The State Members at the 16th session of the Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization recommended and voted for the International Day of Forests (also known as World Forestry Day) to be celebrated annually on the 21st of March in November 1971. Without a resolution to that meeting, the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) with other members of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF) convened a series of six Forest Days from 2007 to 2012 in conjunction with annual meetings of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of Parties. These six Forest Days events were held between November/December in different cities like Doha, Bali, Durban, Copenhagen, amongst others.
The annual celebration of World Forestry Day on the 21st of March was officially established by the resolution of the United Nations General Assembly on November 28th 2012. The aim was to increase awareness of the importance of all types of forests and trees outside the forests for the benefit of current and future generations. Forests cover one-third of the earth’s land mass and are essential to the world’s freshwater supply, providing shelter and food for a wide variety of animals and plants, mitigating carbon emissions – which is key to combating climate change – and contributing to the prosperity of future generations. Countries are encouraged every March 21st to organise activities involving forests and trees, such as tree planting campaigns.
The theme for each International Day of Forests is chosen by the Collaborative Partnership on Forests. Since its inauguration in 2013, the themes of the World Forestry Day have been: My Forest|My Future (2014), Forests|Climate|Change (2015), Forests and water (2016), Forests and Energy (2017) and Forests and Sustainable Cities (2018). This year the theme is on Forests and Education: Learn To Love Forests.
Forests are important to the cycle of life here on earth and it is about time we educate our next generation about them. If there is ever a nation that needs to hear this year’s theme it is Nigeria. The average Nigerian has no clue just how important having woodlands and forests are. They see it as virgin land to be conquered either by urbanisation or deforestation. Sometimes hoodlums and terrorists take advantage of our forests for nefarious/diabolical activities. Rarely are children taken on field trips to forests or taught how to plant a tree. It is sad because Nigeria is blessed with different forests based on its location in four climatic zones and two vegetative belts.
We have about 14 Forest Reserves of 93,420km in over 3 million hectares of forest lands within the country. This means besides the Forest Reserves, we still have a lot of forest land mass in Nigeria. We have Rainforests and Mangrove forests within our borders. Forests provide us with not only wood for timber production but also wine from the palm trees, chewing sticks from the wood of garcinia kola, Resins and barks of trees for medicine, food, etc. Forests provide ecological services like air and water purification nutrient cycling, livelihood for humans, maintenance of biodiversity and wildlife habitat. They act as windbreakers for storms, and socio-cultural benefits like recreation/tourism (e.g. Nwgo Pine Forest or IITA- Ibadan Forest) and spirituality (e.g. the forest at Osun Oshogbo Sacred Grove).
Before marching into the forest reserves to learn about forests, you might need to invest in a little forest education. It is important to know what makes a forest and how to keep them healthy; that you are not too old neither is anyone else too young to start learning about forests. Both men and women should have equal access to forest education to enhance forest management/sustainability. You also need to know how forests help us and that both traditional and modern knowledge on how to care for trees is important to building a healthy forest.
Last but not least is joining the conversation and spreading the knowledge that you have. You could start a tree planting campaign in your area or organise workshops to tell children just how important having forests in Nigeria is. You could join the conversation on how to sustain and manage our forests and its resources effectively on social media.
Featured image source: World Atlas