ABSTRACT
Forests, both natural and planted, can provide multiple benefits to human society, which can be direct or indirect. Direct benefits include goods such as timber, food, fuelwood, fodder, ornamental and medicinal resources, and opportunities for recreation. Indirect benefits comprise services such as carbon sequestration, soil and water regulation and habitat for pollinating species and wildlife (Campos et al, 2005; Chapters 3, 4 and 5). Goods and services provided by forests are a means of livelihood for millions of people; according to the IUCN some 1.6 billion people rely heavily on forests for their livelihoods (IUCN, 2007). However, the value of these goods and services is seldom incorporated in market prices, one of the reasons why they are given too little weight in policy decisions (Costanza et al, 1997). Furthermore, the ongoing, rapid growth of human populations and their resource demands has increased the pressure on forests (and other ecosystems) dramatically over the last decades. In many cases this has resulted in overexploitation and degradation of native forests and a decline in the quantity and quality of the goods and services delivered (Millennium Ecosystem Asssessment (MEA), 2005).
