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Forests are the lungs of our planet, producing oxygen and sequestering harmful CO2 emissions. Damage to this precious resource causes suffering to the entire body of bios.

The globalisation trend has proved environmentally destructive to forests, causing deforestation to become a problem of major concern. By ending the destruction of forests we can preserve biodiversity and increase the amount of available food in many parts of the world. In addition, deforestation leads to other environmental concerns including global warming and soil erosion.

Many of the world’s forests are locating in regions where there is extreme poverty and these inhabitants often depend solely on the forest for survival. Therefore communities can play a key role in sustaining forests by contributing to the protection and management of these areas in order to minimize damage and also enhance the ability to renew nature. Instead of singling out the key players, whether they are forest companies, the state, or individuals, it is best coordinate all these players in creating more effective policies whose primary goal is sustaining the environment while at the same time eradicating poverty. The international discussion examining the link between saving biodiversity and alleviating poverty must continue in order to ensure the best solution for these concerns.

The work of B.I.O. has focused extensively on the preservation and equitable management of forest resources, and several experts have contributed articles to the volumes of proceedings from our international conferences and to various issues of BioNews. Recently, B.I.O. began a fruitful cooperation with the Borneo Tropical Rainforest Foundation in an attempt to promote education and conservation projects in Malaysia and Indonesia. Our e-learning programme will soon be launched in these countries. Moreover, a training manual and modular course material on “Environmental Dimensions in Agriculture, Forestry and Food Production” were prepared by B.I.O. within the framework of the Leonardo da Vinci “Bios and Environment Transnational Network” project. This material was used in the environmental teaching and training activities of the network in 16 European countries.