WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO PROTECT OUR FORESTS & THE ANIMALS THAT LIVE THERE
Forests are essential for life on Earth. They give us shade and shelter, refuge and refreshment, clean air and water. Today, with a growing global population and subsequent demand for forest products, the forests of the world are at risk from widespread deforestation and degradation.
Ancient forests are in crisis throughout the world. Home to millions and a haven for nature's diversity of plants and animals, the last remnants of un-touched forest are facing extinction.
Healthy, mature, and abundant forests are critical to a balanced environment. When there are an inadequate number of forests, the environment is slower to repair the damage done over time. Abundant forests are essential to a healthy carbon cycle. Burning coal, oil or even breathing creates carbon dioxide. Trees absorb carbon dioxide, fixing it in the wood fiber, while releasing fresh oxygen into the air.
A healthy, mature oak tree produces enough oxygen for four people. Trees are also the most effective erosion control mechanism on earth. A extensive root structure will protect the soil from water or wind erosion better than any man made substitute.
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Ancient forests maintain the balance of life on Earth. They house around two-thirds of the world's land-based species of plants and animals. The remaining tracts of forests influence day-to-day weather and they also help keep the climate stable over time by storing massive amounts of carbon. Logging and burning forests releases that carbon to the atmosphere and creates global warming and climate change.
Major international climate negotiations will decide whether we can keep global warming at less that 2ºC average temperature rise, the safe level recommended by the United Nations. To do