Ancient Forests in Crisis
Two-thirds of the world’s plants and animals live in ancient forests. That’s hundreds of thousands of different species and literally millions of types of insects. Millions of people depend on ancient forests for their survival. These people and cultures are under threat and many of the plants and animals face extinction.
An area of rainforest, the size of a football field disappears every 2 seconds.
‘Short of a miraculous transformation in the attitude of people and governments, the earth’s remaining forests and their associated biodiversity are destined to disappear in the coming decades.’ Klaus Toepfer, Executive Director, UNEP, May 2001
Forests are diverse ecosystems which help to maintain life on earth. They influence weather by controlling rainfall and evaporation of water from the soil, and help stabilise the world’s climate by storing large amounts of carbon that would otherwise contribute to climate change.
