Forests are today coming up as a very hot topic in the discussions on our environment and sustainable development. For Life Link it is easy to see how forests address concern for ourselves, others and nature. Schools which have a forest in their immediate neighborhood or even as part of the school area itself has a mission here. Take care of your forest!
It is the experience of many, and also a conclusion from research, that people feel well by being in a forest. Contact with nature reduces stress and promote calm. It is also good to have birdsong and flowers and plants as the background when being in a forest.
When trees and other plants in the forest grow, they fix carbon in the process of photosynthesis. One cubic meter of tree has a carbon content corresponding to 1 ton of CO2, carbon dioxide, the most important greenhouse gas. Forests are thus a sink for climate gases and a key component to combat global warming. Forests are also the most important home for very may species of plants, insects and other life forms and thus need to be preserved to protect biodiversity.
This is why so many international organizations today take measures to preserve and enlarge forests all over the world. The European Union with its 27 countries has just established a forest strategy, now being set into action, and the United Nations Convention for Biological Diversity in its recent meeting in Montreal Canada decided that 30 % of all areas of the world should be under nature protection in 2030. This includes large forest areas.
The many millions of schools around the world can contribute to these goals by taking good care of the forests they have at or close to the schools. And enjoy their forests.
Lars Rydén
Life Link board
