Forests occupy a third of the land surface and are the habitat of more than half of terrestrial plants and animals
Forests occupy a third of the land surface and are the habitat of more than half of terrestrial plants and animals .
2. A quarter of all modern medicines , including two-thirds of all anti-cancer drugs, are produced from forest tropical plants . Keeping people alive, these medicinal plants cost a whopping $ 108 billion a year.
3. Forests are a source of a huge amount of nutritious food: nuts, fruits, seeds and even insects that are rich in protein and valuable minerals, including calcium and iron. These natural products help to keep health residents of forest areas and millions of other people.
4. Trees growing in forests are natural aqueducts , redistributing up to 95 percent of the moisture they absorb, to where it is most needed. They retain water in the soil, preventing its erosion, and then release it back into the atmosphere, producing a cooling effect.
5. Trees are excellent sinks of carbon: the world’s forests absorb from the atmosphere about 2.1 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide per year; just think – as much as 2.1 billion tons! This plays a crucial role in maintaining the balance of the carbon cycle on the planet and helps combat climate change.
6. Ravines from fire do not save
Fire in ravines and hollows is not so terrible as gas, which is released when burning various combustion products. Settling in a ravine, it has a poisonous effect. Therefore, hiding in a fire in ravines is dangerous for life.
7. The net loss of forests around the world is 3.3 million hectares per year – this is a territory the size of Moldova. However, more than twenty developing countries have improved their situation with food security, preserving or even increasing the area of forest cover. This suggests that to reduce the scale of hunger, there is no need to cut down forests in order to use the liberated areas for agricultural needs – on the contrary! Use forest resources should be rational; this is necessary to ensure that the forests remain healthy and provide us with a variety of goods and services and even help in the production of agricultural, livestock and fish products.
8. Sustainable forest management is the basis for the production of raw materials for the pulp and paper industry. Paper is a renewable and one of the most actively recycled materials: currently about 55 percent, or 225 million tons of wood fiber used for paper production worldwide, comes from scrap paper .
9. Hevea tree (Hevea brasiliensis) growing in the tropical Amazonian forests is an excellent source of natural rubber. Having made an exact cut on its bark, it is possible to collect latex without damaging the tree .
10. Every year on March 21, the world celebrates the International Day of Forests . In 2017 it was held under the heading ” Forests and Energy ” , and in 2018 the theme of the holiday will be “Forests and Sustainable Cities”.
