I’national Day of Forest 2019: ‘Forests and Education.’

Forests in fall colors ©Rohith Roy

Approx. 3 mins read. ≈325 words

Happy Holi to all celebrating today! Its also the first day of the spring aka the vernal equinox and Parsi New Year aka newruz, being celebrated across the world.

The context:

It is also international day of forests 2019 today, with the global theme of ‘Forests and Education’. It seeks to raise awareness on how sustainably managed forests provide a wide array of contributions. Take care of the forests and you shall take care of the watersheds, water cycle (hydrologic cycle), freshwater, groundwater aquifers, air around us and so on. In Africa there is a term for it ‘Ubuntu’, which translates to I am because you are.

The UN General Assembly proclaimed 21 March the International Day of Forests in 2012. I had the fortune of attending the ceremony on that ominous day, while working for UNICEF HQs in NYC. In fact, one of the very first posts on this blog was a report on that day. I remember distinctly, “The Closing Ceremony of the International Year of Forest is a new beginning” quoted Ms. Jan McAlpine, Director, United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) on that day.

In conclusion:

From Japan to India to EU and all the way to Latin America, the importance of conserving and rejuvenating the forests by bringing them back to life has been observed to contribute towards not only the socio-economic but also the mental and general health and well being of all.

Protecting the forests is not only just an environmental issue but also gender, social, economic and political one. We know for a fact that protecting and restoring forests can increase water security, bolster rural economies, provide urban green spaces or lungs as they are called in the context of the cities, mitigate climate change by alleviating the formation of urban heat islands among others. This shall ultimately provide an opportunity to highlight specific forest contributions to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

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