Conserving Forests and Biodiversity: A Key to Our Planet's Survival
Biodiversity is crucial for the survival and functioning of our planet and human well-being. However, since 1970, nearly 70% of species have been lost. Biodiversity provides various benefits, including ecosystem services, food security, medicine, economic advantages, cultural value, and recreational opportunities. In Canada, a country with one of the largest forest areas globally, 57 out of 234 native tree species are at risk, with almost half of those facing extinction. While planting more trees is beneficial, the focus should be on creating healthier and more diverse forests to protect species and build resilient ecosystems for the future.
For our world’s habitats and ecosystems, variety is more than just the spice of life, it is core to survival. It is essential to the successful functioning of our planet and to human well-being. Simply put, diverse species of plants, animals, and microorganisms are what make our world work, but since 1970, we have lost nearly 70% of species on the planet (The WWF Living Planet Report).
Robust biodiversity provides a myriad of benefits, from ecosystem services like pollination, water filtration, climate regulation, and nutrient cycling (all of which humans benefit from), to food security, medicine, economic benefits through jobs across a variety of industries, to cultural and recreational value. Diversity in nature is critical to the functioning of ecosystems and human well-being.
In Canada, a country with the third-largest forest area in the world (with almost 362 million hectares (ha)) and 234 species of native trees, 57 have been assessed at risk in Canada or globally. Nearly half of Canada’s at-risk trees have been ranked as imperiled or vulnerable by NatureServe and/or Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable, or Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. That is one in four species of trees, at risk.
As planting programs proliferate across the world, we can all agree that planting more trees has near-immediate and far-reaching benefits. But simply planting more trees shouldn’t be the only goal; healthier forests should. Investments and actions must look beyond trees alone, and focus on strengthening future forests, the habitat that they provide, and the biodiversity that they represent. By conserving, strengthening, and building healthy, diverse forests we can protect species from extinction and build stronger, more resilient ecosystems for all.
About the Growing Future Forests Report
Amid the global biodiversity crisis and the drive towards net zero targets, there is a growing demand for native seeds to support future forest growth and nature-based solutions. However, sourcing diverse species from appropriate seed supplies remains a challenge for many tree-planting projects. To effectively scale up forest landscape restoration (FLR) and address these shortages, it is crucial to identify and overcome bottlenecks across the supply chain. The concept of forest and landscape restoration (FLR), aimed at regaining ecological integrity and enhancing human well-being in deforested or degraded landscapes, has gained global attention. The Growing Future Forests report explores the source of seeds required for sustainable forestry, restoration, and reclamation in Canada and emphasizes the shared concern for the sustainable use of forest genetic resources across multiple sectors. While different sectors have specific needs and policies, the potential for collaboration, knowledge sharing, and unified supply chains deserves exploration, as currently, no national strategy exists for delivering stronger outcomes in reforestation efforts.
About Wilder Climate Solutions
Wilder imagines and delivers nature-based solutions anchored in science and focused on driving big results. We bring together powerful players, cutting-edge science and the might of the natural world to expedite global reforestation and deliver climate-saving interventions. We work on behalf of nature.