The International Day of Forests and the Tree is held
annually on 21 March to raise awareness of sustainable management, conservation
and sustainable development of all types of forests for the benefit of current
and future generations. The United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution of
21 December 2012, which declared that starting in 2013, 21 March of each year
was to be observed as the International Day of Forests and the Tree. The
resolution encourages all Member States to organize activities relating to all
types of forests, and trees outside forests, such as tree-planting campaigns.
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. 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.
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.
Almost since the beginning of time the world's forests
have been regarded as an almost limitless resource that was simply there for
the taking. It was only in comparatively recent years after people began to be
more environmentally conscious, that consideration began to be given to the
fact that once these forests had gone, and they would probably be gone forever.
The idea of a special day for forests has been attributed
to two Oxford University scientists who, in 2007, felt that the world was
underestimating the importance of forests, particularly with respect to their
importance in mitigating carbon emissions. This led to the first Forest Day
Conference that was held in Bali in December 2007.
Increased awareness created greater concern, leading the
United Nations to designate 2011 as the International Year of Forests. It was
at the sixth Forest Day Conference, held in the Qatari capital of Doha in
December 2012 that the announcement was made that on 30th November the U N
General Assembly Second Committee had passed a draft resolution designating
21st March as the International Day of Forests.
The resolution was part of a draft set of resolutions and
the intention was to raise awareness and to encourage sustainable management,
sustainable development and conservation of all types of forests for the
benefit of current and future generations.
This all makes sound economic sense. The World Bank estimates
that the livelihoods of more than 1.6 billion people depend on forests. Not
only that, but around 300 million people actually live in forests and these are
often among the world's poorest people.
Industry that depends on forest production is a source of
economic growth and employment, with the annual global trade estimated at $327
billion. In addition to timber, the vast range of forest resources includes
food, fiber, water and medicines.
In spite of the importance of forests, the UN Food and
Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimates that 130,000 square kilometers or
50,193 square miles of the world's forest is lost each year as a result of
deforestation. This is an area approximately the size of England and almost as
big as the US State of Louisiana.
The most common causes of this loss are conversion to
agricultural land, the unsustainable harvesting of timber, unsound land
management practices and creation of human settlements.
A further statistic from the World Bank is that
deforestation accounts for up to 20% of the greenhouse gas emissions that
contribute to global warming. Data from FAO looks at the amount of carbon that
is stored up in the world's forests and forest soil. Its estimate comes to more
than a trillion tons of carbon, which is more than twice the amount in the
earth's atmosphere.
It is also estimated that forests provide the habitat for
around two-thirds of all the species on earth and that deforestation of
tropical rainforests could account for the loss of as many as 100 species every
day.
According to the International Union for the Conservation
of Nature and the Global Partnership on Forest Landscape Restoration, there are
currently a million square kilometers (386,100 square miles) of lost and
degraded forestland across the globe that could be restored.
In spite of the destruction, forests still cover more
than 30% of the land surface of the world and contain more than 60,000 tree
species, many of which are yet to be discovered.
On 21st March the UN Under-Secretary-General of the
Department of Social and Economic Affairs (DESA), Mr Wu Hongbo, together with a
number of Chinese Government officials, will be launching the first
International Day of Forests in Beijing. The UN will be encouraging all member
states to organise forest-related activities, including tree-planting
campaigns.
Forestry, more than other branches of agriculture, is an
activity which needs to be brought before the public, as is well noted in the
article entitled "Explaining forestry to forest users". But to make
the practices and benefits of forestry comprehensible to the public is not as
simple as it may at first seem. This is partly because of the long time scale
involved in forest management compared to the increasingly rapid pace which
modern man has come to accept as normal in so many other activities. In some
countries there is also a residue of public suspicion of foresters as the
"policemen of the woods" and this has to be overcome.
Every forester appreciates and understands the value of
the forest as a source of raw material, as a provider of local employment and
national income, as the great sponge which gathers and releases water, as the
habitat for flora and fauna that otherwise would become extinct, and as the
environment and atmosphere in which man feels uniquely at home with nature. If
foresters and forest service’s talk in plain language about that which they
know best, people will listen, understand and be with them.
Sir Frank Fraser Darling rightly says: "Man is
weaned of the forest, and yet the forest is still very much a part of us."
This is at the root of the concern of so many people today for the preservation
of forests and other natural environments.
We would like to know about the various kinds of World
Forestry Day activities in different countries so as to better communicate
ideas among them. Those in charge of such activities should send samples of
their efforts - posters, booklets, press cuttings, photographs and films - to
unasylva.
FAO congratulates and supports the European Confederation
of Agriculture in its efforts to promote World Forestry Day.
As per the report of the India State of Forest Report
2011, the Forest and Tree cover of India is 78.29 million ha, which is 23.81%
of the geographical area of the country. The state of Madhya Pradesh has the
largest forest cover in the country at 77,700 square km, followed by Arunachal
Pradesh at 67, 410 square km. However, in terms of percentage of forest cover
in relation to total geographical area, Mizoram tops with 90.68% followed by
Lakshadweed with 84.56%. Our country has a variety of woodlands existing in it;
thus, take a look at different types of forests in India:
Tropical Rainforest: The
rainforest area of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura,
Western ghats, West Bengal and Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which receive heavy
rainfall constitutes the tropical rainforest of India. These areas are
enveloped with evergreen forests and have three storeyed vegetations. The upper
storey consists of tall trees, while the middle storey is shaped of trees of
lesser height. The thick, dense and rich environment is capable of providing
food and shelter to a host of animals of all kinds-the ground dwellers as well
as tree dwellers. Gifted with enormous wealth of wildlife and forested land,
Arunachal Pardesh is India`s only surviving tropical rainforest.
Rainforest
These forests are characterized by high rainfall; belong
to the tropical wet climate group. The North eastern part of India is
well-known for the rain forest. Rainforest has a vital role in global climate
system as it responsible for cooling the air. Supporting a very broad range of
animals, birds, reptiles, etc, the rain forest stretch of Arunachal Pradesh is
considered as one of the largest elephant zone in India.
Deciduous or Monsoon Forests
Indian deciduous or Monsoon forests wrap the largest
forest cover in the country. They are found in a range of landscapes from the
plains to the hills. Deciduous forests are so called because the trees of these
forests seasonally shed all their leaves. Apart from the wide space that they
cover in the country`s land area, the deciduous forests are also vital because
they are home to some of the most endangered wildlife such as- tiger, Asian
elephant and gaur. These forests are under extensive pressures from human
resource-use as with all other ecosystems in India. The Deciduous forests can
be classified into two divisions, namely the moist deciduous forests and the
dry deciduous forests:
Moist Deciduous Forests
The moist deciduous forests are located in wet regions,
receiving rainfall ranging between 100-200 cms. The moist deciduous forests are
most commonly found on the eastern slopes of the Western Ghats. They can also
be found in the north-eastern part of the peninsula i.e. in the region of Chota
Nagpur Plateau, covering east Madhya Pradesh, south Bihar and west Orissa. They
are widespread along the Shivaliks in the northern India. Most of the tropical
deciduous forests are found in the state of Kerala.
Dry Deciduous Forests
The dry deciduous forests are sited in those areas where
annual rainfall ranges from 500 - 1,500 mm and found throughout the northern
part of the country. Sal is the most significant tree found in the dry
deciduous forests. Deciduous forests are pretty substantial and cost-effective,
but they demand a lot of safeguarding, as they are less resistant to fire.
Tiger, wild dog, sloth bear and Chousingha are some of the threatened species
found in these forests.
The Himalayan Subtropical Pine Forests
The pine forests are a large subtropical coniferous
forest eco-region wrapping portions of Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Pakistan. This
huge pine forest stretches for 3000 km across the lower elevations of the great
Himalaya range for almost its entire length including parts of Pakistan`s
Punjab Province in the west through Pakistan-administered Kashmir, the northern
Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Sikkim,
Nepal and Bhutan, which is the eastern extent of the pine forest. The pine
forests are split by the deep Kali Gandaki Gorge in Nepal, to the west of which
the forest is slightly drier while it is wetter and thicker to the east where
the monsoon rains coming off the Bay of Bengal bring more moisture. Indian Tidal or Mangrove Forests
Indian tidal or mangrove forests
Indian tidal or mangrove forests are mainly located on
the Gangetic Delta and in Coastal Plains in West Bengal, called the Sunderban,
which in Bengali, literally translates to beautiful forest. The Indian tidal or
mangrove forests are considered as the largest mangrove forest in the world. The
Sunderban have recently been listed in the UNESCO World Heritage List and been
named as Sundarban National Park. The mangrove forests are one of the most
productive and bio-diverse wetlands on earth. Considered as key to a healthy
ecology, the mangrove forests provide critical aquatic habitat for a diverse
marine and terrestrial flora and fauna.
The East Deccan Dry Evergreen Forests
The East Deccan dry evergreen forests cover the eastern
part of Tamil Nadu and south-eastern part of Andhra Pradesh.It receives an
annual rainfall of 800 mm, and mostly falls during the highly variable
northeast monsoon between October and December. The eco-region is home to two
important wetlands, Kaliveli Lake north of Pondicherry in Viluppuram District
of Tamil Nadu, and Pulicat Lake north of Chennai. Kaliveli Lake, which is known
as one of the largest wetlands in peninsular India is deemed as a wetland of
national and international importance by the International Union for
Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It is currently threatened by encroachment by
agricultural fields, wildlife poaching, loss of the surrounding forests, and
increases in commercial prawn farming.
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