International Day of Forests (21/03)

On March 21, the world celebrates International Day of Forests or World Forest Day, which was founded in 1971 and has been celebrated annually since then. The establishment of this Day was initiated by the European Confederation of Agriculture at the 23rd General Assembly in 1971, the idea was supported by the World Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Moreover, initially it was decided to celebrate this day precisely on the day of the autumn equinox in the Southern Hemisphere and the spring equinox in the Northern Hemisphere (the latter, according to tradition, is considered the first day of spring and is a symbol of new life and new beginnings).

In 2012, the UN General Assembly, by its resolution № 67/200 of December 21, 2012, approved the celebration of International Day of Forests annually on March 21, as an occasion to inform society about the importance of preserving forests and to raise awareness of their importance. Every year, events within the framework of the Day are dedicated to a specific topic.

The problem of preserving forests and their wealth is today among the most important environmental challenges for all countries of the world. In recent years, trends related to the deforestation of the Earth have caused concern not only among environmentalists, but also among the entire international community.

Currently, the total forest area on the planet is approximately 38 million square meters. km (this is about a third of the land area), of which 13% belong to protected natural areas.

Forests – are the lungs of our planet, they have invaluable environmental, social and economic significance – participate in shaping the planet's climate, provide oxygen, process harmful emissions, preserve water resources, are the habitat of many plants and animals, provide food and a healthy environment for people, help preserve soil fertility and landscapes... They provide food, medicines and fuel, provide shelter and serve as a source of income for the 1.6 billion inhabitants of the planet, including more than 2 thousand indigenous ethnic groups and nationalities.

However, every day the area of the world's forests is steadily declining, every second the Earth loses more than 1.5 hectares of primary forest. First of all, this is due to population growth and the transformation of forest areas for various human needs. According to some expert estimates, over the past 10 thousand years, people have destroyed 26 million square meters. km of forests. Along with this, forests are dying from fires, illegal logging, natural disasters, exposure to insect pests, diseases and other causes. But the reduction in the area of forests leads to irreparable negative processes that are of global importance for all nature and the life of all humanity.

In this regard, the main objective of the International Day of Forests is to attract the attention of the planet's inhabitants to the problem of forest conservation, informing about the importance of forest ecosystems, their true condition, and the main measures for their protection and restoration.

Forests – national wealth of Russia (Photo: Dudarev Mikhail, licensed by Shutterstock.com)

Since the processes of forest reduction and degradation have become international problems that require joint decision by all countries, the UN called on all UN member states to support the holding of this day with special events. On this day, a variety of actions and events are held everywhere in most countries of the world aimed at protecting forests and green spaces, – these include information events, all kinds of competitions and exhibitions, tree planting campaigns, and various flash mobs.

Many of these events of public and environmental organizations are held with the support of government officials. In particular, UN member countries have reached appropriate agreements and are now implementing a number of measures within the framework of targeted reforestation and afforestation policies.

International Forest Day is also actively celebrated in Russia. After all, forests are the country’s national wealth; the Russian Federation accounts for almost a fifth of the world’s forests and approximately the same part of the world’s timber reserves. Which determines the global importance of forests for the Russian state not only as a source of valuable raw materials, but also as an important component of the biosphere, which largely determines living conditions on Earth.

Interestingly, in some countries, Tree Day is also celebrated along with International Forest Day.

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