International Forest Day: what threatens Ukrainian forests and what can everyone do to preserve them?

To draw attention to the problem of forest loss and the importance of their conservation, on International Forest Day, WWF-Ukraine experts will talk about Ukraine's forest resources, what threats they face and what ordinary Ukrainians can do to help preserve our forest resources. The UN General Assembly launched international Forest Day on March 21, 2012. This year's theme "Forest restoration: a path to recovery and well-being" is dedicated to the impact of deforestation on human health and diseases such as Covid-19 emerging.

Forests are crucial to life on Earth. The stability of the planet's climate and the circulation of clean freshwater depend on them. The vast majority of biodiversity is concentrated in them: 8 out of 10 terrestrial species of plants and animals find refuge in forests. About 1 billion people directly depend on forest resources, like fuel, food, medicine, building materials.

Over the past 30 years, the area of the world's forests has decreased by 178 million hectares, which is almost three times more than the territory of Ukraine. The reason for this is the constant need of humanity for forest resources and space for agriculture.

Deforestation and forest degradation have a direct impact on human health. Forests act as a buffer against diseases such as Covid-19. When forests disappear, animals lose their natural habitat, the interaction of humans and animals increases, which leads to new zoonotic diseases, i.e. infectious diseases common to animals and humans.