The way to make money from a forest is to cut it down and sell the timber. Right?
Wrong! Studies show that the trees, and all that goes with them, yield much more cash if left standing. Harvesting the living forest for its products, and growing crops in harmony with it, can earn up to nine times as much as felling it - and will go on producing an income indefinitely. And that is not counting the growing potential of ecotourism, or the incalculably valuable services of forests in providing freshwater and regulating the climate. Here are just a few of the riches that forests provide.
Neem
Fast-growing and resistant to drought, this native South Asian hardwood has so many uses that it has been called a wonder tree. It provides an antiseptic and antifungal ingredient in skin ointments and soaps. Its seeds are an important source of azadirachtin, an effective pesticide that does not harm beneficial insects or mammals. It is being cultivated for carving in Kenya, providing an income without depleting already overharvested hardwoods like ebony, and helping to preserve the habitat of such species as the Sokoke scops owl.
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| Enrico Bartolucci/Still Pictures |
Matsutake mushrooms
These rare and expensive wild mushrooms, from Japan's red pine forests, are such a precious traditional delicacy that perfect specimens are given as gifts. Such is the demand for them that related varieties are also imported from places like the pine forests of Santa Marta Latuvi, Mexico, where communities of subsistence farmers harvest and sell them for export for up to $30 per kilogram.
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| Marisela Zamora |
Cork oak
Evergreen cork oak forests provide a natural biodegradable material for a host of uses, ranging from floors to bulletin boards, insulation to stoppers for wine bottles. They thrive across 27,000 square kilometres in the Mediterranean basin and are home to endangered species like the Iberian lynx. The cork can be harvested from the live tree about once a decade, and then grows back, providing a sustainable income for more than 100,000 people.
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| Markus Dlouhy/Still Pictures |
Brazil nuts
One of the most famous of all rainforest products, the Brazil nut utterly depends on its intricate ecosystem. Its tree is pollinated by bees, which themselves depend on orchids that grow in the forest, and it needs a rodent - the agouti - to disperse its seeds. As a result the nuts, which are highly valued for their oil and nutrients, cannot be commercially cultivated in plantations.
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| TopFoto/ImageWorks |
Rubber
People have used the sap of the South American rubber tree since before Christopher Columbus crossed the Atlantic. It sparked an extraordinary boom in the Amazon in the late 19th century, which collapsed when Europeans smuggled out the trees and set up plantations in Southeast Asia. Synthetic rubber followed and the Amazon now meets only a small fraction of world demand. But it is still an important source of income.
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| Luiz C. Marigo/Still Pictures |
Pine nuts
Once a staple of Native Americans - who ground them into flour - and now the main ingredient in Italian pesto, pine nuts come from a variety of trees growing wild in Europe, Asia and North America. Rich in protein, fibre and other nutrients, they also sustain many wild creatures, from birds to grizzly bears.
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| Walter H. Hodge/Still Pictures |
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