🌱 What causes deforestation?
Deforestation occurs for a number of reasons. It can result from “[t]he conversion of forests to agricultural land, overgrazing, unmitigated shifting cultivation, unsustainable forest management, introduction of invasive alien plant and animal species, infrastructure development, mining and oil exploitation, human-induced forest fires, pollution and climate change”. All of these large-scale changes take a considerable “toll on forest biodiversity”.[i] That said, even smaller changes to forests can have a huge effect on biodiversity.[ii]
🌱 What biodiversity is being lost?
Many crucial species of fungi might be lost within the next decades as a result of forest habitat loss.[iii] Notably, as old growth forests disappear, so does the mycelium in these habitats. The mycelia in the underground of forests build a network comparable to the internet to exchange nutrients, water, and information. Through a symbiotic process called mycorrhiza, the mycelia absorb sugar from trees’ roots as a part of an exchange of minerals with the trees. Without the mycorrhiza network, trees would not be able to store carbon, to create oxygen, or to inform each other about danger – like predators or pathogenic microbes.[iv]
🌱 Why are diverse forests important?
More diverse forests – with “more different species with individual genetic codes” living in them – are better at coping with environmental and climate change. In line with this, “[n]atural forests are one of the most important and stable stores of carbon” and deforestation is “estimated to contribute as much as 20% to global annual greenhouse gas emissions”.[v]
🌱 What ecosystem services do forests provide?
It is worth noting that forests provide a multitude of other ecosystem services. Over three-quarters of “accessible fresh water [globally] comes from forested catchments”. Forests are the source for many traditional medicines, which large populations in developing countries rely on.[vi] Forests also provide firewood, wild food, and resources for peoples’ livelihoods for over 90% of those living in extreme poverty. Overall, forests are estimated to “provide more than 86 million green jobs”.[vii]
This post has been adapted from a newsletter written by Christine Nikander and Heidrun Kordholste-Nikander. The newsletter titled “How can businesses protect forests and their biodiversity?” was originally published in “The Just Transition Newsletter” by Palsa & Pulk.
[i] Convention on Biological Diversity: Forest Biodiversity. https://www.cbd.int/doc/meetings/cop/cop-09/media/cop9-press-kit-forest-en.pdf (21.08.2024)
[ii] Greenpeace: Urwald vs. Nutzwald. https://greenpeace.at/hintergrund/unterschied-urwald-nutzwald/ (24.04.2024)
[iii] Fungi Foundation, Decomposition. https://www.ffungi.org/why-fungi/decomposition (26.04.2024)
[iv] Fungi Foundation, Biodiversity. https://www.ffungi.org/why-fungi/biodiversity (26.04.2024)
[v] Convention on Biological Diversity: Forest Biodiversity. https://www.cbd.int/doc/meetings/cop/cop-09/media/cop9-press-kit-forest-en.pdf (21.08.2024)
[vi] Convention on Biological Diversity: Forest Biodiversity. https://www.cbd.int/doc/meetings/cop/cop-09/media/cop9-press-kit-forest-en.pdf (21.08.2024)
[vii] UN Environment Programme: Earth’s biodiversity depends on the world’s forests. https://www.unep-wcmc.org/en/news/earths-biodiversity-depends-on-the-worlds-forests (21.08.2024)