Forests

What Do Forests Do For Us?

The United Nations declared 2011 the International Year of Forests. During Canadian Environment Week you can join in ‘Preserving our Forests and Protecting our Future’.

The role forests play in our lives is crucial. They are vital for regulating climate, air, soils and water. Forests also support jobs in hundreds of rural communities. Canada’s boreal forest alone provides shelter to half of Canada’s 450 bird species and a wide range of mammals, including moose, wolves, caribou, bears, rodents, rabbits, lynx and mink!

Did you know that manymodern medicines were originally derived from plants? Yet few plants have ever been fully investigated for their medicinal properties or components. Who knows how many life-changing medicines are awaiting discovery in our forests. We need to preserve them to protect this potential source of many cures.

There are also social benefits to forests such as research, education, recreation, tourism, and cultural values. Not to mention the aesthetic asset in which countless Canadian communities take pride.

Canadian Environment Week runs from June 5 to 11 and various organizations and communities will be setting up initiatives to mark the event. Canadian Environment Week is a perfect time to concentrate on protecting and preserving our natural environment that we rely on every day. Our lives are inextricably linked to our forests. We must preserve them. To learn more, visit Canadian Environment Week.