The use of forests in times of crisis: ecological literacy as a safety net.

摘要

This paper discusses how people subsisted on forest resources for food and shelter particularly at times of war and conflict. Emphasis is given on the two important factors that have been ignored as implied by the ability of humans to survive on forest resources in times of stress: forests, more than any other land use, provide sources of food, medicine and shelter during war and famine that is irreplaceable and invaluable, thus is inapplicability to measure the economic value of forest services in these times; and the retention of ecological literacy, i.e., the knowledge of how to identify, find and prepare useful forest resources, is vastly undervalued in the modern world. It is also pointed out that urbanities are the least likely to retain ecological literacy and thus coping skills necessary for gleaning wild foods in times of famine and war..