By VanNguyen, March 21, 2019
FORESTS - THE GREEN GIANTS ARE ESSENTIAL FOR PEOPLE, CLIMATE AND WILDLIFE
Forests cover a third of all land on Earth. They provide habitats for countless species as well as vital organic infrastructure for human livelihoods. They also offer watershed protection, prevent soil erosion and mitigate climate change.
In other word, we depend on forests for our survival, from the air we breathe to the timber we use. However, despite our dependence on forests, they still disappear gradually due to widespread deforestation, clearing millions of forested acres every year.
INTERNATIONAL DAY OF FORESTS 2019 - FOREST AND EDUCATION
Since being announced by the United Nations General Assembly in 2012, every March 21 the International Day of Forests is celebrated in order to raise awareness of the importance of all types of forests. All member states of UN are invited to commit themselves in the design and planning of activities related to the types of forests with the goal toward HEALTHY FORESTS all over the world. In turn, healthy forests will help us to achieve many of the Sustainable Development Goals, for example by supporting the livelihoods of some of the world's poorest communities and conserving biodiversity.
Healthy forests means "healthy, resilient communities and prosperous economies"
Today, when more than half the world's population lives in cities and are increasingly disconnected from nature, it is more essential than ever to bring an understanding and awareness of forests and their benefits into children and youth's lives at an early age. It is the reason why the theme of 2019 focuses on FOREST AND EDUCATION, with 5 key messages as below:
Understanding our forests and keeping them healthy is crucial for our future. Forests will be more important than ever as the world population climbs to 8.5 billion by 2030.
You’re never too young to start learning about trees. Helping children connect with nature creates future generations conscious of the benefits of trees and forests and the need to manage them sustainably.
Both modern and traditional knowledge are key to keeping forests healthy. While foresters should know and understand nature well, they should also learn to use cutting-edge technology to ensure that our forests are monitored and managed sustainably.
Investing in forestry education can change the world for the better.Countries can help ensure there are scientists, policy makers, foresters and local communities working to halt deforestation and restore degraded landscapes.
Women and men should have equal access to forest education.Gender parity in forest education empowers rural women to sustainably manage forests.
FTVIET PROJECT: INVESTING IN PEOPLE AND IDEAS TOWARDS "SUSTAINABILITY-QUALITY" FOREST TRANSITION
Similar as the key theme of International Day of Forests this year, FTViet believes that by investing in forest education and capacity building at all levels, we can help scientists, policymakers, foresters, and local communities working to halt deforestation and restore degraded forest landscapes towards "sustainability-quality" forest transition.
Through the Capacity Building Outreach Work Package, the project has "invested in people" through teaching and supervision, such as facilitating and guiding a number of thesis students through the research project as well as offering specific training courses, as summer school for students and/or professional development for foresters or policy makers.
The second half of FTViet's strategy is investing in ideas for best practice approaches and management. Building on project scientific results, we aim to be in a position to evaluate and assess policy effectiveness and create new ideas and possibilities for alternative and improved policy implementation towards a "sustainability-quality" forest transition at project site in particular and Vietnam in general. In other words, we will use project results and insights from multi-stakeholder participatory interactions to suggest changes to forest-related policies which further improve rural livelihoods whilst satisfying criteria for environmental sustainability, possibly within optimized frameworks for monitoring and adaptive management.
Read more about #IntlForestDay #IDF2019 and #FTVietProject #CapacityBuildingOutreachWP