The International Year of Forests — a year-long celebration of the vital role that forests play in people’s lives — will be launched today, at a ceremony attended by world leaders, Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai and United Nations' forest experts.
Global observance of the Year comes amid growing recognition of the role that forests managed in a sustainable manner play in everything from mitigating climate change to providing wood, medicines and livelihoods for people around the world.
Part of the high-level ministerial segment of the United Nations Forum on Forests, the launch will see General Assembly President Joseph Deiss presiding and international filmmaker Yann Arthus-Bertrand premiering his short film Forest.
“By declaring 2011 as the International Year of Forests,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, “the United Nations General Assembly has created an important platform to educate the global community about the great value of forests — and the extreme social, economic and environmental costs of losing them.”
Sha Zukang, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, added: “Political interest in forests is on the rise, but we need to use this International Year as a way to translate this interest into action.”
And Jan McAlpine, Director of the United Nations Forum on Forests Secretariat, pointed out that “every one of us, all 7 billion people on earth, has our physical, economic and spiritual health tied to the health of our forest ecosystems”, adding: “Throughout 2011, we will celebrate this intricate, interdependent relationship between forests and people.”
The launch programme will also feature clips from winning films screened at the International Forest Film Festival, which was organized by the Forum on Forests Secretariat in collaboration with the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival. Winning entries were selected from more than 160 films that were submitted from over 30 countries. They were considered in six categories: This is My Forest; Living Forests; Issues and Solutions; Forest Hero, 360°; All Things Forest; and Shorts.
The General Assembly declared 2011 the International Year of Forests to raise awareness of the sustainable management, conservation and development of all types of forests.
By showcasing success stories on humanity’s central role in tackling the challenges facing many forests, the Year provides a platform to bring people’s voices together and galvanize action for forests around the world.
Forests cover about 31 per cent of Earth’s surface – or just under four billion hectares – according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. An estimated 13 million hectares of the world’s forests are lost every year, mainly as a result of converting forest land to other uses.
More than 60 million people are employed by forest-based industries and the annual value of wood removed from forests is estimated to be over $100 billion.
At least 1.6 billion people directly depend on forests for their livelihoods, the majority of them poor inhabitants of areas next to forests; while an estimated 60 million people, mainly members of indigenous and local communities, live in forests.
Ironically, the UK Government is currently looking to auction off its publicly owned forests to private landowners.
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