Celebrated every year on April 22, Earth Day is the largest environmental event in the world. More than six million Canadians — including nearly every school-aged child—participate in an Earth Day activity in their communities. We partner with and support hundreds of organizations across the country, as they engage Canadians in annual celebrations of this special day. Founded in 1990, Earth Day Canada is a national environmental charity. We offer free, year-round, award-winning programs to educate and inspire Canadians of all ages, backgrounds and sectors to reach local environmental solutions. Our mission is to foster and celebrate environmental respect, action and behaviour change that lessens our impact on the earth.
www.earthday.ca
The Power and Significance of Growing the Global Forest
At a time when there is so much focus on electric and hybrid cars, new solar technology and emissions trading, the notion of planting trees can seem quaint, almost too simple. But the reality is, restoring our forests remains the most affordable, health-promoting and regenerative solution to climate change.
More than 1.6 billion people depend on forests for food, water, fuel, medicine, jobs, and cultural livelihood. The importance of urban forests, in particular, is finally being recognized with research highlighting how direct contact with trees helps people (and children especially) learn about nature in an otherwise built environment, not to mention the new phenomenon of “nature deficit disorder” in city dwellers who increasingly spend more time indoors.
Forests also support up to 80% of terrestrial biodiversity and play a vital role in safeguarding the climate by naturally sequestering carbon and removing other pollutants from the air.
The Paris Climate Agreement and The New York Declaration on Forests
Approximately 32 million acres of forest vanish each year. Over the past 1,200 years, we have lost 46% of our global tree cover and, at the current rate of deforestation; we’re on track to lose the remaining 54% within the next 200 years.
The most recent global commitments supporting our tree canopy are outlined in the New York Declaration on Forests, which has been signed by dozens of governments, including Canada — all of whom are pledging to halve the rate of deforestation by 2020, end it by 2030, and restore 370 million acres of forest by 2020 (a geographic area larger than the size of India).
Achieving these commitments could reduce carbon emissions by nearly 9 billion tonnes per year by 2030. Countries around the globe are committing to growing the global forest as a key way to meet their carbon reduction targets under the Paris Climate Agreement.
Growing the Global Forest & Nature Connected Cities
While every tree counts, there is a greater value in strategic reforestation than in one-off tree plantings or planting hectares of monocultures. Replanting our forests along coast-lines and within urban environments, for example, have exponentially greater benefits in terms of carbon reduction, ecosystems resiliency and supporting human health and well-being.
Because of this, Earth Day Canada believes the best course of action right now is to invest in smart, coordinated reforestation campaigns – including planting urban micro-forests that can fit in the average urban front yard, school yard, building entry way, road side, rail corridor etc. After all, a forest, big or small, is defined by the diversity of native species it supports, the extent of its varied canopy level and the richness of its soil.
Urban forests, even micro-forests, are one of the most immediate and accessible ways to keep people connected to nature and to keep climate change and the environment at the forefront of our hearts and minds. People and forests must start to grow together.
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