Forests provide wildlife habitats and natural resources, and help purify air, water, and soil. Sadly, some countries’ forests are virtually nonexistent, and others’ are rapidly vanishing. Deforestation without regard for sustainability or the renewal of forests has caused a massive devastation in the amount of wooded landmass left in a variety of countries across the globe.
Forest area refers to land which is under the cover of natural or planted trees of at least five meters, whether productive or not. This excludes trees in gardens, urban parks, or tree stands in agricultural production systems. According to the 2013 World Bank report, some countries have forested areas occupying over 80% of their entire landmass while others, like Oman, have an insignificant forest area of less than 1%. Other countries with small percentages of forested land include Qatar, San Marino, Mauritania, Djibouti, Libya, Kuwait, and Greenland.
Oman’s Nonexistent Forest
Forest area in Oman was last measured as covering 0.01% of its area in 2011. According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, around 2,000 hectares of Oman’s forested land is artificially planted, and this is not a new phenomenon there. Forest coverage in Oman when excluding planted forests has remained at 0.0% since 1990. The country has notable oil and gas resources, and its industrial development focuses on petrochemicals processing and metal manufacturing.
Egypt’s Afforestation Efforts
Forest area in Egypt was last measured at 0.1% coverage in 2013, having remained at that level since 2011. According to the World Bank and the UN, around 70,000 hectares of Egyptian land is forested. Between 1990 and 2000, Egypt gained an average of 1500 hectares per year, but the rate of forestation has since decreased by 2.71% per year. Measuring the total rate of habitat conversion, Egypt more or less maintained the area of its woodland habitat and forest between 2000 and 2005. The percentage of land covered in forest in Egypt is not likely to change in the near future, due to wooded areas being lost to urbanization and windblown sands.
Areas Continuing to Experience Losses of Forests
According to the World Bank report, forest coverage in Mauritania was last measured at 0.23% in 2013. The share of the area covered in forest had remained essentially unchanged from around 0.2% in 2011. About 242,000 hectares of Mauritania is forested. Environmental issues surrounding forests in Mauritania include overgrazing by livestock and wildlife, deforestation from human activities, and soil erosion. All of these factors are contributing to desertification there, and this may continue to contribute to a decline in the percentage of land covered in forest in the future. San Marino’s land covered in forest is one of the lowest in the world as well, standing at close to 0.0% in 2013. According to the 2013 World Bank report, this small percentage had remained constant since 2011. Indeed, the UN stipulated in 2010 that San Marino had no forest area at all, and data related to ownership, removal of wood, carbon, biomass, and growing stock related to forestry were considered at essentially zero. Pakistan’s percentage of land covered in forest was in decline in 2013. In 2012 the forested land in Pakistan was at 2.1%, which had declined to 2.0% by 2013. According to research carried out by Pakistan’s Department of Plant Sciences, deforestation was pointed out as one of the primary environmental problems inflicting the country. Deforestation in Pakistan is likely to lower the percentage of its land covered in forests in future if the issue is not addressed in due time.
Future Perspectives
It can take time to reduce the forest cover of a nation, but reforestation efforts, sadly, can take much longer still. Deforestation is a problem that, if not addressed, can virtually wipe out a nation’s forests within a short period of time. Nonetheless, effectively implemented afforestation and reforestation efforts can go a long way in increasing forest cover in virtually any part of the world.
Countries With The Lowest Forested Area In The World
Forest environments play a key role in feeding a growing population
10 Dec 2014
Forests are one of the Earth’s greatest natural resources. There is a reason why we often figuratively speak of ‘the tree of life’; forests are key to supporting life on Earth.
Eight thousand years ago, half of the Earth’s land surface was covered by forests or wooded areas. Today, these areas represent less than one third. Forests are home to 80% of the world’s land-based biodiversity and billions of dollars worth of medicinal plants are harvested from tropical forests every year. In addition, 1.6 billion people depend on them to some extent for their livelihoods.
Some of the ways forests make it possible to grow the food we need
Forests help regulate local weather systems, controlling how much rain and snow fall in a given area. This is especially important in agricultural areas where the growing season is short. Many plants need the help of wild pollinators to produce fruit and seeds. Birds, bees, insects, and animals act as pollinating agents in the agricultural process, and many make their homes in forest environments next to farmlands. Ironically, when we destroy a forest habitat for agricultural reasons, we eliminate one of the components necessary to yield successful crops.
Forests provide a habitat for natural pest controllers. An estimated 99% of pests that have the ability to destroy crops are kept in check by birds, spiders, parasitic wasps, lady bugs, and fungi. These organisms save farmers billions of dollars every year, and reduce the need for chemical pesticides.
Wild animals and edible insects from forests are the main source of protein for many people. Forest foods are a regular part of rural diets and serve as safety nets in periods of food scarcity.
Forests not only help us grow the food we need but also provide us with the energy we need to cook. An estimated 2.4 billion people use fuelwood for cooking their food and approximately 765 million people worldwide use wood fuel to boil and sterilize water.
What you can do to keep the world’s forests healthy
Forest cover varies across different areas in the world. Some countries are managing to restore their forests while others continue to lose them. Although deforestation is shown to be slowing down, about 13 million hectares of forest have been destroyed every year since 2000 (the equivalent of five football pitches disappears every minute). Forests have to be managed sustainably so that we can continue to benefit from this precious natural resource.
Here are a few things you can do to help.
If you are in a region where forests are sustainably managed:
Learn. Learn more about forests and their value, and appreciate the natural functions of forests.
Engage. Join in activities in forests, promote and share the many benefits forests provide to human well-being in your community.
Participate. Organize a community tree planting day or volunteer with a local forest conservation group.
If you are experiencing deforestation around you:
Inform. Help your community understand the full benefits of forest restoration and raise awareness of activities which are harmful to forests.
Protect. Campaign to protect the natural functions of forest land in your local area. You can help safeguard a threatened ecosystem or species by campaigning to have it protected.
Restore. Organize a community tree planting day to replenish a damaged forest. Maintain and follow-up the restoration activity closely.
For further information log on website : http://www.fao.org/zhc/detail-events/en/c/262862/
The term "facial fingerprint" might sound a little strange, but it's a simple concept. Your fingerprint is made up of the lines and other markings on the surface of the tips of your fingers. Your facial fingerprint, in a similar fashion, is made up of the lines and other markings on the surface of your face. This includes the lines, wrinkles and dry skin that produce the signs of aging.
In the same way that a police detective takes fingerprints from the scene of a crime to help solve a case, you can take your face's fingerprint to collect information about your skin's condition. First, wash your face of all the dirt, oil, makeup and moisturizer that may be on it. Any extraneous debris will make it harder to get good results. Let your face dry completely. Then, take a piece of transparent tape about three inches (7.6 centimeters) long and press it vertically onto your face by stretching it from your scalp to the point directly in between your eyebrows. Gently remove the tape, and inspect it for lines and dry skin cells. Do the same for other locations on your face, such as the cheekbones, upper lip and temples [source: Oz].
Take note of what your facial fingerprint reveals about the condition of your skin. Does your skin produce the smooth, line-free tape typical of a thirty-year-old? Or does it show the fine lines and dry skin of increasing age? If so, you can still spend a little energy on reversing the process. For a start, you should moisturize often and apply sunscreen before stepping outside. Then, after a few weeks of adjusting your skincare regimen, take your facial fingerprint again.
Your facial fingerprint is an easy way to find out what condition your skin is in, and a good reminder that healthy skin takes a little work. For lots more information on skin age and skin care, visit the links on the following page.
For further information log on website: https://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/information/anatomy/your-facial-fingerprint.htm
If senior superlatives were given out to human organs, the heartwould probably win "hardest working," the lungs would garner "most athletic" and the brain would end up with "most intelligent" (no surprise there). But what would the skin be noted for? Our guess is "most underappreciated" -- not to mention "best dressed."
For an underappreciated organ, skin takes up a lot of space. It's the body's largest organ, and if you were to stretch out the skin of the average adult, it would cover 22 square feet (2 square meters, or a little bigger than a twin bed) and weigh 8 pounds (3.6 kilograms) [source: National Geographic]. And can you imagine what we'd look like without that 22 square feet of skin to hold in our insides? Your muscles, bones and organs would all be exposed (and rather messy).
Besides keeping us nicely packaged, skin performs a host of important functions that are crucial for overall bodily health. Think of your skin as a protective covering that shields your body from germs. It's filled with white blood cells that are rigged to attack any invading harmful bacteria. Signals sent from your skin sound the alarm for your body's immune system to launch into action when germs have made entry.
Skin also helps regulate your body temperature. Blood vessels in the skin contract and dilate depending upon the outside temperature so that our bodies remain near 98.6 degrees F (37 degrees Celsius). When it's cold outside, blood vessels contract to keep the blood near the surface of your skin from becoming too cool. When it's hot outside, the same blood vessels expand to encourage heat loss, and you begin to sweat.
In addition to these vital jobs, skin provides us with the essential human experience of touch. Nerve endings in your skin send signals to the brain to communicate the sensations you're feeling: heat, cold, pain, pressure, texture. If it weren't for your skin and your nerves, you'd miss out on all the things that feel so good to the touch.
Now that you know why you should appreciate this special organ, let's find out what skin is made of.
For further information log on website : https://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/information/anatomy/skin.htm
It's around this time of year, every year, when I am utterly envious of my neighbors' gardens. I can barely manage to get a splash of color going in the spring thanks to an oft-neglected patch of tulips. After that, my yard is pretty much lacking save for the stray pansy or zinnia.
So what does it take to get a garden filled with color, one that keeps blooming all season long? If you find yourself asking that question, this chart has you covered with a month-by-month guide to the colorful blooms of the most popular garden flowers. It even details when to plant, and when to expect a bloom, as well as the care requirements for each type of flower.
Flowers aren't just for springtime, and planning your garden now will have you ready for fall planting season and get you well on your way to a garden filled with colorful flowers — month, after month, after month.
What are your favorite flowers to plant?
For further information log on website : https://www.mnn.com/your-home/organic-farming-gardening/blogs/how-to-create-a-year-round-garden-filled-with-color
Don't make the mistake of letting this creature's adorableness fool you: The black-footed cat (Felis nigripes) of southern Africa is among the deadliest cats on Earth.
With males barely reaching sizes bigger than 43 centimeters and females maxing out at around 37 centimeters, black-footed cats may not look like they're ruthless killers, but they will take down many small rodents or birds a night, sometimes tracking their prey for over 20 miles.
As they're both nocturnal and generally loners, black-footed cats can be difficult to track, but the BBC's "Big Cats" series took advantage of radio-collared female named Gyra to get a look at how these crafty cats hunt.
The black-footed cat is listed as vulnerable by the IUCN, with its biggest threats being poison and traps set for other predators. A loss of habitat hasn't helped, either. Zoos breed the cats to help sustain their numbers, and hunting the species is prohibited in Botswana and South Africa.
For further information log on website : https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/blogs/blackfooted-cat-africa-deadliest-feline
