World Environment Day 2011…By Leon SuseranToday, June 5,Wholesale Adidas Hockey Jerseys, 2011 is World Environment Day (WED). The theme revolves around the forest resources around the world and stresses how important our forests are to preserving a rich and safe earth for all mankind. “Forests: Nature at Your Service” is the theme for this year’s celebrations. The United Nations began the first World Environment Day observances in 1973.India will be the chief hosts to this year’s celebrations. It is interesting that India was chosen, since that country,Wholesale Jerseys China, with a population of 1.2 billion people, has a high rate of deforestation.Deforestation is a major threat to our world forests today. Guyana should not be too alarmed though, since our deforestation rates are just about 1% or so. Guyana has placed high recognition and importance on our forest resources. Nearly 75% of Guyana’s land area is covered with thick,Wholesale Football Jerseys, green forest.? Our country has one of the most pristine and virgin forest in the world. Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) is a global model of which many countries have shown great interest. Guyana’s forests are home to some of the rarest species of all kinds of animals.The Guyana Forestry Commission is the authoritative body tasked with maintaining and controlling about three- quarters of our forests. The rest are State lands, private properties or Amerindian lands.The theme in this year’s WED celebrations truly express how man could not possibly have survived this long on the earth without our forests around. The forest has much benefits to us human beings,Cheap Jerseys Outlet, thus it is truly at our service, so to speak.Perhaps the forest’s prime benefit in any country is to trap carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide gases are utilized by the trees in the forests and high levels of oxygen are released. Forests “suck in” carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and lock them in their biomass. That is what our LCDS plan is all about. Saving our forests for environmentally- friendly purposes have earned Guyana millions from countries such as Norway.Forests help control erosion and help regulate water for many of the world’s rivers. They decrease the impact of storms and floods too.Forests are the homes of? over 60 million Indigenous peoples and provide a livelihood for over 1.6 billion people around the world.Next, our forests protect us from being flooded. For example,Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys, the Mangrove trees we hear so much about today protect our shoreline from erosion. They are also home to our marine life. Planting of mangrove trees have become necessary around Guyana today to make sure our low coastal plain does not become susceptible to the harsh effects of flooding and overtopping of seawalls, etc.Then there are the many species of rare animals and plants that call our forests their home. Think about if the forests are destroyed, then how will these special biodiversity be preserved?But the reality is a sad one. Much of the world’s forests are disappearing at a very fast rate. It has been estimated that, since the beginning of time, almost half of the world’s forests have been destroyed. A glut for wood and lumber, more housing development schemes, and mining have seeped into our forests all over the world. Deforestation affects each country or region differently. Some countries highly affected include Burma, New Caledonia, Suderland, and the Philippines,Wholesale NFL Jerseys China, all of which have just fewer than 8% of remaining habitat in their forests.Today, there are numerous initiatives that are ongoing to help keep our forests in good hands so that they can be around for the next generation. In September 2008, the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD) was launched in developing countries. Thus far, 29 countries are closely monitoring their forest resources and have been coming up with initiatives to combat deforestation and maintain good strategies to slow down global warming and the spread of the Greenhouse Gas emissions to avoid a global 2 degrees Celsius rise in temperature by 2050.World Environment Day must really help us become aware about what we are doing to the world around us each day by our actions. One of the most significant ways in which the environment is being harmed is by littering. Not recycling plastic and other materials in Guyana have wreaked havoc on our drainage system. Something has got to be done about the large amount of plastic beverage bottles that are discarded on a daily basis. What about those (Polystyrene) styrofoam boxes that Guyanese use o