Forests account for 30.8 percent of the whole land area of the earth, but they are decreasing ceaselessly day after day.

According to a report issued by the World Natural Protection Fund early this year, nearly 430 000km2 of forest areas have disappeared on major 24 “timbering fronts” in the world between 2004 and 2017.

A joint report issued on May last year by the FAO and the United Nations Environment Programme said that nearly 1.78 million square kilometres of forests centring around Africa and South America disappeared in recent 30 years.

At present, forests are recklessly being cut down in every part of the world.

According to the World Natural Protection Fund, out of 24 hot spots of deforestation in the world, there are nine in Latin America, eight in Africa and seven in Asia-Pacific. The forest falls of the regions amount to over half of the world total, it noted.

Worse still, forest fire continues to break out around the world due to the persistent high temperature caused by global warming to devastate a large area of forests.

Experts express their concern that if forest areas continue to decrease at this speed, they will completely be removed on the earth after 100 years.

The reduction of forest resources brings great negative effects on the earth.

First of all, the ecosystem of the earth is being damaged.

Deforestation has been rampant in the Amazon basin, with the result that many tree species were already on the verge of extinction some years ago.

Due to the destruction of their habitats, over 900 living species have disappeared on the earth.

Forests absorb and fix the level of carbon dioxide. That is why people call them the “lungs of the earth”.

“Carbon emission is being quickened and biodiversity and ecosystem are being destroyed as people fail to manage forests properly worldwide. This adversely affects not only the local community of the relevant region but also the livelihood and welfare of all other people around the world,” said the president of the World Natural Protection Fund.

Forest destruction hastens global warming, thereby causing various natural disasters including flood and drought. It is not accidental that a researcher of a country stressed the need to return lots of arable land into forests again in order to get rid of global warming.

It also has produced such complicated problems as the depletion of resources and the desertification of land.

The reality shows that the protection and planting of forests are a very important matter related to the existence of humankind.