Forests ensure environmental functions such as biodiversity, water and soil conservation, water supply and climate regulation.
Mismanagement of woodlands in humid and subhumid tropical countries significantly contributes to soil losses equivalent to a 10 percent loss of agricultural gross domestic product (GDP) per year.
Deforestation accounts for up to 20 percent of the global greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming.
In arid environments, forests are crucial to food security in dry seasons and years.
Forests provide habitats to about two-thirds of all species on earth.
Deforestation of closed tropical rainforests could account for the loss of as many as 100 species a day.
