areas, etc. The middle ones correspond to a stricter approach to the definition of forest lands, area directly occupied by forests, and the lowest - to closed forests, which occupy no more than 2/3 of all forest areas and, perhaps, most accurately characterize the true forest cover of the territory. Sometimes statistics also include primary and secondary forests.

Picture of regional differences in the distribution of world forest resources gives table 28.

The following conclusions follow from the data in Table 28. First, that Latin America occupies the leading place in the world in all important "forest" indicators. Secondly, that the CIS, North America and Africa fall into the “second tier” according to these indicators. Thirdly, that foreign Asia, which has a high overall performance, has - as one might expect - the lowest endowment forest resources per inhabitant. And fourthly, that according to all the main indicators included in the table, foreign Europe and Australia with Oceania close the ranking of large regions.

Table 28

DISTRIBUTION OF WORLD FOREST RESOURCES BY LARGE REGIONS

* Without CIS countries.

Along with the distribution of the world's forest resources over large regions of the world, their distribution over the main forest belts is of great interest. (Fig. 24). Figure 24 clearly shows the distribution coniferous forests cold zone (or coniferous boreal forests), stretching in a wide strip through the northern parts of Eurasia and North America. To the south extends the belt mixed forests temperate zone. The forests of dry areas are most characteristic of Africa (there they are represented by sparse forests and shrubs of the savannah zone), but they are also found in North and South America, in Australia. Equatorial rainforests grow in a belt with constantly high temperatures and heavy rainfall north and south of the equator. Their main arrays are located in the Amazon and Congo river basins, as well as in South and Southeast Asia. Tropical rainforests are generally much worse preserved and are to be found only in parts of Central and South America, Africa and South Asia. Finally, humid forests of the warm temperate zone are found in separate rather large areas in North and South America, East Asia and Australia.

Rice. 24. Schematic map of the forests of the world (according to I.S. Malakhov): 1 - coniferous forests of the cold zone; 2 - mixed forests of the temperate zone; 3 - forests of dry regions; 4 - equatorial rainforests; 5 - tropical rainforests; 6 - humid forests of the warm temperate zone

Figure 24 also provides a basis for a more generalized approach to identifying forest belts, which is more often used in educational literature. It consists in combining them into two main forest belts of the Earth- northern and southern, which are separated by a wide belt of arid territories.

Square northern forest belt– 2 billion hectares (including 1.6 billion hectares under closed stands and 0.4 billion hectares under shrubs and light forests). The largest forest areas in this belt are located within Russia, Canada, and the USA. Coniferous species occupy 67% of the total forest area, and deciduous - 33%. The diversity of species in the forests of the northern belt is not so great: for example, in foreign Europe There are approximately 250 species of trees and shrubs. Wood growth is also rather slow. So, in the coniferous forests of Russia, on average, 1.3 m 3 grows per 1 ha per year, in Finland - 2.3 m 3, in the USA - 3.1 m 3. In the zone of mixed forests, this increase is noticeably greater.

Square southern forest belt- also about 2 billion hectares, but 97% of it consists of deciduous forests. At the same time, half of the entire forest area is occupied by tall forest, and the rest is occupied by low-density sparse forest, shrubs, and forest fallow. In the southern forest belt, the forest stand is much more diverse than in the northern one: in all tropical forests, more than 100 and even 200 different tree species can be found per 1 hectare. The average annual growth of timber per hectare here is several times greater than in the forests of the northern zone. And the average stock of standing wood reaches 250 m 3 /ha, which is tens of times higher than such a stock in some types of forests of the northern belt. Therefore, the total stock of timber in the forests of the southern belt is greater.

Naturally, the countries with the largest forest areas should be sought within either the northern or southern forest belts. (Fig. 25). These belts also include countries with the highest forest cover: in the northern zone, these are primarily Finland and Sweden, and in the southern zone, Suriname and Guyana in Latin America, Gabon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Africa, and Papua New Guinea in Oceania.

Russia is the richest country in the world with forest resources. From Figure 25 it follows that this applies to both its forested and forested area (the latter is 22.1% of the world). The total stock of wood in the forests of Russia - 82 billion m 3 - exceeds the stocks of any large foreign region, with the exception of Latin America. This means that Russia accounts for more than 1/5 of the world's timber reserves, including almost 1/2 of the coniferous timber reserves. According to the corresponding per capita indicators (5.2 hectares and 560 m 3), it is second only to Canada. However, the forest resources of Russia are distributed very unevenly over its vast territory: almost 9/10 of the entire forested area is located in the taiga zone, especially within Eastern Siberia and the Far East.

Rice.25. Top ten countries by forest area

Forests are a source of construction materials and raw materials with a multi-purpose purpose; source of biological resources.

World forest resources are characterized, first of all, by indicators of forest cover, forest area and growing stock.

The forest area indicator reflects the size of the area covered by forests, including per capita. Forest cover shows the ratio of forest area to the total territory of the country. Growing stock is usually determined by multiplying the average amount of wood (in cubic meters) from 1 m 2 by the area occupied by forests.

total area forests in the world is 4 billion hectares. The largest area of ​​forests has been preserved in Eurasia. This is about 40% of all world forests and almost 42% of the total timber stock, including 2/3 of the volume of the most valuable wood species. Australia has the least forest coverage. Since the sizes of the continents are not the same, it is important to take into account their forest cover. According to this indicator, South America occupies the first place in the world. In the economic assessment of forest resources, such a characteristic as wood reserves is of paramount importance. On this basis, the countries of Asia, South and North America are distinguished. Leading positions in this area are occupied by such countries as Russia, Canada, Brazil and the United States. Bahrain, Qatar, Libya, etc. are characterized by the virtual absence of forests. Most of the forested area falls on the countries of Latin America (930 million hectares), the CIS (810 million hectares), Africa (720 million hectares), North America (680 million hectares) and foreign Asia(540 million ha). Here in some places (the Asian part of Russia, Canada, the tropical countries of South and Southeast Asia, equatorial Africa, countries of the Amazon basin and Central America) forests are located in huge continuous tracts (forest cover is very high and sometimes reaches 75-95%).

In foreign Europe, forests occupy a relatively small area (160 million hectares) and are located mainly in its northern part (France, Germany, Finland, Sweden, Norway). The most forested European countries are Finland (59%) and Sweden (54%). The forested area of ​​Australia and Oceania is also small - 160 million hectares. This region of the world also has the lowest rates of forest cover (20%).

The forests of the world form two vast forest belts - northern and southern. The northern forest belt is located in the temperate and partly subtropical climate zone. It accounts for half of all forested areas in the world and almost the same proportion of all timber stocks. The most forested countries within this belt are Russia, the USA, Canada, Finland, and Sweden. The southern forest belt is located mainly in the tropical and equatorial climate zone. It also accounts for about half of the world's forests and total timber stock. They are concentrated mainly in three areas: the Amazon, the Congo Basin and Southeast Asia.

Recently, there has been a catastrophically rapid reduction of tropical forests. They are in danger of total annihilation. Over the past 200 years, the area of ​​forests has decreased by at least 2 times. Every year, forests are destroyed on an area of ​​125 thousand km 2, which is equal to the territory of such countries as Austria and Switzerland combined. The main causes of deforestation are: expansion of agricultural land and deforestation to use timber. Forests are cut down in connection with the construction of communication lines. The green cover of the tropics is most intensively destroyed. In most developing countries, logging is carried out in connection with the use of wood as fuel, and forests are also burned to obtain arable land. Reduced and degraded from pollution of the atmosphere and soil forests in highly developed countries. There is a massive drying up of the tops of trees, due to their defeat by acid rain. The consequences of deforestation are unfavorable for pastures and arable land. This situation could not go unnoticed. The most developed and, at the same time, forest-poor countries are already implementing programs to conserve and improve forest lands. Thus, in Japan and Australia, as well as in some Western European countries, the area under forests

remain stable, and depletion of the forest stand is not observed.

The forest is of great importance for life on Earth, it is a source of raw materials in various sectors of the economy (construction, woodworking, hydrolysis, pulp and paper industries, etc.). Wood is widely used both as fuel and in everyday life.

The forests of Russia, the world leader in terms of reserves (81.6 billion m 3 or more than 23% of world reserves) and area (771.1 million hectares) of forest resources, cover almost half (45%) of the country's territory. Dominated conifers(larch, pine, spruce, cedar, fir), which account for 82% of all timber reserves in the country, 16% are softwood (aspen, birch, alder) and 2% - hardwood (oak and beech) species. Forests are mainly concentrated in eastern regions- about 80% of their reserves fall on the share of Siberia and Far East. Particularly rich in forest Krasnoyarsk region and Irkutsk Region, Khabarovsk and Primorsky Territories, Amur Region. The forests in these areas are not only large in terms of reserves, but also distinguished by a high quality composition (larch, pine, cedar, rare broad-leaved species).

In the rest of Russia, the European North is distinguished by forest resources (Republic of Komi and Karelia, Arkhangelsk and Volgograd regions) and the Urals (Perm and Sverdlovsk regions). In all the above areas, active development of forests is underway. Russia is ahead of many countries of the world in terms of forest area per capita. This figure is 3 ha here, while in the world as a whole it is 0.8 ha, in foreign Europe - 0.3 ha, in foreign Asia - 0.2 ha, in Africa - 1.3 ha, North America- 2.5 ha, Latin America - 2.2 ha, Australia and Oceania - 6.4 ha. Russia also stands out in terms of the size of harvesting and removal of timber.

In Russia, as in the countries of Northern Europe, North and Latin America, Asia and Africa, forests are very much affected by deforestation (at present, the volume of harvesting around the world as a whole approximately corresponds to the annual increase in timber -3.6 billion m 3) forest fires, acid rain and other phenomena. As a result, the area of ​​forests on Earth is decreasing annually (up to 0.6% per year), which creates a real threat of their complete destruction.

Wood is one of the world's most essential resources to be restored. And trees, both in ancient times and now, make various Construction Materials, interior components and other necessary things for people. Of course, the forest is able to recover much more slowly than to be cut down by people.

The countries with the most forests are the most fortunate. That is, roughly speaking, while one section is cut down, the rest are already growing rapidly. There are countries where there are practically no forests at all, and there are states where forests occupy the main part. In general, the area of ​​forests on the planet exceeds four billion hectares. Those countries with a large timber stock are included in the rating.

10. India, 65 million hectares of forest

It would seem that the territory of this country is not so much, but, for some reason, India is already in tenth place in the ranking. The fact is that Indian forests are located in the subtropical and tropical zone, that is, broad-leaved moist forests.

They grow much faster than familiar oaks, pines and birches. Moreover, sacred trees grow in India, which are forbidden to be cut down by the laws of this state. There are a lot of nature reserves, where there are also restrictions even on entry. Though the trees are sacred natural resource they still count. There has been repeated news that the unprotected forest is often cut down. India in 2010 became the leader in logging.

9. Peru, 70 million hectares of forest

Not everyone knows the state. Is in South America. Jungle, broadleaf forests, which not only grow quickly, but are practically not cut down by anyone.

Peru's population is small, hence there are few domestic consumers. Peru is a small country, the Amazon River flows only through a small part of it, where forests usually grow more intensively.

8. Indonesia, 90 million hectares of forest

A small state, but the forest area is also good. Just like in Peru, the forest is practically not cut down and there is no foreign trade in forest resources. Forests are broad-leaved, tropical, therefore they grow quickly and in large quantities. There are also many nature reserves in Indonesia where deforestation and hunting are prohibited.

7. Republic of the Congo, 135 million hectares of forest

The African state of the Congo is ahead of Indonesia, as it has more territory, and the forests are already closer to the equatorial areas. A huge number of reserves (15% of the entire territory) does not allow poachers to cut down trees. Wet equatorial forests grow even faster than others.

The soils of the Congo allow forests to grow, as this state stands on the largest river of the same name, which feeds the entire coastal zone with water. Also, this geographical location is characterized by heavy equatorial rains.

6. Australia, 165 million hectares of forest

Similar to the Congo, the number of reserves is very large: there are many sacred places that, according to local residents, should not be visited at all. Sometimes the punishment is the death penalty.

The vegetation of this continent corresponds to the species of subequatorial and equatorial forests. It is ahead of the previous leader, most likely due to the difference in territories. Australia has one of the most big trees in the world - eucalyptus. About 100 species of woody plants are of industrial importance.

5. People's Republic of China, 200 million hectares of forest

Despite very frequent incidents in terms of poachers, it is in fifth place in the ranking of leaders in timber reserves. The vegetation is transitional: subtropical and tropical. There are also areas dominated by temperate forests.

The same forest performs two functions at once, one of which is the cultivation silkworm for the extraction of the famous Chinese silk. For a relatively large area of ​​China, strong forest cover is not typical, as the population density goes off scale.

4. USA, 305 million hectares of forest

Vegetation native to this country temperate latitudes. It is important to note that the US forests are practically the same Taiga, only smaller. The forest is almost not cut down, plus everything - the responsibility for negligent attitude towards nature has been tightened. Such forests are characterized by cedars, birches, oaks, pines, spruces and other valuable species. In general, the Americans themselves are thrifty, they buy everything they can, and save their own.

Do not forget that there are also many forests on the Alaska Peninsula, only they are characterized by a more forest-tundra feature. One of the largest forests in the United States is the National Forest. Considered federal land.

3. Canada, 310 million hectares of forest

Almost the smallest population density is characteristic of Canada. Canadian forest seems to many local residents boundless. It is with the low population density that a large number of forests, since part of Canada is a tundra zone, where almost nothing grows. Forests, like those of the United States, Russia are taiga.

The most popular plant in this country is the Canadian maple, the leaf image of which is placed on the national flag. The most extensive are the Laurentian and Eastern forests of Canada.

2. Brazil, 480 million hectares of forest

Generally, geographical position very beneficial for its citizens. Brazil occupies about forty-eight percent of the total area of ​​South America. Many archipelagos and islands. The forests of Brazil belong mainly to the tropical and equatorial zones.

It comes in second place in the ranking, as the forests are growing rapidly, and the territory is larger than that of the listed tropical countries. The largest river in South America, the Amazon, also flows here, feeding a huge amount of soil. In addition, forests in Brazil are almost never cut down.

1. Russian Federation, 810 million hectares of forest

World leader in timber reserves. At all times, this state had a lot of forests, despite the very frequent poaching (this also applies to foreign poachers) cutting down, pollution, intensive sale and use of wood. The largest forest in Russia is Taiga. It is located from Ural mountains to the Far East. The taiga is still sparsely populated and has not even been explored in places.

In addition to the Taiga, there are other large forests in Russia, such as the forests of the Caucasus, Central regions, and so on. major rivers and lakes, a large territory of the country, a fertile layer, the protection of nature reserves and national parks - all this favorably develops for the growth of forests.