Forests and Poverty

Without forests, we lose the fight on poverty and climate change.

Degraded environments contribute to absenteeism. More time spent collecting firewood and water means less time in school.
Irish Aid - Key Sheet #07 - Environment and Education.

UN Millennium Development Goal 7 (MDG -7) has clearly highlighted this significance in both policy and educational terms.

Just Forests work seeks to contribute to the achievement of the 7th Millennium Development Goal, to ensure environmental sustainability. This includes the targets to reduce biodiversity loss, slow deforestation and contain rising greenhouse gas emissions.

The programme has also been conceived against a backdrop of some 21 years of Just Forests activities, including 20 years of the ‘Wood of Life’ exhibition and programme and the demonstrated interest and engagement of schools, teachers, students, the general public, and in more recent times, professional bodies and politicians in the issues and the exhibition.

The programme also ensures that our development education initiatives raise public awareness and understanding amongst our target groups of the underlying causes of global poverty and inequality and Ireland’s role in tackling these issues.

*Forests & Climate-The Economics of Climate Change
Emissions from deforestation are very significant globally. Independent estimates of the annual emissions from deforestation are put at more than 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions, greater than that produced by the whole of the global transport sector. These emissions could potentially be cut significantly fairly quickly – no new technology has to be developed – although considerable challenges have to be addressed, as discussed below.

*Extract from Chapter 25 of the STERN Review - The Economics of Climate Change