March 15th 2021

Cities4Forests Day

In the context of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and in the lead-up to the UN International Day of Forests on 21 March 2021, Cities4Forests are hosting the Cities4Forests Day to involve media in communicating the value of forests and to involve you in learning more about ecosystem restoration.

The Cities4Forests Day includes two events: a press conference at 10:00 am CET and an expert panel at 14:00 pm CET. 

Press Conference: Why we need to restore forests, and how we import deforestation (10AM CET) 

Forests continue to be cut down at an alarming pace globally, largely to feed our consumption patterns. 80% of deforestation is linked to the expansion of agriculture, with land being cleared to make way for grazing animals and to grow crops. Forests contain 60,000 different tree species, 80% of the world’s amphibian species, 75% of bird species, and 68% of mammal species. 

Attending journalists will learn more about the value of forests for human well-being, water cycles, climate resilience, and biodiversity, and the threat posed to forests worldwide by imported deforestation.  

Expert Panel: What is ecosystem restoration all about? (2PM CET) 

It is estimated that a global ecosystem restoration movement could generate US$9 trillion in ecosystem services and remove between 13 to 26 gigatons of greenhouse gases. With a new study revealing that, due to human modification of forests, only 40% of remaining forests have high ecosystem integrity, ecosystem restoration will be critical to preserving the ecosystem services and benefits that forests provide now and into the future. 

Join specialists from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and Ecosystem Restoration Camps (ERC) to discuss the evolving concept of ecosystem restoration and how we can engage with the ecosystem restoration movement. 

Register here