2011 is the year of the forests – Saving the forests through international cooperation

Solymos, Rezső

“A wraith walks in Europe and North America: the wraith of forest decline.” This dramatic sentence starts the chapter of the 1986 volume of World Resources on forests. This was a global cry of pain triggered by the extensive decline of forests which started in the seventies. It echoed the cry “Save the forests of the Earth – as long as it is not too late, as long as we have something to save and preserve!” International scientific forums and global social platforms addressed the issue of forests. It became ever clearer for humankind that forests are an essential part of what makes this world livable for us. This realisation was greatly urged by the position of the Club of Rome on the limits of growth. Following the first world meeting on the environment in Stockholm and then the report of the Brundtland Committee on our common future, the principles for sustainable forestry (the Forest Principles) were adopted at the Earth Summit held in Rio in 1992 – after no agreement could be reached on the adoption of a treaty on the protection of forests! It was a step forward when the UN Intergovernmental Body on Forests was created, which later addressed the issue of sustainable forestry as a UN Forum. FAO designated 1985 the ‘Year of Forests’ for the first time. The importance of forest and forestry has prompted it to designate 2011 a ‘Year of Forests’ again. “Gazdálkodás” addresses this field not only for the sake of providing general information and education to agricultural specialists but also because forests and the ‘services’ they provide are closely interrelated with the quality of human life, the natural environment, wildlife and agriculture.

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