11 years ago

Like people, trees are all individuals

Forests remain unknown to us all and wrongly loved I would say. Today every hour, at least 4,500 acres of forest fall to chain saws, machetes, flames, or bulldozers. Yes, they are in danger. Nothing new right…? Well at this point half the world’s tropical forests have been cleared or degraded. Forests cover a third of the Earth’s surface and they are home to over half of terrestrial species and hundreds of millions of human beings. For more then 7 billion people, most of the world’s population, forests provide part of one in four people’s incomes, are resources for the food they eat, the air they breathe and the medicines they consume. More than half of the world’s timber and 72% of paper is consumed by 22% of the world’s population: The United States, Europe, and Japan. Besides that trees provide an important ecosystem function by storing carbon, a cause of climate change, in their biomass. Following the success of French Photographer and Filmmaker Yann Arthus-Bertrand’s free-to-view documentary HOME which was seen by 400 million people Bertrand was appointed by the United Nations in 2011 to produce an official film for the International Year of Forests. I can’t remember this happening…You? Why wasn’t this on any front page of the global news outlets. I was happy to read that Bertrand began producing a short 7-minute film called Of Forests and Men (VIDEO). This film was made up of aerial images from his Home and the Earth from Above films. This film was shown during a plenary session of the Ninth Session of United Nations Forum on Forests in 2011 in New York. And Narrated by no one else than Mr. Monty Brogan, The Narrator and Derek Vinyard himself…..Mr. Edward Norton..How can you take action? Many NGOs are involved in forest protection worldwide. They offer concrete solutions through different initiatives, green tips and campaigns as a call to action. Click here and here for more info. Sharing=caring folks! Als RECOMMEND Adam Wakeling’s documentary Up in Smoke (ARTICLE) (photo copyright by Yann Arthus-Bertrand)