World marks International Day of Forests

World marks International Day of Forests

Ukrinform
The International Day of Forests is marked all over the world on March 21. This day was initiated by the European Confederation of Agriculture at the 23rd UN General Assembly meeting in 1971, and this idea was supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Every year this day is an opportunity to inform society about the importance of preserving "the lungs of the Earth." After all, forests have been mercilessly destroyed for centuries, and this has led to environmental disasters in entire regions, complete disappearance of some species of flora and fauna. According to some expert estimates, 26 million square kilometers of forests have been destroyed over the past 10,000 years. Forests are dying from fires, illegal logging, natural disasters, insect pests, diseases and other causes.

Unfortunately, this huge problem also affected Ukraine, where forests make up 15% of its territory. However, this area is steadily decreasing. Ecologists are raising the alarm. In particular, forests in Bukovyna, the Carpathians, Volyn and Rivne regions experience a real catastrophe due to purely consumer use. Their areas turn into stadiums or "lunar landscapes," as is the case in Rivne region where illegal amber miners install water pumps, thus washing away the soil and destroying the trees.

There are still catastrophic consequences for ecology due to military operations in the eastern part of Ukraine, about which almost no one speaks now, but the negative influence of which has long been known and can continue for decades after the end of the war. The most significant impact is the fires that engulfed, according to the Ecology-Law-Man organization, 17% of forests and 24% of the steppes in the military operations zone.

Thus, the main objective of the International Day of Forests is to attract the attention of residents of the planet to the problem of preserving forests and inform them about the importance of forest ecosystems, their actual state, and main measures on their protection and restoration.

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