|
Reduce deforestationDeforestation now contributes to nearly 20% of global carbon emissions. That’s more than the emissions from every car, every plane, every boat, every train – more than the whole of the transport sector put together. It is vital that we halt this destruction. We have to consider instead, how we can sustainably manage the world’s forest resource – after all, only 7% of all worlds’s forests are needed to satisfy the current demand for timber. In the UK we manage our woods and forests sustainably, so the planting and growing of new trees reabsorbs the carbon released by harvesting and using mature trees. Our public forests – those managed by the Forestry Commission – are independently certified as being sustainably managed. Many privately-owned woodlands have similar assurance through the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) and PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes). We must act to help promote sustainable management across the world, both to stop forest destruction and to encourage new planting. All Forestry Commission forests and many of those privately owned are independently certified as being sustainably managed under the UK Woodland Assurance Standard.
Some initiatives are in place to help developing countries combat deforestation: for example, the EU’s ‘Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade’ Action Plan adopted in 2003 . The plan includes measures to discourage the use of illegally cut timber in EU countries and measures to help enforce existing legislation in producer-countries. It also allows for a licensing scheme by which producer countries can guarantee that their timber is legally produced. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (2008) acknowledges the contribution of emissions from deforestation and forest degradation to global man-made Greenhouse Gas emissions. This resulted in an agreement to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD).
|
Useful sites
|
 |
|