Touch the Soil News #1987 (Photo – Forests – (Donar Reiskoffer (CCA Sa 4.0 Unported)
Forests, like other natural features on the Earth’s surface play a role in Atmospheric health including water flow regulation and soil health. These 10 companies manage 22 million acres of forests. That would be the equivalent of a farm 1,000 miles wide and 35 miles long. Their goal is to bring more public debate to the larger health of forests including their biodiversity. For perspective, the world has 10 billion acres of forest. That would be the equivalent of a farm 1,000 miles wide and 15,625 miles long.
While the world’s 10 largest forestry companies manage only .0022 of the total land in forests, they do so in 27 countries which puts them on the pulse of the world’s primary forests.
When it comes of farmland and pasture, the world has 12.4 billion acres. That would be equivalent of a farm 1,000 miles wide and 19,297 miles long.
The message in all this number crunching is that the world has clearly defined its natural proportions and that managing forests and farmland for sustainability (health) is rapidly becoming a focal point in public, political and economic debates. You can read the full story about the forestry coalition here:
