Abstract
Forests play a critical role in maintaining essential biophysical and ecological processes. This includes the regulation of water and carbon cycles, at scales from the global to the local, as well as the provision of habitat for some two-thirds of all terrestrial biodiversity.Forests are also widely valued for their cultural services, such as maintaining indigenous and traditional rural societies and providing inspiration and recreation for the world's growing urban population. Recognition of the regulating, supporting and cultural services forests provide has spurred increasing demand for an expansion of protected forest areas to ensure species survival and prevent further forest loss. At the same time, forests are important for the provisioning services, directly supporting the livelihoods of some 1.6 billion poor people and providing fibre, fuel and wood. A significant amount of these ecosystem services is derived directly and indirectly from biodiversity.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Biodiversity in the Green Economy |
Publisher | Taylor and Francis Inc. |
Pages | 32-60 |
Number of pages | 29 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781317934691 |
ISBN (Print) | 9780415723329 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 5 Jun 2015 |