Environmental Benefits of Forestry
Quote
“ A virgin forest is where the hand of a man has never set
foot”
(Unknown Author)
Task 1. Before reading the text please discuss the following questions.
● What area do forests of Ukraine cover?
● What are functions of forests?
● What recreational benefits do forests provide?
● How can forests benefit urban environments?
● How are forests used for environmental and public purposes?
Task 2. Match the English words and word-combinations with their Ukrainian
equivalents.
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Task 3. Match words and word-combinations on the left with the correct definitions on the right.
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Task 4. Match a word on the left with a word on the right to make a common
word partnership. Make up some sentences of your own using these word-
combinations.
-
1) environmental
a) pollution
2) riparian
b) species
3) water
c) resources
4) soil
d) benefits
5) natural
e) quality
6) endangered
f) zone
7) air
g) erosion
Task 5. Read and translate the text. Write down unknown words into your vocabulary.
TEXT 13.1. ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS OF FORESTRY
Ukraine has relatively limited area of forests and lacks its own forest resources. Forests cover 9.4 mln ha of lands. Forestry tries to bring back forests. Most part of Ukrainian forests, 65 percent, are used for environmental and public purposes.
Forestry helps water quality. Foresters carefully manage areas called watersheds (areas where we collect our drinking water) and riparian zones (land bordering rivers, streams and lakes). These are places where maintaining water quality is the primary concern for foresters. Forests actually help clean water and get it ready for us to drink. The trees, the soil, and bacteria are all part of this process. Forest cover protects and nurtures the soils that are the key to water retention, filtering, and quality.
Forestry offsets air pollution. Foresters nurture forests. One mature tree absorbs approximately 13 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. For every ton of wood a forest grows, it removes 1.47 tons of carbon dioxide and replaces it with 1.07 tons of oxygen.
Forestry helps wildlife. Foresters employ a variety of management techniques to benefit wildlife, including numerous endangered species. For example, thinning and harvesting create conditions that stimulate the growth of food sources for wildlife. Openings created by harvesting provide habitat for deer and a variety of songbirds. Thinning can be used to accelerate growth and development of older trees that are favored by owls and other species. In order to enhance salmon habitat, foresters also carry out strategic tree plantings and monitor forest health along streams in order to keep the water cool and reduce sediments.
Forestry provides great places to recreate. Foresters manage forests that provide recreational benefits to communities. Forests are important areas for such recreationists as birdwatchers, hikers, nature photographers, horseback riders, skiers and campers. And because foresters put water values high on their list of priorities, the rivers and lakes in forested areas provide such recreational opportunities as fishing, canoeing, and rafting.
Forestry benefits urban environments. Urban foresters manage forests and trees to benefit communities in many ways. Forests in urban areas reduce stormwater runoffs, improve air quality, and reduce energy consumption. For example, three well-placed mature trees around a house can cut air-conditioning costs by 10-50 percent.
Forestry provides renewable and energy-efficient building products. Foresters manage some forests for timber and produce a renewable resource because trees can be replanted. Other building materials, such as steel, iron, and copper, can be reused and recycled but not replaced. Recycling and processing wood products also requires much less energy than does the processing of many other non-renewable materials.
Forestry is good for soils. Foresters and natural resource managers are dependent on forest soils for growing and managing forests and, to a large extent, forest soils are dependent on resource professionals and managers. Foresters' success in growing forests and producing forest products is dependent on their ability to understand soil properties and to then match species with soils and to prescribe activities that not only promote forest growth but also enhance and protect soil productivity and prevent soil erosion.
Task 6. Answer the following questions.
1. What environmental benefits of forestry do you know?
2. How can forestry help water quality?
3. What is the role of forestry in wildlife?
4. How does forestry influence on urban environment?
5. Is forestry good or bad for soils? Why?
6. What does forestry provide?
7. Are forests renewable or nonrenewable? How can they be renewed?
Task 7. Give English equivalents for the following words and word-combinations.
Вододіл, осад, жива природа, прибережна територія, забруднення повітря, відшкодовувати, навколишнє середовище міста, природне середовище, вуглекислий газ, ресурси, які оновлюються, ерозія грунту, стічні води.
Task 8. Find words in the text which mean the following.
1. areas where drinking water is collected;
2. solid substances that settle at the bottom of a liquid;
3. the natural home of a plant or animal;
4. an activity that you do for pleasure or amusement;
5. the top layer of the earth in which plants grow;
6. wood used for building or making things;
7. the process of treating used objects or materials so that they can be used again;
8. the process by which rock or soil is gradually destroyed by wind, rain,or the sea;
9. the process of making air, water, soil, etc dangerously dirty and suitable for
people to use , or the state of being dangerously dirty;
10. the amount of energy, oil, electricity etc that is used.
Task 9. Fill in the gaps with the proper words from the brackets.
( forests prevent environment habitat erosion benefits mature nurture
timber urban soil watershed )
1. Foresters …………… soil erosion.
2. Three …………… trees around a house can cut air conditioning cost by 10-50
percent.
3. To enhance salmon ……………. , foresters carry out strategic tree plantings.
4. Forests in ……………….. areas reduce stormwater runoffs.
5. Foresters manage some forests for …………………. .
6. Foresters …………………… forests.
7. Foresters provide recreational ………………… for communities.
8. Ukraine has limited area of ……………….. and lacks its own forestry resources.
Task 10. Write a short account (about 200 words) of all the environmental
benefits of forestry.
Task 11. Discuss with your group mate different environmental benefits of forestry.
Task 12. Give a brief summary of the text.
INTERESTING FACTS |
Forests have a moderate effect on climate. To some extent rainfall is affected by forests, but more by oceans. However, forest canopies and soils have a role in regulating hydrological processes such as interception, evaporation and runoff of water.
Forests affect somewhat the process of climate change because photosynthesis leads to carbon sequestration in forests. But when cleared, forests release this stored carbon into the atmosphere and become net contributors of carbon. So sound forest management can mitigate climate change.
Forests protect the ground from erosion by covering it and stabilizing it. Mountain forests reduce natural hazards and host important biodiversity.
Forests ecosystems also have medicinal value, and spiritual value. Environmental economics attempts to place a value on such non-timber forest services.
Task 13. Read and translate the text. Write down unknown words into your vocabulary.
TEXT 13.2. FORESTS AS HABITAT
Although the ocean was the original home of all life on Earth, forests, as they themselves evolved, quickly became home to a vast majority of land based creatures including early humans.
Herd of African forest elephants eating mineral-rich mud in the Dzanga-Sangha Special Reserve, Central African Republic.
1- Today, the vast amount of diverse life that can be found in forests is evidenced by the startling statistics that accompany any analysis of a rainforest. Although only covering 6% of the planet's surface, these lush green, often tropical masses contain around 50% of Earth's plant and animal species. In one square km of rainforest, you can often find more types of life than can be found in an equivalent 1,000 km2 in colder, more northern climes. 2 -A forest can provide three of the ingredients key to a species' survival: water, food, and shelter. Water All forests are great collectors and storerooms of water. Their root structure holds together the soil, and their leaf litter gets broken down and combined with minerals to form the equivalent of gigantic sponges - slowly releasing water into surrounding areas at a dependable rate. Food A forest is home to many types of plants, which are the food source for many animals, which in turn, are sources of food for other animals. As these animals and plants die, they in turn become food sources for the plants.
Shelter Shelter is the last of the triumvirate. Trees take on the worst (and the best) of the elements: wind, sun, rain. Under their cover they can lessen the impacts of too strong, destructively heavy rainfall, sudden changes in temperature and strong winds. In providing so many benefits, a plethora of both plants and animals alike have adapted to and taken shelter underneath the protective canopies of trees. 3-Considering so much life depends on and lives in forests, the fact that forest cover is now a fraction of what it used to be even a few hundred years ago, it stands to reason that there is less space for this diversity of life to live in, and increasingly greater contact with encroaching humans. 4-Animals that normally live within the boundaries of a shrinking forest are forced to come out and look for food. This often brings them into conflict with human settlements that are often situated near forests (because forests provide food and water). 5-For this reason, reports are increasing of conflict between humans and animals. Forests are important not just to us, but to billions of other creatures and species as well. We have to recognize that these leviathans of the plant world are not just an economic resource to be plundered, but a whole mosaic of interlocking demand and supply on which a vast amount of life depends. With careful management of what remains of our planet's forests, it has been shown that forests can be used sustainably, without them being destroyed.
Task 14. Read the text again and match headings A-E to paragraphs 1-5.
A – Increasing human-wildlife conflicts
B – Important to recognize dependence of their life forms on forests
C – Forests support diverse life
D – Forests as homes for life are disappearing
E – A home for countless species
Task 15. Translate the following sentences into English.
1. У біосфері ліс виконує унікальні функції: він поглинає вуглекислий газ, поставляючи киceнь. Ліс сприяє збільшенню запасів підземних вод, зберігаючи вологу атмосферних опадів; завдяки лісові поверхневі води отримують рівномірне живлення підземними водами. Зменшуючи поверхневий стік, ліси уповільнюють водну і ерозію ґрунтів. Крім того, в лісових районах практично не відбувається замулювання річок, ставків, водосховищ.
2. Ліс впливає як на мікроклімат, так і на клімат усієї планети. Велика роль лісу в природному балансі азоту. Листя, хвоя, шматки кори та гілки, відмираючи, поповнюють органічні рештки верхнього шару ґрунту, які за допомогою бактерій поступово перетворюються в органічні добрива. У використанні лісових насаджень важливе значення належить їх санітарно-гігієнічним функціям, які забезпечують створення екологічно сприятливого середовища для людини.
3.Раціональне використання лісів для рекреації та туризму - одна з найважливіших еколого-економічних проблем лісокористування. Системний та комплексний характер рекреаційного лісокористування дозволяє ефективно застосовувати методи оптимізації.
4.Ліс як продукт природи безперервно виробляє різноманітні сировинні ресурси. В наші дні ліс розглядається не тільки як біологічна, біофізична та природна, але і як система економічна. Сировинне значення лісів як еколого-економічної системи може бути поділене на чотири взаємопов'язані компоненти: - ресурси деревини, до яких належить стовбурна деревина та інші потенційні
продукти деревного походження (гілки, деревна зелень, кора та ін.); - ресурси недеревного рослинного походження, що включають в себе гриби,
ягоди, плоди, лікарську і технічну сировину та ін.; - ресурси тваринного походження - птахи, звірі, комахи; - специфічні матеріальні ресурси, під якими розуміють рекреаційну цінність
лісів, їх ґрунтозахисну, водоохоронну, полезахисну роль тощо.
Task 16. Discuss with your groupmates the top ten environmental benefits of forestry.
Task 17. Prepare a short presentation on most important environmental benefits of forestry.