#Forests and Health

[intlforestday]

Healthy forests, healthy planet, healthy humans.

Forests are often called the lungs of the planet, because they absorb harmful carbon dioxide and produce life-giving oxygen so it’s no exaggeration to equate healthy forests with healthy people, the theme of this year’s International Day of Forests.

Covering 31 per cent of Earth’s land and providing a home to 80 per cent of all land-based species, forests are crucial to human health and well-being, but their loss across the planet is threatening people everywhere.

Here are five things you need to know about the age-old and ever-growing interlinked relationship between forests and human health.

CityAdapt - Forests are key to building climate resilience.

1. Carbon sinks combat climate change

Forest ecosystems keep the planet healthy by regulating the climate, rainfall patterns, and watersheds and crucially provide the oxygen which is essential to human existence.

Healthy forests help to keep climate change in check by acting as “carbon sinks”, which annually absorb about two billion tonnes of carbon dioxide, the gas which is contributing to climate change and the increase of temperatures globally.

The rapidly changing climate is threatening the very existence of people in many different ways: through death and illness due to extreme weather events, the disruption of food systems, and the increase in diseases. Simply put, without healthy forests, people around the world, especially in the world’s most vulnerable countries, will struggle to lead healthy lives and maybe even to survive.

UN-REDD Forest products are processed into medicine in Viet Nam.

2. Nature’s pharmacies: from masks to medicine cabinets

From masks to medicines, forest products are used around the world every day. As many as 80 per cent of developing nations and one quarter of developed countries depend on plant-based medicinal drugs.

Forests contain about 50,000 plant species used for medicinal purposes by both local communities and multinational pharmaceutical companies. For millennia, forest dwellers have treated a range of ailments using products they have harvested. At the same time, many common pharmaceutical medicines are rooted in forest plants, including cancer-treating drugs from the Madagascar periwinkle and malaria medication, quinine, from cinchona trees.

The One Health approach, launched as part of the UN response to the COVID-19 pandemic, recognizes that the health of humans, animals, plants, and the wider environment, including forests, are closely linked and interdependent.

© FAO/ A woman carries goods through Uluguru Nature Forest Reserve in Morogoro, Tanzania.

3. Dinner for 1 billion people

Nearly one billion people globally depend on harvesting wild food such as herbs, fruits, nuts, meat, and insects for nutritious diets. In some remote tropical areas, the consumption of wild animals is estimated to cover between 60 and 80 per cent of daily protein needs.

A study from 43,000 households across 27 countries in Africa found that the dietary diversity of children exposed to forests was at least 25 per cent higher than those who were not.

In 22 countries in Asia and Africa, including both industrialized and developing countries, researchers found that indigenous communities use an average of 120 wild foods per community, and in India, an estimated 50 million households supplement their diets with fruits gathered from wildland forests and surrounding bushland.

UNDP Timor-Leste / Communities in Timor-Leste are helping to restore mangrove forests.

4. Forests are crucial for sustainable development

Forests provide goods and services, employment, and income to perhaps 2.5 billion people worldwide; that’s around one third of the global population.

Keeping forests – and humans – healthy is also at the heart of sustainable development and the 2030 Agenda. Woodlands play a key role in advancing progress across the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including:

SDG 3 Well-being: Woodlands feel good. Studies show that spending time in forests can boost immune systems while elevating positive emotions and lowering stress, blood pressure, depression, fatigue, anxiety, and tension. Human health and well-being depend on the natural environment, which provides such essential benefits as clean air, water, healthy soils, and food.

SDG 6 Water: Forests play a filtering role in providing freshwater. About 75 per cent of the world’s accessible freshwater comes from forested watersheds. By feeding rivers, forests supply drinking water for nearly half of the world’s largest cities. Threats to forests could trigger water shortages and put global freshwater resources at risk for people across the world, which are among urgent issues addressed at the forthcoming UN 2023 Water Conference.

SDG 13 Climate action: The woods buffer the impacts of storms and floods, protecting human health and safety during extreme weather events. For centuries, forests have acted as nature’s socio-economic safety nets in times of crisis. Sustainably managed and protected forests mean enhanced health and safety for all.

Deforestation continues despite international calls to protect forests.

5. Forests need protecting

The wide-ranging benefits of forests are well known, but that doesn’t mean they are offered the protection that they perhaps deserve. Fire, insect-damage and deforestation have accounted for up to 150 million hectares of forest loss in certain years over the last decade, that’s more than the landmass of a country like Chad or Peru. The production of agricultural commodities alone, including palm oil, beef, soy, timber, and pulp and paper, drives around 70 per cent of tropical deforestation.

Many governments have adopted forest-friendly policies, and others have increased investment in woodlands and trees. Local communities and actors are making their own strides, sometimes one tree at a time. The UN established the Decade for Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2023) and its agencies are harnessing partnerships with local to global stakeholders to better protect forests, from planting three million trees in Peru to empowering young women to work as community forest rangers to protect illegal fauna trafficking in Indonesia.

Established in 2008, UN-REDD��is the flagship UN knowledge and advisory partnership on forests and climate, supporting 65 partner countries. Building on the expertise of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), UN Development Programme, and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the initiative has, among other things, seen member countries reduce forest emissions at levels equivalent to taking 150 million cars off the road for a year, ushering in a lot of more fresh air.

For guidance on creating an enabling environment in which people can benefit from all woodlands have to offer, FAO offers recommendations alongside a closer look at many key interlinkage between forest and human health in its report, Forests for human health and well-being

[wanderlandjournal]

wanderlandjournal

Etsy

[enyasaints]

I have accepted that I am a failure

Despite all my efforts no matter what I do. I will always come up short. It’s been almost 3 months and I have not got a lawyer for my sexual assault case, and I have a month left to not only raise the money but find an employment lawyer that will take my case. I want to give up because it seems impossible to take this to trial.

I have been struggling financially. I’ve tried to stop begging to make up for the big ask of my employment lawyer. I have been suffering silently hoping that I can at least get a lawyer for my case, even if it meant I don’t eat a few times a week. I am all alone with no community. No friends. I have no means of living really. Without exaggeration I am contemplating suicide. The idea of my past employers and my abuser going scott free breaks me. This is just an abridge version of my 3 month break.

CA: $Enyasaint

Venmo: Enyasaint

My small ask for the day is to simply get out of overdraft. I am currently overdrafted -$26

I have a small goal of $200

CA: $Enyasaint

Venmo: Enyasaint

If anyone can contribute to help me pay small bills and get immediate necessities that I have neglected over a very long period of time. I would be so grateful.

Goal: $200

[girlbogg]

hey has anyone else noticed that totk looks a lot like princess mononoke sometinms (<- guy who has never had an original thought)

[parasolladyansy]

The lotus flower grows in darkness, rises above the mire, & blooms, purifying the pond with her beauty 🏞️🪷

In BW2, Ansy loved to go to the White Forest - she often felt better when she’s immersed in nature. She loved listening to the leaves rustle in the wind, like gentle ocean waves. She loved the beautiful ponds full of Lotad, where Rain would love to swim - in the summer, it would be in bloom.

She took a lot of wisdom from the flowers: hope, growing through pain, & turning it to strength, however quiet or loud, when she encounters Pokemon thieves like Team Plasma lol.

I’ve found that just choosing to blossom, choosing to be yourself, to be a good person with integrity who’s not afraid to speak the truth however you can, no matter how dark your circumstances get, can be the greatest act of defiance in the face of adversity. The ones who would want to pull you down or stunt your healing might get salty or smug - let them. All they do is show you who they are, & makes it all that much easier for you KonMari your contacts as needed.✌🏻

—

So um. THANK YOU FOR THE 1000+ FOLLOWS! 878! I’m just a Pokémon nerd who likes to draw, & here you all are! 🥲🩵 As I’ve said before, I’m very grateful for you & my comic. Which I need to work more on. But I keep getting distracted. XD

Take care! 🩵

[ancient-voice]

--011224, local forest (east)

part one: lovers and loners

[cryptid-moose]

IM BACK AND BETTER THAN EVER HAVE SOME WINTER SHASSIE!!!!!!!

[dandelionsresilience]

Dandelion News - October 1-7

Like these weekly compilations? Tip me at $kaybarr1735 or check out my Dandelion Doodles on Patreon!

1. Arctic ozone reaches record high in positive step for climate

“Above-average ozone levels continued to persist through September 2024. This is significant as, previously, spring has been associated with ozone depletion[….] The March 2024 ozone average peaked at 477 Dobson units (DU), which is 6 DU higher than the previous record in March 1979 and 60 DU higher than the average for the study period (1979 to 2023).”

2. Why Massachusetts loves Nibi the beaver and [won the fight] to keep her out of the wild

“Nibi, now 2 years old, is roughly the age when wild beavers embark on their journey to find a mate and build a home. [… But] if Nibi is released in October, she would be ill-prepared for the winter[…. The governor has] issued a permit for Nibi to remain at a wildlife rescue as an educational beaver and inspire folks to protect our natural world."”

3. In Madagascar, Taniala Regenerative Camp aims to heal deforestation scars

“Residents of the villages around Lambokely manage the nursery and market garden crops. “Local communities receive training in agroecology and agroforestry, benefit from improved soil fertility, and earn additional income from intercropping in the agroforestry plots. In addition, community members are incentivized to participate in tree-planting activities.””

4. Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana Breaks Ground on $6.4 Million Affordable Housing Project

“The project’s first phase will create three-bedroom homes designed for multiple purposes, including elderly housing, emergency shelter, and support for displaced and low-income Tribal citizens. These homes will be built to meet Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards, ensuring accessibility for all.”

5. Scientists say painting roofs this colour could save lives: How does it keep cities cool?

“[Researchers] found that cool, light-coloured roofs installed across all of London’s roofs could have cooled the city by around 0.8C [in 2018]. [… Solar panels] could have cooled the city by around 0.3C, preventing the deaths of 96 people [… while generating] more than half the energy [used by] London during the entire year of 2018.”

6. Travis County [TX] opens center to help keep people experiencing a mental health crisis out of jail

“The walk-in urgent care facility is open 24/7 and provides immediate support for people experiencing mental health crises. From there, some patients may be referred to a residential facility[… where] patients will be able to stay for up to 90 days[….] Jailed individuals may also work with their legal teams to coordinate admission to the facility.”

7. Spain’s first transgender soccer team makes debut in regional men’s league

“A soccer team consisting entirely of transgender men has[…] become the first all-trans squad to achieve federated status in Europe. […] Spain passed a pioneering trans rights bill last year designed to make it easier to change a person’s legal gender identity. […] Players may also choose to use a name that’s different from their legal one[….]”

8. Green Status of Species: Pushing Conservation Ambitions Beyond Preventing Extinction

“[… T]he Green Status of Species [is] a new part of Red List assessments that helps tell “a species’ full conservation story.” […] In addition to quantifying species recovery, the Green Status of Species […] will help to better inform future conservation actions by shedding light on which past actions have contributed most to species recovery.”

9. Hell froze over in Texas – the state will connect to the US grid for the first time via a fed grant

“[The projects will] boost grid reliability, lower energy costs, and support the clean energy transition. […] They’ll also generate nearly 9,000 jobs, supporting local economies[…. In particular, the Texas portion is] designed to prevent outages like the ones during Winter Storm Uri that hit Texas hard in 2021.”

10. Pine martens released to be reintroduced to Devon

“Work to release 15 pine martens into woods across Dartmoor has been completed[….] The eight females and seven males have all been fitted with a radio collars to allow their movements to be tracked. […] They were kept in soft-release pens for three days to get them used to their surroundings before being allowed to run wild, staff said.”

September 22-28 news here | (all credit for images and written material can be found at the source linked; I don’t claim credit for anything but curating.)

[pastel-hazey-dreams]

[0nelinerwordplay]

Koinobori こいのぼり -

Tsuetate Onsen 杖立温泉

Tucked away in the remote northern reaches of Kumamoto, Tsuetate Onsen Resort, often referred to as ‘Kyushu’s Secret Haven,’ boasts a rich history spanning 1,800 years. Although its once vibrant atmosphere has mellowed with time, Tsuetate remains an enchanting destination. Visitors are drawn not only by the allure of its bygone splendor and the nostalgic ambiance of the Showa era but also by the enduring appeal of its hot springs. These thermal waters are celebrated for their beneficial health effects, adding to the unique charm of this historical retreat.

[petronellasphone]

Slim trees

[intlforestday]

Special event in celebration of the International Day of Forests 2023; March 21st.

The theme of the 2023 International Day of Forests is "Forests and Health".

Special event in celebration of the 2023 International Day of Forests

This year's celebration aims to highlight how forests sustain all aspects of our health, from cleaning our air and water to providing us with essential food, fuel, medicines and income.

[wanderlandjournal]

morning light of November

[soundofwatersworld]

Listening to the sound of rain soothes my soul.

The rain at night in the city gives a somewhat sad impression. In such a case, why don't you listen to the sound of rain quietly?

[forestduck]

[mitzi-moo]

Summer daze ☀️