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UN: Forests can deliver global green economy
- Published on Wednesday, 20 June 2012 12:04
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A UN report has concluded that the world’s forests can deliver a strong and resilient global green economy if managed properly.
However, the report underlines the importance of bringing in the right policies to ensure that the forests can live up to their worldwide potential.
The findings were brought to light at the Rio+20 summit in Brazil.
Also announced was the launch of another initiative that hopes to restore 18 million hectares of forest.
Assistant Director-General for Forestry at the UN Food and Agriculture, Eduardo Rojas-Briales, hopes that the outcome of Rio+20’s forestry research and initiatives can bring about real change for impoverished world citizens, as well as becoming a major boon for green industry.
"Forests and trees on farms are a direct source of food, energy and income for more than a billion of the world's poorest people.
"At the same time, forests trap carbon and mitigate climate change, maintain water and soil health, and prevent desertification.
"The sustainable management of forests offer multiple benefits - with the right programmes and policies, the sector can lead the way towards more sustainable, greener economies."
The State of the World’s Forest 2012, the 10th such report to be published, underlines some of the key areas that could stimulate real revenues with the right nurturing.
One such area would see increase natural life support systems. Forests perform a range of “essential ecosystem functions”, like controlling water supplies and buffering against natural disasters.
SOFO said that forests are an "engine of economic development", and also demonstrated the undeniable link between reforestation and growth, and deforestation and economic decline. They recommend that by moving towards reforestation, governments can hope to tackle poverty simultaneously.
There is also hope that reforestation would become a “key component of greening other sectors", as wood is the main energy supply for 33% of the world’s population. There is hope that by utilising the right legislation, this could be expanded to supply a greener, cleaner planet.
The report concludes that forests and their associated produce "will not solve the challenges of moving towards greener economies, but they will provide excellent examples and a source of hope".
Coupling the findings was a joint pledge between the US, Rwanda, and the Brazilian Mata Atlantic Forest Restoration Pact to restore 18 million hectares of land.
The initiative is part of the Bonn Challenge, a pact agreed in September 2011 which aims to restore 150 million hectares by 2020.
"The largest restoration initiative the world has ever seen is now underway," said Julia Marton-Lefcvre, of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
She said it “will provide huge global benefits in the form of income, food security and addressing climate change.
"We urge other countries and landowners to follow suit."
