21 March is International Forest Day. It was established in 2012 by the United Nations General Assembly. This day serves to raise awareness of the importance of forests and their indispensable role in human and Earth life, environmental sustainability, and environmental security.
Forests are fundamental to our lives: they absorb the carbon dioxide we produce in industrial quantities. They also interact with the climate, and in particular with temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, and precipitation. All types of forests must be managed sustainably because this means defending the lives of future generations on Earth.
Forests cover one-third of the Earth's surface and are the ecosystems with the highest rate of biodiversity. Around 1.6 billion people and more than 2,000 indigenous cultures find food, medicine, and energy in forests. Despite this, global deforestation continues at an alarming rate, and forests are increasingly ravaged by fires and suffering from the impact of climate change. 12 million hectares of forests are destroyed each year, and deforestation accounts for 12-20% of global greenhouse gas emissions, contributing around 4.5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide to climate change.
In Italy, forests are continuously and gradually increasing in the last 30 years there has been an increase of 3 million hectares. In fact, forests have come to cover about a third of the national territory, partly due to the spontaneous growth of forest vegetation on abandoned agricultural land. Forested areas are particularly characteristic of Italy's inland areas, which can play a driving role in the country's recovery in terms of agriculture, employment, and sustainable tourism.
However, nothing happens without commitment. Enhancing the value of inland areas requires the modernization of infrastructures, starting with forest roads, the digitalization of forestry practices, and the simplification of authorizations for forestry work. This is the only way to make the forests increasingly sustainable.
Reference
https://www.rinnovabili.it/ambiente/biodiversita/giornata-internazionale-delle-foreste/
