{"id":16024,"date":"2016-03-21T19:40:55","date_gmt":"2016-03-21T19:40:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/?p=16024"},"modified":"2018-04-22T12:01:07","modified_gmt":"2018-04-22T16:01:07","slug":"threats-to-forests-could-imperil-global-freshwater-supplies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/blog\/2016\/03\/threats-to-forests-could-imperil-global-freshwater-supplies\/","title":{"rendered":"Threats to forests could imperil global freshwater supplies"},"content":{"rendered":"

International Day of Forests marked at United Nations with panel discussion<\/em><\/p>\n

on link between forests, water and sustainable livelihoods<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

March 21, New York<\/strong> \u2013 Safeguarding forests is essential for sustainable management of global freshwater resources and avoiding water shortages, according to United Nations officials and forest experts at an event today marking the International Day of Forests. The observance day, held annually on 21 March, was commemorated at the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ at a panel discussion called \u201cForests and Water: Sustain Life and Livelihoods,\u201d sponsored by the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Forum on Forests Secretariat, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ-Water and the Permanent Mission of Sweden.<\/p>\n

By 2025, some 1.8 billion people will face absolute water scarcity, and even greater numbers will deal with water stressed conditions. Three-fourths of the freshwater that people use every day, comes from forested catchment areas. Around 1.6 billion people worldwide depend on forests for their basic needs of food, medicine, fuel, energy and income. The environmental services that forests offer, in terms of improving the quality of air, water and climate, are global goods that benefit all.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe world\u2019s forests are essential to realizing our shared vision for people and the planet,\u201d Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in his message for the International Day. \u201cThey are central to our future prosperity and the stability of the global climate. That is why the Sustainable Development Goals call for transformative action to safeguard them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The global community recognises the importance of water and forests in the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal 6, about water and sanitation, and Goal 15, about the protection of biodiversity. Additionally, Wu Hongbo, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, said at the observance event Monday that these vital resources are important for all of the seventeen goals. Recognising the close interlinkages between water systems and forest ecosystems, Wu added that the successful implementation of forests and water-related goals and targets would necessitate integrated and coordinated approaches across the two sectors.<\/p>\n

Manoel Sobral Filho, Director of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Forum on Forests Secretariat, stressed at the event the important role that forests play in safeguarding freshwater resources.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe protection and restoration of forest watersheds and catchments is not just climate-smart, it is a cost-effective and green alternative to new infrastructure development for water purification,\u201d Mr. Sobral Filho said. \u201cForests are the planet\u2019s natural water towers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Forested watersheds and wetlands influence how and where rain falls, and filter and clean our water, according to Ren\u00e9 Castro Salazar, Assistant Director-General, Forestry Department, of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), who spoke at Monday\u2019s Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ celebration.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should think of forests every time we turn on a tap,\u201d Mr. Castro Salazar said. \u201cProtecting our forests protects the fresh water we need to survive.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to providing clean water, forests also are essential for jobs and livelihoods.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur planet depends on its forests and water, without them our societies would simply not exist,\u201d said Guy Ryder, Director-General of ILO and Chair of Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ-Water, in a statement. He added that the 2016 International Day of Forests provided a platform to highlight \u201cthe vital role of those working to sustainably manage our forests and water resources to preserve the lives and livelihoods of millions of people and for future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDP Administrator Helen Clark sees an important link between forests and climate.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the largest terrestrial storehouses of carbon, forests play a massive role in addressing climate change and are also a vital source of energy, water, livelihoods, and biodiversity,\u201d said Ms. Clark in a statement. \u201cThe health of forests is also essential for 1.6 billion people, including many of the world\u2019s poorest people, who depend on them directly for their food, fuel, shelter and medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n

To preserve these resources, Steven Johnson, Officer-in-Charge of the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), recommends increasing capacity for sound land-use planning \u201cto safeguard the potential of tropical forests and landscapes to provide the full range of benefits to society, including water supply.<\/p>\n

Mike Wingfield, President of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) notes the need for better information and scientific knowledge of forests and water. He announced in a statement that IUFRO is working to address the gaps regarding what we know of the forest and water relationship through the establishment of a new interdisciplinary Task Force on Forests, Soil and Water Interactions.<\/p>\n

The annual celebration of the International Day of Forests raises awareness of the importance of forests and trees, and serves as a platform to highlight best practices in sustainable forest management, from around the world.<\/p>\n

*******************<\/p>\n

For more information, please visit: <\/strong><\/p>\n

Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Forum on Forests website: https:\/\/www.un.org\/esa\/forests<\/a><\/p>\n

The Sustainable Development Goal Indicators website http:\/\/unstats.un.org\/sdgs<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Media contacts<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Department of Public Information<\/p>\n

Dan Shepard, T: +1 (917) 963-9495 | E: shepard@un.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Sharon Birch, T: +1 (212) 963-0564 | E: birchs@un.org<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For more information on the Sustainable Development Goals, please visit: www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment<\/a> or follow us on Twitter at @GlobalGoalsÄ¢¹½ÊÓƵ<\/a> and on Facebook at www.facebook.com\/globalgoalsÄ¢¹½ÊÓƵ<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Safeguarding forests is essential for sustainable management of global freshwater resources and avoiding water shortages, according to United Nations officials and forest experts at an event today marking the International Day of Forests. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":230,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21,23,14,4,5270],"tags":[2851,139,5720,5716,5724,269],"class_list":["post-16024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life-below-water","category-life-on-land","category-water-and-sanitation","category-news","category-press-material","tag-desa","tag-forests","tag-goal-15","tag-international-day-of-forests","tag-nyc-parks","tag-water"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/230"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16024\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}