What is the significance of forest

Forests pump out oxygen we need to live and absorb the carbon dioxide we exhale or emit. A single mature, leafy tree is estimated to produce a day's supply of oxygen for anywhere from two to 10 people. Phytoplankton in the ocean are more prolific, providing half of Earth's oxygen, but forests are still a key source of quality air. That variety is especially rich in tropical rainforests, but forests teem with life around the planet: Insects and worms work nutrients into soil, bees and birds spread pollen and seeds, and keystone species like wolves and big cats keep hungry herbivores in check.

Biodiversity is a big deal, both for ecosystems and human economies, yet it's increasingly threatened around the world by deforestation.

Some million people live in forests worldwide, including an estimated 60 million indigenous people whose survival depends almost entirely on native woodlands. Many millions more live along or near forest fringes, but even just a scattering of urban trees can raise property values and reduce crime, among other benefits.

By growing a canopy to hog sunlight, trees also create vital oases of shade on the ground. Urban trees help buildings stay cool, reducing the need for electric fans or air conditioners, while large forests can tackle daunting tasks like curbing a city's "heat island" effect or regulating regional temperatures.

Trees also have another way to beat the heat: absorb CO2 that fuels global warming. Plants always need some CO2 for photosynthesis, but Earth's air is now so thick with extra emissions that forests fight global warming just by breathing.

CO2 is stored in wood, leaves and soil, often for centuries. Large forests can influence regional weather patterns and even create their own microclimates. The Amazon rainforest, for example, generates atmospheric conditions that not only promote regular rainfall there and in nearby farmland, but potentially as far away as the Great Plains of North America.

Tree roots are key allies in heavy rain, especially for low-lying areas like river plains. They help the ground absorb more of a flash flood, reducing soil loss and property damage by slowing the flow. On top of flood control, soaking up surface runoff also protects ecosystems downstream. Modern stormwater increasingly carries toxic chemicals, from gasoline and lawn fertilizer to pesticides and pig manure, that accumulate through watersheds and eventually create low-oxygen " dead zones.

Forests are like giant sponges, catching runoff rather than letting it roll across the surface, but they can't absorb all of it. Water that gets past their roots trickles down into aquifers, replenishing groundwater supplies that are important for drinking, sanitation and irrigation around the world. Farming near a forest has lots of benefits, like bats and songbirds that eat insects or owls and foxes that eat rats.

But groups of trees can also serve as a windbreak, providing a buffer for wind-sensitive crops. And beyond protecting those plants, less wind also makes it easier for bees to pollinate them. A forest's root network stabilizes huge amounts of soil, bracing the entire ecosystem's foundation against erosion by wind or water. Not only does deforestation disrupt all that, but the ensuing soil erosion can trigger new, life-threatening problems like landslides and dust storms.

In addition to holding soil in place, forests may also use phytoremediation to clean out certain pollutants. Trees can either sequester the toxins away or degrade them to be less dangerous. This is a helpful skill, letting trees absorb sewage overflows, roadside spills or contaminated runoff. Forests can clean up air pollution on a large scale, and not just CO2. Trees absorb a wide range of airborne pollutants, including carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide.

In the U. Despite efforts for decades, the country has not been able guarantee even two square meals to a large number of its poor people. So, expecting the government to pour money to help people adapt to climate change would be futile. The Ministry of Environment, which has the authority to deal on climatic issues, has no wings outside its administrative headquarter in the capital city.

With a staff of about forty officials, the ministry is no more than a small NGO. The ministry itself is struggling to survive, so how could it think of helping the vulnerable people from the top of the world—Mt Everest— to the plains Terai. With this scenario in the backyard, it would be futile to think of the government to come up with adaptation programmes not in papers but in action.

Now, within a year of the preparation of the document, the country had to face Glacier Lake Outburst Flood in Halji of Humla, which is mentioned as the least vulnerable area. The highly expensive document is already under question, and the experts have demanded its review. In such a dire situation, we need to act to some extent to deal with the problem, and reduce the impact. But, how? One of the best sectors to start would be forests. The country has about 40 per cent of the land area covered with forests, which could be used as a source of income through the trading of carbon.

At present, a mechanism called REDD Reducing Emissions through Deforestation and Degradation has been established, where the developed countries could buy carbon that has been stored in the forests in our nation. Worldwide, forests have an enormous impact on the global carbon cycle. Of the gigatons of carbon in the atmosphere, photosynthesis by terrestrial vegetation removes approximately gigatons, almost 16 per cent of the.

Though carbon trading has been made a big issue at global negotiations, it has not materialized yet, but some donor agencies and NGOs working in the forestry sector have started piloting projects to pay for the conservation efforts of the communities. REDD cannot a miraculous wand to solve the problem of climate change, but it can surely help the communities to earn some money, and use it for the adaptation effort.

REDD, if implemented, would benefit the communities financially and ecologically, and, if not implemented, it also benefits similarly as the growing forests is simply growing money, and it could be sold at any time as per the need.

In fact, the good forests would be with us, and we can use it time and again for timber and other forests products. It would be worthy to start the adaptation works through the forests, no matter who would be ready to buy it.

Without oxygen, life as we know it would not be possible. Although the phytoplankton in the oceans accounts for at least half of the world's oxygen, forests thus also play a key role. Water is better absorbed into the soil thanks to trees and forests which improve groundwater recharge and feed springs and rivers.

At high altitudes, cloud forests can extract moisture from fog and clouds. Normal rainfall patterns are heavily dependent on forests, not only because they massively evaporate water, but also because they emit biological particles such as pollen and fungal spores, which can serve as the nuclei of rain droplets or snowflakes.

Coastal forests draw in moist air from neighbouring seas and carry it all the way into the drier inland regions, the effects of which can be felt over thousands of kilometres.

Forests are therefore essential in times of climate change , when longer periods of drought occur more frequently. Under the crests of trees and forests, the temperature is noticeably lower than in open areas or in the city, as trees use solar energy to evaporate moisture, which has a cooling effect.

A single tree displays a cooling effect similar to the aircons of two average households. As a result, the surface temperature of forests can be up to 20 degrees cooler than that of buildings or road asphalt.

More forests means less CO2 in the air and less global warming. This comes on top of the natural cooling effect of forests see point 7. Floods are less common in areas where forests grow.

One reason for this is that, during heavy rainfall, much more water seeps into the soil, instead of flowing directly into the rivers. Mangrove forests protect the coast from tsunamis. Forests also reduce the risk of landslides, avalanches and sand storms.

Thanks to forests and trees, fewer fertile soil particles flow away during precipitation.