World Environment Day 2011
World Environment Day (WED), which will be celebrated this Sunday, June 05, 2011, is an annual event that is aimed at being the largest and most widely celebrated global day for positive environmental action. WED activities take place all year round but would climax on 5 June of every year, involving persons from all over the globe. This year event will be celebrated under the theme Forest: nature at your service. The question is asked repeatedly “why do we need the forest”? The answer is simply that trees are where reclamation of clean air begins. Trees utilize the carbon dioxide from human beings and animals that at present is overloading the air. Globally, there aren’t enough trees and vegetation to effectively and efficiently recycle the carbon dioxide emitted into oxygen which humans and animals utilize for their existence. As a result of the growing global pollution levels, forests have often come to be referred to as the ‘lungs of the earth’. This is particularly because deforestation and forest degradation account for nearly 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions, which forests would absorb if carefully managed.
Forests play multiple roles in our lives; it provides a source of livelihood and home to more than 300 million people worldwide, refuge for many species, and clean air for all. As a resource, it provides many important natural resources, such as timber, fuel, rubber, paper and medicinal plants. Forests also help sustain the quality and availability of freshwater supplies. More than three quarters of the worlds accessible freshwater comes from forested catchments. Water quality declines with decreases in forest deforestation and degradation, and natural hazards such as floods, landslides, and soil erosion have larger impacts. The impact of forests reaches even further. In many developing countries more than 80% of total energy consumed by people and industry derives from forests. Such as fuel wood and charcoal. Trade in timber and other forest products, is estimated at almost 330 billion US Dollars /year. Its value multiplies as it’s processed into a myriad of products used globally every day. Use of the genetic diversity within forests enables the development of new medicines which is a progress in healthcare and science.
Broadly, there are three main sources of forest degradation, which includes commercial logging, fires, and gathering wood for fuel. Insects and pests also cause considerable forest degradation. Forests cover about 31% of total land area of the earth while at the same time supporting 80% of terrestrial biodiversity that live in them. Many of the worlds’s most threatened and endangered animals live in these forests, making them crucial to sustaining ecosystems. Rather shockingly, 36 million acres of natural forest are lost each year. The focus on the forest this year is expected to further encourage forest conservation and sustainable consumption for green growth, and in support of the UN International Year of Forests initiative. Preserving forests throughout the world has to be in our collective consciousness and must be a daily effort which should starts with a change in our lifestyles.
Civil society can play a significant role by independently monitoring all parties involved, raising awareness on forests and supporting grassroots initiatives. Like private companies, individuals can make wise premeditated choices over what products they will buy and only purchasing forest products that originate from sustainable sources. This means checking that furniture, wood, paper and other products you buy are verified as coming from legal sources. Most importantly, taking action on forests requires an ongoing commitment to changing lifestyles and therefore is not a one-off action. Your new lifestyle demands that you become forest-conscious in all your choices, consumption and actions.
The GNBS encourages all Guyanese that as we celebrate World Environment Day we must concentrate on how we can help to utilize our forest in a sustainable manner so that future generations and inhabitants of the forest can also enjoy its array of services.
For further information on this subject, please contact the GNBS on Telephone Numbers: 219-0065, 219-0066 or website: www.gnbsgy.org