Forests and Education – Learn to Love Forests
Every 21 March the United Nations raises awareness of the importance of all types of forests. This year the International Day of Forests promotes education to Learn to Love Forests. It underscores the importance of education at all levels in achieving sustainable forest management and biodiversity conservation. Healthy forests mean healthy, resilient communities and prosperous economies.
Forests are part of your life in more ways than you realise
When we drink a glass of water, write in a notebook, take medicine for a fever or build a house, we do not always make the connection with forests. And yet, these and many other aspects of our lives are linked to forests in one way or another. Forests, their sustainable management and use of resources, including in fragile ecosystems, are key to combating climate change, and to contributing to the prosperity and well-being of current and future generations. Forests also play a crucial role in poverty alleviation and in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The International Day of the Forests aims to grow awareness and get action going to help protect and grow forests.
Did you know that:
- Forests are home to about 80% of the world’s biodiversity
- More than a billion people depend directly on the forests for food, shelter, energy and income
- Genetic diversity helps forests to cope with climate change and other threats
- Biodiversity is under serious threat from deforestation, forest degradation and climate change
Collaborative Partnership on Forests
The mission of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests is to promote sustainable management of all types of forests and to strengthen long-term political commitment to this end. Read more about the Collaborative Partnership on Forests by following this link: http://www.cpfweb.org/en/
The importance of forests cannot be underestimated.
We depend on forests for our survival, from the air we breathe to the wood we use. Besides providing habitats for animals and livelihoods for humans, forests also offer watershed protection, prevent soil erosion and mitigate climate change. Yet, despite our dependence on forests, we are still allowing them to disappear.
After oceans, forests are the world’s largest storehouses of carbon.
They provide ecosystem services that are critical to human welfare. These include:
- Absorbing harmful greenhouse gasses that produce climate change. In tropical forests alone, a quarter of a trillion tons of carbon is stored in above and below ground biomass
- Providing clean water for drinking, bathing, and other household needs
- Protecting watersheds and reducing or slowing the amount of erosion and chemicals that reach waterways
- Providing food and medicine
- Serving as a buffer in natural disasters like flood and rainfalls
- Providing habitat to more than half of the world’s land-based species
Read more about what the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) says about the importance of forests here: https://wwf.panda.org/our_work/forests/importance_forests/
What can you do?
There are many things you can do to help the forests. The immediate action is by using recycled materials. Nwabisa is also very committed to the environment and wants to help create a sustainable future. Therefore we support African artists who create beautiful pieces out of recycled material. Examples are bags made out of recycled car tyre tubes ( https://nwabisa.com/?page_id=1977 ) or recycled PET bottles ( https://nwabisa.com/?product_cat=shopper ). Join us in our effort to support the environment and the artists making a difference in their communities.
