To: Sec. Gen. Mr. Antonio Guterres : We demand world leaders be held accountable to insure they

restore & protect forests worldwide.

Forests play a crucial role in the health of our planet. They are more than just a collection of trees, in fact, scientists have declared that trees are the state of the art technology in sequestering CO2. They also state that if forests worldwide were to be restored those forests would sequester a decades worth of  CO2.

Forests are also integrated ecosystems and home to the highest concentration of biodiversity on earth! Forests are also major players in the carbon and water cycles that make life possible as well as playing a key role in the local water cycle by helping to keep the balance between water on land and water in the atmosphere. They play major roles in combating climate change – sequestering CO2, as stated above, cooling the planet, normalising climatic patterns, providing natural habitat for wildlife and much more.

The fight against climate change demands a double edged sword: on the one side, sustainable energy sources need to continue to be promoted and adopted, on the other side, our remaining forests must be restored and protected before they are irretrievably lost.

Former Sec. General Mr. Ban Ki Moon stated,

We will mobilize the UN system to address the building blocks of sustainable development – from food and nutrition security to sustainable energy for all… from sustainable transportation and universal access to safe drinking water to adequate sanitation and the improved governance of our oceans.”

Our collective human environmental rights to clean air and water can be achieved through the restoration of the worlds’ forests and therefore must be included in this commitment. In light of the dire conditions of forests worldwide and the environmental affects of forest destruction, we demand the banning in perpetuity of logging, oil drilling, the building of dams, gas exploration, cattle ranching, soy production, palm oil, agriculture (destroyed rain forest land only yields 3-4 years of agriculture), GMO’s and all other actions that cause destruction of existing temperate, boreal and rain forests around the world with full protection, whereby replanting programs and projects will be implemented, to conserve, restore and protect (CPR) as well as teach about the importance of forests.

He further stated,

It is well known that prevention is better – and cheaper – than cure.” If you are serious about preventing a further rise in global temperatures, flooding, landslides and more, then now is the time to act, save, restore and protect this vital resource for now and future generations.

Why is this important?

With the recent severe droughts in Sao Paolo, Brazil and California, to mention just a couple, ice caps melting even faster, more mega sized hurricanes (hurricane Harvey in Houston, Texas and in India: Andhra Pradesh and the poverty-stricken Bihar and hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico ), disappearing coastlines, forest fires in rain forests, i.e. the raging fires that took place in Indonesia and the threat of burning the Leuser Ecosystem in Aceh and North Sumatra for palm oil, the dam breaks which released a poisonous sludge flowing hundreds of kilometres and dumping into the Atlantic Ocean caused by BHP Billiton and Vale Mining Companies in Minas Gerais in Brazil, all of which fall under the Crime of Ecocide, sea level rising, climate patterns in turmoil and another worldwide warmest year on record, the destruction of the worlds’ rain forests is insane!

As recently as 10,000 years ago, the world had 6 billion acres of tropical rainforests. Today we have less than 1.5 billion acres left, and we are clearing this remaining rainforest at the rate of 30 to 50 million acres per year, two to three times as rapidly as just a few decades ago. Today with over one acre of forest being cleared every second experts estimate that the last remaining rainforests could be consumed in less than 40 years!

Rain forest destruction is a major factor in climate change that must be addressed and acted upon. Forests play a crucial role in the health of our planet in combatting climate change:

• Sequestering CO²
• Cooling the planet
• Normalising climatic patterns
• providing habitat for wildlife
• protecting water tables
• stopping land/mudslides
• providing oxygen

Time is critical but there is still a window of opportunity to turn this mess around and keep global temperatures below the 2˚ rise that so threatens life on our planet. Fighting climate change must include the restoration and protection of rain forests around the world for now and future generations. All life, including the lives of our children and grandchildren deserve a living, breathing, and healthy planet!

Your support is needed! Sign the petition today and pass it on to family, friends and colleagues.

Thank you,
Leora Rosner (Dir.)
Growing Air Foundation

How it will be delivered?

The intention is to hand deliver the petition.