Need For forest Conservation

Forest conservation is the practice of planting and maintaining forested areas for the benefit and sustainability of future generations. The conservation of forest also stands & aims at a quick shift in the composition of trees species and age distribution. Forest conservation involves the upkeep of the natural resources within a forest that are beneficial to both humans and the environment. Forests are vital for human life because they provide a diverse range of resources: they store carbon &act as carbon sink, produce oxygen which is vital for existence of life on the earth, so they are rightly called as earth lung, help in regulating hydrological cycle, planetary climate, purify water, provide wild life habitat(50% of the earth's biodiversity occurs in forests), reduce global warming, absorb toxic gases & noise, reduce pollution, conserve soil, mitigate natural hazards such as floods& landslides & so on. But now-a-days, forest cover is depleting rapidly due to many reasons such as an expansion of agriculture, timber plantation, other land uses like pulp and paper plantations, urbanization, construction of roads, industries, constitutes the biggest and severe threat to the forest causing serious environmental damage. 

At least 36 per cent and perhaps up to 57 per cent of tree species in the Amazon are already on the verge of extinction and classified as globally threatened, according to Red List criteria of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), is the conclusion of the new research.The threat primarily comes from rampant deforestation, which has transformed millions of hectares of rainforest into agricultural land.If we continue on this track, there may not be much rainforest left in 50 to 100 years time, says one of the researchers behind the new study.

In the new study, scientists collected data from lots of other smaller studies that mapped trees in the Amazon. They gathered data on 15,000 different species and the results are not encouraging.Up to 9,000 species are threatened to such an extent that they are in danger of disappearing completely.If these trees disappear, it could create big problems for the rainforest's overall ecosystem, as animals and trees depend on each other in many ways.

"When you remove 100,000 hectares of forest, you also remove species that aren’t found anywhere else." A rainforest has a complex food chain where different species are highly interdependent.Removing some tree species can remove the food source for other species, creating a domino effect in which the necessary interactions between various species begins to collapse.

Scientisits suggests designating areas of the rainforests as national parks and employ monitoring staff to ensure the protection of the forests.The loss of trees and other vegetation can cause climate change, desertification, soil erosion, fewer crops, flooding, increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and a host of problems for indigenous people.

How have forests affected your life today?

Have you had your breakfast? Travelled to work in a bus or car? Sat on a chair? Made a shopping list? Got a parking ticket? Blown your nose into a tissue? Forest products are a vital part of our daily lives in more ways than we can imagine.

Over 2 billion people rely on forests

Forests provide us with shelter, livelihoods, water, food and fuel security. All these activities directly or indirectly involve forests. Some are easy to figure out - fruits, paper and wood from trees, and so on. Others are less obvious, such as by-products that go into everyday items like medicines, cosmetics and detergents.

Habitats for biodiversity and livelihood for humans

Looking at it beyond our narrow, human – not to mention urban – perspective, forests provide habitats to diverse animal species. They are home to 80% of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity, and they also form the source of livelihood for many different human settlements, including 60 million indigenous people.

Forests provide jobs for more than 13 million people across the world

In addition, 300 million people live in forests, including 60 million indigenous people.Yet, we are losing them. Between 1990 and 2015, the world lost some 129 million ha of forest, an area the size of South Africa. When we take away the forest, it is not just the trees that go. The entire ecosystem begins to fall apart, with dire consequences for all of us.

After oceans, forests are the world’s largest storehouses of carbon.

They provide ecosystem services that are critical to human welfare. These include:
 

• Absorbing harmful greenhouse gasses that produce climate change. In tropical forests alone, a quarter of a trillion tons of carbon is stored in above and below ground biomass
• Providing clean water for drinking, bathing, and other household needs
• Protecting watersheds and reducing or slowing the amount of erosion and chemicals that reach waterways
• Providing food and medicine
• Serving as a buffer in natural disasters like flood and rainfalls
• Providing habitat to more than half of the world’s land-based species.