World Forestry Day or International Day of Forests is celebrated worldwide every year on 21st of March at the international level in order to increase the public awareness among communities about the values, significance and contributions of the forests to balance the life cycle on the earth.
History of World Forestry Day
The World Forestry Day was established in the year 1971 at the 23rd General Assembly of European Confederation of Agriculture. And it was decided to be celebrated as an annual event celebration on 21st of March by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. World Forestry Day was established in the Conference of States members of Food and Agriculture Organization by voting to establish it. This event was originated in well planned manner to give support in contributing towards the public awareness about the importance of the forests.
International Day of Forests was first established in the year 2012 on 28th of November to be celebrated on 21st of March every year by the decision of the United Nations General Assembly by uniting the two international commemorations; the World Forestry Day and Forest Day.
Like other branches of the agriculture, forestry is also an important field which requires the public attention to be taken. It is very necessary for the common public to understand the forest value in our daily lives as a raw material source, local employment source as well as the national income source. Forests plays great role in gathering and releasing the water on the earth and maintain the flora and fauna habitat balance. Forests are the natural beauty on the earth which is very necessary to be conserved to go everything in balance.
Why World Forestry Day is Celebrated
Forests are very essential part of the life on Earth. They always fulfill the demands of the human beings by providing shadow, shelter, refreshment including clean air and water. In the modern world of growing global population increases the demands of forest products so the forests are at big risks of deforestation and degradation.
Forests are the complex living community of the trees which provides home and shelter to a big range of animals and the soil beneath it inhabit the variety of invertebrates, fungi and bacteria playing significant role in balancing the nutrients cycle in the soil and forest. World forestry day celebration provides a big opportunity to all the people to learn more about their contributions in maintaining the well-being of people. During this event celebration people share their views and ideas by working together to incorporate the forests into future climate change strategies.
According to the resources it has been noted that there is an annual loss of around 13 million hectares or 32 million acres of the forests by the people. Loss of the forests enhances the loss of inhabitant animal species to the forest. Deforestation imbalances the balance of natural climate which lead to the global warming by increasing the CO2 and decreasing the O2 percentage all across the world.
Almost 30% of the total land worldwide is occupied by the forests containing over 60,000 tree species which are ultimately the great resources of the food, fuel, fodder, essential oils, resins, latex, gums, medicines, fiber, water, woods for the population of around 1.6 billion poorest people of the world.
How World Forestry Day is Celebrated
World forestry day is celebrated every year by visiting the local forests in order to learn more about their contributions towards the well-being of people. The countries which are the forest-rich (occupying almost 2/3 of total forested area) includes Canada, the Russian Federation, Brazil, the United States, Democratic Republic of Congo, Australia, Indonesia, China, Peru and India.
Almost 1/3rd of all the forests are considered as the primary forests where no any human activities are seen and the ecological processes are balanced. Around 6 million hectares of the forests are getting lost due to deforestation on annual basis.
During the event celebration the tree plantation campaign is encouraged among the common people through many activities. People are the main target of this campaign to get aware about the serious imbalance of food production and population explosion day by day including the contribution of forests in their lives. They get motivated towards the plantation in the nearby areas as well as stop the deforestation.
(Ref : http://www.indiacelebrating.com/events/world-forestry-day/ & Emaze)