There is an increasing body of research that spending time in forests improves our mental and physical health. They are also vital to the health of the planet.
Forests produce oxygen, clean the air, purify water, provide shelter for plants, animals and people, protect against soil erosion, flooding, and landslides, absorb carbon emissions from the atmosphere, and protect us from diseases and viruses.
Trees are the best currently available means of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. A 2017 study found that nature-based solutions to carbon storage could provide more than 1/3 of emissions reductions needed to stabilize global temperature increases below 2 C.
We could also reduce carbon emissions by preventing deforestation and degradation of forests, which currently contribute about 13% of global CO2 emissions.
Forests are vulnerable to climate change. Higher temperatures and drought stress can lead to more intense and more frequent wildfires, to damaging insect outbreaks, and changing species distribution of trees.
Old growth forests are irreplaceable, containing a mix of ages and species, dead trees, a rich organic mix of dead wood and leaves on the forest floor, a host of plant life, innumerable birds, amphibians, and mammals. They sequester more carbon than any other type of forest.
We need to keep more of our forests intact, manage what we have better, and plant more trees to restore what we have lost.
“Forest Connection” is part of the Everything Connected exhibition on Climate Change taking place at the Elora Centre for the Arts in Elora, Ontario April 21 – May 15, 2022.
Carol Hughes art 