Forestry Commission
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Sustainable Forestry
Investing in Forestry
Why is investing in forestry so important? Some 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 almost 2% of the world's forests).
Humans are largely to blame. The conversion of forests to agricultural land, unsustainable forest management, new roads and expanding towns and cities, pollution and climate change are all having negative impacts on forest biological diversity.
Forests used to be all about timber production. Now they are recognised as being important for biological diversity, maintenance of ecosystem services and the mitigation of climate change. That is what we mean by sustainable forest management.
In April 2002, the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity committed themselves to achieve by 2010 a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional and national level as a contribution to poverty alleviation and to the benefit of all life on Earth.
This target was subsequently endorsed by the World Summit on Sustainable Development and the United Nations General Assembly and was incorporated as a new target under the Millennium Development Goals. Which is why by investing in forestry you can also play a part in maintaining the eco-system and saving the planet.
