Every year, March 21st is celebrated as the International Day of Forests to raise awareness about the importance of forests and trees for biodiversity. Also known as World Forest Day, the International Day of Forests aims to promote environmental awareness. In addition to commemorating the green cover around the world and its importance, the day also reminds us of the importance of forests in our daily lives.
The International Day of Forests celebrates the importance of all types of forests, and since being established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2012 as an official international day, the International Day of Forests has gone from strength to strength, with each year’s celebrations coming with a different theme.
Each year on International Day of Forests, countries are encouraged to undertake local, national, and international efforts to organize activities involving forests and trees, such as tree planting campaigns. The Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF) chooses the theme for each International Day of Forests, and the theme for International Day of Forests 2023 is “Forests and Health”, a health celebration and message that calls for giving, not just taking, and recognizing that healthy forests bring healthy people.
FOREST, LIFE AND HEALTH
Much of a healthy human life experience is owed to the presence of trees in our ecosystem. We depend on their existence to breathe oxygen. Our atmosphere is also cleaned by forests, and they are widely considered to be the lungs of the planet. Forests also filter sediments, purify water, and clean pollutants from the air. According to UN estimates, more than 1.6 billion people also depend directly on forests for food, medicines, shelter, energy, etc.
Forest sustainable management and the use of resources help contribute to the prosperity and well-being of current and future generations. They are also crucial to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and poverty alleviation. Such is their importance, but despite the ecological, economic, social, and health benefits of their priceless existence, global deforestation continues at an alarming rate.
We benefit so much from forests when it comes to our health. We benefit from them because they purify water, clean air, capture carbon to fight climate change, provide food and medicine for our well-being, and improve our overall well-being. This year’s theme charges us humans to step up and return the favor by safeguarding these precious natural resources.
Each year, forests are endangered by fires, pests, droughts, and unprecedented deforestation. It is therefore no surprise that the steep decline in global environmental health and the ecosystem in recent years has coincided with the increase in natural disasters, which also endanger human life and health. Therefore, we humans must give back more to our environment and forest life, as we would be helpless without them. This year’s theme calls for giving, not just taking. In the words of Nepalese environmental poet Bhuwan Thapaliya, we at C-Circle believe that if you “Plant a tree, then another, then many more. We will be able to cleanse the world.”
