The year 2011 was declared the International Year of Forests by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

UN official site
/ref> to raise awareness and strengthen the sustainable management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests for the benefit of current and

future generations Future generations are cohorts of hypothetical people not yet born. Future generations are contrasted with current and past generations, and evoked in order to encourage thinking about intergenerational equity. The moral patienthood of future g ...

Background

Forests A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

are an integral part of global

sustainable development Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The des ...

. According to

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

estimates, more than 1.6 billion people depend on forests for their livelihoods with some 300 million living in them. The forest product industry is a source of economic growth and employment, with global forest products traded internationally is estimated at $327 billion. The UN's

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

(FAO) estimates that every year 130,000 km² of the world's forests are lost due to

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated d ...

. Conversion to agricultural land, unsustainable harvesting of timber, unsound land management practices, and creation of human settlements are the most common reasons for this loss of forested areas. According to the World Bank, deforestation accounts for up to 20 percent of the global

greenhouse gas emissions Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and ...

that contribute to

global warming In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

. FAO data estimates that the world's forests and forest

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former te ...

store more than one trillion tons of carbon – twice the amount found in the atmosphere. The World Bank estimates that forests provide habitats to about two-thirds of all species on earth, and that deforestation of closed

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

rainforests Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainforest ...

could account for

biodiversity loss Biodiversity loss includes the worldwide extinction of different species, as well as the local reduction or loss of species in a certain habitat, resulting in a loss of biological diversity. The latter phenomenon can be temporary or permanent, de ...

of as many as 100

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

a day. According to the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

(IUCN) and the Global Partnership on Forest Landscape Restoration, "Across the globe lie more than a billion hectares of lost and degraded forest land that could be restored".

Campaign

The Secretariat of the

United Nations Forum on Forests The United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) is a high-level intergovernmental policy forum. The forum includes all United Nations member states and permanent observers, the UNFF Secretariat, the Collaborative Partnership on Forests, Regional Orga ...

is the focal point for implementation of the International Year in collaboration with Governments, the Collaborative Partnership on Forests and other relevant organizations and processes. Governments, regional and international organizations and civil society organizations are expected to create national committees and designate focal points in their respective countries to facilitate organization of activities in support of the International Year of Forests.

Celebrations

5794513057 bef09874c3 o - Flickr - USDAgov

The "Celebrate Forests. Celebrate Life." campaign is the official U.S. celebration. Coordinated by the

National Association of State Foresters The National Association of State Foresters (NASF) is a non-profit organization that represents the directors of the 50 state forestry agencies, eight United States territories, and the District of Columbia. State foresters manage and protect state ...

in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. celebration aims to elevate awareness and understanding of the value of America's forests and showcase the connections between healthy forests, people, ecosystems and economies. The goal is to provide all forestry stakeholders with ideas and resources to participate in the celebration over the year. On 9 February 2011, deputy director-general of

of the United Nations, Ann Tutwiler, and Assistant Director-General of the Forestry Department, Eduardo Rojas-Briales, launch the 2011 edition of the FAO flagship publication
State of the World’s Forests
' (''SOFO''). The ''State of the World's Forests'' reports on the global status of forests, recent major policy and institutional developments and key issues concerning the forest sector. On 9 March 2011, New Zealand's Minister of Forestry, Hon David Carter, launched the International Year of Forests at Parliament Buildings in Wellington, New Zealand. Hon Carter said, "They orestsare an integral part of our natural resource-based economy, they provide a range of environmental benefits, and they have cultural significance". On 5 May 2011, the

Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ro, Academia Română ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life. According to its byl ...

hosted a national debate regarding the "2011, the International Year of Forests".(in

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...

, webpage has a translation button) On 15 July 2011, in honor of International Year of Forests, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Division of Lands and Forests kicked off the Celebrating New York's Forests Photo Contest. This contest is an effort to increase awareness of and appreciation for all types of forests, urban and rural, large and small, public and privately owned, across the state.

History

The UN General Assembly proclaimed 2011 as the "International Year of Forests" with Resolution 61/193 on 20 December 2006.

References

External links