Year of the Forest

2011 is International Year of Forests

The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 2011 as the International Year of Forests to raise awareness on sustainable management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests.

Forests cover about 30 percent of Earth’s land area and about 9.4 percent the of Earth’s surface, although it used to be much more.  The livelihoods of over 1.6 billion people depend on forests.  Forests are home to 300 million people around the world and are home to 80 percent of our terrestrial biodiversity.  Seventeen percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions come from deforestation, which is the cutting of Earth’s forests on a vast scale, often causing damage to the quality of land.  The land thereafter is then converted to non-forest uses like agricultural, urban sprawl, or pastureland.

The world’s rainforests could entirely disappear in a hundred years at the present rate of deforestation.  When farmers clear trees in tropical climates, they burn them in a process known as “slash and burn” agriculture.  The soil is fertile at first but once plant root systems are gone from the soil, every time it rains (which is frequent in a rainforest) the fertility is washed away.  Within a few years the land becomes useless for growing crops and most of these farmers cannot afford fertilizers.  Therefore they are forced to abandon that plot of land and tear down another area of the rainforest to begin cultivating again.  They leave behind them a trail of eroded soils and degraded vegetation.

Providing the world with wood and paper products also uses countless trees each year.  Remember to do your part and recycle all paper, cardboard, and chipboard items.  With the exponential increase in human population houses are continually being built and forests are cleared to make room.  The use of wood for fuel accounts for between 10% and 15% of global energy use and the demand is likely to rise due to population growth and decreased availability of alternate fuels.  This can put pressure on forests and ecosystems where wood is scarce and population is high.

Deforestation has many other negative effects on the environment including climate change, habitat loss and an increase in greenhouse gases.  Forests need to be carefully managed with the elimination of clear-cutting and planting trees to replace the ones cut.  In declaring 2011 as the International Year of Forests, the United Nations is formulating plans and activities to raise awareness about this vital part of our world. 

Sources: http://www.un.org/en/events/iyof2011/index.shtml, http://www.iied.org/theme/3/Forestry/projects, http://www.nationalgeographic.com/,  

Submitted by Sara Oliver, World Bird Sanctuary Naturalist