The organization WWF Adria (World Organization for Nature) warned today, on the occasion of the World Day of Forests on March 21, that forests are crucial for people's lives, but that, despite this, they are being destroyed at an alarming rate.
They said that human impacts have already led to the loss of about 40 percent of the world's forests, and global demand for wood products is expected to triple over the next three decades.
They also pointed out that they represent a habitat for more than half of the world's terrestrial species, and that globally more than a billion people live in forests and their surroundings, but that "despite all the services they provide us, we are destroying forests at an alarming rate."
"There is no doubt that the quality of our lives depends to a large extent on preserved forests. They regulate the climate in which we live, alleviate floods, conserve soil, provide drinking water, provide shelter for various wildlife species and much more. It is high time that we seriously change our relationship towards forests so that they can continue to provide us with these existential services. In the coming period, our public policies would have to set concrete and ambitious goals regarding the restoration of forest habitats, in terms of improving their ecological status, and not just increasing the area or the percentage of afforestation ", points out Goran Sekulić from WWF Adria.
From that organization, they pointed out that within the framework of their "Protected Areas for Nature and People" program, they are advocating for more transparent and open decision-making and planning processes in the use of natural resources. They also add that in forestry these processes are still closed and limited mainly to a narrow circle of institutions and public companies, and that the participation of other sectors and the general public is at a very low level.
"Today we are already in a situation where any loss of forest area, i.e. its conversion and construction, is an unacceptable luxury that harms the entire society and this should be prevented at all costs," adds Sekulić.
Excessive and illegal cutting of forests, lack of data on privately owned forests and weak control of their use, as well as the negative effects of climate change and pollution, are just some of the problems in forest management in this region.
From the World Organization for Nature, they reminded that it is necessary to promote and value their vital services they provide us in strategic documents for their management - "providing food, clean water and air, medicine, recreation, construction materials - in a word, existence".
The World Day of Forests is celebrated under the slogan "Forest restoration – the path to recovery and well-being".
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