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International Day of Forests is celebrated on 21 March each year. It was established in 2013 by the United Nations, and the week long symposium and celebration is hosted by a different country each year.

The theme for this years’ International Day of Forests (IDF) is “Forests and Sustainable Cities”. The slogan for this year is “Let’s make our cities greener, happier, healthier places to live.” There is comprehensive list of topics on the IDF website, and among the primary messages are that trees contribute to a host of benefits in an urban setting. These include that forests store carbon and help to mitigate climate change. Trees can be used to cool air, thus decreasing the need for air-conditioning and power consumption. Lastly that green urban spaces contribute to more healthy active lifestyles. It is estimated that deforestation contributes to 10-20% of climate change related problems. Each year the world loses 13 million hectares of forests, approximately the size of England. The concept for IDF started casually at Oxford, England, when two professors agreed that the consequences of deforestation especially as it relates to climate change was being grossly underestimated. Over the next several years, with support of the United Nations, the IDF was founded and continues to be a source of education, awareness and action around protecting and developing forestry around the world.

Sustainable forestry is, and will always be, one of our driving missions at Channel Lumber.