Don't Forget The Forests

The world's forests continue to disappear at an alarming rate, according to this op-ed. While this devastates our ecosystem and hurt the poor more than others, specific steps can be taken to improve the situation.

1 minute read

April 23, 2006, 9:00 AM PDT

By David Gest

"Our forests are the heart of our environmental support system. And yet, in the 36 years that have passed since the first Earth Day, on April 22, 1970, we have lost more than 1 billion acres of forest, with no end in sight.

The people most vulnerable to the disappearance of forests are the poor: nearly three quarters of the 1.2 billion people defined as extremely poor live in rural areas, where they rely most directly on forests for food, fuel, fiber and building materials. But those of us in the developed world are hardly immune. Smaller forests mean fewer predators keeping insects and rodents in check in the Northeastern United States, a phenomenon linked to the spread of Lyme disease and West Nile virus, among others."

FULL STORY: Why forests matter: Not out of the woods just yet

Thursday, April 20, 2006 in The New York Times via International Herald Tribune

Environment World

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