Trees are being destroyed
through the transportation
of invasive insects & diseases in firewood.
One of the most important things we can do to protect trees is stop moving invasive pests and diseases to new areas on firewood. It’s really that simple- don't move firewood, and keep trees healthy and alive.Forests are great places to play, but they also keep our air clean and our water pure. We must protect them by not moving firewood, so our kids, grandkids and great-grandkids can enjoy these amazing places like we do.
Need more reasons not to move firewood?
New infestations of tree-killing insects and diseases often are first found in campgrounds and parks. Why? Because people accidentally spread these invasive species when they brought firewood along with them. Don't risk it. Leave your firewood at home, and then buy new wood near to where you'll burn it. Protect the places you love by not moving firewood.
The trees in forests clean our air. Every acre of healthy forest cleans pollution out of the air and reduces greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide. But invasive foreign pests are killing several million native trees every year. For every tree that dies, that’s a little bit more pollution that we have to deal with. And when several million trees die, that’s just scary.
A snowflake falling in the mountains passes through trees and forests before ending up in our drinking water. Trees filter groundwater, prevent erosion, and help ensure that our lakes and streams aren’t filled with harmful pollutants.
Forests are places where one generation teaches the next about nature and life. A place of traditions and continuity down through the generations. We must protect these places before our treasured customs like fishing, camping, hunting and hiking, are gone for good
How to Save Tropical Rainforests
Today tropical rainforests are disappearing from the face of the globe. Despite growing international concern, rainforests continue to be destroyed at a pace exceeding 80,000 acres (32,000 hectares) per day. World rainforest cover now stands at around 2.5 million square miles (6 million square kilometers), an area about the size of the contiguous 48 United States or Australia and representing around 5 percent of the world's land surface. Much of this remaining area has been impacted by human activities and no longer retains its full original biodiversity.
Deforestation of tropical rainforests has a global impact through species extinction, the loss of important ecosystem services and renewable resources, and the reduction of carbon sinks. However, this destruction can be slowed, stopped, and in some cases even reversed. Most people agree that the problem must be remedied, but the means are not as simple as fortifying fences around the remaining rainforests or banning the timber trade. Economic, political, and social pressures will not allow rainforests to persist if they are completely closed off from use and development
So, what should be done? The solution must be based on what is feasible, not overly idealistic, and depends on developing a new conservation policy built on the principle of sustainable use and development of rainforests. Beyond the responsible development of rainforests, efforts to rehabilitate and restore degraded forest lands along with the establishment of protected areas are key to securing rainforests for the long-term benefits they can provide mankind.
Past efforts
Historic approaches to rainforest conservation have failed, as demonstrated by the accelerated rate of deforestation. In many regions, closing off forests as untouchable parks and reserves has neither improved the quality of living or economic opportunities for rural poor nor deterred forest clearing by illegal loggers and developers. Corruption has only worsened the situation.
The problem with this traditional park approach to preserving wildlands in developing countries is that it fails to generate sufficient economic incentives for respecting and maintaining the forest. Rainforests will only continue to survive as functional ecosystems if they can be shown to provide tangible economic benefits. Local people and the government itself must see financial returns to justify the costs of maintaining parks and forgoing revenue from economic activities within the boundaries of the protected area.
