Global Forest Watch’s Post

Sustainably managed forests and the wood products they provide are powerful tools for mitigating climate change. Washington's working forests keep our forests healthy, resilient and better able to adapt to a changing climate. #ClimateSmartForestry #ModernForestry #workingforests

🌳🌲🎋 Did you know that 1.6 billion people globally rely on #forests directly for their #livelihoods? * Forests are key to a #climate-resilient future, and we are committed in finding solutions to preserve them and tackle climate change together. This Forest Week, you can be a part of that change by becoming a #foreststeward. Work with us to protect the home of #endangered #wildlife and livelihoods of #localcommunities. Find out more on how to become a forest steward today:  https://lnkd.in/drn3365c   *IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, 2022 📷 FSC UK / C.Davies, FSC UK / M.More, Shutterstock/ KKonda   #TrustTheTree #FSCForestWeek

🌳 2022 brought a 10% spike in tropical primary rainforest loss compared to 2021 – a concerning trend highlighted by the WRI's Global Forest Watch. We're losing forests at a rate of 11 football fields per minute, leading to 2.7 Gt of CO2 emissions. Link: https://lnkd.in/e4ERtwC2 #Deforestation #ClimateCrisis #ActOnClimate #nature #forests #climatechange

Today, on World Environment Day, we reflect on land restoration, desertification, and drought resilience. According to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, up to 40 percent of the planet's land is degraded, directly affecting half of the world's population. It is high time we joined hands to amplify efforts to restore our planet by growing forests, harvesting rainwater, eating soil-friendly diets, and fighting climate change. Let us all be custodians of Earth, our only home. #WorldEnvironmentDay #LandRestoration #ClimateAction #GenerationRestoration

Have you heard that wildfires are becoming more frequent and destructive globally due to climate change, reduced old-growth forests, and new construction developments encroaching on forests? The Mediterranean's climate has become hotter and dryer over the last half-century, making the land more susceptible to large and difficult-to-control fires. The increased fire danger is made worse by the increased quantity of fast-growing so-called "cash crops," which burn much more easily than native plants such as the cork oak tree. Let's raise awareness about the importance of creating fire-resilient ecosystems. #wildfires #climatechange #forestprotection #savetheforests

#Wildfires #BritishColumbia "The prevalence of wildfires are partly a consequence of the hotter and drier forests due to climate change and partly the legacy of more than a century worth of forest management that prioritized timber production along with the suppression of fire to preserve that timber. “We’re learning the hard way (about) unintended consequences,” said wildfire ecologist Lori Daniels. “Some of those practices, although they seemed like they were going to be economically beneficial to us between 1950 and 1990, they’re catching up with us now.” Daniels, a professor in the UBC department of forests and conservation science, added that the costs include lost timber for the forest industry, less reliable drinking water in burned-over watersheds as hillsides become more prone to erosion, and harm to human health “from breathing smoke all summer.” ... Large areas of forests replanted after 2017 fires for timber, with lodgepole pine and fir seedlings, were simply scorched out again by drought during the 2021 summer heat dome. “Even some of the naturally regenerating conifers,” Daniels said. “Those seedlings died. They did not make it through the heat dome. They were too young, it (was) too hot, the soil moisture was far too dry, they simply desiccated.” In some cases, those formerly forested landscapes will be better off left to become grasslands because that will make them more resilient to climate change, as droughts are expected to become more common, Daniels said. However, researchers are learning more hopeful lessons in a patch of UBC’s research forest near Williams Lake where the land was left to let nature take its course after a small fire in 2013. Researchers put observation plots into the burn area right away and left it alone to “just see what the ecosystem does if we let it do its thing,” Daniels said. Data hasn’t been finalized from the most recent observation, but researchers have observed healthy growth of three-metre-high aspen and birch trees with a mix of healthy, naturally regenerated, metre-high lodgepole pine and Douglas fir seedlings growing happily in the shade of their deciduous cousins. “It’s just a small patch,” Daniels said. “So it’s not quite comparable to those big fires out on the (Chilcotin) plateau, but the lesson after 10 years, they’re really happy to grow, even though there’s supposedly all this competition from the broadleaf trees immediately around them.” That challenges Ministry of Forests dogma on reforestation, which prioritizes planting conifer species for their timber value and weeds out species such as aspen, alder and birch by spraying with glyphosate herbicides. However, the ministry says its practices and standards are shifting in light of what is being learned and its forest-landscape planning now gives priority to the health of forest ecosystems. ..."

Every day should be World Wetlands Day, because every day, everywhere, healthy wetlands are ensuring our wellbeing. Wetlands are indispensable for the countless benefits or ecosystem services that they provide humanity, ranging from freshwater supply, food and biodiversity, to flood control, groundwater recharge and climate change mitigation. ➡ https://lnkd.in/ezmVE28 #WWD2024 #Wetlandsandhumanwellbeing

According to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, up to 40% of the planet's land is degraded, directly affecting half of the world’s population. Lands play a key role in climate action as its surfaces, such as forests, help store carbon and regulate the planet's temperature. This is why WED 2024 is addressing land restoration and building drought resilience. Because Our Land is Our Future. Get involved today. #WorldEnvironmentDay #OurLandOurFuture #GenerationRestoration #ClimateAction #Sustainability #sgeinitiative