International Day of Forests

Saving forests and their resources is a major environmental issue in the world today. Global deforestation is a concern both for ecologists and the wider international community. Currently, forests cover about thirty-eight million square kilometers of the planet, which is a third of the Earth’s land. Thirteen percent are protected. Forests are the planet’s lungs, they have enormous environmental, social and economic impact on the planet: they form its climate, provide oxygen, process hazardous emissions, preserve water resources, serve as the habitat for many plants and animals, provide food and healthy environmental for people, and help keep fertile lands and landscapes from ruin. However, the forested area is decreasing each year with the Earth losing 1,5 hectares of virgin forest every second. Primarily, this has to do with population growth and the conversion of forested areas to satisfy various human needs. According to expert estimates, we have destroyed 26 million square meters of forest in the last ten years. Besides, forests are destroyed by fires, illegal clearings, natural disasters, insect invasions, diseases, etc. Deforestation leads to irreversible processes that negatively affect the whole of humanity. Therefore, the main goal of the International Day of Forests is to raise public awareness of the need to save the Earth’s forests to keep the forest ecosystems in its present state and recover the lost ones.