5 Things You Might Not Know About Forests – But Should

1. Forests Nurture the Soil
As well as stabilizing soils and preventing erosion – which quickly occurs where trees are felled – forests are home to soil microbes, which together with insects, birds and mammals, play a crucial role in enriching and maintaining soil quality.
2. Forests Absorb Carbon
Forests act as ‘carbon sinks’, trapping and storing CO2. NASA estimates that tropical forests absorb 1.4 billion tonnes of CO2 every year, while a study in 2017 estimated that forests would absorb a third of the atmospheric carbon needed to keep global warming below 2C by 2030.
3. Forests Provide Food for Millions
More than 86 million people depend on forests for their livelihoods. Globally, 1 billion people rely on wild foods including meat, insects, plants, mushrooms and fish. As well as providing edible plants and protecting water sources, forests also provide shelter for animals kept by forest dwellers.
4. Forests Are Natural Aqueducts
Forests provide “relatively pure water”, not just for indigenous peoples, but also for some of the world’s largest cities, according to the FAO. One-third of the world’s metropolises get all or part of their drinking water from forest-protected areas, including Bogotá, Jakarta, Karachi, Madrid, Mumbai and Singapore.
5. Forests Host 80% of Earth’s Biodiversity
Forests are home to 80% of the world’s animals, plants, fungi and bacteria. They include almost two-thirds of all plants, three-quarters of all birds, 80% of amphibians and 68% of mammals. The most biologically diverse and complex forests are tropical rainforests, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature, because rainfall is abundant and temperatures are consistently high.