The UN general assembly has declared 2011 the International Year of the Forests. The campaign comes with an impressive logo focused on showing the importance of each essential element we take advantage of from the international ecosystem.
The campaign logo covers everything from the air purifying effect of the forests to the healing powers of the forest plants. It is proving that the title of this worldwide campaign is simply related to how we can improve the health of the forests that are covering 31% of the Earth’s land surface.
The International Year of the Forests made its debut on 24 January with a New York forum under the patronage of UN.
According to IUCN, the forest protection would help humanity to achieve some of the most ambitious plans, reducing the poverty, stopping the global warming and encouraging sustainable growth.
We all know that the forests of the world are the air we breathe, the medicines we use for healing, their biodiversity being strictly related to our way of life. The global climate is degenerating because the forests are becoming smaller and smaller every year and the purpose of the 2011 campaign is to do something about it.
Currently the forests of the World host over 80% of the genes, species and ecosystems, which define the concept of life on Earth. The forests of the planet offer the means for survival to over 1. 6 billion people which stand for a quarter of the human kind.
The forests are the climate anchors and because they now cover only 31% of the Earth’s surface, the climate changes become more obvious every day. In the last year the growth of the surfaces used for agriculture led to the deforestation of 13 million acres of which almost 60% were part of the tropical forests. At this rate the forests will be extinct in the next 100 years.
According to WWF, the deforestation is responsible for 15% of the total greenhouse effect we are currently experiencing and the percentage increases with every tree that is cut.
Along with making people aware of the importance of the forests, the 2011 International Year of the Forests event has also very concrete objectives. To celebrate this event, countries like Ethiopia, Georgia, Jamaica, Lebanon, Poland and Korea proposed to conduct massive forest planting campaigns.
Let’s hope this will be the start for a forest green land, better air to breathe and a healthier world to live in.
