ON INTERNATIONAL DAY, UN CALLS FOR BOOSTING RESOURCES FOR WORLD'S FORESTS

From: UNNews <UNNews@un.org>
Date: 21 Mar 2014 15:00:00 -0400
Subject: ON INTERNATIONAL DAY, UN CALLS FOR BOOSTING RESOURCES FOR
WORLD'S FORESTS
To: news11@ny-mail-p-lb-028.ptc.un.org

ON INTERNATIONAL DAY, UN CALLS FOR BOOSTING RESOURCES FOR WORLD'S
FORESTSNew York, Mar 21 2014 3:00PMUnited Nations officials today
called on countries to scale up efforts and resources devoted to
forests, which provide countless economic and social benefits, as well
as being essential to combating climate change.

"Forests are the lungs of our planet," Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
stated in his message for the
<"http://www.un.org/en/events/forestsday/">second annual International
Day of Forests, observed on 21 March. "

They cover one-third of all land area, and are home to 80 per cent of
terrestrial biodiversity. They are crucial for addressing a multitude
of sustainable development imperatives, from poverty eradication to
food security, from mitigating and adapting to climate change to
reducing disaster risk."

Around 1.6 billion people - including more than 2,000 indigenous
cultures - depend on forests for their livelihood. Forests also help
combat climate change as they store more carbon than is in the
atmosphere.

In 2012, the UN General Assembly proclaimed 21 March as the
International Day of Forests to celebrate and raise awareness of the
importance of all types of forests, and encouraged countries to
organize activities involving forests and trees, such as tree-planting
campaigns.

"This day marks a worldwide commemoration to celebrate our forests and
to raise awareness of the importance of protecting our essential
global ecosystems," General Assembly President John Ashe said in his
message.

As countries work to create a future global development agenda, he
urged them to recognize the ecological, economic, social and health
benefits of the world's forests, noting that in recent years, global
deforestation has spread at an "alarming" rate.

Over 13 million hectares of forest are destroyed each year and
deforestation accounts for 12 to 20 per cent of the global greenhouse
gas emissions that contribute to global warming.

Indeed, new data released on the occasion of the International Day by
the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) confirm that forest
areas continue to decline globally, with the biggest losses of
tropical forests occurring in South America and Africa.

Improving information on forest resources is a key factor in halting
illegal deforestation and forest degradation, said FAO, which is using
this year's Day to discuss ways to improve the availability of
information on the state of forests at all levels: nationally,
regionally and globally.

"If we want to be serious about halting deforestation, in line with
FAO's Zero Illegal Deforestation challenge, this must be premised on
the availability of sound information and data," said FAO
Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva.

Activities to mark the Day this year includes tree-planting and other
community-level events, and national celebrations including art, photo
and film as well as social media.

An event held at UN Headquarters in New York brought together thought
leaders, Forest Heroes and filmmakers to spotlight the role of women
as agents of change for forests and sustainable development.

Forest Hero Rhiannon Tomtishen said that it was from the example set
by her hero and environmental activist Jane Goodall that she learned
the three most important characteristics of being a change-maker:
passion, dedication and perseverance.

In 2007, as 11 year olds, Ms. Tomtishen and fellow Forest Hero Madison
Vorva launched campaigns calling for the Girl Scout organization to
remove palm oil - the cultivation of which is linked to rainforest
deforestation - from their cookies.

"This project has been a major part of our lives for the past seven
years," noted Ms. Vorva. "And we've grown from shy girls to confident
and capable young women. As we grow up, the direction of our work will
continue to grow with us.

"Ironically, Girl Scouting taught us to serve others, so our story
began by questioning the use of unsustainable palm oil in Girl Scout
cookies in an effort to save orang-utans. Having grown from this
experience, an opportunity exists for us to approach our activism from
new perspectives."

"Those passionate about forest conservation," added Ms. Tomtishen,
"need to continue to speak out about the palm oil crisis until 100 per
cent of the world's palm oil is grown under deforestation-free
regulations."

Award-winning documentary filmmaker Rosa Rodgers said that women play
a vital role in protecting the environment. "But it's a role that
quite often goes unrecognized."

Her film "The Water Forest" is about the campaign by a group of
activists in Senegal working to replant and preserve the fast
disappearing mangrove forest. She noted that while the most visible
activists were men, it was women who went out every day to work in the
mangroves, often taking their children with them. "It's only when
women really understand the importance of the mangroves and the
importance of protecting them that change can really begin to happen."

Delivering a keynote address at the event, Susana Malcorra,
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's Chef de Cabinet, said that despite
some progress, women are often excluded from the decision-making
process related to the sustainable management of forests. "Women's
contributions to forest management are largely in the form of
informal, unpaid work. And so their share of the benefits is not
proportionate to their contribution," she noted.

"Only by empowering women, and in particular rural women, can we
fulfil their potential as critical agents of change and drivers of
sustainable development. Sustainable forest management will also
benefit from empowering women."</P>Mar 21 2014 3:00PM
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