Make restoration of forests a priority

The world celebrated International Day of Forests (IDF) on March 21 amid increasing depletion of these critical ecosystems. Forests cover about 31 per cent of global land area and are home to around 80 per cent of the globe’s biodiversity. From food, water purification, climate change mitigation through acting as carbon sinks – absorbing about 2.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide every year,  to supporting livelihoods of about one billion people around the world, forests play a key role in the well-being of humanity.

Over 15,000 acres of indigenous Kapchemutwo forest in Keiyo North, Elgeyo Marakwet County invaded and cleared. The logging is done in broad daylight. Tuesday 30, March 2021. [Christopher Kipsang, Standard]

In spite of this prominence, they are disappearing at an alarming rate. According to the 2020 State of the World Forests report, more than 420 million hectares of forest have been lost through conversion to other land uses. Between 2015 and 2020, the rate of deforestation was estimated at 10 million hectares per year.