Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Source: FAOSTAT
geography of deforestation, we need to grasp two
interconnected things:
globalization
and the
multinational corporation
.
As the
previous section
outlined, the main
environmental concerns related to contemporary
forms of deforestation are not just about the
rate of forest clearances but the locations where
these clearances are taking place. Unlike energy
resources such as coal, oil and gas (see
Chapter 2)
,
forests are a renewable resource, and as such will
always be able to be replenished to some degree
(see Dauvergne and Lister, 2011: 1). The main
problem associated with contemporary deforesta-
tion is that it tends to be concentrated in environ-
mentally sensitive locations. This concentration
process means that forest clearances can seriously
erode the social and ecological services that
woodlands provide at both local and global
levels. In order to understand the contemporary
5.3.1 Unpacking globalization
While the notion of globalization has been defined
and interpreted by different people in very different
ways (see Held et al, 1999), it is generally associated
with a series of key features. At a relatively simple
economic
level, globalization is associated with
increasing levels of integration and connection
between economic activities throughout the world.
These economic connections can relate to pro-
duction processes, where we now see the different
parts that comprise consumer products such as
cars and computers being made in different regions
of the world before they are integrated into their
final form. These connections can also be seen in
relation to the market place for goods, where
