Healthy Forests for Healthy People International Day of Forests

Part of Iyale forests within Taita hills forests in Taita Taveta County. [Caroline Chebet, Standard]

History documents that forests, apart from being carbon sinks, also protect humanity from diseases. The emergence and re-emergence of zoonotic animal diseases is blamed on human invasion of forests.

Forests are also libraries full of indigenous knowledge. How the Kaya Forests of the coastal region have been protected from human destruction not with a fence but through cultural practices is a gem worth studying. How some indigenous communities have lived all their lives in forests shows what a powerhouse our forests are.

Forests for medicines

Doctors are today turning to forests to treat people suffering from high blood pressure, mental illnesses, fatigue, anxiety, and tension. Forest bathing, or communion with trees in a forest has been shown to manage these conditions. FAO is currently implementing the Green Cities Initiative; whose goal is to create green spaces in cities. These green spots will serve to calm down humanity weighed down by the hustles and bustles of life and will also absorb air pollutants in cities while also improving nutrition by giving fruits.

Act as carbon sinks

Healthy forests help keep global warming in check. Forests contain 662 billion tonnes of carbon, which is more than half the global carbon stock in soils and vegetation. Forests and trees also help buffer exposure to heat and extreme weather events caused by climate change, which poses a major global health challenge. For example, trees properly placed around buildings cool the air and can cut air conditioning needs by up to 30 per cent, also saving energy.

A river at Nanyuki Forest in Mt. Kenya. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard]

Success story

FAO recently visited Kirisia Forest in Maralal Samburu County and it was a nice surprise to see hundreds of healthy livestock in the middle of forest enjoying a green graze. Kirisia Forest hit global headlines following the efforts of the local people to voluntarily move out of it in an effort to conserve this forest that had been brought to its knees through rampant cutting down of trees. The efforts bore fruits and streams that had dried roared back to life to irrigate the forest and make it a haven of green pasture.

In conclusion, I would like to quote a passionate call by the UN General Secretary Antonio Guterres during COP27: "We are getting dangerously close to the point of no return; the global climate fight will be won or lost in this crucial decade - on our watch. One thing is clear: those that give up are sure to lose, so let's fight together - and let's win".

So let us heed this call and at a personal level, the best gift you can give to the world is to plant trees.

[Carla Mucavi is the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) Kenya Representative]