Global Connections: Forests of the World

1. Global Connections: Forests of the World Activity 7 Exploring the World Marketplace

2. Objectives Model some of the dynamics involved in the international trade of forest products Compare different countries in terms of their exports

3. Searchable Key Words • global trade • global wood products • global wood trade • international forest trade • international wood trade

4. Background Activity 7

5. Activity 7 – Background Forests: an important economic resource • Provide the raw materials for goods and services that people want or need. • Therefore, the more value that can be extracted from a forest in terms of goods and services, the more valuable the forest. =

6. Activity 7 – Background Forest can be used in many different ways: Harvest for timber: to make lumber or paper or for fuel Leave the forest standing: for habitat, for watershed protection, for recreation, or simply for its beauty… Use the land area (forest conversion): cleared for production agriculture or livestock grazing, for commercial or residential development.

7. Activity 7 – Background Harvest for timber

8. Activity 7 – Background Habitat Leave the forest standing The area that provides an animal or plant with adequate food, water, shelter and living space Watershed The land area that delivers runoff water and sediment to a major river or stream and its tributaries

9. Activity 7 – Background Use the land area (forest conversion)

10. Activity 7 – Background World Resource Institute

11. Activity 7 – Background Economics and forests • Choosing what to do with a forest: assessmentof what is the most valuable at the time. • Economics help people understand how a limited resource— like a forest—is allocated among its possible uses to produce valuable goods and services. “Economics is the study of choices,” – Peter Pearce Economics definition: thestudy of the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services

12. Activity 7 – Background Trading Forest Products • Forests resources are not distributed evenly across the globe. • The natural distribution of different forest types has always left some countries and regions lacking in productive forests while others have abundant forests.

15. Activity 7 – Background Forest products traded since thousands of years ago… • Egyptian Pharaohs purchased cedar trees from Lebanon to build ships. • The Bible tells of King Solomon building a temple from the cedars of Lebanon, for which he traded wheat and oil. Many countries throughout the world today trade forest products for other goods that they need.

16. Activity 7 – Background Global economy • Trade around the world. • Exchange has led to an increasingly unequal distribution of forest resources. • Exporting products when that exportation brings the best price (pressure to export forest products makes fewer forest resources available locally)

17. Activity 7 – Background - Vocabulary Import Export (n) a commodity that is brought from another country or region for purposes of trade; (v) to buy or transfer a commodity from another country or region (n) a commodity conveyed from one country or region to another for purposes of trade; (v) to sell or transfer a commodity to another country or region

18. Activity 7 – Background Trading • North America and Europe: the biggest producers of processed wood products. • Scandinavian: forest products for 20% of their total exports. • Developing countries (such as Cameroon, Solomon Islands, and Cambodia): exports of wood products represent up to 50% of total international trade.

19. Activity 7 – Background Worldwide demand for forest products… …influences on forest uses, ownership, management, and policies from early civilizations through modern times. Forests and the need for forest products are unevenly distributed: Importingcountries: interests in access to resources from the world’s forests. Exporting countries: have an interest in maintaining their forest resources and the capacity to produce and manufacture wood products for trade.

20. Activity 7 – Background - Vocabulary Ecological services Definition: services that humans derive from environmental functions such as photosynthesis, oxygen production, water purification, and so on. • In the past few years newfound international interest in the ecological services that forests provide. • countries are interested in forests' capability to help protect the biological diversity of the land, protect water quality, and to help stabilize carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

21. Activity 7 – Background - Vocabulary Carbon Sequestration Definition: theremoval and long-term storage of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through the use of natural carbon sinks, primarily in forest trees. • Interest for developing nations to use their forests to produce wood products for foreign trade • International interest in maintaining those forests— especially in developing nations in the tropics and subtropics—for carbon sequestration. • Managing forests to store more carbon could help offset the emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide produced mostly by developed nations.

23. Doing the activity Activity 7

24. Activity 7 – Doing the activity Now, time to work! Part A – Simulation “What options do countries have if they don't possess something (like a forest product) that they need or want?”

25. Activity 7 – Doing the activity Let’s do a simulation to learn about the international trade of forest products:

28. Activity 7 – Doing the activity Get into six teams to represent different countries…

29. Activity 7 – Doing the activity Action… • Tell the class your group’s country name, display your flags, and introduce your prime minister and ambassador. • One volunteer in the class will become the International Trader. • Teams begin by first taking an inventory of their resources and tools

30. Activity 7 – Doing the activity New scenario(introduce one at a time, as many as you want) • Your country has determined that forests have value when left uncut. Every 10 trees left intact at the end of the simulation will be worth $100. • A new product is introduced that uses circles in its manufacture. Because they are in high demand, the price of circles doubles. [Change the price on the Spec Sheets to $1,000.] • Triangles are found to be dangerous and a worldwide ban is imposed on them. The International Trader will no longer accept them. • A hurricane hits two of the countries and wipes out one-fourth of their forests. [Take one-fourth of the forest resources from two countries, possibly the ones with the most money.] • The new product introduced earlier is replaced by another model that doesn’t use circles. The price of circles drops. [Change the price on the Spec Sheets to $250.] • Your country begins a reforestation program. Your country may add forest at a cost of $300 per tract (sheet) of forest. [Exchange the extra “Forest” student pages at $300 each.]

31. Activity 7 – Doing the activity Discussion • How did you feel about the resources you were given? • What planning and strategies did you use to maximize resources? • How did you feel when you realized what resources your country had compared to other countries? How did your feelings change as the simulation progressed? • How much of the difference in countries’ results was due to the countries strategies and how much was due to the resources with which a country started? • How did each of the additional scenarios (from step 9) affect your country and the dynamic among the countries? How did they affect your actions on your forest? • In what way do you think this game simulat­ed the real world? In what ways was it a simplification? • What else do you think this simulation taught you about forests and trading issues?

32. Activity 7 – Doing the activity Part B 1. Analyzing World Trade and Consumption • Are all countries of the world the same in terms of how much they use or produce a certain forest product? • What factors might influence both a country's use of and ability to produce a certain forest product?

33. Activity 7 – Doing the activity 2. Each group choose a country • Look at the data for that country and determine what forest products the country uses, what it imports, and what it exports. • Discuss what the data might say about the environmental, social, or economic situation of the country. • You may use “The Forests of the World” poster for reference. • Look at the data for the United States and compare it to your country’s data.

34. Activity 7 – Doing the activity 3. Get into pairs or small groups to discuss the terms used in the data: • woodfuel, • industrial roundwood • sawnwood • wood-based panels • pulp for paper • paper and paperboard.

35. Activity 7 – Doing the activity 4. Market wrap-up and discussion: • Which countries import only forest products? Which export only those products? Do any do both? Do any do neither? • Why might a country that exports forest products import them as well? • How might the sheer volume of the United States’ production and consumption of wood products affect the world forest market?

36. Assessment • Write the story of what happened to your country in the simulation. • Describe: (a) your group country’s strengths and weaknesses (b) the processes and strategies your team used (c) something that happened that you did not predict (d) what you would do differently next time (e) your impressions of either the fairness of the simulation or how well it reflected reality

37. Enrichment Activity 3

38. Activity 7 – Enrichment 1 Variation of the simulation activity in Part A Suggest new elements to add. For example, see what happens if you add different shapes or new tools, if there are different types of forests (different colored papers) that make different quality products with different prices, or if countries work together as blocs.

39. Activity 7 – Enrichment - Technology Technology Use a computer model to simulate a global system and change the model to see the consequences of changes. For example: You might use Vensim or Powersim and might use the "World3" demonstration model accompanying the software.

40. Activity 7 – Enrichment 2 Global market The global economy has raised the standard of living in many developing countries, but sometimes at a cost. Research the pros and cons of doing business in a global marketplace by exploring its effects on the standard of living, environmental quality, and human rights in a particular country.

41. Resource U.S. Department of Commerce International Trade Administration at http://www.ita.doc.gov provides trade statistics on non-agricultural products (including paper, paperboard, and pulp) between the United States and specific trading partners.