ABSTRACT
A huge diversity of vegetation: sometimes floras are distinct and the boundaries are abrupt enough for easy mapping, sometimes the transition is gradual, perhaps imperceptible. The terminology used to describe vegetation and what constitutes its degradation leaves a lot to be desired and this has often meant that attempts to compare successive measurements may in reality consider data that is different even if nothing has changed, i.e. observers are not using the same boundaries or categories. People in forests or woodland environments have long gathered natural products for their own use and sometimes for sale, for example in semiarid African savannas, acacias yield gum arabic; in Canada's woodlands, maples yield syrup; virtually all of Brazil's rubber and Brazil nuts are still gathered from wild trees. Tolerant forest management is a strategy that can provide people who might otherwise clear forest with a living and an incentive to protect and manage their resources.
