Forests are important ecosystems, deliver relevant resources and serve climate protection by storing carbon. Managing forests well thus serves our self-interest: we will not benefit tomorrow from what we destroy today. Nonetheless, deforestation is progressing fast. Important drivers are agriculture, the timber industry and mining. The impacts threaten human survival – individuals, social communities and ultimately our entire species are at risk. Currently local people who live in forests and depend on them are affected most.
This focus section directly relates to the UN’s 15 th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG): Life on land. It also has a bearing on the other SDGs.
