INTERNATIONAL DAY OF FORESTS

HELPING THE ENVIRONMENT, RECOGNIZING FOREST IMPACT

The date March 21 was declared the International Day of Forests in 2012 by the United Nations (UN). This day is to celebrate and bring awareness to all types of forests around the world. Background of the day can be found on the United Nations web page and it states, “Countries are encouraged to undertake local, national and international efforts to organize activities involving forests and trees, such as tree planting campaigns.”

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, global distribution of forests amongst 10 countries in 2020 the Russian Federation holds the most with 20.1%, Brazil holds 12.2%, Canada holds 8.5%, United States of America holds 7.6% and after the 10 countries the rest of the worlds forest combined is 33.9%. Further down the page, the FAO states that an estimated 420 million hectares of forest has been lost through conversion to other land use since 1990.

“I do small acts of conservation in my day-to-day life like taking shorter showers, making sure to turn off lights and avoiding one-use plastic,” said junior Sarah Austgen.

There are many things that humans can do to care and nurture the environment. Actions one can take are taking shorter showers to conserve energy like Austgen, recycling when possible, lowering carbon emissions, and many more things that can be as simple as just sharing knowledge so more people can help.

“People can learn about the health of the environment by doing research or talking to someone who knows about the subject,” said sophomore Terran Jennings. “Others can help the environment by not being so wasteful, reuse what you can and don’t use an excessive number of products that can’t be reused.”

Trees are essential for human survival because they produce the oxygen that we breathe all over the world. Humans rely on trees and forests for many things like air to breathe, paper to write on, lumber to build, and many more things. Animals on the other hand use trees and forests for resting, nesting or living, and a place to hunt prey for food. With that information forest are a benefit for humans since we use tress for many things, but animals live in these trees and forests which is their home while humans use the trees to build their own homes. The World Wildlife organization states that 300 million people worldwide live in forests and 1.6 billion depend on them for their means of support.

“I wasn’t even aware of International Day of Forests which I find quite concerning considering that forests are important to our environment and fight against climate change. I think an International Day of Forests is crucial and needs to be talked about and recognized more in the community,” says freshman Cayleigh Lewis. “After finding out about it I am very excited that forests are getting the fame they deserve.”

March 21 is put in place to represent, bring awareness and share knowledge to better the world’s forests and their environment. Putting forth the effort to help our environment has the possibility to make big changes. Students here at HSE have been fighting for the environment and plan to continuously put their effort in to help and share their wisdom to have people help along too. From now on, maybe think twice before leaving a room with the light on, taking long showers, driving a car, or leaving a piece of trash somewhere because as things build up, they may end up hurting the environment we live in. Story by Cassidy Hayes.

WHAT CAN YOU FURTHER DO FOR THE ENVIRONMENT?

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations YouTube video for the Internatinal Day of Forests titled “Forests and sustainable production and consumption”

One thing I have wanted to do to help the environment is to purchase local/ecologically produced items such as food, soap and even things like furniture. I would love to further reduce the plastic that I waste through using products that are not purchased in plastic, are recyclable, or are reusable. Examples of this is shampoo and conditioner bars, toothpaste tablets, recyclable bamboo toothbrushes, refillable floss pick and so much more.

- Hunter Poehlein, 12