Why Tropical Forests Matter

We all have a stake in the survival of all forests. They store billions of tonnes of carbon that would otherwise fuel global warming, and they support unparalled biodiversity - over 50% of all terrestrial plant and animal species.

Many people depend directly on forests. About 70 million live deep within forests and rely on them for almost every aspect of their survival and way of life.

For hundreds of millions more rural poor people living at the frontier, forests provide critical income, food and fuel wood. They mitigate flooding and soil erosion, and keep rivers clean and flowing through the dry season.

In some less developed countries like Indonesia and Vietnam, the wood-product sector is a major employer and foreign currency earner.

Why should we be concerned?

Throughout the tropics and elsewhere, forests are being cleared for agriculture, tree plantations, roads and settlements. They are mined for timber and burned in vast forest fires. At current rates of deforestation only remnants will survive by the middle of this century.

Deforestation causes some 15 percent of man's carbon emissions, heating the atmosphere. Thousands of plant and animal species are becoming extinct, many before they are discovered and some with unique medical properties.

Local communities are losing the forest resources they depend on. Indigenous people are having their livelihoods and cultures destroyed. Developing countries are losing a key economic resource that could be sustainably managed for generations.

The world will be a poorer, less stable and less interesting place without forests.

Is it too late?

In some cases it is too late - whole regions have been deforested within living memory and others such as lowland Kalimantan and much of Cambodia are on course to be logged out within 10 years.

Vast forests remain, but the frontier is continually receding. A fundamental reason is that forests are undervalued - financial values of forest land fail to reflect most of the economic, social and environmental benefits that forests provide.

Some forests are being conserved through sustainable management linked to environmentally sensitive markets that do recognise their wider benefits. Much larger areas could be protected in this way.

There is a lot to play for, but not much time - the first step is to recognise that forests matter.