In a world governed by human greed, we are faced by a challenge. A challenge of survival of the green cover, and subsequently mankind, the magnitude of which is increasing at an exponential rate in the present and is underestimated by a majority of the world. Forests provide us with the imperative gaseous component of life along with a habitat for almost every animal breed on planet Earth. But, it would be unjust of us to accredit forests with just these benefits because the truth is that they surpass the capacity of our knowledge.
We do know the importance of forests, if not completely, then to some extent. But how well do we know about our dependency upon forests? Forests serve as a habitat for approximately 70% of the animal population. Forests are known for bringing in rainfall. But if we were to club these two facts together, we would be able to interpret the fact that deforestation does not only affect the water cycle of a region, but the food chain along with it, thus, putting in jeopardy the relics of homo sapiens. Humans have placed their hunger for money over the sustenance of the environment. In today's age, out of 195
countries, 106 do not qualify the sustainable global average of having at least 33% forested area out of the total geographical area.
There are approximately 422 trees per person on earth but if we were to compare the nations, there is a radical difference present. We have countries like Canada with 8,900+ trees per person but, at the same time, countries like India only have 28 trees per person. But other than human beings, there are a large number of reasons for the excessive amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere which makes trees per capita an inappropriate measure of the health of the forests of a country.
Currently, approximately two billion people depend directly, on forests, as their place of habitat or indirectly as their source of income. These include the large number of indigenous tribal groups, local to the forests, which often go unnoticed while addressing the reasons to save forests
If animals or plants are not enough to persuade humans to work for a better environment, then for the sake of the survival of humans, we must leave no stone unturned and put in our best efforts to work for a better future. This dilemma has expanded to such a massive scale that the only possible solution is unity, among the entire human species, to work for a better status of our own habitat.
Written by - Arnav Mehra