International Day of Forests

 Happy International Day of Forests!

This day was established by a United Nations resolution in 2013, for the purpose of raising awareness of the importance of forests. Healthy forests are a major carbon sink. That basically means they absorb greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and help mitigate the effects of climate change. 

Forests don't really have a hard definition, although they are defined by the UN's Food and Agricultural Organization as "land spanning more than 0.5 hectares with threes higher than 5 meters and a canopy of more than 10%, or trees able to reach those conditions on site". Forests are found all over the world, encompassing a variety of flora and fauna. Forests first came about during the Middle Devonian period thanks to the first appearances of trees like Calamophyton. These early trees spread throughout the world. And another early plant, Archaeopteris, would drop its dead leaves on the ground, helping make it fertile for more plants to grow. Much of the earth's biomass (the amount of species in one place at one time) is found in forests. 

Forests have a magical quality to them. They can be seen as both places of peace and comfort, as well as places of fear and danger. The forest can be the home of heroes and monsters. They can be portals to magical worlds or barriers.

Sadly, around 32 million acres of forests are lost every year. Healthy forests also help promote biodiversity and provide food, shelter and medicines for various indigenous people all over the world. They also help induce rainfall and reduce the impacts of climate change, as well as purify water and mitigate hazards like floods. It's why we should call and work to help protect these wonders of nature. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! See you next time!