School atlas mapping for education for sustainable development: Topic "world forest resources and biodiversity conservation"

Abstract

Today, education for sustainable development (ESD) is a priority area of education in all countries. School geography, which comprehensively studies the "nature - population - economy" system, plays an exceptional role in implementing the ideas of ESD. The course "Economic and Social Geography of the World" in upper secondary school completes the cycle of school geography education and is designed to form students' understanding of the main trends and processes taking place in the world. In 2020, the world is facing an unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. Coping with the current health emergency is an urgent global priority at this stage, but in the long term, action must be taken to address the root causes of the pandemic. One of these root causes is the degradation and reduction of forest area, which disrupts the natural balance and exacerbates the risk of transmission of zoonotic disease from wildlife to humans. The main result of this research is the inclusion of new cartographic plots that address the topic of biodiversity conservation and sustainable use of the world's forest resources in the content of the school atlas "Economic and Social Geography of the World. Natural resources. Population. Economy". The World maps that have been developed include "Forest resources" (1: 160,000,000), "Reduction of forest area" (1: 250,000,000), "Timber industry" (1: 160,000,000). In addition, the map "Land cover" (1: 80,000,000) shows forests and woodlands, and the map "Pollution and disturbance of the lithosphere and biosphere" (1: 160,000,000) shows the areas of preserved and cut down tropical rainforests. For the first time the topic of biodiversity conservation is presented in Russian school atlases. Two world maps are dedicated to it - "Biodiversity" (1: 160,000,000) and "Biodiversity Loss" (1: 250,000,000). Forest ecosystems are one of the most important components of the Earth's biodiversity. The inclusion of new maps developed from the standpoint of sustainable development in the content of the school atlas helps to develop students' ability to understand global issues and motivates to take part in solving them.