WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY
Forests: Nature at Your
Service
World Environment Day (WED) is a day that
stimulates awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and
public action. It is on 5 June. It was the day that United
Nations Conference on the Human Environment began. The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment was from
5–16 June 1972. It was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972. The first World Environment Day was on 1973. World Environment Day is
hosted every year by a different city with a different theme and is
commemorated with an international exposition in the week of 5 June. World
Environment Day is in summer in the Northern Hemisphere and
winter in the Southern Hemisphere.
Theme : Forests: Nature At Your Service : Forests
cover one third of the earth’s land mass, performing vital functions and services around
the world which make our planet alive with possibilities. In fact, 1.6
billion people depend on forests for their livelihoods. They play a key
role in our battle against climate change, releasing oxygen into the atmosphere
while storing carbon dioxide.
Forests feed our rivers and are essential to supplying the
water for nearly 50% of our largest cities. They create and maintain soil
fertility; they help to regulate the often devastating impact of storms, floods
and fires.
Splendid and inspiring, forests are the most biologically
diverse ecosystems on land, and are home to more than half of the terrestrial
species of animals, plants and insects.
Forests also provide shelter, jobs, security and cultural
relevance for forest-dependent populations. They are the green lungs of
the earth, vital to the survival of people everywhere -- all seven billion of
us.
Forests embody so much of what is good and strong in our
lives. Yet despite all of these priceless ecological, economic, social and
health benefits, we are destroying the very forests we need to live and
breathe.
Global deforestation continues at an alarming rate -- every
year, 13 million hectares of forest are destroyed. That’s equal to the
size of Portugal.
Short-term investments for immediate gains (e.g., logging)
compound these losses. People who depend on forests for their livelihoods
are struggling to survive. Many precious species face extinction.
Biodiversity is being obliterated. What’s more, economists around the
world have proven that by not integrating the values of forests into their
budgets, countries and businesses are paying a high price. One that
ultimately impoverishes us all as harm to our forest life-support system
continues each and every single day.
But this trend is not irreversible. It’s not too late
to transform life as we know it into a greener future where forests are at the
heart of our sustainable development and green economies.
Conserving forests and expanding them need to be recognized
as a business opportunity. When we add it up, an investment of US$30
billion fighting deforestation and degradation could provide a return of US$2.5
trillion in new products and services.
Furthermore, targeted investments in forestry could generate
up to 10 million new jobs around the world. Already, many leaders are
glimpsing the potential for renewable energy and nature-based assets, but for
transformation to happen, forests need to become a universal political
priority.
The services forests provide are essentially to every aspect of our quality of
life. And the answer to sustainable forest management, moving towards a green
economy, lies in our hands.
Doesn’t knowing
this make it so much easier to see the forest from the trees!
Benefits
of forests
As a resource, forests provide
many important natural resources, such as timber, fuel, rubber, paper and medicinal
plants. Forests also help sustain the quality and availability of freshwater
supplies. More than three quarters of the worlds accessible freshwater comes
from forested catchments. Water quality declines with decreases in forest
condition and cover, and natural hazards such as floods, landslides, and soil
erosion have larger impacts
Climate
change Mitigation
it’s well
known that forests play a key role in our battle against climate change;
storing carbon and sucking in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and locking it
into their biomass.
Products / Benefits (water)
But what’s less well known is that the products and services they provide are
essential to every aspect of life. By regulating water for many of the world’s
rivers, they help secure water quality, and supply nearly half of the world’s
largest cities from Caracas to New York. They also help decrease the
impacts of storms and floods, whilst helping control erosion.
Biodiversity
As the most biologically diverse ecosystems on land, forests are home to more
than half of terrestrial species, from the great apes to the smallest of
creatures.
Economics and Livelihoods
They also provide homes, security and livelihoods for 60 million Indigenous peoples, whilst contributing
to the livelihoods of 1.6 billion people worldwide.
Products & Biodiversity
The impact of forests reaches even further. In many developing countries more
than 80% of total energy consumed by people and industry derives from forests.
Such as fuel wood and charcoal. Trade in timber and other forest products, is
estimated at almost 330 billion US Dollars /year. Its value multiplies as its
processed into a myriad of products used globally every day. Use of the genetic
diversity within forests enables the development of new medicines; progress in
healthcare and science.
