Forests are important to all life on Earth. They filter the water we drink and the air we breathe. They supply important medicines, meals, and gas for billions of individuals, together with Indigenous peoples who name forests house. In addition they present habitat for a lot of the world’s life on land. And forests present the supplies for merchandise we use every single day—akin to paper in faculties and places of work; furnishings and flooring in homes; musical devices; rayon cloth in garments; and even pure rubber in automotive tires.
However many individuals don’t understand the alternatives they make about which forest merchandise to purchase matter. Actually, these selections could make an actual distinction in conserving among the world’s most necessary forests thriving—at house and overseas—for nature, native communities, and our international local weather.
Significance of Forest Merchandise
The forest sector contributed greater than US$1.52 trillion to the world’s nationwide economies in 2015, producing vital revenues for international locations and firms—in addition to communities. The worldwide pulp and paper business is without doubt one of the largest industrial sectors on the earth. This sector accounts for 13%–15% of complete wooden consumption and makes use of between 33%–40% of all industrial wooden traded globally. Some widespread pulp and paper merchandise embody workplace and catalog paper, shiny paper, tissue, and paper-based packaging. The US is the second-largest paper producer and client nation on the earth after China.
© Theodore Kaye / WWF-China
Different key forest merchandise sectors embody wooden merchandise used for building lumber, furnishings, flooring, and decking; merchandise that come from timber, like pure rubber; and different makes use of of wooden akin to pellets for bioenergy.
Sadly, some forest merchandise operations have had devastating impacts on the world’s most ecologically necessary locations and species. Unlawful and unsustainable logging and conversion of forests for fast-growing timber plantations have destroyed excessive conservation worth forests across the globe, impacting water amount and high quality and inflicting vital human rights violations and social conflicts. These points are notably extreme in areas with a historical past of poor forest governance, together with the Congo Basin, the Amazon, the Better Mekong, Borneo and Sumatra, and the Russian Far East.
Deforestation and forest degradation contribute as much as 15% of carbon emissions globally, and their local weather impacts might be notably critical in areas with deep peatlands, akin to Sumatra. Peat soils retailer great quantities of carbon which might be launched into the ambiance when pure forests are transformed for commodities like pulp and rubber.
© Andre Dib / WWF-Brazil
Given the worldwide nature of the forest merchandise commerce, unlawful and unsustainably sourced forest merchandise from these areas can attain markets—and unsuspecting prospects—everywhere in the world. Even in international locations with comparatively higher forest legal guidelines and regulation enforcement, there are nonetheless cases of timber theft and unsustainable practices that make forests extra susceptible to stresses like wildfires, illness, and invasive species.
The excellent news is that when forests are managed in a socially and environmentally accountable approach, it might deliver many advantages to native economies whereas safeguarding biodiversity and pure assets like water; mitigating the consequences of local weather change; and selling social values. An growing variety of forest managers and forest merchandise corporations acknowledge the enterprise and model worth of using accountable forestry and plantation administration practices by implementing the rigorous requirements of the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®).
US shoppers can even play a key function in supporting accountable forestry by selecting merchandise which might be recycled or made with virgin fiber that’s FSC licensed. (You’ll find merchandise licensed to the FSC commonplace right here).
© Isaac VEGA / WWF-Spain
What WWF Is Doing to Help Forests
World Wildlife Fund (WWF) works by means of its Forests Ahead program to have interaction with corporations and different stakeholders across the globe to ship efficient nature-based methods for forests that assist obtain their enterprise and sustainability objectives.
Forests Ahead combines the successes and learnings of WWF’s many years of engagement with corporations by means of its International Forest & Commerce Community whereas harnessing enterprise curiosity in advancing nature-based options to ship significant, long-term advantages for nature, local weather, and other people.
These efforts exhibit the immense want for us all to consider how our on a regular basis actions have penalties for the setting and the species (together with people) that decision our planet house. The outcomes are clear: Market demand within the US for responsibly sourced forest merchandise can affect and enhance forest administration practices everywhere in the world. Working collectively, we are able to all be a part of the answer and make a constructive impression on communities and habitats—across the nook and the globe.
What Can You Do?
Along with shopping for FSC-certified and recycled merchandise, there are many methods shoppers may help shield forests. This contains recycling paper and paper-based packaging, printing double-sided, purchasing for used furnishings, and getting concerned with organizations working to guard forests across the globe. And in the event you reside within the US, you’ll be able to ask your congressional representatives to assist the FOREST Act by going to our web site worldwildlife.org and clicking “Take Motion” on the backside of the web page. By doing so, you’ll be able to assist forestall illegally deforested merchandise from getting into US markets.
By Linda Walker, senior director of company engagement for forests at World Wildlife Fund
