Forests absorbs harmful greenhouse gases that results in ozone layer depletion and global warming Human existence can only be imagined in the presence of forests. We depend on forests for the air we breathe, prevents drastic climatic change and natural calamities like soil erosion, landslide etc. But the recent activities of humans like deforestation, forest fire, rapid industrialization etc. are leading themselves towards the verge of their extinction. Based on temperature analysis conducted by scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), the average global temperature on Earth has increased by about 0.8° Celsius (1.4° Fahrenheit) since 1880. Two-thirds of the warming has occurred since 1975, at a rate of roughly 0.15-0.20°C per decade. The main reason behind this drastic change is due to decreasing trend of forest resources.

Amazon rain forest is regarded as “the lung of the earth” as it produces around 20% of total earth’s oxygen. Based on recent statistics, the world is emitting around 40 billion tons of CO2 into the atmosphere every year. The Amazon absorbs 2 billion tons of CO2 per year (or 5% of annual emissions), making it a vital part of preventing change. The aborigines of rainforest believe that the land grabbers were behind the fire to create area for cattle ranching and field for growing crops. 

Nepal is a country rich in its natural flora as forest makes up about 44.74% of our land. We are rich in biological diversity including plants and animals. Nepal government has developed a model to establish community forest to be managed by local people themselves for their livelihood to develop the feeling of owner in all community people. The result obtained from community forestry over the last 25 years show some positive impacts in terms of enrichment of greenery and growing stock. On the other hand, forests under government management systems are not only depleting, but also degrading. Out of the total forested area, about 18% is under the community forestry scheme. 

In order to control the present situation, we must follow some basic principles of mass re-afforestation in barren land and plantation of trees in front of every house. Strict laws must be formulated by international community to prevent deforestation and rapid industrialization leading to global warming and climatic change. Countries with higher coverage of forest must be rewarded and encouraged for their work. The ethnic people who lives inside the forests or at the edge of forest should be teached and awareness program should be launched. Alternative way of income generation should be planned in order to minimize their direct dependency on forests for food and selter.