The Illusion of Preservation: A Global Environmental Argument for the Local Production of Natural Resources

based on a 2003 article by Mary M. Berlik, David B. Kittredge, and David R. Foster

The United States and other affluent countries consume vast quantities of global natural resources, but contribute proportionately less to the extraction of many raw materials. This imbalance is due, in part, to domestic attitudes and policies intended to protect the environment. Ironically, developed nations are often better equipped to extract resources in an environmentally prudent manner than the major suppliers. Thus, although citizens of affluent countries may imagine that preservationist domestic policies are conserving resources and protecting nature, heavy consumption rates necessitate resource extraction elsewhere and oftentimes under weak environmental oversight. A major consequence of this "illusion of natural resource preservation " is greater global environmental degradation than would arise if consumption were reduced and a larger portion of production was shared by affluent countries. Clearly, environmental policy needs to consider the global distribution and consequences of natural resource extraction.

Considering only wood and the Virginia region, what might be ideas derived from a global perspective for consumption, management, and conservation at a local scale. The global perspective reveals increasing rates of wood consumption, resulting in increased logging in many regions where it is environmentally damaging. A comparison of the feasibility and environmental impact of various strategies for dealing with rising wood demand suggests that the U.S. should strive to:

1. reduce per capita consumption of wood and its substitutes,
2. recycle forest products more effectively,
3. protect areas of intensively managed and unmanaged forests, and
4. promote sound forest management where the environmental consequences are mild.

A strong case can be made that in this region are environmentally desirable places to manage forests intensively. Careful logging in such areas with resilient forests and the potential for strong environmental oversight would impose minor ecological effects compared to many current source areas of timber.

The region's conservation-minded population might improve global environmental quality by matching a larger portion of its wood consumption with responsible production.

Importantly, local production of wood might connect consumer consumption patterns with the environmental consequences of this behavior, a connection often lost when resources are imported. Forestry in the Virginia region might allow preservation of primary forests elsewhere in the world.

Many challenges exist to this proposition. The percentage of the region's landowners managing their forests is decreasing and, although harvesting is widespread, it is occurring at low rates and in a haphazard fashion despite the rising value and maturity of the trees. Shifting production source areas alone will not address the environmental issues or provide a major percentage of the region's hardwood wood needs. However, if people in the region aggressively reduce consumption (e.g., to European levels), and effectively recycle (e.g., at European rates) and judiciously increase harvest levels, a high percentage of the region's wood consumption could be met at sustainable rates, even while preserving large, undisturbed blocks of forest.