Sources of life and food, natural pharmacies and weapons against climate change. All this and much more are los forestsvital ecosystems for the human being. The United Nations (UN) has warned that these ecosystems are in danger and has called for immediate action to protect them. Hence the campaign’Healthy forests, healthy people‘, promoted on the occasion of the International Day of Forests, celebrated this Tuesday.
“Forests are crucial to our health and well-being. Their conservation is essential, as they offer food, shelter, medicine and oxygen. It is not an exaggeration to ensure that if the forests enjoy good health, human beings do too,” the UN highlights.
They cover 31% of the Earth’s surface and are home to 80% of terrestrial species, but its increasingly accelerated loss poses a serious threat to the future of humanity and the planet.
Forest ecosystems maintain the health of the planet: regulate the climate, rainfall and watersheds, and provide essential oxygen for life.
Besides, forests help keep climate change in check by acting as ‘carbon sinks’. Every year they absorb about 2,000 million tons of carbon dioxide, the gas that contributes the most to the global warming.
Forest products are used daily throughout the world. They are obtained from masks to medicines. 80% of developing countries and 25% of developed countries depend on medicines of plant origin.
natural pharmacies
About 50,000 species of plants that grow in forests have medicinal value and are used by both local communities and multinational pharmaceutical companies. Forests are, therefore, natural pharmacies. Examples of this are cancer drugs from the Madagascar vinca (Catharanthus roseus) or antimalarial drugs obtained from cinchona trees (Cinchona officinalis).
Focus ‘one health‘, launched as part of the UN response to the covid-19 pandemic, recognizes that the health of humans, animals, plants and the wider environment, including forests, are closely linked and it is interdependent.
Almost 1 billion people around the world depend on gathering wild foods such as herbs, fruits, nuts, meat and insects, largely from forests, to obtain nutritious diets. In some remote tropical areas, wild meat consumption covers between 60% and 80% of daily protein requirements.
A study carried out in 43,000 households in 27 African countries revealed that the dietary diversity of children exposed to forests is at least 25% greater than that of those who were not. In much of Asia and Africa, indigenous communities use about 120 wild foods per community, and in India alone 50 million households supplement their diets with fruits gathered from forests and bushes.
More: the forests are crucial for sustainable developmentsince they provide products and services, employment and income to some 2,500 million people around the world, which is equivalent to a third of the world’s population.
remedy against stress
The UN stresses that Maintaining the health of forests is central to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Regarding number 3, referring to well-being, numerous scientific studies have shown that Spending time in the woods boosts the immune system, heightens positive emotions, and reduces stress, blood pressure, depression, fatigue, anxiety, and tension..
The presence of trees in cities helps protect the population from respiratory diseases by absorbing polluting gases and filtering out fine particles such as dust, dirt and smoke.
Forests also play a filtering role in the supply of fresh water (SDG number 6). 75% of the world’s accessible fresh water comes from forest basins.
Regarding SDG number 13, on action against climate change, forests buffer the impacts of storms and floods.
Forest ecosystems have traditionally acted as a natural barrier to disease transmission between animals and humans. But as deforestation continues, the risk of zoonoses increases.
But the forests are in danger. Fires, insect infestations and deforestation have caused the loss in some years of the last decade of up to 150 million hectares of forest, which is equivalent to three times the area of Spain.
The production of agricultural and livestock raw materials, such as palm oil, beef, soybeans, wood, pulp and paper, causes around 70% of tropical deforestation.
The UN has made an appeal to fight against all this and take care of the forests. “Through favorable policies for the forestry sector and increased investment in forests and trees we can protect our planet and our health“he points out.
UN publication on forests and health: https://www.fao.org/3/cb1468es/cb1468es.pdf
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Contact of the Environment section: crisisclimatica@prensaiberica.es