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.