In recognition of the designation, below are ten facts about forests.
- Forests cover around 4 billion hectares or 30 percent of Earth's land surface.
- Forests are storehouses of biodiversity.
- Forests have hundreds of billions of trees.
Forests are organized into layers, dominated by larger trees. All living forest species depend on each other, but animals and plants are also influenced by non-living (or abiotic) elements like light, wind and water. Because they are all connected, they form a system (called the ecosystem).
Things in a forest 1
- trees.
- hut.
- squirrels.
- lumberjack.
- birds.
- insects.
- fox.
- bear.
1. Forests cover one-third of the world's land area and host more than half of the world's land-based plant and animal species. 2. A quarter of all modern medicines come from tropical forest plants, including two-thirds of all cancer-fighting drugs.
Forests cover about a third of the earth's land area and are essential to the health of our environment. For example, trees and forests absorb and store much of the carbon dioxide that otherwise would be contributing to climate change. Forests are home to about 80 percent of remaining terrestrial biodiversity.
Forests are necessary due to the following reasons. i. Plants release oxygen that we breathe and absorb carbon dioxide. Forests provide us with timber for furniture, fuel wood, fodder, medicinal plants and herbs, lac, honey, gum, etc.
Forests are renewable resources and play a major role in enhancing the quality of the environment. They modify the local climate and control soil erosion. They regulate the flow of streams and support a variety of industries like the rubber industry. They provide humus to the soil and shelter to wildlife.
Through photosynthesis, the trees and plants in forests provide most of the oxygen that humans and animals breathe. Forests also absorb and reduce the presence in the atmosphere of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas and major contributor to climate change.
Tropical rainforests are often called the “lungs of the planet†because they generally draw in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen. But the amount of carbon dioxide they absorb, or produce, varies hugely with year-to-year variations in the climate.
Forests also provide non-carbon services that are essential for human societies to thrive: from its role in sustaining livelihoods to providing water and food security, and regulating global rainfall patterns. However, each year approximately 12 million hectares of forest are destroyed.
A forest is a piece of land with many trees. Forests are important and grow in many places around the world. They are an ecosystem which includes many plants and animals. Temperature and rainfall are the two most important things for forests. Many places are too cold or too dry for them.
But they continued to depend on forests to meet a lot of their needs. Even today people depend on the forest for paper, timber, fuelwood, medicine, and fodder.
| Fuelwood | Fodder |
|---|
| Fencing | Soil erosion check |
| Wind breaks and shelter belts | Soil improvement |
Human society and forests influence each other in both positive and negative ways. Forests provide ecosystem services to humans and serve as tourist attractions. Forests can also affect people's health. Human activities, including unsustainable use of forest resources, can negatively affect forest ecosystems.
Forests are a Breath of Fresh AirWith a little help from the sun and a process called photosynthesis, trees are able to provide us and other animals with fresh air! They absorb the carbon dioxide (CO₂) we breathe out and transform it into clean oxygen (O₂). Breathe out… and say thank you to a forest!
Trees are vital. As the biggest plants on the planet, they give us oxygen, store carbon, stabilise the soil and give life to the world's wildlife. They also provide us with the materials for tools and shelter.
Among our findings: The estimated total value of the world's forests is as much as $150 trillion—nearly double the value of global stock markets. The ability of forests to regulate the climate through carbon storage is by far the largest component of that total value, accounting for as much as 90%.
