Monday was International Day of Forests, a perfect moment for taking a walk under your local trees and reading a roundup of forest victories from around the world.
This year notes a turning tide in the global awareness of the value of trees. In several regions of the world, there are more acres of forest than there have been in the past 100 years: in Europe for example.
In other cases, reforestation stemming from a conscious change in attitudes towards conservation is now equal to existing deforestation in some of the most threatened areas, for example in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest biome.
The recent meeting of the parties to the Paris Climate Accords have given rise to an international agreement between two dozen countries to end deforestation this decade. Locally-speaking, regional victories drive these global trends, and these movements will certainly go a long way to making every future International Day of Forests even more special because of what has been saved.
In the U.S., Oregon lawmakers just passed legislation to conserve 81,544 acres (33,000 hectares) of the Elliott State Forest, protecting it against logging and future threats. The site contains significant old-growth forest and supports 20% of the wild Oregon Coast coho salmon population.
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