Importance
Dogwood Alliance helps to protect some of the most diverse forest regions of the world. According to a continental assessment by the World Wildlife Fund, U.S. Southern forests ranks high or very high for endemic species. Southeastern forests boast the highest concentration of wetlands, tree species diversity, and aquatic diversity in North America. They are also home to the richest temperate freshwater ecosystem in the world.
The largest paper producing region in the world, these unique Southern forests provide 60 percent of North America’s wood and paper products as well as 15 percent of paper products worldwide.
Ninety percent of Southern forests are privately owned. By 1999, six million acres (24,000 km²) of Southern Forests were being logged every year. Today, companies rely almost 100 percent on private landowners for their world fiber needs.
The paper industry commonly practices clearcutting, a damaging and unsustainable (in regard to forest ecosystems) harvesting method. Clearcutting is the practice by which most or all trees in a forest sector are cut down. In addition to large-scale clearcutting and its associated impacts, the paper industry converts native forests to pine plantations managed with the routine use of chemical fertilizers, toxic herbicides and insecticides.
Healthy forest ecosystems contain a large amount of carbon. Once these areas are clearcut this carbon is released into the atmosphere. Since bound carbon is exhausted from the soil when forests are cleared and managed with chemical fertilizers, the large-scale industrial forestry practices could be a major contributor of carbon emissions and global warming.
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