International Day of Forests

The 21^st of March was proclaimed the International Day of the Forests by the United Nations General Assembly just last year. The reason for the day is to celebrate and raise awareness and the hope is that efforts will be taken to plant trees on this day and others. Forests and trees provide us with clean air and water, safeguard biodiversity and help prevent climate change, not to mention the food, shelter and employment it offers. Each year more than 32 million acres of forest are lost, this is equivalent to the size of England. It not only kills off plants and animals but harms he over 1 billion people who depend on the forests.

Brazil has introduced a new forestry code which was approved in 2012. It faced a constitutional challenge in January of 2013 as many are afraid that it threatens the Amazon rainforest. The previous code, which was from 1965, protected much more land from deforestation according to the federal prosecutors. One of the most controversial parts of the new code is that it protects those who illegally cleared forest land prior to 2008. 

Over 60% of Brazil is made up of jungles and forests, most of it being privately owned. The 1965 code protected the forests by limiting the lands use to farming and mandating that 80% of the privately owned rainforest had to remain intact. The new code has eased the restrictions on private landowners. Brazil has managed however to slow the rate of deforestation, dropping it by 27% between 2011 and 2012. Recent reports have indicated a different story and there are concerns that as the new rules under the 2012 code have not been properly implemented, that there has since been an increase in the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest. The slowing rate reported in 2012 seems to have been reversed. Luckily the new code calls for a large amount of land to be reforested, although that all depends on whether the code will be properly implemented or not. Deforestation is still creeping into new areas daily, not only in the Amazon rainforest, and the rate of newly planted trees cannot keep up. 

Follow the link for the full text of the UN Resolution http://www.fao.org/forestry/35970-02022d20f3c3e226276b36d32b2bc811a.pdf 

Sinead McGinley

GCD FLAC