define and discuss the concept of ecological services

The Green Belt movement was founded 1977 in Kenya by Professor Wangari Maathai, under the auspices of the National Council of Women of Kenya. The Green Belt movement is an indigenous, grassroots, non-governmental organization that takes a holistic approach to development by focusing on environmental conservation, community development and capacity building. The Green Belt Movement organizes women in rural Kenya to plant trees, combat deforestation, restore their main source of fuel for cooking, generate income, and stop soil erosion. Professor Maathai incorporated advocacy and empowerment for women, eco-tourism, and economic development into the Green Belt Movement. Most of the people around the world are dependent on the forest for numerous reasons. Forests perform a significant role in stabilizing the environment, providing essential raw materials to include food, water, medicines and wood merchandises. It is important that forests around the world are protected. The primary reason being the world’s biodiversity and climate change, both of which are extremely dependent on forests and people need them to survive. There are abundant ways we can and should use the forest more sustainably to be assured that they will be around for future generations. Some ways are enrichment planting; selective logging; preserving wildlife corridors and ecotourism. Enrichment planting consist of planting new trees or plants under older trees or in small clearings in the event that the trees do not grow back by themselves. This will help reduce, if not stop, forests from disappearing worldwide, provide treasured timber species and help protect secondary forests. Selective logging occurs by cutting only some of the trees, while saving young trees and some healthy older trees to hold soil and provide seed for the future. This helps to restore forests, prevents areas from being totally destroyed from clear cutting and it leaves something to reseed. Preserving wildlife corridors