WHY IS FORESTS IMPORTANT?

Forests are VERY important. Forests serve as the home of wild animals. Forests are also NATURE. In this picture, you can see so much trees, rivers, wild animals, and so much more. It's trees are the home of birds where their nests are located. Forest are the kind of place where wild animals belongs to. Not in cages, zoos, not for public shows to make lots of money. The forest's trees are the ones who help prevent flash floods.

Old growth forests have values that cannot be found anywhere else, they are unique and irreplaceable. It is not possible to clearfell them and retain their old growth characteristics. What grows back after logging is known as regrowth forest. It is useful and often beautiful but it will never be old growth forest again because of the massive disturbance to its ecosystem.

The chief economic product of forests is timber, but the economic benefits, in terms of climate control, pollution abatement, and wildlife maintenance, have rarely been calculated. The economic importance of nontimber forest products is also increasing. The forest is also vital as a watershed. Because of the thick humus layer, loose soil, and soil-retaining powers of the trees' long roots, forests are vitally important for preserving adequate water supplies. Almost all water ultimately feeds from forest rivers and lakes and from forest-derived water tables. In addition, the forest provides shelter for wildlife, recreation and aesthetic renewal for people, and irreplaceable supplies of oxygen and soil nutrients. Deforestation, particularly in the tropical rain forests, has become a major environmental concern, as it can destabilize the earth's tempeature, humidity, and carbon dioxide levels. Efforts to control deforestation, including those at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, remain ineffective.

forest is important not only to its own habitat that dwell in it but also the people that live in the surroundings. it may be somehow the source of their income and even for their food to eat. Some forests are utmost important because of their watershed which is the source of drinking water to the people.

Forests serve many functions. Primarily, they protect and form natural resources.

Through the process of photosynthesis, forests renew the oxygen supply in the atmosphere by absorbing atmospheric CO2 and moderating the greenhouse effect.

Forests provide an environment for many species of plants and animals, thus protecting and sustaining the diversity of nature.

Forests clean the environment by muffling noises, buffering strong winds and stopping dust and gases.

They help regulate surface water runoff, moderate high and low temperatures and prevent soil erosion.

In performing these functions, forests stabilise the climate and shape the landscape. Forests are also popular areas for relaxation and recreation.

WOOD AND ENERGY
It is one of the most important benefits of the forests that we get wood from the trees which is further used in many products used by us like timber wood is widely used in furniture, constructions and other domestic purposes. Other products like paper, fiber board, cardboard etc are also made from the wood. Earlier wood was the major product obtained from forests but nowadays minor products are also given attention and supplied to the different parts in a country or world. Theses products are dyes, medicines, fibers, animal fodder, gum, resins, honey, spices, oils, turpentine, tanning materials etc.


BENEFICIAL FOR ENVIRONMENT
It plays important role in balancing and protecting our environment. The roots of trees prevent the soil erosion in the forests of sloping watersheds. If these forests are cleared then the stream and rivers will carry the huge amount of soil with them which gets deposit in the irrigation reservoir and chambers where hydroelectricity is produced and reduces the life of these equipments. In the areas where the forests are covered with snow in winters there it checks the rate of snow melting during the spring and summers. It also checks the wind erosion on local level. Forests give shade and humid the air which lowers the temperature of nearby areas.


HABITAT
Forest is a habitat for many animals called wild animals. With the cutting of forests the wild life is also vanishing so to protect wild life we have to protect forests. It is also a dwelling place for the tribal people who are living there for many generations. Researches have shown that approximately 50 percent of living species on the earth has their dwelling place in forests.

CLIMATE
No doubt forest has a great contribution in the climate all around the world. Many gases trap the heat energy on the earth otherwise it would have been radiated in the space. This is a natural greenhouse effect which has maintained the temperature on earth else it would be 30 degree C lower than it is now. Trees in forest acts as the storage for carbon because it remains in wood till it is burnt as fuel otherwise it remains in it even if we use wood for furniture or other household products. Forests trees also reduces air pollution which is growing at very high rate nowadays.

Forests and around the world are still disappearing at an alarming rate, and in general very little has been done to prevent deforestation in developing countries. World seems to be constantly forgetting how important forests and rainforests really are, and so rapid deforestation continues in many parts of the world.

Many people are not aware that forests play extremely important role in regulating climate, and because of their carbon-sinking ability they act as natural weapon against climate change. Currently, rainforests absorb around 20 percent of the total CO2 emissions every year, but sadly heavy deforestation is also releasing an extra 17 percent of CO2 emissions each year. Deforestation has really become large source of CO2 emissions, in fact it is the third biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions so it is really no wonder that many environmentalists describe deforestation as "one of the biggest threat to the global climate".

Deforestation is worst in Africa, Amazon, and Indonesia. For instance if current rates of deforestation are about to continue in Amazon in years to come, more than half of the Amazon rainforest will be lost in the next 25 years. The last thing world needs in fight against climate change is deforestation, what we really need is reforestation, and rich countries should really ensure funds for reforestation in poor countries.