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International Day of Forests 2015

21 March 2015: Forests cover one third of the Earth's land mass, performing vital functions around the world. Around 1.6 billion people - including more than 2,000 indigenous cultures - depend on forests for their livelihood.

Forests are the most biologically-diverse ecosystems on land, home to more than half of the terrestrial species of animals, plants and insects. Forests also provide shelter, jobs and security for forest-dependent populations.

The theme of the 2015 International Day of Forests (IDF) is Forests | Climate | Change, chosen purposely to highlight the ways in which forests and climate change are linked, and to rally global support for greater action and change.

See how we marked the International Day of Forests 2014 in Tullamore

They play a key role in our battle against climate change. Forests contribute to the balance of oxygen, carbon dioxide and humidity in the air. They protect watersheds, which supply fresh water to rivers.

On this International Day of Forests and the Tree, I urge governments, businesses and all sectors of society to commit to reducing deforestation, preventing forest degradation, reducing poverty and promoting sustainable livelihoods for all forest-dependent peoples".
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Message for the International Day of Forests, 21 March 2015

 

 

Here are ten facts about trees you might not be aware of:(source FAO)

1. The world’s forests store 289 gigatonnes (Gt) of carbon in their biomass alone.

2. Deforestation accounts for up to 20% of greenhouse gas emissions.

3. The five most forest-rich countries (the Russian Federation, Brazil, Canada, the United States of America and China) account for more than half of the total world forest area.

4. Ten countries or areas have no forest at all and an additional 54 have forest on less than 10 percent of their total land area.

5. Legally established protected areas cover an estimated 13% of the world's forests.

6. The oldest trees in the world can live to 4,600 years old.

7. Trees in the right place can reduce air-conditioning costs by shading buildings.

8. Approximately 14 million people worldwide are formally employed in the forestry sector. Many more depend directly on forests and forest product for their livelihood

9. 80% of the world’s forests are publicly owned.

10. Wood is not the only resource taken from forests. About 80 percent of people in the developing world use non-wood forest products for health and nutritional needs and for income.
 

 

Yet despite all of these priceless ecological, economic, social and health benefits, we are destroying the very forests we need to survive. Global deforestation continues at an alarming rate - 13 million hectares of forest are destroyed annually. Deforestation accounts for 12 to 20 percent of the global greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming.

 

Clear-cut crime scenes: Why the International Day of Forests matters. 

The International Day of Forests is an important opportunity to remind ourselves of the vital role of forests to the world’s environment, people’s health and the economic well-being of many forest-rich – but cash-poor – countries. It is also an important time to acknowledge the level of forest destruction and the need for the rule of law at this ‘final frontier’.

Forests are a reservoir of biodiversity, sheltering more than two-thirds of the world’s terrestrial species. Deforestation and habitat loss is the leading cause of species extinction. Forests are also home to 200 million people, whilst a quarter of the world’s population, at least 1.6 billion people, depend on forests for their survival – as their source of food, medicine, shelter and fuel.


Protecting the world’s natural forests is also crucial to tackling climate change. Forests absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, acting as the Earth’s lungs to keep the biosphere in balance. Most of that carbon dioxide is stored naturally as biomass in the soil. Logging disrupts this process, releasing carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere: deforestation is estimated to cause approximately 17 per cent of global carbon emissions, more than all the world’s air, road, rail and shipping traffic combined. The scientific studies are done and the consensus is clear: the only way to avoid irreversible climate change is for the global community to both reduce industrial emissions of greenhouse gases and establish mechanisms to effectively protect forests from further degradation.

The world’s forests, however, are under serious threat from illegal logging. Every two seconds, an area the size of a football field is clear-cut by illegal loggers. Between 15 and 30 per cent of all timber traded globally is estimated to come from illegal sources. In some key forested countries the situation is even worse, with 50-90 per cent of timber exports illegal. The highest rates of deforestation can be found in the regions where illegal logging is at its worst – the Amazon Basin, Central Africa and Southeast Asia.
Forests, in particular tropical forests, have always been vulnerable to illegal logging with their remote location making it hard for law enforcement to effectively monitor illegalities. Weak governance, poor regulatory regimes and corruption also hamper protection efforts.


Illegal logging operations are often the most environmentally destructive, with operators moving into forests and extracting what they can quickly, with little regard for methods which could protect the local ecosystem. It can also pollute water sources and cause landslides. Illegal logging operations run by criminal gangs (who are often armed) can deny forest-dependent communities access to food, medicines and fuel, all of which they usually obtain from the forest.

In recent years, INTERPOL has observed an increase in the involvement of organized transnational crime in the forest sector. These criminal networks are highly sophisticated, relying on legitimate and quasi-legitimate business structures to mask their activities, including creative accounting to launder the proceeds, colluding with government officials and computer hacking to obtain fake forestry permits.
Illegal logging, related tax fraud, money laundering and the corruption supporting it, costs governments at least USD 30 billion every year. This is revenue stolen from some of the world’s poorest countries, which rely on forests and natural resources as the backbone of their development. Illegal logging also floods the market with cheap wood, suppressing global timber prices between 7 and 16 per cent. This costs law-abiding members of the timber industry a further USD 30 billion per year in lost profits.

Tackling forest crime, particularly illegal logging, should be the first step in the battle to save the world’s forests. Addressing forest crime is necessary not only to protect the ecosystem, but also to promote the economic viability of countries, their political stability and improve public health and national security.

Law enforcement officers in most timber-producing countries, however, face many challenges, including inadequate legislation, low wages, insufficient training and a lack of equipment, all of which must be addressed if forest crime is to be tackled effectively. Their efforts need the support of the international community, which has an obligation to provide the financial and technical support needed to strengthen law enforcement and forest governance. But even these efforts will come to nothing if demand for cheap and illegal timber remains. Timber-importing countries must do more to strengthen their own law enforcement actions at home, supported by increased cooperation, information and intelligence exchange between all INTERPOL member countries. Source: INTERPOL
 

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Tom Roche (trading as) Just Forests Ltd.
Ringfort Workshop, Rathcobican, Rhode, Offaly, Ireland
Phone: +353 (0)86 8049389  |  E-mail: info@tomroche.ie
Company Registration Number: 612423 This website is an education awareness initiative of Just Forests Ltd Copyright © 2024 Tom Roche (trading as) Just Forests Ltd.