The value of forests

In the world of tomorrow we will meet our energy requirements from renewable sources, protect the environment in which and from which we live, recycle materials and products once they have been used, and utilise resources moderately and sensibly because they are finite and this ensures the wellbeing of following generations.

We at the Forest Carbon Group are aiming to bridge the gap between economics and ecology – and thus enable our customers to make the transition to a greener and low carbon economy. We have devoted ourselves to forest conservation because intact forests are essential for life.

Forests are being destroyed because they are deemed to have too little value. Through our projects and trading programmes, we enhance the value of forests. Instead of being used for timber and cultivation, we generate value from the potential provided by forests for protecting the climate and biodiversity. This creates an incentive to preserve the forests and manage them in a sustainable manner.

By utilising the natural carbon storage sinks provided by forests, we enable companies to compensate for their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This is because technical innovation alone will not be enough to stop climate change. The transition to a sustainable economy requires time – and forest conservation enables us to buy this time.

Forest protection – father of the sustainability concept

The Earth’s forests are crucial for the future of humanity. They are the habitat for the largest proportion of land animal and plant species, they supply building material, food, clean water, medicinal plants and play a central role in the local and global climate. All these functions are also described as ecosystem services. Therefore forest protection is indispensable to solving the climate crisis, maintaining biodiversity and guaranteeing the sustainable existence of humanity.

No climate protection without forest protection

Forest protection holds an outstanding position for climate protection. Without forest protection there is no climate protection. Because forests stabilise the global climate, they work like a giant, worldwide air conditioning system. They do this by converting solar energy into water condensation, cooling the atmosphere, and they are responsible for precipitation in the regions to the north and south of the equator. Therefore, forests are a guarantee for rain and hydrological cycles - worldwide. Thus they make life possible. Directly and indirectly they supply cities, agriculture and industry with water. They safeguard the existence of humanity. The destruction of forests threatens this foundation for life.

Stop the chain reaction

Forests shelter the greatest biodiversity worldwide: Tropical rain forests cover only six percent of the Earth’s surface but almost half of all species worldwide can be found in them. Every creature, every plant is dependent on the existence of other life, other plants and they are thus linked in a unique manner. The extinction of one species has a negative chain reaction on other species. Humans are also an integral component of this system. They lose out if the forest is destroyed. If the forests are destroyed as an ecosystem by clear felling and only “rain forest islands” remain, the complex combinations and biocoenosis will collapse, species will die out and valuable biological variety will be lost – irreplaceably and for ever.

More than wood and cropland

Throughout human history forests have been the engine and victim of economic development. They supplied the raw materials for settlements and ships and later for the coal and steel industry and the railways. Wood is the oldest building material and oldest fuel used by people. Forests were cleared to acquire farmland and to build towns and villages. Thus in Europe and North America most of the forests were lost. In Latin America, Africa and Asia, catching up with modernisation and the hunger of industrial countries for agricultural products are now ensuring the clear cut of tropical forests.

Nature does not need us. But we need nature

Forests supply people with numerous so-called "ecosystem services": precipitation, erosion and soil protection, temperature buffers. Thus, forests are irreplaceable for local and global hydrological cycles, for example. They store water and release it slowly. They act as large water filters and save the expensive treatment of drinking water. Locally they moderate temperature fluctuations, increase air humidity and slow down storms. In mountain regions forests serve as natural protection against avalanches. In addition, tree canopies protect the sensitive humus layer on the ground against rain.