Forests and Biodiversity

Kalpana Palkhiwala**


World Forestry Day is an international event celebrated on 21 March every year. It has been celebrated around the world for 30 years to remind communities of the importance of forests and the many benefits which we gain from them.



The concept of having a World Forestry Day originated at the 23rd General Assembly of the European Confederation of Agriculture in 1971. Later that year, March 21, the autumnal equinox in the Southern Hemisphere and the vernal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere was chosen as the day to be celebrated offering information about the three key facets of forestry, protection, production and recreation.



Forests have been of great importance to mankind since prehistoric days. A forest just doesn’t mean trees only but it’s an entire complex, living community. Many populations of plants and animals dwell beneath the forest canopy. The forest soil is home to large variety of invertebrates, bacteria and fungi which play an essential role in recycling nutrients in the soil and the forests.



Forests provide multiple benefits to environment, people, and animals. Forests, supply many products like timber for making furniture, houses, ships and railway sleepers, plywood, fuel wood or charcoal, paper, processed wood products like cellophane, plastics, synthetic fibers like rayon and nylon, rubber from the latex of rubber tree. Fruits, nuts and spices are gathered from the forest. A lot of medicinal plants such as camphor, cinchona also come from the forests.



The roots of the trees hold the soil together and thus help to conserve soil by preventing rapid runoff water after heavy rain and minimizing flooding. Trees absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen into air which is needed to breath by the mankind. Vegetation affects local and global climate. Trees form a protective cover of the earth as well as provide shelter to the wild animals and protect all the living beings from the solar heat and regulate the temperature of earth. Forests reduce light reflection, offer a sound barrier and help guide wind direction and speed. Similarly wildlife is important for it is an important part of the lifecycle.



The need of the hour is to save forests, because reckless felling of trees is creating problems. The forest coverage has reduced to 30% as opposed to 60% earlier. The theme for this year’s World Forestry Day is “Forests and Biodiversity’. This day aims to provide opportunities for people to learn how forests can be managed and used sustainably.



Forest biological diversity is a broad term referring to all these life forms found within the forest areas and the ecological roles they perform. It encompasses not just trees but the multitude of plants, animals and micro –organisms that inhabit forest areas and their associated genetic diversity. It can be considered at different levels, including the ecosystem, landscapes, species, populations and genetics. Complex interactions can occur within and amongst these levels. In biological diverse forests, this complexity allows organisms to adapt to continually changing environment conditions and to maintain ecosystem functions.



In the last 8000 years about 45% of the Earth’s original forest cover has disappeared, cleared mostly during the past century. The food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) recently estimated that about 13 million hectares of the World’s forests are lost due to deforestation each year. The annual net loss of forest area between 2000 and 2005 was 7.3 million hectares (equivalent to the net loss of 0.18 percent of the world’s forests).

In the past, timber production was regarded as the dominant function of forests. However in recent years this perception has shifted to a more multi –functional and balanced view. Other forest functions and services, such as recreation, health and well -being, biological diversity, maintenance of ecosystem services and the mitigation of climate change, are now recognized as part of the importance of forests and have biological diversity. It is increasingly being recognized as both a complex and unique element .



The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) addresses forests directly through the expanded programme of work on forest biological diversity (annex to decision Vi/22), adopted in 2002 by the Conference of the Parties at its sixth meeting. The forest work programme constitutes a broad set of goals, objectives and activities aimed at the conservation of forest biodiversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable use of the benefits arising from the utilization of forest genetic resources. The programme of work on forest biodiversity consists of three elements conservation, sustainable use, and benefit- sharing; institutional and socio-economic enabling environment and knowledge, assessment, and monitoring.



*Deputy Director, Press Information Bureau, New Delhi