International Day of Forests

2018 Events around the world

Healing Forest, a project that helps people heal by reconnecting with nature while helping forests to heal through volunteer projects, produced a video as part of an ongoing initiative that encourages people to connect with nature by creating art from a walk in the forest. The video contains images of the art created from participants around the world. 

IUFRO Spotlight is an initiative of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations that aims to share significant findings in forest research from IUFRO officeholders and member organizations to a worldwide network of decision makers, policy makers and researchers.

Greening Uganda planted 1000 trees as part of a tree planting campaign to celebrate the International Day of Forests. The National Forest Authority contributed to the celebration with a donation of  3,500 seedling.

USAID celebrated the International Day of Forests by hosting a symposium on sustainable architecture, forest trees and opportunities for open public spaces in cities in the Philippines. The symposium also included the launch of a Kids-to-Forests (K2F) programme by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. 

The Ministry of Environment and Forestry of Indonesia celebrated the 2018 International Day of Forests by organizing a series of events in the Menteng Garden, a public green space in Jakarta. Activities included tree planting and a fun run.

FAO Pakistan participated in a seminar on urban forestry and sustainable cities.The event was organized by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) in partnership with the Ministry of Climate of Pakistan. A screening of the International Day of Forests 2018 video took place during the event. 

10,000 trees will be planted within three years in the urban arboretum at the Kadurupokuna Buddhist Temple in Sri Lanka, restoring 7 acres of degraded land for use by school children for study and research and as a refuge for wild animals. The project will be implemented by a local resort, in cooperation with the Ayurveda division of the Forestry Department and with school children.   

More than 500 activities for the general public were organized throughout France, including  an exhibition on French forests which gathered over 2,000 people on the square of the City Hall of Paris. Over 140 projects were organized in schools as well as field trips to plantations and into the forest where 9,500 pupils planted more than 8,300 trees. 

Wood Wide Web organized several activities to celebrate the 2018 International Day of Forests, which included  a large public event on the essential role that trees play in our lives and a tree-lined walks around the Abbey of La Cambre and in the Sonian Forest. Wood Wide Web is a cross-media project working to create a forest atlas to reconnect Brussels citizens to the trees. 

The city of Vitoria-Gasteiz  hosted a celebration for the International Day of Forests through the initiative Juntos Por Los Bosques, which brings together the voices of more than 30 entities representing the Spanish forestry sector. The activities included the planting of elm trees resistant to the Dutch elm disease and a visit to the Botanical Garden of Olárizu. 

The FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific hosted a debate on the topic of “Forests and Sustainable Cities” for high school and university students in order to raise awareness of the importance of trees and urban forests for sustainable cities.

The Savanna Forestry Research Station and the Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria celebrated the International Day of Forests with activities both for students and adults that included a symbolic tree planting by the principal of the Barewa College in Zaria.

At the Gulfo Dulce Forest Reserve IDF was celebrated by carrying out a series of activities with the purpose of exchanging experiences and knowledge on forest management, rural development as well as the harvest of low impact wood.

Activities were organized to celebrate the 2018 International Day of Forests in Gabon at the Sibang Aboretum, an urban forest in the heart of Libreville. Hélder Muteia, the FAO Representative in Gabon, spoke to students about the importance of forests for the sustainable development.

The Togliatti Philharmonic celebrated the International Day of Forests by bringing together young people interested in ecology to share their own experiences and perspectives. 

The Forest Service of Drama organized an International Day of Forests celebration with the Secondary School of Fotolivos and the 5th Secondary School of Drama.  

The faculty of Agricultural Science of the Universidad Nacional De Asuncin celebrated the International Day of Forests with a series of seminars and workshops, as part of their IV Forest Week, from March 19 to 24. 

The Climate Reality Project, a non-profit organization involved in education and advocacy related to climate change, hosted a discussion on the role of forests in sustainable development, in support of livelihoods and as a solution to climate change. Over 900 college students from SHS college in Port Harcourt were involved in the event. 

The Forestry Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina, along with three other state institutions, organized an event to celebrate the International Day of Forests in the city of Donji Vakuf.

An Argentinian radio programme was hosted by the European Club to celebrate the International Day of Forests.

The Service Régional des Forêts of the Région Haute Matsiatra hosted a special training for university students on forest protection and fighting bush fires on the 23rd of March. 

The Academia of Science and Arts of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, organized the round table on 21 March 2018. The following lecturers were presented: forests in function of biodiversity, forests and climate changes, biological and ecological aspects of forest plantations in function of bioenergy production, state of forests and forestry in Republic of Srpska and modern trends. 

The faculty of Agricultural science of Universidad Nacional del Litoral organized an exhibition on native forests in the region to celebrate the International Day of Forests. The exhibition explored various themes, including the richness and diversity of forest ecosystems, and forests as a resource centre.

Forest Creators, a socially responsible company for restoring ecosystems, celebrated IDF 2018 on 21 March with a series of initiatives including the planting of trees in urban environments. Forests Creators’ activities can be found at this link: http://forestcreators.com/.

In celebration of the International Day of Forests 2018, the editors of the website “Baumpflegeportal” wrote an article about forests and cities. Baumpflegeportal aims to give information about all issues related to trees and their care.

The General Directorate of the Natural Environment joins this celebration by carrying out a series of activities with the aim of working on these objectives: introduce some of the species of flora and fauna of the region's forests, show some of the negative impacts caused by the human being in the forest spaces, point out the importance of urban green areas and the benefits they provide to cities. 

Organized as part of the International Day of Forests and 125 years of Forestry, this cine-debate will address the theme of forest resources' diveristy in a context of global change. The main focus will be on temperate and tropical forests, to better understand the differences and commonalities between these two major types of ecosystems. 

ASPEE College of Horticulture and Forestry is going to take part in the celebration of the International Day of Forests on 21 March 2018. The institute is the only institute in the Gujarat State of India, which is imparting undergraduate and postgraduate level degree programmes in forestry.

South Punjab Forest Company (SPFC) strives to promote commercial forestry and range management in Punjab to reduce deforestation and couple forest conservation with sustainable economic development. To celebrate the International Day of Forests SPFC is organizing a seminar in collaboration with Hashoo Foundation and University of Agriculture, Faisalabad.

At the event of the UN International Day of Forests, the Icelandic Forest Service has made a short video laying stress on this year‘s theme of the day, Forests and sustainable cities. Clips are taken both in the capital Reykjavik and in various towns throughout the country pointing at how municipalities can actively grow urban trees to catch pollution, diminish noise, lower heating costs of housing and making the ever growing urban environment a greener, healthier and happier places to live.Watch the video here!

The International Day of Forests coincides with the 5th Round of Technical Assessment of Forest Reference Levels, being organized by the Mitigation, Data and Analysis programme, UNFCCC, from 19-23 March, 2018. 25 land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) experts from 21 countries are participating in the technical assessment of 12 forest reference level submissions by developing countries.

The event has been organized by the Urban Forests Research Center of the National Institute of Forest Science in Korea, in order to celebrate the International Day of Forests 2018, by reflecting this year’s theme of “Forests and Sustainable Cities”.

Encouraging citizens to reconnect with nature by highlighting the value of forests, the 2018 Forest City Forum brings together international agencies, associations and industry actors to advance greater sustainability practices. A virtual reality experience of the Amazon with Conservation International called "Under the Canopy" will also be presented at the event.

Children celebrate the world forests by growing pines from seeds. Over 200 Finnish primary schools and daycare centres have registered more than 6,500 children for the My Tree project. During the project, each child will sow five pine seeds in pots placed on the windowsill. The article is also available in Finnish here.

To celebrate this year’s International Day of Forests, this event will gather eminent speakers presenting innovative ideas on urban farming, the integration of trees in buildings, wood construction and architecture, showing that technology and ingenuity have no limits. 

Project Extraordinary is an inaugural award competition to make sustainability sexy for consumers. The brief is to develop a concept for a short-form video that demonstrates an idea that makes sustainability so sexy it cannot be ignored any more. This initiative is a collaboration between WiLD Studios and WWF, supported by UN Environment. 

Distinguished guests will discuss 'difference' from diverse perspectives and how engagement with the natural world, each other, and diverse spiritual traditions may bridge the divide. The evening’s guests include Duncan Murdoch, host of forest walks throughout the state with his organization, Nature Connection Guide, artist; and Steven Parker owner and manager of High Reach Farm, a diversified tree farm in Danville, VT.