[ ] 86 A Better World Protected and used sustainably, tropical forests are key to our sustainable future Sheam Satkuru, Executive Director, International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) Forests, and especially tropical forests, sit in the eye of a global storm. Market forces, poverty and climate change are among many factors driving their continuing loss and degradation worldwide. Yet the need to conserve their vast stores of carbon, biodiversity and the socio-economic benefits that forests provide has never been more pressing. Finding ways to safeguard and restore forest ecosystems so they can withstand these pressures and continue delivering their many benefits will be vital to realizing the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development and its related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), from ending poverty and hunger to strengthening livelihoods and protecting the health of both people and nature. Forests cover nearly one-third of the Earth’s land surface and are among the most productive land-based ecosystems. Some 1.6 billion people depend on forests for their livelihoods or essentials like food, fuel and shelter. Some 70 per cent of people enduring extreme poverty live in the tropics. When managed sustainably, forests conserve soil and water, filter the air we breathe, prevent land degradation and desertification, and reduce the risk of floods, landslides, droughts and other disasters. Some 45 per cent of global forests are found in the tropics, extending over more than 1.8 billion ha in Latin America, Africa and Asia. The harvesting and trade of wood and other products from tropical forests supply local and global markets while supporting economies and communities in many developing countries. Furthermore, the sustainable management High school students learn about forest values during a field trip to the Lanjak Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary in Sarawak, Malaysia Image: Sarawak Forest Department
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