The International Year of Forests, 2011
Forests cover a third of the Earth’s surface. They are home to over half of terrestrial species and hundreds of millions of human beings. Forests provide part of one in four people’s incomes. For 7 billion people, most of the world’s population, forests are resources for the food they eat, the air they breathe and the medicines they consume. And yet, forests remain unknown and and wrongly loved. And most of all, they are in danger.
The United Nations declared the International Year of Forests, 2011. It is an opportunity to discover, rediscover, celebrate, cherish, describe, protect and use these ecosystems more sustainably. These ecosystems were formed hundreds of millions of years ago before the first humanoids. Today, we threaten them.
Forest destruction is not inevitable: throughout the world, men and women fight to save them. Citizens, scientists, politicians and businessmen warn us about the threats forests face and suggest alternatives to protect them. This year is an opportunity to celebrate their initiatives and their efforts.
GoodPlanet Foundation, chaired by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, shares the same goal. Through its awareness programs, such as Action Carbone, GoodPlanet aims to protect 510 000 hectares in Madagascar. This year, the foundation decided to go further and launch several new initiatives on its website and celebrate the words of the Turkish poet, Nazim Hikmet, "to live in a tree, lonely and free. To live as brothers like trees in a forest."
This website was made possible thanks to the support of the Yves Rocher Foundation, the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility, Firmenich, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and its Goodwill Ambassador, Yann Arthus-Bertrand.