Land Cover Classification showing temperate deciduous forest biome across London and South East UK. Satellite data acquired by Sentinel-2 on the 27th August 2019, & is courtesy of ESA/Copernicus, processing undertaken by Pixalytics.
Whilst most of Europe, and other parts of the world, go into various levels of lockdown and many people will not venturing far outside, this weekend marks two international celebrations:
- International Day of Forests takes place on Saturday 21st March; and
- World Water Day is on Sunday 22nd March.
International Day of Forests
In 2012 the United Nations General Assembly first declared that the 21st March would be International Day of Forests. It’s aimed at celebrating and promoting awareness of the contributions all forests make to the planet. Each year has a specific theme and this year it’s ‘Forests and Biodiversity – Too Precious To Lose’.
Key facts about forests for this year include:
- Forests are home to about 80% of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity.
- Forests and woodlands are made of over 60,000 tree species.
- More than a billion people depend directly on forests for food, shelter, energy and income.
- Genetic diversity helps forests to cope with climate change and other threats.
- Biodiversity is under serious threat from deforestation, forest degradation and climate change.
- Managing forests sustainably, and restoring them when needed, is crucial for people, biodiversity and climate.
Normally, at this stage we’d highlight all the events occurring that you could participate in – there are often lots of tree-plantings happening. However, instead, this year we’re going to highlight the hashtag #IntlForestDay and suggest you have a look at all the amazing things forests do on Saturday and send a little love to the planet’s woodlands.
World Water Day
At the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, they declared the 22nd March would be World Water Day. It first took place in 1993 and focuses on the importance of freshwater and supporting the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal 6: Ensure access to water and sanitation for all by 2050 – as currently there are over two billion people living without access to safe water.
The specific theme for this year is about how water and climate change are linked, with three key messages:
- We Cannot Afford To Wait – Climate policymakers must put water at the heart of action plans.
- Water Can Help Fight Climate Change – There are sustainable, affordable and scalable water and sanitation solutions.
- Everyone Has A Role To Play – It is surprising how many water actions anyone, anywhere can take to address climate change.
Like the International Day of Forests, there are normally lots of events associated with World Water Day, including one we are very linked with – Uganda Water Week. Sam was there last year with the Drought & Flood Mitigation Service we’re part of, which is an International Partnership Programme project run by RHEA Group and funded through the UK Space Agency.
Map of Uganda showing vegetation productivity. Underlying data is the MODIS 2014 NPP Product, MOD17 – Zhoa et al. (2005).
The project will once again be present during Uganda Water Week which takes place next week between 23rd and 27th March at the Water Resource Institute in Entebbe. The theme this year is ‘The centrality of water and environment resources in Sustainable Industrialization for Inclusive-growth, Employment and Wealth Creation.
After this post was published Uganda, like many other countries, imposed restrictions on travel and mass gatherings due to the current global pandemic, which meant Uganda Water Week was cancelled.
We’re sorry that we can’t be in Uganda this year, and that we can’t participate in any of the events to celebrate these two great days. We will support them virtually, and we hope others do too!
