The International Year of Forests 2011 (Forests 2011) logo is designed to convey the theme of “Forests for People” celebrating the central role of people in the sustainable management, conservation and sustainable development of our world’s forests. The iconographic elements in the design depict some of the multiple values of forests and the need for a 360‐degree perspective: forests provide shelter to people and habitat to biodiversity; are a source of food, medicine and clean water; and play a vital role in maintaining a stable global climate and environment. All of these elements taken together reinforce the message that forests are vital to the survival and well being of people everywhere, all 7 billion of us.
The logo was originally made available in all 6 UN official languages, and has since been translated into over 40 local languages including Armenian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, German, Greek, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Kyrgyz, Latvian, Polish, Portuguese, Slovakian, Slovenian, Swedish, Swahili Swedish, and Turkish. If you would like to receive a copy of the other (local) language versions please email the UNFF Secretariat.
Background
Forests are an integral part of global sustainable development. According to World Bank estimates, more than 1.6 billion people depend on forests for their livelihoods with some 300 million living in them.[1] The forest product industry is a source of economic growth and employment, with global forest products traded internationally is estimated at $327 billion.
The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that every year 130,000 km² of the world's forests are lost due to deforestation. Conversion to agricultural land, unsustainable harvesting of timber, unsound land management practices, and creation of human settlements are the most common reasons for this loss of forested areas.
According to the World Bank, deforestation accounts for up to 20 percent of the global greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming. FAO data estimates that the world's forests and forest soil store more than one trillion tons of carbon – twice the amount found in the atmosphere. The World Bank estimates that forests provide habitats to about two-thirds of all species on earth, and that deforestation of closed tropical rainforests could account for biodiversity loss of as many as 100 species a day.
According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Global Partnership on Forest Landscape Restoration, “Across the globe lie more than a billion hectares of lost and degraded forest land that could be restored”.