What is a forest?
This year, 2011, marks the International Year of the Forest. But what is a forest? Judging by the works of several academics, it may not mean what we think it does, as arbiculturist Adam Winson explains. Here’s a snippet:
According to the FAO, both an industrial eucalyptus tree monoculture plantation and a rainforest with its hundreds of different tree species are classed as forest. But neighbours of such vegetation types would only recognize the rainforest as a forest, while a tree monoculture plantation would often be referred to as a “green desert”. The only similarity a neighbour may indeed observe is that both types of vegetation contain trees.
Posted on December 3, 2011, in Conservation, Philosophy and tagged FAO, International Year of the Forest, Oliver Rackham, Robert Harrison. Bookmark the permalink. 2 Comments.
Interesting lexical definition of “forest.” If I were still teaching, I would use it in class!
A forest is a bunch of trees growing together in a certain area where they were planted, by God. Simple. Connie
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