International Day of Forests

Did you know that even if we stopped emitting greenhouse gases today, global warming would continue to happen for at least several more decades, if not centuries? Global warming is seen to be getting worse and worse by the day and some of it is a result of the decreasing number of trees that emit their stored carbon as carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, this happens when trees are cut, burned down, or allowed to rot.

According to an article in National Geographic, forests are disappearing at an alarming rate. Between 1990 and 2016, the world lost 502,000 square miles (1.3 million square kilometres) of the forest, according to the World Bank—an area larger than South Africa. Since humans started cutting down forests, 46 percent of trees have been felled, according to a 2015 study in the journal Nature. About 17 percent of the Amazonian rainforest has been destroyed over the past 50 years, and losses recently have been on the rise. (National Geographic, 2019).

It’s a harsh reality that it’s already come to this, with efforts from different platforms to help protect and conserve the environment: plant more trees, avoid deforestation, save water, recycle, or even talk about it, humanity fails to see how trees play a role in our sustenance.

The International Day of Forests’ theme for this year is #ForestsAndEducation, therefore, we are urged to learn more about forests and see into their wonder, their beauty, and their usefulness in our world. This day raises awareness of the importance of all types of forests.

Forests serve as habitats for different forms of life, and trees, they help to regulate the climate and absorb harmful greenhouse gases, they also have various ecological benefits and help in our livelihood as well.

Let’s protect our forests, before it’s too late.