Happy International Day of Forests! – March 21 marks the International Day of Forests (IDF). The United Nations General Assembly established IDF on November 28, 2012 as a means of raising awareness of the beauty, importance and plight of the world’s forests. The history of IDF stretches back to 1971 when the 16th session of the Conference for Food and Agriculture voted…
When combined with the right policies, new monitoring capabilities may significantly enhance our capacity to manage forests. As an homage to the International Day of Forests on March 21, here is a review of forest management policy recommendations and new global monitoring solutions. After a United Nations General Assembly resolution in 2012, the International Day of Forests was observed for…
We are coming to a better understanding of the vital role that forests play in the general health of planetary ecosystems. However, alongside our burgeoning awareness, we are also destroying forests in our quest for more land and lumber. Deforestation is eliminating the Earth’s forests on a massive scale. Each day at least 80,000 acres (32,300 ha) of forest disappear…
Successful in realizing its original goal, the 1993 US Northwest Forest Plan is yielding unanticipated benefits two decades later, turning northwest public forests into net carbon sinks for the first time in decades.
For years the Mountain Pine Beetle has been emblematic of the consequences of climate change for the western forests of North America. Forests from Colorado up through British Columbia have been ravaged by invading armies of pine beetles that thrive in the warmer and shorter winters at higher altitudes. One third of the forests in British Columbia have fallen to…
The first decade of the 21st century has seen a decrease in global deforestation, bringing with it a reduction in forest carbon emissions. According to the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2010 report from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), for the first time on record a declining rate of deforestation, combined with the planting of new forests and natural regeneration,…
