International Day of Forests - March 21

[Guest LilBambi]

International Day of Forests - Wikipedia

 

International Day of Forests, observed for the first time on March 21, 2013, was established by resolution of the United Nations General Assembly on November 28, 2012.[1] To be held each year on the 21st day of March, the occasion is intended to be one of the world's leading global platforms for people with an interest in forests and climate change to share their views and work together to ensureforests are suitably incorporated into any future climate change mitigation and adaption strategies.[2]

 

Under background:

 

Each year more than 13 million hectares (32 million acres) of forests are lost, an area roughly the size ofEngland.[3] As go the forests, so go the plant and animal species that they embrace – 80% of all terrestrial biodiversity.

 

 

More in the article.

 

Whether you concern yourself with climate change or global warming or whatever it's called today is really not pivotal to a concern about the ever expanding loss of the world's natural translation of carbon dioxide to oxygen which is largely handled by the myriads of forests on the planet.

 

Forests - Wikipedia:

 

 

A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending on various cultural definitions, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have different classifications according to how and of what the forest is composed.[1] A forest is usually an area filled with trees but any tall densely packed area of vegetation may be considered a forest, even underwater vegetation such as kelp forests, or non-vegetation such as fungi,[2] and bacteria. Tree forests cover approximately 9.4 percent of theEarth's surface (or 30 percent of total land area), though they once covered much more (about 50 percent of total land area). They function as habitats for organisms, hydrologic flow modulators, and soil conservers, constituting one of the most important aspects of the biosphere.

 

A typical tree forest is composed of the overstory (canopy or upper tree layer) and the understory. The understory is further subdivided into the shrub layer, herb layer, and also the moss layer and soil microbes. In some complex forests, there is also a well-defined lower tree layer. Forests are central to all human life because they provide a diverse range of resources: they store carbon, aid in regulating the planetary climate, purify water and mitigate natural hazards such as floods. Forests also contain roughly 90 percent of the world's terrestrial biodiversity.[3]

 

 

 

Green BOLD emphasis is mine.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

I'm a tree-hugger. I admit it.

[Guest LilBambi]

 

I hate being called a tree-hugger but I really am LOL!

[crp]

it is sort of a myth that won't die , but it is understandable why people think there are less trees now then in 1750.

There probably wore more trees in the 1300's than now but hard to prove one way or the other.

[Guest LilBambi]

And certainly Earth day every year where many of us plant a tree or three has helped as did Johnny Appleseed...

 

I remember there were no trees on our lot coming up in a few years to 30 years ago when we bought our 'God's little 1/4 acre', now there are fruit trees, non-fruit trees, flowering shrubs, and more on this little lot if ours, and it is more a lovely wildlife sanctuary now which we love!

 

Of course before the lumber company came here there were many tall strong aged trees in the forest here on these lots .., who is to say which is better ...

[abarbarian]

 

http://education.seattlepi.com/rates-deforestation-reforestation-us-3804.html

 

 

Reforestation Rates

 

 

In the United States, deforestation has been more than offset by reforestation between 1990 and 2010. The nation added 7,687,000 hectares (18,995,000 acres) of forested land during that period. The trend in reforesting areas has been driven by organizations such as the U.S. Forest Service and the Arbor Day Foundation. Reforestation efforts were critical to maintain forest cover starting at the beginning of the 20th century, and they are the reason that there is a net positive trend in forest growth today.

 

 

I like trees. I planted two lovely silver birches at the folks old home 35 years ago and they are still there even though the house has swapped hands several times. They are very pretty trees now.

A silver birch sapling I gave a friend is now a thirty foot tree. My redcrab apple is ten years old. An the two inch high english oak I planted on the day I moved into the cabin is now a sturdy tree.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

There is NOT more forested acreage in the world as there was 200 years ago. Nor are their MORE forested acreage of old-growth hardwoods in the US than there were back then. There is only more acreage of fast-growth $ woods.

[Guest LilBambi]

And look at all the aged cedar trees that have been cut and replaced with younger ones and now they are using those for cedar shingles and they are not as aged or as 'preserved' as the ones they originally used that kept people's homes well for years. Now they are finding that the cedar being used is not half as good and lasts probably half as long and costs so much more!

 

BTW: This is what I heard from contractors ... hard to find that information online.

 

That's what I call ironic...

[crp]

There is NOT more forested acreage in the world as there was 200 years ago.

yes there is, and quite a bit more. a lot of the acreage is not in the same place as 200-300 years ago but there are more trees. Europe as greatly de-treed by the 1600's and when the Industrial Revolution kicked in it got way worse. Both of which lead to a massive de-treeing in North America. The greater China area was de-treed for reasons unknown at this time (Little Ice Age by product?)

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Myeh... OK, I'll take your word for it. I'm too lazy to go research it right now.

[Guest LilBambi]

You were fortunate!

[Guest LilBambi]

 

I hear ya! I have thought the same thing many times seeing a huge tree going the way of the dodo and how wonderful a table it would make!

[V.T. Eric Layton]

The old and the new...

 

http://noctslackv2.wordpress.com/2014/03/27/my-new-friend/

[sunrat]

Spare a thought for the Amazon forest. Being destroyed at an alarming rate to supply fat people with hamburgers and coffee.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deforestation_in_Brazil

[Guest LilBambi]

Yes! It is tragic. And if you say anything too loud, there are folks who have been told that modern is better and they deserve all the modern conveniences the rest of the world have and that's worth taking down the rain forests for commercialism, or corporatism's sake.

 

And in many ways, they are right. But at what cost.

 

Then they would say, look what you did to your own country. Look at the dust bowl. The cities.

 

And I would say and the pollution and crime, and ....

Edited March 29, 2014 by LilBambi

[abarbarian]

o, yes, the amazon has been decimated, and for more than coffee & cows, there's hardwood that's worth a fortune, and slash & burn subsistence farmers - the subsistence farmers probably doing the most damage..

 

The annual rate of deforestation in the Amazon region increased from 1990 to 2003 due to factors at local, national, and international levels.^[6] 70% of formerly forested land in the Amazon, and 91% of land deforested since 1970, is used for livestock pasture.^[15][16] In addition, Brazil is currently the second-largest global producer of soybeans after the United States, mostly for export and biodiesel production;^[17] as soybean prices rise, soy farmers push northwards into forested areas of the Amazon.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deforestation_of_the_Amazon_Rainforest

 

[Guest LilBambi]

I think that is because the 'evil' business can devastate much more land, and more quickly than any small farmer can.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Ummmm... coffee!

[sunrat]

it is not politically correct to report on the zillions of subsistence farmers who hack, slash, burn or otherwise destroy acres-per-person at a time to grow a handful of beans a couple of times, deplete the soil due to not knowing how to farm, and due to erosion (removal) of the topsoil by rain & wind.

You can find reports from many sources highlighting this problem. I've seen TV documentaries highlighting the problem, most recently one about illegal logging in the Amazon and local efforts to divert those involved to more sustainable activities.

You obviously haven't been to places like Indonesia or Thailand where environmental groups widely recognise slash n' burn as a Bad Thing. In Thailand I have seen jungle levelled to grow a single crop and then abandoned to slash another area the next year as the soil is not nutrient rich enough to continue.