index > Today's Earth, Our Future > 2. Gifts from the forests > Gifts from the Forest
 
Gifts from the Forest
We use many gifts from the forest in our daily lives. Wood is one obvious example. In ancient times when we humans evolved to the point where we could walk on two feet and use our hands freely, we began to use wood for tools and as fuel to warm ourselves and cook our food. Later, we learned to use wood to build houses and ships. Now look around you. Is there anything made of wood? How about your pencils or other daily tools? How about the floor of your room or the chair you're sitting in? Wood has several advantages. To name a few, it's lightweight and strong, easy to cut or carve, it doesn't transfer heat easily, and it can control indoor humidity by absorbing and releasing moisture. Wood is strong because it's made of tough "fibers," which are like very fine thread. These fibers are taken from the wood to make paper. Many varieties of trees are used for making paper. In fact, Japan uses 40 percent of its yearly wood resources for paper, about the same amount used as lumber for building materials like those used for ceilings and structural materials. Wood is also used as an energy resource. While electricity and gas are popular energy sources, 55 percent of the trees chopped down across the world are being used as "fuel" such as firewood and charcoal. As you can see, the amount of wood used as fuel is larger than the amount used for lumber and paper. The forests give us many "gifts" other than trees, too. Can you think of some examples? What about things we find on mountains or in the forest, like mushrooms? Forests also provide us with a variety of other food such as fruit, wild plants, animals that we eat as meat, fresh water fish and much more. Other examples of the "gifts" we receive from forests are rattan (cane) that we use for furniture, lacquer trees for lacquerware, and ornamental plants, like orchids and ferns. There are also plants that have healing powers for when we are ill, and there are probably many other kinds of animals and plants that we haven't even discovered yet. Finally, there are those gifts that we can't see with our eyes, like the cool, quiet atmosphere given off by the trees that live deep in the forests is a great gift for our souls.
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   2. Gifts from the forests
   
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