By YANGE IKYAA
In the lead-up to the UN International Day of Forests, which will take place on Sunday, March 21, 2021, Cities4Forests, a global initiative of more than 60 cities and on the interdependence between forests and cities, will convene an online press conference on March 18, 2021 for journalists from Africa, Europe, and Asia.
This is to offer them the chance to learn more about the value of forests for ensuring climate resilience, supporting human well-being, as well as biodiversity restoration, and many more valuable services of natural importance.
The Cities4Forests initiative is supported by the REVOLVE Group as a founding partner and organizer of the press conference. REVOLVE has been a communication partner to numerous European Union projects and to different global and regional initiatives.
It is expected that journalists attending the press conference will learn about the need for green infrastructure, nature-based solutions, and the overall importance of forests in and around cities, as well as globally, for the continuously increasing number of urban residents.
Speakers slated to make presentations at the conference are Dr. Elvis Paul Tangem, coordinator of the Great Green Wall Initiative, African Union; Tadashi Matsumoto, head of sustainable urban development Umunit, OECD; and Anke Schulmeister-Oldehove, senior forest policy officer at WWF European Policy Office (EPO).
Media kits will be provided highlighting the value of forests, the concept of imported deforestation, and about the International Day of Forests, with the theme for this year as “Forest Restoration: A pathway to recovery.”
Special attention will also be given to the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2020-2030).
Forests continue to be cut down at an alarming pace globally, largely to feed human consumption patterns. An estimated 80% of deforestation is linked to the expansion of agriculture, with land being cleared to make way for grazing animals and to grow crops.
Yet, forests contain 60,000 different tree species, 80% of amphibian species, 75% of bird species, and 68% of the world’s mammal species. They cover one third of the earth’s surface and provide habitats for most of the earth’s land-based biodiversity.
However, their importance to life on the planet, especially human life, is often overlooked due to their distance and size in comparison to our cities.
Still, forests constantly act as life-giving ecosystems, teeming with numerous species of flora and fauna, and acting as massive carbon sequestration bodies that contribute to water cycles, thus contributing to global temperature regulation.
They also provide many ecosystem services and products that are critical to society, ranging from natural ingredients for medicines and wood-based products for buildings and infrastructure to clean water and fertile soils.
Furthermore, forests enhance biodiversity, climate resilience, and also improve human health.
On each International Day of Forests, countries are encouraged to undertake local, national and international efforts to organize activities involving forests and trees, such as tree planting campaigns.
The official theme of the 2021 UN International Day of Forests is “Forest Restoration: A Path to Recovery and Well-being.”
