Infographic - Forests and Land Use

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International Day of Forests 2013

The United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed March 21 to be the International Day of Forests. The Day celebrates and raises awareness of the importance of all types of forests. On each International Day of Forests, local, national and international activities take place involving forests and trees, such as tree planting campaigns. Click here for the full text of the UN Resolution.

Trees, forests and their surrounding environments are vital to the health of the planet and our local communities. Forests are also offer a wide array of economic and employment benefits.

On this day at the Rome headquarters of the Food and Agriculture organizations (FAO) of the UN, there will be an opening ceremony and technical seminar entitled "Forests in the Landscape Context." It will provide updated country-based and technical information on the ways in which forests can maximize landscape products and services.

NASA Imagery Shows Trees are Dying in US Forests

Years of drought and high temperatures are thinning forests in the upper Great Lakes and the eastern United States. According to 2013 NASA satellite imagery which is part of the third National Climate Assessment, nearly 40 percent of Mid-Atlantic forests have lost tree canopy cover. Other afflicted areas include southern Appalachia, the southeastern coast and to a lesser extent, the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada.

The combination of less water and higher temperatures are making trees, especially southern pines and the upper Midwest's hardwoods, more vulnerable to insects and new pathogens.

Study Shows Deforestation of Tropical Rainforest Decreases Precipitation

Deforestation can have many impacts including increases in un-sequestered carbon, and decreases in atmospheric oxygen, but according to new research loss of tropical rainforests can also significantly decrease rainfall. According to a new study titled, "Observations of increased tropical rainfall preceded by air passage over forests," the destruction of tropical forests could reduce rain across the Amazon basin by more than a fifth (21%) in the dry season by 2050.

Study Shows that Climate Change is Killing Forests

Climate change is causing a massive forest die-off on almost every continent on Earth. Forests are already under threat from illegal logging and land clearing for agriculture. According to a new paper published in the journal Nature Climate Change, trees in forests all around the world are dying due to dry climatic conditions and elevated heat. This study corroborates the notion that global warming is increasing the risk of fires, disease and pest infestations like pine beetles. This die-off is undermining the wide range of ecological and economic benefits that forests provide.

STIHL Tour des Trees 2012 Fundraising Event in Oregon

The STIHL Tour des Trees is a cycling fundraising event that will take place in Oregon on Aug. 5 to Aug. 11, 2012. Participants cycle more than 500-miles visiting historical trees and planting new ones for future generations. Participants in this year's event will cycle and plant trees along the Columbia River Gorge, vineyards, the high desert and Mt. Hood.