The world's forests are being consumed rapidly. Trees are cut down for paper and wood products, for fuel, to clear land for development, and to expand farming areas. The land left behind is stripped not only of its trees, but the plants, animals, and insects that lived in that ecosystem as well. With no plant roots to hold it in place, valuable soil washes away with every rainfall and ends up in the rivers and streams upon which people depend for their water supply. In extreme cases, hundreds or thousands of people lose their homes or perish in landslides when deforested slopes become unstable.

Forests also play an important part in regulating global climate. Trees remove carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas, from the atmosphere, while cycling oxygen