Forests stand as lifelines for people and ecosystems. They supply food, medicine, shelter, and oxygen while acting as natural shields against climate change. The United Nations has warned that these vital areas are in danger and urged immediate action to safeguard them. In response, the campaign Healthy Forests, Healthy People was introduced to mark the International Day of the Forest, celebrated this Tuesday.
Forests play a central role in health and well-being. When forests are thriving, communities gain reliable sources of nourishment, medicines, clean air, and a steady climate. Healthy forests, in turn, help keep people healthy and secure.
Covering about 31 percent of the planet and home to roughly 80 percent of terrestrial species, forests face accelerating loss that threatens humanity and the broader environment. They regulate climate, support rainfall, and sustain water basins, delivering the oxygen essential to life.
Forests act as carbon sinks, absorbing around 2,000 million tons of carbon dioxide each year and standing as a major factor in moderating global warming.
Forest products are used daily around the world, ranging from masks to medicines. About 80 percent of developing countries and 25 percent of developed ones rely on herbal medicines sourced from forests.
natural pharmacies
Some 50,000 plant species growing in forests hold medicinal value and are used by local communities as well as multinational pharmaceutical firms. Thus, forests function as natural pharmacies, with cancer drugs traced back to Madagascar vinca and malaria remedies derived from the cinchona tree.
The health-focused initiative launched as part of the UN’s response to the covid-19 outbreak recognizes a deep link between human, animal, plant, and forest health, all part of a single interconnected system.
Nearly one in ten people worldwide depend on wild foods gathered from forests, including grasses, fruits, nuts, meat, and insects to maintain nutritious diets. In some remote tropical areas, wild meat provides 60 to 80 percent of daily protein. A study covering 43,000 households in 27 African countries found that children exposed to forests had significantly greater dietary diversity. Indigenous communities across Asia and Africa rely on around 120 wild foods per community, and in India alone, about 50 million households supplement meals with forest-harvested fruits and shrubs.
Forests contribute to sustainable development by delivering products, services, work opportunities, and income to around 2.5 billion people – roughly one-third of the world’s population.
remedy for stress
Protecting forest health lies at the core of the Sustainable Development Goals. In particular, Goal 3 has spurred numerous scientific studies showing that time spent in forests boosts the immune system, elevates positive emotions, and lowers stress, blood pressure, depression, fatigue, anxiety, and tension.
The presence of trees in cities helps shield populations from respiratory diseases by absorbing pollutants and filtering fine particles such as dust and smoke. Forests also help safeguard freshwater supplies, with forest basins contributing to about 75 percent of the world’s readily available fresh water.
As for climate action (Goal 13), forests buffer the impacts of storms and floods. Forest ecosystems have historically served as natural barriers against disease transmission between animals and humans, yet deforestation raises the risk of zoonotic events.
Despite their importance, forests face numerous threats. Fires, pests, and ongoing deforestation have caused substantial losses, sometimes up to 150 million hectares in a single decade, an area roughly three times the size of Spain. Agricultural and animal products such as palm oil, beef, soybeans, wood, pulp, and paper drive about 70 percent of tropical deforestation.
The UN has called for vigorous action to curb these pressures and safeguard forests. Positive policies for the forestry sector and increased investment in forests and trees are seen as essential steps to protect both the planet and public health.
UN guidance on forests and health is available in the FAO publication on forests and health (FAO, 2024).
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Contact details for the environment department have been removed as part of the update to this article.