Several calls have been made to mitigate the human impact on forests and nature. While it has slowed down in recent years, the different threats posed by humans and human existence cannot be undermined. In the State of the Forest report made by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, it has been estimated that 420 million hectares of forest were lost to land conversion. Vast thickets are being converted for residential and commercial use. The exponential rate of development has caused deforestation and forest degradation to be ubiquitous. It is unfortunate that, over the years, global forest coverage is dwindling at a very alarming rate. They are natural shields that keeps communities from the strong winds while, at the same time, preventing land erosion. Helping mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change are forests and mountains. This is making coastal communities vulnerable to flooding and sea surges. The advent of climate change has also caused ice caps on both poles to melt at alarming rates, resulting in rising sea levels. Blizzards and heat waves have become more ominous. We are now experiencing stronger hurricanes and typhoons than before. What is more alarming is that climate change further exacerbated existing weather conditions all over the world. With the passage of time, the threats of climate change have increasingly become more and more apparent.

But it also has a very important role that we rarely acknowledge. They are vast unassuming reservoirs that filter and hold the water that we drink. Forests are akin to gargantuan green lungs that purify the air that we breathe. But this thick copse shrouded in mystery is teeming with life that allows other life forms to thrive. From the outside, they look like an untamed and ominous territory fr from the crutches of men. Without a doubt, forests play a seminal role in our lives.

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