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The United Nations on Wednesday launched the International Year of Forests -- a year- long celebration of the vital role that forests play in the lives of the people across the world.

The International Year was launched at a ceremony at the UN headquarters in New York during the high-level meeting of the United Nations Forum on Forests, which is scheduled to conclude on Thursday.
The global observance of the International Year comes at a time when there has been a much wider recognition of the role the sustainably managed forests play in everything from mitigating climate change to providing wood, medicines and livelihoods for people around the world, UN officials said here.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, "By declaring 2011 as the International Year of Forests, the United Nations General Assembly has created an important platform to educate the global community about the great value of forests -- and the extreme social, economic and environmental costs of losing them."
"Political interest in forests is on the rise, but we need to use this International Year as a way to translate this interest into action," said Sha Zukang, the UN under-secretary-general for economic and social affairs.
"Everyone of us, all seven billion people on earth, has our physical, economic and spiritual health tied to the health of our forest ecosystems," said United Nations Forum on Forests Secretariat Director Jan McAlpine. "Throughout 2011, we will celebrate this intricate, interdependent relationship between forests and people."
The launch ceremony is part of the high-level segment of the United Nations Forum of Forests and was presided over by Joseph Deiss, president of the 65th session of the UN General Assembly.
The General Assembly declared the International Year to raise awareness on sustainable management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests.
By showcasing success stories on the central role of people in tackling the challenges facing many of the world's forests, the International Year provides a platform to bring people's voices together and galvanise action for forests around the world, the officials said.
Forests cover about 31 percent of total land area, amounting to just under four billion hectares, according to data from the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). At the same time, FAO estimates that 13 million hectares of the world's forests are lost every year, mainly due to deforestation from conversion of forest land to other uses.
At least 1. 6 billion people depend on forests for their daily livelihoods and sustainable needs. Forests are home to more than 60 million people, mainly members of indigenous and local communities, who reside in forests.