Today.Az » Society » March 21 to be marked as Int'l Day of Forests
26 December 2012 [15:33] - Today.Az
The United Nations General Assembly has declared March 21 as International Day of Forests.
The day will be observed from 2013 to celebrate and raise awareness on
the importance of all types of forests and trees outside forests.
“The day captures the spirit of and keeps up the momentum generated by
the International Year of Forests 2011, which enabled countries to
promote sustainable management, development and conservation of all
types of forests and trees,” the News Agency of Nigeria quoted FAO as
saying in a statement issued on Saturday.
It said on that day countries were being encouraged to get involved in
local, national and international efforts in favour of forests and
trees, such as tree planting campaigns.
The governing conference of the FAO supported the idea of the day, while
the UN General Assembly facilitated the negotiation process for its
establishment.
“FAO looks forward to supporting its members and working with
international partners, including the Collaborative Partnership on
Forests, to help celebrate the day,” the statement added.
Forest Day is one of the world`s leading global platforms for people
with an interest in forests and climate change to share their views and
work together to ensure forests are suitably incorporated into any
future climate change mitigation and adaption strategies.
Each year more than 13 million hectares (32 million acres) of forests
are lost, an area roughly the size of England. As go the forests so goes
the plant and animal species they embrace – 80% of all terrestrial
biodiversity. Most importantly, forests play a crucial role in climate
change including global warming: deforestation causes 12-18 percent of
the world`s carbon emissions – almost equal to all the CO2 from the
global transport sector. Equally crucial, healthy forests are one of the
world`s primary `carbon sinks.`
It is not too late to reverse this destructive trend if we act now.
Forests still cover more than 30% of all the world`s land and contain
more than 60,000 tree species, many still undiscovered. The forests
support the livelihoods of 1.6 billion of the world`s poorest people by
providing food, fiber, water and medicines, as well as regulating
environments. Those supported include indigenous peoples with unique and
precious cultures.
/AzerTAc/
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