Tweet
COULD A FOREST BE WORTH MORE THAN A GOLD MINE?
David Braun
National Geographic
October 19, 2011
Jason Sohigian of the Armenia Tree Project discussed "redefining our
economic systems" at the 2011 TEDx Yerevan conference held at the
new Tumo Center for Creative By Kara Marston
Yerevan, Armenia-As Armenia was celebrating twenty years of
independence in September, local and international experts came
together to discuss youth, maturity, and transitions at the TEDx
Yerevan event on September 24, 2011.
The twenty speakers came from diverse backgrounds, including a former
U.S. ambassador, a correspondent for Bloomberg and ABC News, renowned
artists, photographers, and intellectuals.
Among them was Jason Sohigian, Deputy Director of the Armenia Tree
Project (ATP). National Geographic NewsWatch profiled ATP in 2010.
Sohigian's presentation raised the question "could a forest be worth
more than a gold mine," which was intended to stir some controversy
because the country's economy is heavily dependent on extractive
industries like copper and gold mining.
According to recent valuation estimates, the answer may be yes.
Sohigian focused on forests and didn't go into specifics for mining,
presumably because of the emphasis on short ten minute talks for
the TEDx format, but his point came through and got a few of the
invitation-only guests asking for more information.
[TEDx-Yerevan-stage-photo.jpg]
Forest cover in Armenia has declined from 25 percent at the turn of the
20th century to less than 8 percent today based on satellite data, and
the country's Red Book of Endangered Plants and Animals is two volumes
and more than 950 pages long, noted Sohigian. In addition, the South
Caucasus region is one of the world's most endangered "hotspots for
biodiversity," which makes the region worthy of such global attention.
This issue is of particular importance because of the vast range of
values a forest can provide to this small landlocked country. Here,
forests provide building material, food products, firewood, scenic
beauty, protection of topsoil, and habitat for plants and other
wildlife including the endangered Caucasian Leopard.
Furthermore, Armenia relies on hydropower for more than a third of
its energy, and Sohigian pointed out that a nation's strategic water
resources can be protected by improved forest management strategies.
While forests are still often undervalued and overexploited, Sohigian
emphasized, the concept of sustainability has evolved and gained
momentum in the business community. Harvard Business Review summarized
these developments on three fronts: "First, 'prices' are now being
calculated for many things that had been considered priceless; second,
capital is flowing into companies known to manage those costs well; and
third, indices are being established that allow disparate contributors
in a supply chain to converge on sustainability standards."
As prices are now being calculated for things formerly considered
priceless, UNEP's program on The Economics of Ecosystems and
Biodiversity, or TEEB, recently estimated that temperate forest have
a range of values between U.S.$30 and $5,000 per hectare per year.
This estimate would make Armenia's forests worth between $7 million
and more than $1 billion per year.
If the value of Armenia's forests could be worth more than $1 billion
a year, is this worth protecting? Sohigian ended his presentation
with a call to "redefine our economic systems" to do three things:
understand the true value of "natural capital" and forests;
understand our relationship with nature, at both the individual
and at the economic level; and finally, save money by investing in
natural like forests, especially in places like Armenia where it can
be critically endangered.
He quoted from the environmental advocate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.:It's
really a matter of thinking in the long-term about our national wealth,
rather than of treating the earth and its resources as if it's "a
business in liquidation."
From: Baghdasarian
David Braun
National Geographic
October 19, 2011
Jason Sohigian of the Armenia Tree Project discussed "redefining our
economic systems" at the 2011 TEDx Yerevan conference held at the
new Tumo Center for Creative By Kara Marston
Yerevan, Armenia-As Armenia was celebrating twenty years of
independence in September, local and international experts came
together to discuss youth, maturity, and transitions at the TEDx
Yerevan event on September 24, 2011.
The twenty speakers came from diverse backgrounds, including a former
U.S. ambassador, a correspondent for Bloomberg and ABC News, renowned
artists, photographers, and intellectuals.
Among them was Jason Sohigian, Deputy Director of the Armenia Tree
Project (ATP). National Geographic NewsWatch profiled ATP in 2010.
Sohigian's presentation raised the question "could a forest be worth
more than a gold mine," which was intended to stir some controversy
because the country's economy is heavily dependent on extractive
industries like copper and gold mining.
According to recent valuation estimates, the answer may be yes.
Sohigian focused on forests and didn't go into specifics for mining,
presumably because of the emphasis on short ten minute talks for
the TEDx format, but his point came through and got a few of the
invitation-only guests asking for more information.
[TEDx-Yerevan-stage-photo.jpg]
Forest cover in Armenia has declined from 25 percent at the turn of the
20th century to less than 8 percent today based on satellite data, and
the country's Red Book of Endangered Plants and Animals is two volumes
and more than 950 pages long, noted Sohigian. In addition, the South
Caucasus region is one of the world's most endangered "hotspots for
biodiversity," which makes the region worthy of such global attention.
This issue is of particular importance because of the vast range of
values a forest can provide to this small landlocked country. Here,
forests provide building material, food products, firewood, scenic
beauty, protection of topsoil, and habitat for plants and other
wildlife including the endangered Caucasian Leopard.
Furthermore, Armenia relies on hydropower for more than a third of
its energy, and Sohigian pointed out that a nation's strategic water
resources can be protected by improved forest management strategies.
While forests are still often undervalued and overexploited, Sohigian
emphasized, the concept of sustainability has evolved and gained
momentum in the business community. Harvard Business Review summarized
these developments on three fronts: "First, 'prices' are now being
calculated for many things that had been considered priceless; second,
capital is flowing into companies known to manage those costs well; and
third, indices are being established that allow disparate contributors
in a supply chain to converge on sustainability standards."
As prices are now being calculated for things formerly considered
priceless, UNEP's program on The Economics of Ecosystems and
Biodiversity, or TEEB, recently estimated that temperate forest have
a range of values between U.S.$30 and $5,000 per hectare per year.
This estimate would make Armenia's forests worth between $7 million
and more than $1 billion per year.
If the value of Armenia's forests could be worth more than $1 billion
a year, is this worth protecting? Sohigian ended his presentation
with a call to "redefine our economic systems" to do three things:
understand the true value of "natural capital" and forests;
understand our relationship with nature, at both the individual
and at the economic level; and finally, save money by investing in
natural like forests, especially in places like Armenia where it can
be critically endangered.
He quoted from the environmental advocate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.:It's
really a matter of thinking in the long-term about our national wealth,
rather than of treating the earth and its resources as if it's "a
business in liquidation."
From: Baghdasarian